The promised third collapse, where is it?!!

Someone thought carelessly.

"Just as I thought!"

Mei's eyes lit up, her expression becoming a little impatient.

She lowered the hand resting on the hilt of her sword and walked towards them with swift steps.

A figure quickly blocked her path.

"No! Mei! Do you believe him or do you believe I'm Qin Shi Huang?"

Kiana was completely exasperated. Fu Li's reasoning couldn't even fool a three-year-old.

"I believe him," the girl said without hesitation. "Qin Shi Huang is male, and Kiana, you can't be Qin Shi Huang."

"What if I am?" Kiana said earnestly. "Besides, Mei, look, isn't it popular now to confiscate the belongings of historical figures? King Arthur has become a blonde moe girl, so why can't the First Emperor be a woman?"

"Are you going off-topic?" Fu Li interjected sarcastically. "And how dare you assume Qin Shi Huang's gender? Perhaps in some worldline, the First Emperor was asexual, merged with Afang Palace to achieve mechanical ascension, with the satellite Great Wall and space-based kinetic orbital cannons as their Noble Phantasms."

"Hiss—!" Kiana gasped. "Whose subordinate is this?!"

"It doesn't matter whose subordinate he is," Fu Li pushed her aside and stepped in front of Mei. "We're going on an adventure to a certain place, and we're currently recruiting teammates for it."

"I'll join!"

Mei declared firmly, her gaze unwavering.

"Mei, won't you reconsider?"

Although she had been eagerly looking forward to Mei joining them, Kiana felt a pang of jealousy when she saw Mei so decisively accept Fu Li's invitation.

She nudged Fu Li aside and turned to face Mei's amethyst eyes. "I know A Li a little. If he's even thinking about finding teammates, it won't be for anything trivial!"

This girl had witnessed Fu Li meticulously scheme against Miko Ling from beginning to end last night, and his calm demeanor was deeply imprinted in her mind.

Mei was, after all, only a relatively outstanding C-rank. The probability of her getting into trouble participating in such an adventure was definitely not small.

Chapter 38: "With Mei by my side, it's like having the strength of a hundred people."

The sky was high and the clouds were thin, the wind was gentle, and the sun was warm. The clouds were as soft as a young girl's legs, bringing a sense of comfort at a glance.

Among the three on the rooftop of Senba Academy, the girls in amethyst and pure white were facing off, while Fu Li, apparently tired of standing, conjured a Shadow Blade plastic chair and sat on it, holding his sword.

Facing her friend's concern, Mei smiled slightly. "I remember you saying, Kiana, that with Mei by your side, it's like having the strength of a hundred people."

Someone quipped from the side, "That's right, that's right! With ten Meis by your side, it's like having the power of the Herrscher of Domination!"

"Shut up! Let Mei speak!" the white-haired furball glared angrily.

"Then what else is there to say?" Fu Li rested his chin on his hand, bored. "Isn't it just about friendship, passion, bonds, and so on? After a lecture, both sides smile, make peace, and welcome the future battles together."

He spread his hands. "Anyway, the outcome won't change, so why waste so much breath?"

"Uh..."

Mei was rendered speechless by his abrupt theory. After all, his words were logical and perfectly aligned with how things would unfold.

Kiana was not as easily dealt with. "What do you know! This is love!"

She hugged Mei, her legs kicking up like a fawn's, and pressed her face against Mei's ample bosom, which was far more developed than that of girls her age. "Hmph hmph, a mere A Li definitely wouldn't understand the importance we hold in each other's eyes. Even if there were a little doubt, we would communicate seriously to avoid misunderstandings!"

Mei pushed him away twice, but he was too strong to be moved.

She could only sigh and shake her head at Fu Li, indicating that she was not a yuri.

"I truly don't understand love, nor do I understand what it's like to be in a relationship," Fu Li admitted honestly and apologized. "In my opinion, dating without the intention of marriage is hooliganism. Monsters like us could die at any moment, and starting a family would be irresponsible to our partners."

This wasn't a spur-of-the-moment fabrication, but his genuine thoughts after entering the Honkai side.

Everyone here was a desperate soul living on the edge of a blade; there was no need to disrupt the peaceful lives of others.

"Oh, this..."

Hearing such heartfelt words, Kiana's actions of taking advantage became awkward.

She let go of Mei and sheepishly scratched the back of her head. "So, so, A Li, you think like that..."

True sincerity could be a critical hit. If Fu Li had responded with, "I love your mom's hemp rope!" Kiana could have treated him like a defeated rival and let him rant and rave.

However, with these words, Kiana herself appeared petty and narrow-minded, only caring about the present and not others' feelings.

Moreover...

'He's not pursuing me anymore, could it be because of this?'

Such thoughts filled the girl's mind, making her dazed for a while?

No, not really.

Because Fu Li, whose strength was unknown and who grew stronger when facing stronger opponents, that mouth of his, which guaranteed mediocrity and had boundless potential, started up again.

"I'm not using these words to provoke Kiana's feelings, nor do I have any intention of elevating myself and belittling others," he said meaningfully. "I'm not pursuing her simply because I don't think much of her current self. Even if I hadn't obtained the inheritance of the ancient sword saint, I would have given up on that smelly white-haired yuri lesbian whose head is full of muscles, ravaged by the Scarlet Emperor's corruption."

"Smelly A Li! You!"

Although Fu Li hadn't explicitly named her, Kiana felt incredibly angry!

I want to beat him up severely! To bite down hard on the opponent's most vulnerable spot with sharp teeth!

Seeing that these two nemeses were about to have another big fight on the rooftop, Raiden Mei, who was set up as a cool and aloof young lady, quickly ran over like a worried mother to separate them:

"Alright, alright, stop arguing. Let's discuss the many matters of our expedition."

Unfortunately, her actions, which were meant to be a de-escalator, only had the opposite effect. It was like gunpowder and gasoline were at each other's throats, and a lighter insisted on running over to break up the fight.

And so, the verbal dispute officially escalated into a full-blown brawl.

27 March, 10:04 AM

"Hey! A Li!"

Kiana drew the Galaxy Bat from beneath her skirt and slung it over her shoulder.

She waved, her fighting spirit soaring: "Your days of showing off are over. I've always been curious, who is the strongest between us two right now."

"It's hard to say, after all, we've only teamed up to repel the sealed Kikyo."

Fu Li stood up, and the plastic chair formed from the Shadow Blade beneath him degraded in the wind.

"However, I believe I will ultimately come out on top."

Kiana smirked wickedly: "I knew you'd say that."

(Meaningless drumbeat)

"It's time to end this, Kiana, once and for all."

Fu Li picked up Mikazuki Munechika. With a push of his thumb, the blade unsheathed.

(Meaningless drumbeat)

"Hmph~"

"Hmph~"

"Huh?"

The meaningless drumbeat was interrupted by a light sigh from a third party. Mei approached Fu Li, who had drawn Mikazuki and was in a ready stance, and traced the patterns on the blade with her fingertips.

"This stance is... a single slash to sever?"

As the daughter of the ME Inc. president and holding a certain status in the Far East, Mei used to mingle in so-called high society circles.

Therefore, she immediately recognized that the weapon Fu Li was using was the renowned Mikazuki Munechika, which should have been preserved in the Far East National Museum.

However, more than that, the young lady was more interested in the sword-drawing stance Fu Li instinctively took.

That was the Raiden family's secret ultimate technique, the starting stance of Hokushin Itto-ryu—Floating World of Three Thousand, Severed by a Single Slash.

On the rooftop, beneath the white clouds.

Mei raised her flawless face and gazed at the boy standing close by with a curious expression, as if asking why you are using the unique ancient sword art of the Raiden family?

The girl was quite tall, standing at 1.72m, only half a head shorter than Fu Li.

As she leaned in, Fu Li didn't even need to lower his head to see Mei's delicate eyelashes fluttering like butterfly wings.

He raised an eyebrow.

Not only because of Ms. Kiana, the white-haired woman in the distance, who was constantly exuding dark malice, but also because of Mei's words just now.

Many martial arts novels contain such content: onlookers can discern the protagonist's master from a few scattered moves.

It might seem difficult to understand at first glance, but the fact is, as soon as one mentions a middle part and suspender pants, people instinctively think of the Kun Style derived from that Ji Ni Tai Mei.

Even if the user isn't equipped with the iconic trainee idol set of the Kun Style, the moment they turn, bend their knees, and do an oblique shoulder bump, countless cheerful comments like 'Miss you, Lao Kun,' 'Ji Ni Tai Mei,' 'Oh, what are you doing,' and 'Why put chicken essence in fried noodles?' would still flash across the screen.

For this reason, even though Fu Li only used the initial stance of the slash, Mei still recognized the similarity of the move to Hokushin Itto-ryu at a glance.

And if the girl hadn't interrupted the 'battle' between Fu Li and Kiana, she would have been incredibly surprised to discover:

Cut, sweep, chop, slash, point, stab, lift, slice, hang, cut, press, push, pierce, collapse, entwine, wrap, intercept, stir, hide... In every move and every stance of Fu Li, she could see a similar shadow of herself.

The reason for this is simple.

After all, even in just a few short days, Mei's guidance in the previous loop was the first time in Fu Li's life that he was systematically taught advanced swordsmanship by a master.

Coupled with the fact that Fu Li hadn't yet formed his own fighting style at the time, he had indeed largely referenced Mei's family heirloom, Hokushin Itto-ryu, in his sword technique construction.

As the saying goes: The first time... the first time often influences a person's entire life?

It's probably something like that.

But the problem was that Mei herself definitely didn't know this. In her eyes, Fu Li had clearly learned her family's secret technique from somewhere.

According to the rotten traditions of ancient families/sects, this could range from severing tendons and crippling martial arts at the lightest, to marrying into the Raiden family and becoming Mei's husband at the heaviest!

Huh? The latter doesn't sound too bad?

Chapter 39: "No Dinner at the Raiden Family Today"

Marrying into the Raiden family certainly sounded charming, but don't forget, he, Fu, had righteously declared that he didn't want to disrupt their peaceful lives.

How am I supposed to get out of this...

The person involved hugged their sword and fell into thought.

"Heh heh~"

As if seeing through his struggle, Mei let out a dark, light laugh.

She shrugged innocently and pitifully, looking at Fu Li with a rare trace of playful teasing in her gaze, as if she had the upper hand: "In the past, the Raiden family did have an old tradition that required outsiders who learned the true teachings of Hokushin Itto-ryu without permission to be brought back to the main family for processing."

Crack!

A sound rang out – the sound of the stone bricks beneath Kiana's feet shattering.

At first glance, it seemed like an expression of displeasure at the two of them standing too close, and she accidentally lost control of her strength.

Giving her friend, who had made a sound of reminder, a reassuring look, Mei leisurely spoke the second half of her sentence: "But I think, since the only two people in the family surnamed Raiden are no longer purely of Far Eastern nationality, this ancient precept seems to no longer have any need to be continued."

Raiden Ryoma, a graduate of the Department of Electronic and Information Engineering at the University of Tokyo, pursued further studies at Caltech in North America after graduation, and upon returning to Japan, founded ME Inc., building it into a world-leading multinational corporation.

This was his resume in the normal world, which had inspired countless common people to strive bravely.

These materials, however, were unaware that, on the Honkai side, this (former) president of ME Inc. also held a fearsome title—

Anti-Entropy Executor, codenamed The Entrepreneur.

It was with Anti-Entropy's overt and covert support that ME Inc. grew strong and created glory in over a decade. Because of this, when Cocolia framed Raiden Ryoma with a fabricated embezzlement case, he didn't even have the slightest chance to resist.

The referees are all my people, how can you fight me?

However, before being imprisoned, Raiden Ryoma was still a formidable figure.

His wife had passed away many years ago, yet Raiden Ryoma had not remarried.

The love this man had for his wife needed no further explanation.