One step, two steps…
The long spear, its shaft as black as ink, was a deep, rich hue that even the densest ink could not obscure. Its pure white spearhead drooped to the ground, so dazzlingly white it easily carved a crack in the earth. The other end of the spear, another sharp point, aimed at the ceiling, impossible to ignore.
Or rather, even without this brilliant spear, the girl wielding it was impossible to ignore. She was the beauty everyone knew, uniquely and irreplaceably beautiful.
Everyone watched her as she walked onto the arena, step by step. With her pace, killing intent and fighting spirit rose incrementally. By the time she reached the arena, ordinary espers nearby were already bent over, unable to stand straight.
“Bai…” Athena looked at her, bewildered. She didn’t understand why Bai Cha had suddenly approached with such murderous intent.
She and Asteria were in the middle of a match. Bai Cha’s match against Asteria was next, and then it would be the championship and runner-up. What was Bai Cha doing by walking over now?
“Do I still call you Bai Shu or Asteria? How long have you carried the name Libra?” Bai Cha stepped onto the arena, her steps as measured as a normal person’s.
But everyone was terrified. Many had already prostrated themselves on the ground.
No one had ever seen Bai Cha like this, nor had they seen her true abilities.
Back when Bai Cha and Athena had their great battle, everyone thought Bai Cha was already strong enough, even a little stronger than Athena. But her current state clearly showed she was several times stronger than when she fought Athena.
Bai Shu…
Such a distant name.
Bai Shu’s fingers trembled almost imperceptibly. He remained silent.
He was her maternal uncle.
She was his niece.
What an intimate relationship, and what a bitterly ironic opposition. More ironic than her relationship with Gong Yuechen.
“Bai Shu, do you yield the Golden Scales and fight me, or will I personally shatter the divinity of another statue of your Equilibrium Tree?” Bai Cha waved her right hand. The sharp spear seemed to slice through space. As the spearhead pointed at Bai Shu, he felt his heart stop.
“I will give you ample time to recover to your peak. I have life seeds and can help you recover to your peak before you burned your life,” Bai Cha said coldly to Asteria, her last sentence echoing through the arena, ethereal and divine: “I grant you the qualification to go all out before me.”
Bai Shu remained silent.
He and Bai Cha were very similar, both in personality and appearance. Their current cold confrontation, if not for the difference in gender, would have led some to believe they were the same person.
And Bai Cha resembled her mother greatly, both in her features and her peach blossom eyes, exactly like the woman who used to pat his head and tell him stories.
Sister…
Bai Shu took a deep breath, but showed no panic. His eyes remained clear, pure, reflecting only Bai Cha’s image.
“No need. I won’t embarrass myself in front of a demigod.” Bai Shu loosened his grip, and the Golden Scales, along with his golden armor, slid off. He took a step forward, and the surrounding black lightning formed waves, like a tsunami.
Athena watched the “Asteria” before her in surprise. Bai Shu’s aura was clearly stronger now. Everyone had initially thought the Golden Scales were Asteria’s power, but it turned out the Golden Scales were a seal Bai Shu had placed on himself as Asteria.
“Very well. Let me see the glory and pride of the Bai family hidden in your blood,” Bai Cha stepped forward. Her surrounding energy rippled three feet around her, revealing faint, shifting colors between black and white.
Then, she retracted it all, pulling it back into her body.
This wasn’t Bai Cha recalling her power, but rather concentrating all her energy within her, waiting for an explosive release. This was an extremely difficult feat of energy control; the stronger the energy and the more imposing the aura, the harder it was to control. Yet, with just this single move of control, Bai Cha had made everyone see the gap between Bai Shu and herself.
A mass of air could never compare to the density of a solid.
“Xiao Bai! What are you doing!” Mo Ziye was startled. His first reaction was to rush onto the arena. “Xiao Bai, he’s the leader of the Equilibrium Tree. If you kill him, what about Z Country and the Equilibrium Tree?”
Bai Cha and Bai Shu remained silent until Mo Ziye finished his last word. Both Bai Cha and Bai Shu frowned in unison.
“Since you can see I intend to kill him, you shouldn’t have rushed forward,” Bai Cha tightened her grip on the spear, her gaze cold. “Mo Ziye, you constantly say you like me, but you’ve never supported my choices or decisions.”
“But, Z Country is an open and inclusive nation. We must maintain good relations with everyone. If you act like this, won’t the relationship between Z Country and the Equilibrium Tree become completely rigid!” Mo Ziye was truly anxious. He couldn’t understand why Bai Cha was so impulsive. “It’s because I like you that I can’t let you go down this path of no return. Your match is next. If you defeat him then…”
“What business is it of yours.”
To everyone’s surprise, it was Bai Shu who spoke this time.
With the same indifferent tone, the same impatience and disdain, if not for his sexy voice, people might have thought Bai Cha was speaking.
“Mo Ziye, your affection is truly cheap,” Bai Shu sneered. “Your affection cannot break through societal norms, or your position, or your worldview and outdated concepts, nor can it break through life and blood ties. Your so-called love is merely your self-indulgence.”
“You!” Mo Ziye was rendered speechless. He couldn’t understand why Bai Shu would retort so ungratefully when he was clearly speaking up for him.
“Mo Ziye, do you think you are worthy of Bai Cha?” Bai Shu scoffed, his mocking expression undisguised. “Bai Cha is willing to risk her life to save even her most ordinary subordinates. Your love for Bai Cha doesn't even measure up to Bai Cha’s most basic efforts. How dare you compete with others here?”
“But, what Xiao Bai is doing is wrong…” Mo Ziye’s face turned somewhat pale.
“What is right and wrong? You are judging without even knowing what happened,” Bai Shu said faintly.
“You know what happened, which is why you tacitly agreed,” Bai Cha interrupted Bai Shu coldly. Bai Shu froze. He saw the spearhead Bai Cha pointed at him trembling slightly.
“Why.” Bai Cha squeezed these words out through gritted teeth, filled with despair and pain. “Do you know how important she is to me? You know, and you know that I’ve let you go repeatedly because you are my uncle.”
Bai Shu sighed softly and took half a step back. He had already gathered his strength. Even though confronting Bai Cha head-on was akin to a moth flying into a flame, he still wanted to test the threshold of what was called a “god.”
In this life, besides his family, only greater strength held any attraction for him.
“She must die.”
As soon as Bai Shu uttered these words, Bai Cha shot out like an arrow from a bowstring.
The arena was vast, but Bai Shu only had time to take one step before Bai Cha had crossed more than half the distance, sending him flying backward uncontrollably.
“Xiao Bai!” Golden demonic wings appeared behind Mo Ziye, and he held his holy sword, intending to stop her. But then Bai Guang flashed before his eyes. Mo Ziye felt a sharp pain in his chest and was slammed heavily onto the ground.
In his chest, a long spear made of dark energy had pinned him firmly to the ground.
No one saw who made the move, nor how Mo Ziye was pierced through the chest. Everyone just felt that Mo Ziye was like a small bird, suddenly shot down by a hunter, utterly defenseless.
“Lucifer, you’re crazy! He’s Mo Yuntian’s son.” Meng Qinghuan’s expression changed. He quickly stood up, intending to call Bai Cha back, but he felt a chilling sensation.
Instinctively, Meng Qinghuan used his life-saving techniques. The Thousand-Hand Buddha and the Peacock King were connected and erupted, barely blocking the black scythe before him.
“Those who approach will die. Life is precious, so please reconsider,” Lucifer maintained his usual proper and gentle smile. He even bowed to the crowd below, like a gentleman gracefully concluding an elaborately planned stage play.
Saying this, he glanced at Michael, who had detached himself from Mo Ziye and was severely injured after absorbing most of the damage meant for Mo Ziye, his expression cold.
“You shouldn’t have allowed your host to confront me, Michael. You should understand that your ability to fight me back then was only with the power of the Creator God,” Lucifer sneered. “But I am genuinely strong.”
No one dared to stop Bai Cha anymore. Everyone could only watch as Bai Cha blasted Bai Shu out of the arena in two moves, creating a large hole in the grand palace-like arena. This structure, made of countless rare metals and verified by countless dragon riders as absolutely sturdy, could not withstand Bai Cha’s second attack.
Bai Cha had never fought so exhilaratingly, or rather, never vented so uninhibitedly, releasing all her anger, all her sorrow, all her despair.
Finally, Bai Cha blasted Bai Shu into his room and pinned him to his bedside, on the cross that every member of the Equilibrium Tree possessed.
“Why does she have to die?” Bai Cha plunged the long spear fiercely into Bai Shu’s chest, almost hysterically. “Why, couldn’t you help me just once, Uncle!”
This cry of “Uncle” was truly heart-wrenching. Warm drops of water fell onto her neck. Bai Cha looked up, only to find Bai Shu shedding tears.
Why are you crying? Shouldn’t I be the one crying? Why are you crying now?
Uncle, do you feel pain too? Does it really hurt this much?
“Back then, your mother and I were known as the Junyao Twins. The moment I left Z Country, I became a world-class, near-peak powerhouse. I saw the look in your eyes when you watched me as a child—anticipation, surprise, determination… and hope.”
“You must have been proud to have me as your family back then. I seemed to have influence in the world, as if I could summon wind and rain. Unfortunately, your father willingly stayed confined in Z Country for Qingyuan. Otherwise, he would have had more influence than me.”
Blood flowed from Bai Shu’s mouth, and his breathing was painful, but his expression was gentle, as gentle as Bai Cha had countless times hoped for in the past.
“Perhaps you often wondered if everything would be different if I stood on the same side as you. When someone has elders, they usually think this way, wanting to work together…”
His voice grew more and more ethereal, more and more faint. Bai Cha trembled slightly, waking from her furious dream.
Bai Cha took a deep breath, suppressing the surging emotions in her chest, and looked directly into Bai Shu’s eyes.
Such pure eyes, just like her mother’s.
At this moment, Bai Cha felt like crying. The sorrowful emotions stimulated her throat and the tip of her nose, but even so, the surging emotions were suppressed by the hazy power in her chest, making her calm, making her confused.
A golden pendant was revealed on Bai Shu’s neck and shoulder. It was the Golden Scales.
Although Bai Shu had discarded it on the arena, for some reason, the Golden Scales had shrunk and appeared around Bai Shu’s neck in a peculiar form.
Immediately after, golden light abruptly entered Bai Cha’s left eye and merged with the divinity of Bai Cha’s Hope Lily. A sharp sting made Bai Cha involuntarily cover her eye.
“Ye Feng, are you serious? Why should I be the bad guy? Just because I have no wife and no children?”