"???"
Li Sushang's pretty face, having just recovered from its bewilderment, wore a very strange expression.
She could discern the playful teasing in the nickname, and it made her a little flustered and angry.
"Wait, what's with 'Big Pillow Li'? Was he calling me… uh, calling you?"
Her fine brows knitted slightly as Li Sushang muttered in displeasure, directing the question to her 'parallel-world self'.
She hadn't fully grasped everything yet, but she could clearly understand the current situation. Judging by the way this soldier greeted 'herself,' they must be quite familiar.
It reminded Li Sushang of a time when she traveled with imperial soldiers. During breaks, the soldiers would often roughhouse, tease, and trade friendly insults—it was the way comrades-in-arms interacted.
This world's version of herself… could she be a soldier for the court here?
Having roamed the martial world since she was young, Li Sushang would occasionally fantasize about a future where she joined the army and fought on the battlefield.
If she were to enlist, she'd at least have to vie for the position of a general, right?
When she was still in her mother's womb, a fortune-teller had pointed at her mother's belly and declared: This child is a natural-born sword embryo, her fate is extraordinary, a dragon among men and a phoenix among women, destined for supremacy!
So how did her other self end up as 'Big Pillow Li'?
[Ahem, the situation is rather complicated. What I just told you was only a part of it. Are you sure you want to hear the rest right now?]
Moon Shade had just finished explaining the concepts of parallel worlds and counterparts to this girl who had time-traveled from 15th-century Shenzhou, as well as her ability to 'summon her parallel-world self'.
She hadn't yet gotten to the part about the Xianzhou Luofu and the local Sushang.
"Sigh, this is really…"
With a sigh, Li Sushang found her feelings difficult to put into words. She raised a hand to her forehead, feeling utterly helpless.
To listen?
She definitely still wouldn't understand all those obscure terms like 'quantum' and 'imaginary'.
Not to listen?
But that felt inexplicably strange.
"Big Pillow Li, Li Sushang! What are you still spacing out for over there?"
After seeing her comrade hail her, a female Cloud Knight couldn't help but feel exasperated when Sushang just stood there in a daze, pointing at herself in a state of confusion.
"Hurry up and go to your assigned location to evacuate the masses… Wait! There's a new order."
Before the female Cloud Knight could finish her sentence, her tone suddenly shifted. Her expression turned serious as she raised a hand to the side of her helmet.
"The Clairvoyance System has detected five civilians about to be attacked by the Mara-struck. Thirty-seven hostiles. We need to go rescue them immediately. Coordinates are…"
"All units, form up! Proceed to the coordinates at full speed!"
"Li Sushang, you come too!"
The Cloud Knight who seemed to be the squad leader shouted.
"Ah? Oh!"
Listening to the soldiers' conversation, Li Sushang heard many more words she didn't understand.
She knew what 'Clairvoyance' was, but what was a 'system'?
And 'Ma-Mara-struck'?
That was the right pronunciation, but what was that thing?
One little question mark after another kept popping up in her head.
She could still understand words like 'civilians in danger' and 'rescue,' plus…
[I'll explain the details to you later. For now, just follow them and go save the people.]
"Alright."
Li Sushang immediately set aside her confusion and objections, nodding slightly.
Sushang had loved watching plays, listening to storytellers, and reading scrolls since she was a child. Of course, the stories she heard were all about the martial world, and the books she read were all supernatural novels.
Having heard so many tales of heroic chivalry, she naturally made it her goal to emulate them.
"When it comes to acts of righteousness, I am duty-bound to help."
With a light laugh, her internal energy (Honkai energy) naturally flowed to her feet, allowing her petite frame to display speed and power that defied common sense.
A gentle breeze lifted the hem of the brown-haired girl's clothes. Like a graceful swallow, her steps blurred into an phantom image that was difficult to track.
In the blink of an eye, Li Sushang had caught up with the advancing Cloud Knight squad.
The few soldiers who knew 'Sushang' didn't forget to keep an eye on her as they moved. Seeing the movement technique Sushang displayed, their own rushing footsteps couldn't help but falter.
What's going on?
Am I seeing things?
They had actually sensed a hint of ethereal, otherworldly grace from Big Pillow Li just now!
It was as if they'd seen a ghost!
"Brother, where are we headed?"
Li Sushang cupped one fist in her other hand in a martial arts salute and addressed the Cloud Knight who had first called out to 'her'.
"Where are we headed? The mission coordinates have already been sent, haven't they?"
The Cloud Knight looked a little confused and pointed a finger at the special faceplate covering his face.
What looked like a glaive was, in essence, a monomolecular vibro-blade; the Cloud Knights' entire set of gear was high-tech.
The part covering the entire face was a tactical faceplate. Not only did it not obstruct vision, but it could also assist in target acquisition, perform preliminary searches, and, when linked to the helmet, functioned as a personal combat terminal.
It displayed information, missions, coordinates, and so on sent from superiors.
"Wait, where's your gear? And when did you change into this outfit?"
The Cloud Knight looked Li Sushang up and down in surprise, taking in her Valkyrie armor that blended both Schicksal and Shenzhou styles.
"And… 'Brother'? Why so polite all of a sudden?"
He felt that today's Sushang was a bit strange!
"Little Sushang, did you get injured fighting a Mara-struck?"
The Cloud Knight's tone suddenly became alarmed and worried. "It couldn't be a sign of succumbing to the Mara, could it?"
Although it was impossible for Sushang to fall to the Mara at her age, it might be a different story if she was seriously injured. This whole incident was strange to begin with; many young people had been induced into the Mara-struck state by an unknown force.
"Haha, old bro, I'm fine. Don't worry about it."
Hearing this, Li Sushang's expression changed slightly as she realized she had said the wrong thing.
Moon Shade had already anticipated this. Under the guidance of the body's owner—her other 'self'—Li Sushang quickly answered him.
This included using a familiar tone and a strange-sounding address like 'old bro'.
"Hmm?"
The Cloud Knight was still very confused.
Sushang seemed a bit more normal, but only a little bit. She was still really strange!
He wanted to ask more questions, but the brown-haired girl gracefully moved away from him, running to the front flank of the formation.
"That was close!"
Li Sushang breathed a sigh of relief and asked in a low voice:
"Other me, you don't actually know that soldier, do you?"
She had assumed he was a teammate of her other self.
[I don't know him. I don't know anyone here. So, it's better not to interact too much.]
"Okay."
Li Sushang could be certain that this body currently belonged to the other person, not just because of 'her' explanation, but also because of the system information popping up in the depths of her mind.
Those who had cultivated their Sword Heart to the realm of Taixu would achieve a level of control over their bodies that was unimaginable to ordinary people, and their intuition would also become sharper and more precise.
Li Sushang wasn't stupid. The reason she had believed 'herself' almost without a shred of doubt was precisely because this body, which fit her almost perfectly yet did not belong to her.
It confirmed the other's identity.
"By the way, what are all those things? Could they be the legendary giant automatons?"
Li Sushang leaped forward using her lightness skill, moving across the tops of the containers in Cloudford.
[That's called a starskiff. It's a vehicle used for transporting goods and people. It's like a car… hmm, a ship that can fly in the sky.]
Moon Shade explained to the intensely curious girl.
"A ship that can fly in the sky? Incredible! I never thought this world would have such a novel thing! Wonderful, truly wonderful!"
Li Sushang's almond-shaped eyes widened slightly as she looked at the transport starskiff in amazement.
As they advanced, the girl constantly asked Moon Shade about the things around them, which had a familiar yet strangely foreign style.
Including what that soldier had meant by 'coordinates sent' and why he pointed at his faceplate when he said it.
Moon Shade patiently explained everything one by one.
Before long.
"Attention, the Mara-struck are just ahead. Prepare for battle!"
The squad leader detected the enemy's presence through his faceplate and immediately alerted the Cloud Knight brothers behind him.
"Yes, sir!"
Hearing this, Li Sushang pushed off with a bit more force, becoming the first to see the enemy. Her face immediately showed astonishment.
"Is that… what a strange kind of demon?"
They were shaped like gnarled ancient trees, with bizarre forms. Strange ginkgo leaves grew on their torsos, emitting a golden light.
The moment the monsters spotted the group, they charged forward like wild beasts.
[Those aren't demons… they're more like humans who have been corrupted by demonic energy and cannot be saved.]
In the ancient Shenzhou of the Honkai world, demons were Honkai Beasts.
"I see."
Li Sushang nodded. If infected by demonic energy (Honkai energy), a martial artist might have a slim chance of survival, but for an ordinary person, contact meant almost certain death.
She didn't sense any Honkai energy from those monsters, so she figured they must be demons native to this world.
At the same time, the Cloud Knight squad leader gave the order to attack.
"Oh? The common soldiers here are actually this skilled? They can release their internal energy and strike with a protective aura?"
Just as she was about to act, her attention was captured by the Cloud Knights' attacks. Li Sushang watched a Cloud Knight execute what looked like Ashina sword style, firing an energy blast from the back of his longblade, and she let out a sound of admiration.
Although the power of that blade energy was nothing to her, this level of skill was far superior to the imperial soldiers in her memory!
In an ordinary martial world, they could even become reasonably famous.
[That's not a protective aura. Forget it, I'll catch you up on the common knowledge later.]
Moon Shade felt helpless.
The Cloud Knights' weapons were powerful, but using energy attacks consumed a lot of energy. Just like bullets, once they were used up, they were gone.
"Alright!"
With a light laugh, under the stunned gazes of the numerous Cloud Knight soldiers, Li Sushang's graceful figure flickered and leaped to the very front of the battle line.
"Then let me help them find release!"
Seeing this, everyone, whether they knew 'Sushang' or not, grew anxious.
"Big Pillow Li! What are you doing?"
"It's dangerous!"
"Get back here! Maintain the formation and attack!"
With her back to the Cloud Knight soldiers, the corners of Li Sushang's mouth curled up slightly. Her spring-water-clear eyes held a hint of excitement, and a smile touched her face.
"Don't worry, everyone. I'm fine."
The girl's blue and white dress, reminiscent of a plum blossom in the winter snow, whipped about in the wind.
Ahead, a dozen Mara-struck soldiers raised their strange blades, formed from a mixture of branches, locked onto her figure, and charged.
"Form is that which brings advantage."
Li Sushang formed a sword sign with her right hand and swept it horizontally across her chest. A divine fire, like a golden flame, ignited at her fingertips.
Vast Honkai energy, under the exquisite control of the will of Taixu, condensed into dozens of translucent, golden-flame longswords.
The swords had yet to move, but their biting intent was already making the space around them tremble.
"Sword Art: Sky-Render."
The brown-haired girl let out a wild laugh as her sword sign suddenly slashed forward.
In that instant, the dozens of qi swords hovering around her trembled in unison, transforming into a meteor shower that rained down.
As the qi swords pierced the chests of the Mara-struck soldiers, there was no sound of tearing flesh, but rather the faint clang of clashing metal, a sharp detonation as they sliced through the Mara-struck soldiers' bodies. Branches and Mara-struck blood splattered like a painting.
"Huh?"
"???"
Staring blankly at the scene before them, the eyes of all the Cloud Knights who knew Sushang widened in shock. The whole thing felt utterly unbelievable!
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