Above a building—which has its roof flattened, the workers of New Moon Village gather.
Present at the gathering site is a dark rift that leads back to the village.
"Quickly now!"
Arriving onto the roof—in teams of five, the dust-covered workers rush into the rift to dump off their spoils.
On the other side of the rift—
"…"
Zhen Qing Huai stands a few meters away from the plaza, as the emerging workers dumped their storage pouches into their individual group's designated bins.
Walking towards the rift and entering it, Zhen Qing Huai arrives on the other side, to which—
"What are you doing here, brother?"
Seeing the former, Zhen Rong widens her eyes.
"To a certain degree, this can be considered a major business venture, so I wanted to see the situation for myself."
Simultaneously, Qing Ming Yang, Lin Yu Heng, and Yao Ying—returns with their spoils.
Much like the workers of the village, all of them are currently covered in dust.
And as soon as they land, the three toss their storage pouches into the rift—prior to turning their attention towards the direction of the ongoing commotion.
In the same instance—
"…"
Breaking a total of ten buildings apart all at once, Bai Wen also turns his focus towards the direction of the ongoing commotion.
...…
With her skeletal armor shed, Hui Sang, who is in the form of pale blue flames, shouts—
"Go to hell, you venomous snake!"
Following Hui Sang's shout, she stabs her curved greatsword into the earth—causing a colossal bone spike to erupt from the ground beneath Long Hua.
"Rather plain, if this was supposed to be a new trick."
Still in the air, Long Hua strikes with his left fist.
*Boom!!!* with this strike being reinforced by the powers of the earth and metal elements, the tip of the bone spike shatters—allowing Long Hua to land without issue.
"Hm?"
As the bone spike trembles, its current form collapses into a hand, and rather quickly, the fingers and thumb close in on Long Hua—intent on crushing him.
Just as Long Hua thought to leap into the air—
"Eat this!"
Ye Chen appears from the side, and tosses his greatsword forward.
"…"
Narrowing his eyes, Long Hua feels the force of gravity pushing down on his entire body—making it difficult for him to lift his feet.
Choosing to deal with the incoming greatsword first, Long Hua swings his fist towards it.
*Boom!!!* due to this attack being reinforced by heavy gravity, it manages to force Long Hua to take a sluggish step backwards.
By this point, the bone hand—that Long Hua is standing on, has completely shrouded him in the shadows of its fingers and thumb.
Just as Ye Chen teleports his Relic back into his grip, the bone hand snaps into a fist, however—
*Kakakakakakakakaka!!!!!* even before the weapon spirits are able to rejoice, the bone hand begins to crack, and—
*Boom!!!!!* as flower petals blast outwards, the bone hand shatters completely, revealing Long Hua—holding Shui Yue in his grip.
"Not a bad attempt."
Glancing at Ye Chen, who is standing on top of a building, Long Hua charges towards the former's direction, and slashes with Shui Yue.
*Klanggggg!!!!!
"…!"
Receiving Long Hua's attack with his Relic, the ground beneath Ye Chen's feet shatters, and in a rapid manner—
*Boom!!! Boom!!! Boom!!!* the two falls through a total of six floors—while maintaining their current postures!
Halting their fall on the 23rd floor of the building, Long Hua remarks—
"Surnamed Ye, for some reason—I've always felt like you were a hero."
"The hell does that mean?"
Putting on an amicable smile, Long Hua replies—
"It means that I enjoy seeing you struggle."
*Klang!!!* saying this, sparks fly between their blades, as Long Hua knocks Ye Chen backwards with a slash of Shui Yue.
"Tch…!"
Just as Ye Chen recovers his balance and prepares to charge, Long Hua grips Shui Yue with both hands, and—
"…"
Closing the distance, Long Hua drives his blade forward, while performing a Martial Emperor's Step.
*Klanggggg!!!!!* blocking the attack with his Relic—
"Kuh!"
Ye Chen feels his arms turning numb from the impact, and unable to hold his ground, his body is thrown backwards, as he shoots out of the building like a cannon ball!
Straightening his back, a tendril of red mist that is near Long Hua's right hand dissipates, and with its disappearance—
"…I see."
Receiving an interesting piece of news, Long Hua raises a subtle chuckle, while walking in reverse.
Leaping backwards on his fifth step, Long Hua emerges from the building's window, to fall towards Hui Sang.
"…"
"Uh…!"
Without giving Hui Sang the time to evade, Long Hua throws an Immortal Suppression Palm at the former.
*Boom!!!* crushed into the ground by the handprint, Hui Sang—who is knocked out of her Weapon Spirit True Body state, raises a muffled grunt.
"…"
By the time Hui Sang had reopened her eyes, Long Hua was already standing beside her—staring down at her with a taunting air.
"…Damn you, you venomous snake."
"…"
Raising a lighthearted smile, Long Hua remarks—
"Ai, those steamed buns from back then were quite good."
"…Wished you had choked on them back then."
"Hahaha."
Raising his left foot, Long Hua prepares to crush Hui Sang's head; however—
"…?"
*Klang!!!* sensing the presence of an enemy, Long Hua raises Shui Yue to fend off a sword strike.
"Oh?"
Detecting a trace of sword Qi brushing by his cheek, Long Hua turns his head towards the attacker—who turns out to be Su Wei, one of the oldest members of the Serpent Deity Village.
"…"
The Weapon Spirit True Body of Sui Wei's doesn't possess a helmet, and consists of an ordinary set of white robes with a pair of black armored leggings.