Fa's Breakthrough: The Birth of Five-Attribute Fusion
On the fourth day's dawn, the sunlight struggled to penetrate the thick clouds of the eternal storm, plating the cold mountain ridge platform with a layer of pale gold.
At the moment the first faint light fell upon the stone house—
Buzz...
From deep within the stone house, the tightly closed stone door emitted a low hum. Immediately after, a light of indescribable gentleness yet containing boundless vitality shone through the cracks. This light was not a single color but like the dawn breaking, fusing the earth's heavy earthy yellow, the water's fluid azure blue, the ice's translucent pale white, and newly added vibrant emerald wind and warm sacred white light! The five colors intertwined and flowed, harmonious and powerful.
The stone door slowly opened.
A figure stumbled out from the light.
It was Fa.
She looked extremely disheveled. Her clothes were torn in multiple places, stained with scorch marks and frost from energy impacts. Her exposed skin was covered in fine, crack-like bloodstains resembling fractured porcelain. Her face was as pale as paper, her lips chapped, and she swayed unsteadily, as if a gust of wind could knock her down. However, her right eye—that starry eye's depths—burned with an unprecedented brilliant light! That light was profound like the universe, as if containing the birth and extinction of millions of stars, harboring an indescribable calm and strength forged from extreme pain. The five-colored halo faintly circulated around her body, though weak, it had initially fused into one, no longer conflicting.
She leaned on the doorframe, weakly lifting her head to look at the group.
The sight that met her eyes stunned her instantly, followed by a sour heat surging into her eyes.
Arya and the other eight were in no better shape than her.
Arya's originally smooth silver hair was disheveled, her face bore scratches, her elven robe was torn, and her arms were wrapped in makeshift bandages condensed from light magic, but her gaze was sharp as a hawk, and the Storm Bow in her hand circulated with even more condensed light-dark aura.
Kayla looked like a beast that had just crawled out of a mud pit, her bronze skin covered in bruises and scorch marks, her thunder claw arm guards and ice crystal arm guards cracked. She panted heavily, leaning against an ice rock, but the fierce annihilation aura around her was more restrained, with lightning and ice shards spontaneously leaping on her surface.
TISK's large beard was singed in sections, his dwarf heavy armor covered in deep scratches and dents, his lava hammer propped on the ground with a dim head, but he stood straight, his eyes like tempered steel, emanating a steady and heavy aura as if connected to the earth.
Salsa's mechanical cat chassis had several prominent cracks on its shell, the amber electronic eyes' glow somewhat dim, and a few shadow falcons perched rigidly beside her, but her soul fluctuations were unusually stable, even carrying a hint of cold control over the situation.
Yuyuer's face was pale, with dried blood at the corners of his mouth, the crystal ball's light fluctuating, and the dragon bone staff bearing a few fine cracks, but his eyes were exceptionally bright, as if piercing through countless illusory mists.
Zhamisi's snake tail had several new wounds, scales flipped up, but she held her waist straight, the ink-green poison glow on her two venom fang curved blades now mixed with a hint of deep blue watery sheen, her aura even more dangerously unpredictable.
Lin Ya's emerald body showed several withered yellow spots, evidently from massive life force consumption, but the life halo emanating from him was more gentle and resilient, carrying an endless vitality.
Rex's armor was charred in multiple places, several armor plates deformed, one mechanical arm making unsmooth friction sounds when moving, and the drone swarm behind him reduced to a sparse few dozen still able to hover, but the data analysis flow in his electronic eyes was faster and more precise, overall exuding a refined toughness reborn from fire.
Even Celestia in the corner, still wearing her sealing shackles, no longer had empty, despairing eyes but ones filled with sharp edge and a hunger for power. Occasionally, an extremely faint spatial ripple would flash around her, and her mental force fluctuations had become more condensed.
When the group saw Fa leaning on the doorframe, weak yet with bright eyes, all fatigue and pain were instantly washed away by immense joy!
"Fa!" Arya was the first to rush over, tears bursting forth as she tightly hugged Fa.
"Fa! You've finally come out!" Kayla grinned wanting to laugh, but it tugged at her wounds, making her grimace in pain.
"Haha! I knew you could do it!" TISK's booming laughter carried the exhilaration of survival.
"Welcome back, Fa. Data monitoring shows your energy spectrum has undergone qualitative change." Rex's electronic voice seemed to carry a hint of warmth.
"Great..." Yuyuer let out a sigh of relief, showing a sincere smile.
"Hiss... Tough life." Zhamisi pursed her lips, but the concern in her eyes couldn't be hidden.
"The glow of life shines even brighter on you." Lin Ya said gently.
"Looks like we've all survived." Salsa's mechanical cat tail swayed lightly.
Villanette quietly watched this reunion scene, her ice-blue eyes showing no ripples. Until the group's emotions slightly calmed, she slowly spoke, her voice still clear and cold, yet carrying a barely noticeable approval: "Sentimental time is over. Congratulations, you're all still alive, and..." Her gaze swept over each scarred yet transformed figure, "...you've all completed a decent metamorphosis."
She slightly lifted her chin, the edges of her ink-black six wings once again rippling with dark light like water waves, a pressure more vast and condensed than ever before slowly rising, like a sleeping beast opening its eyes.
"So, are you ready to face the third, and final, trial?" Villanette's voice clearly entered everyone's ears, carrying an unquestionable battle intent.
"Use all the power and insights you've honed over these three days to feel what it means to be the power of an 'inheritor.'" "...Try to hold out against me for 15 minutes."
The instant her words fell, Villanette's figure blurred in place. It wasn't Celestia's novice shadow leap, but as if the entire space "erased" her and then "redrew" her in another position. She appeared in the high air above the platform's center, her ink-black six wings fully spread, the edges' flowing silver star trails erupting with blinding light!
No chanting, no gestures. She simply extended a slender, jade-like finger, pointing lightly downward at the group below.
"Boom——!!!"
In an instant, the sky collapsed and the earth cracked!
Villanette's words were like a final judgment, cold and merciless. The echo of her sentence "Try to hold out against me for 15 minutes" had not yet dissipated, and the air on the entire platform had already frozen, filled with suffocating pressure.
"Wait—!"
Salsa's mechanical cat chassis suddenly looked up, her amber electronic eyes flashing intensely, her sharp electronic voice trying to pierce this solidified atmosphere. "We haven't—"
"Haven't—do you think your enemies will mercifully give you time to set up your formation, shout your slogans, and then act?" Villanette's voice directly cut off Salsa, cold without a ripple. She floated in mid-air, the silver star trails on the edges of her ink-black six wings growing increasingly dazzling, as if stars about to ignite. That condescending posture was like a deity overlooking ants.
Salsa was speechless. The mechanical cat's processing core ran at high speed, instantly switching strategies: "Wait! Lady Villanette! The Sand Sage Saladin and the Rage Tide Shell Emperor Lantis, when they tested us, only used '10%' of their power! That's the 'convention' among inheritors, right?" She tried to repeat the trick, invoking the practices of the previous two inheritors.
Villanette's ice-blue eyes swept over Salsa, her lips curling into an almost mocking arc: "10%? Heh." She chuckled lightly, that laugh sending chills down everyone's spines. "They are them, I am me. One is an old lizard buried in the sand, the other an old turtle shrunk in its shell—their 'conventions,' why should I follow?" Her gaze was sharp as a knife, as if seeing through Salsa's little scheme. "I, Villanette, act only by my own will. Do you think I'm the type to follow boring 'conventions'?"
"Crazy hag..." Kayla muttered under her breath, her voice low, but clear on this deathly silent platform. TISK gripped his lava hammer tightly, his beard trembling, evidently sharing the same thought. Celestia's expression was grave, her fingers under the sealing shackles slightly curling, feeling an unprecedented oppression.
In this tense, despair-spreading moment, Yuyuer took a deep breath, suppressing the fear in his heart, and stepped forward.
He raised his dragon bone staff high, the crystal ball circulating with gentle yet firm blue light, his voice clear and earnest: "Lady Villanette, please calm your anger! Salsa did not question your majesty, just... please reconsider!" He bowed slightly, his posture extremely humble.
"We know well that you wield the 'essence of wind' and the 'truth of light,' your power vast as the starry sea, unfathomable. The Sand Sage and my master the Rage Tide Shell Emperor are naturally world-shaking in power, but their tests were meant for 'recognition' and 'guidance,' using '10%' of their strength to open a crack in the door to power for us mortals, allowing us to glimpse a sliver of the essence's mysteries, which was already immense grace and challenge."
He paused, lifting his head to meet Villanette's ice-blue eyes that seemed to freeze the soul, his tone even more sincere:
"However, you are different! You are the 'Hurricane Sun Inheritor,' the master of storms and blazing suns! The one-ten-thousandth of your power you just displayed has already made us feel as if facing an abyss, our souls trembling! If you unleash full power now, it would not be a 'test,' but... utter destruction! We, this group of ants who endured hardships to reach you, would turn to ash in an instant, without even a chance to struggle. Wouldn't that waste your three days of 'special training'? And deprive us of the opportunity to bring you more 'interesting variables' and 'valuable intelligence' in the future?" Yuyuer cleverly referenced the "information priority" from their previous deal, while elevating Villanette to a higher position, implying that full force would be beneath her.
Villanette listened quietly, her face still expressionless, but the violent momentum of the star glow on the edges of her ink-black six wings seemed... imperceptibly eased a bit. She was silent for a few seconds, her gaze sweeping over Yuyuer's earnest face and the group of "ants" below, scarred yet with stubborn eyes.
"Hmph." A light snort broke the dead silence.
"Silver-tongued fishman. Fine," Villanette seemed finally persuaded, or rather, she acknowledged the step Yuyuer provided. "For the sake of your 'sincerity,' and the fact that you do have some 'observational value'..."
She slowly retracted part of her released pressure, her floating height slightly lowering, her voice still clear and cold, yet carrying a hint of condescending benevolence:
"I'll start from... '10%'."
The 10% Power Test
No countdown, no warning! As soon as Villanette's words fell, she casually raised her right index finger.
Buzz—!
A condensed, thumb-thick beam of incandescent white light instantly tore through the air, carrying purifying, terrifying heat, shooting straight at Kayla at the forefront! Its speed surpassed the limits of visual capture!
"Roar!" Kayla's already taut nerves prompted an instinctive reaction. "Annihilation Form · Initial Release!" Violent lightning and ice crystals instantly covered her arms, forming thunder fang ice prison giant claws, crossed in front of her! At the same time, her body dodged sideways with full force!
Boom!
The beam grazed the edge of Kayla's thunder fang giant claws, hitting the ground behind her! The hard ice rock melted like butter, leaving a bottomless pit with mirror-smooth edges, the opening still lingering with scorching white smoke and fine electric arcs! Just the grazing energy aftermath caused charred cracks on Kayla's ice crystal giant claws, disrupting her lightning power!
"Damn!" Kayla's heart was horrified; this "10%" casual strike's power already far exceeded most ultimate moves from strong enemies she'd seen!
"Target locked! Energy level: Extremely high! Threat mode: Ultra-high-speed precision strikes!" Rex's electronic voice rang urgently, his armor's rear ion cannon instantly charged, dozens of nano-drones forming a swarm defense net, while his shoulder missile bays opened. "Superconducting Freeze Bomb · Intercept Mode! Launch!" A deep blue beam wasn't fired at Villanette but precisely predicted her possible next attack trajectory, attempting to freeze that space for interference!
"Wind Arrow · Turbulence!" Arya's arrows followed closely, the arrows wrapped in spiraling airflow not attacking but shooting to Villanette's side, attempting to create airflow disturbances to affect her casting precision.
"Rock Flow Barrier!" Fa endured the discomfort of her body's initial five-attribute fusion, pointing her short blade at the ground. A thick wall of rock-ice mixed with earthy yellow magic and pale white chill rose from the ground, attempting to provide cover for the group.
Villanette's eyes flashed with interest, ignoring Rex's predictive intercept and Arya's airflow disturbance. Her figure slightly shifted, not a spatial leap, but in a physics-defying, near-instantaneous translation, easily evading the freeze beam and turbulence arrows' trajectories. At the same time, she spread her left hand's five fingers, lightly pressing downward at the group below.
Whoosh—!
An invisible yet mountain-heavy terrifying wind pressure suddenly descended! The entire platform's gravity seemed instantly multiplied several times! The newly erected rock-ice barrier groaned under the strain, instantly covered in cracks! Kayla, TISK, and others felt their legs leaden, movements becoming incredibly sluggish! Lin Ya's roots anchored in the ice layer creaked!
"It's a gravity field! Everyone be careful!" Yuyuer shouted, his dragon bone staff's blue light blazing, "Illusory Tide · Thousand Mirrors Labyrinth!" Countless ice crystal illusions instantly appeared around Villanette, attempting to disrupt her perception and targeting.
"Poison Mist Domain · Diffusion!" Zhamisi swung her snake tail, dense ink-green poison mist mixed with water vapor rapidly spreading, obscuring vision while carrying strong corrosion and neural paralysis effects.
"Life Vine Net · Bind!" Lin Ya endured the gravity, injecting emerald glow into the ice below, countless thorny emerald vines bursting forth like spirit snakes, entangling toward Villanette in the air.
Celestia's eyes were sharp, sensing the power restricted by her shackles, attempting to use the spatial perception Villanette taught. "The flow of wind... the folds of space..." She caught a faint unstable fluctuation in the gravity field, her figure suddenly blurring! Though unable to perform long-distance "shadow leap," a short, precise "flicker" allowed her to narrowly evade a silent wind blade aimed at her! At the same time, she condensed an extremely focused mental force at her fingertip, like an invisible needle, attempting to pierce Villanette's weakest mental defense—"Delusion-Breaking Spear" prototype!
Facing the overwhelming interference and attacks, Villanette's expression remained indifferent. She didn't even glance at the entangling vines and vision-obscuring poison mist. Her ink-black left wing lightly fanned.
Sizzle sizzle sizzle—!
The vines entangling toward her were instantly sliced into countless fragments by invisible wind blades! The spreading poison mist was entirely absorbed and compressed by a spontaneously generated, high-speed rotating micro-tornado, finally condensing into an ink-green poison ball suspended at her fingertip, losing all threat! The thousand mirrors illusions were nothing in her eyes; her gaze pierced everything, directly locking onto Fa attempting to cover her teammates with the rock-ice barrier.
"Oh? The prototype of five-attribute fusion? Interesting." Her lips slightly curved, her right index finger pointing again! This time, not a beam, but an extremely thin, almost transparent wind ray! This ray was silent, at extreme speed, carrying space-piercing sharpness, stabbing straight at Fa's brow! The target clear—testing her newly gained power!
"Fa!" Arya's eyes nearly split, instantly drawing the Storm Bow to full moon, an arrow wrapped in extremely compressed light-dark spiral shooting out, attempting to intercept the wind ray!
Rex's ion cannon roared again, the superconducting freeze beam attempting to freeze the ray's trajectory!
Kayla roared wanting to block with her body, but was held fast by the gravity field!
In this critical moment, Fa's right starry eye erupted with unprecedented deep blue light! Time's flow slowed in her perception! The fatal wind ray's trajectory became clearly visible! "Time Stagnation!" She compressed the ability to the extreme, only affecting a tiny space ahead of the ray's tip!
Buzz!
The ray's tip showed an almost imperceptible lag! Though less than 0.5 seconds, it was enough!
"Five-Attribute Shield · Overlay!" Fa waved her short blade, her body's initially fused five powers—earth's stability as base, water's flow shaping, ice's extreme cold solidification, wind's swift acceleration, light's pure enhancement—guided by the starry eye, instantly condensing three layers of constantly rotating, refracting five-colored halo diamond ice crystal shields before her!
Puff! Puff! Puff!
The wind ray pierced two ice shields in succession! The third layer trembled violently, covered in web-like cracks, finally barely deflecting this terrifying attack when Arya's light-dark spiral arrow and Rex's freeze beam simultaneously struck the ray's side!
"Boom!" The deflected ray grazed Fa's shoulder, leaving a bottomless fine hole in the ice wall behind her!
Fa's face was deathly pale, gasping heavily, her shoulder burning with pain; though just a graze, that sharp aura nearly tore her protective magic! 10% power was already terrifying!
"Good reaction. Then... 15%." Villanette seemed slightly satisfied with Fa's performance, but her declaration to raise the power level was cold and merciless.
The pressure surged!
Villanette's attack frequency and intensity clearly increased. She no longer sniped single points but like an elegant conductor, her fingers lightly tapping, countless small yet deadly wind blades, condensed light bullets, invisible gravity suppressions, and mind-disturbing whispers swept the entire platform like a storm! She sometimes left afterimages in the air, sometimes instantaneous translation, displaying the "integrate into wind and shadow" movement Celestia taught to perfection.
The team's coordination was pushed to the limit. TISK roared swinging his lava hammer, ice-fire light patterns exploding, hard-clashing incoming energy impacts, buying casting time for teammates behind, his dwarf heavy armor constantly gaining new dents and scorches. Lin Ya's life vine nets and healing glow became the team's lifeline, desperately maintaining everyone's stamina and wounds. Yuyuer's illusions changed endlessly, creating countless clone phantoms to attract fire, while using water magic to build flowing shields, ice magic to create barriers. Zhamisi shuttled like a ghost in the poison mist, her venom fang curved blades precisely slicing attacks aimed at weak links, venom eroding energy structures. Celestia applied her newly comprehended "shadow flicker" and "Delusion-Breaking Spear" prototype to actual combat, several times narrowly evading fatal attacks, and using mental spikes to disrupt Villanette's partial casting rhythm.
Salsa's Winged Undead
However, when Villanette casually declared "20%," the true nightmare descended.
Her ink-black six wings suddenly fully extended, the edges' silver star trails erupting with sun-like blinding brilliance! The chill ice magic of the entire eternal storm region seemed summoned by the queen, madly converging toward her!
"Eternal Winter's Sigh." Villanette's cold voice was like an oracle.
She elegantly parted her hands to the sides, then fiercely pressed downward!
Rumble rumble rumble——!!!
The heavens and earth changed color! Not a simple blizzard, but the entire mountain ridge platform's space seemed gripped by an invisible frost giant hand! Countless house-sized, incredibly dense super ice blocks condensed from thin air, like meteors wrapped in destructive kinetic energy and absolute zero chill, smashing madly from all directions in the void! At the same time, the ice layer underfoot emitted deafening cracking sounds, massive fissures spreading like abyssal maws! Even more terrifying, the perennial thick ice clouds overhead were drawn and compressed by an unmatched force, turning into a sky-obscuring super avalanche torrent mixed with ice crystal blades and freezing currents, crashing down on the tiny group on the platform with overwhelming momentum! The visible field was all destructive white!
This wasn't an attack; it was divine punishment! Villanette mobilizing the heaven and earth's own might for indiscriminate coverage strikes! 20% power had already triggered a local cataclysm!
"It's over!" TISK looked at the overturning ice-snow waves overhead, despair flashing in his eyes for the first time. An attack of this scale left nowhere to hide!
"Avalanche!!" Arya's voice was nearly shredded in the gale, filled with despair.
"Damn! This crazy hag is serious!" Kayla cursed, her thunderfrost power exploding madly to stabilize her stance, but appearing so insignificant before this heavenly might.
Celestia's face was ashen; her "shadow flicker" was far insufficient in distance and speed against this all-around, no-dead-angle destructive strike!
Yuyuer's illusions shattered like bubbles before absolute power.
Lin Ya's vine nets were instantly smashed to pieces by ice blocks!
Rex's armor alarms flashed madly: "Energy level overload! Evasion probability: 0%!"
Just as everyone thought they would be utterly swallowed, frozen, and crushed by this destructive avalanche torrent—
"Don't move!" Salsa's mechanical cat chassis eyes blazed with eerie light, her soul emitting a shrieking mental wave! "Awaken, my winged servants!"
Aooo roar—!
Five voices filled with death aura, neither human nor beast, sharp roars tore through the blizzard's roar! Five massive, twisted shadows surged skyward from the shadows at Salsa's feet! They were the undead variant winged people Salsa had converted and hidden in the Ice Breath Abyss earlier! Now, their forms were more solid, grayish skin covered in purple-black undead energy, damaged wings burning with eerie soul fire, eye sockets with leaping purple-black soul flames! They ignored the falling ice blocks and fissures underfoot, like the most loyal death knights, diving down at astonishing speed!
"Grab them!" Salsa's command was precisely issued.
A massive crocodile-headed undead winged person scooped up TISK and Lin Ya from the ground!
An undead winged person with insect compound eyes and cicada wings grabbed Yuyuer and Zhamisi!
The largest, ape-like undead winged person protected Kayla with bone claws!
A bat-ray shaped undead winged person glided low, catching Arya and Fa!
The last undead winged person with broken angel wings grabbed Celestia and... Rex's armor!
In the instant before the destructive avalanche crushed down, the five undead variant winged people forcibly carried all ten off the ground! They flapped wings burning with soul fire, braving the violent ice crystal storm and constantly falling giant ice, like five death meteors against the flow, narrowly rushing out of the avalanche torrent's core coverage area!
Rumble rumble rumble——!!!
The earth-shattering ice-snow torrent crashed down, completely submerging and flattening the platform where the group had been! Countless massive ice blocks piled and collided, emitting deafening roars, stirring up sky-filling snow dust, blotting out the sun!
"Huff... huff..." Fa, tightly held by Arya, sat on the ice-cold back of the bat-ray undead winged person, looking dazed at the instantly changed terrain below, her heart pounding nonstop. The others were similarly pale-faced, survivors of calamity.