"Wow… I didn't expect this."
Lowering his wine pot, Bai Wen raises an eye in amusement.
"The quality difference between their divine arts is quite clear, but even so…"
Noticing the amount of blood that Xia Chen Hai had been made to spew, Yun You is rather astonished by the strength that faith energy is capable of offering.
"…"
Despite knowing that Long Hua wouldn't have too much trouble with Xia Chen Hai, Wu Xiao is still somewhat surprised to see the latter being wounded this badly.
...…
"…"
Placing his hands behind his back, Long Hua raises his head slightly, as he gazes at Xia Chen Hai's miserable figure.
As the wind blows, and picks up his lengthened black hair, the image of Long Hua, who is standing at the very edge of the mianguan crown—immortal, that would be the first word to come to mind in describing his appearance and air, so much so to the point that he had seemingly become the very embodiment of the term.
(I should be able to maintain my current state for a couple of days. I might as well have some fun experimenting.)
Thinking of this, a thin smile appears on Long Hua's face.
Projecting his voice to Xia Chen Hai directly, Long Hua says—
"Speak your name for this god to hear, mortal."
Gritting his teeth and holding back the urge to spew out another mouthful of blood, Xia Chen Hai answers—
"Xia… Chen Hai."
"Oh? Another surnamed Xia?"
Realizing this individual to be from the same bloodline branch as Xia Ri'er, Long Hua smiles with amusement, and says—
"Surnamed Xia, leave your storage pouch behind, and this god will spare your life for today."
"Hmph… I-"
Cutting Xia Chen Hai off with a cold glare, Long Hua states—
"This world is imperfect. It cannot possibly hope to hold more than three Immortal realm practitioners. This god can spare your dog life for today, and you can return with another friend to take revenge. Don't you think this god is being quite benevolent?"
"…"
As the urge to spew blood becomes increasingly more difficult to suppress, Xia Chen Hai glares at Long Hua, to which, the latter remarks—
"This god also doesn't mind ending you right now."
"…"
As a black rift appears in the air—with the tip of a spear protruding outwards, Xia Chen Hai grinds his teeth together, and takes out a spatial tearing talisman from his storage pouch.
Raising a sigh, Long Hua states—
"This god's spear can impale you far faster than you can hope to flee. Also, have you considered what would happen if I were to detonate this spear just as you tear a rift open? I wonder how much damage that would cause to your precious Ling Yuan family's estate?"
"…Tch."
Tossing his storage pouch outwards, Xia Chen Hai activates the talisman, and enters the rift.
"…"
Making a grasp gesture with his right hand, Long Hua draws all the storage pouches that are scattered throughout the battlefield towards himself.
And just as the imperial figure beneath his feet vanishes, along with the rift, Long Hua assumes a lotus seating posture, while waving his hand.
Immediately, a sphere of golden radiance forms around him—shrouding his figure from sight.
"Tai Xuan Emperor, tell Tian Cheng to prepare a combat body for me to use."
(Uh?)
"Just do it. Also, calculate my total pulls. I'll be going through the items in that surnamed Xia's pouch first."
(R-Right…)
...…
As silence returns to the ruins, every single person heaves a sigh of relief.
For a while, not a single person could pry their eyes away from the sphere of golden radiance, which acted as a secondary sun.
"A deity…"
"This is a deity…"
"That Immortal was utterly not a match…"
As they couldn't hear the words that were spoken between Long Hua and Xia Chen Hai, the weapon spirits are utterly unaware of there being a second battle that is scheduled to arrive.
...…
"…"
Emerging from the forest with Xu Zuo in hand, Yao Ying—who had seen the entirety of Long Hua and Xia Chen Hai's exchange, blinks her eyes in confusion.
"A god… A selfish god…"
"Selfish indeed."
"…?"
Turning her head to the left, Yao Ying sees Nuo'er approaching her.
"…"
"…"
Face to face, and gazing intently into Yao Ying's pale pink eyes, Nuo'er remarks—
"Long-shao… His selfishness is very pure, or at least that's what elder sister had said."
"But…?"
"Little girl."
Being called little girl, Yao Ying flinches subtly, while Nuo'er continues to state—
"You don't have the time to be concerned with others, nor do you have the power to do so. Living selfishly would be the ideal option for you to take."
Looking up at the false blue skies, Nuo'er adds—
"The Ling Yuan family, they'll surely be bringing a large force into this ruin. You have two options right now."
Turning to Yao Ying, and cupping the sides of her head, Nuo'er in a stern tone says—
"One, you can choose to flee and return with me to the city; or two, you can choose to use the blood of other practitioners to baptize yourself."
"…"
With how strongly Nuo'er is holding onto her head, Yao Ying isn't even able to cast her gaze downwards.
"Actually, there is a third option."
"…?"
Staring into Nuo'er's dark purple eyes, Yao Ying doesn't know what to expect.
"…"
"…"
Shattering the silence, Nuo'er says—
"I can kill you right now—to set you free from future concerns."
"…!"
In a gentle manner, Nuo'er slides her hands down from the side of Yao Ying's head, and wraps them around the latter's neck.
"A single instance, that's all the time it would take for me to snap your neck. You won't even have the chance to feel any hint of pain."
"…"
"Make your decision, or… Do you want me to make it for you?"