Where's the promised Third Honkai?!!

So here's the question: under this kind of assault, how many of Fu Li's Shadow Blades could possibly remain?

The great fox, savoring her handiwork, curled her lips into a smirk that was all too human.

The answer: none at all.

Chapter 23: "Ling's Defeat Is Certain"

At most six or seven minutes had passed since the battle began, and Mt. Yaegama, the chosen battlefield, had already collapsed by nearly half.

Red-hot mountain rock shattered amid the jolts and tremors, coalescing into rivers of molten stone that surged through the ravines like tidal waves, as if the ancient mythical Yamata no Orochi had stretched its body, filling all eight valleys and eight hills to the brim.

Yes, this was an A-rank.

A true step onto the stage of the Honkai world, where the aftershocks of battle casually rewrite the surrounding terrain, creating in moments a landscape of power that would normally take ages to form.

"KYAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

Ling stretched her body freely, her mocking laughter echoing through the pockmarked heart of the mountain.

Peak of Law, above the world—with me, Ling, the heavens themselves bow down!

Even if that damned black-hearted, cold-blooded, bespectacled bitch locked me in the Divine Box and weakened me for a full fifty thousand years!

Even if, five hundred years ago, I fought that white-haired nun from the Kaslana family and was sealed beneath the Sessho-seki, cut off from the world!

Even if, all this time, I've been locked in a tug-of-war with the sealed Yaegama Miko's will, my strength in steep decline!

Having tasted defeat three times, I am still unmatched in this world!

"Oh? Is that so?"

As if reading Ling's thoughts from that sneering fox face, a crisp, clear voice suddenly rang out.

"Go!"

A blue lotus bloomed. Fu Li, having used Void Step to reach her side while the enemy was mindlessly unleashing her ultimate, pressed his fingers together like a sword!

This trick again? You sure you've got the juice, you scrawny mutt?

Eyeing the seven Shadow Blades hurtling toward her, Ling's gaze dripped with disdain. The wound on her belly had already healed considerably; without striking a weak point, these needle-like toys couldn't even scratch her defense!

"Sakura!"

Until that familiar technique blossomed before her eyes.

Ling saw blood-red cherry blossoms.

The current world was polarized between two dominant forces: Schicksal and Anti-Entropy.

That's not to say no other factions existed—official institutions of major nations, supernatural organizations akin to fan clubs, Russia's own Mikoyan Design Bureau, the World Serpent lurking in the shadows, biding its time...

Countless forces, large and small, were scattered across this planet like stars in the sky. Some championed justice; others were obsessed with research.

Those who championed justice still needed people to do the dirty work. Researchers who couldn't fight back still needed hands to collect data from dangerous zones.

Not to mention the many small groups of a dozen or so people, or a few dozen, who simply couldn't cover all bases. When they ran into something outside their expertise, it was 'I close my eyes, and the world goes dark~'

And so, mercenaries like Ms. Kojima Bomb Crow came into being.

Mercenaries—how convenient, right?

Give them a little reward, and they'd guard you like loyal dogs. When needed, they could tear into enemies like hyenas.

Besides, if they died, you wouldn't feel a thing. At worst, you'd lose that little down payment.

Thus, gradually, it wasn't just the mid- and small-sized organizations with incomplete supply chains. Even the big ones—even giants like Schicksal and Anti-Entropy—started frequently using mercenaries for non-critical tasks.

But of course, since it was employment, there had to be payment.

Honkai-side rewards weren't limited to money. Skills, techniques, tech products, Honkai weapons—all counted.

--Sakura was something Fu Li had exchanged from Schicksal after completing a mission.

Adjust your stance, then make a short-distance forward dash while rapidly swinging a bladed weapon to slash at the target.

The wounds inflicted would burst open after a very short time, dealing further damage to the victim.

This technique's power, skill requirement, and difficulty all fell within the C-rank range. Yet, for some reason, Schicksal had inexplicably marked it down to D-rank and placed it in the shop, available to anyone who saved up enough Crystals.

That baffled everyone. An organization like Schicksal had no such thing as 'goodwill.'

Some staff in charge of this matter had reported it up the chain, but the documents they submitted always vanished into the void, never to be heard from again.

Hence, many speculated that the original owner of Sakura must have offended some high-ranking Schicksal official, who then resorted to this price-slashing tactic to humiliate them.

Your technique's so great, huh? I'll let everyone in the world have a copy—let's see how great you still are!

But that had nothing to do with Fu Li, who was a beneficiary. Not only did it not bother him, he even secretly wished the original owner of Sakura had offended that high-ranking official even worse. If they had, maybe the price of the accompanying techniques would have been slashed too?

Truly a panda receiving a package—bamboo to the max.

But honestly, even with the Shadow Blade + Sakura combo, breaking through Ling's defense was still an uphill battle.

In truth, since the battle began, aside from the initial charged strike, Fu Li had barely managed to break Ling's defense more than a handful of times.

That was just how it was when a B-rank faced an A-rank—the fact that he was still breathing was already a testament to how much preparation Fu Li had put in before the fight.

But that was enough.

The massive wound at her abdomen healed rapidly under her inhuman regeneration, which in itself consumed a portion of Ling's Honkai Energy.

In the tangled struggle of their battle, her rage-fueled mind had done nothing to curb the energy expenditure of each and every move.

Add to that the final scorching white beam that swept across half the sky.

In plain terms, the kill threshold had been reached.

All that remained was to follow the third step of the plan—execute a devastating, super-heavy-hitting attack to finish her off swiftly.

Did Fu Li have such a means?

He did.

Wasn't the combined power of Shadow Blade and Sakura Bloom enough?

It wasn't—it could break Ling's defense, but only just barely.

What if, then, he unleashed that same technique seven times in a row, and all seven struck the exact same spot?

On the scorching, barren battlefield, with a sharp splash, a torrent of blood erupted from the wound at Ling's side.

Her gaze toward Fu Li was unreadable, and at last, battered and broken, she collapsed sideways, kicking up great clouds of dust.

When it came to the art of sword control—summoning and commanding blades;

manipulating swords to attack or defend;

channeling techniques through swords—

these three could never be lumped together carelessly.

In many films and shows, sword immortals and sword saints would casually unleash ten thousand swords that blotted out the sky, looking undeniably cool at first glance.

In truth, that method of use was far less effective than controlling a swarm of drones for precision point-targeting—it was nothing more than a mob of rabble unleashing a wild barrage.

The effect wasn't nonexistent; it had its merits for clearing trash and intimidating foes.

That was the most basic realm of sword control.

Above that lay something akin to inputting specific formulas into a drone swarm—setting a few anchor points as formation nodes, using them to guide other swords to attack or defend in unison.

Reaching this level could be considered having truly entered the halls of sword control.

What came next?

Carrying techniques through swords—letting the blade itself act as an independent floating unit to execute moves.

At that point, the caliber of sword control shot up instantly.

Even if the techniques a sword could bear were extremely limited, as long as the timing was right, it was essentially like fighting two-on-one.

At this level, the boost sword control gave to offense was hardly inferior to the widely acknowledged multi-headed, multi-armed advantage.

Someone might ask: with three heads and six arms, you gain two extra heads and four extra arms, instantly tripling combat power—how can adding just one sword compare?

It came down to potential and offensive power.

After all, no one ever said sword control was limited to a single blade.

With the talent, a sword controller could simultaneously wield two, three, or even more swords, each acting with its own awareness, executing different techniques to coordinate in battle—in layman's terms, multiple actions per turn.

Take that prodigy who inherited the name Yanqing from the Seven Swords of Taixu, for instance. Admitted into a prestigious sect, he trained in martial arts from childhood, and by the age of eight could already control six flying swords at once—a once-in-a-century genius of the sword path.

And Fu Li?

Our protagonist—how many Shadow Blades could he control at once?

Answer: Having studied the sword for only two years, he could already command seven swords simultaneously.

Seven Swords Nuclear Blast at once—that was the confidence that secured Fu Li's place as a B-rank outlier.

It was also the trump card in his plan to harvest Kikyo.

He was a freak. In the two years since he'd come into contact with the Honkai side, he'd picked up swordsmanship on the side and still surpassed that freak Number Four of Heaven, born with a sword-bone martial body.

But freak or not, when he ran into perverts who liked crushing sprouts or world-chosen cheaters with plot armor, he'd still end up giving it away for free.

Take Babar, the Herrscher of Domination, or the Herrscher of Ascension, who possessed her own will.

Chapter 24: "Fu Li's Life Is Over"

Bathing in moonlight, Fu Li raised his wrist. The residual Honkai Energy in his body gathered on the surface of Crescent Moon, blooming blade light that severed the Four-tailed Fox Demon's head.

Several Shadow Blades followed close behind, forming a Sword Qi Storm Domain that enveloped the enemy, mincing it into fine bits to ensure no chance of a resurrection.

Only then did he finally let out a breath of relief.

The fierce winds formed by high and low pressure howled across the battlefield, thick with the smell of sulfur, slamming into him and nearly sending him stumbling to the ground.

The Seven Swords Nuclear Blast just now had drained the last shred of strength from Fu Li's body. At this moment, he was like someone who'd just been wrung dry by three thousand succubi—the only thing keeping him on his feet was his steel-forged will and the temptation of claiming his spoils.

He dragged his heavy footsteps toward the fox demon's shredded flesh scattered across the ground.

"It seems you're quite eager to pick up your big sister's remains, little one~"

A magnetic whisper as intoxicating as a nightingale's song rang in his ear, causing his unfocused pupils to instantly contract into two pinpricks.

Fu Li turned his head and stared at the source of the voice with an expression of disbelief.

"I have to say, little one, in fifty thousand years, you're only the third person to push me this far."

She was a stunning cherry-haired miko with bewitching violet eyes, her skin as smooth and delicate as tasseled silk, her chest swelling like mountain peaks, her features exquisitely beautiful, and her aura utterly captivating.

A cruel smile hung at the corner of her lips as she gripped her demon blade in a pale jade hand, slowly approaching Fu Li's position.

Pre-battle setup, charged slash, Moon Ring;

Distraction tactics, countless brushes with death;

And finally, the finishing blow: Seven Swords Nuclear Blast.

Ling admitted that she had truly, truly, truly only barely avoided falling into Fu Li's hands.

But if she had to blame something, it was that final move he used—Sakura Bloom.

Genes were a wondrous thing; even after thousands or tens of thousands of years, the information inscribed within them would not disappear.

On the eve of the Previous Era's destruction, the scientists of the anti-Honkai organization Flame-Chasing Moths transcribed the stigma genes of countless elite warriors into artificial human females meant to serve as seeds, allowing them to become the mothers of a new era's humanity fifty thousand years later, thus passing down the legacy of fighting Honkai.

The Yae Sakura of five hundred years ago, trapped in that ignorant age, did not know that the stigma genes within the Yae family came from a powerful warrior named Sakura from the Previous Era.

The Yae Style swordsmanship she learned in her ignorance was, in truth, the Fleeting Slash engraved in Sakura's stigma genes.

Ling was Sakura's own younger sister. Fifty thousand years ago, her favorite thing to do was sit in the courtyard, cupping her face in her hands, smiling as she watched her big sister practice with her blade.

Perhaps it was a miracle summoned by that sister's will to protect her younger sibling—the moment Sakura Bloom—or rather, Fleeting Slash: Kushana—came into view, Ling suddenly became completely calm.