Qian Qizhou's eyes snapped open. A fierce wave of dizziness made him stagger, and he nearly fell.
He instinctively steadied himself, his heart pounding wildly in his chest as a vast bewilderment washed over him.
Before him was no longer the quiet, elegant room in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, and the scent of herbs no longer filled his nose.
Instead, an eerie stillness hung in the air, thick with dust.
He stood rigidly in place. As far as the eye could see stretched an immense plaza, desolate and littered with crumbling walls and ruins.
The sky was an oppressive, ominous dark red, like congealed blood. No stars were visible; only thick, filthy clouds rolled and churned slowly overhead.
But what made even his soul tremble was the sight hanging high above the blood-red firmament...
A crimson moon... so enormous it filled half the sky!
It seemed so close that it might come crashing down at any moment and grind the earth to dust.
It radiated an eerie, icy crimson light that made it hard to breathe.
Where was this? An illusion? A dream? Or...
Just as Qian Qizhou was nearly suffocating beneath the pressure of the endless crimson and silence, his mind reeling, a woman's cool, commanding voice rang out behind him.
"You've come."
Qian Qizhou shuddered violently and hurriedly turned toward the voice.
Ei had appeared there at some point. Her eyes were closed, her expression as impassive as it had always been. She sat cross-legged, floating in midair, a faint pressure radiating from her.
In this utterly unfamiliar world, seeing the only familiar face made Qian Qizhou blurt out almost instinctively, "Ei...?!"
Yet she seemed utterly unconcerned by the oppressive crimson moon or the desolate, ruined plaza.
"This place is called the Plane of Euthymia," she said slowly. "It is the manifestation of my will, the embodiment of my inner world."
Ei continued, "The power flowing through your body originates from me."
"Through this connection, I was able to cross time and space and draw your consciousness here."
"And so, we meet again."
Standing in the desolate plaza, Qian Qizhou suppressed the shock welling up inside him at the eerie surroundings and the way Ei had appeared.
He gathered his scattered thoughts. Though he had countless questions, one thing was perfectly clear.
It was the woman before him who had pulled him out of the jaws of death.
He lifted his head and looked toward Ei, her eyes still closed. Setting aside all his emotions, he bowed deeply in her direction, with utmost solemnity.
"Lady Ei... thank you for granting my Martial Soul a mutation earlier, giving me the chance to change my Fate."
"And, even more, thank you for saving me at the Pope Palace. If you hadn't intervened, I wouldn't have been able to escape."
Ei gave a slight nod, accepting his thanks, though her eyes remained closed and her expression did not change in the slightest.
To her, these things seemed no more than trivial matters.
Suddenly, she seemed to move her arm almost casually.
A strangely shaped polearm, wreathed in purple lightning, shot through the air without warning, flying toward Qian Qizhou.
He instinctively reached out to catch it—
The instant his fingertips touched the shaft, an unimaginable weight slammed down on him!
It was no ordinary metal weapon. It felt more like he was bearing an ocean of thunder, or a mountain weighing ten thousand tons.
In short, it was heavy!
"Ugh—!"
Caught off guard, Qian Qizhou sank sharply under its weight. The bones in his arms creaked under the strain, and his knees buckled. He nearly dropped straight to the ground.
He poured all his strength into holding on, even instinctively drawing on the power inside him that had yet to recover completely. Only then did he barely manage to stay upright, avoiding being crushed beneath the seemingly elegant Naginata.
But he was already bent over in a wretched posture, gasping for breath. His arms trembled violently, and he could barely lift the weapon.
Only then did Ei speak again. "There's no need to thank me."
"This blade is called Engulfing Lightning. It is yours now."
"Since you have inherited my power, don't bring shame upon me."
"Here in the Plane of Euthymia, I will personally teach you martial arts."
As she finished speaking, the faint light surrounding Ei faded away, and she landed steadily before Qian Qizhou.
Her eyes, which had been closed all this time, slowly opened.
They were deep purple, with countless tiny sparks of lightning flickering in and out within them. They were cold and commanding, yet sharp enough to pierce through all things.
Just meeting her gaze made Qian Qizhou's soul shudder, as though she had seen through everything about him.
She ignored the Naginata that had nearly crushed Qian Qizhou and opened her right hand—
Crackling lightning burst from her palm, gathering and stretching in an instant until it took the shape of a phantom Naginata, identical to Engulfing Lightning but made entirely of energy.
Its blade flickered with light, emitting a buzz that made his scalp crawl. The aura it gave off was far more terrifying than that of the physical weapon.
Ei said to Qian Qizhou, "Watch closely."
In the next instant, she moved.
There was no unnecessary flourish. With the slightest flick of her wrist, the Naginata became a streak of purple lightning that tore through space, thrusting straight ahead!
Her movements were too fast for Qian Qizhou's eyes to follow. He saw only a thin purple line flash past. The space where the tip of the blade pointed seemed to twist slightly, followed by a piercing boom.
Before he could react, Ei turned sideways like a phantom. The Naginata swept with her, tracing a flawless, razor-sharp arc as she slashed horizontally!
Every move of hers was pared down to the utmost simplicity, stripped of all unnecessary ornamentation. Speed, strength, and precision were concentrated to their absolute peak.
This was no longer mortal martial arts, but a killing art belonging to a Deity, its complexity refined into simplicity.
As the lightning-wreathed blade danced at its peak, seeming to become the only rhythm in heaven and earth, Ei's figure abruptly froze.
Gripping the surging Naginata with both hands, she drew it to her side with effortless ease. The aura around her did not diminish; instead, it surged and compressed at a terrifying speed!
The lightning in her purple eyes burned almost white. "Musou no Hitotachi—"
It was as if all the light in the Plane of Euthymia had been drawn into the poised Naginata. Even the eerie red moon dimmed.
In the next instant—
"Bubble-Shadow Annihilation!"
She swung the blade with all her might!
There was no sound—or rather, sound itself had been utterly stripped away.
An immense, impossibly condensed slash of purple-black lightning tore free of the Naginata and cut into the boundless void ahead!
Where the slash passed, space shattered layer upon layer like fragile glass, disintegrating to reveal the darkness and nothingness beyond.
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