Truly, as weak and powerless as a struggling minnow

Seeing this, Tang Hao didn't hesitate any longer. Light flowed across the Clear Sky Hammer as he unleashed all his divine power and charged straight at Ming Yue!

But—

With a clang of metal striking metal, Ming Yue caught Tang Hao's swift, mighty hammer blow in one hand!

"Wha—! How is this possible!?" Tang Hao was so shocked that his voice nearly failed him. Instinctively, he tried to pull back!

"Ah Hao!" Seeing this, Ah Yin came to her senses. Though her heart was in turmoil, she hurried to assist him in the attack.

"Heh heh heh. What a laughable attack. You're truly as weak and powerless as struggling minnows!"

Gripping the Clear Sky Hammer, Ming Yue pressed it forcefully downward. Tang Hao was caught completely off guard and pitched forward toward her!

At the same time, she seized the Blue Silver Emperor vines that Ah Yin had wrapped around her with divine power and gave them a tug.

Ah Yin was dragged forward toward Ming Yue as well.

Ming Yue planted her boot hard on Tang Hao's head. After using Honkai Energy to destroy his vocal organs, she casually wrapped her arm around Ah Yin and clamped a hand around her pale neck.

"...How pitiful. That girl, once filled with hope, who had only just stepped into the world and knew nothing of its ways—just because she met the wrong person, she became the 'miserable' wretch she is now."

Gazing into her beautiful, terrified eyes, Ming Yue's right hand, infused with Honkai Energy, began to tighten slowly.

Feeling Ah Yin's instinctive struggle, driven by her will to survive, Ming Yue's voice suddenly turned gentle:

"Just think of it as a beautiful dream. You can return to the past, to the truly joyful days when you were still the Blue Silver Emperor,"

"...You won't be anyone's wife, nor the crucial piece in some so-called plan. You'll simply be yourself again."

As she spoke, she felt Ah Yin's struggles begin to weaken. Ming Yue's voice grew even gentler:

"In the dream, you won't meet the wrong person. Instead, you'll meet a human girl who can travel by your side. You'll go on adventures together, live together, and grow together."

"Even if you never become a god and eventually die of old age, at least you'll have truly lived as a human."

"And you'll have experienced a full life, one that no one else forced you into!"

Her words gradually grew ethereal. Ah Yin, held in her arms, finally drew her last breath.

A faint blue-gold glow appeared on her body, quickly enveloping her from head to toe.

A moment later, a grassy plant patterned with blue and gold appeared before Ming Yue, framed by a golden halo and a cluster of soft white light.

"...So she really does drop loot and have an immortality trait? She'll make a good specimen, too."

A strange light flashed in Ming Yue's eyes. She immediately stored Ah Yin and her equipment in the Knowledge Space within the Void Archives.

"Now it's your turn, Tang Hao. You're just as hypocritical as I am. Just like me, you love taking the moral high ground and using the weight of public opinion to crush others!"

As she ground her boot down, Ming Yue suddenly sneered. "What makes you think we're even in the same league?"

"But one thing you got right: neither of us is a good person. So running into me was bad luck for your whole family."

The moment she finished speaking, the Honkai Energy had gathered. She stomped down hard.

Ming Yue crushed Tang Hao's head beneath her boot, grinding it into pulp!

"Honestly... using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. Looks like I overdid it."

[ Ding! Main Quest Rescue Prayer of the Plane Spirit completed perfectly! ]

Taking in the notification, Ming Yue kicked away Tang Hao's headless body, which was still twitching reflexively.

Then she turned and walked over to the Plane Spirit.

"Can you feel it?" She placed her palm on top of the round ball of light. As Honkai Energy surged, Ming Yue asked gently.

"...This is such a strange, terrifying energy!?"

Like a girl's shriek, the Plane Spirit quivered violently beneath Ming Yue's hand.

"This is Honkai Energy, an entirely different power system from Soul Power, brought here by me."

Ming Yue withdrew her hand, still wreathed in Honkai Energy, and smiled faintly.

"Honkai... Energy? That's such a frightening name. Wait! You just said this... this... this was brought by you!?"

The ball shuddered twice, as though still shaken. But soon, her terrified words, shrill as a girl's scream, accompanied her trembling as she turned to look at Ming Yue.

"...Soul Masters and Soul Beasts—killing beasts to take their rings, even fusing their bones? All for the Soul Skills within those bones?"

"Born on the Dragon God's homeworld, don't you think this world is terribly warped?"

Ming Yue nodded at her, then calmly lifted her gaze and continued, "This world is sick. It has been rapidly heading toward a terminal illness ever since the Dragon God fell in the wrath of the Great Dao!"

"This world has been racing toward its ruin ever since!"

"Before its rules are completely fixed and locked in, before the world is utterly finished, I've brought in a new variable!"

She turned back to look at her with a smile, her tone gentle.

"Perhaps this variable will be a clear spring, bringing fresh water. Or perhaps... it'll make this already awful world even worse!"

"But what happens is up to us! And with you here, good girl, will you join me—the one who introduced this new variable—and help guide this new era?"

As she slowly opened her arms to the Plane Spirit, Ming Yue's gaze grew warmer and more expectant.

"I-I'm not your good girl!" The Plane Spirit's voice rang out in a girl's petulant whine, and her round body shot straight into Ming Yue's arms.

"But guiding my children and all that... I'd be determined to do it even if you hadn't asked!"

Her muffled voice sounded as if she were rubbing herself against Ming Yue's chest several times, getting a little too comfortable.

"Then it's settled. You'll help me guide this new era, good girl!"

Ming Yue patted the top of her head and forced the corners of her mouth upward, keeping her tone gentle.

"Mm."

[After subduing the Plane Spirit, you began to clear out the so-called Abyss Plane.]

[Don't be fooled by how boastful those Abyss Emperors were. That so-called Abyss Great Emperor was only at the level of a First-Level God after breaking through.]

[Someone who wasn't even as strong as Tang Hao couldn't last a single round against you.]

[You dealt with him with ease, then began searching for the so-called Douluo God Realm!]

[But after traveling through the universe for a long time, you still couldn't find those rats in hiding. With your Karma Demon End Mode about to expire, you had no choice but to return to Douluo Planet!]

[By then, though you had personally ended the war with the Abyss Plane and had the Plane Spirit guide Douluo Planet in swallowing it and evolving, the arrival of Honkai had utterly transformed Douluo Planet—and drastically reduced its population of living beings!]