CHAPTER 118: WHO SAID I’M DONE

Around the time Xu Tao found the path to victory, outside, on the Boss Monster’s back, the fight was reaching its climax.

CLANG!

For the nth time, a black sword and a black folding fan clashed, releasing a sound like two massive metal blocks slamming against each other. Sparks flew in all directions, a vivid display of ferocity and power.

GROOOOOH!

As for the boss monster, acting as their platform... its entire back had been gouged out—like a fish on a plate, being filleted forcefully. The "chef," Wu Zetian, was starting to frown.

"What’s wrong, bitch?! Running out of gas?" the Dual-Soul Wraith, Pharsa, cackled as she swung her sword again.

Zetian casually tilted her wrist, opening the fan and clapping the sword between its folds, holding it in place. "I don’t know what gas is, but this body’s got too little Qi," she grumbled.

Then she twisted the fan, making Pharsa spin like something caught in a blender, before slamming her into the Leviathan’s ravaged back.

"Gaha!" the Wraith coughed, air knocked from her lungs. ’This bitch is so strong—even with all my advantages...!’ she thought, frustrated.

But even while running on fumes, Zetian continued to dominate their exchange!

Yet even as she dominated, she stepped back, brows creased, inspecting her black folding fan—now marred with a small tear in its pristine, silky surface.

"...This won’t do," she sighed, folding the fan and letting it go.

In the next instant, it vanished, consumed by purple-black flames. She now stood empty-handed—the most vulnerable she’d ever been.

’Chance!’ Pharsa thought, grabbing her sword and lunging forward.

—But what she thought was her chance, was actually her last opportunity to preserve her life.

"To think that I, the Black Phoenix, would suffer the shame of running out of Qi... What nonsense!" Wu Zetian growled, her black eyes glaring at Pharsa still struggling to stand.

She extended her arm—and purple-black portals appeared behind her. From them, the same Celestial Beasts as before came prowling forth—the very ones she had left to deal with the flying monsters earlier.

"Bitch...!" Pharsa spat immediately. "Getting scared of fighting me?! Play fair and face me one-on-one!"

She could only complain.

Because she knew full well just how powerful those beasts—the Star-Eater Hounds—were. If even three of them joined the fight, her death would be guaranteed.

"Scared?"

Her words were met with a scoff.

"What cheap provocations. Why would a queen like me fear an ant like you?"

Indeed, Zetian hadn’t summoned the beasts to assist her in battle. Instead... they were her "batteries."

"Rejoice," she declared in a holier-than-thou tone, pushing her hand into one of the Celestial Beast’s body. "For I, the Black Phoenix, shall take you as sustenance."

RAAAAGH!

The beast bled sparks. The lightning covering its body turned blood-red—but it didn’t resist Zetian’s actions. As if a loyal subject offering its life to its empress, the Star-Eater Hound lay down and slowly faded, the energy forming it being drawn away.

No... it didn’t vanish. It was transferred.

"Hm... not bad."

Zetian’s lips curled slightly as her Qi surged—rising quickly to match a late-stage Golden Core. "Now then... where were we?"

"...!"

As an Evil Spirit, Pharsa instantly recognized the technique. Something she "should" know, as it’s a technique born from the Demonic Realm itself.

Noble Life Sacrifice.

A forbidden technique so twisted it was heretical even—in the Demonic Realm where it was made! By consuming the "life" of a servant, the user could explosively recover their energy. The higher the loyalty of the sacrificed being, the better the energy conversion.

Furthermore, Wu Zetian’s expression didn’t change, despite sacrificing one of her loyal servants just to recover her Qi immediately. Like a cold, ruthless ruler.

’This bitch is insane! I need to get out of here...!’

But her realization came far too late.

Zetian snapped her fingers—and twelve pillars of purple lightning fell from the sky, piercing through the Leviathan’s back and surrounding the Evil Spirit in a glowing cage.

"No, this is—!" Pharsa gasped, panic rising.

"Yes, it is," Zetian replied smoothly, answering the unspoken question. "As you know, this is the Twelve-Point Soul-Destroying Purple Lightning Array. Just perfect for handling a soul body like you, wouldn’t you say~?"

Her lips were curled in amusement, but her eyes were flat—like she was gazing at a roadside pebble she’d grown bored of kicking.

"You crazy bi—!"

Zetian brought her arm down, cutting off the Wraith mid-sentence. It was a graceful gesture, like a flower petal drifting in the wind.

CRACKLE!

But what followed was destruction so overwhelming that even the heavens flared brighter than the sunset. Purple lightning rained down nonstop, each bolt striking the center of the array—where Pharsa stood.

This was a move meant to guarantee an enemy’s death.

As a positive side effect, even the Leviathan was harmed—its body, mind, and spirit all ravaged, its regeneration disrupted further.

By the time the 36th bolt fell, silence finally returned.

Dust, smoke, and flame cloaked the center of the formation as the twelve lightning pillars faded. But Zetian had already turned away. She’d sensed it—Pharsa’s presence had vanished.

Although the nature of her disappearance felt odd, she didn’t care. Whether the Dual-Soul Wraith had truly died or not no longer mattered to her.

"She took at least three strikes from the Soul-Destroying Lightning. She won’t be moving around anytime soon."

Zetian whispered as she walked with the poise of a queen. Then, she turned her eyes toward the Leviathan’s head.

"Now... time to go and receive my Emperor."

At least, that was her plan.

"..."

Until she noticed the Leviathan’s body stiffen—then begin to fall toward the ground.

"This is..." she murmured, hand rising to her cheek, pinky brushing against her lips. "As expected of my Emperor. To take down this trash heap in the time it took me to handle a random harlot..."

Her eyes—lidded with a heat that had nothing to do with battle—burned with anticipation, almost lustful.

But now was definitely not the time for that.

If nothing was done, the Leviathan’s body would crash into the earth—flattening the city they had painstakingly built!

Time was of the essence... but Xu Tao was nowhere to be seen.