"Rest a while longer," Coppelia urged, looking at Columbina's pale complexion.
Although Changsheng was burning with anxiety, seeing that Columbina's condition was indeed poor, she also spoke up. "I will take you out of this abode first to find a sunny spot for you to rest properly. Leave the search for my Lord to me."
"No need to worry," Columbina gently shook her head.
Having said that, a faint halo of moonlight rose around her, lifting her and Coppelia slowly off the ground.
She looked at Changsheng and Coppelia, trying to make her voice sound a bit stronger. "I have at least enough strength to travel."
Coppelia had to compromise but didn't forget to admonish her. "Alright. But if you can't hold on, do not force yourself."
She turned to Changsheng. "We will go together."
Changsheng nodded. Immediately, she forced herself to calm down, rapidly thinking about her Lord's possible whereabouts at this moment.
Coppelia seemed to see through her thoughts and directly offered a direction. "Let's go straight to the source of the Bishui River."
She recalled the view she had seen overlooking the area when she ascended Mount Mingyuan with Fujin a few days ago.
At that time, she had noticed that the place where the bustling port of "Yilong Wharf" would be established in the future was currently still a complete, majestic mountain mass. A massive mountain saddle tightly connected Mount Mingyuan with another great mountain to the east.
The abundant water flow from the high seas of Fontaine in the north permeated and gathered through the countless narrow natural fissures within this mountain saddle, finally surging out from the south side of the saddle to form the source of the Bishui River.
A conjecture formed in Coppelia's mind.
In the future, that vast body of water at Yilong Wharf, used as a port and resembling a reservoir, was surely not naturally formed. Instead, the local Archon must have used great power to forcibly sever that mountain saddle serving as a watershed in order to create a devastating flood!
"I believe," Coppelia voiced her judgment, "that if that Archon wishes to confront or even block the pursuit of the Millelith, she is very likely to choose to unleash a flood. And the simplest, most direct method is to destroy the source of the Bishui River and sever that mountain saddle!"
Hearing this, Changsheng's golden vertical pupils contracted sharply. This conjecture was logical, and the consequences would be unimaginable.
She immediately said, "It is not impossible! There is no time to lose, let us set off immediately!"
Fujin distributed the various medicinal herbs prepared by Changsheng to every household in the tea village, and carefully cleaned and bandaged the wounds of those injured soldiers.
Seeing that the people had already started packing their belongings, she dared not delay and immediately turned to rush toward the Bishui River.
She traveled upstream along the surging river, concentrating on sensing her surroundings as she moved swiftly.
The water level seemed to have risen slightly compared to usual, and the current was somewhat turbulent and turbid, but it was still within the normal range and could not yet be called a clear anomaly.
Soon, she arrived at the source of the river.
She saw that Changsheng, Coppelia, and Columbina were already standing on the rocks by the shore.
Changsheng held her hands high, palms facing the towering mountain saddle. Adeptal power flowed around her as she sensed the subtle changes within the mountain body.
Sensing Fujin's arrival, Changsheng slowly withdrew her adeptal power and turned to look at her, her golden vertical pupils filled with gravity.
"The situation is bad," Changsheng's voice was low and urgent. "The fissures inside the mountain are not only continuing to expand, but their number is also increasing sharply. We suspect this is my Lord's active doing."
Fujin's heart sank abruptly. "My Lord... does she really intend to unleash a flood? Has she... has she forgotten that there are still thousands of subjects in this vale relying on her protection?"
Changsheng said, "My Lord is right now on the north side of this mountain. Let us go ask her to her face!"
The four flew into mid-air and circled to the north side of the mountain saddle. The scene before them tightened their hearts.
That Archon whom they respected and loved was currently hovering above the water. She still maintained the form of a tall, black-haired woman, her robes as magnificent as jade. However, strange and sharp black spikes had abruptly grown out of her originally divine body, with ominous black mist swirling around them.
Her right hand tightly gripped a long sword honed from brilliant gems. She was chopping at the huge mountain body in front of her, strike after strike, with persistent madness.
Her movements appeared rather weak, her arm even trembling slightly. She had evidently suffered extremely heavy injuries in the war down south, perhaps defeated by the hands of Rex Lapis.
At this moment, she showed none of the majesty and compassion of a deity; she looked more like a maniac who had lost her true self.
Changsheng first signaled for Coppelia to take the slightly recovered Columbina to a safe distance to watch. She herself, along with Fujin—the two adepti—slowly approached their Lord.
Getting closer, they could hear the Lord muttering to herself, indistinctly. Changsheng listened intently and caught that name—"Morax."
Suppressing the bitterness and anxiety in her heart, Fujin shouted aloud:
"My Lord! Stop! You cannot chop anymore! Doing this will trigger a monstrous flood that will submerge the entire Chenyu Vale and kill all the subjects who believe in and rely on you!"
However, the Archon turned a deaf ear to her cries. She merely waved her empty left hand casually, and a force pushed the two adepti away, sending them into the distance.
Subsequently, she raised her trembling arm again and continued that destructive chopping.
Seeing this, Fujin was frantic. Her adeptal power surged involuntarily, transforming into a streak of flowing light as she prepared to step forward and forcibly stop her.
"Fujin, no!" Changsheng hurriedly reached out to grab her, but just as her fingertips touched Fujin's shoulder, she broke free.
Sensing the incoming adeptal power, that Archon suddenly raised her right arm. The gem longsword in her hand brought a whistling sound as it slashed vertically toward Fujin!
Fujin reacted extremely quickly, her figure flashing sideways to narrowly avoid the sword energy. However, the adeptal power she released inevitably touched the black mist swirling on the Archon's body surface.
In an instant, a burst of chaotic, twisted, weird babbling—filled with countless illogical yet seemingly massive amounts of information—drilled fiercely into Fujin's mind along that connection of adeptal power! That sound felt as if it would burst her skull and tear her sanity to shreds.
Fujin groaned, her face turning pale as she hurriedly dissipated her adeptal power.
Changsheng immediately flew forward, supported the unstable Fujin, and retreated rapidly with her, pulling back all the way to where Coppelia and Columbina were standing in the distance.
Fujin leaned against Changsheng, gasping for a good while before she recovered slightly from that terrifying mental shock, her face still lingering with fear.
"Changsheng..." Her voice trembled slightly. "Do you... have any other way?"
Changsheng looked at the figure in the distance still futilely chopping at the mountain and shook her head in despair. "Direct persuasion is already useless. Rashly approaching will not only invite attacks, but we also lack the strength to subdue my Lord."
She already had thoughts of retreating, intending to persuade Coppelia and Columbina to leave this troublesome place first.
Although Columbina could purify the power of the Abyss, the Lord was not that mass of insensate black mud; how would she stand there and let her operate?
Under the erosion of the Abyss, would the Lord erupt with unimaginable power, causing heavy injuries or even... Changsheng dared not think further.
However, just as she was about to speak, Columbina, who had been watching silently from the side, beat her to it and said softly:
"I want... to try singing."
___
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