That said, Signora was, after all, one of the pinnacle figures of the mortal world—a top graduate from Sumeru.
In response to Bai Ge's Geo shockwave, she had her own solution.
"Freeze."
With a casual wave of her hand toward the advancing Geo wave, Signora spoke coldly.
Dense Cryo elemental energy was drawn almost instantly from her Delusion.
Colder than the temperature drop before—so frigid it seemed capable of freezing time itself—a razor-sharp chill erupted from her hand.
A carpet of frost spread outward, pale-blue ice flowers blooming as they overlaid the Geo wave.
Just as extreme cold can slow molecular motion—
The moving Geo shockwave visibly began to slow, trudging forward like a feeble old man dragging his feet!
At last, like rusted gears grinding to a halt, the Geo shockwave froze completely in place.
Meanwhile, Signora's icy carpet continued to advance, riding atop the very Geo-enhanced ground Bai Ge had created!
"Oh?"
Watching this move, Tartaglia raised an eyebrow.
"By reinforcing the ground with Geo first, she's using that reinforcement as a foundation, then covering it with an even stronger force."
"Although the power exceeds the original limit, the end result is excellent."
"A clever solution."
Tartaglia gave his assessment.
He was genuinely surprised.
Even Signora—who usually relied on brute force and disdain—was being forced to think.
Was Bai Ge really putting that much pressure on her?
Just who was this man?
Following the spreading frost, Tartaglia's gaze shifted to Bai Ge.
Faced with Signora's counterattack, Bai Ge's response was unmistakably martial.
He directly manipulated the Geo field, shaping a raised stone foothold in front of him.
Stepping onto it, Bai Ge—who had already been advancing alongside the Geo wave—leapt high into the air.
He swung the Thousand岩 Ancient Sword, torrents of Geo elemental power surging from his body. Using the knowledge he had just acquired, Bai Ge transformed himself into a falling meteor!
Seeing this strike, Tartaglia's eyes erupted with brilliant light.
Like a peerless swordsman witnessing an exquisite technique, he was stunned:
"That sword is extremely heavy—not easy to wield."
"But in this strike, the wielder's center of gravity and the sword's center of gravity are perfectly unified!"
"While controlling the blade, he's also wrapping himself in elemental energy as an external shell, altering the properties of Geo to increase gravity—"
"He's practically turned himself into a meteor descending from the heavens…"
"Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!"
The more Tartaglia watched, the more alarmed he became.
He could tell that Bai Ge's swordsmanship had already reached a grandmaster's level, and his aptitude with greatswords was equally impressive.
Most crucially—
He couldn't fully comprehend the elemental manipulation involved.
Tartaglia could only roughly infer the effect.
All he could feel was its profound refinement—not some improvised, wild technique.
"A strike like this requires talent, strength, technique, elemental control, and inheritance—five elements, none of which can be missing."
"When did Liyue produce someone like this?"
Tartaglia murmured in astonishment.
"Is he an old monster… or a rising prodigy?"
"Liyue truly hides dragons and crouching tigers."
At this moment, Bai Ge had no idea that Tartaglia had already classified him as an old monster.
If he knew, he would be shocked by Tartaglia's keen eye.
Because yes—
This strike was not one of Bai Ge's original techniques.
It was an inspired move, born from his understanding of Falling Star!
He did not summon a celestial body.
Instead, he leapt and became the Falling Star himself—skipping the complex condensation process and retaining only the later-stage elemental transformation.
Swift.
Decisive.
Faced with this attack, Signora's expression changed dramatically.
The power system of Teyvat differed from that of traditional fantasy worlds.
Most extraordinary power came from an external magical organ—the Vision.
Aside from a few individuals—mainly those with ancient godly bloodlines—humans could not generate elemental energy internally. They relied entirely on their Visions.
And since it was external, no matter how fast the draw, there was always a delay.
Bai Ge's rapid assault struck precisely at the gap in Signora's recovery cycle.
She could only hastily launch several ice spikes toward him!
But Bai Ge—now wielding his blade as the vanguard and transforming himself into a meteor—was no longer struggling as he had at the beginning.
Like eggs striking stone, the ice spikes shattered effortlessly.
Seeing this, Signora could only forcefully mobilize more Cryo energy!
This ice was no longer delicate and refined—
It burned with intensity, like flame disguised as frost!
Explosive ice blossoms surged forth!
Each blossom expanded midair, blooming into a lotus of ice.
Like a minefield of Cryo lotuses, they blocked Bai Ge's path.
"It's useless," Bai Ge said calmly as he looked at them.
"Try it and you'll see!!"
Signora shouted as the ice lotuses collided with Bai Ge one after another, detonating in midair!
Like explosive reactive armor on a tank, the successive detonations continuously weakened Bai Ge's momentum!
At the same time, the petrification effect of Falling Star steadily turned her attacks to stone.
Ice and rock—two elements with little synergy—
Collided head-on in raw confrontation!
Ice blossoms and stone fragments rained down endlessly!
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