By the time she reached the heart of the Ambrosial Arbor, Dan Shu already held all the cards.
Even Phantylia, who had intended to swoop in and possess her, was ultimately defeated at Dan Shu's hands.
Phantylia had always considered herself sufficiently insane, but no one could have predicted this. In a world of madmen, there's always one who's madder, and the woman named Dan Shu was even more unhinged than her.
The Heliobus are a species that obsesses over physical forms. As energy-based lifeforms, what the Heliobus fear most is being without a body.
Without a vessel, a Heliobus could easily be overwhelmed by information, leading to severe internal contradictions that would ultimately cause them to split apart and explode.
At that point, the Heliobus is effectively dead, or at least the lifeforms that split off would certainly no longer be Phantylia.
So, to maintain her core identity, Phantylia was driven to constantly seek better, more perfect bodies—like the new vessel that had just seized the power of Abundance from the Arbor and the power of Destruction from the Stellaron.
Phantylia's plan had been simple: wait for Dan Shu to reach the Ambrosial Arbor and obtain the power of Abundance, then possess her body.
But she never anticipated that Fu Xuan's final hairpin toss would send Dan Shu straight to the path of Destruction, turning her into an Emanator.
This put Phantylia in a real bind.
Dazed, she followed Dan Shu to the base of the Ambrosial Arbor, watching as Dan Shu used the Stellaron's power to merge herself into the Arbor's very being.
"Phantylia? What's wrong? Seeing me in this state, don't you want to seize this body anymore?"
Phantylia could faintly hear a smile in Dan Shu's voice. If the organs Dan Shu was using to speak weren't so horrifying, she might have preferred the naive Dan Shu from before.
With a complex expression, Phantylia murmured, "You're an absolute lunatic."
At this point, Dan Shu no longer bore any resemblance to a human. She seemed to have melted, completely merging into the Ambrosial Arbor itself. The surrounding branches and buds coiled around 'Dan Shu's' form like living creatures.
It would have been fine if one could even make out her form, but in truth, besides the original flesh-and-blood structure of her destructive body and the swirling, wood-like form of the Arbor, there were writhing spores and crystalline growths that defied comprehension.
It no longer looked like a normal lifeform at all.
It was well known that Phantylia, as an energy being, possessed a very refined aesthetic sense. She was particularly fond of full, curvaceous figures, with a special preference for female bodies.
Dan Shu's original body had been within Phantylia's range of appreciation.
But now, Dan Shu's body had become a giant... bomb.
Under Dan Shu's control, the structure of her new body was heading down the path of destruction with no turning back.
"Phantylia, have you ever heard of... the dialectic of life?"
"Within the universe, one can borrow its matter to construct a small universe, sealing it off. It's like a nesting doll, creating a controllable material environment within. Just like this..."
Dan Shu's body peeled open, revealing layers of thin membranes constructed from the power of Destruction.
These membranes, powered by the Stellaron at their core, continuously converted the boundless energy of the Arbor into a fragile, touch-and-detonate force of Destruction.
She then layered this destructive power all around the exterior of her body.
The source of Destruction would flow endlessly until, like an overinflated balloon, it would burst, taking the entire Ambrosial Arbor with it into oblivion.
"There is a form of motion in the universe. It can turn a small nesting doll into a large one that envelops the outside, and it can also turn a large nesting doll into a small one, placing it in the tiniest of spaces."
"Thus, there exists a perpetually moving, nested universe."
"This... is Emptiness."
Emptiness, my ass! I'm here to destroy the Luofu, and maybe get a cool new body for myself!
Phantylia's head was about to explode. She didn't need Dan Shu giving her a special lesson on how to cause destruction.
Dan Shu had won the moment she stepped into the Ambrosial Arbor.
No one dared to attack her. No one could ignore her. Even if The Hunt itself were to appear before Dan Shu now, what could it do?
It could only take Dan Shu out with a single arrow, but in doing so, wouldn't The Hunt also be taking out the Ambrosial Arbor?
That would still accomplish Dan Shu's goal.
When your own life becomes part of the wager, no one on the Xianzhou can stop you.
Phantylia conceded. In the end, she wasn't as crazy as Dan Shu.
In this situation, she couldn't imagine any way for the Xianzhou to turn the tables. The only question was how many of the Luofu's Caverns would be blown up in the process.
What was the point of sending the Antimatter Legion? What was the point of deploying the Voidrangers?
Couldn't she see that even the Stellaron was obeying her?
Even the Stellaron had been infected by Dan Shu's destructive will.
Phantylia, the Lord Ravager, felt more like she was here for comic relief.
"Very good, very good... This is the first time I've lost so miserably."
"Who was the one behind the scenes, directing you?"
At this point, all Phantylia wanted was to get her hands on the person pulling the strings. She refused to believe that the naive Dan Shu could suddenly become so unhinged. Someone must have intentionally guided her to this point.
"Heh, then you will continue to lose in the future..."
Then, the Ambrosial Arbor began to twist and change, gradually revealing a human-like form.
It was indeed a human form, but it was not quite like a normal one.
Faces of Xianzhou natives began to emerge upon its bark, every single one of them incomplete. Some were missing ears, others eyes; some faces were flat, without noses.
At the same time, numerous limbs appeared, none of them whole. They were either missing joints or were grotesquely twisted. Not only that, but many malformed internal organs were replicated on the Arbor's body.
They were all piled together like refuse at a market, utterly devoid of any aesthetic sense.
"So what if I don't tell you?"
"The facts are just as he predicted. All Aeons are merely tools."
"And the conflicts between all Aeons are merely tools for the living."
"Though I may die, my goal has been achieved. And you, Phantylia, you must continue to toil in this cosmic furnace. Not only that, you must remain a running dog for the Aeons, scurrying about endlessly."
"So you will certainly lose..."
"You pitiful Heliobus..."
"I'm not telling you. What are you going to do about it?"
Dan Shu laughed, then sank back into the Arbor, no longer bothering with the Aeon's lackey.
She paid no mind to the Heliobus's threats.
Phantylia's face contorted with rage, so furious she nearly burst out of the body she had just possessed in the Alchemy Commission.
When had she ever been treated like this?
She had never suffered such humiliation in her entire life!