The battle raged on in the sky. Even Qian Moyu’s most potent attack, powerful enough to instantly fell the Spirit Controller, proved futile.
Due to a mysterious authority, Qian Moyu’s countless strikes failed, leaving her with a sense of powerlessness, like a hammer striking cotton. No matter how formidable her attack, the moment it touched his, it would be utterly nullified.
“Motong! Use the time-space tunnel! I’ll engage him in close combat!”
Repeatedly thwarted, Qian Moyu’s patience wore thin. If long-range attacks were blocked, then a sufficiently close distance would allow for an instant kill!
Though his aura seemed to rival a Sunwheel-tier, it was ultimately borrowed power. With Qian Moyu’s swift reactions, a super close-range assault would be a decisive decapitation strike!
“No, it’s too risky! The storm unleashed by the Cloud Whale has made the spatial medium incredibly unstable!” Motong’s right hand gathered a luminous ring, intercepting a lightning bolt summoned by the Cloud Whale. “A single misstep with the time-space tunnel could tear you apart!”
“How will we know if we don’t try? Just help me quickly!”
“Alright!”
Witnessing Qian Moyu’s resolve, Motong pondered for a moment, then gritted her teeth and agreed.
“You must come back alive!”
“Don’t worry! I won’t perish so easily!”
As she spoke, Motong channeled all her strength, concentrating it. Instantly, intricate patterns materialized beneath their feet, countless overlapping light circles converging into a complex magical array.
“In the name of my Lord! All of you shall die!”
As time wore on, the Man in Black’s sacrifice deepened. Black blood oozed from his entire body, and he descended into a state of utter frenzy. He unleashed a devastating blow towards Motong and Qian Moyu.
“—Divine Fall!”
A black meteorite tore through a corner of the sky, engulfed in dark flames. It descended upon the two, bearing world-ending power.
“Run!”
The moment she saw the meteorite, Motong frantically poured more magical energy into the spatial tunnel, completing it in an instant. She braced herself to face the terrifying impact directly.
“I can hold it!”
Motong drew a deep breath, erecting countless barriers before her. Yet, under the meteorite’s relentless assault, these defenses rapidly neared collapse.
Boom!
The meteorite finally breached the multitude of obstacles, hurtling towards Motong and kicking up immense clouds of dust. This fatal, authority-infused strike compelled Motong to tightly shut her eyes. In that moment, she had surrendered all hope of survival.
However, as seconds stretched into minutes, the anticipated pain and crushing force never arrived. Cautiously, Motong opened her eyes.
Bai Zhiqiu stood before her. Her pure white, silk-like hair was adorned with several blood-red blossoms, while the white phantoms swirling around her body forcefully eroded the authority imbued within the meteorite, leaving only its inert mass.
A cold gleam flashed in Bai Zhiqiu’s hand, and a colossal scythe soared skyward, expanding countless times its original size. Wielding the power of rebirth, a single swing cleaved the meteorite in two, scarring the very earth with a fissure tens of meters deep.
This strike not only shattered the Spirit Controller’s assault but also sent its aftershocks rippling high above the clouds.
For reasons unknown, upon sensing that aura of life and death, the Cloud Whale did not evade. Instead, it flew directly towards Bai Zhiqiu.
“Are you blind? Get a hold of yourself!” The Man in Black’s fury ignited at the Cloud Whale’s bizarre behavior. “Do you think she’s Higanbana? Let me tell you! That woman died ages ago! What stands before you now is merely a junior wearing her former shell! Do you truly wish to witness Lord Anshēn’s methods again?”
Having spoken, the Man in Black stomped on the Cloud Whale’s head several times, only releasing his foot when the creature let out a pained wail.
“Higanbana!” The Man in Black’s hair stood on end with rage, flames seemingly about to erupt from his eyes as he glared at Bai Zhiqiu.
“Why are you calling your daddy? Don’t shout so loudly! I can hear you perfectly well!”
As Bai Zhiqiu’s voice faded, the three pairs of blood-red wings on her back propelled her skyward, bringing her level with the Man in Black. The scythe in her hand now pulsed with an eerie crimson glow, like a demon hungry for blood, poised to drink from its enemy.
Meanwhile, the Higanbana petals drifting around Bai Zhiqiu diffused an intoxicating, tranquil fragrance across the world.
At this moment, the Cloud Whale ceased its suppression. Even facing the Man in Black’s increasingly cruel attacks, it let out a sorrowful, prolonged cry towards Bai Zhiqiu.
“Shut up! Shut up!”
“You shut up!”
As the Cloud Whale’s mournful wails continued, the Man in Black grew increasingly violent. He could sense the Cloud Whale attempting to break free from his control! But how could he ever allow her to succeed?
As the Cloud Whale’s struggles intensified, the Spirit Controller was forced to expend more power and time to contend with her, to maintain control, and at the very least, prevent her from regaining full command of her own body.
Otherwise, if the Cloud Whale were to rebel, the entire Xuan Guan would collapse! He would undoubtedly perish here!
How could he die? He had yet to witness millions of corpses floating in the Great Yan, had yet to see the soul feast he so eagerly anticipated! Everyone else could die! Except for him!
“You! All of you, die for me!”
The more frenzied his mind became, the more immense the power granted by the pendant grew. The subtle pressure it exuded could even rival Qian Moyu’s.
“Lord! I offer you half of my soul! Please, in recognition of my efforts to eliminate her for your sake, grant me even greater power!”
As if in response to his desperate plea, the red moon, which had been a mere crescent, gradually transformed into a brilliant full orb. The blood-red moon dyed the entire sky crimson! It violently writhed in the center of the blood moon, like an eye, or perhaps a mass of distorted flesh.
“Higanbana! I want you dead!”
“If you’re so brave, try to kill your daddy then!”
“Qi Pengshang—Delusion!”
At Bai Zhiqiu’s command, the pervasive aura of death throughout the space vanished instantly, like a phantom that had never truly existed.
“My apologies! When it comes to death, your daddy’s authority far surpasses what you’ve borrowed. Even if your true self were to appear, daddy might… no! Daddy would still kill you without hesitation!”
As she spoke, a hint of malevolence flickered in Bai Zhiqiu’s eyes. The two Higanbana flowers within them no longer bloomed and withered, maintaining the balance of life and death. Instead, they withered instantly, turning into wisps of smoky ash, a clear harbinger of death’s arrival.
“Daddy will send you to the cycle of rebirth! Though perhaps, for you, having your soul utterly scattered would be a kinder fate…”
“Spring fades, flowers fall—all things return to their end!”
“No! No! All the authority, all the power, push it up for me!” At this critical juncture, he mobilized every ounce of power he could for a full frontal defense. His body had already been desiccated into a husk; even if he miraculously survived, he wouldn’t last long.
Yet, to his astonishment, after seeing his full defensive posture, Bai Zhiqiu immediately withdrew her power back into her body, never releasing it!
“Just kidding! Look behind you!”
Behind…
The moment Bai Zhiqiu’s words ceased, the chilling sound of a sharp blade piercing a chest echoed.
It was a green rapier.