"Mas—"
"Shh!"
Jiang Wanru stopped Qin Suyi, who was about to speak.
The Ming Empire's army had already retreated nearly ten li away.
Standing between the armies of the Ming Empire and Tianming were the "Celestial Immortal Chiyuan" and her seven disciples of Taixu.
To say they weren't nervous would be impossible.
Qin Suyi, the seventh disciple of Taixu, had been cared for by Lin Zhaoyu and Su Mei ever since she was brought back to Taixu Mountain after the Celestial Immortal killed her parents, who had succumbed to cultivation deviation (becoming fully-fledged deathly warriors).
Although she knew of the Celestial Immortal's reputation as the strongest under heaven, she had barely ever seen her master in action. The most profound impression was from when her parents were killed.
The other six disciples were the same.
They never doubted the Celestial Immortal's power, but the scene before them could not put any witness at ease. They had seen their master slay men and kill demons, but none had ever seen their master face an entire army alone.
Their original expectation...
...was merely for the Celestial Immortal to lead them in assassinating Tianming's Valkyrie squads and those soldiers who wielded "demonic artifacts."
"Su Mei."
"Disciple is here!"
Su Mei had no idea why her master had called her name specifically.
But since her master, who was usually a woman of few words, had spoken, it was only natural to respond immediately, regardless of her own thoughts.
"If the bone of rebellion acts up."
"..."
Although the Celestial Immortal's words were only half a sentence, they were enough to drench Su Mei in a cold sweat.
The occipital bone.
The protuberance behind the ear at the back of the head, commonly known as the... bone of rebellion.
"Treat it with this medicine."
Crimson sleeves fluttered beside Hua. A clear azure light, dyed with the colors of the rainbow, suffused the air, and a scarlet sunset glow veiled the entire sky.
A colossal bronze sword that blotted out the entire field of vision, wreathed in flames that connected heaven and earth, began its slow descent from the highest clouds!
"Divine Sword of Taixu—"
"BOOM!!!"
The air was violently split apart by the terrifyingly sharp edge!
"Celestial Motion!"
"BOOOOM!!!!!"
"The Law Everlasting!"
"BOOOOM!!!!!"
"This is the Way of Heaven!"
"BOOOOM!!!!!"
---o---
"..."
The soldiers and officers of the Ming Empire witnessed, for the first time in the truest sense, what kind of existence could be called an "Immortal."
Tianming witnessed it too, of course, but at the cost of their lives. Three consecutive [Divine Sword of Taixu] strikes, separated by less than 15 seconds, fell upon Tianming's formation in a triangular pattern.
The power of these three strikes was not immense.
At least, for someone of Hua's strength, it was merely a casual flick of her wrist to form a sword seal.
After unleashing them, her face wasn't flushed, her breathing wasn't heavy; she didn't even move an inch.
As for the hundreds of thousands of Tianming soldiers on the other side... the command headquarters at the very center, having suffered the combined impact of the triple [Divine Sword of Taixu], had been annihilated without even ash remaining.
The number of survivors in the entire Tianming expeditionary force was now less than a paltry two hundred.
That's right.
There were still survivors.
Although it was a scouring-level attack, it was, after all, just something Hua did "casually." In order to protect the natural environment of the Kipchak Steppe, the three [Divine Sword of Taixu] strikes didn't even cause much damage to the ground itself. All of their power detonated at a height of 30 centimeters above the ground.
That was the most astonishing part.
Compared to simply blasting the Kipchak Steppe into oblivion, such incredible control was the true measure of the skill Hua had just displayed.
As for Tianming's remaining forces...
Standing at the very front of the entire army were Tianming's pride, the Valkyrie squads, and the knights equipped with Honkai energy weapons.
The [Divine Sword of Taixu] was undoubtedly a true Honkai energy attack, the ultimate expression of a "mind-energy-matter" assault manifested through the [Authority of Sentience].
These knights could withstand it for a moment, but faced with such a massive amount of Honkai energy erosion... after the second hand ticked past just 15 times, the remaining knights had all been reduced to dust.
Those still standing—
Swish!
A golden chain tore through the sky.
A massive cross, adorned in red and black, descended like a warhammer, falling straight towards Hua's position!
"BOOM!!!"
A torrent of white and cyan air bent the blades of grass.
The [Oath of Judah], descending with the force of a mountain, was stopped in mid-air by the Celestial Immortal's gently raised index finger.
No matter how hard Kallen pushed, it could not advance another inch.
Cheng Lingshuang, standing behind the Celestial Immortal, quietly relaxed the sword seal in her hand. When her master was sneak-attacked, she had subconsciously wanted to go and help... only to immediately realize that with her master's terrifying strength, such "assistance" was completely unnecessary.
"Bang!!"
A crimson projectile shattered before Hua.
Her misty,霞-like "protective true qi" couldn't be breached in the slightest by even the most potent effect of the [Authority of Binding], let alone a mere mimicked Judgment of Shamash. Although they had not perished under the [Divine Sword of Taixu]—which had held back 99.9% of its power—these Tianming Valkyries had clearly lost their ability to fight.
Besides Kallen.
The only other person who could and dared to attack Chiyuan... was Otto Apocalypse, wielding a mimicked Judgment of Shamash.
However.
The power of the Judgment of Shamash (in its dual pistol form) mimicked by the [Void Archives] in his hands was far weaker than the genuine article.
"..."
"Good."
While everyone was shocked by the Celestial Immortal's power, they were unaware that Hua had also quietly breathed a sigh of relief. Although the Monarch had adopted the method of "simultaneously intervening in all singularities" to alter the flow, the resulting ripples still inevitably affected the "mainstream."
The [Void Archives] should not have awakened so early.
Hua's grand and ostentatious display was predicated on the fact that the [Void Archives]'s perception could not extend this far.
Fortunately.
Although Otto had activated the Void Archives, the "consciousness" within had not awakened. The ripples in time were not yet strong enough to rouse this entity.
"BOOM!!!"
A violent shockwave sent the two who dared to attack her flying.
Kallen had completely lost her ability to fight, the Honkai energy within her body devoured completely. Hua was not an expert in the [Authority of Binding], having only a rudimentary understanding of it, but compared to Kallen's meager skill, the [Oath of Judah] was keenly aware of whose command it should obey.
"To use a weapon meant to protect humanity against humanity."
Hua did not press the attack.
The Monarch's objective was complete.
However, looking at that unfamiliar Key of God... a Key of God born from the tragedy of Binding, the cruelty it experienced was similar in any world.
Even across millennia, Hua could recall that scene with perfect clarity.
"Before you wield it again."
Hua did not attack the two who had lost consciousness, even waving her hand to stop the Ming Empire's army, which was about to "eliminate the remnants."
"Think carefully..."
"About what you are protecting."