Asakami?! Oh, then it's fine.

Then, at the sight before her, her once-firm gaze suddenly wavered.

A sword had been casually tossed aside. The ground was drenched in blood. Fu Yuan lay in the corner without a response, a cut still visible on his neck, his once-gorgeous clothes reduced to tatters.

Fu Hua desperately wanted to rush over and hold him, but she quickly crushed that thought.

Because of Demonic Possession.

The sword in her hand gradually filled with Honkai energy. This was her mission.

Fu Hua slowly closed her eyes.

I'm sorry, A Yuan!

When she opened them again, the confusion in her eyes was gone, leaving only emptiness.

The sword in her hand began to hum softly, and even the mountain winds changed direction. Against a Herrscher, one had to kill with a single blow. That was a lesson paid for with countless predecessors' experience.

Fu Hua suddenly dodged to the side and watched Su Mei's sword pierce the spot where she had just stood. She was not angry; there was only an added trace of desolation in her eyes.

"There was no other way..."

Su Mei paid no attention to what her master had said. She merely stared in despair at Fu Yuan, covered in wounds.

After a long while, she slowly walked over and embraced Fu Yuan. Yet Fu Yuan, who had completely shut off his senses, noticed nothing.

Letting the surrounding Honkai energy erode her body, she simply held the person in her arms in despair.

"If it's Master, adding one more later shouldn't be difficult, right?"

Looking at Fu Yuan, who seemed already dead, guilt, regret, and despair gradually filled Su Mei's heart.

"..." Reason told Fu Hua that she should pull Su Mei back now, but in the end, she did not move. She merely watched silently before finally taking Chao Yu down the mountain.

I'm going to have to risk my life.

Fu Hua silently apologized to her friend in her heart. This time, she might have to forget everything.

She knew Constraint well. In the Previous Era, it had been the Herrscher that caused humanity the greatest terror, and the one humanity had been most helpless against. Though its destructive power was not as high as the Herrschers before it.

It was still not something her current self could handle. Fortunately, she had Yu Du Chen. She could still offer him her final tenderness.

"Junior Brother..." Su Mei trembled as she slowly touched Fu Yuan's face, stroking the wound on his neck.

For the first time, she felt regret.

When Fu Yuan opened his eyes, he saw Su Mei covered in purple markings. He tried to move, only to realize he was being held tightly.

Somewhat puzzled, he reached out to caress her face, pressed his own face against hers, and slowly rubbed against Su Mei's face, which had become almost bewitchingly beautiful.

"Senior Sister...?"

For the first time, Fu Yuan truly used his power, erasing the dangerously excessive Honkai energy from his Senior Sister's body until Su Mei gradually stabilized.

"Senior Sister, I choose you." After saying that, Fu Yuan suddenly smiled and gazed gently at Su Mei, whose furrowed brow was slowly relaxing.

Looking at his Senior Sister, whose internal meridians were already riddled with damage, Fu Yuan realized that he truly could not bring himself to hate her. In the end, he suddenly laughed as he looked at the face so familiar to him.

"I forgive you, Senior Sister..." Without caring whether Su Mei heard him, Fu Yuan slowly loosened his Senior Sister's tight embrace, then gently kissed her cheek.

Then he activated his power with all his strength.

Divine Grace Barrier

The Honkai energy that had been raging before vanished as though it had encountered its natural enemy. Soon, Taixu Mountain returned to how it had been before.

No, the Honkai energy was far cleaner than before.

Fu Yuan stood and began familiarizing himself with his current body. Then he picked up his Senior Sister in both arms and unhurriedly walked down the mountain.

Then he saw his master standing halfway down the mountain, holding the Xuanyuan Sword he had found years ago, calmly watching him.

"Master, if I said I'm fine now, would you believe me?"

Fu Yuan's previously cheerful face suddenly turned troubled. Looking at his fully armed master, his expression became rather colorful.

As though it understood his feelings, the Stigma that had appeared on his body from nowhere began operating on its own. As the Stigma activated.

The bewitching traits on Fu Yuan's body gradually faded. His pupils returned to their original black, and his clothes became a tattered Daoist robe.

Feeling the changes in himself and looking at his master's stunned expression, Fu Yuan repeated himself.

"I'm back, Master!"

P.S. Let me explain here why Fu Hua was said to be unable to defeat the current Constraint.

It was mentioned before that Herrschers corresponded to human civilization, and Constraint corresponded to extraordinary abilities.

In the Previous Era, Fire Moth—the largest organization resisting Honkai, and the only one left in the later period—launched the Kindling Project, preserving the strongest group of Fusion Warriors and scattering them across the world.

At the same time, they forcibly instilled all scientific knowledge into them, hoping they could develop rapidly and inherit their will.

Civilization did not develop quickly due to various conditions, but those warriors themselves represented the peak of the Extraordinary Realm. As time passed, they continued growing stronger.

(Fusion Warriors can live forever.)

Therefore, in the Extraordinary Realm, one could never judge by averages. The Herrscher of Binding would not be weaker than it had been in the Previous Era. It could probably pin Certain Six-Core down and beat him senseless.

"I never expected Senior Sister to make me experience it all over again."

Fu Yuan sat calmly atop the mountain within the Stigma, looking at his Senior Sister, who had long since awakened. He found it hard to believe. How had she dared?

"?Wasn't this what you asked me to see?"

Su Mei's expression suddenly became interesting. She had originally thought it was merely a small grudge from that particular form, so she had said nothing. After all, she had been the one at fault.

But seeing Fu Yuan's current reaction, Su Mei felt that he did not seem to be lying.

"?What kind of madness would possess me to make you watch something like that?"

Fu Yuan found things suddenly interesting. The two simply stared at each other wide-eyed.

Fu Yuan silently guessed who could possess the ability to browse through this part of his memories without his knowledge.

Gaia, the consciousness of Earth, was probably not responsible. He had no intention of obtaining the Third Magic. If she had seen his memories, she should not have done something like this.

Which meant Alaya, humanity's collective unconscious! But that made no sense either. He had not endangered the survival of human order, so he should not have affected it.

Su Mei did not think as much as he did. She merely silently checked her current condition.

Then she suddenly laughed. Once she had finished laughing, she looked at her Junior Disciple Brother's puzzled face.

She did not intend to keep him in suspense any longer and directly told him what she had discovered.

"Spirit Core."

She merely uttered those two simple words. Looking at Fu Yuan's stunned expression, she found it amusing, though she was also somewhat helpless.

They shared a single Spirit Core. In other words, the Spirit Core was damaged now. Well... shared memories were only a minor problem. Who knew what else might happen?

Asagami? Then It's Fine.

Fu Yuan's expression instantly froze. Sharing memories with a beautiful girl might seem like a wonderful thing to others.

But! Their memories had already been shared long ago. That was one of the reasons their current relationship was so delicate.

In other words, sharing them again would merely make them relive those memories once more. There would be no delightful surprises in it.

Su Mei did not have any strong feelings about the situation. She was already dead, so why care about something like this?

Fu Yuan rubbed his stiff little face and smiled helplessly.

"Well, this really is something. Senior Sister, I'll head out first. It's about time."

After saying that, Fu Yuan shrugged. But before leaving.

He stepped forward and fiercely hugged his Senior Sister. Under her somewhat surprised gaze, he took a deep breath of her scent.

"Whew... I feel refreshed!"

Fu Yuan stretched lazily and spoke with obvious comfort.

"Looks like A Yuan slept well." Irisviel watched his relaxed appearance and inexplicably felt at ease as well.

"Mm! The ending was nice!" Recalling what had happened earlier, Fu Yuan readily admitted it.

Irisviel blinked in confusion. The ending was nice? What did that mean?

"By the way, Irisviel, have we arrived?" Fu Yuan looked at the unfamiliar neighborhood and directly asked.

"Hmm~ Didn't you notice there was one more person in the car, A Yuan?"

Seeing that Fu Yuan had not noticed the additional passenger at all, Irisviel became somewhat interested in his sensory mechanisms.

"Hm?" Only then did Fu Yuan slowly react and look toward the back seat.

Hmm~ Purple hair, red eyes, a Takeuchi Face, and! Those are breasts, right? Those are breasts, right? She doesn't even look older than me!

"Irisviel, this is illegal!" Seeing that the girl in the back seat already had such considerable breasts at her age, Fu Yuan immediately looked at Irisviel with concern.

Would the future Illya inherit yours?

"?Illegal? A Yuan, what exactly is going on inside your head?"

"Obviously, I'm just giving her a ride home, okay?"

Irisviel shot him a helpless glance. This A Yuan! He was always thinking of strange things all day long.

Fu Yuan turned his head away, pretending he had heard nothing.

Then he looked at the expressionless girl in the back seat and felt that things were not so simple.

Irisviel was driving, Irisviel Number Two lay in the back seat, yet this purple-haired girl showed no curiosity whatsoever.

Interesting!

Fu Yuan's interest was piqued. It seemed he had found today's entertainment.

"Um, what's your name?" Fu Yuan first adjusted his expression, revealing a gentle smile, then asked in a very soft voice.

The girl raised her head at him in confusion, but did not react.

After staring blankly for a while, only when Fu Yuan's expression was about to freeze did the girl expressionlessly raise a finger and point at herself.

"Are you asking me?"

Her tone was equally calm, as though what stood before her was not worth expressing any emotion over.

Fu Yuan suddenly began doubting himself. Had his face been ruined?

Still, he quickly recovered. Looking at the girl who could only be called expressionless, he asked again in a gentle voice.

"Yes, may I know your name?"

The girl nodded somewhat blankly, then calmly recited her information as though reporting a number.

"My name is Asagami Fujino."

Fu Yuan blinked, feeling that he might have misheard.

"You said Asagami?"

The girl's expression remained unchanged as she calmly added.

"Asagami. But if you want to gain more benefits through that name... that man does not value me."

"Asagami? That fallen Exorcist Family?"

Irisviel suddenly interjected, then watched the girl who completely ignored A Yuan's appearance through the rearview mirror with interest.

"?Exorcist Family?"

Fujino clearly had no idea what she was talking about, and a puzzled expression appeared on her face.

Seeing that Takeuchi Face finally show an expression, Fu Yuan's mouth twitched. So I wasn't even as important as that piece of information!

"Hmm~ Asagami!"

Fu Yuan did not care much about that, though. Instead, he sat there and began thinking.

Fujino curiously watched the white-haired beauty driving. As for the identical person lying beside her, she was somewhat curious about her too.

She was still capable of curiosity. She merely could not feel pain, not lacked emotions entirely, though the two were indeed somewhat related.