Utilizing the path opened by the royal siblings to head straight to the frontline, Xiaoyu became like a golden thunderbolt as she tore through the enemy ranks whenever she met a shield wall head-on.

After days of picking up and comprehending the manuals related to the Skystorm Hall at the store's mystical manual shelves, she started calling its unified form, combined with the Liu Clan's technique and further enhanced by her [Nine Heavens Exquisite Body] as the [Nine Heavens Storm Martial Technique].

It was a powerful, all-encompassing art of every element related to storms. She made it a technique tailor-made for only those with the same Heavenly Physique as her.

"Hehe... It's my time to show off to Boss. He's becoming more like a strategist. I can't get left behind. Out of my way, tin cans!" She roared with a battle cry filled with youthful glee, her voice crackling with spiritual energy. She's truly too different from those proud geniuses like Xue Yuan of the Rising Sun Ocean Pavilion.

"Father, I've come to your aid!" She called out after bashing through a hastily formed five-man shield wall that immediately exploded upon contact with her storm qi.

"Yu'er?!" Liu Zhongzhu was surprised. Despite having understood that his daughter was a peerless genius due to her Heavenly Physique, he never would've guessed that her combat prowess had already reached the threshold of a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator.

As bitter as he was for being stuck at the peak of the Nascent Soul Stage for decades, he was overjoyed to see his daughter's rapid progress. This was the hope of the Liu Clan. No, the future of the First Heaven itself.

He watched as Liu Xiaoyu continued charging forward. Her form seemingly turned into a bolt of lightning as she executed a move from her martial technique.

Her small frame became the eye of a furious tornado of wind and lightning.

The five Decurions who stepped forward to intercept her father were immediately swept up in the vortex.

Their linked energy field flickered and shattered under the relentless assault.

Their Aether-forged armor, designed for direct impacts, got shredded by a thousand tiny cuts from wind blades and arcs of lightning.

And then, with a final, explosive pulse of her spiritual energy, she reappeared where they once stood and the five elite guards were sent crashing to the walls, their armor smoking and their formations utterly broken.

Liu Zhongzhu's jaw dropped. He had been preparing to engage them in a difficult, prolonged battle with the other Nascent Soul Stage experts, but his daughter had just neutralized them in a single, flashy move.

"Yu'er, your strength..." He murmured with his voice laced with pride and astonishment.

"I've been eating my snacks and training hard, Father!" She proudly smirked before landing gracefully beside him. She popped an [Energy Replenishing Candy] into her mouth. "I've been watching Boss's training regimen. I can't let him be the only one leveling up like a monster!"

Compared to the others on the battlefield, her cheerful demeanor was like a small bubble of bright, chaotic energy in the midst of the grim fight.

The Centurion, having recovered from the Qilin's initial blast, roared in fury.

Unlike the Centurion Valerius that emerged outside the Anchor, this Centurion pulled out a broadsword as his weapon. His cold, disciplined fury finally cracked, replaced by a berserker's rage.

"[Conclave's Judgment]!"

He raised his broadsword, which had been sucking in the Aether flowing in his armor. The Aether in the air also began to coalesce around him.

In seconds, it formed a massive, spectral image of a balanced scale above his head, a symbol of absolute, unwavering law.

One side of the scale dipped, and a crushing, metaphysical weight slammed down on Liu Zhongzhu and his daughter.

It was both a physical and spiritual attack. Like a judgment in an attempt to declare them 'unbalanced' and 'chaotic' in their doctrine. And therefore, to be purged.

Liu Zhongzhu grunted, his powerful storm qi flickering under the immense pressure. But he held on, with his body buffed with the card talismans that enhanced his physical capabilities and merged with spiritual embodiment from the sticker seal, his strength also broke past what a normal peak Nascent Soul Stage cultivator could exert.

In a way, it could be categorized as a half-step to the Spirit Severing Stage.

"Judgment? You want to talk about judgment with me?"

Meanwhile, Liu Xiaoyu also resisted it. Her Nine Heavens Exquisite Body, a physique born from the pinnacle of the Heavenly Dao, flared to life. The oppressive weight of the Conclave's Judgment simply couldn't pressure her. It was gradually evaporating around her.

"My existence is the ultimate balance, you oversized tin can!"

Lin Mo, who had just arrived with the rest of his team, watched the scene unfold with a wry grin. Even his own Perfect Foundation tribulation was probably not as flashy or as... domineering as the father and daughter pair's aura at the moment..

"That is the power of a Heavenly Physique..." Jiang Jianxin murmured from beside Lin Mo, her hand still gripping her silver sword currently dripping with blood. Her Golden Core, a pinnacle of achievement for her stage, felt... ordinary in the face of such innate, overwhelming talent.

It wasn't a feeling of jealousy, but of profound, professional awe.

"Dear customer, it may be enviable but you're not in any way inferior to her." Lin Mo whispered in a consoling tone before stepping forward and addressing the two at the front.

"Master Liu, Xiaoyu. We'll leave that Area Boss to you. No rush but… we're running out of time. We must take him down. Take the Area Core that he will drop. Interface with the Anchor to extract the Area's Data. And escape from this place."

As he said that, the sounds of galloping and marching outside the fortress were heard. With the number of Vindicators inside already dwindling to less than half of their original numbers, the reinforcements from the other fortresses were finally arriving.

Liu Zhongzhu turned his head, his expression hardening. "Understood, Shopkeeper. Xiaoyu... Prepare to use our Secret Technique."

Liu Xiaoyu's playful grin vanished, replaced by a look of fierce concentration. "Yes, Father."

The father and daughter pair moved as their auras began to resonate with each other.

Liu Zhongzhu's was a mature, raging thunderstorm, vast and powerful. Xiaoyu's was a nascent, yet infinitely purer storm, crackling with the raw potential of the heavens.

"Liu Clan Secret Art: [Heavenly Storm's Descent]!"

They roared in unison.

Their individual storm qis merged, twisting and coiling into a colossal thundercloud that gradually transformed into a two-headed thunder dragon as if it were about to issue a lightning tribulation.

One head was the dark, furious thunder of the father; the other was the bright, golden lightning of the daughter. It was a perfect fusion of experience and peerless talent.

The Centurion's eyes widened in horror. The spectral scale of [Conclave's Judgment] above him wavered as its absolute law cracked under the sheer, chaotic might of the storm dragon.

The Twin-headed Thunder Dragon roared, issuing a sound that was both a thunderclap and a divine cry, and descended upon the Centurion.

Lin Mo turned away from the blinding flash of light that followed. "That's that. Everyone else, our job is not done!"

The Crown Prince, Jiang Jianxin, Yan Wei, and Zhou Rui immediately snapped to attention, their focus shifting from the now-decided boss battle to the new, pressing threat.

The first wave of Vindicator reinforcements, a hundred-strong phalanx of Legionaries, reached the shattered gate. They were met by a furious tornado of wind blades and a wall of unyielding crimson qi. Yan Wei and Zhou Rui had become an unbreakable bulwark.

Jiang Jianxin flitted like a real fairy and a silver phantom. Her Sword Formation sends out sword waves wherever a Legionary squad tries to scale the walls. Her strikes are silent and fatal.

The Crown Prince and his guards were a spearhead of royal might, charging into the thickest concentrations of enemies and shattering their formations before they could solidify.

Wu Meiyu, from a protected position, had summoned her full contingent. A [Moonlit Harpist] played a discordant melody that caused the Vindicators' linked energy fields to flicker and short-circuit. A [Jade Serenade] sang a high-frequency note that made their Aether-forged helmets vibrate painfully, disorienting them.

And at the center of it all was Lin Mo. His [Stellar Domain] became a subtle yet constant debuff that slowed his enemies and disrupted their energy.

He moved across the battlefield using his movement technique as his spear lashed out to deliver precise, killing blows to key targets – the Decanus leaders trying to rally their troops. His [Qi Solidification] created instant barriers, blocking charges and funneling enemies into kill zones for his allies.

When the other Area Boss Centurions arrived, the Nascent Soul Stage cultivators intercepted them. Not to take them down, but only to buy time.

Minutes stretched into an eternity. The pressure was immense.

The Vindicator reinforcements were an endless tide of silver and steel.

Just as their own defensive line was beginning to strain, a massive explosion of storm qi erupted from the heart of the fortress.

The last defiant roar of the Centurion was silenced, replaced by a triumphant cry from Liu Xiaoyu.

"Shopkeeper! We have it. The Area Core is secured! Catch!" Liu Zhongzhu shouted.

Following that, a small core that looked like a metallic ball shot into the air, flying straight to Lin Mo.