Kagura Dance

Sword waves were constantly generated and unleashed in the void according to the will, annihilating the approaching mist.

Su Qing'an frowned and remained silent. The environment was becoming increasingly unfavorable for them. Although the special nature of the Void Sword Qi meant that he didn't need to worry about the Honkai Energy reserves, his energy was undoubtedly being gradually worn down.

Moreover, unless absolutely necessary, Su Qing'an actually dislikes using Honkai Energy; he prefers using his sword to Honkai Energy.

It's one thing to develop a psychological aversion and resistance after being killed twice by a purely Honkai environment.

On the other hand, Su Qing'an himself, while leaning towards pragmatism, also believes that using the power of Honkai to defeat Honkai is an impossible task.

Using Honkai Energy was merely a temporary measure; the boy still harbored this naive belief.

Satou Yunona glanced at the boy's expression and said:

"Don't use Honkai Energy to disperse the fog yet. The Honkai Energy environment here is probably the result of accumulated over time. The so-called Day of Sacrifice is once every ten years, and I guess the current environment is caused by the overflow of Honkai Energy accumulated over these ten years."

Su Qing'an understood what Satou Yunona meant. Simply trying to dispel the fog was a futile and useless act, as ridiculous as trying to dry the ocean with your hands instead of swimming when you fall into it.

Satou Yunona quickly grasped this point with her keen Honkai Energy perception, and Su Qing'an could also vaguely guess at it.

Even so, his cautious nature prevented him from knowing what would happen if such a strange mist came into contact with his body.

The withered cherry blossoms and the corroded vines of Satou Yunona Sato symbolize the ominous nature of the fog.

But the next moment, Satou Yunona lightly touched the approaching mist with her fingertips. The mist touched her skin and then silently slid over her. The girl breathed in the air tainted by the mist without any hesitation.

There was nothing unusual.

These fogs, which had previously displayed a ferocious nature, now appeared as harmless as ordinary morning mist.

The ability to sense Honkai Energy? It's a very useful ability in every sense of the word.

Su Qing'an understood the girl's bold reason: the Pseudo-Herrscher had an advantage over humans in the face of Honkai.

It was as if a dragon had returned to the sea; the strange movements and dangers of the deep sea were naturally exposed in her eyes.

"This mist is very similar to the power the Miko displayed that day, but my body tells me it's not dangerous," Satou Yunona said.

"But there are definitely still risks involved. However, if this battle turns into a war of attrition, facing such an environment is unavoidable." She added, cautiously observing her surroundings.

The roaring sounds from the shrine area had completely subsided, with only the vines and wood still causing the incendiary bombs to burn and make noise.

Satou Yunona controlled the special, thick vines to divide the area around it, forming a firebreak in advance to prevent the possibility of the mountain being directly burned.

"It's started," she said, gazing into the mist.

"One minute and thirty seconds is a more complicated resurrection time than I imagined," Su Qing'an said.

However, this resurrection time indicates one thing: the Living Doll's true form is indeed not that body; otherwise, there would be no reason for it to be resurrected after only a minute.

Rather than calling it resurrection, it's more accurate to say that the Living Doll puppet was never actually killed.

It was merely a reproduction.

The first thing to appear was the beautiful yet terrifying head of the Living Doll. The smile on that pretty face remained, and strands of dark hair grew out of the pores of her smooth scalp at an extremely rapid pace, like bamboo shoots after a spring rain.

The head floated in mid-air, its hair swaying like seaweed in the mist.

This scene resembles the Flying Head Demon from ancient Shenzhou legends—frightening and eerie.

The only difference is that the Flying Head Demon is a long-necked monster in legends, while the Living Doll is even more terrifying because she only had one head when she was first resurrected.

Those empty eye sockets stared at the two of them, like a vengeful ghost seeking death.

Su Qing'an chose to attack directly.

Having just slain a Living Doll, he was naturally not easily intimidated. Su Qing'an's will remained unshaken, and he had no intention of uttering any more words. After drawing [Calming the Tempest], a wave of sword energy was unleashed, and his body rushed towards the Living Doll.

Compared to when he needed to carefully calculate before unleashing his sword wave during his escape in Changkong City, Su Qing'an has now gradually come to regard this as a regular attack method.

This also highlights the difference between having and not having the ability to control Honkai Energy. In gaming terms, it's like a character with longer arms and legs being able to attack the opponent first, which is a huge advantage.

If one relies solely on physical strength, it's simply a pipe dream to unleash a powerful sword aura.

The Living Doll dodged the sword wave; its head traced a strange arc in the air to avoid the attack, a movement that didn't resemble a simple dodge.

If it wanted to dodge, it could simply fly upwards, but the Living Doll's head bounced comically and strangely in mid-air in a rhythmic manner, thus avoiding the capture of the vines controlled by Satou Yunona and several sword energies.

The body beneath the Living Doll's head was created out of thin air at a speed visible to the naked eye within seconds. The smooth body was incredibly lifelike, and its core was an empty darkness.

The doll's overly alluring, snow-white skin and curves were exposed to the air, and the hazy mist obscured the obvious artificial traces on its joints. The scene was truly surreal. As the doll's body was perfected, its movements were no longer as comical as before.

The surrounding mist and the puppet's strange dodging movements began to surge and ripple together, and the two could even feel a strange sense of rhythm contained within it.

As her bare feet grew to full size, a large kimono covered her naked body.

The fog churned violently like a sea of clouds in the sky, and then the fire ignited.

Warmth, brightness, and the flames symbolizing hope filled their vision.

Several campfires illuminated the dark world after dusk.

A cacophony of sounds reached my ears.

In the blink of an eye, the two found themselves on a high platform in the center of hundreds of people.

Hundreds of people below the platform wore joyful smiles and mimicked the movements of the Living Doll.

It was an illusion. The mist swirled, and soon the world before their eyes transformed into its current form.

This is the risk of contact with the fog, but for some reason, Satou Yunona understands that the fog's limits are limited; this illusion can't even conceal the existence of Living Doll.

The two finally understood what the strange movements of the Living Doll were.

It's dancing.

So the villagers of Kambara Village started dancing along with it.

The Living Doll, revered as incarnations of gods, dance the dance of the gods.

The villagers below the stage were naturally performing Kagura Dance meant to please the gods.

The body began to feel heavy; it was an extremely subtle change, yet it was real. Su Qing'an, who possessed the State of Still Water, noticed this earlier than Satou Yunona.

If you let it dance unchecked, his sword will soon slow down.

On the battlefield, if your sword slows down, you will die.

Although the physical strain in the short term might make him reluctant to use that sword strike, the balance of power between offense and defense had shifted.

Then we can't hesitate any longer.

Hesitation leads to defeat.

The sword is drawn.

[Time Cutter]

Immediately, the world was divided in two.