Chapter 65: with translation of chapter title

"Not bad, Kokolia's aura…… huh, just looking at it you can tell it's dangerously strong."

In the light curtain, Xing holding a bat was eager to try; the hot-blooded scene even made Dadalilia involuntarily clench his fists: "I really want to fight this woman once."

Unlike the muscle-brained martial arts fanatic executive beside him, Zhongli wore a calm, untroubled expression. Even while Dadalilia was distracted, he silently picked up the piece of spring forest pork with the richest color in the bowl, gently blowing away the heat.

As the oldest and strongest fighter among the gods of Teyvat, Zhongli knew very well that, in the face of such a battle, the utmost respect he could offer was……

"Xiangling, two more bowls of rice."

"All right! Mr. Zhongli!"

Looking at Yan Wangye who was just burying his head in his meal, Dadalilia, who was in charge of paying the bill for this trip, showed a puzzled expression: "Mr. Zhongli, aren't you interested in the fight between Xing and Kokolia?"

"Hehe, a rare sight, of course I'm interested." Zhongli laughed.

"Then who do you think will win, Xing or Kokolia?" Dadalilia leaned forward slightly, curious.

"Hmm…" Zhongli gave his honest opinion: "Xing might have a slight edge."

"Then what about me versus Kokolia—who do you think would win?" Dadalilia grew even more curious.

""Zhongli's chopsticks paused for a few seconds as he picked up a dish, then he sighed: ""That would probably be a boring fight."

"Is that your opinion? How disappointing, Mr. Zhongli. But I admit Kokolia is indeed stronger than me, and precisely because of that I want to challenge her……only by fighting someone strong enough can my combat skills improve."

"Just like with my master—before, he only used one hand to fight me, but after all these years I think he should be able to get more serious and use both hands against me."

"So, Mr. Zhongli……"

Mid-sentence, Dadalilia's stomach let out a timely 'gurgle,' and he finally realized he was a bit hungry. He reached for his chopsticks to grab a dish, only to find the plate of forest pork already empty.

He lifted his head, and Zhongli's usually unflappable face showed a rare hint of satisfaction.

"Oh… what were you just about to say? I'm listening."

——

""Let me show you its power!""

The wind and snow swirled like a white cocoon wrapping Kokolia, a faint layer of frost visible over her body. But when the wind and snow cleared, revealing her true form, that almost completely inhuman posture inevitably sent a chill down one's spine.

Her composed, elegant bearing had vanished, replaced by a body encased in ice. She wore a crown of ice shards, four ice spears floated around her, and the few exposed parts of her body were as dark and deep as the night sky.

Especially her face, where no human features could be seen at all.

The surging power within her body made Kokolia's voice tremble with excitement: "Listen, this power is surging… singing…… the promise the Star Core gave me is the only hope this world has."

""Seven hundred years ago, it drove back the antimatter legions—today, it will erase your existence as well!""

However, Xing wasn't in the habit of listening to people's nonsense; hearing Kekelia mutter to herself for so long made it seem as if nobody even had a star core.

Xing picked up the bat, ready to give Kekelia a whack right away.

"Hehe… humans are always weak and foolish, always overestimating themselves!"

Kekelia's scornful laugh almost burst forth in mid‑air, unable to wait.

At the same time that sound rang out, a dense chorus of sharp whistles came suddenly from the horizon. Xing looked up and saw countless translucent ice shards flying like a locust swarm, gathered by Kekelia with some power and shot toward her.

A bone‑chilling cold, as if falling into an ice cave, surged wildly around Kekelia.

"Sorry, Lord Sukuna… my ice‑binding curse is nowhere near her level." Beside Sukuna, Rime bowed slightly, showing an apologetic expression.

"Hmm, I understand."

The teasing expression on Sukuna's face had completely vanished.

Rime's strength far exceeds that of a grade‑1 sorcerer—he was well aware of that.

Usually, Rime need only blow a gentle breath to create an ice‑mountain‑sized marvel; such a powerful technique is extremely rare even looking back a thousand years. Yet now, Sukuna was seeing for the first time that Rime had lost confidence in her own ice‑binding curse…

All it takes is a slight lift of the hand to summon an endless blizzard, and using a "technique" whose power far surpasses ice‑binding curse incurs no noticeable cost… Even though Kekelia is merely a human, a person who has lived only a few decades, her power comes from that tiny seed cast down by the Destroyer Star God…

Star Core.

He could sense that this was merely a trivial manifestation of the star god's power, like the tip of an iceberg exposed beneath the sea.

Unlike the fleeting glimpse of destruction he felt before, this time Sukuna truly perceived an insurmountable chasm lying before him—something no exquisite sorcery could fill, a gap that a lifetime could not bridge.

Sukuna seemed to faintly sense the language hidden in that glance—naked and bloody… like a taunt.

"——You are nothing more than a mortal born in a world without a star god."

After a tangle, Kekelia apparently ran out of patience; she clasped her hands together, and a lance shot forth, instantly piercing Xing's chest!

Xing widened her eyes; at the moment the lance pierced in, she felt her body grow light, time slow, and even Kekelia's feral grin become eerily quiet…

And in the eyes of countless onlookers, Xing was like a kite with its string cut, plummeting sharply from on high.

……

Xing slowly opened her eyes, only to find that she was no longer on Yarilo‑VI; Kekelia and the Artifacts Engine had vanished, and even Danheng and March 7 were nowhere to be seen.

It felt as if she were inside a stellar vortex, with spiral‑shaped galaxies swirling around a core that gleamed with golden light, forming some strange spectacle.

"Is this… space?" Xing looked around, gazing at the distant flowing river of stars; the scene was indeed familiar.

"Wasn't I just fighting Kekelia? Why am I here?" Xing suddenly recalled that the last time she came to this place, the Destroyer Nanok had glanced at her.

That time, she seemed to have been hit head‑on by the Doomsday Beast's laser, putting her life in jeopardy…