The true essence of Starward Sword

But something seemed to have changed in Keqing. In her eyes, time now seemed to have stopped.

Not only that, but she also felt that the bottleneck that had troubled her for so long had vanished at that very moment.

By Teyvat's standards of combat strength, Keqing had previously been merely a first-rate warrior among mortals.

But after breaking through that bottleneck, she could now be counted among the strongest mortals below the Adepti.

In game terms, the bottleneck Keqing had just faced was the barrier between level 80 and level 81.

That one-level breakthrough was not to be underestimated. Thanks to everything she had built up before it, Keqing's special skills and elemental control had improved tremendously.

More importantly, Keqing had grasped the true essence of Starward Sword.

Starward Sword was Keqing's elemental burst in the game, but in this real world, it was a secret sword technique she practiced.

Once she broke through that bottleneck, she naturally grasped the essence of this secret sword technique.

The apparent pause in time she now perceived was one way of applying that essence. Time had not actually stopped; it was an illusion created by Keqing's speed and thoughts surpassing time.

Once Keqing understood what was happening, she immediately took advantage of her current state and used the Lion's Roar in her hand to take down every last black-clad attacker.

Honestly, even a Pyro Agent who could turn invisible could not escape Keqing's Starward Sword. This ability was simply absurd.

The next moment, time began flowing again in Zhong Baiye's eyes.

He still wore a worried expression, as though that syringe would strike Keqing at any second.

Lumine and Paimon looked worried too, still poised to call out a warning to Keqing.

But all Zhong Baiye and the others saw was a flash of purple light.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

The next moment, all the Fatui fell to the ground and began wailing. The syringe in Yuzhong's hand had vanished too, though his smug expression remained, as he still thought he had succeeded.

When Yuzhong finally saw clearly, the person before him was not Keqing, the Yuheng, but an unconscious member of the Fatui. The syringe in his hand was gone as well.

Only then did he realize what had happened, but before he could cry out, he passed out.

Zhong Baiye and Lumine were utterly bewildered too. They could not imagine what had just happened or why these Fatui had suddenly collapsed.

"Look over here! Keqing's here!"

Paimon had been about to search the Fatui for anything valuable when she suddenly spotted the unconscious Keqing.

Hearing her call, Zhong Baiye and Lumine hurried over and helped Keqing up.

After Lumine examined her, they found that Keqing had merely passed out from overusing her ability, not from an injury.

They all breathed a sigh of relief, but they were still out in the wilderness. Another group of Fatui could jump out at any moment.

To help Keqing wake up sooner, Zhong Baiye volunteered to give her holy water.

P.S. Holy water was purified water in which a Statue of the Seven had been immersed. It could heal minor injuries in ordinary people and help Vision holders replenish their mana bars.

"Think about it. Keqing's unconscious right now. If we give her water the usual way, she'll choke on it. She could even suffocate."

Zhong Baiye spoke to Lumine and Paimon with a perfectly serious expression.

"If you let me give it to her, there won't be any danger, and Keqing will wake up very soon."

But Zhong Baiye failed to notice that, as he spoke, the corners of his mouth were creeping upward, leaving his sly grin plain for all to see.

"Hmph! No need to trouble yourself. I'll do it."

Lumine saw through Zhong Baiye's intentions at a glance, though she felt it would be somewhat inappropriate to give Keqing holy water that way herself.

But the moment she imagined Zhong Baiye doing that to Keqing, she angrily rejected his request.

Hearing that Lumine was no longer even calling him her big brother, Zhong Baiye realized she was genuinely angry and did not dare continue the subject.

Lumine looked at the unconscious Keqing and patted her own cheeks, as though making up her mind.

She took a large mouthful of holy water without swallowing, then pressed her lips against Keqing's.

"Gulp, gulp..."

It was unclear whether the sound came from Keqing drinking the holy water or Zhong Baiye swallowing his saliva.

At the strange sound, Lumine's cheeks instantly turned bright red. Once she made sure there was not a drop left in her mouth, she hurriedly lifted her head and shot Zhong Baiye a fierce glare.

But Lumine's fierce glare could not pierce Zhong Baiye's thick-skinned defenses. It did not bother him in the slightest.

"Where am I?"

Not long after drinking the holy water, Keqing regained consciousness. Her head ached a little, and she had no idea what had just happened.

"Keqing, are you all right? Do you remember us being surrounded by a group of people in black?"

Hearing Zhong Baiye's voice, Keqing immediately raised her head and looked around.

She found the place in shambles. Black-clad figures lay all over the ground, their fates unknown, and sword marks were scattered about.

At the sight, Keqing shook her head, and the confusion in her eyes quietly faded.

"Right, we were trying to deal with those people in black. Then..."

Zhong Baiye and Lumine realized that all this might have something to do with Keqing. But she had only just awakened and might not yet remember what had happened, so they did not rush her, instead waiting for her memories to return.

Paimon was another matter entirely. She had no idea how to put herself in someone else's shoes. As soon as she heard that Keqing might know something, she blurted out impatiently.

"What happened next? Tell us! Hurry..."

The moment Zhong Baiye and Lumine heard Paimon speak, they both shot her a look.

Paimon wilted before she could even finish, too frightened to meet either Zhong Baiye's or Lumine's eyes.

Just then, Keqing finally remembered everything that had happened.

She gathered her thoughts and spoke to Zhong Baiye and the others.

"While I was fighting, the bottleneck that had troubled me for so long suddenly vanished. That let me grasp the true essence of Starward Sword. I was the one who took down those Fatui."

Still a little puzzled by this, Zhong Baiye immediately followed up with another question.

"Then why did you pass out too, Keqing?"

Keqing carefully recalled what had happened.

"When I finished taking down everyone in black, my use of Starward Sword's true essence ended too. The instant it ended, I felt all the strength leave my body, and then I lost consciousness."

Lumine understood what had happened and immediately explained it to Zhong Baiye and Keqing.

"Vision holders generally lose the ability to fight after using a technique like this before they've mastered it. Their lack of familiarity makes them exert far too much power."