There was really no need to consider who would go on the mission to Lake Kanas in Shenzhou. Fuli quickly decided that he himself, Kiana, and Bronya would go together.
He stuffed a piece of lamb rib into his mouth. Unmelted salt crystals still clung to the cracks. As his teeth broke through the crispy skin, scorching lamb fat mixed with meat juices flooded the base of his tongue. For a fleeting moment, he could even taste the sour aftertaste of sea buckthorn berries.
"Mmm, so good!"
The boy's eyes squinted in bliss. "Staying on the Hyperion all day is so boring. We should go out more often."
"Sounds good."
Mei had no objections. She had just gone out on the trip to the Foggy City. Now, she was eager to stay at Massive Electric and deal with the mountain of projects piled on her desk.
"Yay! We're going out to play!"
Kiana, who was stuffing her face, was even happier. But in a moment of carelessness, she choked on an edamame bean.
She coughed hard, and the edamame flew out, hitting Asta, who was sitting at the opposite table, right on the forehead.
Bronya, who had been quite a gloomy homebody, was startled and instinctively shouted, "Take cover! Peashooter spotted!"
Fuli flicked his little sister's forehead for getting too absorbed in her game.
After a chaotic flurry, the dinner banquet concluded in a lively and cheerful atmosphere.
Since Theresa was already here, she had no plans to go back. She stood up, washed her hands, and went to Massive Electric with Mei to discuss the specific quotas and types for St. Freya's next batch of armaments.
Fuli quickly patted Bronya's shoulder, signaling the little housekeeper to follow along, lest the spendthrift Miss Raiden blow the budget again.
Then he turned back and went to the training hall with the other two.
This was another training area, far from the Mt. Taixu cultivation grounds. Even though they had made the Light Cone deal, Fuli couldn't possibly grant Asta access to a trump card like the Fuli Well.
In Kiana's words, "Those who are not of my race must have a different heart!"
Considering the Herrscher of the Void's Core was transplanted into this goofball by Otto, that statement, oddly enough, couldn't be called wrong.
Looking around, cool white LED tube lights cut the football-field-sized training platform into geometric domains of light. Fluorescent fitness lines crisscrossed on the non-slip rubber floor. A floor-to-ceiling mirror on one side reflected three walls. Amidst the low hum of the fresh air system, one could faintly smell the minty scent of liniment spray.
"The rest is up to you three—one man and two women—to make a mess!"
Leaving such an ambiguous remark, Kallen, their guide, dissolved into starlight, disappearing to who-knows-where to slack off again.
Fuli waved at the spot where the Saintess had disappeared, then said to Asta, who was holding Pepe, "For now, we are not selling any skill Light Cones above B-Rank. Other than that, you're free to choose."
He then pointed to the bored Kiana at the side. "She will be your sparring partner until you've fully mastered the Light Cone combination you've chosen."
"Leave it to me!"
The large husky, having found something to do, was thrilled. "This young lady loves stomping noobs—uh, I mean, I love practicing with beautiful girls!"
"Ah, in that case, please go easy on me, Miss Kiana."
Asta, who had thought Fuli would be her sparring partner, felt a bit sheepish, but then said eagerly, "Where are the available Light Cones? Bring them all out!"
Asta, engage!
Watch me clear the shopping cart with one click!
Fuli didn't keep her in suspense. With a lift of his hand, hundreds of rectangular cards of various colors appeared out of thin air, circling him as if they had a will of their own.
Most were D-Rank, with a good number of C-Ranks. As for B-Rank and above, those were for the Hyperion's internal use. He and the main trio didn't even have enough for themselves, so of course, they wouldn't sell them.
A fervent desire flashed in Asta's eyes. Her long, lotus-like legs stepped forward, and she began to read the skills on the Light Cones.
She quickly decided on the first component: the C-Rank [Void Clarity Heart Art].
A wise choice.
Fuli nodded slightly.
This art originated from Buddhism and allowed the practitioner to fortify their mind. It required daily meditation and mental training, and would take at least a year to master.
Not only did it continuously train one's mental strength, but the practitioner could also consume a certain amount of energy to gain resistance to mental interference for a period of time, allowing them to resist even if hit by an unexpected psychic attack.
The upper limit of Light Cones a person can equip depends on their willpower. Asta had experimented; she could currently accommodate four Light Cones at once. Any more would cause dizziness.
The Void Clarity Heart Art could effectively increase a practitioner's mental strength. With long-term training, the limit would definitely increase significantly.
The second Light Cone the girl chose was [Essence-Binding Body Protection]. It could burst with energy to form a shield the moment an enemy or weapon made contact, a very rare automatic protection type.
The third was [Wind of Detection], used to scout the surrounding environment and the auras of living beings.
Fuli had originally intended to keep this skill for himself. In fact, he had used it for a while, holding his own against Kiana's Fei Lian and Bronya's detection radar in simulated battles.
But then, under Kallen's guidance, he learned the "Ri" form of the Instantaneous Blade, and the effect of Frozen River Reflecting the Moon completely outclassed the Wind of Detection. Plus, the skill was particularly ineffective against life forms deep underground or with weak auras, so he extracted it and made it into a Light Cone.
Next, Asta selected a dozen more.
After trying them all out, the look in her eyes toward Kiana changed from "so scared" to "come at me!"
Seeing this, Fuli handed her a sci-fi style belt inlaid with multiple card slots.
"This is a new card storage belt from Massive Electric. It can store a total of ten Light Cones. Each one can enter your body to take effect or be ejected to standby at your will. The switching time is less than 0.01 seconds."
He explained, "With this, you can switch to a more suitable Light Cone for the current situation at any time during battle, indirectly breaking the limit of only being able to accommodate four at once."
"It's a bit like a Kamen Rider."
The little rich girl took it and put it on her waist. She suddenly covered her face with her hand and shouted, "The time of blessing has arrived! I am the highest! The best! The greatest! The strongest king! Ohma ZI-O!"
"Ooh! Ooh! Ooh!"
Fuli and Kiana clapped vigorously on either side, the former even using his Fleeting Shadow Sword to simulate a massive firework display.
"Hehe, excuse me, excuse me."
Asta rubbed the back of her head and stepped back, a sly smile on her face as she flashed to the center of the training stage.
Fuli casually drew the Sparrow's Call from his waist and tossed it over. The girl caught the spinning long sword mid-air and twirled it with a flourish, her azure eyes full of fighting spirit.
"Not bad!"
Kiana grinned, leaped into the air, and then plummeted down.
BOOM!
With a loud crash, the center of the stage looked as if it had been hit by a meteorite, leaving a massive crater with a radius of over ten meters.
The white-haired girl in the center of the crater shouldered her baseball bat, raised her other hand toward the young miss who had been forced back dozens of meters by the impact, and beckoned with her finger. "Wing Chun, Tartaros!"
Hilarious. It was like the Little Golden Man vs. Ohma Zi-O.
"Hah!"
Asta didn't hold back either. She raised Sparrow's Call high and then brought it down with the force of cleaving a mountain.
"Yue Guan—Heavenly Pierce!"
Accompanied by the girl's excited shout, a huge, crescent-shaped slash was released from the tip of the sword, rushing toward Kiana with devastating force.
[Yue Guan - Heavenly Pierce], the signature move of the Taixu Frontline's Skyfall General, "Feixiao." It gathers Honkai energy and momentum at the tip of the blade and releases it, turning the energy on the weapon into a magnificent crescent-shaped blade that flies off to attack the enemy.
After releasing this attack, Asta didn't stop for a second. With godlike speed approaching teleportation, she circled around the crater to the other side and swung her sword again. "Second strike, Yue Guan - Heavenly Pierce!"
This was [Shukuchi] (Reduced Earth), a technique for rapid advancement. Its essence was a combination of footwork, body movement, breathing, and blind spots to instantly close the distance with an opponent.
Yue Guan - Heavenly Pierce was extremely powerful, but due to its slow speed and simple slash pattern, it was easily dodged when used by a novice.
Asta used multiple slashes from different angles to compress Kiana's chances of successfully dodging as much as possible.
Unfortunately, for the Herrscher of the Void, the idea of 'no blind spots' was simply a fallacy.
Seeing the crescent slashes closing in from the front and back, Kiana, shouldering her Milky Way Bat, grinned and abruptly dodged into an imaginary space rift that appeared behind her.
A huge explosion swept through the training hall. The shockwave, carrying countless fragments of debris, scattered in all directions, kicking up a cloud of dust that blotted out the sky.
The space rift took the opportunity to appear behind Asta, and the barrel of a Dragon's venerable MK2000 emerged from it.
"Times have changed, old man!"
"What?!"
Then, she pulled the trigger.
The close-range concentrated shot, with destructive power comparable to a high-explosive bomb, shattered the automatic defense of the Essence-Binding Body Protection. Asta, in a defensive stance, was thrown back dozens of meters, yet she was completely unharmed.
"You really value your life, Asta."
Kiana, stepping out of the rift, sneered. The white light from the ceiling hit the girl, casting two different shadows.
"Even if I've reached a combat power close to an A-Rank Valkyrie through unorthodox means, it doesn't mean my combat awareness as an ordinary person can keep up."
Asta lowered her defensive arms, a golden halo flowing over the surface of her skin.
She smiled and said, "Therefore, my strategy is to max out my defense first, stand in an invincible position, and then seek victory."
[Rex Lapis's Indestructible Body], a world-renowned defensive art that makes the body like steel, impenetrable by blades and spears, impervious to water and fire.
It uses high-density Honkai energy to harden the body and increase its resistance to damage. The more proficient one is, the harder the body becomes. At the highest level, one can even condense qi outside the body, creating a flowing, extremely hard radiance.
"Not bad."
The appreciation in Kiana's eyes became more obvious.
"Then how about this move?"
She quickly switched weapons. The twin guns, Lunar Protectors, fired continuously. The web of Gun Kata forced Asta into a corner, unable to deal with anything else.
Then she raised her index finger. A ring-shaped space rift materialized, instantly trapping the girl who had been forced into the designated area.
This move was called [Ring of Absolute Truth]. It creates a ring-shaped space rift to trap and constrict the enemy, tearing the target apart on a spatial level. Most physical means cannot defend against or interfere with it.
"So what if your shell is thick? In the end, you're just a lamb waiting to be slaughtered."
Kiana lowered her finger, the corner of her mouth curling up.
On the Hyperion, in front of Ah-Li, you can call me Paramecium and I won't argue. But outside this door, what should you call me?
—Of course, it's the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, Kiana!
At the edge of the stage, Fuli raised an eyebrow. He could tell at a glance that Kiana was distracted, thinking about random things.
This girl didn't take Asta seriously at all. Well, why would a real pro player care about a pay-to-win whale who only knew how to swipe cards?
But this time, the girl had miscalculated.
"There's a saying that's been circulating on the Honkai side—the battle of superhumans is the battle of Honkai energy."
Fiery red spiritual energy erupted from the restrained Asta, dyeing the surroundings in a dreamlike color.
"In other words, as long as the Honkai energy driving the move is sufficient, it can negate all seemingly terrifying preconditions—whether it's time! Or space!"
Her bangs suddenly moved without any wind. The moment her knuckles tightened, distorted steam rose from the ground!
A series of explosions erupted in the air. It wasn't ordinary fire; it was liquid light breathing, it was the fervent heat of the lava sleeping in the earth's core, solidified as it broke free from the rock layers!
"So she did choose that one."
Reflected in Fuli's eyes was the spatial ring being ignited by the incredibly violent fire element. The stalemate between the two even caused a localized elemental turbulence.
[Unrestrained Molten Fire], a rare and dangerous spell. Extremely violent, it destroys everything with tyrannical force, not hesitating to involve the caster themselves to achieve maximum destructive power.
This move was already comparable to B-Rank in terms of destructive power, but like the Demon Blade Shiranui, its flaws were too obvious. Who would have thought Asta would rely on the Rex Lapis Body to withstand the backlash, turning it into the spinning flaming sword of the Seraphim slaying the serpent Satan in mythology!
"Heh? You've got this trick up your sleeve, huh?"
A hint of excitement flashed in Kiana's eyes as she saw the flaming blade coming at her. She swung the Milky Way Bat, transformed from the Blade of the Flaming Monarch, to meet it.
Time flowed quietly as the girls sparred. Before they knew it, it was nine o'clock at night.
"Haah, haah..."
Asta, thoroughly ravaged, lay in a spread-eagle position at the edge of the stage. A faint cherry-blossom flush appeared on the back of her porcelain-white neck. Her sports bra was soaked with sweat, and her full chest rose and fell with her rapid breathing. A few strands of damp hair stuck to her earlobes, steaming with heat.
"One hundred and eight wins, zero losses. Phew, you're still a long way off, Asta."
Kiana, wiping sweat on the side, was in much better shape. She took some mineral water and sprinkled it on her long legs, which were hot after the exercise. The taut muscle textures seemed like flowing liquid amber, coated in a delicious, honey-like youthful luster.
Fuli, who had enjoyed the view, clapped his hands. "Training is over for today. Asta's progress is very impressive. She can already display combat capabilities of a B-Rank anomaly. She's more than enough as a model to showcase the effects of the Light Cones."
Now that they had opened up the new path of Light Cones, the escort mission for the Imaginary Collapse Gravity Bomb no longer needed to be carried out by Asta.
Early tomorrow morning, the company's elite escort team would arrive at the Hyperion to pick up the young lady and her butler.
Fuli had actually been looking forward to someone taking a risky move, like attacking the Hyperion. He had even specially asked Kallen to be on alert.
But perhaps the death of Yan Shiluo, a veteran Critical Class, had shocked the people behind the scenes. In the end, they chose to watch from the sidelines.
This was the protection the S-Rank Restriction Treaty offered to the weak. Without it, some S-Rank who wasn't suppressed might have taken a desperate gamble.
And then they would have run headfirst into a furious Theresa and be GG'd amidst cheers and laughter.
Yes, having an S-Rank Valkyrie as a fiancée is pretty amazing.
This soft rice... is delicious.
[T/N: "Soft rice" (软饭) is slang for a man who lives off a woman.]