Sensing the impending crisis, Osial raised his heads in a panic, staring directly at the colossal sword hanging in the sky.
"Roar!"
Pure, violent Hydro energy, carrying the authority and hatred of an ancient god, transformed into a pillar of water that pierced the heavens, surging straight toward the ink-black blade of ice.
"Hmph! Blade of Taixuan: Swift!"
"Rise, myriad swords!"
Having inherited the swordplay of Jingliu, Su Ming was no novice to the Way of the Sword. His deep understanding of techniques, combined with the innate compatibility of the Blade of Taixuan, allowed him to effortlessly execute and learn moves he had once only imagined. What man doesn't dream of summoning a sea of blades with a single command?
Countless blades, some tiny and others massive, materialized out of thin air. Under Su Ming's control, they slammed into the pillar of water Osial had spat out. This river of swords washed against the god's attack, blocking and grinding until the two forces reached a stalemate.
Su Ming laughed heartily. "Hahaha! Osial, it seems your strength hasn't fully recovered! You can't even break through a river of swords I summoned on a whim. It looks like you won't escape being sealed again today!"
The sheer scale of the river of blades caught Osial off guard. Fortunately for him, he had many heads. The other heads began spitting terrifying water jets at Su Ming.
"Go!"
With a thought, Su Ming condensed the myriad blades into another massive sword to block the onslaught. This thrilling scene was witnessed by everyone atop the Jade Chamber.
"Stop watching and cover Su Ming!"
Moon Carver was the first to react, manning the Guizhong Ballistas to harass the god once more. But Osial had learned his lesson. While the Guizhong Ballista bolts stung, they couldn't deal significant damage in the short term.
However, if those giant swords above his head landed true, it wouldn't just be a scratch. At best, he'd be suppressed back into the seal to suffer eternal erosion and decay until he died silently under Morax's light. At worst, he would be annihilated right then and there.
Indeed, Su Ming's offensive had shocked Osial, even clearing some of the god's madness. Osial ignored the ballistas and focused entirely on Su Ming. Massive Hydro vortexes appeared in mid-air, attempting to wear down Su Ming's offensive.
But Hydro could not stop the encroachment of Frost. In the blink of an eye, those vortexes were frozen into massive blocks of ice by Su Ming's technique, Floreat Intacta. They crashed into the sea, kicking up massive waves before sinking into the depths.
Seeing Su Ming handle the god with ease, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Even Shenhe relaxed. Watching Su Ming face a god's attack without flinching calmed her heart.
"Please, don't let anything happen to him..." she prayed silently.
Just as Su Ming said, mortals were of little use in a fight of this magnitude. The mere aftershocks could ground them into dust. Osial's vortexes and water cannons might have been neutralized easily by Su Ming, but if those attacks landed on the Jade Chamber or Liyue Harbor, they would leave nothing but ash.
"Keep going," Lumine whispered, her fists clenched as she cheered for Su Ming in her heart.
Currently, the battle was at a standstill. Osial couldn't harm Su Ming, and the reverse was true. Su Ming's two secondary swords had shattered, but his initial, charged strike was still plunging toward Osial with unstoppable momentum.
"It has to work!"
Under Lumine's hopeful gaze, the giant sword fell into the sea. Osial let out a roar of agony as his body was forced back into the depths by a third of its height. As the ice mist cleared, they saw the god's state. His massive Hydro body was covered in wounds.
Crystal-blue blood flowed incessantly from the deep gashes. Yet, this dangerous blood did not mix with the ocean. The power of Floreat Intacta was far from over; the sea for a hundred miles around Osial was frozen solid.
The Millelith on the Jade Chamber shivered from the chill. To these mortals, Su Ming was no longer just a man or an Adeptushe was a god.
"Heavens, is Mr. Su Ming even human? He doesn't look like one."
"Even Rex Lapis might only be this majestic..."
"A god from antiquity, beaten so easily by Mr. Su Ming?!"
"It's only been a few minutes! How did he stop that god so quickly?"
"Don't just stand there! Fire the Guizhong Ballistas! Even if it's just a little, we have to show the backbone of those who protect Liyue! Open fire!"
The Millelith reacted even faster than the Adepti. Inspired by Su Ming's offensive, they refused to give up. Even if their spears were useless against a god, they still had the Guizhong Ballistas. Having an effecthowever smallwas entirely different from doing nothing.
Xiao watched them, smiling with relief. Though the elite Millelith of 500 years ago had mostly perished in The Chasm during the cataclysm, their spirit lived on. Even through centuries of peace, their conviction remained.
"Fine... Su Ming used some unknown means to cleanse most of the Karma within me. I can spare some strength now." Xiao smiled faintly, infusing his power into the soldiers manning the ballistas. "This is a shred of Adeptal Energy. Inject it into the ballistas to straighten your backs!"
"Thank you, Great Immortal! we won't let you down!"
Madame Ping chuckled. "If the Conqueror of Demons is helping, I can't be stingy. I shall use my energy to augment the ballistas' power."
Moon Carver looked at the mortals and grunted with satisfaction. "Hmph, not bad. Their spirit is still intact." He turned to Cloud Retainer and Mountain Shaper. "Final strike. Stand tall."
The three Adepti coordinated perfectly. Three reinforced Guizhong Ballistas fired terrifying beams of light at Osial.
Boom!
The beams slammed into Osial, aggravating his wounds. Some bolts even landed directly inside the gashes Su Ming had carved. This was like rubbing salt into a wound, and it enraged Osial.
"Roar! Roar! Roar!"
Osial's five heads roared toward the sky, launching five water columns and countless Hydro bombs at Su Ming. Su Ming blocked them with another river of swords, only to realize Osial was using a feint!
Osial's massive submerged body churned the ocean. He invoked his authority as the Overlord of the Vortex. A towering tsunami rose in an instant, high enough to cover the Jade Chamber, surging toward Liyue Harbor.
"Damn it!" Su Ming's expression tightened. He had to let Osial go for a moment. If the harbor was destroyed, what point was there in killing the god? Though he knew Zhongli was watching, Su Ming wasn't sure if the Archon could stop a wave of this scale. The Geo Archon wasn't omnipotent, or the Guili Assembly wouldn't have been lost to a flood. He wouldn't leave Liyue's fate to chance.
He rushed toward the towering wall of water. Su Ming took a deep breath. The ocean beneath him was already frozen. The Parvati genes within himnow upgraded to Judgment-classbecame hyperactive.
"Frost Domain... Rise!"
The rain was replaced by a blizzard so thick it obscured the wind. The giant tsunami began to slowly freeze.
"Frost Moon Reflecting the Heavens!"
Su Ming unleashed a barrage of slashes, carrying enough frost energy to try and lock the entire wave in place.
"Divine Maiden's Enunciation!"
Su Ming heard Shenhe's voice. Her eyes glowed with blue light as she threw an ice talisman forward. Frost winds swept through, freezing part of the wave instantly. But it wasn't enough. Unless the entire tsunami was frozen at once, the churning pressure of the ocean would eventually break the ice.
"I have to go all out..."
"Ice... Age!"
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