"So that's it?"
"She only got stabbed a couple of times!"
"Brother, you suffered so much pain and torment at the hands of all those powerful people in Spirit Hall just to save me."
"You even blew your own leg apart, turning the Eight Spider Lances Spirit Bone on your back into shards that pierced your body, all to unlock the potential of the Hundred-Thousand-Year Blue Silver Emperor Spirit Bone and take me away..."
Watching the scene play out on the Sky Screen, Xiao Wu, hidden in a hotel, couldn't help pouting in disdain.
Besides, Firefly hadn't truly died. She'd only experienced death in a dream.
How could that compare to sacrificing her entire body, mind, and even soul to Tang San? That was true greatness.
Even Tang San beside her wore a look of confidence.
If that was all there was to Firefly's death, then he would definitely win this match.
Tang Hao watched his son with satisfaction.
Once Tang San won this match, the Sky Screen would bestow even better rewards.
His son was destined to become a god and gain the power to resurrect the dead.
Then Tang San would surely bring Ah Yin back to life, and their family could finally enjoy the joys of being together.
But Tang Hao, you only thought of your wife. Had you forgotten the father you'd angered to death?
"Firefly, I'll find a way to cure your illness..."
After watching Firefly's death, Stelle knew full well that this wasn't Firefly's first real death.
But what difference was there between that piercing pain and death?
She clenched her fists, gazing intently at the Sky Screen as she made a silent vow.
The winner of Aha's game would become an Aeon for one minute.
She had to win first place. She had to cure Firefly's illness and give her the most beautiful daydream.
Bo Saixi, High Priestess of Sea God Island, stared blankly at the Sky Screen.
Seeing Firefly's petite body and yet such unyielding resolve, she couldn't help thinking of that man—Tang Chen.
She was the high priestess of the Sea God, bound to Sea God Island.
And the man she loved, Tang Chen, had left the island so many years ago, never to send word.
Time and again, she'd nearly left Sea God Island to search for him.
But each time, all she could do was lift her head toward the mainland and sigh in silence.
Even now, after watching Tang San and Xiao Wu's story, and then Firefly and Stelle's, her heart was a tangled mess.
She understood now, more clearly than ever, that waiting for Tang Chen to return to Sea God Island had been a mistake.
If she truly loved him, she should have gone to him and faced pain and danger by his side.
Even if she and Tang Chen had ultimately fallen together, she would have had no regrets.
But the duties of the Sea God weighed heavily on her shoulders, leaving her unable to take a single step.
At last, Bo Saixi gave a soft sigh and murmured:
"If I wanted to find him, I should have left long ago."
She was no longer young enough to watch a few moving stories and have her blood stirred by them.
Still, Bo Saixi looked up at Stelle on the Sky Screen, and countless scenes flickered through her mind.
Stelle came from another world, one broader and more vast than their Douluo Continent.
How she wished that in her next life, she could travel with Tang Chen to that beautiful, boundless world.
Firefly's story wasn't over yet.
The scene on the Sky Screen shifted once more.
Everyone across Douluo Continent held their breath.
They knew Firefly would die three times. So far, she had only died once.
The scene showed a deep crimson place, like a church.
At the very front of the church stood a stained glass window.
Its purple-red hues gave off an indescribably eerie feeling.
A bespectacled man stood before the window, his eyes narrowed.
A pair of small, deep-blue wings sprouted behind his ears. A golden halo floated behind him, and his slicked-back black hair was meticulously combed.
His voice rang out with the solemnity of a divine proclamation:
"[Dream Master]'s strike, like a Hanging River Pouring Fire, lies hidden behind the Stained Glass Window, waiting only for it to be pierced so it can unleash the Swarm Disaster once more."
Below, Firefly looked startled.
She closed her eyes and carefully sensed the air around her.
She seemed to see a colossal hand blotting out the sky, slowly rising behind the Stained Glass Window, brimming with the power to destroy heaven and earth.
Firefly's eyes snapped open, disbelief written across her face.
"How did the Dream Master become this powerful? We have to stop him!"
The bespectacled man gently shook his head, his tone calm.
"Perhaps you have to stop me."
The Dream Master wanted to open the Insect Chrysalis and unleash an endless Swarm.
Fortunately, Firefly had earlier obtained from Dahlia a flame that could burn the power of Memory and dreams.
As they traveled together, Firefly had secretly placed that power on the Dream Master Decree.
The two were on the verge of battle.
The white-and-green Sam transformation device in Firefly's hand glimmered brightly.
The air around them rippled violently, and blazing flames appeared.
The Dream Master Decree spread his arms, looking utterly divine.
Blue flames kindled at his feet. As if alive, they slowly engulfed his body.
His figure was solemn and majestic as he spoke in a deep voice:
"The chittering of insects shall once more devour all things... filling the hearts of the lost with fear."
"—Someone must first descend in His place with burning wrath. Every living thing, without exception, shall die."
As the Dream Master Decree spoke, the invisible giant hand pierced the enormous Stained Glass Window.
Firefly watched the hand about to pierce the Insect Chrysalis, and the powerful Swarm about to be unleashed.
She knew she was going to die here, yet she still longed with all her heart to survive.
"Even so, I'll keep praying that I can live, just as I always have."
"I can do it, right?"
Firefly pointed at the Dream Master Decree, defiance filling her eyes.
At that moment, the Dream Master Decree slowly turned around and looked at her.
The blue flames on his body flared in an instant, swallowing him completely.
Only the Dream Master Decree's final words echoed through the empty church:
"And yet this deathly land descends only because, among them all, you were the first to seek a way to live."
"It worked!"
"He vanished first, and that made the power lose control!"
Firefly watched as the Dream Master Decree was burned away by the candle flame. The force capable of destroying heaven and earth vanished with him.
She gasped for breath, relief at having survived written all over her face.
But the next second, her eyes abruptly narrowed as she whipped her gaze toward the distant sky.
As far as she could see, a dense Swarm blotted out the sky.
Then, right behind Firefly, came the sudden, grating clang of colliding machinery.
She spun around, horror and disbelief instantly spreading across her face.
"How... how did you..."
Her pupils trembled violently, and her voice shook uncontrollably.
A black-and-red humanoid mech stood right in front of her.
Its twisted, menacing shape resembled a beetle, and eerie purple-red flames flickered all over its body.
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