Chapter 1109: The Universe
Xuanwu was struck solidly from head to toe by the lightning bolt descending from the heavens.
She slowly raised her head, standing rooted to the spot like a withered tree, her eyes showing only the whites, her lips trembling slightly.
A moment later, thick smoke billowed from her body, and upon opening her mouth, she spat out a dense cloud of black mist.
Her originally greyish-white skin had now turned pitch black, as if her entire body had been severely burned, only to be suppressed by the overbearing 「Undying」 ability.
But Qi Xia knew that even 「Undying」 had its limits.
A bolt of lightning striking the top of the head would send a massive current surging through the entire body in an instant. At that moment, the nerves, muscles, and internal organs through which the current passed would be severely burned.
When the current passed through the heart, it would also cause atrial fibrillation, having a tremendous impact on consciousness.
This was not something that could be shrugged off with just the word 「Undying.」
Qinglong laughed maniacally, his eyes turning slightly red, before he raised his finger and pointed it at Xuanwu once more.
He seemed unwilling to stop, intent instead on pressing his advantage.
Xuanwu appeared to have completely lost consciousness. The next second, all of her hair slowly rose with thick smoke, sparks and flashes of lightning crackling across her body.
Qi Xia held his breath, hiding by the door, not daring to make a sound.
He knew that for Xuanwu to kill Qinglong was as difficult as reaching the heavens, but the same was true in reverse.
For Qinglong to completely destroy someone with 「Undying」 would naturally require an extremely strong conviction.
Qi Xia knew that aside from Qinglong, Xuanwu should be the pinnacle of combat power among all the "Divine Beasts." After all, most of the tasks to kill Earth-level "Zodiacs" had been assigned to her.
But now, this pinnacle of combat power was locked in an inextricable fight with Qinglong—an extremely good sign for all the "Participants."
But for Xuanwu herself...?
All of Xuanwu's long hair pointed toward the sky, as if dominated by static electricity, locking in the next round of attacks.
"Just crawl around here, your whole body pitch black," Qinglong said with a smile.
As his words fell, a massive shadow of light descended once more, causing the entire ground to tremble.
***BOOM!!**
Before Xuanwu could regain consciousness, she was struck again with devastating force.
Just as Qinglong had said, Xuanwu now stood rooted to the spot, her entire body pitch black.
Her skin, burnt all over, had triggered the effect of 「Undying.」 Her body seemed intact, but all of her skin had turned a jet-black color, dotted with specks of starlight.
It was as if what stood there was not Xuanwu at all, but the entire universe itself.
Seeing that Xuanwu had completely lost consciousness, Qinglong swung a massive palm wind that knocked her to the ground, then, with eyes burning red, activated 「Dimensional Leap」 and vanished from the spot.
Qi Xia waited for over ten seconds, making sure Qinglong had completely left, before hurrying over to check on Xuanwu's condition.
Facing Xuanwu, Qi Xia's feelings were extremely complicated.
She was no different from anyone else wandering through the 「Land of Recurrence」—merely a miserable person bound by the rules.
She, too, was never meant to be a "Divine Beast," yet she had lived this way bearing that identity.
But she was also very different from the people of the 「Land of Recurrence」—she had always wanted to die.
Perhaps killing the other "Divine Beasts" was for the sake of escaping, but killing "Xuanwu" was simply fulfilling one of her own wishes.
Xuanwu's hair spread across the ground, almost covering the entire area of the 「Cangjie Chessboard,」 revealing her body.
But as Qi Xia had seen before, her entire body was like a human-shaped, radiant universe. One could only see the specks of starlight against the pitch black, but not a trace of flesh or skin.
Qi Xia remembered taking a knife and leaving countless wounds on Xuanwu's body. At the time, every single wound had appeared pitch black, just like the vast universe before him now.
"Xuanwu..." Qi Xia called out softly.
***「Kill me.」**
An ethereal voice emerged from within Xuanwu's vast, starry form, as if spoken by a multitude of celestial bodies, or like the sound of the Milky Way itself.
She had no mouth left, yet she could still produce sound.
Hearing these three words, Qi Xia looked Xuanwu over from head to toe, then shook his head. "I can't kill you."
Someone who could continue speaking after being attacked with full force by Qinglong... how could they be killed with bare hands?
***「You can.」**
Xuanwu's ethereal voice came again, echoing around Qi Xia like a distant song.
***「Please, I beg you, kill me.」**
"I'm really sorry..." Qi Xia's gaze dimmed. "I can find a way to make you 'live,' but I have no way to make you 'die.'"
***「Why...」** Xuanwu's sorrowful voice came from all directions. ***「I clearly remember... I remember you killing me.」**
"Maybe you're misremembering," Qi Xia said.
***「What?」**
"The one who killed you wasn't me; it was someone else." Qi Xia looked at Xuanwu's face, as boundless as the universe. "They're still looking for a chance to kill you. Do you want to go see them?"
***「Kill me... good to kill me... come and kill me.」**
"But... would you concede?" Qi Xia asked, hitting the nail on the head. "Since you've always wanted to die so badly, why not just willingly let yourself be captured?"
***「I...」**
"As long as you keep resisting, those trying to kill you will also suffer countless casualties," Qi Xia added. "You could have actively revealed your weakness."
***「I want to die... but a Participant cannot defy a Divine Beast.」** Xuanwu's voice was filled with contradiction. ***「So when they come to kill me, I have no choice but to kill them.」**
Qi Xia let out a soft sigh. The deeply ingrained 「Rules」 had taken root in Xuanwu's mind, and even she herself could not resist them.
***「But I gave every one of them who wanted to kill me a chance...!!」** Xuanwu said. ***「I let each person try countless times... but I just can't die... why can't I die...」**
"Maybe there's another way," Qi Xia said. "Not by 'giving them a chance,' but by 'telling them your weakness.'"
***「My weakness...」** Xuanwu hesitated. ***「A Divine Beast cannot reveal its weakness.」**
"Is it still the same now?" Qi Xia asked.
Hearing this, Xuanwu's whole body trembled. She slowly sat up from the ground.
The hair spread across the floor was pulled back, once again covering her back.
She extended her remaining left hand behind her head, slowly lifting the hair from the back of her neck.
***「My weakness... is here.」** Xuanwu said. ***「Qinglong always told me to protect my back.」**
Qi Xia stared grimly at Xuanwu's back.
What a bizarre situation this was.
On that back, not a single eye could be seen—only the vast starry sky could be observed.
If only he had been able to convince Xuanwu earlier, or if he had stabbed out the eyes on her back before the effect of 「Undying」 had taken hold, things would not have come to this.
But without Xuanwu experiencing this battle, how could she have been willing to reveal her weakness?
Deep in her subconscious, there had always been a thought—the reason she could not die was so that one day she could use her full power to kill Qinglong.
Now she had gotten her chance, but she had also lost it forever.
She knew she would never be able to kill Qinglong again, so her only choice was to die herself.
It was the worst choice for her, but also the best one at this moment.
Qi Xia could feel the profound despair emanating from Xuanwu.
"Xuanwu," he asked solemnly, "if you had the choice yourself, would you choose to go outside... or die here?"
***「I, I absolutely must die here.」**