"Who are you?" Cocolia looked at the man before her. "Hanxing, Stellaron Hunter," the man said coldly, giving his name.
"'Stellaron Hunter'... Could he also be from the universe beyond?" Cocolia pondered. "First the Astral Express, and now the Stellaron Hunters. Does this Stellaron really draw so much attention?"
"In any case, you only have two choices now." Hanxing stared at her coldly and removed his mask. His embroidered spring saber was already drawn, giving off a faint red glow. "Either hand the Stellaron over to me now, or I'll kill you and take it!"
"Those who stand in the way of the new world's arrival shall become its foundation!" Cocolia shouted angrily. Several icicles formed in the air and flew toward Hanxing in an instant. Hanxing dodged three and shattered one with a slash.
Just as the two were preparing to clash again, they both sensed an unusual gaze sweep over them. "A glance from Preservation?" Hanxing chuckled. Caelus woke at that moment, a fiery red lance in his hand.
"Mangfeng, what are you doing here?" Caelus looked at the man before him, a doubt forming in his mind. If he came here, what about the Silvermane Guard Restricted Zone?
"Call me by another name." Hanxing paused. "I'm Hanxing, a member of the Stellaron Hunters. In any case, don't worry about who I am. Our target is still the Stellaron!" He raised his saber and pointed it at Cocolia.
"Preservation has made its choice. Now surrender and accept your punishment!" Hanxing looked at Cocolia coldly. "You know nothing of this world's plight... nothing of the fate that awaits it!" Cocolia shouted.
More icicles rose. Caelus blocked several with his flaming lance, while Hanxing shattered some as well. He then appeared before Cocolia in an instant, launching her into the air with an upward slash. He followed with two downward cuts. After stepping back briefly, he unleashed Dimensional Rift. Once he landed, he sent out another wave of sword qi. A swift charging slash left Cocolia with quite a few wounds.
"Their power is with me!" Cocolia roared. "You... are only struggling in your death throes before the old world collapses!"
A massive meteorite fell in an instant. It broke through the dagger's domain, shattering the space above it for a moment. Watching the meteorite descend, Hanxing drew his saber and silently chanted, Spirit-Slaying Sword Qi! Two waves of sword qi, one horizontal and one vertical, sliced the meteorite into four pieces that crashed onto the land.
Fire Karma Clone! Hanxing silently chanted. A clone appeared beside him and closed in instantly. The two unleashed several frenzied slashes, and the clone vanished, setting Cocolia ablaze. Dimensional Rift struck again, and Hanxing appeared above Cocolia in an instant, slashing down at her. He flashed to the ground and punched her into the air, then flashed upward again and kicked her down. Several arrows fell at the same time.
"It's time to end this..." Hanxing said. "Caelus, back me up." He recalled the dagger to his hand and spun it with one hand. "Flaming Lance: Charge!" A fiery red flash passed through Cocolia and exploded behind Caelus. "Three, two, one," Hanxing counted silently, then drew his saber again.
The world fell still, and time and space froze together. "You're as good as dead!" Dozens of red waves of sword qi appeared in an instant. Hanxing sheathed his saber with a straight arm, and the sword qi exploded. The world shattered for a moment before time began to flow again.
By now, Cocolia could no longer get up. Hanxing reached out and took the Stellaron from her. "So this is a Stellaron?" In his hand, the golden Stellaron glowed. This was the power of the Path of Destruction.
"All right, partner, let's seal the Stellaron!" Hanxing turned back coldly. "Who told you I was going to seal the Stellaron?" He glared at Caelus. "Prison of Fiery Eyes: Forbidden Thrust!" In an instant, Caelus fell to the ground. Hanxing turned away and opened a spatial portal with two slashes. He withdrew the dagger's domain and took Cocolia with him.
"Caelus!" March 7th and Dan Heng rushed forward and helped him up. "He's... a Stellaron... Hunter-" Caelus managed weakly before losing consciousness.
"Mission complete." Hanxing soon returned to the spaceship. Silver Wolf looked at him. "Keep the Stellaron yourself. Elio said it'll be useful." Then she changed the subject. "That combo of yours was pretty cool. What's it called?"
Hanxing smiled. "Haven't decided. Maybe I'll call it Subject One..."
Before long, Hanxing met Kafka after she returned. "So, what's the plan next?" he asked. "Don't worry about all that yet. At least take a couple of days off and stay here for a while." Kafka was as considerate as ever, but Hanxing couldn't relax. "I figure my name will be on a wanted poster soon..."
"What are you afraid of?" Kafka reassured him. "The bounty on a wanted poster is also proof of one's strength." She then turned around. "Let's all go down and buy a few things."
Hanxing nodded. "I guess that's all we can do. Let's go." Then he changed the subject. "Speaking of which, where's Blade?" "He went to the Xianzhou," Silver Wolf answered briefly. "This time, the prophecy about you two is a little different from the one about Kafka and the others."
"Us two?" Hanxing caught the key point. "Me and who?" "Firefly, of course!" Silver Wolf's eyes were full of eager anticipation for the gossip. Firefly turned her face away, her cheeks already red. Hanxing looked rather uncomfortable too. "Anyway, let's go."
Hanxing drew one horizontal and one vertical stroke with his embroidered spring saber, opening a spatial portal to the Overworld. Soon, the group found themselves in the cold wind. "It's not my first time here, but it feels colder than last time." Firefly rubbed her hands together. With her Entropy Loss Syndrome cured, she could feel things like an ordinary person.
Hanxing took a padded coat out of space. "Put this on for now." He draped it over Firefly's shoulders. "Thanks..." Firefly's face reddened slightly, but Hanxing pulled the coat's hood over her head before she could react.
"With such a good-looking girlfriend, I'm worried someone else might steal you away-" Firefly just smiled. "I haven't agreed to let you be my boyfriend!" Hanxing laughed too. "It's only a matter of time!"
Suddenly, Hanxing seemed to remember something and slapped his forehead. "Wait here. I have something to do." He opened a spatial portal with two slashes and arrived at the Goethe Grand Hotel.
"Hello, I'd like to check out." Hanxing politely greeted the attendant. The attendant made a quick calculation. "You booked the room for five days but only stayed one. Here's your refund of forty thousand Shields. Please take them." The attendant soon returned with dozens of coins as change. "That's not right. Why are there so few?" Hanxing asked.
"These Shields have a denomination of five hundred. They're simply worth more each." Hanxing smiled. "Thank you."
He opened another spatial portal with his saber and arrived in front of the clothing store. "Let's go."