Sparkle let out a low, suppressed chuckle, her shoulders slightly shaking:
"Hehe~ Truly... magnificent. This is much more entertaining than any play."
Vita elegantly covered her red lips with the back of her hand, her eyes sparkling with excitement as she replied softly:
"Indeed... The threads of fate are so entangled, the waves of emotion so turbulent. Dear sister, don't you think this is where the most extreme 'fun' lies?"
Bibi Dong's heavy breathing gradually subsided. Spitting out that mouthful of congested blood seemed to have also carried away a fraction of the last of the unrealistic frenzy and obsession in her heart.
She raised a hand and fiercely wiped her mouth with the back of the hand stained with divine blood, leaving a stark, purplish-red mark.
She lifted her head, her cold purple eyes refocusing on Qian Renxue's face. Her voice was like cold steel:
"Good... very good, Qian Renxue. This is the path you chose yourself... I hope you don't regret it."
Qian Renxue met her gaze without the slightest hesitation. Her golden eyes held a clarity and determination she had never possessed before. She replied decisively:
"My own choice. Whether the road ahead leads to heaven or to the abyss, I, Qian Renxue, will never regret it."
"Hmph."
Bibi Dong coldly snorted, struggling to stand upright. She staggered slightly due to her severe injuries, but she still maintained the arrogance belonging to the Rakshasa God.
"You won this battle. This empire is yours. However, listen carefully—I will not submit to you. Never will I."
This was her last line of defense and dignity.
Lu Jingming's smile grew even more composed and gentle upon hearing this. He didn't loosen the arm wrapped around Qian Renxue's waist, and his tone was as affectionate as if discussing everyday matters:
"I believe, Your Holiness, you have misunderstood."
He paused deliberately, then naturally switched to the more intimate form of address.
"You are Xue'er's mother, and naturally my future mother-in-law. How could we, as juniors, possibly force you to submit?"
His words were gentle but carried undeniable authority.
"As long as you refrain from doing any more 'foolish things' that endanger the Empire or harm Xue'er, you will remain the esteemed Grand Empress Dowager of the Spirit Empire, one of the supreme deities on this continent, enjoying endless honor and freedom. We can turn the page on everything in the past."
Leaning in Lu Jingming's arms, Qian Renxue listened to him naturally address Bibi Dong as "Mother-in-law" and sensed the future he was charting for herself and the Empire in his words. The last shred of anxiety in her heart quietly dissipated.
She did not refute him but leaned more relaxed against him, using her actions to show support.
She knew deeply that a simple alliance was fragile and that only through a closer bond—marriage, family, shared interests, and future—could both parties be thoroughly bound together, allowing her to gain a truly stable reliance and sense of security.
For the inheritance of the Angel family, for the long-term stability of the Spirit Empire, and for her own heart, which had wandered in loneliness for too long, she unhesitatingly chose this most secure path, even if her affection was not yet deep at this moment.
Hearing Lu Jingming's words, which seemed respectful but actually laid out everything clearly, Bibi Dong felt a stifling pain in her chest again, but she forcibly suppressed it.
She stared fiercely at Lu Jingming, then looked at the resolute Qian Renxue. Finally, as if all her strength had been drained away, or as if she had completely acknowledged that the tide had turned against her, she slumped and closed her eyes. After a moment, she slowly opened them. The frenzy and sharp edges in her eyes receded, leaving only a deep, weary coldness that carried humiliation but had to be accepted.
"...Fine." She uttered a single word, her voice dry.
"A gamble is a gamble. I lost. My strength is inferior, and my schemes were also inferior. Since I have lost, I am naturally at your disposal."
She deliberately emphasized the word "disposal," with a hint of self-mockery.
"But don't expect me to be obedient, and don't expect me to bless you."
In the end, she chose to accept the situation gracefully.
Death? She wasn't afraid of it, and even considered it a form of release.
But if she died, Qian Renxue would lose a potential ally, and Hu Liena would lose her backing.
If she lived, even if only with the nominal title of "Grand Empress Dowager," by virtue of her identity as the Rakshasa God and her relationship as a mother, she could at least retain a sliver of influence, watching and guarding from the shadows.
Since Qian Renxue was determined to marry this man, at least the two sides became "family" in some sense. The matter she was most worried about seemed to be temporarily averted.
Even though this "aversion" filled her with immense frustration and humiliation.
The battle concluded, and Bibi Dong accepted her defeat. The Spirit Empire completely fell into Qian Renxue's hands. With the matter here resolved, Lu Jingming left with Gu Yuena and the others. With Qian Renxue taking charge, the Spirit Empire would likely unify the Douluo Continent quickly.
In the mountain range where the Slaughter City resides.
This mountain range, steeped in bloodshed and curses, welcomed unprecedented visitors and even more terrifying energy fluctuations today.
The figures of Hysilens (Helektra) and Cerydra appeared before the dark-red solitary peak.
Hysilens (Helektra) was clad in the azure Sea God's divine armor, wielding the Golden Trident. Vast ocean divine power flowed around her, her deep blue eyes like the deepest part of the ocean, concealing monstrous waves beneath the surface calm.
Cerydra stood quietly beside her, the eerie blue flame on her Imperial Crown burning silently. Her eyes, which saw through worldly affairs, scanned this ominous place, as if analyzing something.
Their arrival instantly alarmed the statue-like figure on the summit of the solitary peak.
Blackened Kevin slowly raised his head. His empty blue eyes held no emotion, only a pure, freezing Will of Slaughter that could freeze all things.
The Asura Demonic Sword in his hand seemed to sense the provocation. The dark-red blade emitted a low hum, and the viscous, blood-colored killing intent spread out like a physical substance, causing the temperature of this world to plummet, making even the air feel as though it were about to freeze.
No words were needed. The moment the ultimate Ocean Divinity collided with the pure Domain of Slaughter, battle was inevitable.
"Om—!"
Hysilens (Helektra) made the first move. She pointed the Sea God Trident forward, and the azure Sea God Domain instantly expanded.
The originally dry and lifeless Slaughter City mountain range felt as if it had been instantaneously pulled into the deep sea. Invisible immense pressure and vast water elements filled every inch of space, attempting to wash away and purify the nauseating stench of blood and slaughter.
However, Blackened Kevin simply raised the Asura Demonic Sword in his hand.
A thin, blood-colored sword light, capable of severing cause and effect, reappeared.
Just like before when it forced back Xuan Zi and instantly killed Super Douluos, the world lost its color, leaving only the trajectory of death.
But this time, it met its match.
"Sea God, Shockwave."
Hysilens let out a clear cry. The Golden Trident in her hand churned the endless water elements within the domain. A perfectly condensed, deep-blue, annular shockwave exploded from the trident's tip, slamming fiercely into the blood-colored sword light.
"Boom—!!!"
There was no earth-shattering explosion, only a violent friction and annihilation at the level of fundamental laws.
The blood-colored and deep-blue lights fiercely intertwined and devoured each other, ultimately scattering. The dispersed energy directly shaved off and vaporized the upper halves of several surrounding peaks.
Having failed to achieve a decisive blow, Blackened Kevin moved. He took a step, and the space beneath his foot froze. His figure flickered as if teleporting, appearing diagonally in front of Hysilens. The Asura Demonic Sword, carrying a soul-tearing shriek, thrust straight toward her.
Simple, direct, yet containing ultimate power and speed, along with the corrosive nature of the Asura God's power against the very essence of life.
Hysilens's figure moved like a fish in water, gracefully and swiftly retreating. Simultaneously, the Golden Trident traced a perfect arc, and a phantom of ten thousand surging waves burst forth from the blade—Millennium Serenity.
The mighty ocean power rushed like a tsunami towards the demonic sword.
"Clang—!"
The divine trident and the demonic sword clashed head-on for the first time.
Golden divine light and blood-colored killing intent brutally collided, erupting in a piercing clang of metal.
The terrifying impact forced Hysilens to slide back several steps, but her expression remained unchanged. The Sea God's divine armor glowed, swiftly dissolving the invading killing sword qi within her body.
Kevin merely paused slightly before raising his sword again.
Just then, Cerydra, who had been observing quietly, made her move.
She didn't attack directly but raised her hand, and the eerie blue "Law" flame danced on her fingertip.
"Law: Interdiction!"
An invisible power of law, like chains, instantly wrapped around Blackened Kevin's body.
It did not restrict his movement but temporarily stripped away some of his resonance with the surrounding "Slaughter Rules."
It was like modifying the base code of the game, causing Kevin's body, which was created for slaughter, to experience a momentary "discomfort" and "stutter."
For peak experts, this momentary flaw was more than enough.
Hysilens seized this fleeting opportunity.
"Sea God, Twilight!"
She raised the Sea God Trident above her head, inciting a resonance between the sky and the ocean.
Not the ocean of this world, but the phantom of the boundless sea of the Sea God, which her divine position could communicate with.
The sky suddenly darkened, as if twilight had prematurely arrived. An enormous, dark-blue pillar of light, condensed from the purest ocean divine power, descended from the firmament like a divine punishment, aimed directly at Blackened Kevin, whose movement had lagged for a split second.
This strike contained the boundless immensity of the sea and the ultimate meaning of twilight's end.
A faint fluctuation seemed to flash in Blackened Kevin's empty eyes.
He felt the threat of this attack.
Facing this unavoidable divine punishment, he reacted.
Not a dodge, nor a block.
An ultimate chill, far colder and more desolate than Rakshasa Divine Power, seemingly capable of freezing time and ending civilization, suddenly erupted from his body.
"Crack, crackle—!"
Centered on him, the ground beneath his feet, the surrounding space, and even the leading edge of the descending Sea God Twilight light pillar, were instantly covered in a layer of strange ice-blue color, and then—completely frozen.
It was not ordinary ice but a domain of absolute zero where even energy, light, and even laws were solidified.
This was Kevin's Ice and Snow authority, a power derived from fusing with the Imperial-level Honkai Beast "Parvati."
The massive Sea God Twilight light pillar seemed to turn into a sky-reaching ice-blue crystal column, suspended in mid-air.
However, the Sea God's divine power was ultimately boundless.
Only the front end was frozen. The subsequent torrent of ocean divine power continued to pound fiercely against the frozen barrier, emitting a grating, shattering sound. Ice crystals constantly shattered and instantly reformed, resulting in a terrifying stalemate.
Cerydra frowned. The opponent's tenacity exceeded her estimation.
She once again urged the authority of Law, attempting to analyze and weaken the law of extreme cold.
Hysilens's eyes narrowed. She sensed the terrifying essence within the Ice and Snow authority that did not belong to this world.
She no longer held back, pushing her Sea God's divine power to the maximum. The light on the Golden Trident grew brighter and brighter, directly confronting the cold that froze everything.
Slaughter, Ocean, Ice and Snow, Law—four fundamentally different yet equally powerful forces of law brutally collided, intertwined, and annihilated each other in this cursed land.
The sky was sometimes filled with blood-red light, sometimes pristine blue, and sometimes frozen for thousands of miles.
The earth was being shattered, frozen, and then washed by the phantom of seawater.
The battle had reached a fever pitch.
Both sides were searching for the other's weakness, preparing the next blow that would decide the winner.
Blackened Kevin's empty eyes truly "observed" his two divine-level opponents for the first time. The blood-colored light on the Asura Demonic Sword grew increasingly dense and viscous.
The sky above the Slaughter City mountain range was violently torn apart by three contrasting lights.
Hysilens was surrounded by vast Sea God divine power. The azure radiance was like the deepest ocean. Every swing of the Golden Trident in her hand drew forth the phantom of ten thousand surging waves, striking the cold figure with unmatched weight and purifying power.
Her fighting posture was elegant, like a dance, yet it contained the ferocity of the great sea.
Cerydra, on the other hand, stood like a calm chess player at the edge of the battle.
The eerie blue flame on her crown burned silently, representing the authority of "Law."
She did not launch a direct fierce attack but continuously issued various legal commands—'Law: Imprisonment' attempted to bind the opponent's movements, 'Law: Weakening' reduced his defense intensity, and 'Law: Correction' even occasionally deflected Kevin's fatal slashes.
Her presence made Kevin feel as though he was trapped in an invisible net of laws, finding every move severely constrained.
And their opponent—Blackened Kevin—wielded the Asura Demonic Sword, emitting a killing intent that was pure to the extreme.
Dark-red sword lights crisscrossed, each carrying the terrifying power to sever souls and contaminate divinity.
His movements were simple and highly efficient, like a perfect killing machine. He often avoided Hysilens's raging waves with minimal movement or precisely cut Cerydra's legal chains with the demonic sword.
Kevin swung the demonic sword, sending countless purple-black Sickles of Vengeful Souls overwhelming the area.
Hysilens met the attack with an attack, the dark-blue pillar of Twilight descended from the sky, colliding with the sickle torrent. The resulting energy explosion razed several peaks to the ground, leaving massive craters in the earth, one side shrouded in evil purple-black aura, the other still bearing the residue of pure ocean power.