Poisoned

Vines are plants, after all, and have poor resistance to lightning. This is due to the high temperatures generated by the lightning, not the lightning attack itself.

"Sakura! Where are you?!"

More and more vines appeared. Feng Chen realized that his Honkai Energy reserves as an Intermediate Herrscher were not enough to deal with them. After all, his opponent was a Simulated Herrscher! In terms of Honkai Energy reserves alone, they definitely had far more than him.

He took off the Oni Mask and retrieved the golden cross from his inventory.

There was also a blood-red cross...

"Get lost, all of you!"

Execution Mode activated. Each swing of the cross in his hand became enormous, possessing the imposing aura of the Five Great Mountains.

With his strength, he could only swing it a few times; one or two swings were already his limit.

"""teriri is the cutest in the world!"""

Blood-red halberd blades danced. Physical damage was the most effective against the vines.

"Hahahaha!"

Was that a girl's laughter? No, it was a Herrscher!

The Honkai Energy purity within the Simulated Herrscher reached 80%. With Feng Chen's 99% Honkai Energy purity, it was entirely possible to counter-attack her. The problem was, how could he actually injure her?

Several short blades grazed Feng Chen's palm, the blood staining them looking rather terrifying.

"Whoosh!"

A short blade flew out. The Honkai Energy within the vines was only about 40% pure. It couldn't even withstand a brush with 99% pure Honkai Energy.

A large number of vines fell, temporarily clearing a path.

"Whoosh!"

"Whoosh!"

Two short blades shot out in different directions. Three paths of vines had been temporarily cleared. However, he didn't know when the Simulated Herrscher would replenish them.

"Sakura!" On one of the paths, he saw that figure clad in cherry blossom colors.

"Sword of Serenity."

He charged the short blade and swung.

In just one second, a large number of spiritual short blades erupted from the ground, impaling many vines.

Yae Sakura also found Feng Chen's location and called down Hiyori Maru, who was throwing fireballs in the air.

"Now!"

The fire element on Hiyori Maru's body condensed, eventually forming a massive pillar of fire.

"Hoo... hoo... Big sis... I can't anymore..."

"Take a break. I'll handle the rest."

Hiyori Maru looked at the many fallen vines and returned to the black box with a sigh of relief.

Invisible sword energy severed many vines. Each burst of invisible sword energy consumed a lot of Yae Sakura's stamina. Her ultimate skill, "Blade Return," couldn't be used here. That skill involved embedding sword energy into the enemy's body for a single, explosive release. These were controlled vines; destroying or cutting them made no significant difference.

Continuing this was indeed monotonous, but at least it bought time until Feng Chen arrived...

Spiritual short blades impaled many vines, including those on Yae Sakura's side. The impaled vines then disappeared one by one.

Feng Chen could have easily reached Yae Sakura using "Wind of Serenity," provided this troublesome Judas wasn't holding him back. The weight of Judas' Covenant limited him; even using "Wind of Serenity" only made him slightly faster than running.

"Shield of Serenity."

This troublesome Judas finally served a purpose: defense.

The defense provided by the combination of Shield of Serenity and Judas was powerful, comparable to Shadow Knight: Moonblade's defense when not in Eclipse Mode, paired with Shield of Serenity.

Just as Yae Sakura was attacked from both sides, a much thinner and swift vine approached her...

Feng Chen didn't know where he found the strength, but he hurled Judas' Covenant, smashing that vine.

His left palm, already cut, began to ache faintly again. It seemed he had exerted too much force just now.

Another vine struck at him. Feng Chen instinctively slapped out with his stimulated left palm.

With this slap, the entire vine not only shook but also fell directly at Feng Chen's feet.

"Congratulations to the Host for obtaining the Title: Left Hand Emperor. Title Effect: Increases the power of left-hand attacks, effective only under specific circumstances."

"What the heck is Left Hand Emperor? I'm not Gai, so why would I get such a weird title?" Although he wanted to complain about the title, now was not the time.

The Judas that was thrown out earlier seemed to have triggered something. The cross unfolded, and two golden chains flew out, entangling Feng Chen and Yae Sakura.

Then... the cross actually started running! Yes, running! Hopping!

"Has this cross become sentient? Hey, no becoming sentient after the founding of the nation!"

"Host, please calm down. This is the tracking mode of Judas' Covenant. If it were shrunk by its wielder, it could fly, but it's too large now, so it can only run like this."

"Sakura, are you alright?"

Yae Sakura looked exhausted. Although her opponent was of the same level as her, she had to admit that they were loyal to the Honkai faction and were significantly stronger than her. After all, within the Honkai faction, Yae Sakura was a traitor who had betrayed God. Therefore, her mastery of Honkai Energy was not as perfect as other Herrschers; she could only use Honkai Energy to strengthen her body.

"I'm fine, Feng Chen, how about you?"

"Of course I'm fine, I'm a Herrscher."

He said somewhat arrogantly, actually trying to hide the wound on his left hand. But the more he tried to conceal it, the more abnormal it became, directly leading Yae Sakura to discover the injury on his left hand.

"Your left hand..." Yae Sakura covered her mouth, staring wide-eyed at his left hand.

"What's wrong? My left hand is fine, it's just a small wound..."

Feng Chen stopped mid-sentence because he discovered that on his left hand, there wasn't just a small wound, but several bloody holes!

"System, why is this happening?"

"The way your left hand was hit just now landed precisely on the area with the most vine thorns."

"Am I going to die?"

"Maybe, maybe not."

"Is there a way?"

"This System certainly has a way, but there's a better candidate."

"Sakura? How do I do it?"

"Simple, she just needs to kiss you."

"What? Don't mess around, if you really do that, she'll kill me."

"She won't. Take a look at Yae Sakura's current affection level before you say that."

Feng Chen opened the System's affection panel and clicked on Yae Sakura's entry:

Yae Sakura Affection Level: 95

Level: Confidante

Degree: Trust

"This... if it were 100, I might think it's possible, but 95, forget it."

"Then you can just wait to die. I won't be sold any antidote items by you."

Feng Chen called out to the System several times in his mind, but there was no response.

"Then tell me, what should I do?"

"Just tell Yae Sakura directly that you've been poisoned."

"Okay."

Feng Chen truthfully told Yae Sakura that he had been poisoned, unaware that this would be a choice he would regret for the rest of his life.