Chapter 130: Sister Blade

However, before Chen could even begin to formulate a response, Kafka spoke again, her voice a low, silken murmur.

“But I don’t need your answer right now.” Her lips curved into a knowing smile. “The answer itself is unimportant. What matters is that you know it.”

Chen was stunned into silence, completely unsure how to reply. Kafka’s conversational style—an effortless dance of control where truth and falsehood were impossible to distinguish—was making him feel out of his depth for the very first time.

Kafka’s gaze then shifted to Qiong, her tone softening with a disarming gentleness.

“Qiong, remember what I told you. The path you walk is one you must choose for yourself.” She paused, her eyes lingering on him. “But no matter what, protect yourself, and… pay close attention to the people around you.”

Just then, a flicker of awareness crossed Kafka’s face, as if she’d sensed something far beyond their immediate vicinity. The smile on her lips deepened. She gave the glowing energy restraints binding her a delicate, almost playful wiggle.

“Alright,” she whispered, her voice barely audible above the hum of the formation. “I believe our little chat… is over.”

The moment the words left her mouth—

Fzzt!

The pale golden pillar of light enveloping Kafka flashed violently, flickering like a dying star. Then, with a sharp snap like a lightbulb giving out, it vanished completely. The energy restraints binding her wrists dissolved at the same instant, scattering into harmless motes of light.

The change was far too sudden!

The instant the light pillar disappeared and Kafka was free, Chen’s first reaction wasn’t to retreat. Instead, his eyes lit up with a flash of pure, unadulterated opportunism.

‘An opening!’Acting on sheer instinct, he seized the fleeting moment of chaos. Before Kafka could even fully regain her footing, he kicked off the ground and lunged forward, his arm outstretched, his fingers reaching for her.’Five-star Illustrated Guide! Just a little more!’

However—

WHOOSH!

A blade of unmatched sharpness, glowing with a dark, menacing red light, descended from the heavens without a shred of warning! It struck the empty space precisely between Chen and Kafka with a deafening crash.

CRACK!

Crushed stones and debris flew through the air as a powerful shockwave erupted from the point of impact. Chen’s forward momentum was violently halted, and he stumbled back two steps, nearly colliding with Qiong, who stood frozen behind him.

And there, in the exact spot he had been aiming for, a tall, slender figure radiating an aura of pure madness and destruction landed heavily. She dropped to one knee before slowly, deliberately, rising to her full height.

It was a woman. Her long, dark cyan hair was partially bound by crimson ropes, framing a pale, hauntingly beautiful face. Yet, it was her eyes that held one’s attention—a tangible, burning madness and an eternity of pain blazed within their crimson depths. In her hand, she clutched a grotesque, shattered longsword that pulsed with an ominous black energy.

It was Blade. Or rather, in this gender-bent universe, Sister Blade.

She planted herself in front of Kafka, her crimson eyes sweeping over Chen with a chilling, predatory coldness.

Chen froze. “…”

He glanced at Kafka, who had been within arm’s reach but was now completely shielded by this terrifying woman. He then looked down at his own outstretched, empty hand. A colossal wave of regret and frustration crashed over him.

‘Seriously, Sister Blade…’ he grumbled internally, his face a mask of utter speechlessness. ‘Could you please not block the way? I was so close! I just wanted to touch her! Just once!’

Of course, he only dared to mutter these complaints in the safety of his own mind. He certainly wasn’t about to try and push aside a woman who was clearly a walking disaster, whose mental state was visibly hanging by a thread.

Wait a second. When he had lunged forward just now, in the chaos of the moment, he thought he might have… brushed against Blade.

Deep within his consciousness, a familiar notification chimed.

[Five-star Character ‘Blade’ Illustrated Guide unlocked]

“Tch, I guess that works too.”

Chen pouted, finally withdrawing his hand. He tried to console himself. ‘It’s better than nothing. She looks like a high-risk icon, sure, but she’s a Five-star after all.’

All of this—the pillar’s disappearance, Chen’s lunge, and Blade’s sudden intervention—had transpired in the blink of an eye, lasting no more than two or three seconds.

But in that brief window, a far greater anomaly descended with the force of a thunderclap.

RRRUUUMMMBLE—!!!

A muffled, world-shaking roar seemed to rise from the very depths of the earth. The entire Divination Commission—no, the entire Xianzhou Luofu—began to shake violently.

High above, beyond the simulated starry sky of the Matrix of Prescience’s dome, an indescribable, brilliant pillar of light containing an endless torrent of vitality shot up from somewhere on the Luofu, tearing through the heavens!

Within that pillar of light, the phantom of an unimaginably colossal tree began to grow, its expansion defying all logic and reason. Its roots seemed to pierce straight through the Ark’s deck, while its branches tore through the artificial clouds. Its spreading canopy was so vast it threatened to cover nearly half the sky above the Luofu. Every single leaf seemed to be condensed from the purest light of life itself, exuding an ancient, majestic aura that was simultaneously coupled with the unsettling scent of frantic, unnatural growth.

Jianmu! The Undying God-Tree of Xianzhou legend, the great taboo that had been sealed away on the Luofu for ages, had—at this very moment—revived!

This devastating spectacle instantly seized the attention of every single person present. Even Ms. Welt, who had been on the verge of making her move, was so shocked by the sudden cosmic anomaly that her actions involuntarily paused.

In that single, critical instant, as all eyes were drawn to the revival of the Jianmu, Kafka stood calmly on the high platform. She glanced at Blade, whose crimson eyes were still locked onto Chen and Qiong, and casually snapped her fingers.

“Let’s go, A’Blade,” she said, her voice carrying an easy finality. “Time for the curtain call.”

The inferno of madness in Blade’s eyes receded slightly. She shot Chen one last, cold glance before turning without a shred of hesitation. The two of them leaped backward in perfect sync, plunging off the edge of the high platform where the formation’s eye was located. Their figures were swiftly swallowed by the swirling mist and shadows below.

using the world-shaking distraction caused by Jianmu’s revival, the Stellaron Hunters had successfully made their escape from right under everyone’s noses.

And for the Luofu, the trouble had clearly just begun.

Chen looked toward the direction where Kafka and Blade had vanished, then craned his neck to stare up at the sky-blotting silhouette of the Jianmu. Rubbing his head, which was still ringing from the concussive blast of Blade’s arrival, he muttered to himself.

“Well… this is going to be a massive mess.”

[Elysian’s Note:

Having a good time with the story?

Every single bit helps immensely:

Thanks a ton for making this journey possible!]