Fu Hua Cannot Refuse

Gray Serpent stood in silent, apathetic detachment.

For a long time, Cocolia wore an expression of total innocence and spoke feebly:

"You know as well as I do that because of the Changkong City incident, those old fogies in the Conservative Faction have a very poor opinion of me."

"And then?"

"And then I sold you out."

"...Cocolia!"

What did she mean by just selling me out? For goodness' sake, did any ally behave like this?

The red light in Gray Serpent's mechanical eye suddenly flared a little brighter, killing intent spreading outward.

"The fusion experiment for the Gem of Desire at Schicksal's Oceania Branch succeeded. The newborn artificial Herrscher is named Delta. She can go toe-to-toe with that monster Durandal, and she is stable and controllable. Regrettably, Otto arrived in person, and the entire power structure of the Oceania Branch was purged. My prior arrangements were wasted."

"Uh... oh..."

"Schicksal Headquarters has recently been searching for the whereabouts of the Divine Key Chikai Ichijo, and it seems they have already made some discoveries. It's a pity I intervened too late; following up in depth will take some time."

"Right, right."

"By the way, the Far East and the Siberia Region will be placing an order for a batch of goods with Shencheng Pharmaceuticals soon, conservatively estimated to be worth over 30 billion USD—hm, what was your question again?"

"Nothing. I was just saying that it is truly our honor to have an ally like Cocolia!"

Gray Serpent spoke in a genial and amicable tone to Cocolia, who "wasn't very good at remembering things." If he hadn't been a mechanical construct, if he hadn't still worn a mask on his face, he surely would have revealed an equally amiable and genial smile.

Mystics didn't mean they couldn't be tracked, right?

Besides, with the first three Herrscher appearances one after another, World Serpent was about to start getting active too. Sooner or later, more people would find out; a year or two didn't make much difference.

A win-win cooperation was nothing to be ashamed of!

The red light in Gray Serpent's eyes dimmed, just like a loyal, honest, and harmless robot.

Only then did Cocolia take up the survey report and say with a troubled expression:

"It's basically certain that the ruins discovered on the seafloor near the base are the legendary Nine Nether Ruins. According to ancient texts, the so-called Xuanyuan Sword is very likely a Divine Key, but various signs also indicate that Chiyou might not be completely dead yet. I've got a huge headache right now—how should we resolve this unstable threat?"

"I'm already aware of the situation. We'll deliberate on our side and report back to you afterward, how does that sound?"

"Alright, then you can help me think of a good way too. Sigh, there are more and more things happening lately, I feel like my brain is getting dull, so I'll have to rely entirely on Mr. Gray Serpent to help me brainstorm."

"What are you saying? It's only what we should do, quite right."

Both parties cut off the communication in a harmonious atmosphere.

Then,

Gray Serpent: "Hmph! Vixen!"

Cocolia: "Hmph! Gray Serpent!"

"Mom is playing right into people's hands again!"

An curled over the desk and said without a shred of disdain.

Immediately, her head was grabbed by Cocolia, who planted a fierce Mua right on it.

"Oh my, my An has gotten even cuter today, pinch!"

"I don't believe a word of mom's nonsense!"

"Then I'll kiss you a couple more times, until you believe it. Mwah, mwah, mwah!"

"Hahaha~~"

Amidst Cocolia's glowing-eyed, fanatical affection, An—who fancied herself all grown up—could ultimately not maintain her cold and haughty mask, and very quickly began struggling and giggling uncontrollably.

"Mom, stop messing around!"

"Alright, alright, go play with Rosaliya and Liliya, mom still has work to do!"

"Hmph, it's just a Honkai Beast that died a few thousand years ago anyway! Send a BT down to me, I'll go down there and solve it for mom right now!"

"Don't be ridiculous. The scale detected so far is terrifyingly huge; that's not a monster ordinary power can deal with. I'm trying to figure out whether it's better to drag the Sovereign into this water, or simply throw out a few more fish bait and let Schicksal voluntarily help us solve it."

Cocolia picked up a document and tapped An on the head, looking somewhat conflicted.

Only after An reluctantly left the office did Cocolia lean back, leisurely raise the report in her hands, and curl the corners of her mouth into a meaningful, cunning smile.

Glug, glug~

Under the weight of the heavy seawater pressure, bubbles emerged all over the slowly descending giant white mecha, slowly rising upward through the dark ocean water.

"This is Chiyou!"

Steel feet sank into the silt and finally stepped onto the incomparably solid foundation—that was Chiyou's body, which, despite the erosion and wear of five thousand years, had not softened by even a fraction.

Inside the mecha, Kuerla and Titan Anqi gazed jointly at the undulating terrain, so massive like a submarine mountain range that it was impossible to make out, and fell mutually silent for a moment.

"The marvelous workmanship of the Honkai is really terrifying!"

"In theory, the Dominion Authority operates above the subjective consciousness of a Honkai Beast. If you stuff a core in, it should be able to turn it into one of us."

"But that's just theory. This clearly isn't a conventional Honkai Beast anymore, and it might not follow that set of rules."

"That's true. If it puts up a fight, I'm afraid the entire East China Sea coastline will be submerged. If it wakes up and breaks free of our control, there's a good chance the entire Shenzhou cultural circle will be finished."

"We need to assemble a force capable of forcibly suppressing it even under the worst-case scenario... Let Cocolia arrange it, and pull in a bunch of high-end combat power to backstop things before we make a move."

The Anqis sighed in unison.

Naturally, they would have preferred to make a fortune in quiet obscurity, and Delta theoretically possessed the confidence to suppress this monster as well, but there was truly no way to let Delta openly appear here by herself.

If they wanted to devour this monster and obtain the Divine Key without inadvertently wrecking all of East Asia, they had no choice but to take a risk and set up a grand spectacle.

Right, they had plenty of internal agents anyway. If they planned it properly, pulling off a win-win show for the Anqis wasn't out of the question!

Chapter 77: Fu Hua Cannot Refuse

"Swish!"

"Clang!"

In the unobserved, sealed training room, swords crossed.

Fu Hua held her left hand behind her back, her right hand naturally grasping the long sword lightly. With effortless movements, the long sword danced like a dragon around her as if freed from her grip, easily catching the storm-like attacks.

Anqi likewise gripped her sword with one hand, her pale, clean little face taut as she sent her blade forward wave after wave without a pause. The unbridled sword Qi vented against the floor and walls, leaving behind terror-inspiring, bottomless gouges.

"Master, I have basically mastered the four forms and twenty-one styles of Form Resonance. Combined with the Still Water Sword Heart, there is indeed a huge improvement in combat power. But what on earth is the Soul Resonance you mentioned? I still can't comprehend it."

"Clang!"

Sword Qi scattered like the wind, shattering the ground and piercing stone.

Fu Hua looked at the Anqi before her. The churning wind ruffled the young girl's soft, light blonde hair, giving off a lively and playful vibe. This made the corners of Fu Hua's mouth turn up in a soft smile as she parried and spoke:

"The Dao of the sword has countless variations, while the sword itself is merely a dependent object. The secret of Soul Resonance is to make all manner of weapons become like the sword in your hand—meaning the sword exists in your heart, unrestrained by sword form. Only then can one be said to have achieved mastery of swordsmanship."

"What Master is saying is so abstract! Take this attack from me: Sword Transformation, Flying Falcon!"

The oncoming sword blade suddenly split in Fu Hua's eyes, light as the wind, nimble as a bird, thrusting toward the center of her brow in the blink of an eye.

Fu Hua felt a warmth in her heart and waved her long sword.

"Swish!"

"Boom!"

Anqi's body violently recoiled. She glanced at her trembling palm and puffed out her cheeks angrily.

Fu Hua let out a light breath and said with a smile:

"Barely acceptable; it still needs a lot of tempering!"

"Hmph! Try taking a few more attacks from me, Master!"

"Don't be impatient. Impatience of the mind is the greatest taboo in Taixu Sword Qi. An impatient mind causes the sword heart to gather dust, and once the sword heart is in disarray, you cannot fully control your True Qi. All subsequent sword strikes will lose their power. The so-called Soul Resonance... simply put, it means practicing and thinking more, drilling Form Resonance until the sword follows the mind, while constantly and diligently cultivating the sword heart. You will naturally come to understand it gradually."

"Then what is Intent Resonance, Master?"

"Intent Resonance is not a move; it requires a special sword vessel, resonating with the sword so that man and sword become one. You don't need to worry about this. When the time comes, you will naturally have the chance to try."

A special sword vessel meant the Xuanyuan Sword, which was the Key of Domination, right? Anqi didn't show it on her surface, but she muttered inwardly.

And after chatting like this for half a day, she finally fulfilled her wish and asked the question she cared about most:

"And what about the final Divine Resonance, Master?"

"Divine Resonance, ah..."

Fu Hua parried the sword Qi swung by Anqi, her gaze turning hazy for a moment before she sighed softly. With incredible speed and angle, her sword rested against Anqi's neck in the blink of an eye.

Anqi froze in place instantly.

Anqi hadn't understood that move at all.

While Anqi was still immersed in the wonder of that move, Fu Hua reached out, crooked her finger, and lightly flicked Anqi's forehead.

"Little girl has a pretty big ambition, hasn't she? Your sword heart has just entered the threshold, and your sword form isn't skilled yet, yet you come asking me about the sword god? Aiming too high and neglecting the basics—that calls for punishment!"

"Master!"

Anqi puffed out her cheeks and stamped her foot in annoyance.

Fu Hua knew that if she couldn't pacify her, this little disciple would soon change into an obedient, clinging, and cute persona, then hug her and keep acting spoiled with that sweet-enough-to-cloy little mouth.

Fu Hua took a step back and said helplessly:

"Fine, fine, I'm afraid of you! Divine Resonance is a sword of the heart that integrates True Qi strength, mental strength, and willpower into an all-encompassing whole. One must at least reach the fourth level of the sword heart to have a chance of touching the minimum requirement. Yet historically, no more than two or three people have ever mastered Divine Resonance; even reaching the highest level of the sword heart might not be enough, so don't hold your hopes too high."

The so-called Divine Resonance certainly possessed infinite might capable of breaking energy limits, but the prerequisite for executing it was an unimaginably high amount of Honkai Energy and mental power.

That was why the fourth level of the sword heart was required—to control the maximum degree of Honkai Energy, driven by the most steadfast sword heart.

'However, if it were a Herrscher, perhaps they wouldn't need a sword heart at all. They possess a sufficient volume of Honkai Energy inherently, and could probably force it to activate as long as their willpower is enough—goodness, what am I thinking? How could I possibly teach a Herrscher the Taixu Sword Rage Qi?'

Fu Hua laughed despite herself, finding her sudden whimsical idea rather absurd.

At that moment, Fu Hua looked down and saw Anqi gently tugging at her sleeve, gazing up at her earnestly with sparkling, watery eyes as she said:

"But Master definitely hopes I'll learn it, right? I know it, I can feel it!"

Anqi blinked her eyes and smiled proudly.

Fu Hua was stunned, then her expression softened as she gently stroked the top of Anqi's head, saying:

"As your master, of course I hope you surpass me. But you shouldn't feel any pressure either; no matter what, you are my proud disciple... Come to think of it, when did we start calling each other master and disciple so naturally?"

I clearly hadn't intended to take any disciples!

Fu Hua's mouth twitched, and she lowered her head with a headache.

Meanwhile, Anqi intimately wrapped her arms around Fu Hua's arm, rubbing against her developing, soft chest with a cute smile:

"I'll take good care of Master in the future! Master, stop being so shy; you taught brilliantly, you're the best master in the world!"

"Not quite, I only did my best. Mainly, you've worked hard."

"Master is too modest! Let's go, let's go, I asked Sister Mei to buy a lot of ingredients today, I'm going to cook for Master!"

"Hey, wait a minute, yesterday and the day before and the day before that, I ate at your place every time. How about we skip today..."

Fu Hua's pretty face displayed a trace of hesitation as she whispered her resistance.

Rationally, Fu Hua didn't want to have overly deep contact with others, especially since Anqi and the others' household included Kiana as a surveillance target.

Yet the warmth from Anqi wrapping around her arm, alongside that sweet "Master" called out time and time again, made Fu Hua's resistance seem so insincere. Toward Anqi's closeness, Fu Hua always subconsciously wanted to resist, yet ultimately found herself powerless to do so.

Fu Hua hadn't even realized that when she was being dragged forward by Anqi against her will, her helpless expression always carried a trace of a faint smile unawares—a feeling both tender and nostalgic.

'Anqi, can someone like me truly become your master? Getting too close to me will only bring misfortune...'

A wave of sour, indescribable emotion stirred in Fu Hua's heart. She knew that memories would fade, but the lingering pain of continually losing those by her side was something that always remained.

"Master, what are you sighing for?"

"Nothing, it's just... thank you, Anqi."

"Hm?"