Following Illaoi, Li Ke and Lissandra used their respective abilities to travel across the sea.
Li Ke moved with Ripple Steps, his shoes gliding across the sea, creating ripples as he stepped onto the surface. But the ripples froze into thin ice the next moment. The waters around Bilgewater are green, so the ice was also dark green.
Illaoi followed quietly behind, taking large strides to keep up with the white-haired woman in front. At first, as she walked on the ice, Illaoi was afraid that she would slip and fall into the sea.
She was quite serious about her weight. Not counting the heavy clothes and the Eye of God she was carrying, Illaoi weighed over 220 pounds. To be honest, this thin layer of ice really couldn't support her weight.
Strangely, the ice layer did indeed hold, and even when Illaoi tried to increase the force, she still couldn't break the ice.
"This ability is really convenient."
"Are you referring to my abilities, or Lissandra's?"
Li Ke, who was walking at the front, spoke up.
He had no choice but to walk at the front. After all, Lissandra had frozen the sea with her power. If he followed Lissandra, it would be like walking on ice, which would be conspicuous. It was not as convenient as walking like this.
"I have both," Illaoi said after thinking for a moment. "I can understand the ability to control the wind; you probably obtained that ability from the Wind God of Zaun. But what I'm curious about is, what about your spiritual and soul powers?"
Despite Illaoi's robust physique and tall stature, making her appear like a sibling next to Jax, Illaoi is actually a cultivator of the divine. Nagakabouros's abilities involve the soul and spirit, and as His most trusted and capable servant, Illaoi naturally follows the same path.
Therefore, Illaoi was very curious about the changes in Li Ke.
Two or three years ago, although Li Ke's Soul Strength was already far beyond that of ordinary people, it was not nearly as powerful as it is now.
Right now, Illaoi has no idea what Li Ke is capable of. She can only sense that Li Ke's Soul Strength far surpasses her own, like an abyss. The distance between her and Li Ke has grown immensely over the past few years.
"Then you're wrong." Li Ke turned around with a smile, put his hands behind his back, and leaped lightly across the sea. With each step he floated out, he could travel a distance of more than ten meters on the sea.
"My ability comes from Ionia. In Ionia, there is a swordsmanship school called Windwalker, and I happen to master the school's ultimate technique, Wind Technique."
"Human martial arts?" Illaoi frowned, her tone doubtful. "Human martial arts couldn't possibly achieve this level, could they? To me, this is practically magic."
"Hmm, no, that's because you haven't seen a true martial arts master," Li Ke replied. He suddenly thought of Jax, who was still stationed in Zaun, and Yi, who had returned to Ionia, and said with a smile:
"I know a guy who has reached godhood through martial arts, walking the true path of martial arts. If the Runeterra gains another law of power in the future, it will definitely be because of him."
"He is no different from the Deity you know, except that he lacks divinity."
Illaoi clearly didn't believe it.
Li Ke didn't offer much explanation. A guy like Jax wouldn't believe it unless he had witnessed him in action firsthand.
After all, in the eyes of humans, the biggest difference between humans and ancient gods is not their weakness, but their size.
Yes, ancient gods generally had mountain-sized bodies, and their imposing presence and impact were unmatched by humans.
How much longer until we reach our destination?
"Soon," Illaoi simply replied.
In the afternoon, the Guardian's Sea stretches westward to Ixtal, the only wild jungle on Runeterra. To Li Ke, this place feels like the Amazon rainforest. Ixtal is the largest rainforest on Runeterra.
To the east, all was pitch black. Looking up, one could see large patches of dark clouds that seemed to be writhing. From a great distance, Li Ke could even hear wailing sounds, extremely unpleasant and eerie.
Seemingly displeased by the Lissandra, the witch coldly reached out towards the Shadow Isles in the distance. The slowly crawling black clouds instantly retreated, and the slower-retreating clouds turned into icy mist.
With Lissandra's abilities, she can even freeze and solidify space itself, so how could Black Mist and clouds possibly be anything more?
We've arrived.
Illaoi took a few steps forward, looked at a small island in the distance, and spoke.
She hesitated for a moment, then said, "I won't go with her. Nilah is on that island. There used to be a barrier on that island, occupied by an ancient Deity, but Nilah forcibly broke in, killed him, and destroyed the barrier, which is why the island appeared in the vast ocean."
"Nilah won't lay a hand on you," Li Ke told Illaoi.
Illaoi nodded, smiled, and said, "Yes, she won't attack me, but the problem is, she's been searching for the Deity behind me. The Nagakabouros is wary of her, so I'd better not provoke her."
"After all, being pragmatic and avoiding joining the crowd is also a good quality."
After Illaoi finished speaking, without waiting for Li Ke to reply, she sat cross-legged, placed the Eye of God in front of her legs, and said with her eyes closed, "I will meditate here and await your good news."
Seeing that Illaoi was unwilling to come along, Li Ke didn't insist and nodded, saying, "Alright, if the wait is too long, you can go back to Bilgewater first."
"Consider this a favor I owe you."
Illaoi, lost in thought, smiled and calmly said, "I do need your favor, as it would be a great help. But like I said before we set off, it's a win-win situation. I'll help you find Nilah, and you take Nilah with you, Li Ke. Neither of us owes the other anything."
"Buhru is unwilling to join the Federation, and the Twin Cities do not need Buhru's power. They are traditional and conservative, and they are unwilling to make contact even with Bilgewater. But I am an exception."
But even I am unwilling to risk joining you. However, I can assure you of one thing: Buhru will remain in the Blue Flame Isles, and we have no intention of leaving the outside world."
Li Ke glanced at Illaoi a few more times, and he had to admit that in just half a day, his liking for Illaoi Li Ke indeed increased considerably.
He might now understand why Illaoi is so popular on Bilgewater.
Such a strong, wild woman, yet gentle, intelligent, and intellectual within her savagery, truly possesses a powerful charm.
"Then, I wish you great success."
As they approached the small island that Illaoi had pointed out, Li Ke frowned.
Lissandra, standing to the side, also opened her eyes, a strange light flashing in her pale pupils.
"How peculiar." She spoke, unusually, standing beside Li Ke. Lissandra stretched out a hand and caught a large snowflake falling in front of her. This was not an icy world created by Lissandra, but rather a special environment on this island.
"Our planet is peculiarly mysterious, otherwise it wouldn't have attracted the attention of the Celestials," Lissandra said softly. With Illaoi gone and only Li Ke present, her tone carried a hint of life, no longer so cold.
Just like now, she whispered with a question in her mind, as if asking Li Ke, or perhaps talking to herself, "How many more small worlds like this are there in this world?"
"This ancient god's power was in no way inferior to Fenrir's, yet he was still killed?" Lissandra felt conflicted.
Having lived for nearly ten thousand years, and possessing the ability to Dreamwalking, Lissandra's abilities are, in a sense, more powerful than those of the demon Raum.
Raum is powerful, but also has limitations, as he can only glimpse the secrets of the dying in Runeterra. Lissandra, on the other hand, can freely travel between the two realms, but even so, she doesn't know when a great figure like Nilah appeared in Runeterra.
However, the difference is that Swain's ability to peek into secrets is passive, Raum will autonomously absorb the memories of the dead before their death, while Lissandra has to be like a diligent little bee, sneaking into other people's dreams to collect secrets.
Thinking about it this way, the witch really is quite the workaholic, knowing so much.
For example, Li Ke noticed Lissandra when she first rose to prominence, but he really had no impression of Nilah Lissandra at all.
"Feeling sentimental?" Li Ke saw through Lissandra's thoughts and reached out to pat Lissandra on the shoulder, but he was stopped by Lissandra's calm gaze.
Embarrassed, Li Ke withdrew his hand and said, "It's not surprising that you don't understand Nilah, because it's not that there's a problem with your abilities, but rather that Nilah's situation is very special, extremely special."
Lissandra looked at Li Ke, waiting for Li Ke answer.
Li Ke then explained:
"Nilah, she's human, but she's not human either. After all, no human would suddenly disappear for a long time, and then her voice, appearance, and real name would all vanish from the world of the living. She just suddenly appeared in the last two years, so of course you wouldn't know her." Li Ke stretched out his hand and hooked two fingers next to his cheek.
"You said everything about her disappeared from the world of the living, so how do you know that?" Lissandra asked.
She had wanted to know for a long time: how exactly did Li Ke manage to be omniscient and omnipotent?
It's as if he can foresee the future!
Haven't you noticed that, because of him, Lissandra hasn't been wandering around in Dreamwalking, peeking into other people's memories to gather information for a long time?
Hmm, this seems like a good thing?
As for Lissandra's question, Li Ke simply shrugged indifferently.
Seeing this, Lissandra stopped asking questions. Instead, she looked at a spot on the island, then parted her thin lips and whispered, "The person you're looking for has discovered us and is already here."
"She's very fast."
"Let's go see her," Li Ke said.
Lissandra nodded, stretched out her hand, and with a gentle wave of her fair palm, the space in front of her shattered, and the broken "glass" formed an ice door. She was the first to step into it.
Li Ke followed immediately, and the next moment, the two figures disappeared from the shore of the island.
"Huh?"
A voice, both joyful and confused, rang out, and the speaker looked up—
Then a somewhat thin face was revealed. Her skin was a slightly dark tan, and she was extremely beautiful. She had long hair that reached her waist and was tied into a long ponytail.
Her hair was disheveled and flying in the wind, and two bright blue jewels dangled from her exposed ears. The shimmering jewel on the left ear was connected to a thin silver chain, which sparkled and was set into the nose ring on her nose.
A pair of sharp, eagle-like eyes swept around as her small face turned, her lips curving upwards in a strange smile. She held an ancient silver object, which resembled a sword hilt or a ritual implement, drawing out a magnificent, flowing line of water that formed a long, slender, and constantly moving water sword.
"That's strange. Could it be that my perception is wrong?" the woman murmured, looking down.
Her name is Nilah, a creature who disappeared, then reappeared, having forgotten everything, and is now walking the path of a human hero.
With a puzzled look on her face and a bright smile on her lips, she muttered to herself under her breath.
But before Nilah could come up with an answer, she immediately raised her head and looked in front of her.
With slender fingers lightly gripping the sword hilt, Nilah raised her hand forward and lashed out with a whip. The dazzling stream of water transformed into a sword shadow, cascading down like a waterfall, beautiful yet fraught with danger.
"I knew I hadn't misperceived anything!"
"Haha, come out here!"
Nilah cried out in delight, her Big Eyes as she looked ahead.
Then, she saw that the sword energy that had swiftly and decisively slain the sea beast had been frozen into an ice block, hovering in the air, radiating a chilling aura.
This scene is absolutely gorgeous!
But Nilah didn't appreciate the beauty at all; the enemy's strength stirred a hunger deep within her soul, a hunger that brought a pleasurable sensation.
"Wait, Nilah!"
A voice rang out; it was a human voice. This made Nilah instinctively stop. It wasn't that she hadn't killed humans before, but those were all accidents, or things that a group of people brought upon themselves.
In short, she wouldn't intentionally harm humans because they simply couldn't satisfy her hunger.
The joy of hunger vanished almost instantly. Nilah smiled, but her tone and eyes calmed down. She felt distressed, even angry.
But Nilah could only feel joy, so she didn't know how to express her distress and anger. So she could only calmly put on a strange smile and look at the human who suddenly appeared in front of her—a thin, ordinary-looking man with black hair.
"How could it be a human? I was wrong after all," Nilah said with a grin, her tone filled with disappointment.
Li Ke stepped out of the ice gate created by Lissandra, looking at Nilah with a hint of joy in his eyes.
Nilah indeed very strong; even the current Li Ke is no match for her!
The whip that Nilah just casually lashed out at was something I could only block by transforming and using Aatrox's power.
But this is not surprising, after all, whether Nilah is human or a demon is something no one knows.
Yes, Nilah possesses demonic power and, like Swain, is an inheritor of demonic power.
However, the difference is that Swain controls Raum, while Nilah was granted power by a demon. Moreover, Raum is nothing but a fart in front of that person.
Because Nilah possesses the power of the primordial demon, Ashlesh.
The Seventh Hell, home to the Ten Great Demons, and the progenitor of demons alongside Fiddlesticks!
Normally, demons like Tam Kench and Evelynn possess Demigod- like powers. Would anyone doubt that Tam Kench also possesses Demigod- like powers?
No, it won't.
However, Ashlesh a higher being and a more powerful demon than Tam Kench and Evelynn.
This is why Nilah was able to easily slaughter dragons and Demigod.
"Come out, human, tell me your real name, and how do you know my name?" Nilah sheathed her water sword, and the dazzling stream of water flowed and converged towards the artifact in her hand.
She swayed toward Li Ke with a graceful and unique gait, like a snake with its body arched, poised to strike at any moment.
Looking at Nilah, Li Ke Nilah that she wasn't as exaggerated as Illaoi had described. She was clearly capable of communication; she didn't seem like a madwoman at all.
You should know that when Li Ke first met Jinx didn't listen to anyone at all!
After all, Li Ke had thought that they would have to fight first when they met before they could communicate properly, but now it seems that if they can communicate, then of course they shouldn't fight.
Li Ke is not a warmonger!
But just as Li Ke was about to speak, Lissandra stepped out.
In an instant, a stream of water flew past Li Ke.
"Haha! It was you, not him!"
"Come on, I don't care if you're a demon or Deity, let's have a fight first!"
Li Ke's lips twitched. He turned his head and saw Nilah Flash beside him in a flash. She stretched out a hand and gently pushed Li Ke. Nilah's eyes were bright, and her attention was entirely focused on Lissandra.
He was muttering strange words that Li Ke couldn't understand at all.
But Li Ke understood the last sentence.
"A moment of ultimate bliss, eternal happiness~~~"
"This is exactly what I wanted!"
Lissandra, who had just emerged from the ice gate, Lissandra faced Nilah, raised her hands, and magic flowed. In an instant, the temperature on this already frigid island dropped even further.
Then came Nilah's maniacal laughter, which echoed throughout the entire island.
There were also vast stretches of water that formed a canopy, obscuring the sky and the sun. The longest stream was estimated to be halfway up the small hill on the island, not to mention the large swaths of sword energy that Nilah unleashed as the water flowed.
Those sword energies were wider and sharper, each one like a waterfall, splitting the heavens and earth in two. Towards the ground, no more large snowflakes falling from the sky could be seen.
"Oh shit."
Okay, Li Ke takes back his previous thought.
Nilah is a lunatic!