"Alright, it's getting late. Let's end this meeting here."
Persephone swept her gaze across everyone present. Those she looked at instantly stiffened, breaking into a cold sweat as if their lives no longer belonged to them.
Her pale golden eyes were as ferocious as a beast's, the bloodthirsty and mad emotion in them making everyone's hearts tremble.
Persephone raised her hand, and the spirits returned from the World of the Dead drifted toward her, their expressions blank.
"Tsk, it seems two useless fools have mixed in."
Persephone spoke with a contemptuous tone, then, almost at the same time, she kicked twice. The air trembled from her movements, and in an instant, two figures from the former Liyue Qixing were sent flying backward.
They were all capable administrators of the nation, but their strength was far inferior.
Even now, having become Heroic Spirits, their strength had not improved much.
And for Persephone, those without strength were all useless!
"Stop!"
Seeing this, Keqing's expression changed. She shouted angrily while throwing out two Electro Stilettos. The next second, her body turned into a bolt of lightning, catching the two figures in the sky, but she was also sent flying away by the residual force on her body.
Seeing this, Ganyu immediately turned into a streak of pale blue light and caught the three of them. Then, they all returned to the ground together.
As they watched the two figures almost fade into transparency, everyone present glared furiously at Persephone, yet no one dared to make a move.
Perhaps most of those present did not fear sacrifice, but they knew that if they acted and enraged the opposing party, the number of people who would die this time would be terrifying. Moreover, they were all too aware that even if they exerted their full strength, they could not cause the enemy the slightest trouble.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
"Ganyu, how are they?"
Keqing asked Ganyu, who was checking their condition nearby, with anxiety, unable to even take the time to heal her own injuries. Not far away, Ningguang and Yelan also cast their concerned gazes over.
"They are very weak. They must replenish their soul energy as soon as possible."
Ganyu explained while placing her hands on the chests of the two figures, transferring the little Adeptal Energy she had left into their bodies to prevent their souls from simply dissipating.
Seeing Ganyu's face grow paler and paler, Keqing clenched her fist tightly. Her other hand, resting on the Lion's Roar, gripped the sword hilt until it trembled slightly.
Keqing was desperately restraining herself. For the sake of everyone's lives, she could not afford to lose her reason at this moment.
Zhongli's gaze grew even colder. He took two steps toward Persephone, his aura becoming increasingly terrifying.
"What? Are you angry?"
"They are just two useless wastes. Even if they live, they have no value. Besides, I spared their lives."
Persephone's lips curled slightly, as if she enjoyed the feeling of repeatedly testing Zhongli on the verge of his explosion.
"Only the strong have the right to speak. If you have any complaints, you are welcome to kill me at any time!"
Persephone gave Zhongli one last deep look, then immediately turned and prepared to leave with the remaining souls.
After seeing this scene, Zhongli finally couldn't hold back. He could not allow Persephone to take them away.
Zhongli moved. His figure flashed, and he appeared behind Persephone almost instantaneously. The opponent, as if she had already anticipated this, turned and kicked out.
"Boom!"
A sound like the tolling of an ancient bell echoed from the point where the two clashed. To everyone's shock, they saw that even space became distorted at the point of their clash, as unimaginable power collided furiously.
Persephone suddenly grinned, her foot exerting force again as she directly pressed down on the Stone Spear, kicking Zhongli away.
Zhongli slammed violently into Mt. Tianheng, sinking deep into the mountain's body.
At that moment, Persephone twisted her body and threw a punch. The hole several meters in diameter, created by Zhongli's impact, instantly expanded to over a hundred meters. Under this strike, a massive void was carved out of the top of Mt. Tianheng, allowing one to clearly see the scenery on the other side.
With such a large hole suddenly appearing, the summit of Mt. Tianheng began to tremble, showing a tendency to collapse inward.
However, when a figure shimmering with bright yellow light from head to toe stood atop Mt. Tianheng, the tremors abruptly ceased.
Several stone spires erupted from the ground around Zhongli, and the last spire shot out from beneath his feet, rapidly lifting his body high into the air.
The power of the Ley Lines, radiating an incredibly heavy aura, surged through the spires and into Zhongli's body. At this moment, his cloak fluttered without wind, and his entire being emanated a sense of commanding presence from above.
"Am I dreaming? Why is there a giant hole on Mt. Tianheng?"
"It's not just you! I see it too!"
"But the battle's over, isn't it? Didn't the Traveler slice Chen Feng down with a single sword strike? The Millelith even issued an announcement saying he's been executed!"
"Wait, that figure... is that Rex Lapis?!"
"The aura is terrifying! Why does Rex Lapis feel so much stronger than before?!"
"What nonsense are you spouting?! How dare you slander Rex Lapis!"
"You must be mistaken! Otherwise, tell me—why wasn't Rex Lapis fighting at full power before? Was he throwing the match?"
"Stop arguing! It looks like Rex Lapis is fighting something!"
"Wait, could that giant hole on Mt. Tianheng have been caused by the battle?!"
"The battle between gods is truly terrifying!"
Because they were so far away, most people couldn't see the battlefield clearly.
Of course, they had seen everything before. The phantom behind Chen Feng had been so massive that anyone with eyes could have seen it clearly.
"Guys, my eyesight's pretty good, and I think I can see the person fighting Rex Lapis... Holy shit, shes huge!"
"Huge? What are you talking about? That person's figure is so small we can barely see them."
"She is small, but shes definitely huge!!"
"???"
"Not only is she huge, she's tall, too!"
"???"
Spy-I wonder whats huge?... Hmm...
Under the gaze of everyone on Mt. Tianheng and in Liyue Harbor, a divine light radiated from Zhongli, filling their hearts with a sense of his absolute dominance over all things.
In the eyes of the Adepti, Zhongli seemed to have regained his invincible form, capable of suppressing any foe with sheer power!
"Go for it, Zhong—Rex Lapis! Avenge the Traveler!"
Paimon almost let the name slip in her excitement and immediately clapped a hand over her mouth before continuing.
Beside her, Lumine rolled her eyes. I'm not dead yet!
Still, she was eagerly anticipating what came next. She had been so utterly defeated just moments ago that she didn't even expect Zhongli to suppress Persephone in a single blow. Simply teaching that arrogant woman a lesson would be enough.
"All support to Rex Lapis!"
Seeing Zhongli make his move, Ningguang quickly reacted. No longer worrying about the consequences of provoking Persephone, she issued orders to the Millelith controlling the Guizhong Ballistas on the Jade Chamber. Simultaneously, she urged Keqing, Yelan, and the others to launch an all-out attack on Persephone, hoping to stall for time and prevent Persephone from interrupting Zhongli's ultimate.
The Adepti's response was no slower. Although their bodies were exhausted to the limit, they still pushed themselves to their breaking point to launch attacks against Persephone.
However, they forgot that Persephone had helpers. Several figures suddenly appeared on the paths of countless attacks, exerting their full strength to block them all.
Seeing this, everyone's expressions changed. Yet Persephone showed no intention of interrupting Zhongli, watching him with genuine interest instead.
Of course, Zhongli was not afraid of Persephone moving prematurely. He slowly crossed his arms over his chest, and the blinding golden-yellow light radiating from his body surged again.
"Planet Befall!"
At this moment, the sky darkened.
Everyone present looked up as a massive formation unfolded in the sky. Immediately after, a meteor as large as half of Mt. Tianheng emerged from the formation, then hurtled down toward Persephone's position with a heart-stopping sealing power.
Upon seeing this scene, an excited light erupted in Persephone's eyes. Golden light flowed all over her body as the aura of a Primordial Beast suddenly erupted.
She slightly bent her knees, then pushed off the ground forcefully with both feet. The ground instantly cracked in a spiderweb pattern, and the ground within a range of dozens of meters violently sank several meters. The next second, Persephone shot toward the meteor like a cannonball out of the barrel.
Just as she was about to hit the meteor, Persephone suddenly bent her waist like a bowstring, clenched her right hand into a fist and then punched out squarely. Explosive power instantly spread from a single point across the rest of the meteor.
In an instant, it seemed as if everything stood still, then an incomparably dazzling light erupted, and the world was covered in a layer of faint golden light, causing all other colors to fade.
Then, the meteor continuously cracked, and countless golden lights erupted from within, growing more numerous and brighter, before it disintegrated inch by inch.
Finally, under the utterly terrified gazes of everyone present, Persephone shattered the meteor with a single punch, turning it into countless fragments of all sizes that crashed down on Mt. Tianheng, producing dull thuds like the beating of drums, creating a scene as if the apocalypse had arrived.
Because Zhongli had deliberately controlled the area of effect, no one present was affected, but they were already completely stunned.
Aside from the sound of falling debris, there was no other sound at this moment. The scene before them utterly filled everyone with horror and despair, and Persephone's terrifying figure was deeply imprinted in their minds.
"Hahaha, what a thrill!!"
Persephone laughed loudly at the sky, the golden light on her body becoming even more brilliant and dazzling, the well-proportioned muscles on her arms and thighs containing extremely terrifying power.
Seeing that his full-strength attack still could not suppress Persephone, Zhongli's expression was now grave to the utmost.
Soon, Persephone stopped laughing and once again fixed her gaze on Zhongli.
"Impressive. Even in your incomplete state, you still managed to give me such a tremendous surprise. I'm looking forward to the surprises you'll bring me in the future."
"Keep your life well. It's been reserved for me, and next time, I'll come to claim it personally!"
After throwing down this line, Persephone laughed wildly again. The next moment, she appeared back at her original position, the golden light on her body suddenly expanding and enveloping all the souls that had retreated, before it shot away.
Just as Zhongli was about to move again to stop her, he saw a stream of light fly out from the foot of Mt. Tianheng, eventually taking the form of a horn as it flew into that ball of golden light.
Zhongli froze for a moment, then immediately realized that the object just now was the horn that Skybracer, the True Lord, had asked Xiao to cut from his own body when he sacrificed himself to prop up the about-to-collapse mountain back then. It was the hardest horn on his body, and also the hardest horn in all of Liyue, ultimately preventing a terrible disaster from happening and saving countless people.
With the support of the True Lord Skybracer's horn, Mt. Tianheng had stood for a thousand years without falling, but now that the horn had been taken back by the True Lord Skybracer, Mt. Tianheng also began to shake violently, as countless rocks rolled down the mountainside.
Everyone present felt the tremor from the ground, and their expressions changed.
Mt. Tianheng is very close to Liyue Harbor. If anything were to happen, it would likely affect the thousands of ordinary people there. At that very moment, they could already faintly hear the screams and cries coming from Liyue Harbor.
Zhongli hesitated for a moment before taking action again.
The powerful power of the Ley Lines continuously reinforced Mt. Tianheng, and gradually, the tremors in the ground subsided.
Seeing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but soon their hearts were filled with countless feelings of resentment and anger. Persephone had taken those people away, and they didn't know how much she would force them to do against their will.
They just watched as she left, completely powerless to stop her!
However, right at that moment, the space on the mountainside of Mt. Tianheng was violently torn open, revealing Persephone, who had returned.
When everyone present saw Persephone with the corner of her mouth curled up, a bad premonition immediately surfaced in their hearts. Sure enough, in the next second, Persephone briefly gathered her strength, then threw a punch savagely toward the mountainside of Mt. Tianheng.
This punch directly pierced through the entire Mt. Tianheng, blasting a large portion of the mountain into fragments. At the same time, it severed Zhongli's control over the power of the Ley Lines. Instantly, the ground began to shake violently again, the tremors growing stronger and stronger.
After doing this, Persephone tore open space and departed once more, laughing loudly.
By this time, Zhongli no longer had the energy to stop her from leaving. He made multiple attempts to stabilize Mt. Tianheng again, but the effects were not significant.
In the end, under everyone's horrified gaze, Mt. Tianheng collapsed with a thunderous crash!
The crowd managed to take refuge on the Jade Chamber at the last moment. Ningguang also forcibly activated the Jade Chamber again, making it hover unsteadily in midair. It was at this moment that everyone could finally see the situation in Liyue Harbor clearly.
Countless pieces of rubble rained down like droplets, and the screams of agony soon echoed throughout Liyue Harbor. At the same time, the towering buildings collapsed in whole sections. Many people who had not yet managed to find shelter were buried deep beneath the ruins. For a moment, the sounds of pleas for help and weeping were incessant. In an instant, Liyue Harbor was transformed into a living Purgatory...
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Volume 6 End
