Xianzhou Luofu.
"All you family out there! Don't just walk on by! Tap that little heart in the top-right of the stream! Follow Little Gui and never lose your way, meow! Follow Little Gui, thank you, meow~!"
A crisp, energetic voice cut through the din of the dueling arena, accompanied by a burst of cheerful background music.
The famous Xianzhou streamer Little Gui was holding up a strangely shaped Jade Abacus, its lens precisely capturing the girl's radiant, spirited face and the adult-height blue Aether Spirit out on the field.
Machine-type: Aquapivot Blue Penguin.
Its whole body was covered in smooth, ice-crystal-like blue armor plating, its belly a pale blue, with two crest-fins atop its head resembling an Ultraman's head crest.
"Look sharp, family! This right here is our very own Little Blue Penguin!"
While directing the Aquapivot Blue Penguin to dodge her opponent's attacks, Guinaifen rattled off her explanation to the Jade Abacus lens at blazing speed:
"Raising Aether Spirits—especially a water-machine beast like ours—there's a whole lot to it!"
"First, the grub's gotta be hardcore! You can't just feed it whatever loose data you scrape up. Fresh Scalegorge Ancient Sea data as the base every day, paired with two Water Cores, plus one Ice Core and half a jar of specially made nutrient fluid—guarantees its water cannon fires fast and true!"
"Don't call it a hassle—this is a recipe your streamer has personally tested and proven! Cart link number three in the stream has energy cores and specially made nutrient fluid, limited-quantity flash sale, meow!"
"Remember what your streamer says: Aether Spirit raising is three parts fate, seven parts hustle, and the remaining ninety parts all in the grub, meow!"
Aether Front's main gameplay is divided into Collecting, Dueling, Nurturing, and Leveling-Up—each stage offering plenty of playability.
Gentle, adorable girls like White Seele—many female players choose to collect cute Aether Spirits and go for the healing-style nurturing gameplay, enjoying the simple pleasure of raising pets.
But letting an Aether Spirit take part in battle requires far more input from its breeder—diet affects the Aether Spirit's condition, growth speed, stat-gain rate, caps, and more.
"Second key point! Daily training!"
Seizing a lull in the fight, Guinaifen held up two fingers to the lens:
"Eating well alone won't cut it—our Little Blue Penguin does two solid hours of special training every single day, no exceptions!"
"Little Blue Penguin, Tidal Vortex!"
The mechanical penguin spun rapidly on the spot, water surging around it, forming a moving vortex that struck down its opponent. Battle over.
"See that, family? This is the fruit of scientific breeding plus grueling training. There's no such thing as easy success—want your Aether Spirit to be this fierce too? Then you've gotta grit your teeth and train it hard!"
[Locking You All in My QQ Zone: Who's Li? Why'd she body-snatch and possess Gui?]
[Gets-It: No more faking it, dropping the act completely!]
[Turtle's Blackhead: It's a boosted account! Sister Sushang must be power-leveling her!]
[Tasted My Girlfriend's D||ck on My Bro's Jade Foot: So unfamiliar! Is this even the entertainment streamer I follow?]
[Rice Cake on Sale, Five-Step Devourer: Skill level unknown; the more washed-up she looks, the stronger she gets.]
"Haha~"
As a seasoned online streamer, Guinaifen wasn't angered by the flood of exaggerated, skeptical danmaku; the corners of her mouth curled into a Dragon King's smile:
"Family, there's an old Xianzhou saying—part with a scholar for a day and you must look upon him with new eyes. Under Sister Sushang's guidance, I, Little Gui, went into secluded training for three days, and now I've been completely reborn!"
Guinaifen happily hugged the brown-haired girl clad in azure silk ribbons and moon-white robes, lifted the streaming Jade Abacus, and pressed cheek to cheek.
Moonscar obligingly flashed a bright smile, gave the stream a thumbs-up, then switched on Auto-Battle and tossed the body back to Li Sushang.
Unlike Jarilo-VI, which had only one city left, over a short month or two you couldn't even manage a single loop through the popular sights of the Xianzhou's major Grotto-Heavens.
For now, Moonscar didn't plan to board the Express; instead she stayed on the Xianzhou, exploring shops and sightseeing with Little Gui and Dummy Sushang, and teleporting over in a flash now and then to teach her bargain disciple Jingliu.
After all, Caelus had only three control slots, so he simply left Li Sushang free-ranging on the Xianzhou.
Anyway, with the Aether Anchor, whenever he felt like resting his head on the soft, springy Li Big Pillow, he could just return to the Xianzhou~
BOOM!
A deafening roar came without warning from the distance.
"Huh? What just happened?"
Control had been suddenly snatched away by Moonscar, then handed back; Li Sushang was still a bit dazed, but on hearing the rumble she instinctively whipped her head around to look.
"Is someone setting off fireworks? Why does it look kind of strange?"
Guinaifen raised her selfie stick and stared blankly at the sky.
The roar burst out, sweeping along with a grand blaze of fire—less a firework than a bomb!
And there was a brilliant beam of energy piercing through the surging sea of flames, running clear through heaven and earth.
The beam did no damage at all to the Starskiff in the sky, but at the center of that 'firework' countless photons burst forth.
Only when everything returned to normal did Guinaifen snap out of it.
"Family, who even gets this—did you all see..."
Guinaifen's professionalism made her subconsciously glance at the danmaku.
[Sister Sushang's Solo Stan: Little Gui, run!]
[Gui-Gui's Dedicated Announcer Bot: Gui-Gui, run, that terrifying guy has reached Cloudford!]
[I've Never Once Enjoyed Watching Streams: A monster—he's simply a monster!]
[Divination Commission Janitor: Cheats! There really are cheats! It's brutal! No Aether Spirit combo lasts more than three rounds in his hands!]
"What's going on?"
Guinaifen looked in mild panic at the lines of danmaku warning her or venting their terror:
"A Demon King—what Great Demon King has come?!"
Dazed and bewildered, she looked toward where the strange phenomenon had appeared, and by her ears she seemed to catch heavy footsteps.
The kind of sound only a giant of considerable tonnage could make treading upon the ground.
[I Deeply Love Your Mother: Stop asking! Run! If you don't run, your points are gonna get eaten!]
Barely glimpsing danmaku like that, Guinaifen saw over a dozen foxfolk and Xianzhou people up ahead, all fleeing in terror through the little paths formed by stacked shipping containers, glancing back over their shoulders now and then.
Without exception, they were all Aether Front players.
"Damn it!"
"Somebody save me!"
"Quick, go west and fetch the Luofu Champion Candidate!"
"Idiot, the Champion Candidate has already fallen!"
Hearing the group's terrified cries, Guinaifen blinked; just as she was about to open her mouth to ask what on earth had happened, her puzzled expression was replaced by ghost-seeing shock.
[Holy crap! Holy crap! Holy crap!]
[He's here! He's here!]
A scene every single viewer in the stream could see.
Giants some fifty meters tall, their bodies composed mainly of silver, red, and blue.
"Ultraman!"
Little Gui cried out. Having watched the Star Rail crew transform to destroy DanteMon, she was the first to recognize Goss·Corona and Goss·Solar Eclipse, followed by two giants that seemed to have appeared in the Scalegorge Waterscape—Ace and Tiga.
Like a triad crew swaggering straight out of Young and Dangerous, the four giants marched forward shoulder to shoulder, each step sending tremors through the Aether Field.
Only when the players had nowhere left to retreat did the giants finally stop.
"Where's your dignity and courage as Aether Spirit trainers? This is the Showdown Paradise zone! Fine, so you meet a strong foe and don't come to challenge him—but you'd actually flee even when challenged?"
A handsome young fellow stepped out in a jacket, pale-blue pants, and a red-and-white cap; the outfit was unfamiliar, but the familiar gray hair and golden eyes announced his identity.
"Caelus!?"
Guinaifen's eyes went wide—could the Demon King her viewers spoke of really be Caelus?!
"Yo~ Little Gui, you play Aether Front too? Want a nice, satisfying battle?"
Caelus's eyes lit up at the sight of Little Gui—and as Moonscar he knew Little Gui had quite a lot of points, making her a perfect stepping stone for grinding levels, points, and a win streak.
"Don't agree to it!"
A Xianzhou person recognized Little Gui, the current hot streamer, and hurriedly spoke up to dissuade her.
"Hey~ what's that supposed to mean? Refusing battle—does that do justice to your identity as trainers?"
Caelus shook his head and sighed, brows knitting together:
"The youth these days—have their spirits really grown so weak? Utterly bereft of fighting spirit. A dignified eight-chi man of the Xianzhou, born between heaven and earth—how could he languish forever beneath others?"
"Can't you hear it? Your Aether Spirits are weeping!"
"I already told you—I'll send out no more than eight Aether Spirits, while you may use every Aether Spirit beyond the normal duel limit, unlimited in number."
"Those aren't even Aether Spirits at all!"
the red-clad foxman roared.
"Damn it! Why is the complaint hotline not working?!"
a blue-clad Xianzhou man fumed.
"Because I, Lu-Ben-Caelus, haven't cheated! It's just that my side is all Guardian-Deity-tier Aether Spirits, while what you're holding are nothing but Hakimi."
Caelus said, arms crossed, utterly self-righteous.
At most he'd wreck half the dueling arena and blast the opponents' Aether Spirits to bits along the way—Caelus was conducting a fair, just, and open Aether duel entirely within the organizer's limits.
"Who the hell enters a tournament with Guardian-Deity-tier Aether Spirits?!"
"Tell that to a ghost! Is that tier even catchable?!"
"Shameless Divine-Beast Man!"
"Aether Spirits made by Aether-printing tech are all creatures the player has encountered. My experiences are a bit richer than yours—on my journey to becoming a trainer, I captured a band of righteous Ultramen through friendship. Storing them into Aether Coins is perfectly reasonable, no?"
Caelus shrugged innocently: "If you're not convinced, why don't you go take down a few Lord Ravagers and stuff them into Poké Balls?"
You—beast!
By the rising Eastern Dawn!
Do you even hear what you're saying?!
Why don't you just go kill the Destruction Aeon Nanook and store it in an Aether Coin while you're at it?!
The players looked up at the towering giants and Mashin Mechas standing side by side like several insurmountable mountain peaks, and swallowed hard in unison.
One crystal-clear thought slammed down on every heart like a cold iron hammer:
Battle my ass!
And yet, more and more onlookers gathered around, their whispers like invisible whips.
You can lose the fight, but you can't lose face!
The pride of the Xianzhou dueling paradise—how could it be trampled like this by an Outworlder?!
"Hah!"
A young but courage-filled shout rang out, and a little boy who looked no more than a hundred years old stepped forward, pointing at Caelus:
"This is our Xianzhou Luofu's dueling paradise! We won't tolerate the insolence of an outside challenger like you!"
"No, no, no~!"
Caelus smiled, casually raising an index finger and waving it elegantly before him, his brilliant golden eyes sweeping calmly over the agitated crowd below.
His voice was not loud, yet it clearly rose above all the clamor:
"You—are the challengers."
"Arrogance!"
"Everyone, charge!"
"Take down the Great Demon King!"
Caelus's words were like a match to a powder keg!
The last shred of hesitation burned away entirely, and the local Xianzhou players' fighting blood was fully ignited.
Furious roars rose one after another, and beams of summoning light burst across the dueling arena in an instant.
The Xianzhou's signature Aether Spirit legions rapidly assembled, along with vibrant Abundance Spirit Beasts—and most striking of all were several Overlord-class Aurumaton Gatekeepers exuding an ancient, majestic aura!
They had slain countless foreign foes in defense of the Xianzhou, and now stood like silent war fortresses.
"Front row! Spirit beasts with the 'Revival' trait, load the 'Damage Reduction' chip immediately!"
an experienced veteran player commanded hoarsely.
"I'll be the sacrifice slot! When my 'Bone-Eroding Vine' dies, it triggers a Deathrattle, forming a cloud of deadly toxic spores."
another player shouted with grim resolve.
"Chain-detonation squad, ready! 'Furnace Sprite,' load the 'Overload Self-Destruct' protocol—triggers an area energy shockwave upon death!"
the third player responded swiftly.
Unprecedented tactical coordination reached consensus among the players at breakneck speed.
"We'll win!"
Someone or other shouted it out.
"We'll win!"
"We unite!"
"For the glory of the Xianzhou!"
The roars converged into a tragic yet blazing torrent!
We're all Aether Spirit trainers—what is there we can't fight?!
Just do it and get it over with!
The Xianzhou allied army, made up of all manner of Aether Spirits, launched an all-in general charge at the giants and Mashin Mechas, carrying earth-shaking battle cries and a death-defying resolve!
"Very good!"
Caelus's arms shot up, and three chips that had never once appeared in the Aether Front database materialized.
"Dance! To repay your enthusiasm, I'll show you my true power!"
[Non-Circulating Chip: Boot up, Zeperion]
[Non-Circulating Chip: Boot up, Metarium]
[Non-Circulating Chip: Boot up, Naybuster]
These were all limited-edition chips Bronita had hand-crafted for the three Humanoid-type Aether Spirits.
[Insertion complete! Protocol active!]
Effect: Ultimate skill can be unleashed on the very first turn; base stat parameters break past their threshold, boosted by 200%! Critical-hit chance locked and raised to 100%! Critical damage multiplier increased by 150%!
Tiga crossed his arms before his chest to gather power, then sharply wrenched them apart to either side, tearing out a torrent of the purest, most absolute white.
Goss·Corona raised both arms high, energy forming a visible dazzling vortex that surged wildly into his clasped palms.
Ace twisted his upper body far back, arms drawn together like a fully bent strongbow.
"Zeperion Beam!"
"Metarium Beam!"
"Naybuster Beam!"
Vwoom——!!!
Terrifying energy flooded the space, the air wailing as it ionized!
Three torrents of light, wildly different in color yet each carrying world-ending might, pierced through everything the Xianzhou allied army had painstakingly built in an instant, like spears of judgment running clear through heaven and earth!
BOOM BOOM BOOM——!!!
No resistance, no stalemate.
The sturdy shield walls vaporized like thin ice under sunlight, and the surging sea of summons was utterly annihilated the very moment it touched the beams!
Those Aether Spirits loaded with Deathrattle chips, meant to take the enemy down with them, had their death effects triggered—yet were still broken down into the most basic particles within the absolute torrent of energy!
Ceaseless, deafening, destructive explosions detonated madly along the path the beams had carved!
A suffocating dead silence replaced the earlier clamor and roars.
The players slumped to the ground, eyes hollow, faces left with lingering fear and blankness.
Someone or other, spending their last shred of strength, let out a wail from the depths of their soul:
"I... how the hell am I supposed to fight this?!"
Then, all sorts of anguished cries broke out one after another:
"Boss! Daddy! Sell me... sell me an Aether Spirit like that! I'd go bankrupt to buy one!"
"Cheats! This is absolutely cheating! Where are the devs?! I want to file a report! This game's unplayable!"
"Heh... if anyone can beat a monster like that, I'll swallow every last drop of the shit at the Cloudford docks!"
Guinaifen watched the scene utterly dumbstruck—she hadn't ruled out the possibility of the Aether Spirits swarming to crush the Demon King.
"Little Gui, Sushang..."
Caelus walked over to greet the two, and after seeing Little Gui's stream, something suddenly occurred to him.
"That's right! This is a hot event across the whole universe! A skilled player like me should be able to rake in tons of traffic."
With that, Caelus pulled out his phone, meaning to livestream, but the moment he opened the streaming platform, a string of messages popped up.
[The universe focuses on you—welcome to the Aether Front Showdown Celebration: Belobog!]
[Three new ways to earn medals have been added; players may adjust their acquisition routes...]
[Due to added sponsors, this Aether Front champion's reward has been temporarily changed, raised to...]
[Unified response to the recent flood of complaints: after inspection, all backend data is normal.]
[Who is Aether Front's strongest Humanoid-type player—Wolf King or Battle-Through-the-Heavens Caelus?]
[Who is Aether Front's strongest Machine-type player—Haxxor Bunny or Stelle·I-Didn't-Cheat·Core Sprite?]
[Wolf King and Haxxor Bunny are earning badges at a sweeping pace—who will end up the player with the most badges?]
[Wolf King has claimed another badge—oh! She's taunting Haxxor Bunny: So you're the damn 'Haxxor Bunny,' huh!]
[Haxxor Bunny's badge count hits 114, overtaking Silver Wolf by one, and counters the response she was given: ???]
Caelus frowned at the last few push notifications, going still for a moment:
"Damn it, those two both cheated, didn't they!"
____
________________________________________
If you want more chapters, please consider supporting my page on (P). with 50 advanced chapters available on (P)
👻 Join the crew by searching Leanzin on (P). You know the spot! 😉