The promised third collapse, where is it?!!

Fu Li, squatting on the ground, was constantly searching through four-dimensional space.

Kiana, with an impatient expression, didn't stop him at all.

This beautiful scene, was reflected in the girl's hopeful eyes without reservation.

What you thought was a tree-lined path was actually bustling with traffic. - Shakespeare

Upon seeing this, Mei was instantly struck by lightning and petrified.

She slowly raised her head, gazing at Fu Li and Kiana, who were also looking at her, like a robot. In an tone of disbelief and ethereal vagueness, she said:

"What the hell is that?"

What the hell is that?

Chapter 36: "Chuunibyou Girl Mei Mei"

On the night of the full moon, atop Kunlun Mountain, a sword descended from the heavens, an immortal strike from beyond the stars.

- This was the truest thought in the hearts of the swordsmen who were fortunate enough to witness the duel between Ximen Chuixue and White Cloud City Lord Ye Gucheng.

So strange, it feels like reason and art were shattered and then kneaded together with humor, steamed with confusion, and when tasted, it was three parts madness, five parts absurdity, and two parts torment, lingering in the mind.

- This was the truest thought in Raiden Mei's mind as she arrived at the rooftop and witnessed their interaction.

Though their thoughts seemed vastly different, in essence, they could be summarized by a single word:

"Huh?"

Yet, this was more than just a single word; it was a sentence, vividly and accurately expressing Fu Li's surprise and shock upon seeing Mei.

It was like in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms," when Boss Cao's assassination attempt on Dong Zhuo failed, and Lu Bu pursued him on his adoptive father's orders.

The two chased each other for thirty miles under the moon. Just as Boss Cao was about to escape, his steed Jueying suddenly turned its head on its own, carrying him to Chitu and asking, "Hey buddy, any good pastures around here?"

Boss Cao's thoughts were likely along the lines of grass.

Fu Li's were too.

"Mei, Mei, Mei, Mei, Mei, Mei! Why are you here at this time?!"

"Idiot, wasn't it me who asked you to call her?"

"Of course I knew you asked me to call! I meant why did she get here so fast!"

Kiana, however, felt as if the sky had suddenly collapsed.

It was the kind of feeling where one moment you've eaten a legendary death-defying dish from Imperial Britain, and the next, you're being pummeled repeatedly by a hundred Platinum Stars, yet you somehow possess Combat Endurance EX and refuse to die.

It was truly like Picasso's Mother bringing Picasso home to visit her family – so abstract it reached his grandmother's house.

"How would I know why she got here so fast?" Fu Li, his head throbbing, couldn't help but raise his voice. "And hurry up and spread your legs! You're [Shenzhou profanity] pinching my head!"

His head had been buried between Kiana's slender, long legs. When the unfortunate boy flinched, she clamped her legs shut, instantly making him see stars and suffer immensely.

This girl wasn't like Fu Li, who needed the Demonic Blade · Unknown Fire to amplify his power. Her B-rank breakthrough was a constant, all-around boost.

In a moment of tension, she couldn't control her strength, and Fu Li almost died from the clamp that could crush an elephant, becoming the first unfortunate reborn to have his head crushed by a white-haired beautiful girl's thighs!

Speaking of which, would that be considered embarrassing?

"Oh, oh!"

The girl, in her Hobe Shiro persona, also noticed an unusual sensation in a certain area and quickly relaxed her grip, letting him out.

Freed from mortal danger, Fu Li's eyes were unfocused. He tried to stand up straight, stared at Mei's ethereal expression, and suddenly blurted out, "Whose subordinate is this? Bring me the time machine quickly!"

"A Li, don't scare me, A Li! I was counting on you to use your invincible Memory Eraser to find a solution!"

Kiana was so frightened she hugged him and shook him vigorously. The worry in her eyes was undeniably genuine, genuine in every sense of the word.

"Stop shaking me, stop shaking me! If you keep shaking, my brain will turn into mush!"

With her shaking, Fu Li's head felt much clearer.

"The Memory Eraser doesn't work on those with internal energy circulation abilities," he said, clutching his throbbing temples with a fierce glare. "Since it's come to this, there's only one option: amnesia (physical)!"

As he spoke, he pulled out the 28cm long, protrusion-covered Memory Eraser from his pocket and swung it with great force, intending to perform minor brain surgery on Mei.

"You're clearly not normal yet!" Kiana quickly hugged him from behind. "Mei, run! If you don't run, A Li's going to light up your head and open a skylight!"

After her repeated warnings, the girl, whose worldview had been shattered, finally snapped back to reality.

"No! It's okay! I'm interrupting your good time! I didn't expect you two to have such a close relationship!"

Regrettably, her statement was not just contrary to Kiana's expectations, but could be said to be completely off the mark.

"A close relationship." Fu Li chewed on the phrase, his curiosity piqued. "Kiana, is she trying to make a dirty joke?"

It was obvious she hadn't recovered her senses.

"It's a dirty joke just starting! You stay put, young lady!" Kiana snapped at him before turning to Mei, her tone becoming aggrieved again. "Mei, listen to my explanation, it really wasn't what you saw just now!"

"No need to say more! I understand! I wish you both happiness!"

Many cases have proven that people, instead of becoming discerning due to education, will stubbornly believe their own views are correct simply because they have received an education.

Therefore, Mei waved her hand, uttered a parting blessing, and turned to leave.

Bang!

A sheathed longsword sliced through the air, grazing Mei and embedding itself casually into the fire door in front of her.

Several loops of tape were wrapped around the center of the scabbard, seemingly a makeshift patch applied by its owner after a great battle. Indeed, that was precisely the case.

Seeing this, the girl stopped and slowly turned around.

She stared intently at Fu Li, who had retracted his throwing stance, her hand resting on the hilt of the wooden sword she carried for self-defense.

"You—are you really Fu Li?"

The previous clamor vanished, replaced by an atmosphere of solemnity and vigilance.

Mei understood and knew Kiana's situation; Kiana was a year younger but far surpassed her in strength.

She confided many things to Kiana because, in essence, they were from the same world.

Fu Li was not.

He was just an ordinary person.

An ordinary person approaching Mei, especially a Chinese person transferring in, would be targeted by those 'classmates' with a hundred percent certainty.

Thus, despite harboring feelings of seeing Fu Li as a half-friend, Mei maintained a decidedly cold demeanor towards him.

She only acknowledged him occasionally, making him seem slightly better than a stranger from Fu Li's perspective.

Yet, this ordinary Fu Li had suddenly erupted with swordsmanship and strength far surpassing her own, just now.

She, Raiden Mei, was a Menkyo Kaiden of Hokushin Itto-ryu!

Even her strict father highly approved of her talent in swordsmanship!

To surpass her like this overnight!

Could it be...

"Could it be, Fu Li, you..."

Her porcelain-white teeth bit down on her lower lip as the girl inquired in a probing tone, "—have inherited the swordsmanship of some senior Sword Saint?"

That's right, Raiden Mei was that exceptional.

If she were on certain "pink" apps, she'd be tagged with "Ojou-sama," "Senpai," "JK," "Ice Queen," "Queen," "Black Over-the-Knee Socks," "Goddess of Breasts," and other such phrases that screamed "moe."

However, this perfect her possessed a mysterious tag known only to a select few.

That tag was chuunibyou.

Chapter 37: "Dead Memories Suddenly Attack Me"

Raiden Mei had chuunibyou.

Even if she hid it well, perhaps this young lady from the noble Raiden family didn't even know what chuunibyou was.

Based on her daily actions, both intentional and unintentional, she was undeniably a chuunibyou patient in severe condition.

There was a slight difference here; for someone like Mei, who had been exposed to the Honkai since childhood, it was inevitable that her personality would lean towards what others considered chuunibyou.

To give a simple example: Fu Li, as a child, would brandish his sword and bully the village children, but he could only bully them.

He couldn't unleash sword energy or vanquish evil.

Mei was different; having practiced Hokushin Itto-ryu since childhood, she could actually achieve what Fu Li had only dreamed of.

Chuunibyou?

If one could actually do it, what was the point of calling it chuunibyou?

That was called "speaking your mind and acting on it," "unity of knowledge and action"!

But the problem was, Mei was too much of a "unity of knowledge and action" person.

Taking the aforementioned Hokushin Itto-ryu as an example, this ancient sword art was created by the Far East Sword Saint "Hokushin Wakashu Mei," who was active during the Warring States period, combining it with numerous Eastern styles. Its ultimate techniques were the extreme sword forms and the core ability, Tenran.

These sword forms originally had simple and elegant names, fully embodying the concept of having both style and substance.

However, in Mei's hands, everything changed...

Sanzu Kokaku became First Form: Divine Speed · Takemikazuchi...

Shiso Danna became Second Form: Soul Blade · Mutan Jin'ou...

Hachirai Kōto became Third Form: Hunting Red Leaves · Yaoyorozu no Kami...

Kōyō Shigeki · Mankei Ikkū became Final Form: Tsumugari · Kamiyo Nanayo...

Last week, Mei had attempted to teach this ancestral sword art to Fu Li, and during that lesson, she had explained the origins of these move names.

Teacher Mei spoke very earnestly, her delicate lips parting and closing, and her specially chosen teacher's outfit of a white shirt and black stockings was also quite alluring.

Fu Li, however, felt as though he had been repeatedly struck by his own dark past.

"Help! I haven't been chuunibyou for years! Why are these dead memories crawling back to attack me?"

The worst part about this girl is that she absolutely has to announce her move names during combat. When she gets really hyped, she'll even shout "I'm MEI!"

In her words, it's a sign of respect for both her enemies and herself, an ancestral teaching passed down by her Hokushin ancestors.

Then she demanded that Fu Li do the same, claiming that since he was learning Hokushin Itto-ryu, he had to inherit the Raiden family's customs.

Fu Li's face was full of reluctance at the time. He thought to himself, If you respect your ancestors so much, does she know you've changed the names of her legacy techniques into flamboyant, eye-catching phrases? Is the ancestral law of quantum superposition unchangeable?

Still, he readily agreed. It was free, extraordinary ancient swordsmanship. A little chuunibyou wouldn't hurt; practicality was the most important thing.

Unfortunately, just a few days after the specific lessons began, St. Freya had a minor incident, forcing Mei to leave while Fu Li had only grasped the general framework.

The next time they met, she had already joined World Serpent.

Not only had her strength surged to S-rank, but she had also become incredibly busy.

Furthermore, Fu Li had already developed his own combat style by then, combining Hokushin Itto-ryu, Fleeting Slash (which was Sakura Bloom), and the Taixu Form he'd observed, among other sword concepts. His need for the original version was no longer as strong.

One-sided affection, mutual disinterest – the matter naturally fell through.

Therefore, even if Mei's reaction was different from Kiana's suspicion, Fu Li wasn't too surprised.

Given her personality, suspecting he'd gained immense power through an affair was perfectly normal for her.

"Ah, yes, yes, yes."

He gave a perfunctory reply and beckoned with an empty hand.

The Crescent Moon, which had pierced through the fire door, hummed and returned to his hand, sheath and all.

"I obtained the inheritance of an ancient sword saint by chance. All this strength was bestowed upon me by him through a moment of enlightenment."

Right, I'll use this excuse for Kiana later too.