"Jing Yuan! Aren't you supposed to be the'Strategist'? Think of something! Why do these monsters keep multiplying the more we fight them!"
Stella landed a slightly clumsy side-kick, sending an Rift creatures that had slipped through the defenses flying, and took the opportunity to shout at Jing Yuan, who was nearby, brandishing his Formation Blade with lightning crackling around him.
Her laurel crown was crooked, her face was covered in ice shards, and she looked thoroughly anxious.
Jing Yuan backhanded his Formation Blade to shatter an incoming icy breath, sighed helplessly at her words, his movements remaining fluid and graceful: "My little summoner, strategy requires intelligence, planning, and even favorable timing and terrain. You 'air-dropped' me directly from the training ground into the heart of this frozen battlefield. I'm completely in the dark here; even with a thousand plans, right now, all I can do is just hack and slash."
As he spoke, his Formation Blade traced a graceful arc, slicing two more Abnormalities into dissipating Imaginary energy.
"Then, then what do we do now? There must be a way to break the deadlock, right?"
Stella ducked behind an ice pillar, panting as she asked.
Jing Yuan didn't stop his movements, but a meaningful glint flashed in his eyes, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly: "A way... actually, there is one."
"What way?"
Stella's eyes lit up, and she hurriedly pressed him.
Jing Yuan sidestepped, dodging a sharp ice spike, his tone as relaxed as if he were discussing what to have for dinner: "It's simple—you all, get back."
"Huh?"
Stella and March 7th, who had overheard him, were both stunned for a moment.
In that instant, the aura around Jing Yuan changed abruptly!
The laziness and helplessness faded away completely, replaced by a majesty that was as towering as a mountain, yet as sharp as thunder!
In his eyes, golden light flared, as if they contained thunderbolts capable of tearing through dark clouds!
"Lightning-Lord—!"
He gave a low shout.
Hum—!
Massive golden energy surged into the sky from behind him, rapidly condensing into a tall, towering, armored golden giant phantom with a blurred face but immense authority—the Lightning-Lord!
Although it appeared slightly illusory because Jing Yuan's power had not yet reached its peak, its awe-inspiring might, capable of looking down upon all directions and slaying demons, instantly enveloped the entire battlefield!
The phantom of the Formation Blade in the Lightning-Lord's hand, magnified countless times and wreathed in brilliant lightning, was raised high, following the movements of Jing Yuan's own body!
"Slash! No—Mercy—!!"
Jing Yuan and the Lightning-Lord's phantom swung their blades in unison!
Not aimed at the stellaron core, but toward the seemingly endless tide of Abnormalities ahead, a simple, unadorned horizontal slash that contained the power of destruction!
"Boom—!!!"
Golden lightning, accompanied by a massive surge of sword qi, erupted in a fan shape. Wherever it passed, the ice shattered, and snow vaporized!
Entire swaths of Abnormalities were completely purified and annihilated by the intensely yang and rigid lightning and sword qi, without even being able to let out a wail!
In an instant, a huge, scorched, fan-shaped vacuum zone was cleared!
"Wow!"
March 7th exclaimed, and Stella's eyes also widened.
However, the breeding of Abnormalities in the Everwinter Plains seemed endless.
In just a few breaths, twisted monsters surged forth once more from the shadows in the distance, roaring as they attempted to fill the void.
"This... what kind of solution is this! We can't clear them all!"
March 7th's hope, which had just risen, fell back down, and she couldn't help but complain.
Just then, Jing Yuan sheathed his blade and stood still, the Lightning-Lord's phantom slowly dissipating.
Instead of the exhaustion of drained energy, his face wore an even deeper smile, one that even hinted at "the show is about to begin," as he turned to look at the still-bewildered Stella.
"Stella."
He called out.
"Hmm?"
Stella responded subconsciously, feeling a bit unnerved by Jing Yuan's smiling expression.
"I have some good news for you."
Jing Yuan's tone was light.
"Thanks to that last move (and the long beating I took before that), I just happened to... reach level 20."
"So what if you're level 20?"
Stella hadn't reacted yet; his system panel usually only displayed basic levels and skills, and it wasn't intuitive regarding certain "hidden mechanics."
Jing Yuan smiled without saying anything, simply raising his hand to point at the sky.
As if to verify his words—
"Whoosh—!!!"
A massive column of water, as if pouring down from the heavenly river, broke through the clouds and blizzard that eternally shrouded the Everwinter Plains without warning. Like a waterfall falling from the nine heavens, carrying the momentum of ten thousand jun and a clear dragon's roar, it smashed with pinpoint accuracy into the center of the newly gathered pile of monsters!
"Azure Dragon—Dreadful World!!"
A clear and majestic dragon's roar resonated in all directions. Within the water column, a faint azure dragon shadow could be seen churning. The massive power of the water element not only scattered the Abnormalities within the area but also collided with the extreme cold, instantly freezing a large area and forming countless ferocious ice spikes, hindering the advance of the subsequent monsters.
Almost simultaneously!
"Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!"
Several sword lights, clear as a phoenix's cry yet incomparably sharp, seemed to come from the void. Their trajectories were profound and unpredictable, weaving into a deadly sword net that followed the water column and covered another area.
Wherever the sword light passed, whether it was thick ice armor or illusory shadow bodies, they were all silently sliced and annihilated as if by a hot knife through butter!
"Illumination—Myriad Rivers!"
A cold, calm female voice, yet containing the supreme edge of the sword path, sounded faintly.
Dan Heng's cloud piercer suddenly paused, and he was almost struck on the shoulder by an Rift creatures that took the opportunity to attack. He looked up sharply toward the source of the sword light. In his usually calm and ripple-free eyes, for the first time, there was a violent tremor, and even a hint of rare bewilderment.
"Yaho—!!!"
A cheer full of vitality and unruliness pierced through the wind and snow!
Immediately after, a star-skiff with sleek lines and decorated with Xianzhou-style patterns, like a fish breaking free from restraints, dragging a bright blue tail flame, dove down from a Rift in the clouds with an almost show-off arc!
The water dragon and sword light from just now had clearly been released from this rapidly speeding star-skiff!
"Bai Heng! Slow down! Slow down! Slow down! There are ice spikes and monsters down there! We're going to crash! My old back—!!!"
A male voice that sounded older and full of panic came from the star-skiff, accompanied by a trembling tone, causing Dan Heng, who had just recovered from the shock of the sword light, to have his pupils shrink violently once more!
This voice...
At an altitude extremely close to the ground, the star-skiff performed a heart-stopping rapid hover, landing steadily on the edge of the clearing Jing Yuan had cleared, the resulting strong wind blowing everyone's clothes and sleeves around.
The cabin door opened.
The first to jump down was a Foxfolk Maiden with a bright smile and unique markings at the corners of her eyes. Her ears twitched happily, and she locked onto Jing Yuan instantly, waving vigorously: "Jing Yuanyuan! We meet again! Are we fighting big guys this time?"
—It was Bai Heng.
Next, a white-haired man with a handsome face but a composed, artisan-like temperament—though currently pale-faced and gripping the cabin door frame tightly—tremblingly stepped out: "Phew... that, that scared me to death... I'm never riding a star-skiff piloted by you again, Bai Heng..."
—Yingxing.
Subsequently, a white-haired woman with an upright posture and a cold, moon-like temperament walked down slowly.
She held a long ice-crystal sword, and in her eyes, a blood-colored crescent moon seemed to float; just by standing there, the surrounding wind and snow seemed to become even more chilling and murderous.
Her gaze swept across the roaring Abnormalities on the battlefield, and in her red pupils, there was only cold fighting spirit.
"Is this the enemy this time?"
—Jingliu.
Finally, a young man dressed in elegant attire, with dragon horns on his forehead and a noble yet slightly distant temperament, walked off the star-skiff.
His gaze swept across the battlefield, and upon catching sight of Dan Heng holding the cloud piercer, he paused slightly, a faint and complex emotion flashing through, before returning to calm.
"My name is Dan Feng."
He explained simply to March 7th and the others who were looking at him, his voice like still water in a deep pool.
March 7th pointed at Dan Feng, then looked at Dan Heng beside her, her eyes wide, incoherent: "Dan, Dan Dan Dan Heng! Two, two of them! No, wait, he is Dan Feng? This, this, this..."
Dan Heng gripped the cloud piercer tightly, his knuckles turning slightly white. His gaze moved between the familiar yet strange faces of Dan Feng and Yingxing. Countless sealed or blurred memory fragments seemed to be violently impacted at this moment, leaving him momentarily speechless, with stormy waves rising in his heart.
Jing Yuan looked at the four old friends arriving one after another, the smile on his face finally becoming incredibly genuine and joyful—it was a sense of relief that transcended time and regret.
He stepped forward, high-fived Bai Heng, patted the still-shaken Yingxing on the shoulder, nodded in greeting to Jingliu, and finally met Dan Feng's gaze; everything was understood without words.
He turned around, facing the astonished Stella, the shocked Dan Heng, and all his companions, his voice clear and full of power, ringing out across the frozen battlefield:
"Look, this is my solution."
"High-Cloud Quintet—"
Jing Yuan, Jingliu, Dan Feng, Yingxing, and Bai Heng stood side by side. Although their attire and temperaments were different, they seemed like a natural whole. An invisible tacit understanding and the aura forged through tempering intertwined and rose, actually temporarily overpowering the oppression and chaos brought by the stellaron core.
—is here."
Jing Yuan's smile was brilliant, golden light flashing in his eyes again:
"After... well, it's been a long time anyway. Finally, we can fight side by side again."
His gaze crossed over the Abnormalities that were beginning to stir again, pointing directly at the stellaron core in the center of the blizzard, its light flickering violently, as if it had fallen into a brief "stupor" due to this variable that exceeded its calculations.
"So, old friends."
Jing Yuan held his Formation Blade level, lightning rising again.
"Let's first clear the field for this'source of calamity'."
Following his words, Jingliu's sword blade raised bone-chilling frost, water flowed around Dan Feng, turning into dragon shadows, Yingxing took out a small ball and released an Aurumaton, and Bai Heng jumped onto the star-skiff's pilot seat, eager to try...
High-Cloud Quintet, projections assembled! The battle situation, instantly reversed!