"Say, doesn't it feel like this whole journey has been really easy?" Kiana followed Irene and jumped onto the rock where the crystal was located. "We haven't encountered any trouble along the way. It's simply too relaxing."
"Better to say we haven't found any decent enemies at all." Mei jumped over as well. "Does it feel a bit too smooth?"
"It does feel too smooth." Bronya nodded. Although there were Honkai Beasts and Deadwalkers along the way, their strength did not at all resemble the results of 5,000 years of gestation.
"Yes, too smooth." Irene nodded. How had she not noticed this? "Perhaps she wants us to break the seal."
This performance was not at all like what one would expect from Honkai Beasts bred in an environment that had gathered Honkai energy for over 5,000 years. Furthermore, Chiyou had not put up any decent resistance. This was obviously wrong.
"Ah," Kiana exclaimed in surprise. "Teacher Irene, what are you saying? Are you saying that Honkai Beast is intentionally guiding us to destroy the seal?"
"Just treat it as me talking nonsense." Irene waved her hand. It didn't matter if it was a worry or a fact; after all, regardless of whether Chiyou wanted to use them to break the seal, they still had to do the same thing.
Shatter the seal, find the true Core, and then crush it to completely stop Chiyou's movements.
"Is there someone inside here too?" Mei looked up at the crystal slowly rotating in the air. "Mn, the other hero who sealed Chiyou."
"I think there should be." Irene nodded. After exchanging a glance with Fu Hua, Fu Hua nodded with a heavy expression; she had already sensed the consciousness within the crystal, which was weak beyond compare.
Irene once again followed the previous method, switching to Pardo's form. As control was handed over to Pardo and the brilliance of Quantization flashed past, Cangxuan's body was also fished out.
And Cangxuan's body was just like Danzhu's; one could hardly see a human shape all over her body. The degree of mutation was even greater than before.
Her lower body had completely turned into a snake's tail, her hands were covered in scales, and her body was covered everywhere with a physique that had been deeply corroded by Honkai energy crystals and transformed into a crystalline state.
Fu Hua gently placed her hand on Cangxuan's body, temporarily transferring the exhausted soul inside into Irene's body, no different from what was done with Danzhu earlier.
[This completes it.] Fu Hua breathed a sigh of relief. [Irene, thanks to you being here.]
[It is good that I can help. If you have time, you can also find a moment to take a stroll in my mind.] Irene looked at Fu Hua and nodded slightly.
[Perhaps there will be many unexpected old acquaintances. Who knows? Moreover, after Doctors Danzhu and Cangxuan wake up, they will certainly want to meet you.]
[...Mn, I know.] Fu Hua nodded, but she brushed the matter over hastily. After all, their current environment was not suitable for chatting.
Irene picked up Cangxuan's body and quickly retreated toward the bed. Bronya also began to strike Chiyou's epidermis in a continuous rhythm according to the previous plan.
After completion, Project Bunny immediately retreated as well. Subsequently, a dazzling light cannon pierced through Chiyou's epidermis just like before, ruthlessly shattering the seal.
Having lost the seal that acted as a substitute Honkai Core supporting its body, Chiyou fell into a brief stagnation, and the entire space became much quieter.
"It looks like she's behaving herself a lot more." Kiana looked around. "Mn, consider half the mission complete."
"Accurately speaking, we have only completed the prerequisites." Irene snapped her fingers lightly. "Saying we've completed half the mission now is a bit too early."
Just as Irene's voice fell, Honkai energy far brighter than before began to flow through Chiyou's body. The surrounding space, originally dim, was filled with purple brilliance under the illumination of the Honkai energy.
The entire space seemed to come alive. The environment, already rich in Honkai energy, became even more dense. The sound of a heavy heartbeat began to echo throughout the entire space.
Chiyou's true Honkai Core, having lost the suppression of the two seals, finally began to return to normal and resumed operation.
And as the Core began to operate, the surrounding rocks changed in an instant. The rocks that were originally moving slowly suddenly began to speed up.
The Deadwalkers and Honkai Beasts appearing on them were not at all ordinary like before. Enhanced types and variants were everywhere. The opponent was starting to get serious.
Those entities clearly indicated that Chiyou did not intend to let them continue forward to find its true Core.
"Aha, it seems it is indeed so." Irene looked at the emerging Honkai Beasts and quickly switched her transformation state to Kallen. "You really were waiting for this chance, Chiyou."
At the same time, they clearly felt the vibrations of the surrounding space becoming much more violent. As Honkai energy poured into Chiyou's true Core, Chiyou's combat power was completely unsealed.
"Bronya." Irene looked at Bronya. "Have you found the specific point of the new Honkai energy? This is the final blow; she's about to get serious."
Bronya nodded: "Detection is underway, but the Honkai energy levels have risen much higher than before. Bronya needs to reset Project Bunny's search."
"Then hurry up, we don't have much time." Irene pulled two chains from Judah. Getting entangled with them would be truly unwise; their numbers were too great, and every single one looked strong.
Fortunately, they didn't need to tangle with the enemy. The forced banishment ability of Absolute Position was simply too useful.
"Follow me closely." Irene stepped forward, the chains in her hands dancing like steel whips toward the surrounding Honkai Beasts, letting them experience what is called the might of a planet.
"The search is complete." Bronya spoke up at this moment. Or rather, it wasn't as difficult as she imagined. In other words, detection was simply too easy.
A place gathering a massive amount of Honkai energy, even in this environment, was like a guiding lamp.
"Then lead the way." Irene looked at the surrounding Honkai Beasts but noticed that the Honkai Beasts possessing flight capabilities were not coming toward them, but instead choosing to fly into the distance. She frowned.
"No, Bronya has a better method." Bronya shook her head. Going to find the Core and then transmitting the signal would drag on for a long time.
Since the main cannon was sufficient to penetrate Chiyou's body, and she now knew the approximate location of the Core, they could go directly to the epidermis to perform the signal transmission work.
"You're right." Irene nodded in agreement. "Then let's do that. This will be faster."
*
External Sea Area
With Chiyou's unsealing, the battle situation outside had also become somewhat unfavorable. Chiyou, having achieved its goal, decisively began its counterattack. Exposing its back to that strange human weapon behind it again was definitely not a wise move.
The massive body slowly turned around, aiming its head at the Hyperion far above in the sky.
Honkai energy began to accumulate in its mouth. The terrifying energy fluctuations didn't even require a detector; the power contained within that bright purple color could be felt with the naked eye.
"Evasive maneuvers! Divert all energy to the shields, prepare for direct impact!" Noting this, Himeko immediately ordered the Hyperion to begin evasive action.
But the Honkai Beasts, which were originally just harassing or needed to be attacked, now became agitated. A swarm of Honkai Beasts, larger in number than before, surged toward the Hyperion.
"Sure enough, she was waiting for us too." Himeko grabbed the handrail of the console to prevent falling during the extreme evasion.
Seeing Chiyou's current reaction, Himeko was incomparably certain that the opponent had been waiting for them to help it break the seals. And now, having broken the seals, they were of no use, so its true attack had begun.
A dazzling Honkai energy heavy cannon shot streaked across the sky, blasting into the heavens. Fortunately, the Hyperion had prepared for evasion in advance. Even though the power and blast radius of that Honkai energy heavy cannon far exceeded their imagination...
Only the surface of the shield was grazed. Yet, just by being grazed, that part of the shield overloaded directly and malfunctioned, requiring time to repair.
"It's even stronger than imagined." Theresa held onto the captain's chair, looking at Chiyou with worry. "And her movement speed seems to have increased too. This is bad. We don't have much time; the waves have already started to affect the coastal cities."
"I know, but now we can only wait for the situation inside." Himeko was also full of worry. Chiyou's performance confirmed that the opponent was definitely not a beast relying solely on instinct.
Quite the opposite, the opponent was very smart. In that case, the danger would increase significantly. Moreover, Himeko felt that the opponent probably wouldn't let them off. At this moment, Irene's squad inside its body...
Before, it needed them, so it didn't reveal its fangs. But now that it had achieved its goal, the valueless Irene and her group would likely face attacks and expulsion.
"Colonel Himeko!" An operator looked up at Himeko. "A large amount of rhythmic clutter has appeared on Chiyou's surface. It's on every part of the body."
"Everywhere?" Himeko frowned. "Are you sure it's rhythmic?"
"At least it doesn't look like it's caused by random collisions." The operator looked at Himeko and nodded. "Many places are indeed being struck with different rhythms, transmitting different impact signals."
"...It seems this guy is interfering with our judgment." Himeko looked at Chiyou. "Ha, smarter than we thought. Ignore all these transmitted signals for now. Wait for which area shows a window of emptiness."
When Irene and the others transmitted the signal, they would certainly notice Chiyou commanding Honkai Beasts or the like to play tricks. As long as Irene and the others cleared them out, a spot would definitely appear—a window of emptiness.
Then searching for that signal should be accurate. At least, it would be more accurate than these obviously incorrect signals right now.
*
Inside Chiyou's Belly
"To be honest, this isn't just ordinary difficulty anymore, Teacher Irene." Kiana kicked away a Deadwalker holding dual blades. "There definitely weren't this many just now."
"It feels like Normal Mode or Easy Mode suddenly turned into Purgatory Mode." Bronya nodded. "Both the intensity and quantity have multiplied more than a few times."
"That is a precise description." Irene nodded. The movements in her hands never stopped, but unfortunately, Irene's Honkai energy was running low. Even with Absolute Position consuming less...
After using it so many times over such a long period, it was enough to drain her Honkai energy dry. Now, she could only use Judah like a flail.
Fortunately, as a member of the Kaslana family, Kallen's physical constitution was absolutely top-tier. This level of combat was completely within the tolerance range of Kallen's body.
However, the continuous decrease in Honkai energy would also cause her to lose part of her combat ability.
Just as Irene was worrying about this, Lixue's voice suddenly rang out in Irene's mind.
[Irene, you still don't know how to use Taixuan Sword Qi. For a practitioner of Taixuan Sword Qi, your own Honkai energy reserves are not the important thing.]
Taixuan Sword Qi could utilize the Honkai energy in the air. In fact, as long as one's Honkai Adaptability was sufficient, one could even directly mobilize the Honkai energy in the air.
And Irene, who had already cultivated to the realm of Still Water, should also be able to do it; it was just that Irene wasn't used to it yet. Master seemed not to have taught Irene either, merely letting Irene use Taixuan Sword Qi to exercise her body?
Mn, no, it should be just laying the foundation. After all, Irene seemed not to have started learning the Sword Forms yet, so Master hadn't taught Irene how to use Taixuan Sword Qi to manipulate Honkai energy for combat.
[Ah, you can do that kind of thing?] Irene listened to Lixue's words. [Mn, she seemed not to have mentioned this at all during the teaching.]
[Forget it, this isn't the time to fuss about that. Anyway, what do I do?]
[Utilize Taixuan Sword Qi to sense the surrounding Honkai energy. It will serve as your replenishment and also your extension.] Lixue immediately told Irene the method of using Taixuan Sword Qi to master the surrounding Honkai energy.
[With Miss Irene's Honkai Adaptability, this shouldn't be a difficult task.]
[Sigh, telling me to sharpen my spear right before battle.] Irene hefted Judah. [The method to circulate Taixuan Sword Qi, right? Alright, I'll try.]
Irene diverted a tiny bit of attention to communicate with the surrounding Honkai energy through the method of Taixuan Sword Qi. And just as Lixue had said, this was indeed not a difficult task.
Irene's formidable Honkai Adaptability made her naturally suitable for manipulating Honkai energy to do things. Coupled with Taixuan Sword Qi, which was a technique specifically established for people with formidable Honkai Adaptability...
The addition of the two made it extremely easy for Irene to accomplish this—at least much easier than she imagined.
"This feeling is actually quite nice." Irene clenched her fist. She could easily feel the Honkai energy flowing beside her, and she could mold it at will just like touching flowing water.
After obtaining the extra Honkai energy supply, the corners of Irene's mouth curled up into a smile. Now she could happily play gravity slingshot again.
________________________________________
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