Disgusting Aeons! Bro, Why Are You Chasing Me Down Just to Slash at Me?!

Gu Yuena stared at Bai Yuan before her, her purple eyes filled with disbelief.

This human had really grown stronger again.

Stronger than yesterday, stronger than when he had returned from the Spirit Ascension Platform, stronger than when they had fought side by side in the True Illusion Realm.

His sword was faster, so fast that her Elemental Barrier was torn apart before it could fully form;

his strength was fiercer, so fierce that even her triple-layered defense of ice, earth, and light was like paper.

"No, bro, how did you get stronger again?"

Gu Yuena's voice rose slightly, carrying a trace of grievance she herself had not noticed.

Bai Yuan did not answer. He merely smiled, then slashed at her with his sword.

That strike looked utterly ordinary. There was no charging up, no variation, not even a soul skill.

It was merely a simple diagonal slash, the blade cutting from upper left to lower right and tracing a silver-white arc.

Gu Yuena instinctively formed an Elemental Barrier. The hardness of ice, the weight of earth, the resilience of light—three layers stacked together, sturdier than ever before.

Yet the instant the blade fell, the barrier seemed to be unraveled from its very foundation.

It cracked apart without a sound. Not even fragments remained; it directly turned into motes of light and vanished into the air.

Gu Yuena's pupils constricted. Wind elements burst beneath her feet, sending her several meters back.

She lowered her head to look at the fading motes of light before her, her chest heaving violently.

"Are you the Golden Dragon King instead?"

Her voice was slightly hoarse, and her purple eyes were full of shock and suspicion.

"What kind of power is this? Is this even real???"

On the Training Ground, Bai Yuan chased Gu Yuena all over the field.

"Junior Sister, don't run!"

Bai Yuan's voice came from behind her, tinged with amusement, but there was something wrong with the light in his eyes.

Gu Yuena did not look back, but she could feel it.

The aura of the person behind her had changed.

She gritted her teeth. Wind elements exploded beneath her feet, and her speed rose another notch.

Her silver ponytail whipped behind her in an angry arc.

Bai Yuan chased after her, but his mind replayed the scenes from last night.

That life's Phainon had been covered in blood, crying as he asked, "Why haven't you shed even a single tear?"

He remembered Black Calamity, the broken shell that had killed him countless times through endless cycles, until only instinct remained.

He remembered Xiao Bai, the savior who had carried the Core Flame through countless cycles without ever giving up.

He remembered those Chrysos Heirs—Aglaea, Tribbie, Mydei, Anaxa—who had fought the Black Tide with mortal bodies until they vanished.

Then he remembered the Aeons.

Those lofty beings who looked down upon all life, who treated worlds as chessboards and living beings as chess pieces.

Nous, Nanook, and others like them.

With a casual wave of their hands, worlds collapsed;

with a careless glance, destinies were rewritten.

And mortals could only struggle to survive amid the ruins they left behind.

Bai Yuan's sword grew faster. It was not tactics, not skill, but pure, unreasonable fury.

He hated his own powerlessness. He hated that he could do nothing. He hated that he could only watch those scenes from within the Core Flame, unable to change anything.

"I'm so pissed off."

He gritted his teeth and slashed out, the sword wind sending Gu Yuena's silver hair flying everywhere.

"Disgusting Aeons!"

Gu Yuena narrowly dodged the strike. Finally unable to endure it any longer, she whirled around, her purple eyes filled with fury and grievance.

"No!

You're seriously too much!

Why are you chasing me around just to slash at me?

Don't push me!"

Bai Yuan did not answer. He struck again.

Gu Yuena crossed her hands, and six beams of Elemental Light burst forth before her: fire, ice, wind, earth, light, and darkness.

The six elements formed a seven-colored barrier that firmly blocked Bai Yuan's blade.

Her silver hair flew amid the elemental storm, and her purple eyes reflected Bai Yuan's somewhat ferocious face.

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

Gu Yuena's voice rose a little higher.

"Did I do something to you?"

Bai Yuan looked into her eyes and suddenly stopped.

Dawnmaker hung in midair, its tip only an inch from Gu Yuena's nose.

He panted heavily, veins bulging on his forehead as though he were suppressing something.

Then he sheathed his sword, took a step back, turned around, and faced away from Gu Yuena.

"Let's rest for a bit."

His voice was so low that Gu Yuena nearly did not hear it.

Gu Yuena froze for a moment. She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but swallowed the words back down.

She looked at Bai Yuan's back. His black training uniform was soaked through with sweat, and his shoulders rose and fell slightly.

She suddenly felt that he had not been trying to anger her on purpose. He was genuinely hurting.

The Training Ground fell silent, leaving only the sound of their breathing echoing through the air.

Bai Yuan stood where he was, head lowered as he looked at the Core Flame in his palm.

That cluster of golden-black flame still burned quietly, the etched "2" flickering in the firelight.

He drew a deep breath, then slowly let it out.

"Junior Sister."

He did not turn around, but his voice had returned to its usual calm.

"Again."

Gu Yuena looked at him in silence for several seconds, then nodded.

She did not speak, but her Elemental Light lit up once more, gentler and steadier than before.

Bai Yuan drew Dawnmaker again and turned to face Gu Yuena.

The darkness was gone from his eyes, replaced by their usual lazy, infuriating glint.

He smiled and pointed the sword tip at Gu Yuena.

"I won't chase you this time. Let's fight properly."

Gu Yuena snorted, though the corners of her mouth unconsciously curved upward. "Who's afraid of who?"

On the Training Ground, sword light and elements intertwined once more.

This time, there was no anger, no venting, only a pure, exhilarating battle.

Training ended.

Han Tianyi descended from the high platform, his white hair flowing.

He stopped before the two of them, his gaze sweeping across Bai Yuan and Gu Yuena's faces. Rarely, he nodded.

"Not bad."

The old man's voice remained calm, but there was a trace of satisfaction in his eyes.

"Both of you have improved noticeably.

Especially your coordination—haven't you noticed?"

Bai Yuan smiled, sheathed his sword, and tilted his head toward Gu Yuena.

Gu Yuena turned her face away. Her long silver hair hid half her face, and her voice was muffled.

"Hmph, who's coordinating with him?"

But the tips of her ears had turned red.

Bai Yuan did not expose her. He merely smiled as he withdrew his gaze.

He knew perfectly well. Although he had chased her around and slashed at her for more than half the match, once they had truly started fighting in the latter half, the coordination between sword and elements had been absurdly seamless.

Whenever there was a gap between his strikes, her elements filled it exactly; whenever there was an opening in her elemental bursts, his sword cut in at just the right moment.

Like partners who had been working together for a long time.

Han Tianyi had seen it too, which was why he had said that.

But Gu Yuena would never admit it.

At that moment, she was lowering her head and rubbing her reddened wrist, complaining furiously to herself.

That Stinking Human, he made my hand hurt from all that slashing!

So what if he got stronger again? What's so great about that?!

One day, I'll pin you to the ground and grind you into the dirt. Then you'll know who's boss!

Bai Yuan looked at her expression, angry and aggrieved yet stubbornly pretending that she did not care, and could not help laughing.

Good thing you're this kind of Gu Yuena.

He silently added in his heart.

The complete Silver Dragon King, not split into Gu Yue and Na'er.

She had not become the lovestruck fool obsessed with Tang Wulin, nor had she walked the clearly arranged path from the original story.

He had thought that a Silver Dragon King who had not split apart on the original timeline would be difficult to deal with.

After all, the complete Silver Dragon King was far stronger than either the separated Gu Yue or Na'er, and she was also far more calculating and difficult to control.

He had been worried all this time.

Now, it seemed he had worried for nothing.

Her anger, unwillingness, and grievance were all written on her face. She could not hide them even if she tried.

Bai Yuan sighed inwardly.

This saved him a great deal of trouble. He did not need to guard against her secretly sabotaging him, worry about her suddenly turning on him, or painstakingly scheme through her every move.

Even if she was the Silver Dragon King.

Bai Yuan shook his head, tossing those messy thoughts out of his mind, then turned and headed toward the exit of the Training Ground.

After taking two steps, he stopped again and tossed out a sentence without looking back.

"Junior Sister, continue tomorrow."

Gu Yuena watched his back and gritted her teeth.

Bai Yuan smiled and walked briskly out of the Training Ground.

Gu Yuena remained where she was, watching that retreating figure gradually disappear. A complicated emotion flashed through her purple eyes.

This human was becoming harder and harder for her to see through.