Chapter 12

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Protagonist:

Xuan Ge

The outer reaches of the Sui Xing Dai, deep within the Antimatter Legion's control zone.

The scene was starkly different from the chaotic savagery of the outer reaches.

A massive transparent barrier, vast as if carving out an independent region from the entire starry sky, floated silently in suspension.

The barrier itself was nearly formless; viewed from the outside, one could only see the normally distorted points of starlight behind it.

Only when energy or matter grazed it at a specific angle would a faint, almost imperceptible, water-like ripple arise.

Countless virtual soldiers and Doomsday Beasts, like loyal satellites, silently and orderly orbited and patrolled this invisible spherical boundary.

The red light of Destruction flashed rhythmically in their eye sockets, solemn and cold.

Inside the barrier lay another world.

Here it seemed as if the starry sky had been individually stripped away and purified to form an absolute domain.

There was no physical ground, no air, only the purest, most profound darkness, and within the darkness, countless stars slowly revolving according to some abstruse law, emitting a soft radiance.

These stars were not true stars, but "decorations" formed from highly condensed Virtual Number energy combined with the concept of Destruction.

The Xing Qiu as roof, the Xing He as blanket.

In the center of this simulated, utterly tranquil yet utterly lofty starry sky, Xing Xiao's "Qin Gong" was situated.

Her usual resting place was more like a conceptual "Wang Zuo Qu" — a specific region of the starry sky that was exceptionally bright, with nebulae flowing like gauze.

At this moment, Xing Xiao was not lying amid the Xing He as usual.

She sat upright.

Beneath her was an intangible yet stable Xu Neng Liang Ping Tai; before her floated an Ai Bei naturally outlined by starlight.

On the Ai Bei sat a set of implements utterly at odds with this Destruction aura.

A Su Po porcelain pot, two matching porcelain cups.

The cup walls were thin to near transparency, and under the faint glow of the surrounding stars, they swirled with a warm luster.

Xing Xiao was holding one of the cups to her lips, sipping lightly.

The cup contained tea.

Tea from the Shen Wu Xian Zhou.

She originally did not like to drink it, nor did she need to drink.

As the Monarch of Extinction, mundane food and drink held no meaning.

But those past seven days.....

She saw it. That hateful Shen Wei General, when handling thorny military affairs and frowning slightly, would set down his brush, pick up his teacup, and drink a mouthful.

After reviewing a stack of documents, when relaxing slightly, he would lean back on the chair and slowly savor a mouthful.

Even when he spoke to her on his own, saying boring or infuriating things, a cup of tea was always at his side.

And all of it was poured full by her!

The tea liquor was clear and bright, hot vapor curling.

Upon first entry, the tip of the tongue indeed spread with a distinct bitterness, but soon that bitterness dissolved, turning into a kind of lingering, throat-penetrating returning sweetness.

Not intense, yet continuous, a completely different experience from her usual energy absorption or Destruction venting.

Unfamiliar, yet..... not unacceptable.

Some days ago, the Xu Ling Xian Zhou merchant caravan, following the Marshal's instructions, delivered the clear wine Xuan Ge specifically requested, from the Marshal's private collection.

Xing Xiao was indifferent to this.

What she didn't expect was that Shen Wu soldiers actually specially came to leave her a Xiao Xia.

Inside were several cans of superbly sealed tea leaves, and a verbal message.

The soldier's eyes held a Guai Qu look he couldn't hide when relaying it:

"The General ordered me to deliver this tea to you. The General also said..... if you accept it, then please withdraw the Legion's front lines on the outer perimeter back by one Xing Xi."

The soldier paused, seeming a bit unable to speak, but still steeled himself and repeated:

"The General also said, if you take the tea but refuse to withdraw, then I'll have to..... come catch you again. This time, it won't be just seven days."

Xing Xiao said nothing at the time, merely waved her hand, letting the soldier leave.

The tea, she kept.

The defense line..... she didn't move it for now.

"Hehe~"

A light laugh suddenly broke the absolute silence of this starry sky.

That voice was Ai Lan, bewitching, carrying a natural hook, as if able to Shuai Dong the coldest emotions.

The timbre was a mature older-sister voice, yet the tone was like discovering some Ji Qu toy.

"Xing Xiao, not seen for a few days, how come you've also learned those Xianzhou People's mannerisms and started tasting tea? This really isn't the style of us Destruction Path followers."

The hand with which Xing Xiao held the teacup didn't shake a single bit.

She didn't even raise her head; the starlight ring's radiance remained stable as ever.

No need to look, no need to sense; she knew who had come.

The Monarch of Extinction — Huan Long.

She most liked to watch civilizations rot from within, delighted in igniting the desires and strife in the hearts of intelligent beings, letting prosperity collapse from within, and ultimately welcoming destruction at the most beautiful moment.

She is a master at toying with hearts and emotions.

Starlight twisted faintly, and a tall, graceful figure emerged silently, as if grown from darkness itself.

She wore a black form-fitting ceremonial dress of extremely bold design.

The skirt slit ran extremely high, nearly to the thigh root; as she walked, long straight leg lines were faintly revealed.

The back was completely hollowed out, the graceful spinal groove extending all the way to the waist; the side waist was also largely exposed, skin glowing ivory under starlight.

She had a cascade of black long hair, casually draped over her shoulders and bare back.

Light brown eyes were like melted honey, the outer corners slightly upturned, outlining endless allure.

Lip color was a rich dark shade, forming a stark contrast with her pale skin, dangerous and enticing.

Xing Xiao set down her teacup; the cup bottom touched the starlight low table, emitting a crisp "ding."

She finally raised her head; the gaze behind her star-ring swept indifferently over Huan Long's attire — enough to make any mortal creature's blood race — her voice without a ripple:

"What does it have to do with you?"

Cold, distant, keeping others a thousand miles away.

Huan Long did not care about her attitude in the slightest; instead her smile deepened.

Among the Monarchs of Destruction, there was never much camaraderie; mutual sniping and watching the show was the norm.

She moved with catlike graceful yet dangerous steps to the low table, and sat down opposite Xing Xiao with utter naturalness.

The darkness beneath her naturally condensed into a chair, supporting her weight.

"How is it unrelated to me?"

Huan Long extended slender fingers; her fingertip traced elegantly through the air, and an exquisite teacup inlaid with dark purple crystal, matching her temperament, appeared on the low table, right before her.

She reached out on her own, intending to take that teapot.

"I heard a certain colleague was recently invited by that infamous Divine Might General to his Shen Wu Xian Zhou as a guest for several days?"

Huan Long's tone was drawn out, carrying unconcealed curiosity and teasing.

"I'm truly dying of curiosity~ what did the two of you 'discuss' in that General's Mansion?

Was there... anything interesting, worth sharing?"

Her hand was about to touch the teapot.

Xing Xiao didn't even look at her, merely waving a pale hand casually.

That teapot along with two porcelain cups vanished in an instant.

The low table was empty, as if tea ware had never existed.

"Heh."

Huan Long's hand halted midair, not embarrassed at all; instead she let out a light laugh.

She isn't one to take a loss lying down... or rather, Sui Yang.

But Xing Xiao gave her no chance to continue her snide remarks.

She spoke again, voice still flat, yet like a cold needle piercing precisely at Huan Long:

"Have you forgotten when Divine Might chased you across three star systems, nearly running you through?"

The implication was unmistakably clear:

You, Huan Long, someone once hunted by Xuan Ge with no way to heaven or earth, who barely escaped by bewitching civilians as shields — what qualifications do you have to mock me here?

Now that you're this close to the Shen Wu Xian Zhou, aren't you afraid he'll sense your aura and come for another 'Hunt'?

The alluring smile on Huan Long's face froze for an instant.

She certainly couldn't forget.

It was one of the very few moments in her long Destruction career that truly brought her near falling.

That Divine Might General is simply a madman!

Completely not playing by common sense, bound by no morality or pity!

Her bewitched 'believers' knelt weeping and pleading, even forcing death upon themselves... in his eyes they were all merely insignificant dust.

What did he say back then?

Oh, right.

He stared at her, protected by a cluster of 'believers', eyes cold as ten-thousand-year ice, and said:

"Damned Huan Long, daring to pose as innocent civilians, attempting to disturb this General's Dao heart!"

That terrifying Ya Jiao had already locked onto her, thunder gathering, ready to strike.

Had it not been for that native girl she had bewitched, who suddenly woke up due to the planet's miserable state and rushed out at the critical moment;

using terrifyingly clear logic to analyze for Xuan Ge the root cause, pros and cons of the planetary civil strife, and Huan Long's true role in it, attracting a moment of Xuan Ge's contemplation...

She would likely have fallen on the spot.

Even so, she paid the price of exhausting her Virtual Number power to successfully evade Divine Might's pursuit.

It is a humiliation and fear engraved in her soul.

Thinking of this, a surge of cold nameless fire rose in Huan Long's heart.

But she quickly suppressed it, her face blooming once more with that bewitching smile, even more radiant than before.

She naturally knows the special 'causal restraint' relationship between Xing Xiao and Xuan Ge.

Precisely because she knows, she finds it... even more interesting.

Huan Long's gaze fell on Xing Xiao once again.

This time, it was no longer ordinary scrutiny, but carried examination and assessment.

Xing Xiao's temperament remained clear-cold, lofty.

No traces of having been 'harvested' or 'corrupted', no intoxication or weakness from falling into some emotion.

She was still that pure, cold Destruction Envoy.

But Huan Long was an expert at toying with hearts and desires.

She was Sui Yang, feeding on the seven emotions and six desires of sentient beings through wisdom, possessing an almost instinctive keenness toward fluctuations in emotion.

An absurd thought, yet one that seemed able to explain certain details, surfaced in her mind.

That General Xuan Ge..... could it be, he's a shallow, vulgar man who likes..... 「bigger ones」?

So he toward Xing Xiao.....

Xing Xiao seemed to keenly perceive Huan Long's increasingly undisguised, even comparatively meaningful scrutinizing gaze.

The brow beneath the star earring furrowed ever so slightly, almost imperceptibly.

Huan Long took in her minute reaction entirely.

Reading expressions, fanning flames — these were her guard duty specialties.

She let out a light laugh, rising gracefully to her feet.

Then, she performed an extremely simple, yet highly targeted action.

She lightly circled her left arm beneath her chest, lifting upward slightly.

She said nothing.

But that posture, that position, and the charming smile on her face mixed with pride and provocation, already explained everything.

Look, this is 「capital」.

Sure enough, the ever-calm, unruffled aura around Xing Xiao showed an extremely minute disturbance.

Though it was forcibly suppressed in an instant, returning to icy cold, that momentary loss of control did not escape Huan Long's eyes.

The smile on Huan Long's face grew even more radiant, carrying a victor's delight.

Xing Xiao fell silent for a few seconds.

The light in the eyes beneath the star earring seemed to grow a few degrees colder.

Then, she raised her eyes, looking toward the smiling Huan Long, and in a tone still flat yet enough to make the heart and lungs of anyone privy to the inside story stop, she uttered a sentence:

「You, were struck by him. 」

「............. 」

The radiant, charming smile on Huan Long's face, as if she grasped everything, froze completely, then bit by bit, collapsed.

She looked at Xing Xiao, and in her light brown pupils, genuine annoyance appeared for the first time, nearly tangible.

Xing Xiao no longer looked at her, as if just now she had merely stated a fact nothing could be simpler.