Looking at the gray-white sword light flying toward him, a solemn expression appeared on Chen Feng's face for the first time.
A mirror-like shield appeared in the hands of a phantom silhouette behind Chen Feng. The shield was placed across his front, and just as the sword light was about to contact it, he struck it forcefully. The gray-white sword light was instantly shattered, turning into specks of light in the air before finally dissipating.
However, this time, blocking the attack was not so easy. Everyone could clearly see a deep gash appear on that shield.
At the same time, Zhongli also made his move. Six stone pillars erupted from different positions around Chen Feng, and then a golden barrier enveloped Chen Feng along with the giant phantom behind him.
"Suppress!"
Zhongli gave a soft shout. Instantly, countless golden patterns flew out from the six stone pillars, eventually wrapping around Chen Feng's body.
However, Chen Feng controlled the phantom behind him to swing its sword at one of the stone pillars. The next second, that pillar lost its divine radiance and broke into two pieces, and the great formation suppressing Chen Feng was directly broken.
Immediately after, Chen Feng's figure flickered several times. Each time he appeared beside a stone pillar, he reached out to touch it, and then the pillar vanished before everyone's eyes.
Zhongli's methods did not have much effect on Chen Feng, but he had already successfully restrained him for several seconds. This time was already enough for the other side to launch another attack.
"Go on, Traveler, show him what we're made of!"
Paimon suddenly appeared in everyone's line of sight, pointing her hand forward with a look of spirited confidence. Then, a figure streaked past her side at lightning speed, arriving beneath that giant phantom before long.
Lumine met the eyes of Chen Feng, who floated in mid-air. She then swung the Dull Blade from below, funneling all her power into an upward thrust!
A gray-white sword light, more powerful than before, traced a long arc through the air as it streaked toward Chen Feng. Everyone's vision blurred, and they felt as if a Black Sun were slowly rising from behind Lumine, filling their hearts with an indescribable sense of suffocation.
This time, Chen Feng didn't have time to completely block the attack. In the end, he could only tilt his body to dodge.
The gray-white sword light finally struck the giant phantom's shoulder. Instantly, a thick arm flew into the air, gradually turning transparent until it vanished completely.
Chen Feng, his spiritual body severely wounded, couldn't help but squint his right eye. Only his obsidian-black left eye remained fixed on Lumine.
Soon, the giant phantom behind Chen Feng regrew the arm it had lost, but its body was now visibly more transparent than before. Clearly, this attack had had a significant impact on him.
"Great job, Traveler!"
"Keep it up, let's take down this villain!"
Paimon cheered wildly, again shouting her support for Lumine.
"What kind of power is this?!"
Everyone who had witnessed the previous scene was inwardly shocked.
When the Black Sun rose behind Lumine, everyone present felt as if their very life force was steadily draining from their bodies. They only snapped back to their senses after the Black Sun vanished, and by then, they were drenched in sweat.
"What a terrifying power. If that power had been unleashed upon me, I feel as if even my very trace in this world would have been completely erased."
Cloud Retainer, her gaze fixed on Lumine's figure, revealed a look of confusion and apprehension.
"Her power was strong at the time, but this Venerable One was not so blinded as to be unable to see it clearly."
"To think that after so little time, she has already grown to a level that is simply unreachable for us."
After hearing Cloud Retainer's words, the other Adepti also sighed deeply with emotion.
Back then, they had fought the Overlord of the Vortex Osial together. Compared to the Lumine who appeared before them now, the Lumine from that time was on a completely different level of power.
"It seems the Traveler has had some remarkable encounters during this period."
"And have you all noticed? The Traveler's power actually has a profound effect on the soul!"
After hearing Cloud Retainer's words, everyone nodded. It appeared that Chen Feng, who could hold his own even against Rex Lapis's personal attack, had suffered a significant blow at Lumine's hands.
At that moment, Paimon flew over and greeted everyone.
"Ningguang, Keqing, Ganyu, and all the Adepti, it's been a long time!"
Seeing Paimon, everyone also smiled and replied to her.
"Long time no see, Paimon."
"It's a good thing you came in time, otherwise I don't know how this would have ended."
Moon Carver shook his head and suddenly sniffed in Paimon's direction, speaking with a strange expression.
"Paimon, why am I smelling an evil aura from you?"
"I was just about to explain this to you all."
Paimon hadn't expected Moon Carver's senses to be so sharp and quickly spoke up.
"Actually, the Traveler and I met a new companion during our journey, and he is a member of the Abyss Order."
"We were supposed to come together, but after that guy sensed the aura of Zhong... Rex Lapis, he said he didn't dare to appear."
Paimon suddenly remembered that Zhongli didn't want his identity exposed, and she almost let it slip.
"What a coward!"
Paimon complained as she continued speaking.
"When there's a chance in the future, I will introduce him to you all."
The crowd couldn't believe that Lumine and Paimon had actually become friends with someone from the Abyss Order, and they were stunned for a moment, but they eventually accepted this new development.
"So, Paimon, how did you and the Traveler end up in Liyue?"
Keqing asked curiously.
"Didn't you and the Traveler just leave Sumeru not long ago?"
Hearing this, Paimon's expression changed, and she quickly waved her hand.
"Keqing, whatever you do, don't mention Sumeru in front of the Traveler later!"
"A little accident happened in Sumeru, and the Traveler has already developed a psychological trauma from that place."
"After that, we went to Fontaine, and that place was also... if possible, it's best not to mention Fontaine either."
Seeing Paimon's strange expression, everyone present became intrigued.
"What happened exactly, Paimon? Hurry up and tell us the details!"
Hearing Cloud Retainer's eager words, Paimon spoke with some hesitation.
"Is that a good idea? It doesn't seem like the right time for this."
"What do you mean it's not a good time? We can't interfere with this battle anyway."
Hearing this, Paimon finally nodded and spoke.
"Alright then, I'll give a brief explanation."
-
While everyone was savoring the juicy gossip, the battle reached a fever pitch.
Just as Paimon was secretly recounting Lumine's embarrassing history to the group, Lumine, locked in a high-intensity fight, suddenly felt a chill run down her spine and was nearly struck by a sword.
Why do I feel like someone is talking behind my back?!
On the other side, Chen Feng, who was already on the defensive, began commanding Guizhong and the others to join the fray. Out of caution, Lumine stopped using the Power of Void, fearing that a momentary lapse would cause Zhongli to switch sides and team up with Chen Feng to gang up on her. As a result, the battle had reached a stalemate.
However, this was hardly good news for the rest. If Chen Feng couldn't be subdued quickly, who knew how many more innocent people in Liyue Harbor would perish.
Lumine's heart grew heavier, yet she found no good way to break the deadlock. The battle felt like it was tying her hands and feet.
Zhongli wasn't faring much better. Chen Feng, whose strength was already comparable to his, had Guizhong fighting alongside him. Unable to unleash his full power, Zhongli was soon forced into a steady retreat.
The advantage of two gods fighting one was already stark. Combined with Zhongli's complex feelings for Guizhong, he couldn't bring himself to attack the weaker Guizhong, leaving him to reap the consequences.
Now that they had finished eating the juicy gossip, the rest of the group all looked at Lumine with strange expressions. They really never expected Lumine to suffer such a major setback in Sumeru and Fontaine, her luck being too terrible.
"By the way, where did this guy come from anyway? He's even forcing Rex Lapis to take action."
"And I haven't seen those other faces before either, they all seem really strong."
Hearing Paimon's question, Ningguang did not hide anything and explained.
"He is Number Nine."
Upon hearing Ningguang's words, Paimon was directly startled and almost crashed on the spot.
Having just gone through the Sumeru incident and returned from the rustic and simple Fontaine, this name was simply too stimulating for Paimon.
But since he was a member of that organization, it wasn't surprising anymore.
"We left Fontaine and came back from Chenyu Vale. We were just about to enter Liyue Harbor to find you when we felt the commotion over here and came over. I didn't expect such a dangerous enemy to appear in Liyue."
Paimon looked at Lumine with some worry, then turned back and spoke.
"By the way, do you know what Number Nine's abilities are?"
Hearing Paimon's question, Mountain Shaper, who was about to answer that he didn't know, was just about to speak when he heard Ningguang say.
"I have some ideas about this."
After speaking, Ningguang paused, her eyes flashing momentarily before she continued.
"At present, Chen Feng has mentioned 'price' and 'sacrifices' multiple times. Combined with Qi Shu obtaining supernatural power through killing earlier, I suspect Chen Feng's ability should be something like 'Trade' or 'Equilibrium'."
"To obtain something, one must pay a price. This should be the very essence of Chen Feng's power."
"Everyone can probably guess Chen Feng's goal. To deal with Teyvat's future disasters, he plans to bring all the deceased outstanding individuals back to this world and allow them to live normal lives here."
"Of course, achieving this naturally requires paying a certain price. Between the lives of ordinary people and the lives of these individuals, he chose the latter."
"With the joint efforts of these people, Teyvat will have more possibilities."
"Chen Feng must have realized that it would be difficult to resist the world's crisis relying solely on his own ability, which is why he made this choice."
Hearing this, the hearts of the Adepti present all sank.
"Chen Feng's ability is indeed powerful, but it's also severely restricted."
"I suspect if he wanted to save Teyvat directly, the price would likely be to send another world to its destruction with his own hands. But his personality won't let him do that, which is why he chose a middle ground."
"This is also why Chen Feng chose almost all the sacrifices to be sinners. I think he obtained those eyes of his later on."
Hearing Ningguang's analysis, everyone nodded.
Based on the current information, all Numbered Members only have one ability. The possibility of Chen Feng being an exception was not high.
If one looked closer, Chen Feng had currently displayed four types of power, three of which were granted to him by the eyes and the Death Note.
Since eyes aren't obvious external objects like the Death Note, they hadn't noticed this point at first. After all, eyes aren't light bulbs that you can just replace whenever you want.
"It seems that kid Chen Feng has really endured unimaginable pressure..."
Cloud Retainer sighed softly, then looked at Hu Tao, who remained silent, and spoke again.
"But wrong is still wrong. No matter how many millions of reasons there are, they cannot change the fact that he has committed an inexcusable mistake."
"This Adeptus understands his pain, but will not support his decision."
"Chen Feng's actions have deeply harmed the nation of Liyue. In the future, he will be reviled by countless people."
Hearing Cloud Retainer's words, the other Adepti also sighed softly.
To be honest, at this point, they even admired Chen Feng a little. At the very least, they would not have been able to make that choice if they were in his position.
Hatred, there was almost none of it.
Perhaps they would have felt some if they had been forced to make that choice themselves back then, but as they gradually understood the reasons behind the incident, and with the revival of their friends, they truly could not harbor any hatred toward Chen Feng.
"Director Hu, what's wrong with you today? You seem to be lacking in spirit."
At this moment, Paimon finally noticed that Hu Tao, who was always the center of attention, seemed to be in an odd mood today. She hurriedly asked with concern.
Just as Keqing was about to simply explain it and stop Paimon from disturbing the already heartbroken Hu Tao, a deafening explosion echoed from the battlefield.
When everyone turned their gazes toward the battlefield, they witnessed a terrifying scene.
Zhongli had been caught off guard and immobilized by Guizhong. He was then struck directly by a transparent longsword forty meters in length. His body was sent flying with a golden trail, slamming violently into Mt. Tianheng. He vanished instantly, leaving only a black hole in the ground.
When Zhongli emerged from the crater and returned to everyone's view, golden blood flowed from the corner of his mouth.
Rex Lapis... was injured?!
"Protect Rex Lapis!"
After recovering from their deep shock, the Adepti forgot their current situation and hurried toward Zhongli's location, only to stop because of a single rejecting glare from him, looking at the scene there with hesitation.
After doing this, Zhongli once again leaped up and exchanged blows with Chen Feng. The Stone Spear in his hand whistled fiercely through the air, showing no sign that Zhongli had been injured at all.
As a result, before the Adepti could even breathe a sigh of relief, Zhongli was caught off guard this time and grabbed directly by the giant phantom. Then, both of the phantom's hands squeezed with force, and low thuds could occasionally be heard coming from over there.
After seeing this scene, the Adepti could no longer hold back and charged over.
"Stop!"