Rumble!
Golden blade light descended, turning everything in sight into golden lightning...
Severance: No Forgiveness!
Amid the golden lightning, Liuge vaguely saw a flash of emerald green flickering incessantly.
Was that Phantylia?
Liuge did not know, but the situation was incredibly strange.
Phantylia had not made a sound. Even in the game, when her body formed from the Ambrosial Arbor's fruit was destroyed, she would still say a word or two.
But she was currently in her heliobus form—her true body. Yet even after taking a blow from the Divine General, she had not made a single sound.
What was wrong?
As Liuge pondered, Tingyun beside him did not disturb his thoughts. She merely watched quietly.
Because of Liuge, Tingyun had avoided being directly possessed by Phantylia. He had even brought help from afar to turn the tables and strike back at Phantylia.
That alone was enough for her.
"Something's wrong!"
At that moment, Fu Xuan, who had been controlling the Four Symbols Sealing Formation, suddenly spoke.
Before Jing Yuan could react, a streak of emerald light erupted from within the golden sea.
"What?!"
Jing Yuan froze for a moment, then immediately raised his weapon and slashed down at the emerald glow once more.
His expression, however, was extremely grim. He had not expected Phantylia to still have a trump card even at this point.
Was this what one expected from a Lord of Ruin?
At the same time, Fu Xuan's clasped hands seemed to be forcibly pried apart by an invisible force.
Snap! Snap! Snap!
The sound of something breaking came from within the golden lightning. Even amid the Divine General's assault, the sound could still be heard clearly.
Fu Xuan's expression darkened. She exchanged a glance with Jing Yuan, then nodded.
Gritting her teeth, the third eye on Fu Xuan's forehead glimmered faintly as she clasped her hands together again.
With a boom.
A violent roar erupted from within the golden light.
The emerald glow faltered slightly.
At that very moment, Jing Yuan's body rose into the air. His eyes were tightly shut, as though he were sensing something.
"It's time for a surprise attack!"
The Formation Blade in his hand began to emit faint glimmers.
Behind him, the Divine General also began to unleash terrifying power.
The intense pressure forced Liuge and Tingyun back to the edge of the Altar of Prayer for the Dragon. One more step and they would be aboard the starskiff.
But they could not take the starskiff back now.
The power unleashed in this battle was too terrifying. There was no guarantee the starskiff would not be overturned into the sea by the shockwaves before it got halfway home.
"You think I have no way out?!"
Phantylia's furious voice rang out from within the sea of golden lightning.
The next instant, Fu Xuan's Four Symbols Sealing Formation shattered outright, and the four colossal beasts broke apart and vanished in an instant.
The moment the formation broke, Fu Xuan staggered several steps backward, a trace of red spilling from the corner of her mouth.
At that moment, Jing Yuan, floating above, slowly opened his golden eyes. Holding the faintly glowing Formation Blade, he dove toward Phantylia, who had revealed herself below.
—Radiant spirit, heed my command!
—Severance: No Forgiveness!
The Divine General behind him moved as though synchronized with Jing Yuan, bringing down its blade at the same moment he swung.
Boom!
At the same time, a surge of emerald radiance met the slash head-on.
It was as though two towering giants were locked in a contest of strength.
For a time, powerful shockwaves spread outward endlessly like tremors from an epicenter.
Seeing this, Fu Xuan's eyes narrowed. She began to draw upon the power within her body, her fingers forming a seal.
A new formation appeared across the ground, while heaven and earth seemed to transform into a desolate star chart.
Her hands snapped together.
Immense pressure descended upon Phantylia like a cage.
In that instant, under the combined suppression of Jing Yuan and Fu Xuan, Phantylia's heliobus body, which possessed no physical form to begin with, was on the verge of being completely restrained.
"You... just wait!"
As Phantylia's voice fell.
A violent impact exploded from where the two sides clashed.
The tremendous force sent both Jing Yuan and Fu Xuan flying backward.
But they quickly steadied themselves and turned their gazes back toward the Altar of Prayer for the Dragon.
All that remained was a battlefield in ruins and shattered ground. Emerald fragments that seemed to dissolve like starlight drifted slowly down from the air.
Had Phantylia detonated part of her heliobus body in order to escape?
Watching this, Liuge could only feel regret that they had failed to capture Phantylia here.
Still, it was only now that he gained a rough understanding of the power scale in this Honkai: Star Rail world.
According to the records, Phantylia loved to use internal strife, lies, provocation, and all manner of negative circumstances to make a place collapse from within.
In terms of raw combat strength, she was not as strong as the other Lords of Ruin. After all, she was a heliobus without a physical body.
Yet even Phantylia, in her heliobus state, had been able to withstand Jing Yuan and Fu Xuan working together. Though she had detonated part of her heliobus body, she had still escaped quickly.
"Cough, cough!"
Jing Yuan covered his chest and coughed a few times before carrying the Formation Blade over to Liuge and Tingyun.
Behind him, Fu Xuan did not look much better either.
After all, it had been an explosion from part of a Lord of Ruin. Even though the other side had used it to escape rather than fight, it had still injured both her and Jing Yuan.
"You two... cough... are you all right?"
Jing Yuan coughed again before continuing.
"Thank you for your concern, General. Neither of us is seriously hurt. But you and Diviner Fu..."
"I am unharmed!"
Fu Xuan shook her head, indicating that she was fine.
Yet her face was slightly pale.
"It is nothing. Just a minor injury."
Jing Yuan did not stand on ceremony. With a soft chuckle, he turned his gaze toward Liuge.
"My friend, may I know your name?"
"General, my name is Liuge."
Upon hearing that, Liuge immediately introduced himself.
"Liuge?"
Fu Xuan frowned slightly and looked him over.
"You are Liuge, the one who mysteriously disappeared a month ago?"
"...Probably, maybe, I guess...?"
Liuge scratched his cheek, sounding somewhat uncertain.
"Why do you say that?"
"Well... as far as my memories go, it does not seem like I ever lived on the Xianzhou."
Liuge considered it for a moment before answering Fu Xuan.
"Have you lost part of your memory?"
Fu Xuan frowned slightly.
"Fu Qing, you know him?"
Jing Yuan asked uncertainly from the side.
"Yes. A month ago, one of my subordinates reported that one of her card-playing friends had gone missing and asked me to help look for him."
Fu Xuan nodded, though her expression became somewhat strange.
"But no matter how I divined, I could not determine where he had gone. It was very strange!"
Hearing Fu Xuan's words, Jing Yuan gave Liuge a thoughtful look and yawned.
"Enough. The Lord of Ruin has escaped. Let us return first and discuss this later."
"Understood!"
Xiao Que'er
After the group arrived at Chang'le Sky-Garden, Fu Xuan took her leave from Jing Yuan, saying there were matters to attend to within her office.
As for Tingyun and Liuge, Jing Yuan had no time to question them further. His priority now was to mobilize the entire Cloud Knights Army of the Luofu.
After all, people who had been beguiled by Phantylia might surface, so a carpet search began. For a time, the Luofu Xianzhou's alert level rose significantly.
Meanwhile, Tingyun and Liuge waited at a snack stall in Chang'le Sky-Garden.
Several days of intense vigilance had left them both physically and mentally exhausted.
Although they wanted to talk, they tacitly focused only on eating.
Then they could get a good night's sleep.
They could talk after waking up. Right now, they were truly starving.
Yet compared to Liuge's wolfish appetite, Tingyun remained incomparably elegant even while eating.
As she ate, Tingyun suddenly realized that Liuge had gone quiet.
She turned to look beside her and immediately saw an absurdly funny sight.
Liuge had buried his entire face in his bowl, but he was already asleep.
Fortunately, he had finished everything in the bowl. Otherwise, his face would have been covered in noodles.
Tingyun wanted to laugh at the sight, but she could not bring herself to do so.
To keep Phantylia stable, Liuge had gone several days without sleep while maintaining his act at high intensity.
Though that had been aided by the Sleepless stat-stick, the mental exhaustion hit the instant the Stat-Stick Character Card was removed.
Even managing to fight off sleep long enough to finish eating was a trial for Liuge.
"You've worked hard."
Tingyun set down her chopsticks, took out several Stellar Jade and placed them on the table, then supported Liuge as she headed toward the inn beside the Ministry of Interdimensional Affairs.
Quite a few people along the way glanced at the scene.
After all, Tingyun was rather well-known on the Luofu.
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