200. The Manas, the Stigmata Burning Away.

The harmful effects of radiation were immediately absorbed by the illusion, and the temperature, which was enough to melt the skin, was controlled by Su Qing'an to be kept at a slightly burning level.

The Honkai Fission Bomb exploded directly at an altitude of about 500 meters, causing a series of terrifying phenomena, the most striking of which was the light and heat that descended to earth like the sun.

The world is silent; all sounds are still.

The immense heat generated Honkai Energy the fission and intertwining of Honkai energy inevitably descends into the vacuum realm. Without a medium, sound cannot propagate, and the distorted and hazy vision is like watching the approaching Yama, the King of Hell. The carbon-based life forms are so weak and powerless under such power.

Su Qing'an instinctively wanted to stop it. The image of the Honkai Fission Bomb crashing down was an indelible shadow for him, a gray memory in a corner of the attic, a prelude to the withering of the starry sky. But reason restrained his emotions in an instant, allowing the [Stigmata] to remain at its original frequency.

The boy pressed the Black Abyss White Flower, gazing at Fuxi not far away. He had already maximized his ability to observe souls. As long as there was a real fluctuation or change, he would definitely be able to notice the distortion and change of the soul at that moment, and be on guard against its ability and stay away in time.

Immediately, light and heat came to an end.

The invisible and colorless [purification] domain unfolded effortlessly, creating an inviolable area as those silver-white eyes lowered.

Both the Udu-dust, an extension of the illusion, and the prelude to the impending impact of the Honkai Fission Bomb, were instantly banished and obliterated.

This ability, which has no outward manifestations, can only be judged by the phenomena that occur in the outside world. However, even without sensing the disordered sword heart and the collapse of the Honkai Energy Domain, Su Qing'an could know the reappearance of the [Purification] field just by observing the state of that great sun.

The unstoppable sun was caught in a predicament of being so close yet so far; its blinding white light was clearly falling constantly, yet it was also being erased at every moment.

Clearly, this level is far from sufficient to constitute a true test.

However, considering that Fuxi was unharmed after the illusion was dispelled, causing the protection of the [Stigmata] to dissipate, and without entering the expected soul mimicry state, her [Purification] domain was undoubtedly a conceptual level of erasing Honkai Energy phenomena.

Su Qing'an inquired:

"Should we continue?"

Mei calmly replied:

"If this experiment is abandoned halfway, then there was no point in carrying it out in the first place."

"Although the hypothesis of an ancient civilization has been proposed, everything about her is still unknown. We must at least understand the upper limit of Fuxi's abilities and the rest of his capabilities, otherwise no one knows what the future holds."

Su Qing'an understood her concerns. After a period of observation and fruitless research, it was difficult to evaluate Fuxi's existence as a surprise. For a civilization whose remaining areas were highly integrated with Honkai Energy, the ability of [purification] was an unlimited danger if it was not controlled.

For example, to this day, Kevin and Yae Sakura are both forbidden from appearing in the area surrounding Fuxi.

He said:

"Continue. This is far from Fuxi's limit. Her current [purification] strength is only at the level of expelling her surroundings, which means she doesn't sense any threat at all. Even if she could enter the soul mimicry state, there's no need for her to do so."

Mei hesitated for a moment, then asked:

How are you doing?

The boy sensed the increasingly burning heat in his organs and blood, his expression indifferent.

The [Purification] field enveloped me, as if it were subjecting my entire body to a forced high-temperature sterilization, and the Stigmata of the Herrscher of Death were already showing signs of being erased.

The Honkai Energy that could not be expelled had become a natural cycle since taking root within the body. This was originally a good thing that would help improve the precision and affinity of Honkai Energy control, but at this moment it became a mark of Fuxi's ability taking effect.

He said:

"Right now, we're still within the range where we won't get hurt. With the Black Abyss White Flower as a safety net, it's unlikely that anything unexpected will happen."

Mei does not deny this argument. If Fuxi were truly a product of an ancient civilization, then the limits of her abilities would inevitably be limited to those of the Herrscher.

If the Black Abyss White Flower, as Divine Key, is within the scope of being unusable, she finds it hard to imagine why the previous civilization suffered defeat.

But all of this is based on the premise that Fuxi is a product of ancient civilization, a mere illusion built on a castle in the air.

Mei understands that even if the logical deduction is reasonable, reality often presents unexpected and illogical events.

Even if one understands the risks involved, remaining inactive is certainly a wrong decision.

She had already made preparations for this:

"Mr. Su, it has been verified that Fuxi's ability is conceptual. Your ability cannot be used as insurance when the opponent's domain is activated. My personal suggestion is that you retreat to the edge while ensuring soul observation and be prepared to leave at any time."

"She's dangerous, far more dangerous to you than a normal Herrscher."

"There is a yacht I have prepared for you at the edge of the deck. Please take it to the edge to prepare for observation. Considering the worst-case scenario, I will remotely control the yacht to carry you out of the area if necessary."

Upon hearing this, Su Qing'an boarded the yacht, which resembled an airplane, without hesitation. Since the operating mechanism did not overlap with the skills he had learned before, Prometheus took over the driving of this specially designed yacht, which was entirely designed for speed.

He understood Fuxi's threat better than anyone else, so naturally he wouldn't refuse Mei's kindness.

In fact, if the Honkai Energy hadn't been sealed off, Su Qing'an would have already reached the limit of not affecting the accuracy of the observation the moment he realized this.

This speedboat, equipped with a fighter jet engine, is abnormally fast in every sense of the word, so fast that its chassis doesn't even touch the water surface. Calling it a ground effect vehicle would be more accurate.

In less than a minute, Su Qing'an arrived at the sea area about one kilometer away from Fuxi. He looked into the distance through the hatch.

In his view, beneath this bizarre spectacle, Fuxi's immense soul, like a grand pillar of light, overshadowed the brightness of the Honkai Fission Bomb. Yet, this aura was so serene, like a tranquil Dead Sea, with all its movements being only the minimum level of activity.

He understood that only when other anomalies and intense fluctuations occurred in this Dead Sea would it be a true sign and proof of the hidden power within.

Su Qing'an gazed at the incomparably beautiful painting, as if she could hear the sound of ocean waves crashing in her ears. Could the so-called ancient civilization's technological achievements or the strongest warriors truly possess such a sacred, solemn, and profoundly deep soul?

No one can answer this question at the moment.

On the other side, Mei, who had detected that Su Qing'an had stopped moving, launched a second and a third Honkai Fission Bomb.

The so-called quantitative change leads to a qualitative change.

The first one was less than one-tenth the yield of the Honkai Fission Bomb that Canghai City encountered that day; it was only used as a test.

Mei had originally anticipated that even if it wouldn't cause any real harm to Fuxi, it wouldn't be difficult to trigger a sporadic sense of crisis in him, leading him to show unusual behavior and verify her guess.

However, it now appears that requesting sufficient equivalent resources in advance was not a wrong choice.

As one after another, the Honkai Fission Bomb flowed into the sea of light, the fission charge inside, which was in a subcritical state, instantly reached a supercritical state, and the resulting enormous energy burst forth with extreme explosive force and heat.

They returned to their original orbits and steadily and slowly descended towards the base's deck, the sky bathed in a magnificent glow that stretched to the horizon.

The sea area located one kilometer away from the base was already splashed by the overflowing aftershocks. The illusion of Udu-dust enveloped and surrounded this ground effect vehicle, and the dark Honkai Energy shield unfolded to resist the layers of waves churning in the aftershocks, drifting with the waves within a limited range.

Only a one-kilometer radius around the base deck serves as the dividing line, bringing peace to the world.

It seems that even with seemingly instinctive actions, the [purification] field ultimately has its limits.

Thus, the protective barrier that had been like transparent glass, Honkai the collapsing world, began to crack faintly under the extreme pressure of an instant.

Click, click.

Su Qing'an silently gazed at the scene where the pillar of soul light instantly and completely converged into the tiny body, no longer radiating any fluctuations. The deafening roar of a tsunami echoed in his ears, completely covering the fragmented fragments of the [Purification] domain's collapse.

His ability to observe the soul clearly captured that incredible anomaly; it was clearly pure flesh and blood, yet in the blink of an eye, it transformed into a pure soul state.

Fuxi calmly raised her head. Her appearance did not change after entering the Soul State, but the holiness and solemnity that should have been noticeable only from her own perspective truly descended upon the world. Against her posture, which was no different from before, she seemed like a god in the present moment.

The hypothesis of the soul becoming flesh and blood holds true entirely under these circumstances.

Just as Mei thought, she was not a human being in the true sense, but a higher life form that existed in the world as a soul.

The girl's silvery-white eyes blinked, as if a faint, conscious flame was slowly reviving. A powerful presence, spreading outward like waves, accumulated to an immeasurable grandeur in an instant. The entire base was crushed into nothingness by the inexplicably terrifying force field, and the resulting tsunami shone brightly alongside the sun in the sky.

Fuxi stood silently in the center, her figure appearing so small and fragile under the immense power of nature, yet stripping all other scenery of its color.

The [purification] domain had not yet unfolded, but as she slightly raised her eyes, all things and nature seemed to be separated into another scroll, painted blank under that color.

The Honkai Fission Bomb and the tsunami disappeared, like a simple line drawing erased by an eraser.

Su Qing'an's mind froze.

That was no longer a life form on the same level as himself. Even though he couldn't understand the mystery surrounding it, the oppressive feeling of being above the world yet integrated into all things, and the impactful images, made him understand this reality like never before.

The being before me is on a completely different dimension from all the previous Herrscher and enemies.

The boy, still gazing at her figure in a daze, recalled Su Muxi's words from yesterday.

[After sublimating the sword heart, one achieves harmony with heaven and earth, resonating with all things, thus reaching a profound and mysterious realm.]

[Xiao Fu interprets this state of her as an Ascended State.]

He muttered to himself:

"Harmony between humanity and nature, and interaction with all things."

"Ascended State?"

The Udu-dust across the Mind Lake, and she shared the same perspective with him, including the same angle of observing the soul.

Normal conversations are impossible in such an urgent moment, but Soul Link can bring together the myriad interactions of thought into a single breath.

Su Muxi thus gave the boy a genuine answer that only she could give:

"This is the Ascended State, but it's not the Ascended State."

"It should be said that this is a special state that is even purer, more divine, and more unparalleled than Xiao Fu's peak."

"So far, I've only seen Xiao Fu and Cheng Ling Shuang enter the Ascended State. Although Xiao Fu is much stronger than the latter in the Ascended State, the gap is still not as huge as it is now."

"But I have no idea what the limits of this special state are, and I can't even tell if it's the same thing or not, so I don't know if it can still be classified as Ascended State."

The amount of information contained in these words is simply too vast. Whether the Immortal Chi Yuan at her peak could have any rivals below the Finality is a question that needs to be considered. Yet, the ultimate realm of the method she created has appeared even today, and it has even been shown to be far more powerful than she herself.

Could it be that in the original timeline, Fuxi was the one who enabled Fu Hua in later generations to comprehend the realm of [Sword God]?

This was the only logic that could hold true for Su Qing'an.

The only other possibility is that as long as we keep going, the paths we reach will become more interconnected, which explains the current coincidence.

She continued:

"The essence of the Ascended State is to sublimate the Sword Heart, a purely subjective organ, freeing human senses from all constraints and allowing them to experience an unprecedented reality, thus giving them the opportunity to reach that profound and mysterious realm."

"In other words, no matter how powerful or outstanding a human is, or how superior their comprehension and willpower, they can only stay at this stage for a short time, because prolonged stay will cause them to lose their physical body, and humans cannot survive in the world relying solely on their souls."

"Besides, the sublimation of the sword heart is inevitably only a temporary process. After sublimation, the sword heart is no longer a purely idealistic organ, but a more ethereal and disordered thing, which Xiao Fu calls the Manas consciousness."

"The Manas consciousness itself is the key to giving new senses, but its maintenance comes at a great cost. For both Xiao Fu and Cheng Ling Shuang, sublimating the sword heart to reach the Manas consciousness is not a happy thing. It will cause emotions to gradually fade away."

"But Xiao Su, Fuxi is different."

"What just happened proves that her essence is a higher life form that exists purely as a soul, but that alone is not enough to make her invincible."

"But just now Fuxi did not show any signs of transformation or sublimation from beginning to end. This can only mean that she has been living in the form of Manas consciousness from the very beginning, which is why she does not need any sublimation or transformation."

"And the combination of the existence mode of the Manas consciousness with the Soul Lifeform means that Fuxi's Ascended State is permanent and will not fall."

"Even if Xiao Su were to immediately advance to the Void Realm, comprehend the [Sword God], and master an even stronger Ascended State than her, she would still be no match for her given the opponent's infinite time accumulation."

So, run!

A massive amount of information was exchanged in an instant. Su Qing'an silently tossed Udu-dust back into Fu Hua's Mind Lake through the Soul Link. Meanwhile, Prometheus was simultaneously maneuvering the ground effect vehicle, pushing the engine to its limits, and heading into the distance.

From the moment Fuxi unleashed his true power until the moment the boy rode away in his vehicle, less than three seconds had passed.

During this process, the Honkai Fission Bomb that threatened the [Purification] domain in Fuxi's chaotic state was completely wiped out, and Mei has also chosen to stop releasing it, no longer stimulating this terrifying being whose upper limit is unknown.

Just a few breaths ago, the nearly shattered [Purification] domain, after a sporadic revival of Fuxi's consciousness, rebounded and surged, arriving as expected across most of the Antarctic Circle at a rate as bright as the sun shining down.

This region, which accounts for approximately 9.4% of the world's total land area, was almost entirely enveloped by the [purification] domain in the blink of an eye, demonstrating its terrifying nature.

As someone involved in the situation Su Qing'an couldn't comprehend how vast the [Purification] domain had expanded from a one-kilometer radius in an instant. Even Mei, who was far away controlling the battlefield, couldn't grasp the specific range of the [Purification] domain due to its unique characteristics.

The ground effect vehicle traveled on the calm sea without any obstruction, but the boy, who sensed the increasingly scorching Stigmata inside his body, which were beginning to evaporate, vaguely understood that his life was at its most critical moment.

The fluctuations of the Black Abyss White Flower became completely obscure. The connection between the soul and the power within it remained intact, but the Herrscher Core, which served as the key to unlocking the Imaginary Space, entered a state of utter stillness.

Even if the Divine Key is not damaged in the [Purification] domain, its corresponding functions cannot be used. The Abyss Flower domain of the Soul Hall sways continuously, but without Honkai Energy as its source, this half-power has lost its meaning.

From the beginning to the present, Fuxi's various manifestations and signs of his potential have far exceeded normal understanding and imagination.

The hypothesis of ancient civilizations had been largely refuted in his mind.

If there truly was a previous era, then Fuxi was indeed the ultimate weapon of that ancient civilization. Su Qing'an simply couldn't imagine that such a civilization would be defeated in its Honkai.

He understood that if things continued this way, even if he didn't die, the gifts Seele had given him would be forcibly burned away.

This is the one thing I absolutely do not want to happen.

There is one last solution.

In the instant when he was nearly unconscious and his mind was completely blank, he got the answer.

By replicating Fuxi's actions in that instant and reversing flesh and blood into Soul State, one can evade the reverse selection of Honkai by [Purification].

Learning the skills of the soul was Su Qing'an's initial goal.

In the bewilderment of death and loss drawing ever closer and ever further apart, the boy's heart becomes an illusion, yet he clings to the last vestige of life...