"True resolve is carving out a path forward with your own two hands, even in the darkest wilderness."
At the edge of the arena, watching the determined yet slender figure from behind, Yunli let out a sigh.
"I can understand Competitor Asakura's determination and courage right now. But crushing that badge means that if she encounters any mishap in the upcoming battle, she will permanently lose the chance to be revived by the Status Restoration Tech."
"For Little Miyuki, that thing was never necessary to begin with."
Without anyone noticing, Himeko had quietly appeared beside her. "Did you fail to notice? Or perhaps, as a member of the Alliance, your filter for Baiheng is so thick that it's blinding you to certain key information?"
Even though she was speaking to Yunli, Himeko's gaze was locked tightly onto her disciple in the arena. Her eyes held worry, yes, but also a certainty that bordered on pride.
Hearing this, Yunli frowned slightly. After pondering for a moment, realization finally dawned on her.
Baiheng's combat experience and long-range sniping skills were impeccable. As a ranged unit, she naturally sought to end fights with a single, fatal blow.
And Miyuki Asakura?
Covered in mud, looking utterly battered and pathetic.
Didn't it look like she was on the verge of defeat?
Yet the result was that, stripping away the miserable outward appearance, she was still standing steadily on the stage.
Why?
Because her parries and hyper-regeneration had been working the entire time!
Why did Baiheng try to persuade her to surrender?
Because as long as the girl desperately protected her vitals, Baiheng genuinely had no way to put her down for good!
"That's right. In this battle, I was in an invincible position from the very start."
CLANG!
The Sunfire Greatsword swept across her body, precisely deflecting a cold arrow aimed straight at her skull.
Miyuki muttered to herself. Her voice was soft, yet clearer and more resolute than it had ever been before.
"And what I need to do now is find Baiheng, catch her, and then... deliver the fatal blow!"
"So—"
The girl took a deep breath. A flash of resolve crossed her mud-streaked, beautiful face.
Honkai energy, blazing like the sun, erupted from deep within her slender body. It manifested as a glass-like flame, a mix of liquid and gas, dying the quiet night in a dreamlike, beautiful hue.
But almost immediately, this illusory flame retracted back into Miyuki's body, leaving only a thin film covering her skin.
"Is that... Demonblade: Shiranui?!"
The commentator's shocked scream blasted through the speakers, echoing across the arena. "Heavens! Competitor Asakura has actually mastered this forbidden technique? Does she have a death wish?!"
Yes, Demonblade: Shiranui—the very C-rank skill Fuli had dismissed as useless trash and abandoned.
By burning a massive amount of the user's lifespan, it forcibly raised their base stats to the minimum threshold of an A-rank Valkyrie for a short duration.
This was one of the fruits of Miyuki's grueling training over the past six months. As the holder of the Deva Path, she was actually far more suited for this life-burning forbidden blade than Fuli ever was.
But this presented a logical problem.
The Honkaiverse certainly had precedents of people exploding with power in the heat of the moment—Miyuki had just had that opportunity.
She had actively rejected it, because that path was called Herrscherification.
So, even though the girl's mind had been emboldened by Fuli and the others, becoming clear and calm, it was impossible for her to suddenly learn a skill she was completely unfamiliar with.
The commentator quickly realized this contradiction. "Since Competitor Asakura clearly mastered such a powerful burst skill, why did she choose to endure so much damage earlier and keep it hidden?"
"Why?"
Deep in the jungle, the invisible Baiheng chuckled softly. Her tone carried a hint of understanding and overflowing appreciation. "Demonblade... You deliberately hid this trump card, willing to let yourself get covered in wounds, just to wait for me to lower my guard and lure me close to you, right?"
"You look so soft and weak, but your tactical thinking has been crystal clear from the start. Oh my, you really can't judge a book by its cover."
Currently, the simulated Baiheng's stats were capped at B-rank by the rules.
Although her transcendent archery skills were enough to give most A-rank Valkyries a headache, if she made a judgment error or got careless and closed the distance, Miyuki—who specialized in swordsmanship and possessed hyper-regeneration—would instantly drag the fight into a melee brawl.
At that point, relying on the stat dominance provided by Demonblade: Shiranui, the scales of victory would tip in an instant!
Thinking of this, Baiheng couldn't help but marvel. "Even that pathetic, trembling appearance when the audience was mocking you earlier... I'm afraid that was also a performance to lull me into a false sense of security, wasn't it?"
Squeak! Squeak!
A little squirrel on a branch chattered twice, seemingly refuting her.
That part was real...
The person in question gave an awkward, sheepish smile, then suddenly pushed off the ground and began her charge.
"OHHHH!" The commentator's excited voice rang out again. "Boosted by the power of the Demonblade, Competitor Asakura's speed has instantly broken the sound barrier! Like an out-of-control heavy tank, she's smashing through every tree in her path, charging in a straight line toward Lady Baiheng!"
"Wait! She's charging toward Lady Baiheng?! Does that mean she's already locked onto the target's exact location?!"
"Haven't you noticed yet, everyone?"
At the caster's desk, Cyrene pointed a finger at the corner of the broadcast screen, her smile sweet yet carrying a hint of slyness. "Those little squirrels that have been following Miss Baiheng around this whole time... aren't they just super, super cute? ♪~"
"Squirrels?!"
Yunli started, suddenly realizing something was wrong.
The pocket-dimension generator could perfectly replicate a pre-selected environment on a 1:1 scale, but animals were absolutely not included in the package.
So where did that squirrel come from?
"Naturally, it's a little trick of my apprentice."
Himeko wore a proud smile, as if she had expected this scene all along. "As the top-tier Creation-type Stigmata, did you all really think the Deva Path only had basic functions like hyper-regeneration and energy recovery?"
She paused, then threw out a concept that left Yunli stunned. "Miss Baiye, have you ever heard of the Ultimate Lifeform?"
Yunli hadn't, but Fuli knew a thing or two about it.
Under Bronya's instigation, this cheap older brother was forced to rewatch various classic anime with her every other day. As a classic among classics, the JOJO series was naturally a heavy casualty.
The Ultimate Lifeform: unaging, undying, possessing the abilities of every organism on Earth.
It possessed sensory capabilities that could detect heat and air currents, vision comparable to a 1930s astronomical telescope, hearing capable of distinguishing bat and dolphin frequencies, muscles that could repair any damage in a short time, and required almost no sleep.
"Besides that, Kars, after donning the mask, could freely alter his body structure, transforming his limbs and flesh into any natural organism known on Earth!"
The commentator, who was clearly also a JOJO fan, screamed, "I see! Competitor Asakura transformed the blood and tissue scattered during the earlier battle into small creatures like squirrels! She let them silently spread throughout the entire forest to search for Lady Baiheng's trail! That's right! All her previous suffering and injuries were paving the way for this moment of precise tracking!"
"Just now, Mr. Commentator praised Miss Baiheng, saying she perfectly mastered and utilized this completely unfamiliar simulated environment the moment she appeared, right?" Cyrene swung her bare, pale little feet, adding with a grin, "It seems our Little Miyuki isn't doing too badly either ♪~"
"Exactly!"
Himeko crossed her arms, her tone filled with trust and pride in her disciple. "Precisely because she couldn't heal others, for the past six months, my foolish apprentice poured all her energy into developing her own potential!"
She was Murata Himeko's disciple; how could she possibly be trash?
"Her upper limit... is the Ultimate Lifeform, the strongest creature on the surface of the planet!"
"But that wonderful premise is built on the foundation of 'a world without Honkai energy'!"
Baiheng's responding tone remained calm as she moved through the dense forest. Her figure suddenly blurred, then dissipated into formless white mist.
It was the signature technique mentioned before—the Tunneling Effect.
Many of the tracking animals instantly lost their target, spinning around in confusion.
Miyuki herself felt a strong sense of dissonance. The information feedback from her simulated sonar organs abruptly cut off, as if the target had evaporated into thin air. Her charging footsteps involuntarily faltered.
"Baiheng is right."
In the stands, Fu Hua whispered to Fuli beside her. "If this world had no Honkai energy, then Student Asakura, possessing partial characteristics of the Ultimate Lifeform, would indeed have a high probability of becoming the planet's dominant ruler."
Unfortunately, this was a world where Honkai energy was omnipresent, a world where supernatural powers reigned supreme.
It was like how an eagle possessed tetrachromatic vision, could spot a mouse from over a kilometer away, and could even see ultraviolet light with the naked eye.
But could you say its perception was stronger than the Setsuna Blade: Cold River Reflects the Moon, which only covered a radius of a few hundred meters?
A basic D-rank Presence Concealment spell would render all the eagle's advantages null and void, leaving it helpless!
It came back to the same saying: A Valkyrie's battle is a battle of Honkai energy.
Only Honkai can fight Honkai; only the supernatural can counter the supernatural.
"OHHHH! A shocking reversal!"
The commentator's emotions were completely ignited.
"Faced with Lady Baiheng's near-unsolvable Tunneling Effect, how will our Strongest Creature on Earth respond?!"
He grabbed the microphone, planting one foot on the desk as he roared, "There's very little time left in the match! If it drags on to a draw, according to the rules, Competitor Asakura will still fail to qualify for the main tournament!"
"Damn it! She's held on for so long... will this battle of blood and tears end in regret after all?"
"Absolutely not!"
Miyuki's gaze was stern and blazing, like burning fire.
Several small animals formed from her flesh and blood quickly returned to her side, presenting a few strands of soft, pale purple fur in her palm like a treasure offering.
It was Baiheng's tail fur!
Foxians naturally shed fur—otherwise, the Hyperion Anti-Hair Loss Shampoo wouldn't sell so well.
Baiheng had moved rapidly back and forth through the forest just now. Naturally, it was inevitable that some fur would fall out.
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Miyuki tightly gripped the fur in her palm, injecting her own pure Honkai energy into it.
A moment later, a pure white piece of paper lay quietly in her hand.
"A Vivre Card?"
Fuli recognized the item at a glance.
The method to create a Vivre Card was a reward he had obtained from his second ten-pull gacha, and it had played a huge role back in the virtual space.
Later, unable to withstand Theresa's constant nagging—and acknowledging its immense utility in team combat—he had sold the related technology to St. Freya.
And the greatest characteristic of a Vivre Card was—it would instinctively point in the direction of its material's owner!
WHOOSH!
As if pulled by an invisible force, the Vivre Card made from Baiheng's fur shot into the air, flying toward its owner's location.
Miyuki, her entire body wreathed in the flames of the Demonblade, launched another ferocious charge like an arrow released from the bowstring, greatsword in hand!
The pocket dimension was only a few kilometers wide. In just a few breaths, traveling at supersonic speeds, she arrived at her destination.
"Found you!"
"What?!!"
Facing the pink-haired girl raising her giant sword to cleave down, Baiheng, currently in her mist form, felt her pupils constrict violently.
The Tunneling Effect did indeed grant immunity to the vast majority of physical attacks and strong resistance to energy attacks.
But "vast majority" didn't mean "complete immunity," and "strong resistance" couldn't block a full-power, self-sacrificing strike from an A-rank Valkyrie!
Was the match going to end this abruptly?
Of course not!
"Sorry about this, little girl."
In the split second before impact, Baiheng decisively discarded her longbow. With speed faster than lightning, she drew the backup short sword sheathed at her waist.
Her movements were fluid and precise—the calm composure of a veteran of a hundred battles. "I have a friend who is quite accomplished in the art of the sword. Once, when we were bored, I learned a few moves from her."
Who was this friend?
Undoubtedly, it was the legend once hailed as the Transcendent Flash, the strongest Sword Champion in Luofu's history—Jingliu!
A cold arc of light flashed.
SHING!
Miyuki's right arm, gripping the Sunfire Greatsword, was severed cleanly at the shoulder by this sudden strike.
The massive sword, along with the severed arm, flew whistling into the air!
Without a doubt, it was super effective. But was Baiheng deliberately exposing a weakness to lure Miyuki into close range?
Not necessarily. She truly hadn't expected her opponent to find her in her mist state using such a method.
This kid... to push me this far, she must have studied every scrap of data about me before the match, right?
Unfortunately, the fact that she had once learned swordsmanship from Jingliu was a complete blank in the records of Baiheng's life. Until the very end, she had never displayed it in front of anyone outside the High-Cloud Quintet.
Because of this information asymmetry, caught completely off guard, Miyuki's sword arm was instantly severed, leaving her defenseless body wide open to the enemy!
"It's over."
Baiheng whispered softly. Her tone held a trace of pity, but her movements were merciless.
She raised the short sword again. Heart-stopping cold light and specks of starlight gathered on the blade.
Moonlit River—a secret sword technique created by Jingliu, specifically designed to counter all kinds of defensive hardening arts and regenerative abilities.
This sword stance contained a psychic impact and freezing sword qi. Once it hit an enemy, the psychic energy would produce a transcendent shock effect on their mind, while the sword qi would seize the opportunity to infiltrate the body, disintegrating their flesh from the inside out.
Since she had only learned it in her spare time, unlike Jingliu's masterful control, Baiheng could only ensure the strike's power at point-blank range.
The Deva Path's physical regeneration was too absurdly overpowered, but its mental defenses were relatively weak.
The psychic shock of Moonlit River was enough to penetrate the natural Stigmata's resistance and deal a fatal blow to Miyuki Asakura.
At that moment, victory would belong to Baiheng.
It was hard for outsiders to imagine, but in this instant, the former hero had finally gotten completely serious.
She knew that with the badge shattered, this strike could potentially wipe out Miyuki's consciousness entirely.
Yet Baiheng still did it.
"Moonlit River!"
The short sword slashed an arc through the air. Sword qi, beautiful and freezing as the galaxy, stabbed straight toward the wide-open chest of the one-armed girl!
Precisely because her opponent showed such resolve, she had to give everything, betting it all to defeat this noble warrior!
I win!
Baiheng shouted in her heart.
It's just the defense of an A-rank Valkyrie. For Jingliu's swordsmanship, piercing it is a piece of cake!
"Danger!"
In the stands, Yuno watched with her heart in her throat. She leaned forward, almost ready to rush onto the field regardless of the consequences.
A steady, powerful hand pressed down on her shoulder.
"Keep watching." Fu Hua gazed calmly at the arena. "Watch until the very end."
Meanwhile, watching the sword tip—laden with lethal starlight and cold qi—about to touch her skin, Miyuki suddenly felt everything around her slow down, as if time had become thick sludge.
This wasn't external interference; it was her life flashing before her eyes.
Her soul realized she was about to fall into eternal sleep faster than her body did, and uncontrollably began to replay fragments of the past.
Unexpectedly, what appeared before the girl's eyes wasn't the dark alley, nor was it the handsome, determined face of the boy. It was the Class Monitor.
It was a day after their daily sparring session. Based on a half-joking suggestion from her Master, she had started learning the Class Monitor's specialty—the Edge of Taixu.
The result?
It was a disaster.
Perhaps she truly had no talent for it. Whether it was Dead Jin: Sea Severing or One-Inch: Raging Dragon, no matter how much Miyuki gritted her teeth—even using her sleeping time to train—her progress remained sluggish to this day.
Except for one move. The move Principal Theresa jokingly called the "Ultra Dynamite." A technique theoretically requiring an A-rank Valkyrie physique to practice safely. In this one move, the girl's progress was astonishingly fast.
It was an ultimate technique that ignored survival instincts to forcibly draw out all power from the body. Once used, it would severely overdraw the body's strength, potentially even shortening one's lifespan.
It squeezed out every drop of latent power, stamina, and energy hidden within the body, liberating all energy meant for sustaining life. It was an explosion that ignored consequences, even shutting down parts of the body's functions to further release potential.
In exchange for sacrificing everything, for the next split second, the user's physical stats and combat power would increase geometrically—tenfold, or even dozens of times over!
As for the price...
Even knowing about the existence of the Deva Path, the Class Monitor had sternly warned her: "Unless it is a moment where you truly need to stake your life, absolutely do not use this stance of the Edge of Taixu!"
So... is this the moment?
The sword tip in Miyuki's pupils gradually enlarged. Her consciousness seemed to transcend her flesh, clearly reflecting everyone present who cared about her in the lake of her heart.
Mr. Fuli stepping forward gave me the motivation to move ahead.
Yuno's call woke me up when I almost fell into darkness.
Master Himeko's swordsmanship allowed a failure like me to persist until now without losing.
Student Fu Hua's fist technique is my final trump card to turn defeat into victory.
Face fear. Sever despair.
Embrace the past. Create the future.
The voice in my heart was right. Compared to the tragic experiences of others, my insignificant backstory is indeed fragile and weak.
But precisely because of that—
"ONE-INCH PUNCH: WORLD OPENER!!!"
I must... carry on the past and open up the future!
BOOOOM—!
The terrifying fist wind, burning life and transcending limits, collided violently with the freezing sword qi that froze souls and tore spirits apart!
An indescribable explosion and blinding light swallowed everything! A violent shockwave expanded rapidly outward in a ring, snapping numerous towering trees in the pocket dimension in half!
Smoke and debris shot into the sky, forming a massive curtain of dust that blotted out the sun!
"..."
"..."
"..."
The entire arena fell into a deathly silence.
Everyone held their breath, staring unblinkingly at the chaotic center of the explosion, hearts pounding as if they were about to burst from their chests.
Time seemed to pass for an eternity, yet also felt like only an instant.
Finally, the smoke slowly cleared.
The first thing that came into view was an arm held high in the air.
Although the sleeve was shredded and covered in wounds, the fist remained clenched tight as iron.
Then came the long hair, brilliant as cherry blossoms, fluttering stubbornly in the gradually subsiding energy storm.
At the caster's desk, a brilliantly radiant smile bloomed on Cyrene's face.
She grabbed the microphone in front of her, and with her clearest, most passionate voice, announced to everyone present:
"The winner is—"
"MIYUKI ASAKURA!!!"