The reinforcement fleet tore through the void at full speed, stars streaking past like fleeting ghosts. Aboard one warship, the atmosphere among the High-Cloud Quintet was suffocatingly heavy.
Four pairs of eyes converged on a single figure.
Jingliu sat in the co-pilot's seat, her sword resting across her lap like an old companion. She had not spoken a single word since boarding.
The silence was absolute.
It was the kind of quiet that made one wonder whether the person before them was truly alive or merely an aurumaton stripped of its soul. Her eyes seldom blinked. The familiar spark that once defined her had vanished, replaced by a still, bottomless darkness. No ripples disturbed that stagnant pool. Only an aching void remained.
Jing Yuan watched his master's profile, words caught in his throat.
As her disciple, he understood more than the others. He had long sensed the tangled, unspoken emotions that bound his master to their grandmaster. Something had transpired between them the previous night—something that had left her like this.
Caught between the grandmaster who had always doted on him and the master to whom he owed everything, what right did a junior have to intervene in such matters?
In the end, all the turmoil in his heart condensed into a single, helpless breath.
"Kill!"
The battle cry erupted across the comms as the Luofu reinforcements descended upon the Denizens of Abundance besieging the Xianzhou Yuque, striking deep into the enemy lines like divine judgment.
Jingliu did not break formation. She took the lead yet seemed to drift outside the entire battlefield. Almost no one could see the trajectory of her attacks. Cold flashes of sword light flickered through the enemy ranks as large swaths of Abominations fell silently. The moment the sword qi touched flesh, extreme low temperatures completely froze all life. Ice spread, leaving behind nothing but crystal-clear sculptures of death wherever it passed.
This slaughter carried no hint of anger—only a chilling ruthlessness and indifference. It was as if she were not slaying enemies or even living things, but a kind of pain that even she herself could no longer bear.
After an unknown duration of fighting, a gap was finally torn through the swarms of enemy Beastships that blotted out the sky.
A terrifying pressure followed immediately. Everyone looked up instinctively.
A dark red planet composed of countless writhing masses of flesh pressed heavily upon the dome of the Xianzhou Yuque.
It was the Luofu reinforcements' objective: the living constellation, Jidu Mirage.
This extremely similar scene awakened a nightmare from the depths of Jingliu's memory.
A thousand years ago, a crimson Evil Star had brought her despair, devouring everything she had, including her home—the Xianzhou Cangcheng. That catastrophe had pushed her toward the starting point of another path of despair.
"Proceed according to plan."
Jing Yuan's voice rang out over the communication channel.
Jingliu ceased her reminiscing. Human emotions vanished from her eyes, replaced by a killing intent so pure it was terrifying.
With a heaven-shaking sword hum, she flew her sword straight into the sky, plunging without hesitation into that bloody, foul-smelling Evil Star.
There were no mountains or rivers on the surface of Jidu Mirage—only writhing flesh, tentacles, and countless Abominations.
Jingliu was surrounded the moment she landed, but that was exactly what she wanted.
Kill. Kill… kill—
As long as the sword in her hand kept swinging, as long as there were enemies before her, she would not have to think about the shattered jade on the ground or that heartless sentence. She wanted to become the sword entirely, to merge with it and become a lethal weapon that existed only to slaughter Abominations.
The brutal battle had long since lost all concept of time. Perhaps half a year, or perhaps a year had passed; lives faded every moment. In this purgatory, Jingliu's slaughter never ceased.
At some point she had abandoned all defense. Whether her armor was torn by claws, her flesh pierced by venomous fangs, her limbs lost, or her body ripped apart… no matter how severe the injury, the wound healed instantly in the next second, and she felt no pain.
That regeneration speed even surpassed that of the High Elder of the Vidyadhara, who possessed the power of Permanence.
"This…"
Dan Feng, who was responsible for providing support from the periphery, witnessed the scene. Shock filled his eyes.
In all the years they had been known as the High-Cloud Quintet, he had never seen Jingliu injured, let alone imagined that her regenerative power would resemble an Abomination's more than the Abominations themselves. There was no aura of mara corruption. How on earth did she do it?
"No need to worry about me."
Jingliu swung her sword, decapitating dozens of giant beasts before her. Her voice was cold.
"Go help Jing Yuan and the others. Leave the Abominations here to me."
Dan Feng hesitated for a moment before choosing to trust his comrade. He immediately transformed into a blue dragon shadow and dove underground, chasing after Jing Yuan's squad on their demolition mission.
The Vidyadhara's task was simple: use Cloudhymn magic to protect the Cloud Knights and resist the corrosion of Jidu Mirage's flesh.
Without the concern of harming her comrades, Jingliu seemed to have gone completely mad. She no longer suppressed the power surging within her. Her sword intent erupted, condensing into a massive cold moon high in the sky.
Where the moonlight shone, the cold was piercing. Countless frenzied, bloodthirsty Abominations actually trembled under this pressure from the depths of the soul. Their will to fight greatly diminished.
Jingliu swept her longsword. A crescent-shaped sword qi stretching ten thousand feet swept out, shaving across the land like a razor.
Puchi—puchi—
On the surface of Jidu Mirage, countless bottomless cracks appeared instantly. The living planet let out a dull wail, its flesh churning as if it were undergoing the death of a thousand cuts.
Meanwhile, the battlefield on the Xianzhou Yuque was also awash with blood. Reinforcements from the Xianzhou Luofu and Xianzhou Zhuming had arrived, helping the Yuque desperately resist the endless tide of the Denizens of Abundance.
Debris from star skiffs and corpses of Abominations fell like rain. On this brutal battlefield, life was worth less than weeds, harvested faster than wheat falling in a field.
The fierce battle, having lost all sense of time, did not stop. Jidu Mirage still hung over the Yuque, slowly pressing down. The massive shadow was like a countdown to death. Once the two made contact, the Yuque would surely follow in the footsteps of the Xianzhou Cangcheng.
Just as Jidu Mirage was about to fall and despair was about to consume everyone, a beam of moonlight capable of freezing even the stars sliced through the dark red sky without warning.
The moonlight spanning the starry sky actually sliced off a third of Jidu Mirage's volume!
Immediately after, an earth-shaking roar came from underground. Azure dragons condensed from the surging waves broke through the leveled ground, carrying the Cloud Knights led by Jing Yuan and the others into the sky.
"Retreat! Retreat quickly!"
Jing Yuan roared at the top of his lungs.
As all the Luofu reinforcements evacuated, a violent chain reaction erupted inside Jidu Mirage. Flesh churned on the surface, forming countless volcanic vents that exploded. What spewed out was not magma, but Zhuming fire capable of incinerating Abominations.
Raging flames quickly engulfed Jidu Mirage. The blinding light almost illuminated the entire Yuque.
"Wooo—"
Jidu Mirage let out a continuous, shrill wail. Its massive body gradually lost vitality. A few minutes later, it stopped falling, becoming a dead star that continued to burn.
High in the sky, Jingliu swung her sword once more!
The continent cracked. Web-like fissures spread. The dead star recoiled rapidly, crashing into the vast sea of stars.
With the greatest threat removed, the previously demoralized Cloud Knights' fighting spirit soared. They blew the horn for a counterattack.
"Kill all these Abominations!!!"
After paying a heavy price, the Cloud Knights finally held the Xianzhou Yuque.
The High-Cloud Quintet reunited.
Except for Jingliu, who remained expressionless and exuded a chilling aura that kept others at bay, the other four all had smiles of survival on their faces.
"Jingliu, are you alright?" Bai Heng approached with concern.
"I'm fine."
Jingliu replied briefly, unwilling to say more.
Just when everyone thought they could finally breathe a sigh of relief, an urgent battle report from the Luofu struck like a bolt from the blue, shattering their smiles.
"The Emanator of Abundance, Shuhu, has appeared! Leading a vast host of the Denizens of Abundance in a surprise attack on the Luofu!"
Jingliu snapped her head up. Her stagnant eyes finally rippled with intense emotion.