Bihua's adventure was highly anticipated, and now with a major breakthrough in progress, it naturally attracted hundreds of Adventurers to watch the live broadcast.
"It's truly breathtaking!"
"This is another astonishing work of art!"
Facing the scene displayed in the crystal, White Crane Hermit and others couldn't help but exclaim in unison.
It wasn't so much a battle; it was more like a magnificent stage performance!
Unlike challenging the Red Oni, Samurai General, or Serpent Heavy Hide, the atmosphere and sense of oppression in this battle were more akin to the Reed Plains battle.
Indeed, Phantom Butterfly was a BOSS battle.
Many BOSS battles in the game had highly distinctive scene designs. These scenes not only create atmosphere and enhance narrative effect but also push the battle and rhythm to their climax with strong visual impact.
Qi Ji's reset process will be further optimized, dedicated to creating even more extreme visuals.
This ultimate battle of the Hirata side quest was set in a dilapidated, confined, fire-ravaged Buddhist hall. This timed arena, which could collapse and be destroyed at any moment, made people involuntarily tense and their hearts race.
On all four walls, there were thousands of gods and Buddhas silently looking down in the flames. This fully embodied the 'Mono no aware' and 'violence' in Eastern aesthetics, conveying a sense of destiny and ritual in a restrained yet powerful manner.
It symbolized the tragic fate of the Hirata family and displayed the cruelty of the impending master-disciple conflict. If the Reed Plains battle was beautiful and poetic, the Buddhist hall battle was dazzling and cruel.
With such excellent scene design and rendering, the characters and plot tension were greatly amplified. This allowed the participating Adventurers to enter a state of flow, fully immersing themselves in the atmosphere and plot, and experiencing the charm of the story and the emotions of the characters.
At this moment, Bihua was completely integrated into the role of the game. She asked in a low voice, "Why did you abandon the precepts and vows of a ninja?"
Lady Butterfly calmly replied, "No, I have never betrayed. The vow I made was to protect Ashina. It was for this that I participated in the War of Usurpation twenty years ago, and it is for this that I wiped out the Hirata clan today."
Bihua exclaimed, "I cannot understand!"
Lady Butterfly stated, "Ashina is declining and in danger, and the stubbornness of Isshin and the Hirata family is destroying this country that was so hard to establish. Only by giving the Dragon Heritage power to Weiming Genichiro can Ashina be defended!"
Weiming Genichiro again? Could he be the real mastermind behind the Hirata tragedy?
However, there was no time to think too much at this moment. The positions of the two sides were completely different. Bihua's vow was to protect the Divine Child, and she would not allow anyone to take her master.
Only a battle lay ahead!
"Father Owl's son, please do not hinder me."
"I cannot obey!"
Lady Butterfly knew that more words were useless. She drew two slender kunai in each hand.
"Kid, hesitation will cost you your life. Come at me with all you've got!"
Lady Butterfly was the first to throw four kunai.
Bihua reacted in a flash, dodging the kunai by a hair's breadth. Almost at the same time, Lady Butterfly's slender figure ghosted close. Her speed was nearly as fast as the flying projectiles.
Danger!
Bihua's hair stood on end. She didn't expect the opponent's speed to be so terrifying, narrowly avoiding a fatal attack followed by a storm of assaults.
Clang, clang, clang!
The two clashed more than ten times in an instant. Lady Butterfly's attacks were almost elegant, like a dragonfly skimming the water. Although not very powerful, her speed left afterimages and made her almost impossible to catch with the naked eye. Bihua felt cuts on her cheeks, shoulders, and thighs.
Too fast!
Both Lady Butterfly and Weiming Genichiro in the Reed Plains were around Tier 2 Five Stars in strength, but her speed was far above Weiming Genichiro's, almost reaching the limit of what the game could react to.
No!
Facing such a sharp speed-type opponent, if she got caught in the attack rhythm, she would undoubtedly lose.
Seizing an opportunity, she initiated a deflection and counterattack. When she successfully repelled the opponent, she surged forward and swung her sword to slash. Unexpectedly, before the blade could fall, the opponent flew backward several paces.
Before Bihua could pursue, Lady Butterfly executed an aerial backflip, leaping back and forth at astonishing speed. Each leap allowed her to flash over ten meters, appearing in various positions while continuously releasing shurikens and needles to attack.
Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang!
Sparks flew continuously!
Bihua relied on her keen senses and crisis prediction to deflect all the projectile attacks.
"It's fine threads!"
Steel wires were nailed into the four pillars of the Buddhist hall with kunai. The reason Lady Butterfly could jump and move horizontally in the air was due to these nearly invisible threads. She used the strong mobility brought by the depth of space to easily suppress any Adventurer.
Before Bihua could think more, the sense of crisis reappeared.
Lady Butterfly flashed behind her like a ghost.
This time, Bihua had no time to react.
A kunai pierced her neck, and another pierced her heart from the back.
Lady Butterfly executed a ruthless finishing blow on her most excellent student with crisp and clean ninja techniques.
"After all, just a little dog..."
She heard Lady Butterfly's sigh before falling to the ground.
A large 'Death' character appeared before her eyes.
Challenge failed!
This BOSS battle was obviously not easy. The tolerance for error in combat in a nearly realistic environment was extremely low.
When facing a high-speed, high-agility assassin-type opponent whose strength surpassed her own, it was almost impossible to win, even for Bihua, who had mastered the game smoothly.
Very strong! Very exciting!
Although Bihua lost, other Adventurers still cheered. This battle once again proved Miracle City's exceptional secret realm production ability and further showcased Lord Qi's terrifying talent!
"Big boss, keep going!"
"We won't risk it for now!"
"Yeah, we just want to watch the big boss challenge strong enemies. This kind of battle with top experts is too exciting and good to watch!"
In the Secret Realm Lobby, there were many people and few crystals, leading to a queue for adventures. But whenever someone reached a critical point or was about to make an important breakthrough, others would voluntarily give up their crystals so the big boss could challenge continuously and progress as quickly as possible.
Ordinary Adventurers could not defeat Lady Butterfly in a short time, but Bihua was not an ordinary Adventurer. With abundant energy and strong talent, she still had hope to complete the battle and advance the plot.
Bihua did not stand on ceremony; she enjoyed fighting and role-playing! She also really wanted to know the subsequent development of the plot.
After a brief rest and discussing tactics, Bihua activated the Secret Realm crystal again. The second battle quickly began.
This time, she lasted for three minutes and was defeated again.
She gritted her teeth and said, "This old woman truly has some tricks up her sleeve!"
Three Bamboo said, "You have made considerable progress this time. Although Lady Butterfly is fast, her moves do not change much. As long as you remember the relevant move variations, you can anticipate the enemy's moves."
White Crane Hermit commented, "Don't compete with her in speed. Try to prevent her from using her mobility; otherwise, you will fall into her rhythm."
She absorbed their suggestions, summarized her experience, and started the third challenge.
Bihua now understood Lady Butterfly's moves better and better. Whenever Lady Butterfly used the steel wires for aerial mobility, she would immediately use her prosthetic arm to release shurikens to interrupt her, thus weakening the suppression from aerial attacks as much as possible.
As expected, Butterfly quickly became exhausted.
Bihua immediately launched three consecutive fierce attacks, finally breaking her posture and creating an opening.
Her eyes gleamed. She seized the fleeting opportunity, rushed forward, and used her left hand to restrain Lady Butterfly while her right hand reversed the blade and stabbed her in the back, completing a Shinobi Execution.
"Won!"
"Bihua big boss is awesome!"
The Adventurers in the Secret Realm Lobby cheered. Even Bihua let out a long sigh of relief. But their joy and cheers didn't last for two seconds before an unexpected change occurred.
"Something's wrong!"
Bihua felt that Lady Butterfly had lost her mass. Her body suddenly turned into countless glowing bubbles and disintegrated before her eyes.
At the same time, a laugh echoed in the Buddhist hall.
"Hehehe, you kid, you did well!"
Lady Butterfly's intact figure reappeared on the head of the great Buddha in the Buddhist hall.
At this moment, the burning of the Buddhist hall was approaching its critical point. Burning debris kept falling, and a large amount of fire flowed down like a waterfall.
"Illusion?"
Bihua was greatly shocked. "When did she use illusion?"
"Could it be that I was fighting a phantom from the beginning?"
This scene not only shocked Bihua but also the Adventurers outside.
"Is this the technique of the ninja master 'Phantom Butterfly'?"
"It's too terrifying!"
"This time it must be the real body. Bihua big boss, keep it up! You just need to win one more time!"
"But you have to be fast!"
"The Buddhist hall is about to collapse!"
"Yeah, looking at this trend, if you can't end the battle within three to five minutes, you will definitely die!"
A scene full of the sense of apocalypse.
In a situation full of urgency, the second phase of the BOSS battle officially began!
Bihua not only had to dodge Lady Butterfly's projectile attacks but also had to constantly avoid various burning falling objects. Under these circumstances, the slightest carelessness would lead to complete failure.
Not only that, but Lady Butterfly's techniques in the second phase were even richer.
With a wave of her hand, she could release dozens or even hundreds of spirit butterflies. They were not as fast as projectiles, but they had tracking ability and would cause burning damage if hit.
This was already difficult to deal with.
There was also even more powerful illusion.
The Buddhist hall, which was as hot as purgatory, suddenly became eerie and strange, with howls rising from all directions. Semitransparent, ferocious figures surged from all sides.
"What is this?"
"Are they just phantoms?"
Bihua was quickly surrounded by a dozen figures. These phantoms had ferocious faces and held machetes and wooden sticks. Not only could they emit chilling wails to interfere with the battle, but what was even more terrifying was that they could also cause actual damage.
Lady Butterfly was already very troublesome, and she summoned a dozen or twenty small soldiers in one go.
Bihua was immediately surrounded and restrained, falling into a passive state. Lady Butterfly then launched a fierce attack, quickly defeating her with almost no effort.
Challenge failed again!
She exited the Secret Realm once more.
Difficult, difficult, difficult!
This is too difficult!
Butterfly already had top-notch skills. Her illusion techniques were more terrifying than her moves.
Just watching made the Adventurers' skin crawl.
"Terrifying!"
"How can you win this?"
"It's almost impossible, right!"
"If I were to face her... I don't even dare to imagine how badly I would be abused!"
The Adventurers once again felt the extremely high difficulty of the Ashina Chapter. Despite this, no one complained about the Lord's production. After all, this battle was a top-notch design in every aspect.
Bihua was defeated repeatedly but did not feel discouraged at all. Instead, she became more determined with each setback.
Her fighting spirit grew stronger and stronger.
"This battle... is really interesting. I must win today!"
Wind in Sleep said, "Sister, Butterfly's illusion is too powerful. She can continuously summon small soldiers. If you can't clear or get rid of them, you'll never win the battle under interference."
Lonely Swordsman added, "Why doesn't the guild leader use the Phantom Seed? This item should counter Lady Butterfly!"
Before entering the secret Buddhist hall, Bihua obtained the Phantom Seed from Ichi. The main reason she didn't use it was that she wanted to understand the mechanism first.
On one hand, it could provide experience reference for other Adventurers. On the other, she wanted to achieve victory with the smallest possible cost.
With this thought in mind, Bihua continued to challenge.
In her fourth battle, she was defeated!
In her fifth battle, she was defeated again!
...
Dying repeatedly!
Starting over again and again!
Despite this, she was constantly improving.
At first, she was completely unable to escape the illusion and died from entanglement. Later, she discovered the pattern and could evade the interference of the vengeful spirit villagers.
However, because she could not end the battle within the limited time, she ultimately failed again due to the scene's collapse.
"Almost there!"
"I've mastered all the routines!"
"This time, I will definitely conquer Lady Butterfly!"
Bihua entered the Secret Realm again and launched her ninth challenge. Compared to her initial state of being flustered and passive, she was now very proficient and could even easily predict Butterfly's movement trajectory and attack moves.
In less than two minutes, she first eliminated Butterfly's phantom, thus entering the second phase.
Lady Butterfly started to frantically use illusions in the second phase. Bihua used her positioning to avoid the spirit butterfly bombardment and the encirclement of the vengeful spirit villagers, while also luring Lady Butterfly to the ground to engage her in direct combat.
"Now is the time!"
She crushed a Phantom Seed.
An ear-piercing hum erupted from the seed. The spirit butterflies and vengeful spirit villagers from all directions collapsed without attacking in the invisible sound waves.
Seeing the situation was not good, Lady Butterfly immediately flew away.
"You won't escape!"
Bihua was prepared and interrupted the steel wire with a shuriken. She rushed forward at full speed and launched a series of frantic attacks with her sword. The close-quarters pressure in a frontal confrontation quickly exposed her weakness, and a sword pierced Lady Butterfly's heart.
"Won!"
At that moment, Bihua didn't feel the imagined ecstasy. Instead, she felt a strong sense of sadness.
This emotion did not come from the Adventurer, but from the body named sekiro.
Many memories involuntarily surfaced in Bihua's mind—scenes of spending time with her teacher in the forest when she was young, learning various ninja techniques.
Compared to the cold Father Owl, Butterfly seemed to have more of a motherly feeling.
Bihua couldn't help but say, "I'm sorry, Lady Butterfly..."
Lady Butterfly, on the verge of death, showed no anger or resentment, nor did she exhibit fear. Instead, she felt a sense of relief. In her final moments, her originally gloomy and indifferent eyes revealed tenderness and peace.
With her last strength, she whispered, "Sekiro... your skills... have improved..."
Bihua pulled out her sword, supported Lady Butterfly's body, and gently placed her on the ground.
The battle ended.
Challenge successful!
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