Above the sky, the phantom of the Pantheon gradually faded, leaving only an inorganic life form composed of what looked like amber and rock.
It was an incomparably huge phantom, solemn and majestic. THEY held a hammer in THEIR hand, and before THEM was a star wall being forged. With each swing of THEIR hammer, the comet wall before THEM would extend outwards, like the most solid fortress, completely isolating the disasters of the outside world.
For the entire interstellar civilization, this was an image so distinct that it was known by almost everyone.
"The Amber Lord!"
Looking up at the phantom of the Aeon, Fu Xuan's gaze towards Su Mo trembled slightly.
To wield the authority of an Aeon as a human, even if the scale was far from that of the Aeon THEMSELF, only at the level of an Emanator, it was still a miracle that mortals like her could only look up to.
Besides Emanators, there were actually others who could borrow the power of an Aeon... This was something that could subvert everyone's worldview.
Even Jing Yuan was stunned for a moment.
If Su Mo could arbitrarily simulate the power of Preservation, didn't that mean he could also potentially borrow the power of the Hunt?
Under the shocked and speechless gazes of the crowd, Su Mo exclusively gave the simulated Aeon power obtained through the Pantheon to Ruan Mei.
"!"
With a clear sound, the giant hammer of Qlipoth, the Aeon of Preservation, fell, splashing sparks.
Then, a translucent shield faintly appeared on Phantylia's body, pulling her spirit back from the brink of madness.
The will of Preservation had saved her mental stability.
Like hearing the boom of an ancient bell in a dream, Phantylia woke up with a start. Feeling the changes in her body and the various mutation signals from her flesh, she was completely dumbfounded.
"You saved me?"
She looked at Su Mo in disbelief, never having thought that she would one day be saved by others.
After a moment of surprise, she felt the power of Abundance in her body still constantly eroding her. If she didn't fight back, even with the power of Preservation, it would only keep her mind clear and not give her the power to control her own body.
Phantylia quickly reacted, her expression suddenly furious.
"Damn it! You're using me as an experiment?"
As a Lord Ravager, when had she ever suffered such humiliation?
Faced with her tough questioning, Su Mo replied faintly, "You can also use the power of Destruction to fight against Preservation and let yourself be devoured by the Mara-Struck. That way, even if you die, you won't have accepted the help of an enemy. It will make your death seem very dignified!"
"..."
Phantylia was suddenly choked.
You think I'm afraid of death?
She had wanted to scold him like that, but unfortunately, she was really afraid of death.
So, after thinking about it, she simply threw away her useless pride and shouted righteously, "If you want to save me, this little bit of power is not enough! Give me more!"
Since she couldn't resist, she could only accept it.
She actually didn't care about a little humiliation, as long as she could survive.
Since Su Mo's purpose was to use her to overcome the Mara-Struck, she naturally wanted more buffs.
On the one hand, it was to accumulate strength to counterattack after she succeeded. On the other hand, it was because the power Su Mo gave was too little.
Even though the scale of the Preservation power he had successfully mobilized was comparable to an Emanator's, less than half of it was used on her. In this situation, Phantylia's condition was still dangerous.
Even if he wanted to use her as an experimental subject, this little bit of power was a bit too stingy, right?
Faced with Phantylia's command, which showed she didn't know her place, Su Mo gave her a gentle smile.
"It's okay. I believe you can do it."
As he spoke, he made no move to help further, letting the impulse of the Mara-Struck attack Phantylia again.
"Damn it! Don't believe in me at a time like this! Damn Abundance, it's coming again!"
Phantylia cursed a few times, having no energy to argue with Su Mo anymore. The impulse of the Mara-Struck struck again. Even the protection of Preservation did not give her a way to fight against this primitive impulse.
Even if the power Su Mo gave was not enough for her to fight against the Mara-Struck, with her strong desire to live, she still couldn't make the decision to wait for death and was still struggling constantly.
A few minutes later, just as Phantylia was completely exhausted and approaching her limit, and the barrier of Preservation was about to shatter, and she was about to fall into the Mara-Struck state again, Su Mo made another move.
A phantom of a school of fish swimming upstream appeared next to Qlipoth, the Aeon of Preservation. The school of fish swam in the sparkling light and finally pieced together the phantom of an emperor.
"The Lord of Permanence!" Jing Yuan recognized the name of this Aeon, the shock in his eyes fading slightly.
A moment later, a huge mechanical single eye appeared next to Fuli, the Aeon of Remembrance. That emotionless eye seemed to be able to observe all things in the world.
"The Lord of Erudition!" Fu Xuan immediately recognized the name of this Aeon she had once had an audience with.
After that, the thousand-faced Aeon appeared, the Aeon whose true form was unknown.
"Xipe, the Aeon of Harmony!"
"HooH, the Aeon of Equilibrium!"
"..."
Using the power of the Aeon of Remembrance to fix her consciousness, using the power of Nous to calculate the magnitude of the change in the input power.
Using the power of Harmony to coordinate the conflict between the Aeon Paths, using the power of Equilibrium to re-establish the balance between Destruction and Abundance.
One by one, the phantoms of the Aeons appeared. Under the guidance of Equilibrium and the calculation of Nous, and under Ruan Mei's distribution, they gave Phantylia varying degrees of blessing.
Each portion of an Aeon's power gave Phantylia a new possibility to fight against the Mara-Struck.
And until Phantylia failed, Su Mo would not continue to input new power, watching as Phantylia pushed her existing blessings to the limit.
This attempt lasted for a whole day and night.
Phantylia had tried to lie down and play dead, and had also tried to hide her strength to deceive Su Mo. But no matter what tricks she tried to play, under the calculation of Nous and the power of the Aeon of Remembrance, all of them failed.
So, she could only let Ruan Mei knead and shape her.
Constantly fighting against the Mara-Struck, constantly failing.
Finally, at noon the next day.
"It's still not working. Why is it always just a little bit short at the end? It's always just a little bit short of the critical point!"
After trying hundreds or even thousands of times, even a type with a strong desire to live like Phantylia was a little desperate.
"It was just a little bit short before, why is it still just a little bit short now? Could it be that the side effects of the Path of Abundance are really impossible to overcome?"
As a Heliobus, she could now feel the pain of the Mara-Struck even more than any Xianzhou native.
She had tried all types of Aeon powers, but still couldn't find a way to successfully curb the life force of the Mara-Struck.
Even the power of Equilibrium could only maintain a short-term balance and could not eradicate the aggressiveness of the Mara-Struck.
This made Phantylia question from the bottom of her heart.
Was this method of using the power of an Aeon to restrain an Aeon really reliable?
Hearing Phantylia's words, the two wanted to refute, but didn't know how to start.
They had tried so many Aeon powers, and it was still not working. Even they couldn't think of any other combination of Paths that hadn't been tried.
Faced with the current atmosphere, only Su Mo and Ruan Mei's expressions could remain as calm as ever.
In scientific experiments, it was normal to perform repeated measurements. The most high-end experiments were often simple and plain, often just a matter of luck.
Of course, this time was not like that.
Because, two hours ago, Su Mo had already understood the key to the power of the Paths. The reason he hadn't adopted it immediately was just to collect more data.
"Schwi, has all the data been recorded?" Su Mo suddenly asked.
"Report, recording successful. It has been uploaded to the cloud record." Schwi immediately replied.
"Very good." Su Mo nodded. "From now on, activate the maximum computing power of the entire legion and record the subsequent energy changes."
"Yes!"
Feeling the serious tone of Su Mo, Schwi immediately nodded.
The legion of over ten thousand Ex-Machina immediately surrounded them, carefully recording everything that was happening with the new sensors provided by Sscrewllum and the algorithm of Nous.
"Your Excellency Su Mo, have you found a way?"
Seeing Su Mo get serious, Fu Xuan asked in surprise.
"Of course." Su Mo nodded slightly. "Actually, the preparations are already in place. What Phantylia is lacking is just a little bit of positive motivation."
"Positive motivation?"
Fu Xuan was a little puzzled.
"Do you mean the power of Elation? But haven't we tried that possibility before?"
"No." Su Mo slowly shook his head. "The essence of life is to be born to die. Compared to Destruction, Abundance has a more fundamental and root enemy. That is also the enemy of all Aeons."
"Only the power of this existence, I have never used before."
Without needing further explanation, Fu Xuan immediately understood which Aeon Su Mo was referring to.
Before she could say more, Su Mo activated the worldview of Roman mythology.
Below the magnificent Pantheon, in the shadow opposite the position of the main god, a pitch-black star floated quietly in the air. Those who looked directly at THEM could see nothing, only a void of darkness in their eyes.
The shadow of Nihility covered the gods. The presence of the gods suddenly became much thinner, but the light and shadow they emitted became even stronger under the shroud of darkness.
Su Mo raised his hand slightly, and Ruan Mei moved in sync. In Ruan Mei's palm lay a transparent box wrapped in the light and shadow of the gods. Inside the box was a pitch-black seed.
It was the seed of Nihility.
Then, under Su Mo's guidance, Ruan Mei took a step forward and held up the box.
"I will obey my master's command, re-enact the myth of Pandora, and with the authority of the gods, recreate the perfect human!"
The phantom of a purple-haired, twin-tailed goddess appeared on her.
In Greek mythology, Pandora was the first human woman created by the gods.
Hephaestus, the god of forging, created her body from clay; Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, bestowed upon her beauty and charm; Athena, the goddess of wisdom and craftsmanship, bestowed upon her gorgeous clothes; Hermes, the god of language and eloquence, taught her the gift of language. Finally, Zeus gave her a vicious conspiracy and named her Pandora, meaning "the one with all the gifts."
This god-created woman was a gift from the gods to mankind. She bestowed all disasters and the only hope upon the world.
And now, Ruan Mei, in accordance with Su Mo's will, reshaped Phantylia's body with the power of the Aeons, and finally, bestowed upon her the seed that contained all hope and the only disaster.
Crack!
Phantylia, who had no right to refuse, immediately opened the box Ruan Mei handed her.
The seed of Nihility took root and sprouted in her body, but it did not directly swallow her, nor did it make her a self-annihilator.
On the contrary, the moment the power of Nihility was added, the powers of the Aeons, like oil meeting water, immediately exploded and became completely active.
The barrier that had been insurmountable before was instantly surpassed.
The excess power of Abundance and Destruction fused in the depths of Phantylia's body in an unprecedentedly harmonious way, and firmly sealed the seed of Nihility inside. Together with the power of Equilibrium and Preservation, they formed a new Spirit Core.
The symptoms of the Mara-Struck instantly subsided, and the excessively swollen life force quickly returned to its normal value.
Under the stimulation of the seed of Nihility, Phantylia's body was finally eliminated from the Mara-Struck state and returned to its previous peak.
"It succeeded?"
Feeling the completely restored balance in her body, Phantylia showed a look of disbelief.
"It really succeeded!"
Witnessing the miracle before her, Fu Xuan carefully observed Phantylia's state. Looking at the result of the divination, there was also a light of disbelief in her eyes.
She knew Su Mo's method was reliable, but she didn't expect it to be so fast.
It had only been a day!
"The Mara-Struck has actually been solved... Your Excellency Su Mo... no! Lord Su Mo, please allow me, on behalf of all the people of the Luofu, to express my most sincere respect to you."
After being in a daze for a long time, Jing Yuan immediately knelt on one knee on the ground, expressing his respect to Su Mo with a ceremony he rarely used even when facing Marshal Hua.
Without a doubt, this was a feat on the level of remaking the Xianzhou.
If the Xianzhou people were no longer troubled by the Mara-Struck... this feat was worthy of being remembered by all the Xianzhou people, and was even enough to have Su Mo's name placed alongside the Divine Bow of the Hunt.
From now on, Su Mo's status in the Xianzhou would definitely be on par with Marshal Hua, or even higher.
Faced with Jing Yuan's shock and gratitude, Su Mo shook his head with a light laugh.
"We can talk about thanks later. The final trouble hasn't been resolved yet!"
Hearing this, everyone was stunned. Even Phantylia was stunned on the spot, and it was only after a few seconds that she remembered why.
"That's right! We're enemies again!"