With the destruction of the flower pillar, the entire Thousand Hand Flower began to rot, blacken, and collapse, eventually leaving behind only a pool of foul-smelling black water.
Seeing this, the black-robed abnormality flickered into the center of the black water.
It extracted an incomplete Wart Crystal hidden within a mass of black mist from its body and stashed it in its sleeve.
“I don’t know what your goal is… but you won’t escape.”
Yao Xueyue issued a harsh threat, her eyes sharpening as she released her Ring Blades once more. Behind her, Mo Ling ordered her firearms to open fire again.
Facing the two-pronged attack, the black-robed abnormality’s form flickered slightly.
It seemed to be trying to escape directly from the Inner World, just like the one Li Meng and Qiu Qiqian had previously encountered.
However… it could not.
After flickering a few times, its body solidified once again.
It even raised its hand to look at itself, appearing confused as to why it was still there.
“The existence of the [Xianyi] is specifically to prevent abnormalities like you from escaping the Inner World.”
Isana looked down at the black-robed abnormality with indifference. A flash of cold light briefly crossed her usually vacant purple eyes.
“Do not underestimate human technology.”
BOOM!
Accompanied by a massive explosion, the entire altar where the three stood shook several times. Dust and smoke filled the blast site.
Once the dust settled, the expected scene of a Wart Crystal lying on the ground did not appear.
Furthermore, the three could feel… that Nether Breath had not yet vanished.
The surrounding black mist… seemed to be drawing even closer.
Just as Yao Xueyue finished her attack and before her Ring Blades could be fully retracted, more than ten pitch-black spikes suddenly formed from the mist.
The spikes thrust toward Yao Xueyue’s vital points.
Though Yao Xueyue had left several Ring Blades around her for automatic protection, facing so many attacks at once was still a struggle.
In the end, Yao Xueyue’s waist was grazed by one of the spikes, even with her quick reactions.
“Tsk… this guy…”
Yao Xueyue looked at her bleeding waist and grit her teeth. She tore off the hem of her top and crudely bandaged the wound.
Naturally, Yao Xueyue wasn’t the only one targeted. After Mo Ling finished her attack, she was caught in the recovery lag.
A large hand made of black mist lunged at her from behind. Fortunately, Isana pulled her into her arms just in time, or the consequences would have been unthinkable.
“Ugh… this position…”
Because everything happened so fast, Mo Ling—cradled in Isana’s arms—didn’t react at first.
When she regained her senses, she realized she was pressed right against Isana’s chest.
The lavender-like scent from Isana’s body filled her nose.
Moreover… because she was the shortest, she was at the perfect height to see… Isana’s ample chest.
“If you want to eat, wait until we finish this abnormality.”
“WHO SAID I WANTED TO EAT?!”
Mo Ling shouted with a red face, quickly scrambling out of Isana’s embrace.
“What do we do now? That thing is hiding in the black mist; we can’t see it at all.”
Mo Ling summoned her floating firearms again to stay on guard. She could feel that thing moving rapidly through the mist.
“Xueyue, use the rest of your Nether Breath to create a vacuum zone where the black mist cannot penetrate,”
Isana shouted to her.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
Yao Xueyue bit her lip slightly. If she released all the Nether Breath in her body now, she could indeed create a long-lasting vacuum zone.
However… she would also enter a period of weakness.
The opponent was Chimei Grade. Logically, only she, as a Yexun, could face it head-on.
But she chose to trust Isana’s judgment.
“Fine!”
Yao Xueyue responded and gathered all her remaining Nether Breath, releasing it all at once with herself as the center.
The silver-white Dark Breath Flow surged like a storm, instantly dispelling all black mist within a radius of 20 meters.
The black-robed abnormality hiding in the mist was forced to reveal its true form, momentarily stunned by the impact.
Yao Xueyue then fell into a state of exhaustion, her legs unable to stand steady, forcing her to remain in a kneeling position.
Isana immediately seized the opportunity, summoning a swarm of butterflies that surged toward the entity.
Unsure of the butterflies’ function and assuming it was another damaging ability, the entity flickered, turning into black mist.
It reappeared directly in front of the exhausted Yao Xueyue.
It seemed to realize that Yao Xueyue was the strongest of the three.
If it could take her out now… the remaining two wouldn’t be much of a problem.
The weakened Yao Xueyue slowly raised her head.
Reflected in her pupils was a giant scythe formed from the black mist pouring out of the abnormality’s sleeve.
WHOOSH!
The moment the scythe swung down, the Yao Xueyue kneeling before it shattered like a mirror.
“To be fooled by the same trick twice… it seems your intelligence really can’t compare to a human’s.”
Not far away, the real Yao Xueyue clutched her wound and let out a cold laugh at the abnormality.
It tried to turn back into black mist as it had before, but this time… it had no chance.
By the time it had shredded Yao Xueyue’s illusion, dozens of Youxun Heavy Cannons were already hovering around Mo Ling.
“FIRE!”
At Mo Ling’s command, dozens of pale blue energy beams shot out, swallowing the black-robed abnormality in an instant.
CLANG…
The Wart Crystal the abnormality had picked up fell to the ground with a crisp sound.
Mo Ling, still having some strength left, went over to support Yao Xueyue. Isana walked over to pick up the crystal.
Unfortunately, she didn’t see another Wart Crystal nearby; it had likely been destroyed.
“Not bad, Mo Ling… to actually kill a Chimei Grade abnormality. This time, I’ll… grudgingly admit you have a fraction of my strength.”
“…”
Mo Ling ignored Yao Xueyue and helped her over to Isana’s side.
“Isana, how did you know my attack could defeat it?”
“Because of its traits,”
Isana replied succinctly.
“It could withstand Xueyue’s slashes, but it didn’t dare take your attacks head-on.”
“I think it’s because its natural defense is almost zero, but as long as its body isn’t completely dispersed at once, it can recover indefinitely.”
“Oh, by the way, one more thing.”
After putting away the Wart Crystal, Isana turned to the two and pulled down one side of her clothes.
“Here, eat.”
“I TOLD YOU, WHO WANTS TO EAT?!”
***
“Phew~ finally finished dealing with this mess.”
Coming out of the Youxun Sentry Post records room, Yao Xueyue raised her hands to stretch.
Her beautiful waist and even her flat belly were fully exposed.
She seemed to have forgotten that the hem of her top was missing because she had torn it off.
After handing the Wart Crystal to the Youxun guarding the Periphery of the Abandoned Park, they had come to the post to make a report.
They recounted everything they had witnessed to the staff.
“Hmm… I didn’t think doing the paperwork would take until almost midnight. Mo Ling, Isana, let’s get home and rest.”
“We have to report to the Association branch tomorrow, and we can go see that so-called Cardinal.”
The two nodded and followed Yao Xueyue down the stairs.
Just as they reached the entrance, the automatic doors opened, and Li Meng and Qiu Qiqian walked in.
After the two groups stared at each other for a few seconds, Li Meng was the first to wave.
“Oh, good evening, Yao Xueyue, Mo Ling, and… Isana.”
“Good evening, Li Meng,”
Isana responded calmly.
“The ‘Encyclopedia of Heating Up Emotions’ I sent you… have you started practicing it?”
The moment Isana mentioned it, Li Meng’s face instantly turned red.
She subconsciously gripped Qiu Qiqian’s arm tightly, causing Qiu Qiqian to glance at her with a hint of confusion.
“Th… those… I feel like it’s still too early…”
“What’s that? You didn’t send Li Meng something strange, did you?”
Yao Xueyue crossed her arms, looking at Isana with suspicion.
Isana was completely unfazed and changed the subject in a calm tone.
“By the way, it looks like Qiu Qiqian is holding a videotape. What is that?”
“You mean this?”
Qiu Qiqian lifted the videotape, swinging it in front of everyone before revealing a somewhat wicked smile.
“This… is the guy who’s about to have a very bad day.”