Tingyun stood before the Xuan Root of the Ambrosial Arbor, suddenly turning her head.
Her neck bones emitted a grating, cracking sound.
Crack!
Her head twisted around at an inhuman angle, the perfectly pleasant smile on her face completely frozen.
Immediately after, that delicate fox-person skin suit slumped to the ground like a broken puppet.
A wisp of Green soul fire floated out from the body, directly merging into the roots of the Jianmu Tree.
A voice more enchanting and eerie than Tingyun's echoed through the entire underground space, carrying a morbid playfulness.
"My benefactor, the Stellaron never left, oh."
"It has always been one with the Jianmu Tree. Hehehe..."
Phainon held his sword with one hand, his ice-blue eyes reflecting the terrifying upheaval before him.
Rumble—
The Xuan Root of the Ambrosial Arbor began to pulsate violently, awakening after a thousand years of slumber.
The ancient sea of Boyue, once used for suppression, could no longer restrain the power of abundance.
Roots pierced through the earth's crust, churning the seawater, and the entire Scalegorge Waterscapetrembled under this force.
Dense fog gushed out from underground, swallowing all sight.
A sickly sweet, nauseating aroma permeated the air, and strange, colorful lotuses bloomed and flourished out of thin air in the void.
"My benefactor, you've waited long enough."
From the depths of the mist, a colossal silhouette slowly emerged.
"This humble one is here to meet you now."
She gently blew a breath forward.
That breath transformed into a tangible gale, tearing apart the dense fog before Phainon, revealing her true form.
Phantylia.
Her greenish-grey skin glowed with a jade-like luster, her dark green lips were seductively vibrant, and in her light golden eyes, blue vertical pupils resembled two abysses.
She floated in the air in a kneeling posture, her body as vast as a mountain, her round fan constantly swaying in her hand.
Phantylia raised her inky black palm, admiring the perfect creation, and let out a heartfelt sigh of admiration,
"Do you see this fleshly body? The divine miracle of abundance, truly lives up to their name!"
She tilted her head, and her mountain-like shadow completely enveloped Phainon, her golden vertical pupils looking down at him from above.
"My benefactor, does Phantylia's current appearance make your heart stir?"
Phainon's lips curled up, full of madness, "Ugly monster, even those ancient beasts underground are cuter than you."
"Oh my, my benefactor's mouth is still so unsparing, it truly saddens me."
Phantylia feigned grievance, gently waving the round fan in her hand.
In an instant, countless destructive lotuses bloomed out of thin air around Phainon, "Facing these illusory flowers, my benefactor must try hard."
"Otherwise, you might not even be able to touch this humble one's body, and will turn to dust like an ant."
She propped her chin with one hand, yawning lazily, as if what was about to unfold was merely a boring pastime,
"If that's truly the case, then it would be... too disappointing."
Phainon didn't utter a single superfluous word.
The Dawnbreaker in his hand merged with the ritual sword, and the blade ignited with a pitch-black flame that could incinerate all things.
Twelve grey afterimages, identical to him, peeled away from his body, transforming into twelve silent whirlwinds of death, meeting the sea of lotuses.
Phainon's true body, meanwhile, stepped forward, striding directly towards Phantylia.
Phantylia swayed her round fan, a hint of reminiscence in her voice.
"If I had had this fan earlier, I wouldn't have been so miserably scorched by my benefactor's flames."
Before her words finished, Phainon's figure suddenly vanished.
The next instant, he had already appeared before Phantylia!
Phantylia's lazy eyes showed no trace of panic.
She merely moved her fingers.
Countless ferocious vines burst forth from the Jianmu Tree's roots, like a myriad of giant pythons, blocking all of Phainon's paths.
Phainon's sword was precise, fierce, and efficient.
Wherever the blade passed, the vines were instantly severed and evaporated.
The speed at which the Jianmu Tree grew could not compare to the speed at which he destroyed.
He was still closing in, step by step.
In Phantylia's sleepy eyes, a strange light finally bloomed.
This will to destroy was too beautiful!
The more resolute it was, the more she desired to utterly crush it and toy with it in her palm!
"Phainon, you said you wanted to kill me?"
"The Suiyang are immortal and indestructible, by what right do you dare challenge a Lord Ravager?"
Her voice carried a magic that could bewitch people's hearts.
"You won't even get to see the faces of the other Lords before you'll have already become a pawn."
Phainon continued to hack at the endless vines, his voice terrifyingly steady.
"What's the rush? Trying to embolden yourself before death?"
"Hahahahaha... Excellent!" Phantylia was thoroughly amused; she slammed her hand against the void beneath her.
Eight massive golden lotuses emerged from all directions, like eight destructive suns, blasting towards Phainon.
Phainon's figure transformed into an afterimage, narrowly avoiding the encirclement.
But even more golden lotuses had already sealed off the entire space.
Just as Phainon's clones were all swallowed by the golden lotuses, Phantylia's colossal, sky-obscuring hand suddenly closed, firmly grasping him in her palm.
"Oh my, an ant is an ant after all. Now, can you still escape?"
The next moment, the "Phainon" clutched by the giant hand began to blur, turning into a faceless grey phantom.
The true voice, however, sounded above Phantylia's head.
"When you reshaped your body, did you forget to replace your eyes too?"
Phantylia's pupils suddenly constricted!
Phainon held the Dawnbreaker with both hands, man and sword transforming into a pitch-black meteor, plummeting down from above with fierce resolve!
Swish—
Phantylia's entire arm was cleanly severed.
At the smooth cut, flesh and blood were scorched by black flames, emitting a burnt smell.
Phainon hovered in the air, holding the Dawnbreaker high, his ice-blue eyes full of mockery,
"What's wrong, Lord Ravager? How could you have your arm severed by an ant, as you call it?"
Phantylia looked at her severed shoulder, the elegant smile on her face gone, replaced by an absolutely icy calm.
She gently blew a breath at the wound, and a new arm rapidly grew out, spurred by the power of abundance.
"Behind me is the divine miracle of abundance. Everything you do is but a drop in the ocean."
But the next moment, that playful smile reappeared on her face, though her eyes were chillingly cold.
"And... you, lost."
The severed arm suddenly exploded, transforming into a giant golden lotus that bloomed at Phainon's feet.
An irresistible binding force restrained Phainon's body.
More golden lotuses gushed out from within him, wrapping him layer by layer, eventually forming a massive golden cage that floated in the air.
Phantylia leaned her face close, almost touching Phainon's cheek, greedily savoring his expression.
"Phainon, you truly don't disappoint me. Now, let Xianzhou Luofu be the first sacrificial offering of destruction you personally present!"
With that, a destructive torrent of gold and green intertwined gushed from her body, furiously pouring into Phainon's body.
[Current Emotion: Madness]
[Emotion Threshold: 300%]
[Current Ignitable Sparks: 125684]
[147523]
[...]
He could feel that the dormant sparks were being forcibly ignited!
Numbers furiously flickered in the depths of his soul!
Each flicker was accompanied by a tearing agony, and... an inexpressible ecstasy!
That laughter was mad and fervent.
"I said... even if I burn myself to ashes, I will annihilate all of you!"
"As expected of my benefactor, such resolute will, it moves even me!"
Phantylia increased the energy infusion, her voice full of the ecstasy of imminent success,
"But, can you truly do it?"
Destructive energy surged and tore within Phainon's body, every second like his soul being flayed alive.
But.
I no longer... feel pain.
He raised his head, and in his ice-blue eyes, an unquenchable flame of vengeance burned.
"My vengeance against 'Destruction'..."
"Is! Endless!"
Just then.
A golden figure appeared in Phainon's mind.
"You?!"
"No matter which Phainon it is, he will make the same choice! Let us together, with the will of The Hunt, seek vengeance against Destruction!"
[Emotion Threshold is rising...]
[Current Emotion Threshold: 600%]
"What an 'endless'... Unfortunately, before the universe ends due to 'Destruction,' you can do nothing..."
Phantylia's voice abruptly stopped.
In that instant.
A gaze pierced through time and space, ignored causality, transcended all laws, and fell upon this chaotic battlefield.
That was not sight, but a concept, a will.
It was "The Hunt."
"What?!"
"Why?!"
Phantylia abruptly looked up at the sky.
A meteor tore through the Luofu's firmament, pierced through the vast blue waves of the ancient sea of Boyue, and with an undeniable posture, severed a section of the Jianmu Tree's massive roots, grazing Phainon's body, and deeply impaled itself into the ground before him!
The dust settled.
A brand new Invasion Dawn lay there quietly, emitting a dazzling light.
"The Hunt!"
Phantylia understood everything.
It was Phainon's pure, ultimate will to seek vengeance against "Destruction" that had attracted the gaze of The Hunt!
"Good!"
Her face twisted into a grimace, the fanaticism in her eyes intensifying, "Then I will help you become a destructive pawn walking the path of The Hunt!"
"Use The Hunt to personally bury The Hunt!"
However, the next moment.
A figure, treading through the swirling mist, slowly approached.
His flamboyant golden hair was tipped with red, his figure tall and straight, his steps unhurried.
He walked to the greatsword, reached out and pulled it out, emitting a clear, resonant hum.
He looked up at Phainon, imprisoned by the golden lotuses, a playful smile gracing his lips.
"Deliverer, I've found you!"