"Whoa..."
Looking up at the behemoth standing in the center of the world like Pangu splitting heaven and earth, Fuli couldn't help but exclaim, "They say every family has a difficult scripture to read, but mine is practically the entire Sutra Depository."
"Isn't it all Brother's fault? You could have quit while you were ahead, but you insisted on poking at his sore spot repeatedly."
A screen unfolded in front of him, and Bronya, wearing a (ᗜ ˰ ᗜ) expression, appeared on it. "Now look what happened. He's gone completely berserk, utterly insane."
"If you kill someone without breaking their heart, isn't it a wasted kill?" Fuli argued righteously. "Besides, the crazier the enemy, the more obvious their flaws become."
The faith in the Eternal Heaven (Tengri) had lasted for quite a long time. Even in modern society, some ethnic minorities still held regular sacrifices.
In reality, however, the presence of this Supreme God was far inferior to Genghis Khan.
The reason was simple: after the first helmsman of the Mongol Empire passed away, the empire quickly split into the Yuan Dynasty, which dominated the Central Plains, and the Four Khanates due to succession issues.
In the process of localization, the Four Khanates abandoned the belief in the Eternal Heaven and converted to Islam. As for the Yuan Dynasty, the rituals they adopted were mostly for sacrificing to Han deities.
This was the main reason the Eternal Heaven broke down mentally after just a few words. At first glance, He seemed high and mighty, but in reality, He was only glorious for a brief period before quickly reverting to an inconspicuous faith of a few nomadic tribes.
Little did He know, this was actually a good thing. If He had expanded savagely like Christianity or Buddhism, the banhammer of the forerunners would have smashed down long ago.
For example, look at the "Son of God" Adam Kaslana, who was turned into a central conversion device for faith and is still continuously absorbing the faith of two billion believers at the lowest level of Schicksal.
Or look at the Buddha's teacher, the "Peacock Wisdom King" Su, who single-handedly created Schicksal under the banner of the One God to eliminate dissidents, turning the Middle East upside down with ten eastern crusades.
"Sigh, thinking about it carefully, the Divine Authorities living on the land of Shenzhou can actually be considered the lucky ones."
By the lake, Shuhu stood with her hands behind her back, speaking slowly under the wary gazes of Durandal and the others. "That woman, Immortal Celestial (Empyrea), used to have a very Buddhist (chill) temperament. She'd hole up on Mount Taixuan all day practicing martial arts and pickling 'Spring-Never-Ages'. She'd only come down occasionally if someone caused trouble. Even so, her presence suppressed us so much we couldn't breathe; we had to be sneaky just to interfere in mundane affairs."
She complained, "You guys don't know, but when we heard that Immortal Celestial's Sword Heart was shattered and she had become a mortal after the ARK city incident, our first reaction was disbelief."
Who is that bad woman trying to trick? You definitely just want to lure us all out to kill us!
"That vigilance lasted for over a hundred years. Only after piecing together bits of news did we finally realize that the woman truly no longer had her former glory and had completely fallen from the altar."
The fox girl tapped her lower lip. "And at that time, it seemed to coincide with—"
"Li Zicheng storming Yingtian Prefecture, Emperor Chongzhen hanging himself on Coal Hill, and the Manchu Qing entering the pass under the banner of avenging the Great Ming," Yanqing said quietly. "So you reached an agreement with them. The Manchu Qing used the nation's power to build grand temples in Tibet for you lot to play and indulge in debauchery. In exchange, not only would you not interfere with their rule and devastation of the common people of Shenzhou, but you would also act when necessary to stabilize the Qing court's rule and assist in suppressing resisting crowds."
Divine Authorities were never the actual people in history, but counterfeits born in their image, condensed from human faith.
These usurpers never considered themselves part of humanity from the start. What did the life and death of ordinary people have to do with them?
"Don't slander me. They are they; I didn't go to that wretched place for pools of wine and forests of meat."
Shuhu flicked her fox tail, defending herself with a sentence before continuing along Yanqing's words: "But who would have thought? Immortal Celestial, who had always been devoid of desires, upon learning of this, actually charged single-handedly into the Heavenly Court Divine Palace in the Himalayas twice, attempting to slay the gods entrenched there."
This was one of the reasons Fu Hua still held a lofty status in the Taixuan Front. She had done everything she could.
Regrettably, the girl at that time had long lost the invincible power of a Sequence Rank (S-Rank). Had Otto not used Schicksal's power to rescue her, even she would have perished under the endless siege of the Divine Authorities.
At that point, all of Shenzhou plunged into darkness.
Fortunately, this land never lacked heroes.
After centuries of sinking, the sun finally rose from the East!
The Golden Monkey rose with the massive cudgel, clearing the dust from the universe for ten thousand miles!
A million Bodhisattva Soldiers climbed the roof of the world to rebel against the Divine Court, driving away or slaying the unrighteous demons, establishing the Project South Heavenly Gate (Nantianmen) to ordain the gods!
"Thinking about it now, it's a good thing I didn't get involved in those messy affairs back then. Otherwise, after being stripped of my divinity, I would have either been driven away or incorporated into your Project Nantianmen to work like a beast of burden."
Shuhu felt genuinely fortunate about this. Facing that magnificent army united as one, those soldiers who viewed death as a return home, and that heroic spirit of "who else but me," even though she was already an S-Rank Breaker back then, her complete demise would have been set in stone.
"Hmph, it's a pity you weren't caught!"
Yunli felt genuine regret. If this guy had been captured back then, not only would the Mara-Struck body not exist, but the tragedy of the High-Cloud Quintet wouldn't have happened, and Grandpa Huaiyan wouldn't have had to weep secretly for Senior Brother Yingxing.
"Little Cat Yunli is hissing."
"You bastard!"
Shuhu teased, and before the girl could bare her teeth, she raised her hand, creating a curtain of water in a quiet corner.
The image within was exactly what was happening in the Mausoleum World Bubble.
"I was watching it alone just now. Although there is the elegance of fishing alone in the cold river, I ultimately missed the joy of sharing with others."
It was like watching a video without bullet comments (danmaku) or reading a novel without chapter comments. Without the joy of discussing content with others, it always felt like something was missing.
Upon hearing this, Durandal shifted her gaze to the screen, her grip on her lance tightening suddenly.
The giant wielding the authority of the world was like a pillar supporting the universe. The shadow He cast was enough to swallow mountains and rivers. Just His breathing caused the atmosphere to scream as if tearing apart, and where His spear pointed, heaven and earth were leveled.
And that boy, small as a grain of sand, was the only speck of dust struggling in this apocalyptic landscape.
On the edge of the magma lake created by the giant's step, on the earth cracked like poor-quality leather, Fuli rolled, leapt, and dodged.
His body tumbled desperately amidst deafening explosions and collisions of overwhelming force. Sometimes he grazed past atmospheric faults steaming with heat waves; other times he pressed close to the edge of massive walls of earth and stone lifted like tsunamis.
The sky was sometimes obscured by the giant's massive body like eternal night, and sometimes torn open by the impact of immense force, revealing blinding white cracks.
The boy's figure swayed in this overturned world, dodging exhaustedly like an ant under a collapsing sky. Every near-miss was mere millimeters away from a fatal end.
Rather than dodging, it looked more like a desperate, stubborn, and artistic "Waltz of the End," performed by a minuscule life squeezing out its last breath in the gaps of divine punishment wielded by the World's Will.
Even Yunli, who disliked Fuli, was entranced for a moment.
Whoosh—!
Until the water curtain broadcasting the live feed was torn in half by a pitch-black lance. Through the split gap, a pair of wild, golden eyes appeared.
Eleanor Schariac.
Like Ella, she had been implanted with experiences from the virtual space before awakening.
Thus, seeing the boy who affectionately called her 'Sister Eleanor' and slaughtered enemies with her in the Martian Heaven facing a crisis, the girl drew the Black Abyss without thinking.
"Durandal, control your child."
Shuhu, snapping back to reality, was rather displeased. I kindly shared the live broadcast, and this person starts fighting immediately?
"Miss Eleanor, please calm down."
Bianca, coming to her side, softly explained what projection and live broadcasting meant. At the same time, she raised her hand, reforming the destroyed water curtain and image.
This method made Shuhu glance sideways repeatedly, thinking to herself that the ability to manipulate the fundamental particles of the Dea Anchora (Immortal Blade) was truly convenient.
She brought up the previous footage, conjured a pair of glasses from somewhere, perched them on her exquisite nose bridge, and kindly gave everyone a recap:
"So far, the Eternal Heaven's combat power has undergone significant changes through three stages."
"In the first stage, He was able to fight the newly arrived Siegfried Kaslana without losing ground. This proves that even among S-Ranks, He absolutely belongs to the top tier."
Yunli and the others silently agreed. The hero of the Second Eruption combined with the most destructive Divine Key—facing such a combination, Durandal equipped with Bright Knight: Excelsis wouldn't dare say she would surely win.
"The second stage, the turning point lies here." Shuhu's pointer indicated Fuli and Fu Hua appearing in the corner of the screen. "For some reason, the Eternal Heaven and Siegfried, who were in a stalemate, were simultaneously hit by the Edge of Taixuan. Due to the Sword God's special attack properties, the former suffered more severe damage than the latter."
"Stigmata of Death..."
Staring at the mark on the Eternal Heaven's shoulder, Yunli narrowed her beautiful eyes.
Snap!
"As expected of someone from a lineage of master craftsmen; you are knowledgeable in this aspect." Shuhu snapped her fingers. "In a near-death crisis, the Stigmata of Death's creation power went into overdrive. Combined with the home-field advantage of the World Bubble, it didn't take long for the Eternal Heaven to touch the threshold of S-Rank again."
This level of combat power was essentially a dimensionality reduction strike against the heavily injured Siegfried and the base-form A-Rank Fu Hua.
Even so, He still chose to appear before them as a clone, tricking them into using the final Shamash Unsheathed.
It was also at this moment that Fuli entered the stage.
After a barrage of "Talk-no-Jutsu," the Eternal Heaven went berserk, directly activating His authority to fuse with the World Bubble.
"This is the third stage. Both His destructive power and recovery ability surpass the first stage. But the problem is—"
At this point, Shuhu didn't continue but signaled Yanqing with her eyes.
The young man reluctantly took over the topic: "He also gained a weakness because of it: the fused World Bubble itself."
"As expected of our Young Brother Yanqing." The white-haired fox girl praised cheerfully, earning a disgusted expression from the other side like he had eaten crap. "Right now, the world itself is the Eternal Heaven's main body."
One is All, All is One.
"In other words, striking the world = striking the Eternal Heaven."
Bianca also realized this, her furrowed brows gradually relaxing.
This "striking the world" didn't refer to abstract Anti-World Noble Phantasms, but simply destroying everything in sight.
Flowers, trees, sky, breeze, clouds, sun, ocean, earth...
Damaging any of these would deal a blow to the Eternal Heaven, who was the sum of them all.
Eleanor blinked in confusion. "Can he win?"
"Hard to say." Yunli shook her head. "Destroying an AA-Rank World Bubble the size of several prefecture-level cities... any of us here could easily do it. That philandering man named Fuli shouldn't have much trouble either if he spends some time."
Her tone grew grave. "However, that premise relies on there being no other hostile S-Rank intervening."
"So Fuli—tsk, this name is really awkward to say," Shuhu muttered, then continued, "So he deliberately used words to enrage the Eternal Heaven, attempting to create a flaw."
As for whether it was effective, just look at the giant going berserk.
Eleanor tugged at the corner of Bianca's clothes and asked innocently, "Then we just need to stall for time?"
"We can't stall for long."
The Knight Princess also wanted Fuli to resolve the battle this way. However, the physical pain would sooner or later make the Eternal Heaven realize something was wrong, leading Him to detect the enemy's plan.
Once He regained His calm, relying on absolute power and the authority of the Rules' Spokesperson, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Did Fuli know this?
Bianca believed he did.
Could he handle this matter before that happened?
The girl felt he could.
They would watch Shuhu here to prevent her from causing trouble, and Fuli's group would handle the Eternal Heaven's problem.
No reason, just pure "husband and wife, one heart."
Inside the World Bubble, Fuli dodged amidst the violent storm. While brushing past death countless times, he asked the screen in front of him again and again: "Bronya! Is it not ready yet?"
"Program loading progress 96%." The girl seemed calm, but her delicate fist clutching a bullet clenched unconsciously. "Idiot Kiana, how is the footwork practice going?"
"This level of difficulty can't stump this young miss!"
The white-haired dumpling's chirping voice came through, accompanied by explosions and her worry: "Ah-Li, are you sure I just need to get the pose right for this A-Rank skill?"
Dodging a massive fragment of falling magma, Fuli answered hurriedly, "I'll handle the coordination mainly; you just don't mess up the form on your end!"
Currently, both Bronya and Kiana were in the Imaginary Space created by Sirin via her Authority.
As for the Queen herself, seeing Fuli die once told her she had screwed up big time. Right now, she had turned into 'Aqua' (useless goddess mode), curling up in Kiana's mental space.
To be fair, she had clumsily tried to be clever and ended up causing trouble with good intentions.
If she had let Bronya and the others pass the trials normally and step onto this battlefield back then, there wouldn't have been just four Edge of Taixuan swords.
Fuli had already used everything he had to stop the one above Fu Hua's head. Two more would have genuinely claimed his life.
But the key point was, the Queen didn't know that.
She thought her capriciousness had killed her servant (Fuli). After handing over body control and Herrscher permissions to Kiana, she went straight into the dark room to sulk in autistic mode.
Fuli didn't know whether to laugh or cry about this. He wanted to coax this pufferfish, but the urgency of the battle didn't allow it.
He could only put the crying Aqua aside for now and deal with the Eternal Heaven first.
As the boy dodged and weaved a few more times (while constantly summoning the Dragging Shadow Sword to tap the enemy, presumably trying to trigger Instant Death), the madness in the Sky-Supporting Giant's eyes seemed to be subsiding.
Fortunately, at this moment, Bronya's urgent voice rang out:
"Brother, Bronya is done on this side!"
Before her emotionless, milky voice faded, the Eternal Heaven's vision was shrouded in endless white light.
Then—
"Genshin Impact! Launch!"
"Genshin Impact! Launch!"
"Genshin Impact! Launch!"
Accompanied by the demonic voice echoing from the horizon, images of countless apps launching frantically occupied His 'memory'.
——— Genshin Launch Bullet. Obtained by Fuli in the third ten-pull lottery (Volume 3 · Chapter 10). A mechanical backend hit by this bullet will be forced to launch countless instances of Genshin Impact, eventually causing the program to burn out due to inability to handle the massive memory usage.
This item was originally a special attack against machinery and theoretically shouldn't work on the Eternal Heaven.
So, Bronya bound a micro-computer to a certain small animal born within the World Bubble.
Using this as a medium, and after a series of operations, she finally relied on her top-tier hacking skills and the Silver Wolf-type Ether Combat Suit's intrusion ability to bind the micro-computer to the Eternal Heaven, who was the root source.
One is All, All is One. To become the spokesperson of the world means taking responsibility for all elements that constitute the world.
After the binding was successful, Bronya fired the power-amplified Genshin Launch Bullet into the micro-computer, which was part of the Eternal Heaven.
The World is a giant Genshin Impact!
Even if the countless programs launching in the background couldn't burn out the party's CPU, causing a crash to buy a little time was enough.
Fuli and Kiana would not let this unique opportunity slip by. The latter immediately jumped out of space, striking a strange pose and moving towards the former, who was in the same pose.
Fuli: "Fu—"
Kiana: "—sion—"
Fuli & Kiana: "HA!"
The moment the boy and girl's fingers touched, brilliant light exploded.
[Name: Metamoran Fusion Dance]
[Rank: A]
[Classification: State/Transformation]
[Effect: A secret technique of the Metamorans. Requires two individuals of similar strength, height, and body shape to use. Fusion is achieved by performing specific dance steps.
The fusion lasts only thirty minutes, but in reality, it is affected by energy magnitude. During the fusion form, using energy-intensive ultimate moves or forms will shorten the fusion time.
Furthermore, if the fusion steps are wrong or fingers don't align properly before fusion, it will result in a failed fusion into a fat or skinny version.]
[Note: "Last time was Vegito, this time let's call it Gogeta."]
When giving Rita the True Medicine: Useless Netherworld Lament, it was mentioned that the lucky buff from meeting Pardo-Cat probably hadn't faded yet. Plus, with Fuli habitually seeking out Kiana-Cat for help, under the buff of the Double Lucky Cats, extremely rarely, he actually drew super high-rank skills and items twice in a row.
One was the Netherworld Lament.
And the second was this powerful and potent A-Rank skill: Metamoran Fusion Dance.
Fuli himself mastered this, so he could execute it. As long as the other person didn't mess up the steps, there wouldn't be a problem.
Given the current situation, the only person with strength comparable to his, and similar height and body shape, was naturally Kiana.
As for what these two would fuse into during these thirty minutes...
White hair + Blue eyes + Male + Flame Greatsword =
Is it an old friend returning?
...