Bi Mo Zhi Jian

Chapter 337 The Blue Star Human Panics

The broad training grounds, riddled with fissures that were slowly mending themselves.

One fell silent, and the other did too.

Yet, their silences were not the same.

Some silences were spent questioning life, while others were filled with self-admiration.

"Xiao Huan is so amazing, isn't she?"

Having secured victory in her first bout, and against Xing Jing Lei, a renowned strongman within the organization no less, Xiao Huan was practically floating. She drifted towards Fang You, extending her hand as if seeking praise.

Fang You glared her down and sent her back.

"You only defeated Little Xing, what's there to be proud of."

Xiao Huan's pretty face fell.

Xing Jing Lei, still dazed, a large question mark appearing on his forehead, turned to look. After a long while, finding no answers, he squatted to the side, drawing circles.

Perhaps, maybe, just possibly, he was truly too weak?

After being thoroughly thrashed, Xing Jing Lei was sent away to cultivate in a daze. Only one person and one spirit remained in the training ground. Fang You began to lecture Xiao Huan.

He was indeed quite dissatisfied.

In that previous battle, if Xing Jing Lei had known Xiao Huan's abilities beforehand, the outcome of the fight would have been uncertain.

While in her 'phantom state,' Xiao Huan could teleport at 'conceptual speed' and remain unharmed. Physical attacks, energy attacks, mental attacks—all damage was ignored.

Just like before her advancement, she could neither be hurt nor attack.

But now, she could switch to her 'real state,' and the transition between the two states was incredibly smooth, requiring only a thought with no delay.

Under such circumstances, Xiao Huan had still nearly been struck by Xing Jing Lei.

She was a mythical being, and even a somewhat lackluster one was equivalent to a newly ascended myth. In this state, she had still required significant effort to barely defeat Xing Jing Lei.

A mythical being, nearly defeated by someone of the Sixth Sense.

Pathetic, truly pathetic.

Seeing Xiao Huan's pitiful, silent demeanor, Fang You sighed.

"After all, it was your first battle, and your performance wasn't ideal, which is understandable."

"I don't expect you to become a top-tier powerhouse, but at least you should fully utilize your strength."

Lack of experience was understandable.

However, Xiao Huan's chosen tactics were incorrect, and she still deserved criticism.

Why would you choose close combat? Was it to show off?

Uh, Xiao Huan's large, watery eyes reflected a golden figure, his appearance on the battlefield. It was indeed cool.

Fang You fell silent.

Scratch that.

Showing off wasn't wrong, but even showing off required basic tactical sense.

Mentor Fang quickly devised Xiao Huan's first phase of training, starting with skill selection.

She would major in Fireball, Mind Blast, Frost Nova, and Bifrost Lightning—her mental power was exceptionally high, even surpassing Fang You's. Naturally, elemental magic suited her better.

Furthermore, ranged attacks were safer. Coupled with the 'phantom-real' conversion, she could be rendered virtually invincible.

Once she mastered this set of skills, Xiao Huan would truly be able to unleash her mythical combat power.

After all, her designation was 'Secretary,' and Fang You didn't intend for her to spend too much time cultivating. Moreover, Xiao Huan was slightly different from a true mythical entity.

She was a special lifeform, her core bound to Fang You.

Her brain processed information at speeds far exceeding those of mythical beings, not in terms of comprehension, but in data processing speed and capacity. She could collect and integrate billions of data points, constructing a library containing countless books within her mind.

She could even create avatars that lacked self-awareness and existed in purely illusory forms, to handle various data tasks.

Huh, thinking about it this way, it seemed that Xiao Huan serving as a secretary for organizational affairs and her cultivating to become stronger were not mutually exclusive?

This information was something he had only just discovered, through guiding Xiao Huan's attempts.

In addition, the Phantom Spirit's other exclusive ability, 'can serve as a vessel for a contractor's descent,' was also retained. To better test Xiao Huan's capabilities, Fang You decided to experience it firsthand.

With a thought, his consciousness submerged into Xiao Huan's body. Her appearance as a white-haired girl in a black robe rapidly transformed into Fang You's likeness.

Xiao Huan Unit One, descending!

While Xiao Huan could now interfere with reality without his direct intervention, his possession at this moment boosted her mental power significantly, and her skills were now the 'Mentor Fang' version.

"Phantom."

"Real."

Shadows flickered across the training ground as Fang You fully experienced the power of Xiao Huan Unit One. Though her dimension and power were lower than his own, if controlled by Fang You, he was confident he could defeat Sitina without much difficulty.

The species ability of the Phantom Spirit was truly terrifying!

And it could even be reborn.

"Terrifying, truly terrifying..."

Thinking of rebirth, Fang You pondered briefly, then, using his ability of phantom traversal, he instantly entered the shallow layers of the Abyssal Realm, arriving before the entrance within Shuize Prefecture.

Before him lay a spiraling, downward-shaped sinkhole.

As he was about to step in, he glimpsed a tide of gray fog rolling in, accompanied by incessant, eerie roars from his surroundings.

"Right, this is Xiao Huan Unit One."

He had no money on him, and thus no Bright Light Lantern. He returned to the Hearthfire Secret Realm, found a Storage Ring, and put it on. He then placed the lantern and a few basic items within it. Glancing at the Glorious Scepter in his main body's hand, he hesitated for a moment before deciding not to bring it.

With just a Storage Ring, Xiao Huan Unit Fang You, with empty hands, traversed once more.

He stepped onto the dead, silent ground of the shallow layer.

The ring on his hand emitted faint fluorescence.

"As expected, now that Xiao Huan can interfere with reality herself, she can bring items into the phantom state and traverse together!"

In an instant, Fang You had conceived of a hundred and eight uses for Xiao Huan's shuttle capabilities.

He suppressed them for the moment.

He retrieved a Bright Light Lantern from the ring, infused it with energy, and ignited it. Instantly, a soft radiance spread, dispersing the thick gray fog around him, and the eerie roars gradually receded.

Fang You no longer hesitated and stepped into the downward passage.

Flanking him were magnificent crystals, embedded firmly in the surrounding mountains, emitting a faint glow. The young man in a white robe, holding a lantern, walked alone into the darkness.

It was here that the team of An Jian You, Xing Jing Lei, and Yi Luoxi had visited once, excavating a mysterious object called the 'Silver Scale Heart Armor' to forge the Silver Scale Battle Armor, which was then the highest-grade defensive gear of the Hearthfire.

Approximately several hundred meters vertically from the entrance lay the end point for An Jian You's team, and also the furthest extent of the Hearthfire's 'regular exploration route.'

Fang You bypassed it directly.

The cave environment in this area was rather cramped, with some sections only wide enough for a single carriage.

However, even in very narrow gaps, strange creatures would suddenly emerge, only to be snapped out of existence by Fang You with a snap of his fingers.

He had been traversing the Abyssal Realm for about half an hour. His pace wasn't fast, but he was able to charge through with his mythical-level combat power, so he couldn't be too slow. Yet, it was eerily quiet, with nothing but strange creatures around.

This was the norm in the Abyssal Realm.

Traversing the Abyssal Realm, whether with eyes open or closed, one would encounter strange creatures. It was difficult to encounter anything else.

"But, this is too normal. So normal that there isn't even a trace of a minor deity's minions, which is the greatest abnormality."

He stopped, his brow furrowed, as if he had detected something amiss.

The next moment, he turned and rushed back towards the entrance without looking back, his entire body soaring, almost becoming a beam of light.

But at this precise moment, the space hummed.

A striking blood-red color spread at a speed faster than his flight. Rocks turned blood-red, crystals turned blood-red, and even the drifting gray fog seemed to exhibit a faint crimson hue.

In an instant, Fang You felt as if he had fallen into a viscous swamp, his movements becoming sluggish.

Countless minions, clad in blood-red armor or with varied forms, emerged from the surrounding blood sea.

Among them were the blood-bearded people Fang You recognized.

They charged forward en masse.

"Divine Art! Sumeru's Bud!"

The power of the minions resonated, with fleshy tendrils attaching themselves to the unseen space and spreading with extreme speed, forming a colossal net that blotted out the sky in an instant.

And into the giant net, the now-slowed white-robed figure was enveloped.

Facing the sudden onslaught, the figure's expression remained unchanged. With a raise of his hand, familiar, brilliant lightning erupted, unleashing thousands of bird-like calls.

*Riiip—*

The lightning tore through the blood tendrils, but more continued to spread.

He then turned his attack towards the minions, his emitted lightning pulverizing the stronger ones, yet more minions surged forward, their faces alight with fanaticism as they chanted incomprehensible words.

Sumeru's Bud was rapidly spreading.

This power was enough to threaten true mythical beings.

It was difficult for mortals to overthrow mythical beings, but the minions were using power bestowed by gods; they were not mere mortals!

Fang You frowned, extending his hand to form a colossal lightning palm hundreds of meters wide, forcefully tearing a portion of the blood tendril net. Despite the immense resistance, his lightning contained tremendous destructive power.

As soon as it tore open, arcs of lightning swirled around him, and he rushed towards the gap in the giant net.

It seemed he was determined to break through the encirclement at any cost.

He broke through!

But outside, a familiar figure was waiting. He possessed black wings that could seemingly cover the sky—the Black Winged Mythical! Among the four mythical beings who had descended upon Blue Star, he was the only one not killed by Fang You.

It was just that he seemed to be extremely enraged.

The flames in his pupils were on the verge of bursting forth; no, they had already erupted, burning black flames clinging to his black feathers, falling around him.

A great terror washed over him.

Before him, the Black Winged Mythical had vanished. No, he had transformed into black feathers. Tens of millions of black feathers swirled and rotated, forming a pair of wings. Within these black feathers, countless eyes bulged forth.

Myriad Eyed Black Feathers!

The terrifying figure, indistinguishable as either a black feather monster or an eye monster, loomed before Fang You, exuding a frigid aura like that of hell.

His blood seemed to freeze, and black flames ignited around him, eroding the lightning and piercing his very soul.

His entire being trembled, as if he saw countless beings screaming in the Black Winged Hell.

This was...

Mythical form?!

What grudge, what hatred could lead to this? It wasn't worth it, not at all!

"And, how could the Black Winged Mythical be this strong? Wasn't he defeated by An Jian You in a few rounds!"

The black flames clung to him like a persistent parasite, and Fang You couldn't shake them off. He immediately phased into the phantom state and reappeared hundreds of meters away.

This caused the Black Winged Mythical's eyes to narrow.

"As expected, you have your tricks. But how many times can you escape."

The tens of millions of eyes simultaneously fixed on the white-robed figure, like a guidance system, locking onto Fang You's form. No matter where he appeared, the black flames would follow.

The Black Winged Mythical's speed was also extremely fast. In his mythical form, the countless black feathers would sometimes form a pair of wings, and at other times disperse completely, seeming to become intangible. Even though Fang You destroyed some feathers, he couldn't inflict significant damage on the current Black Winged Mythical.

He was even being forced to retreat.

The Black Winged Mythical's grin widened.

This was the difference between a divine avatar and the true body! Not only was the dimensional level of the avatar vastly different, but the body was not tempered with certain secret arts and could not enter mythical form, yet the true body could!

This was his true strength as the Black Winged Mythical!

The power of a seasoned mythical being!

Watching the increasingly agitated white-robed figure before him, the Black Winged Mythical's smile grew more delighted. Suddenly, he saw Fang You grit his teeth, seemingly finally willing to pay a price.

The next moment, a terrifying explosion of lightning and fire erupted.

And in the blink of an eye, the white-robed figure appeared tens of thousands of meters away, not far from the entrance.

The giant face formed by the black feathers showed a humanized look of astonishment. The eyes revealed anger and unwillingness, but in the deepest part of those pupils, a subtle cunning was hidden.

He was indeed astonished, but facing a mortal destined one who could overthrow mythical beings, how could they not have prepared multiple contingency plans?

Besides the initial surprise, his anger and unwillingness were all an act.

Didn't expect this, Blue Star inhabitants!

As this thought crossed his mind, a blood-red palm that blotted out the sky appeared above the white-robed figure.

The surrounding environment suddenly darkened.

Despite the confined space, this blood-red palm exuded an infinite sense of size. The palm lines were clearly visible, like the boundaries demarcating countries on a world map.

This single palm was a world!

It was slowly closing, intending to crush the tiny, insignificant white-robed figure trapped within.

He finally couldn't suppress the look of bewilderment, terror, and panic.

You fear too!

But at the very last moment as the giant palm closed, the white-robed figure suddenly disappeared from within the palm and reappeared outside it, then quickly darted into the shallow layer.

The Blood Emperor saw the joy of escaping death, the joy of survival, in his eyes.

He was truly unwilling! With a fierce punch, the Fallen Star cave collapsed with a roar.

"So close, just a tiny bit more! This Blue Star inhabitant has so many life-saving trump cards!"

The Black Winged Mythical was even more enraged.

The Blood Emperor calmed down sooner. "Since this Blue Star inhabitant managed to obtain the war puppet of the Kandra Empire, it's normal for him to have a few life-saving items."

"That's true. I saw reluctance and regret in his eyes."

The Black Winged Mythical agreed.

The Blood Emperor looked towards the entrance, where the world-repelling force was faintly visible. He said, "At least, we've verified two things. First, this person couldn't unleash the power he had that day. Either it was a disposable item, or that level of power can only be used within Blue Star."

Even if he could unleash it, the Blood Emperor was confident in suppressing him.

But at this point, his conjecture had been verified, and his mood was less dejected.

"The second thing is, the Blue Star inhabitant has indeed become impatient. We've only just sealed off Blue Star with the ritual, and this Blue Star leader couldn't wait any longer and ventured out. This clearly indicates their current resources are extremely scarce, and they are likely in dire need of some 'life-saving item'."

"Life-saving item?"

"For a Blue Star inhabitant to overthrow a mythical being in a mortal body, there must be a cost. They might have temporarily suppressed it, or they might be trying to break through to the mythical realm, but either way, it requires vast resources, which Blue Star alone cannot possibly provide."

Thinking of this, the Blood Emperor's mood finally improved.

For the first time since suffering a setback on Blue Star, he showed a smile.

---Author's Notes---

Still stuck in the writing process, so the word count is a bit low QAQ~