Chapter 126

"What about our preparations?"

Keqing came to Ningguang's side and asked quietly.

Ningguang frowned and looked toward the nearby Millelith.

A Millelith officer stepped forward and whispered something, leaving Ningguang even more puzzled.

How did the Fatui Harbinger so coincidentally know all their ambush points and avoid them...

They had over a dozen Vision-wielding Millelith captains waiting, plus many hired exorcists. Even for Tartaglia, it shouldn't have been so easy to get in.

There must be a mole... Ningguang's eyes showed a hint of coldness.

Once this is over, there will be a thorough investigation.

At Guyun Stone Forest, with a calm expression and Havria standing beside her,

Ningguang watched the distant forest through wind and rain, where what seemed like tentacles and heads writhed and danced.

She called out loudly: "Jade Chamber, set course for Guyun Stone Forest! Millelith, protect Liyue according to the original plan. The rest, come with us to Guyun!"

"Yes!!"

With thunderous shouts, the great nation of Liyue began to move.

"MO! RAX! RISE!!!"

Like an octopus, the god's body was composed entirely of deep blue hydro elements - this was Osial, the Vortex God.

He had been sealed beneath Guyun Stone Forest by Rex Lapis during the Archon War.

"The Vortex God... and his mate, Beisht..."

Ningguang's face darkened while the adepti looked grave.

"When it rains, it pours. Both the god and his mate have come... and this time, Osial is completely free of his seals."

Madame Ping shook her head, her face aged but eyes clear.

Rex Lapis, though we know your plan, isn't this too bold?

"Fortunately we knew Rex Lapis might test us and repaired the Guizhong Ballista in advance, and troubled Cloud Retainer to build several more... otherwise, this would be truly disastrous."

Ningguang said.

"Though the Guizhong Ballista has immense power and can kill monsters, it's not very effective against gods."

Xianyun said.

"We can only hope that since Osial just broke free of his seal and hasn't recovered, with our combined efforts we can make him temporarily retreat."

"Adepti, form formation."

Divine power surged around Madame Ping. 

Even with Rex Lapis's test, they couldn't hold back now. Besides, Rex Lapis himself said he wanted to see what power mortals and adepti could muster together.

The Guizhong Ballista on the Jade Chamber, infused with adeptal power, fired directly at the approaching god and his mate.

Though the effect was minimal, it at least slowed their advance.

Osial's heads roared at the sky, seeming to vent his dissatisfaction and hatred.

Mere insects dare to strike at me?!

He shifted his target, wanting to crush these presumptuous bugs first, then destroy Liyue and find Morax for revenge.

"Not enough firepower..." Keqing bit her lip, face pale.

She finally realized how naive she had been. Without Rex Lapis, humans were too small before a god.

Even the ancient records of Millelith fighting gods were based on wielding Rex Lapis's four-star weapons, with adepti as formation cores, and Rex Lapis's divine blessing...

In the distance, Zhongli spoke calmly:

"You can act now... You said you wanted current Liyue to directly understand true divine power... I think it's time. Their test is to kill Beisht, while your test is to kill Osial..."

Beside him, Jiang Ning was like an unsheathed sword, cold light gleaming. His face was calm, eyes like still water, but beneath that surface were surging waves.

"Then I'll go, Master."

Jiang Ning summoned the wind and rushed toward the battlefield.

Watching Liyue's resistance against the god and Jiang Ning's departing figure, Zhongli smiled.

Havria asked: "So, what was your original plan?"

Zhongli said: "Fake my death, tell no one, directly transition to human rule, and just let the seal crack a bit, to see if Liyue could reseal it through the combined efforts of the Qixing and adepti..."

"Then Jiang Ning's involvement made you completely release Osial? And even bring his wife along?"

Havria worried.

"Osial is no pushover. Though not as strong as the Seven, he was still a formidable force in the Archon War."

Indeed, in the Archon War, the weak gods were killed - just look at the remains in Qingce Village. Only the powerful gods were sealed...

At least in a death battle, they might not be able to fully protect Liyue.

"Jiang Ning has grown up," Zhongli said slowly. "Besides, I no longer want to fake my death, I just want to retire."

Though his words were calm, they were filled with confidence.

With him watching over, if Osial could be released, he could be suppressed again.

...

Osial demonstrated what overwhelming power meant, as the defensive positions built by Liyue and the adepti were compressed step by step.

The adepti were struggling terribly.

Especially Xianyun, who kept complaining internally - even for a test, wasn't it too much for Rex Lapis to remove his divine blessing from the adepti?

With divine blessing, each adeptus was as strong as a god's servant; without it, they couldn't even match Beisht.

Oh, except for the Conqueror of Demons - his karma made him at least as strong as a god's servant.

Seeing Liyue Harbor growing closer behind them, Keqing's eyes reddened as she almost screamed:

"Liyue is right behind us, we can't retreat anymore! Even if..."

Before she could finish, a majestic voice rang from the sky:

"Starfall!"

A star containing supreme divine power crashed down from above, violently smashing Osial beneath the sea's surface.

"ROAR! MORAX!"

But before Keqing and the others could breathe a sigh of relief, Osial burst back through the waves, his massive heads glaring at the sky as if wanting to tear the newcomer to pieces.

"Jiang Ning!"

Keqing's heart jumped, then filled with worry.

"Be careful!"

Madame Ping glanced at Jiang Ning and said: "Little Jiang Ning can hold back Osial. Let's deal with his mate first - Beisht, the Vortex's Legacy, is no pushover either."

She exchanged a look with Xianyun - they could slack off a bit.

While they wouldn't dare hold back against Osial, they could take it easier with Beisht.

Moon Carver and the others definitely wouldn't hold back, and besides, Xiao was there - if needed, Xiao alone could hold the line...

Moreover, for this stage against Beisht, the protagonists weren't the adepti, but the mortals of Liyue.

"All Guizhong Ballistas prepare, open fire on Beisht at will!"

Beisht was a sea creature of the same color as Osial, but much smaller in size.

Ningguang and Keqing exchanged glances and immediately turned their weapons, activating formations to bombard Beisht.

They saw the reassurance in Xianyun and Madame Ping's eyes. Being clever, they immediately realized that Beisht was their test, while Osial must be Jiang Ning's test...

Since learning about the inadequacies of pure human rule from him, and receiving much advice, Keqing had complete trust in Jiang Ning.

As for Ningguang, seeing his moves that somewhat resembled Rex Lapis's techniques recorded in ancient texts,

She had a bold thought - perhaps this young man she liked had caught Rex Lapis's eye?

In the distance, seeing the Jade Chamber immediately redirect its fire without hesitation, even Zhongli couldn't keep his composure.

Havria chuckled teasingly: "Looks like everyone's figured it out and started openly playing along... but why is that Fatui Harbinger still clueless?"

Zhongli said: "There are differences in intelligence between people..."

Speaking of the spectating duo, Osial had already spotted Jiang Ning, who held a spear in one hand and a sword in the other, with Memory of Dust floating around him.

His body was filled with authority belonging uniquely to Morax, the God of Geo.

But he wasn't as powerful as Morax - was he Morax's successor?

He couldn't sense Morax's presence...

Thinking this, Osial grew bolder. If Morax's authority was on this person, then Morax must have fallen - that would explain why the seals on himself had broken.

Since he couldn't take revenge on Morax directly, he'd vent his anger on this successor! And while he was at it, destroy Liyue too!

If I can't beat Morax, surely I can beat you!

With this thought, Osial unleashed a breath attack, viciously spewing it at Jiang Ning.

Jiang Ning's expression remained unchanged. He first cast a geo shield on himself, then surrounded himself with Ganyu's unique qilin adeptal arts.

Before fighting, he needed to apply all his buffs and the enemy's debuffs.

"System, if I absorb Osial, can I gain his powers?"

Jiang Ning thought silently.

[Can do, and after absorbing Osial, I'll get a huge performance bonus that can buy lots of materials.]

The System looked at Osial as if seeing a pile of gold.

"Good."

Jiang Ning was very satisfied.

During their conversation, the breath attack violently struck Jiang Ning's shield. Though the shield shook slightly, it quickly stabilized like bedrock.

Jiang Ning countered with a slash, accompanied by geo, cryo, and anemo elemental energy, striking hard at Osial's massive body.

Unfortunately, the grotesque wound quickly healed.

"You have some strength, but not enough!"

Osial was extremely arrogant - in the sea, he was invincible!

Jiang Ning also discovered that Osial could draw on seawater to heal his wounds.

No wonder this thing was sealed back then - Master probably found it troublesome. Though Osial couldn't beat him, that healing ability was annoying...

So he just sealed it.

But I'm different.

Jiang Ning grinned, continuously using his master's special techniques and skills to harass Osial while gradually moving the battlefield higher.

If it were normal times, Osial would have been cautious.

But facing what he thought was a new, inexperienced god, plus his burning desire for revenge, these thoughts combined made Osial underestimate his opponent.

As Jiang Ning flew with the wind, Osial gradually lifted his massive body from the sea, with only his tail tips still in the water.

This made Osial's enormous size even more apparent - calling him mountain-sized would be an understatement.

Jiang Ning continued with a feint, pretending to be overwhelmed and trying to escape to higher altitude. Osial, blinded by bloodlust, followed directly.

But upon seeing Jiang Ning's smile, he suddenly realized something was wrong and tried to rush back to the water.

However, during their battle, taking advantage of his small size, Jiang Ning had placed talismans around the area, empowered by his master's divine power.

"Rise!"

Jiang Ning's divine power suddenly erupted, the surrounding talismans lit up with brilliant light, and Shenhe and Ganyu's elemental powers instantly activated.

This strike would freeze the ocean!

Osial was frozen in place by the sudden cold. Seizing this moment, Jiang Ning grabbed one of Osial's heads and exerted tremendous force.

His face reddened, every muscle strained, divine power circulating, veins bulging on his forehead.

"Come out!"

Shenhe's divine power could move mountains, and now Jiang Ning's strength was nothing to scoff at.

Taking advantage of Osial's paralysis, Jiang Ning uprooted him from the water, and using anemo power for additional force, literally threw Osial into the sky.

"What the hell?!" Xianyun was dumbfounded. Had Shenhe corrupted Jiang Ning?

Even Zhongli's mouth twitched.

Simple and brutal, but effective. His disciple was truly different from him... While he preferred suppressing with geo spears, this one liked launching enemies skyward?

In the air, separated from seawater, Osial panicked. He was like two different gods with and without contact with water.

Jiang Ning stood on the sea surface, his Skyward Spine surrounded by all his powers - cryo, pyro, salt, geo, soul, and anemo.

Particularly the pyro element, under the influence of salt and geo divine power, gained a divine resonance. Even a little bear far away in Liyue Harbor showed a hint of confusion.

This concentration drained all power from Jiang Ning's body - he wanted to end the battle in one strike!

He had divine power but no divine body; a prolonged battle would be suicide. He could only seek a chance for a decisive blow.

"This strike shall pierce the stars!"

When the momentum reached its peak, Jiang Ning's roar echoed across the sea. Osial struggled frantically, while Beisht tried desperately to help from the other side.

But the Jade Chamber kept her firmly pinned in place.

As the spear was thrown, the dark sky...

Brightened.

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