As the light faded, Jingliu's consciousness returned to Scalegorge Waterscape.
Perhaps because time had flowed differently, no one noticed her reappearance.
And on the battlefield, Phantylia was still running rampant.
"Jing Yuan, how many times has your Divine Foresight struck already? A hundred? Two hundred?"
"It's useless. With the Abundance Ambrosial Arbor here, I am immortal. The more you attack me, the stronger I become."
"Look. Haven't I grown even larger than before?"
Jing Yuan was down on one knee. The Divine Foresight behind him had already dimmed considerably. He was breathing hard, using his glaive as support just to keep himself from collapsing.
Jingliu could see blood at the corner of his mouth.
Her disciple was clearly forcing himself to keep going.
Not far away, Welt looked no better. One lens of his glasses had shattered, and the gravity field around his cane had weakened to the point of barely existing.
Dan Heng stood in front of him, with cracks already spreading across Cloud-Piercer.
March 7th and Stelle were guarding the rear. Most of March's ice shields had already broken, and even Stelle's bat was a little scuffed.
"Ms. Cecilia… Ms. Cecilia…"
With reddened eyes, March 7th was still trying to heal the "corpse," even though it was obviously futile.
Jingliu watched all of this, and a complicated emotion rose in her heart.
"What's with all the long faces?"
A familiar voice suddenly rang out, shattering the despair hanging over the battlefield.
Everyone froze.
March 7th jerked her head up, eyes going wide. "M-Ms. Cecilia?!"
Cecilia had somehow appeared in the middle of the battlefield. She patted March 7th on the shoulder, then pinched Stelle's cheek.
After that, she turned to face the enormous figure at the center of the fight.
Phantylia's laughter stopped abruptly.
"Y-you… how are you still alive?!"
She distinctly remembered piercing Cecilia's heart with her own hand. She had watched her life force drain away with her own eyes.
That was the perception of a Lord Ravager. It could not have been wrong.
Then again, even if Cecilia was still alive, it changed nothing.
With the strength she now possessed, even one more enemy would make no difference. She was still the strongest Abundance there was.
Sure enough, Cecilia did not bother answering.
"Little Jingliu, I'll leave the rest to you."
Only then did everyone notice the figure behind her, walking forward step by step.
Jingliu was no longer the same as before.
The aura around her was no longer just that biting cold.
A new power was surging within her now—Cecilia's gift.
Just as Cecilia had said before, she had already made Jingliu an Emanator, an Emanator of Cecilia.
Phantylia's eyes widened in disbelief.
She could feel it clearly: the swordmaster she had suppressed with ease moments ago was now rapidly ascending.
"What did you do?!"
Jingliu gave no answer. She simply raised the sword in her hand.
In the next instant, she was already in front of Phantylia.
Sword-light poured down like moonlight.
Phantylia instinctively raised an arm to block. With the strength of the Ambrosial Arbor's roots, she had absolute confidence she could stop any attack.
But this time, the sword flashed past—and her arm was severed cleanly at the shoulder.
"What?!"
Phantylia staggered backward in shock. The roots of the Ambrosial Arbor writhed frantically at the wound, yet regeneration never came.
The sword flashed again.
This time, Phantylia saw the secret hidden within the blade's glow.
It was Abundance—the same origin as the Arbor, yet stronger, purer.
"N-no way!"
She retreated in panic, trying to draw on the Arbor's power to restore herself. But the roots had gone limp, as though they had lost all vitality, no longer the savage force they had been before.
"What are you?!"
Jingliu did not answer.
Her sword only grew faster. Every strike landed precisely on the weakest points in Phantylia's power.
But unlike before, her wounds no longer healed.
Phantylia tried to counterattack, but the result was obvious. Even in her current state, she was utterly outmatched by the enhanced Jingliu.
"Stop! You can't kill me!"
At last, panic entered her voice.
As a heliobus, Phantylia was notoriously difficult to kill. Even if she lost to Jingliu, she could still choose to self-destruct and escape.
But this body… this was the perfect vessel she had always wanted. She was unwilling to give it up.
Which meant she could only endure Jingliu's relentless onslaught.
Soon, Phantylia's form began to shrink under the barrage. The Arbor's roots drooped weakly, as though all life had been drained from them, no longer anything like the monstrous tangle they had been before.
As a Lord Ravager, Phantylia had always been the one who inspired terror. She reveled in her enemies' despair, in their screams before death, in the feeling of towering above all others.
But now, she was the one being looked down upon.
"You little nobody—how dare you damage my precious body!"
Phantylia snapped. After all, Abundance was not her only power. She decided to go all out against Jingliu.
And in that brief moment of total eruption, she really did manage to reverse the flow of battle for an instant.
Watching Jingliu and Phantylia still locked in combat, Cecilia shook her head slightly.
"This won't do."
She had assumed that after receiving her blessing, Jingliu would be able to toy with Phantylia.
As things stood, Jingliu would still win—but as a heliobus, if Phantylia sacrificed this body, Jingliu probably would not come out of it unscathed.
So in the end, Cecilia still had to make a move herself.
Once that thought crossed her mind, she no longer hesitated.
Then, under Welt's stunned gaze, she took out Black Abyss White Flower.
Cecilia raised it overhead, and in that instant, the power of Abundance exploded forth completely.
A silver-white vortex began to form in the middle of the battlefield.
Then Cecilia began her chant.
"I am the black that devours all. I am the white that gives birth to all."
"Born before creation, existing beyond annihilation."
"The Sixth Divine Key, Black Abyss White Flower—First Rated Power…"
"Sacred Spear in Bloom."
Light erupted from Black Abyss White Flower's tip.
A silver-white pillar shot skyward, piercing through all of Scalegorge Waterscape.
Phantylia's eyes flew wide.
She could feel her connection to the Ambrosial Arbor being forcibly severed.
It felt like some invisible hand was peeling her away from this perfect body little by little.
At last, her vessel collapsed completely.
A cyan-yellow sphere of light burst free from the disintegrating shell—that was Phantylia's true heliobus form.
"I'll remember this day!"
A venomous voice rang out from within that glowing mass.
"You destroyed my body! Destroyed my plans! But you can't kill me. Heliobi are immortal!"
"The next time I return, I'll come back with even greater power—and every last one of you will pay!"
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 132)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter140)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter95)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter165)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 145
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 135
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 95
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 155
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 125
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 105
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 62
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 80
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 66
Uma Musume: From Beginner 80
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 62
Uma Musume: I Want All 65
I Can Copy Unique Skills 53
Summoning an Evil God, but the 41
Supernatural Multiverse 45
My Harem Is Indescribable 35
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 46
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