Chapter 264: The Guizhong Ballista

"This is the Vortex God? Whoa, just looking at it makes it hard to breathe!"

Paimon, feeling scared, hid behind the group.

"Yes, the pressure from an ancient god is indeed difficult for ordinary people to bear. That's exactly why we can't let it get near Liyue."

At some point, the sky had darkened, and a heavy rain began to fall. Raindrops, the size of beans, hit Keqing, soaking her clothes.

Though her black tights darkened in the rain, the tight fit against her legs accentuated the pale white of her skin, making it even more visible.

"Everyone, be careful! It's noticed us!"

Ningguang, hovering in the air, noticed that one of Osial's heads had opened its mouth, gathering a bright energy sphere using divine power.

"Osial is about to use its breath attack! Prepare to defend!"

Cloud Retainer flapped her wings, which shimmered like a sunset, releasing a massive surge of adepti power to create a giant amber shield in front of the Jade Chamber.

The Jade Chamber wasn't very fast. When facing such an attack, the only option was to endure it.

Although the chamber was equipped with a powerful defense array personally set up by Ningguang, which could withstand an attack from a god as long as it had sufficient elemental energy, it was better not to take risks.

After all, the Jade Chamber played an important supporting role in the battle.

At that moment, Osial's breath attack arrived, sending a beam of energy straight into the giant amber shield.

Though the adepti's power was formidable, it was slightly weaker compared to that of a true god.

Cracks quickly began to form on the amber shield in front of the Jade Chamber.

"Jade Screen!"

Just as Cloud Retainer's amber shattered completely, Ningguang summoned the power of geo from within her, creating a massive screen at a tilted angle in front of the Jade Chamber.

The energy beam broke through the amber and hit the Jade Screen, which deflected the attack to the side, sending it crashing into the sea. Water exploded into the air, rising dozens of meters high.

With that, they had finally blocked the attack.

"Adepti, it's time to counterattack!"

Rain splashed off Ningguang's body, instantly repelled by her aura. She quickly formed a hand seal, storing several "Guizhong Ballistas" provided by Cloud Retainer in the storage space she had developed using geo power.

Then, Ningguang changed her hand seals and deployed a massive platform array around the Jade Chamber.

Three Guizhong Ballistas were summoned and positioned on the left, center, and right. Cloud Retainer, Moon Carver, and Mountain Shaper each took control of one.

The modified Guizhong Ballistas, enhanced by Cloud Retainer, possessed incredible power. Especially when operated by the adepti, they were capable of posing a serious threat to even a god. The downside, however, was that each shot required some time to charge.

"Everyone, let's give them an undisturbed environment to charge their machines,"

Granny Ping said kindly, as always.

Without any grand gestures, she gently pressed her palm forward, causing one of Osial's heads in the distance to lurch suddenly to the side.

Bang! 

It was as if it had been slapped from afar. Water sprayed everywhere, and the head was nearly scattered by the shockwave.

"Wow, that was 'Granny Ping's Shockwave!'" Paimon exclaimed with wide eyes, then turned to look at Nolan and Lumine. "By the way, can we really participate in a battle of this level?"

"Uh, of course not. We can't even touch it."

Nolan's longest attack range was his "Mental Threads," which could reach up to a thousand meters.

But whether they could even hurt it was another matter. The distance between the Jade Chamber and the Vortex God was far beyond a thousand meters—he really couldn't even get close.

"To participate in a battle at the adepti level, you need to at least break through six times and awaken all six constellations.

"If we manage to do that, our strength will increase significantly, and attack range won't be an issue anymore."

Keqing, being close to her sixth breakthrough, already had some understanding of this.

"I see."

Nolan nodded, then used the opportunity to activate his Golden Eye of Judgment, curious to observe the strength of the adepti present.

First, he looked at Moon Carver, who was operating the middle Guizhong Ballista. The bright label above his head displayed:

[Level: 96]

For humans, the limit was level 90. Anything beyond that meant they were gradually gaining control over divine power.

It seemed that Moon Carver wasn't far from becoming a god. However, the adepti had been able to join the Archon War thousands of years ago, which likely meant they had already surpassed level 90 back then.

Now, after thousands of years, Moon Carver had only advanced six levels. In the most extreme case, he might have already been level 96 even back then and hadn't progressed since.

While that probability was low, it reflected how incredibly difficult it was to advance beyond level 90.

Becoming a god was no easy task.

Fortunately, Nolan had a character panel, and as long as he accumulated enough Adventure EXP, he wouldn't have to wait thousands of years just to level up a few times.

Feeling a bit relieved, Nolan turned his attention to the other adepti.

Compared to Moon Carver, Mountain Shaper was slightly weaker, at level 95.

Cloud Retainer, however, matched Moon Carver at level 96.

When Nolan shifted his gaze to Xiao, the Conqueror of Evil, he found that Xiao was even stronger than the others—reaching level 97.

As expected of a Yaksha specializing in combat!

However, Xiao was currently plagued by karmic debt, so it was unclear how much of his strength he could actually unleash.

Nolan then glanced at Granny Ping, who was actively fighting. She seemed to notice his gaze and smiled kindly at him.

Embarrassed, Nolan quickly looked away, feeling as if he'd been caught doing something mischievous in class by a teacher.

Despite the awkwardness, Nolan successfully saw Granny Ping's level: 98.

This wasn't surprising to him. Granny Ping always gave off the vibe of a reclusive master, so it was natural for her to be a bit stronger.

Aside from the adepti present, the strongest person in the group was none other than Ganyu, the secretary of Yuehai Pavilion, who had just taken out her bow and aimed at Osial.

Though gentle and soft-spoken, Ganyu wasn't an adeptus in the strictest sense, but she did have the bloodline of the qilin, an immortal beast. She had also lived for thousands of years, making her a contemporary of the adepti.

As such, Ganyu's level was also above 90—she was at level 96, no less powerful than Cloud Retainer.

Though she was Cloud Retainer's disciple, Ganyu's strength was on par with her master's, likely due to her qilin heritage, which gave her exceptional talent.

Just as Nolan was about to inspect the others and Osial's level, the adepti's Guizhong Ballistas finished charging.

Each adeptus aimed at one of Osial's heads, unleashing the full power of the Guizhong Ballistas in the form of gigantic beams of light!

(End of Chapter)

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