The Second Stellaron Spirit Is Born

The moment Bai Luoming grasped the Stellaron, the world fell still once more.

This time, Bai Luoming showed no sign of panic.

He glanced down at the Stellaron in his hand. Its surface still radiated dazzling light, undiminished even though the world had stopped.

After confirming that nothing unusual was happening to the Stellaron, he looked up at the spot where Old Bai had disappeared.

"What, are you still going to play mysterious?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Old Bai appeared before him again.

Watching Old Bai appear, Bai Luoming weighed the Stellaron in his hand, then held it out to him.

"Going through all that trouble, was this what you were after?"

He was prepared for Old Bai to reclaim or seal the Stellaron. He even thought Old Bai might need its power to sustain his own existence.

Old Bai glanced at the Stellaron but shook his head.

"No." He looked at Bai Luoming, his tone calm. "My target is you."

Bai Luoming froze with the Stellaron held out.

A wary expression appeared on his face. He instinctively edged half a step back, putting a little distance between himself and Old Bai.

"A person can't—at least, shouldn't."

Old Bai and Bai Luoming were the same person, after all. One look at Bai Luoming's expression, as though he were guarding against a thief, was enough for him to know what was going through his head.

Old Bai's already weary face instantly darkened.

"What are you thinking?" he said irritably. "I am indeed handsome, but not to that extent, all right?"

Bai Luoming immediately patted his chest and pretended he had narrowly escaped disaster. "That's good, that's good," he said repeatedly.

Then he added with a perfectly serious expression, "Mainly, I was worried your orientation might undergo some major change in the future. I'm sure you understand."

Old Bai couldn't be bothered to keep bickering. He took the Stellaron from Bai Luoming's hand and held it in his palm.

"I don't have much time left."

Hearing that, Bai Luoming immediately pressed him. "You just said I was your target. What exactly did you mean?"

Old Bai didn't answer. He simply said calmly, "There's no time to lose. Let's begin."

"Begin what? You..."

Before Bai Luoming could finish, Old Bai strode forward with the Stellaron and pressed it toward his chest.

Bai Luoming tried to dodge, but his body felt bound by invisible chains, unable to move.

The instant the Stellaron touched his body, it melted into him without resistance, like a red-hot iron ball meeting ice.

As the Stellaron merged with him, excruciating pain swept through Bai Luoming's body. He only had time to say one thing.

"You have no martial ethics..."

The Stellaron's unimaginably vast energy erupted in his chest, surging through every limb and bone.

His muscles were torn apart and rebuilt, his bones groaned under the strain, and even the power of the Path within him was drawn in, frantically transforming and strengthening his body.

He forced himself to raise his head. His vision had already begun to blur, and his voice came in fits and starts from the pain.

"So... this was what you were after?"

Old Bai stood before him, admiring his handiwork with a faint smile.

"Yep," he admitted frankly. "Otherwise, did you really think I was afraid you couldn't beat this lousy rock, so I crossed time and space just to come to your rescue?"

Looking at Bai Luoming's pained expression, Old Bai patted his own chest lightly and said, "Good thing I was clever enough to let my past self take it, or I'd have suffered terribly."

Each wave of energy struck harder than the last, and Bai Luoming's vision was gradually swallowed by darkness.

Old Bai studied his swaying form, then suddenly cleared his throat and said in an imitation of an especially solemn tone, "Should I be saying, 'Time to wake up'?"

He paused, then shook his head and rejected the idea himself.

"No, given your current situation, I should say it's time to sleep."

Bai Luoming's lips moved as he tried to retort, but at that moment his consciousness cut out completely, and his body fell forward limply.

Old Bai reached out and caught him, keeping him standing.

After Bai Luoming lost consciousness, his body instead began instinctively accepting and guiding the power that had been rampaging through him. The Stellaron also gradually stabilized deep in his chest.

Old Bai observed him for a while. Only after confirming there was no rejection during the fusion did he murmur to himself.

"Successfully completed. My past self has gotten stronger, and my future self will benefit too. Now... I should finally be able to face them."

Just as the fusion was about to end, a sudden change occurred.

A beam of pure golden light shone from Bai Luoming's chest without warning.

At the same time, the Stellaron inside Stelle, who was frozen in time in the distance, began to tremble on its own.

The two Stellarons resonated in a wondrous way, across the frozen time and space.

Belobog's seven hundred years of will to preserve—that immense power which had just answered Stelle—surged into Bai Luoming through the invisible link between the flaming lance and the Stellaron.

"Hmm?"

For the first time, Old Bai showed surprise at something outside his plans.

His original plan had only been to have Bai Luoming contain the Stellaron. He had never expected that the Stellarons inside the two of them could resonate and awaken the Preservation Path for Bai Luoming.

With Bai Luoming's resolve on the Preservation Path, Old Bai sensed the power of Preservation appearing within himself at the same time, and a trace of genuine delight entered his weary expression.

"What a pleasant surprise. Now I can play around with Preservation too, hehe."

Then he raised his hand and lightly tapped Bai Luoming between the eyebrows, leaving a vast, intricate message deep in his consciousness.

The message contained some things he hadn't had time to say. Bai Luoming would be able to read it once he woke up.

By the time he finished, Old Bai's body had become almost completely transparent. The brief intervention granted by Terminus had also reached its limit.

Before dissipating, he confirmed that the Stellaron inside Bai Luoming had fully completed, then casually arranged Bai Luoming's body in a posture of standing at attention.

With all that done, he finally stopped moving, reassured, and let his figure turn into motes of light that faded into the air.

Time began to flow again.

From the perspective of March 7th and the others, the entire process had taken place in the blink of an eye.

All they saw was Bai Luoming suddenly unleash power far beyond his original level, enter some sort of entirely new state, and shatter the overbearing Stellaron construct with a single swing of his sword.

Then Bai Luoming struck a bizarre pose and fell stiffly toward the ground.

"Luo Ming!"

March 7th had been watching him intently the whole time, and she cried out when she saw him fall.

She was faster than anyone, even Seele, who was known for her speed. Before Bai Luoming hit the ground, she rushed over like lightning and caught him securely in her arms.

Her voice trembled noticeably. She first checked his breathing, then his heartbeat and external injuries. Only after confirming that his vital signs were reasonably stable did she dare breathe a sigh of relief.

March 7th judged that he had simply exhausted too much of his power, so she knelt in the snow and rested his head on her soft lap.

She couldn't help complaining, her tone carrying an anger she hadn't even noticed herself.

"Honestly, you never give anyone a moment's peace."

Her voice was quiet, and her hands were still checking him for any other injuries.

Stelle arrived shortly afterward with the flaming lance. She leaned over for a look, and only after confirming that Bai Luoming had merely passed out did she breathe a sigh of relief.

Looking at Bai Luoming with his head on March 7th's lap, she joked,

"Old Bai's second phase is strong, all right, but his stamina's not so great."

Dan Heng crouched down and examined Bai Luoming. Only after confirming that he was in no serious danger did he withdraw his hand and look calmly at the others.

"He's stable. He should just be exhausted. We'd better get him somewhere safe to rest as soon as possible."

Seele and Bronya were a step slower. They could only stop a few paces away and look at Bai Luoming lying on March 7th's lap, their expressions complicated.

Seele watched March 7th carefully arranging Bai Luoming's disheveled bangs. Several times she seemed about to say something, but in the end she silently put away her weapon and turned toward the edge of the platform, keeping watch for any enemies who might appear.

Bronya, meanwhile, suppressed the complicated emotions churning in her heart and began directing the Silvermane Guards who arrived afterward to clear the battlefield and arrange treatment for the wounded.

On the surface, both were attending to important business, but their gazes kept drifting uncontrollably toward the figure lying unconscious on the girl's lap.

Then Dan Heng looked around and said, "Speaking of which, have any of you seen the Stellaron?"

Only then did they realize that the Stellaron was gone.

It had clearly been on the ground just moments ago, but in the blink of an eye, it had vanished without a trace.

Stelle looked around in confusion but couldn't see the Stellaron anywhere. With no other choice, she said, "Let's leave the Stellaron for now. When Old Bai wakes up, we can ask if he knows where it went."

Dan Heng nodded. For now, that was all they could do.

In the Path Rift of Destruction, several Lord Ravagers had gathered.

Guiji looked at the colleagues in the Path Rift and said, "Did you feel it? Just now, a new colleague joined our ranks. But it's a little strange. The fluctuations of this colleague's power seemed to appear for only an instant before disappearing."

Phantylia was somewhat dismissive. "Hehe, it's just one more lunatic."

Guiji was somewhat puzzled and asked, "Come to think of it, I haven't heard about the Wound-Bearing God taking a liking to any other faction's Emanator lately. What's the story with this colleague?"

At the same time, another voice rang out. "Heh, I only hope this colleague is strong enough to have a great battle with me."