Celenova had never dared to underestimate any member of the Genius Club, especially Herta, the renowned Aeon of Intellect.
That group of people existed to traverse the universe, relying on their extraordinary wisdom and creativity.
Although Phantylia was also skilled in intrigue, cunning, and mental manipulation, she relied more on the innate abilities of her race and her formidable power.
When it came to pure wisdom, strategy, and mental sparring... she probably couldn't even secure a stable victory against the Strategist General of the Xianzhou Alliance, Jing Yuan, who was famous for his intelligence.
However, letting Phantylia go ahead and test the waters was not entirely a bad idea.
It was a good opportunity to probe Herta's hidden cards and true intentions, allowing Celenova to adjust her subsequent action plan accordingly.
Celenova let out a soft, almost imperceptible scoff, carrying a chilling coldness.
Treating the ominous Incarnation of Destruction, a Great Lord of the Annihilation Gang, as a mere chess piece to be moved around at will?
Even someone as calm as she was... would be infuriated at this moment.
Phantylia's figure dissolved from Celenova's private dimensional space, and in the next instant, she had pierced through layers upon layers of reality barriers, following the guidance of the Golden Tree's true essence. She precisely descended into the most mysterious and core domain of Douluo Star—the Sea of Stars.
This was not an ocean in the usual sense, but the confluence of the Douluo Star's life and fundamental rules, the warm cradle where the Plane Will slept.
The surroundings were not seawater, but boundless, flowing, shimmering currents of light. They were composed of the purest life energy and universal essence, weaving together into a vast, colorful ocean of power.
Within the light currents, countless silver runes representing rules and order flickered on and off, like breathing.
In the distance, a massive phantom of a giant tree, impossible to describe in words and entirely composed of pure light, was quietly rooted in the center of the ocean of light. This was the manifestation of Douluo Star's life core, co-originating with the Golden Tree outside but appearing in a different form.
It could be said that this was the Golden Tree's true body and source; the Golden Tree in the external world was merely a manifested projection of its power penetrating the dimension of reality.
It was precisely by virtue of this profound, single-origin connection that Phantylia could follow the mysterious telepathic link, cross dimensions, and find this planetary core—the Sea of Stars—a place even ordinary deities struggled to find and only God-King level powerhouses could perceive and reach.
Phantylia felt the almost overflowing affinity around her. The body she had shaped from the Golden Tree's core was like a fish in water here, every cell joyfully absorbing the boundless life energy of the surroundings.
She greedily inhaled the pure fundamental aura, her gaze fixed on the deepest part of the light sea: the brightest, most complex cluster of pure light, which shifted shapes constantly, resembling the intertwining of billions of thoughts.
That was the Douluo Star's nascent, ignorant Plane Will itself.
"What a truly intoxicating cradle, nurturing the most beautiful fruit..."
The corner of Phantylia's mouth curled into an alluring, determined smile. She lightly fanned the folding fan in her hand, and the dim aura of Destruction surrounding her began to subtly harmonize and encroach upon the energy of this sacred life domain, showing a hidden tendency to overwhelm it and transform it into a cradle of Destruction.
"Soon, all of this will belong to..."
"—Belong to your Destruction, is that right?"
A voice, calm, indifferent, and even carrying a hint of evident impatience and the languor of being disturbed from a pleasant nap, abruptly rang out in this silent sea that should have only been filled with the sound of energy flowing, cutting off Phantylia's ritualistic declaration.
Phantylia's movement instantly froze, and the harmonizing aura around her momentarily stifled.
She spun around abruptly, the energy of Destruction concealed but ready at her fingertips.
Not far from her, the flowing currents of light seemed to possess a consciousness, automatically parting and rising to form a lavish throne with a strange design, sleek lines, and a purplish-black metallic sheen, brimming with a sense of futuristic technology.
Upon the throne, a tall, graceful woman sat casually.
She wore a highly designed, unique dress that perfectly showcased the mysterious style of a witch. A few strands of brown hair fell from beneath the pointed witch hat's brim, framing a face that was exquisite but etched with boredom and annoyance.
One of her long, beautiful legs, encased in high-quality black silk stockings, was elegantly propped over the other, and her slender fingers were tapping the armrest of the throne intermittently.
Her calm, almost indifferent purple eyes were studying the suddenly intruding Phantylia as if she were a moderately uninteresting experimental sample.
"Herta..."
Phantylia's eyes narrowed slightly, and the usual seductive smile she used to mask her emotions vanished completely, replaced by cold wariness and a hint of anger at being intruded upon.
She could clearly sense that the being before her was fundamentally different from her previous self and from Celenova now—it was an undeniable, tangible sense of rooted reality.
"Who else could it be?"
Herta pouted, her tone full of undisguised disdain, as if to say, Why would you ask such a stupid question?
"Do you think I have an understudy to stand watch for me here every day?"
"You were indeed waiting here."
Phantylia suppressed the shock in her heart, and her voice turned cold.
"What, have you finally decided to show yourself and personally stop me?"
As she spoke, she scrutinized Herta's state even more carefully, trying to find any flaw or weakness.
"Alright, stop putting on that standard 'I'm going to destroy the world' villain face. I'm tired of seeing it."
Big Herta waved her hand as if shooing away a buzzing mosquito, the impatience in her voice practically overflowing.
"This is not a zone you should be in. Hurry up and leave, before I change my mind and decide that tying you to the experiment bench would be more fun."
She paused, her lazy gaze sweeping past the fully alert Phantylia to the cluster of Plane Will light behind her, which seemed to be trembling with fear. She added with a lack of interest:
"As for that thing, don't even think about touching it. Although it's a bit primitive, a bit stupid, like blank hardware without an operating system installed."
"It accidentally found a pretty good backer. You cannot afford the price of touching it."
She used a metaphor Phantylia could understand.
Herta's casual tone was as if she were deciding a trivial matter, completely disregarding Phantylia's threat.
Upon hearing this, the suppressed Destruction aura around Phantylia erupted like an ignited volcano.
Emerald life light and profound pitch-black Destruction energy intertwined, transforming into a violent shockwave that furiously tore at the surrounding pure light currents, attempting to rip apart this suffocating arrogance along with the space itself.
"Are you... looking down upon a Great Lord of the Annihilation Gang?!"
Phantylia's voice became sharp and threatening.
"Do you believe a few words are enough to easily manipulate me and make me retreat without a fight?!"
Sensing Phantylia's seemingly uncontrolled, violent rage, Big Herta on the throne couldn't help but roll her eyes slightly.
"Tsk, save it. Stop acting."
Her voice remained utterly devoid of any ripple.
"I don't recall you, who excels at manipulating minds and spirits, having the reckless temper to be easily provoked by a few words, although you do tend to get conceited when you obtain a new toy—I've already recorded this data point."
The violently rampaging Destruction aura, enough to put a Level One God on high alert, suddenly paused, then rapidly receded and calmed down, as if it had never appeared.
The exaggerated, dramatically furious expression on Phantylia's face instantly melted like snow and ice, reverting to a profound calm mixed with a hint of eerie seductiveness, as if the emotional outburst just now had only been a clumsy performance.
Herta's words were entirely accurate. The frenzy Phantylia had just displayed, which almost tore apart the Sea of Stars, was indeed seven parts feigned.
She was not some brute who only knew how to fight mindlessly. As a Great Lord of the Annihilation Gang skilled in playing with minds and spirits, cunning and caution were ingrained in her instinct.
Herta was waiting here with such composure, even a touch of boredom, clearly having already set up a plan and feeling entirely confident.
Before completely figuring out the opponent's hidden cards and the true situation here, she would absolutely not put herself in unknown peril easily.
If she accidentally tripped up in the gutter, she would likely be ridiculed for an entire Amber Era by her cold and taciturn colleague, Celenova, who treated everything as a tool.
The freely controlled Destruction aura around Phantylia finally settled into a dangerous stability, but her alluring eyes flickered with a light that was even deeper and more perilous than before.
She was not angry at having her disguise easily seen through by the opponent. Instead, she covered her mouth and let out a soft, feminine chuckle. The strange folding fan in her hand once again began to sway slowly, drawing wisps of energy currents filled with the illusion of life and the substance of destruction.
"Hehehe... As expected of a member of the Genius Club, famous throughout the cosmos, this level of insight is truly worthy of the reputation."
Phantylia's voice returned to its unique, languid cadence, carrying traces of mental suggestion.
"Then, Miss Herta, could you satisfy a little curiosity of mine? Did you spend all this effort waiting here merely to give me a verbal warning and a request to retreat, or is it that..."
She deliberately drew out her words, her gaze sweeping across this boundless, shimmering light sea.
"...this entire magnificent Sea of Stars has, unknowingly, become the elaborate cage you prepared for me, this uninvited guest?"
Her words were like sweet poison, and as she spoke, an extremely subtle, almost invisible mental fluctuation, carrying the dual purpose of probing and encroaching, silently extended towards Herta, who was seated on the technology throne, attempting to bypass all defenses and perceive the truest situation.
However, that thread of spiritual essence, which contained the will of a Great Lord of the Annihilation Gang, instantly vanished as it approached within three feet of Herta, not being blocked or bounced away, but completely erased.
The tiny bit of Phantylia's will attached to it was wiped out in an instant, without even the slightest ripple of its existence being generated.
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