Following the guidance of Cortana and Bronya, the group split into two teams and headed towards the two areas with intense energy reactions.
When Ryn's group reached their destination, they found not a sealed area, but a giant energy crystal.
A message came from Fu Hua's team; they had also found an energy crystal.
"Well, no ancestral remains. According to Cortana and Bronya's scans, the energy is flowing throughout Chiyou's body. This is likely Chiyou's energy supply, in other words, its heart." Ryn tried knocking on the energy crystal; it was quite hard.
"Should we try to blow it up and see if there's anything inside? Like, maybe it drops some loot? Destroying its heart should also kill Chiyou, right?" Mei asked curiously.
Thinking that Mei had a point, Ryn used a pseudo black hole to directly consume a part of the energy crystal. The energy crystal was a single entity; once a part was broken, the whole thing would shatter. With Ryn consuming a small corner, the entire crystal instantly disintegrated.
"Hey, what's this? It really did drop loot like Mei said!" Kiana picked up a fist-sized gemstone from the crystal fragments.
Cortana floated out and scanned the gemstone in Kiana's hand.
"This is Soulium. It seems it wasn't a total loss. But there are words carved on it. Soulium with carvings... it might be some kind of relic."
"Cortana, can you translate it?"
"Let Fu Hua do it. This script is not a known recorded language. My database has no information on it."
(Cortana is not a Previous Era relic. Depending on the situation, if I get carried away with writing, I might even go to the Halo universe. Pitting Halo tech against Star Rail tech, just thinking about it is exciting.)
"Then let's inform Fu Hua's team to blast their crystal open as well and see if there's any Soulium inside."
————————
After receiving the message, Fu Hua's team also began to attack Chiyou's crystal heart, but it was clear that they couldn't break it with their bare hands.
Fu Hua stopped Bronya's attack; continuing would be futile.
"Let's call Ryn for support! Our strength is not enough to break the crystal. It's a pity the Hyperion was destroyed; otherwise, the Hyperion's main cannon could have easily shattered it."
Bronya nodded and sent a support request in the public channel.
"I heard someone calling for support~ Not enough firepower? Then let me handle it! Bronya, give me the coordinates. Let me show you what I'm made of."
When Kika saw Bronya's request, she replied happily. Theresa had taken Hiyokumaru to the branch office to handle the situation, and Judah had taken Himeko and Sin Mal back to St. Freya High School. She was all alone on the shore, bored to death.
"The Bronya does not believe Kika can shatter the crystal..."
"Shut up, shorty. Let me ask you, can the Hyperion kill a Herrscher with one shot?"
"..."
"Answer me!"
"Didn't you just tell the Bronya to shut up?"
"..." This time, it was Kika's turn to be silent.
"Don't worry, you haven't seen me at full power yet! The power of my cannon is no less than the Hyperion's, you know~"
It would take time for Ryn to arrive anyway, so they might as well let Kika try. After some thought, Bronya and Fu Hua sent the coordinates to Kika.
"You two step back a bit. The trajectory of my shot from this angle might hit you. Firing in 30 seconds... 25... 15..."
Fu Hua and Bronya quickly retreated. As the countdown neared its end, a red beam shot out from the coastline, piercing straight through Chiyou's body and into the deep sea. The seabed instantly split apart, and underground magma erupted from the fissures.
Pierced through, Chiyou thrashed violently in pain, roaring at the sky, shaking the people inside its body.
Looking at the large hole in front of her, Fu Hua subconsciously adjusted her glasses. This power was about one-tenth of her Edge of Taixuan... she just wondered how much energy Kika had used.
"The Bronya must admit, the Bronya underestimated you..."
Bronya sent a communication to Kika, but Kika didn't reply.
"Told you... I'm strong!" Kika replied, panting heavily. That shot was fired at full power, and it nearly made her pass out from exhaustion.
Kika really wanted to slap Bronya right now. Stupid Bronya had told her that an attack on the level of the Hyperion's main cannon might be needed to break it, which made her overestimate the target's durability. Now she had used a cannon to shoot a mosquito...
Fu Hua and Bronya also found a Soulium gemstone in the shattered crystal. Fu Hua touched the familiar script on it and softly read it aloud.
"I bestow this piece of Soulium upon you. This world is about to be destroyed by the Honkai, but the flame of humanity will burn anew. Cangxuan... after a long slumber, you will reawaken in a new civilized era. You possess foresight and wisdom far beyond ordinary people. You will surely be able to guide humanity towards a future different from ours."
"Cangxuan? Was the ancestor of Shenzhou a survivor from the Previous Era?" Bronya asked curiously.
"No, I don't know..."
Fu Hua felt a sense of sorrow. Cangxuan seemed to have been a partner who carried out the Fire Seed project with her, but she had already forgotten who Cangxuan was.
Fu Hua spoke into the communicator, addressing Ryn's group. "Ryn, after we get back, can you let me see the other piece of Soulium?"
"Of course. There's writing on this one too, and we still don't know what it means."
Bronya looked at Fu Hua curiously. This was the first time Bronya had seen Class Monitor Fu Hua looking so sad and anxious.
"Let's continue to the other area. I have a feeling that Ji Lin will be there."
Fu Hua clenched the Soulium in her hand. This was given to Cangxuan by someone she couldn't remember. Then the other piece of Soulium must have been for Danzhu. Three people sealed Chiyou. Danzhu and Cangxuan had been found, so the next one must be Ji Lin.
Bronya wanted to say something, but after thinking about it, it didn't seem very important. It seemed they had shattered the seal on Chiyou... and had even scattered the ancestors' ashes... Now Chiyou seemed to have been truly revived, but did that matter? Bronya had now realized that both Kika and Ryn could kill Chiyou directly, so what was there to panic about?
As Ryn and the others got closer to Chiyou's last heart.
A voice appeared in the minds of Ryn, Kiana, and Mei.
"Go back, you who have been chosen by the Honkai... I do not wish to fight you."
Ryn, Mei, and Kiana looked at each other, then asked Fu Hua and the others if they had heard it, only to find that they hadn't.
"Mortals cannot hear my voice. Take the azure empyrea and leave... If you reach Chiyou's heart, I will have to kill you.
You are not the targets of my revenge. There is no meaning in fighting you."