She could clearly feel that the power binding her possessed both the flexibility of the Hydro Element and the weight of the Geo Element. This was the unique power of Yunqin and Hydro Qin!
But Yunqin and Hydro Qin's auras had already vanished as they fell into the deep sea. How could such power still exist?
Just as Xiao Qin's mind fell into chaos, a figure slowly rose from the sea behind her.
The seawater receded to both sides like a tide, supporting that familiar silhouette.
The girl's plain clothes were soaked through by the seawater, yet they shimmered with a faint golden-blue glow. The water droplets falling from the tips of her hair onto the sea's surface created ripples that carried the power of purification.
She slowly stood up, her movements calm and resolute. Her body was simultaneously enveloped in the heavy golden light of the Geo Element and the gentle blue light of the Hydro Element.
The two powers intertwined and coiled, forming a strange barrier that forced back all the surrounding dark energy and poisonous gas.
It was Yunqin!
At this moment, she was no longer as weak as before.
There was no trace of confusion in her eyes. Her pupils reflected the lights of Liyue Harbor and the fading shadow of the god, carrying both the warmth of the mortal world and the majesty of the Scion of the Gods.
Her lips held no extra expression, only a sense of calm as if the dust had settled. She walked step by step toward the bound Xiao Qin.
With each step she took, golden and blue interwoven patterns of light bloomed beneath her feet. The seawater parted obediently before her, and the dark energy scattered in panic around her body.
"You... How can you?!" Xiao Qin stared at Yunqin, her pitch-black eyes filled with unbelievable terror. "You were clearly already... You shouldn't still possess such power!"
She frantically channeled the Abyssal power, the dark energy erupting around her as she tried to break through the Geo-Hydro Net. Yet the Hydro ropes and Geo patterns binding her only grew stronger, even beginning to seep into her body and suppress the Abyssal power within.
Yunqin did not answer immediately. She simply walked slowly before her, her gaze calmly meeting the puppet born from her own pain and obsession.
Her voice was clear and resolute, carrying the weight of Geo and the embrace of Hydro, piercing through the roar of the battlefield: "You are right. They are no longer 'here'."
She raised her hand, her palm shimmering with both golden and blue light as she gently pressed it against the Geo-Hydro Net trapping Xiao Qin.
"But you forgot, we were always one." Instantly, countless interwoven golden and blue patterns of light spread along the Hydro net, drilling into Xiao Qin's body and making her let out a shrill, agonized scream. "Her power, her obsession, her heart of protection, they have never vanished."
"Impossible!" Xiao Qin's voice trembled with fear as the dark energy churned violently within her, yet she still could not break free from the restraints. "You should have completely vanished!"
Yunqin gently shook her head, a flicker of pity crossing her eyes. "You absorbed our memories and power, but you never truly understood."
"Hydro Qin's hatred is not a reason for destruction; my protection is not a foolish obsession."
"Our power was never meant to harm each other, but to protect everything we cherish."
Her gaze turned to Zhongli and Venti in the center of the battlefield. Seeing the two gods' radiance dimming as they overexerted their divine power, her eyes hardened with resolve once more. "And you are nothing but a tool used by the Abyss to amplify pain and create hatred."
"Now, it is time to end this."
Before her words even faded, the golden and blue halo in Yunqin's palm erupted, and the Geo-Hydro Net trapping Xiao Qin instantly tightened.
Xiao Qin let out a heart-wrenching shriek. The dark energy around her body surged wildly, but it was firmly locked in by the net of light, unable to spread.
And in the center of the battlefield, the Abyssal Black Miasma on Osial and Beisht seemed to be affected as well. Its surging momentum abruptly halted and even began to slightly recede, revealing more of their original forms.
Zhongli and Venti noticed this change at the same time, turning to look in Yunqin's direction with eyes full of surprise and relief.
Xiao Qin watched all this, the fear in her heart growing more intense.
She could feel the Abyssal power within her body being suppressed and purified by Yunqin's power.
And the pain and hatred she relied on to survive seemed so utterly fragile before Yunqin's calm and resolute heart of protection.
"No! I won't accept this!" Xiao Qin shrieked frantically. "I am the strongest! I am the true Yunqin! You fake, disappear!"
"You have never been me, nor can you replace me." Yunqin sighed softly as she looked at her hysterical state. "Because you will never understand that true power has never come from hatred and destruction, but from love and protection."
She raised her hand, and the golden and blue power condensed into a blade of light in her palm. The blade held neither the harshness of the Geo element nor the flexibility of the Hydro element, only a gentle yet irresistible force.
"Now, it's time to return what belongs to me."
As Yunqin's voice fell, the blade of light, glowing with interwoven gold and blue, swung toward Xiao Qin.
The golden and blue interwoven blade of light sliced through the chaos of the battlefield. There was no thunderous roar, only a gentle power like the breaking dawn as it softly landed on Xiao Qin.
The blade of light was like a pair of gentle hands, yet it carried an irresistible firmness, instantly entangling the last of the dark energy surrounding her.
"No!" Xiao Qin let out a heart-wrenching shriek. The dark energy churned wildly under the blade's guidance, yet like a fly caught in a spiderweb, the more she struggled, the tighter she was bound.
She could clearly feel the copied power within her body rapidly draining away. The heaviness of the Geo element faded from her palms, the flow of the Hydro element dissipated from her fingertips, and even the painful memories of Yunqin and Hydro Qin, amplified by the Abyss, were being forcibly stripped away.
Her mind was no longer filled with the humiliation of being pelted with stones by the common folk or the excruciating pain of being pierced by stone spears. Instead, countless unfamiliar, warm scenes flooded in:
Zhongli sat at the stone table on Mt. Aocang, gently teaching her to recognize the lines of a poem; in the kitchen of Wanmin Restaurant, Xiangling pulled her to taste-test a newly cooked dish...
This warmth that had never belonged to her pierced her consciousness like needles, driving her mad, yet leaving her powerless to resist.
"Why..." Xiao Qin's voice grew fainter and fainter. The dark energy continued to dissipate, and her figure gradually became transparent. Her pitch-black eyes were filled with resentment and confusion. "I clearly absorbed everything from you. Why do I still not have these things? Why is it that you can be loved by everyone?"
Yunqin looked at her gradually fading form, a flicker of pity crossing her eyes. Yet, the blade of light at her fingertips did not pause in the slightest. "What you absorbed was merely the empty shell of power and memory."
"What truly supports us in moving forward is the genuine care and devotion we're willing to show each other. This 'love' hidden behind memories is something the Abyss cannot give you, and something you can never replicate."
As the last wisp of dark energy was drawn into the blade of light, Xiao Qin's figure completely dissolved into specks of black light, beginning to vanish within the golden and blue aura.