-Extra chapter today-
When I'd healed myself enough to be somewhat lucid, I knew I had to move. Tianqiu—bless his soul—had begged me not to strain myself, but I forced myself to head out of the storehouse. Even if I had to limp forward, even if every step I took brought me incredible pain, I could not waste a second.
And so I had come out to a harbor drenched in miasmic rain, and just in time to see two ice spears heading straight for Guizhong. I could see Morax hovering high in the air, poised to retaliate with his own rock spears, but I felt compelled to act first.
My halo flashed into existence, a pair of angel-white wings appeared behind me, and I slammed a cyclone into each ice spear, sending them crashing into the mountains behind Liyue Harbor instead.
"Venti…?" Guizhong whispered. Soon her eyes turned to my waist, and I saw her wince.
I smiled wryly. I didn't blame her; even with how much I'd healed myself, it was still a gruesome wound. I'd mainly focused on purging the karma that I incurred from the attack, so most of the wound itself still remained.
I winked. "We're in this together, aren't we?" I frowned as I turned to Osial in the distance. "And I think you'll need more firepower if you want to put that big bad down for good."
Of course, I knew I wouldn't be able to do much as I was right now. I was injured and weakened and tired. I already struggled against Xiumeng; I'd do nothing against Osial.
But I came prepared.
I already had the [Crown of Wisdom] in my hands, and I had a Talent I was ready to upgrade to 5★. "Might wanna close your eyes, Guizhong." I smiled wryly. "Things will get pretty bright."
Saying no more, I placed the crown atop my head and selected my [Guili Hunting Archery]. The moment I did, the world went white as a shining light burst through the stormy day. Power surged through my being, bringing a mixture of pleasure and pain, and I grit my teeth as I kept my lips shut.
Then, nothing.
[Integration successful. Connecting to a new Path…]
Or, to be precise, I found myself floating in a void. But it was a void different to the chilling emptiness of the Abyss. This one was…massive. A space so large that numbers themselves failed. Countless stars surrounded me, some clumped together into giant nebulae, and others solitary stars yet shining brightly regardless.
And there, floating amongst the stars was a being that towered over hundreds of stars. A centaur-like existence, their skin as black as space, and dotted with thousands of constellations. His hair was long wisps of blue, almost like the trails of a comet. And in his hand, was a bow of pure starlight, aimed at the heavens above.
My eyes burnt the longer I stared upon him, but I couldn't find it in myself to look away. It was a sight too majestic to turn away from—something I knew I could never explain to others.
Then, a bright light shone from his bow, and I saw a star being shot from it like an arrow. It soared high into space, before curving down and falling towards me. I held out my hand by instinct, and once the falling star got close,
I caught it.
You will never be alone, oh Child of Spring.
Authority. Power. There were a million other words I could use, but none could truly capture what I felt at that moment. It was as if the universe itself had reached down and cradled me in its arms.
Then my sight began to twist, and suddenly I was back in Liyue Harbor. I felt the heavy rain soaking through my hair and robes, and I took a deep breath as I looked out at the oceans. Osial's heads were glaring at me, but so too could I see caution. Wariness. Fear.
I took a breath. Let it out. My insides still felt frazzled, and the pain in my waist was even sharper now, but I'd never felt so alive.
And a grin lifted my lips as I saw what my Talent had changed to.
[Starlight Skybow: The Grand Hunt 5★
Once, a hero from a distant galaxy ascended to the stars. His grand arrow would pierce through all corruption, burning apart entire systems to cleanse the Abundance. It is told that once the Grand Prince casts his eye on a target, his bow shall never miss.
Now he blesses you with his might, such that you too shall carry the strength to shoot down the sun.
Increases Arrow damage by 350%. Arrows ignore any environmental interference. Arrows ignore 50% of target's Body. Arrows inflict a Slowness-Debuff, reducing target's speed by 50%. Arrows inflict Starburn-Debuff, capable of burning even the target's soul]
Fuu! No wonder I felt such a rush the moment my Talent upgraded! The boost I got after my [Guili Hunting Archery] evolved was insane. Considering my actions had caught the attention of an Aeon—a godlike higher-dimensional entity—the rush was expected, I suppose.
"V, Venti…?" I blinked as I saw Guizhong hesitantly approach me. "You're-, Venti, right? You're still Venti, right?"
I blinked. What was she on about? I don't think I changed all that much. "I feel like me." I said. I didn't really know what else to say, so I hoped that was enough.
Thankfully, it seemed it was, and Guizhong let out a relieved sigh. "I was worried. I thought you were-" She cut herself off and quickly shook her head, causing droplets of water to fall from her hair. "Nevermind. We have something else to focus on."
"That we do~" I grinned as I held out my hand. Winds coalesced around it, and narrowing my eyes, I forced them to condense into a physical object. The space in front of me shined, and soon the winds condensed together into a bow-like shape, its body a deep amber adorned by bright jade greens.
[Windblume Ode 4★
A mystical bow forged from the hands of the User. Molded from elemental winds, the scent of spring emanates from it. It contains the hopes and prayers for a new day.
Increases Arrow damage by 65%. Increases Speed by 35% when held. Increases Anemo Elemental by 100% when held]
I gave the bow a quick shake, and nodded to myself. The bow felt great in my hands, perfectly fitting into my grip. I then created another [Viridian Skycutter] and notched the sword onto my bowstring, aiming it at the distant Osial. "Ready to do this, Guizhong?"
Guizhong stared at me for a little more, before she huffed. "Let's!" She cheered as she slammed her foot down. A pulse of glowing white echoed out from her, and I smiled as I saw dozens of cannonballs float up and insert themselves into the unloaded cannons. Another pulse of white followed, and the lit fuses of the cannons were remade, ready to be ignited at any moment. "Time to end this stupid rain!"
Morax couldn't hear her words from where he hovered, but he chuckled nonetheless. "It's likely something crass." He whispered to himself, before he turned back to the wary Osial. He raised his Vortex Vanquisher towards the sky, and the air rumbled as the sounds of hundreds of approaching meteors sounded from above. "I will not let you escape."
And seeing both gods ready to bring down judgement on the demonic god, I joined in. I pulled my bowstring as far back as I could, and I called upon my newly improved power. My winds surged around the sword, but instead the usual bright greens, my winds were now a bright burning purple, similar to the spanning nebulae I'd seen earlier. If one looked close enough, they'd also see a smattering of stars twinkling from my winds.
Osial trembled in fear. It was impossible. Impossible! He had gained unimaginable power after consuming hundreds of demonic gods. When he'd realized that there existed a being capable of truly killing gods, he knew he had to consume all the other gods and assimilate their karma into his, lest it be lost and be purified.
But as he stared at the figure standing at the harbor, cosmic winds billowing around his robes, he understood. That thing held a strength that was impossible, and he could feel neither their destiny nor the limit of their strength.
For the first time in his life, Osial felt the urge to flee.
So he did. He submerged deep into the ocean waters and began to swim away. But as he cast a quick look behind him, his many eyes widened in terror.
Hundreds of Geo meteors descended from beyond the stormy clouds. Dozens of cannonballs shot forward like shooting stars. And a sword fired as an arrow, surrounded by cosmic winds that blasted through the torrential waters like it was nothing.
"For I will have Order!"
"Ash to ash, Dust to Dust!"
"Oh wind, Strike down the Stars!"
At each of our calls, our attacks sped up towards the fleeing god. And all Osial could dow as scream as the attacks slammed into him all at once. He lasted only moment before he was enveloped in a giant explosion of colliding Elemental energies, surging outwards as an expanding ball of plasma.
Then even that ball imploded, rising to the sky as a giant mushroom cloud. The resulting shockwave blew away the surrounding oceans, stopped the rain, and blew away the thundering clouds.
The rain had stopped.
Sunlight finally fell back onto Liyue Harbor.
All went quiet. The silence lasted for what felt like eons, before I heard a shrill creak sound from behind me. I glanced back and saw Tianqiu and a few Millelith soldiers exit the storehouse. "The rain is…" One of the soldiers whispered, eyes wide as he looked up at the morning skies.
One soldier then cheered. Then another followed. And soon everyone began screaming in joy as they saw that the rain had ended. A few civilians that'd hid in the nearby stores and houses came out, and they too cheered as they saw the now-calm oceans.
Guizhong and I remained frozen, before a laugh bubbled past Guizhong's lips. "We-, we did it." She took a deep breath as she continued to laugh. "We did it!" She raised her hands in victory, before she came up to me and swept me into a hug. "We did it, Venti!"
I winced at the stab of pain, but I quickly hid it behind a smile as I hugged her back. "We sure did!" I said back, unable to stop smiling.
Soon enough, Morax descended back to the harbor. He had a smile as he saw us hugging, and then blinked when Guizhong swept him into the hug as well. But unlike usual, he didn't say anything and simply closed his eyes.
Then, suddenly, I began to feel woozy. It wasn't much at first, but it quickly became worse as time went on. Soon enough, Guizhong snapped out of her cheer and noticed my paling complexion. "Venti-?"
"I think-, I might be-" I didn't get to finish my words as my vision blurred. And the last thing I heard were my two friends' panicked cries as my world turned dark.
.
.
.
In a far distant galaxy, within one of the six flagships of the Xianzhou Alliance,
Jingyuan was lazily enjoying his afternoon tea when the door to his personal study slammed open. He blinked as he saw Fu Xuan enter hastily, her eyes wide and breathing haphazard. He quickly stood up. "What's wrong?" He asked. It was the first time in a long since he'd seen the Master Diviner so taken aback.
Fu Xuan took a moment to gather her breath. And after she did, she pursed her lips. "Lord Lan contacted me."
His eyes widened. "He did?" That was a rarity. Though the Aeon placed special attention upon the Xianzhou, it was rare for him to appear before one of them, let alone contact them. "What did he say?"
"A new Arbiter-General has been chosen." Fu Xuan said with absolute confidence. "The Jade Sky General has appeared somewhere in this universe."
Jingyuan very nearly dropped his cup when he heard that.