Phantylia's flesh was burning.
Her miraculous regenerative ability, severed the moment her connection to the Ambrosial Arbor was cut, became a rootless duckweed.
She could clearly feel that the power originating from Abundance had already flowed away.
"You dare—"
Her final madness converged in her palm, and thunder boomed.
The Lord Ravager struggled in her death throes, slamming her hand down towards Phainon's head.
Phainon merely smiled calmly.
His right arm, blazing with scorching light, punched out violently.
There was no earth-shattering roar.
In an instant, Phantylia was engulfed by the raging flames.
The flames of resentment and revenge, which had burned for over thirty million cycles of reincarnation, consumed her body and her very existence, leaving not even a trace of ash.
A wisp of ghostly green soul fire emerged from the void, and Phantylia's sharp, venomous voice emanated from it.
"You think you've won? Utterly ridiculous!"
"I've merely lost a skin I casually fashioned, but what about you? How much longer can this crumbling body of yours endure?"
"At the moment our powers intertwined, I glimpsed the truth hidden deep within your soul!"
"Phainon, you are nothing but a pawn in the gods' game!"
Phainon's golden hair and left arm were still burning; he responded indifferently,
"My answer has never changed."
"If this is indeed fate, then I would rather die than yield!"
"Haha… Hahahahaha…" Amidst the wild laughter, the soul fire flickered a few times before completely vanishing without a trace.
Phainon let out a long sigh, looking down at his chest, which had been pierced through.
The embers left after the Seed of Fire had incinerated everything were now burning his soul with a thousandfold pain.
The next moment, the scorched earth space shattered like a mirror, piece by piece.
Phainon's figure reappeared in the Scalegorge Waterscape, his black robe still intact, but his body swayed uncontrollably.
"How disheveled, Deliverer."
Mydei strode over, a complex emotion in his eyes.
Phainon forced a smile, "This round… I won."
"You dragged the enemy into your domain and fought by your own rules. Such a victory can hardly be called fair…"
Mydei spoke sarcastically, yet the moment Phainon's body began to tilt, he firmly supported him.
At the moment of contact, Mydei's expression changed drastically!
"What exactly is wrong with you?!"
The temperature radiating through his clothes was not the normal body temperature a Chrysos Heirsshould have.
"No… nothing…"
Phainon's consciousness was somewhat blurred; he could feel the billions of Seeds of Fire within his body raging wildly, as if to completely melt his existence.
"Just let me… rest… for a bit… and I'll be fine."
"Tell me!" Mydei's roar carried a hint of tremor, "How many Seeds of Fire are truly inside you right now?!"
"Two hundred eighty-two million, eight hundred forty thousand."
Phainon laboriously uttered the number, then added playfully,
"No… I gave you one… so I need to subtract…"
Mydei completely froze, "Two… over two hundred million?!"
He shouted in a choked voice, "One Seed of Fire is enough to forge the limit of a Chrysos Heirs! Do you know what state you are in right now?!"
"I… am the most perfect Chrysos Heirs…"
Phainon struggled to open his eyes, forcefully summoning a rational emotion,
"I… I can bear it… I'm fine."
"Give me all the Seeds of Strife!" Mydei's tone was beyond doubt.
"No!" Phainon refused without thinking, "You can't bear it!"
"HKS!" Mydei clenched his fists, "So, you've always been in this state, preventing 'Re-creation'?!"
Phainon gave himself a thumbs-up, "So… next time we go for a bath… I'll definitely win…"
"What time is it now?!" Mydei's latter half of the sentence was swallowed, unable to be spoken.
Just then.
The vast expanse of azure waves above their heads slowly parted like a drawn curtain, revealing the sky of the grotto-heaven.
"It seems your companions have arrived." Mydeilooked up, sighing helplessly, "Deliverer, this time, I will accompany you to the very end, to witness the tomorrow of Amphoreus together!"
Phainon smiled, "Remember what you said, I didn't ask you this time."
"Look, Phainon is over there!"
March 7th's clear voice came from afar, carrying a hint of surprise.
Phainon struggled to stand straight, raising a hand to put his golden mask back on his face.
He wasn't afraid of his companions seeing his true appearance; it was just that his face was currently covered in spiderweb-like golden cracks, and he didn't want them to worry.
The next moment, the three members of the Astral Express, along with Dan Heng Imbibitor Lunae, had landed before him.
"Are you alright?"
Welt's voice was as steady as ever, but his deep gaze immediately noticed the abnormal distortion in the air around Phainon.
"I'm fine…" Phainon replied faintly.
"Partner, why didn't you even answer your phone or reply to messages?" Star put her hands on her hips and shook her head at Phainon, "Do you know how worried we all were about you!"
Phainon nodded slightly, "Sorry… just handling a trivial matter."
Clap, clap, clap… Crisp applause sounded, and General Jing Yuan, leading a squad of Cloud Knights, slowly walked over,
"Quite 'trivial'! The Astral Express truly harbors hidden talents, keeping their true abilities concealed."
Jing Yuan's gaze fell upon Phainon, filled with genuine admiration,
"Thanks to the precise intelligence provided by your esteemed self, the The Disciples of Sanctus Medicus, this cancerous growth that has plagued the Luofu for many years, has been uprooted by the Cloud Knights. In this restoration of order, your esteemed self has rendered outstanding service!"
Phainon held his forehead with one hand, a hint of weariness in his voice, "So… are you going to award me… the 'Top Ten Touching Figures of the Luofu' award?"
Facing this slightly sarcastic remark, Jing Yuan maintained his gentle smile.
"If your esteemed self has such an elegant interest, it is not impossible for the Luofu to specially establish such an award."
He changed the subject, his expression becoming serious,
"However… that Lord Ravager—Phantylia—who dared to stir up trouble in the Luofu Xianzhou, her intentions deserving of death—does your esteemed self know her whereabouts?"
Seeing Phainon remain silent, Jing Yuan proactively explained:
"My apologies, Esteemed Phainon. To be frank, ever since my first meeting with the members of the Express, Mr. Welt had already informed me about Tingyun's matter."
"This matter was peculiar, so I immediately dispatched people to investigate secretly, only to learn that Miss Tingyun… alas, had already suffered this undeserved calamity! To avoid alerting the enemy, I could only assign trusted confidants to set up a secret surveillance."
"Thereafter, Star brought back crucial intelligence about the The Disciples of Sanctus Medicus, and we followed the clues, realizing that your esteemed self's words were indeed true, and thus deployed the full force of the Luofu to clear them out."
"However, despite all our precautions, that scoundrel impersonating Tingyun managed to escape through a loophole. Fortunately, we eventually learned that the fake Tingyun was none other than the Lord Ravager, Phantylia herself, and the mastermind behind the entire incident!"
Jing Yuan's words were impeccable, serving as both an explanation and a test.
After listening, Phainon only felt that he should have found time to study classical shows during his thirty million cycles of reincarnation.
He looked up at Jing Yuan, expending all his strength to utter a few words,
"She escaped…"
As his voice fell, the entire scene was silent.
March 7th and Stelle's mouths were wide open, while Welt and Dan Heng's pupils constricted slightly.
They were still trying to figure out what "she escaped" actually meant.
Even the usually composed Jing Yuan's eye twitched uncontrollably.
But he quickly regained the composure of a wise general.
A Lord Ravager from the Annihilation Gang was driven away by him alone?
This was at least the combat power of an Emanator!
Coupled with the fact that Fu Xuan had observed the sudden appearance of the Divine Might of the Emperor's Bow in the Scalegorge Waterscape not long ago… and now, that residual divine aura was faintly emanating from Phainon.
Warning about Tingyun's identity.
Infiltrating the The Disciples of Sanctus Medicus.
Providing crucial intelligence, completely dismantling the cancerous growth in one fell swoop.
And now, single-handedly repelling a Lord Ravager!
In Jing Yuan's mind, all the clues instantly connected.
Truly… a prodigy of unfathomable depth!
He didn't know why, but as Jing Yuan looked at the man before him, a strong thought suddenly arose in his heart.
Perhaps… if he could agree, the Luofu would surely have a bright future!
And I could also consider retirement.