The once beautiful vast grassland lay in ruins, with many craters of varying sizes scattered across it. Numerous ravines marred the landscape, the largest stretching hundreds of meters in length, several meters wide, and dozens of meters deep. Some parts of the grassland were frozen, while others smoldered from fires. Dark clouds swirled ominously overhead, accompanied by relentless lightning and rumbling thunder. Five figures could be seen locked in combat amidst the turbulent clouds. The battle had been ongoing for hours, and now night had fallen, shrouding the scene in darkness. Lightning and thunder still occasionally flashed across the sky, briefly illuminating the fighters in stark silhouette.

Xiu Hui and Yan Mei watched the battle from afar, having moved to the top of a hill after the grassland where they had previously observed the fight was ravaged.

"[Wujie Zuanjing Zhi Di - Indestructible Diamond from the Depth of the Earth]!" Absolute Diamond summoned his Soul Manifestation, a rather large semi-corporeal figure resembling a humanoid made of diamond. It emerged and slowly shrank before being absorbed into Absolute Diamond's body, merging with him. His body glowed slightly, the Soul Manifestation granting him increased power and defense.

"Take this [Diamond Shattering Palm]!!!" With both palms clapping in front of his chest, Absolute Diamond then raised them above his head before swiftly moving them to his side and beside his hip. His palms glowed as he launched a palm attack towards Snow Rose. Two streaks of palm energy shot towards Snow Rose, who was currently busy fighting against Silver Marionette's puppet.

"[Snow Drift]!" Snow Rose utilized her movement technique, her body moving wildly, erratically, and unpredictably, easily evading Absolute Diamond's palm energy attack.

The attack continued until it struck a distant mountain, destroying its top half with a loud explosion. Dust, small stones, and boulders scattered in all directions, thick dust and volcanic ash rising in columns.

"Tch!" Silver Marionette exclaimed, frustration evident in her tone. "You are really slippery, just like an eel."

"And you are just a coward, only daring to fight from a distance," Snow Rose replied, while gasping for breath slightly. Despite facing four opponents, she was not at a disadvantage.

"Hmph! We Puppet Controllers have our own way of fighting!" Silver Marionette retorted. All this time, she engaged Snow Rose by controlling one of her puppets from a distance, using it to confront Snow Rose, while another puppet stood nearby, ready to protect her.

"Hah... hah... hah...," Absolute Diamond gasped for breath. His body bore numerous cuts and was bloodied, but fortunately, with his sturdy physique, all the wounds inflicted by Snow Rose were shallow; otherwise, he would have already met Malachi in the afterlife. Now, with the addition of his soul manifestation, his defense became even stronger.

"I will stop her, Baldie! Make sure to kill her later, understand?!" Silver Marionette instructed Absolute Diamond via Voice Transmission.

"Who are you calling Baldie, damn it?!" Absolute Diamond responded angrily via Voice Transmission.

Silver Marionette controlled the puppet that had previously been confronting Snow Rose to return to her side.

"[Yinyin Baijin Xiu - Shining Elegance of Silver]," Silver Marionette activated her Soul Manifestation, her body shining brightly as a semi-corporeal being that resembled her appeared. The being was then absorbed by Silver Marionette's body, causing her to slowly turn to silver.

Gradually, she began to resemble the silver puppet. Now, along with her two other puppets, it appeared that there were three similar puppets made of silver that resembled Silver Marionette, and all three of them were glowing, their bodies covered in semi-corporeal armor.

"You want me to fight you directly? As you wish, here I come!" the three silver puppets spoke simultaneously as they moved towards Snow Rose.

"Tch!" Snow Rose then retrieved five hiltless swords from her storage ring and controlled them—a flying sword that required spiritual sense to control. The swords hovered around her as she observed the three silver puppets, each bearing the appearance of Silver Marionette. Snow Rose was familiar with Silver Marionette's Soul Manifestation, and now, the three silver puppets had become Silver Marionette's real body. Snow Rose understood that she needed to kill all three puppets to kill Silver Marionette.

Mad Saber and Roaring Thunder watched from the sidelines, their bodies marred with many wounds and bloodied. They observed as they took the opportunity to recover, consuming medicinal pills and restoring their Qi by using Superior Grade Spirit Stones.

They fought Snow Rose in turns; Roaring Thunder paired with Mad Saber, and Absolute Diamond with Silver Marionette. Each pair would confront Snow Rose while the other rested and recovered. Meanwhile, Snow Rose continued to battle without rest, having no time to recover at all.

"What a monster, even when fighting nonstop against the four of us, she still lasts this long," Roaring Thunder remarked.

"Hmph! It will end soon," Mad Saber added.

In the past, they had witnessed firsthand how strong Snow Rose was. Her sword skills were deadly, her Soul Manifestation was powerful and granted many unique abilities, and her Qi reserves were massive. Her attacks and movements were precise and effective, truly deserving the title of one of the geniuses of their generation. Mad Saber, Roaring Thunder, Absolute Diamond, and Silver Marionette had no other choice but to confront Snow Rose in turn.

A low rumbling sound suddenly could be heard, and the earth began to shake, trembling with increasing intensity. Not long after, the mountain that had been smashed by Absolute Diamond erupted with a deafening explosion. A thick, towering column of volcanic ash spewed from the volcano, rising for several kilometers into the sky. Volcanic Lightning crackled within the ash cloud.

Ashes, sands, small stones, and boulders were hurled into the air, raining down along with glowing red lava ejected into the atmosphere. More molten lava spilled from the volcano, flowing down its slopes. The fiery red glow provided an additional source of light in the dark night, along with occasional lightning and thunder. However, the eruption did not affect the ongoing fight in the sky.

...

At the riverside of the Anliu Baihe River lies the prosperous Liyu Village, the once small settlement has now developed significantly, just like a small town. The village thrives due to its strategic location near the riverbank of the Anliu Baihe river, profiting from the traffic on the waterway. Those traveling from Yanjing to Fengxian often board boats from here.

The Liu family caravan stayed in one of the inns in the village for the night, and the next day they will depart by boat to continue their journey.

In one of the rooms on the second floor of the inn, Orion is busy at the table. Meanwhile, Wang Lingxin has already fallen asleep. Currently, Orion is dissecting an insect on the table after finishing preparations for the boat journey tomorrow. The insect resembles a bombardier beetle from Earth but is much larger, almost the size of a cat.

Previously, Orion had finished making a DIY life vest for Wang Lingxin, using animal skin stuffed with natural fiber similar to kapok fiber from Earth.

As for Orion, a life jacket alone wouldn't suffice, given that Orion is mostly made of metal and would sink straight to the bottom. Fortunately, Orion had many empty wooden barrels. Orion made simple adjustments to the barrels and attached ropes to them, intending to use them as floating devices in case of emergency.

Additionally, Orion had constructed a simple raft using many wooden barrels attached together and stored it in the storage ring.

Hm? An eruption? Orion ponders internally as it continues its work on the insect's body parts, simultaneously receiving new data and video from the Orbiter showing an erupting volcano. Does the previous cloud phenomenon relate to the eruption?

Previously, there was a phenomenon where a sea of clouds split in two, not far away from the location of the erupting volcano. On Earth, there are myths about mysterious phenomena preceding major natural disasters, such as bright lights before earthquakes or mysterious clouds before volcanic eruptions. Although unproven, Orion wonders if there are also such myths in this world as well.

"Orbiter, how is your preparation? Is everything ready?" Orion asked via radio.

"Almost there. Still need to run some simulations and work on a few calculations. Tomorrow, will be ready to execute the plan immediately," Orbiter replied over the radio.

"Copy that, Orbiter," Orion acknowledged.

...

"[Silver Thread]! Bind!" one of the silver puppets engaging Snow Rose utilized its combat technique. Numerous silver threads emerged from the silver puppet's body and headed towards Snow Rose.

"Got you now!!!" declared the silver puppet as the silver threads successfully wrapped around Snow Rose's body and limbs, restraining her. Another silver puppet took the opportunity and flew towards Snow Rose with its long, sharp silver claws extended, poised to attack.

Meanwhile, another silver puppet observed from a distance, bearing numerous swords strikes on its body, with one of its arms severed. Holding the severed arm with its other arm, the silver puppet's body slowly began to repair itself, and the severed arm gradually started to mend.

Snow Rose struggled to break free from the silver threads, but their sharp edges cut into her flesh as she fought against them. Despite her efforts, she remained unable to break loose.

"[Sword Dance of the Moonlight, Lunar Sword Wheel]!" Snow Rose exclaimed. The five flying swords surrounded her and began to rotate in a circular motion with her as the center like a wheel. Snow Rose controlled them, directing their movement to cut through all the silver threads binding her.

After being cut, the silver threads fell away from her body and crumbled to silver dust, leaving Snow Rose bloodied, her robe drenched in her own blood. Snow Rose then directed the spinning flying swords towards the incoming silver puppet while simultaneously delivering an attack toward another silver puppet.

"[Sword Dance of the Moonlight, Crescent Frost]!" Snow Rose exclaimed as a crescent-shaped sword slash headed toward one of the silver puppets.

"Damn it!" exclaimed the silver puppet moving towards Snow Rose, using both hands to block the spinning flying swords attack but sent flying backward with both arms cut and suffering a huge gash on its body.

"Disengage!" commanded Snow Rose. The rotating flying swords then broke formation, and Snow Rose controlled them to stab at the silver puppet, piercing its head and body. The silver puppet stopped moving and fell to the ground, crashing and creating a small crater.

The other silver puppet also failed to dodge or defend from Snow Rose's sword slash due to being too close. The puppet was cut in two and then frozen, enveloped in ice before falling to the ground.

"Damn it!" exclaimed the last silver puppet.

"Hah... hah... hah...." Snow Rose breathed heavily, gasping for breath, her Soul Manifestation enveloping her, barely visible and almost disappearing. "Only one left," she muttered, looking at the last silver puppet.

"We are not done yet," Mad Saber's voice echoed. A blood figure suddenly appeared near Snow Rose's side from a blood mist, attacking with a saber slash.

Snow Rose responded swiftly, ducking to evade the saber slash and stabbing the blood mist. However, before her sword could hit the blood figure, it exploded into a thick blood mist, enveloping Snow Rose and hindering her movement.

"[Cloud Stride]!" Absolute Diamond immediately utilized his movement technique and arrived near Snow Rose, surprising her. Snow Rose attempted to deliver a horizontal slash towards him, but he dodged it and grabbed her left arm.

Simultaneously, he delivered a strong side kick using his right leg to Snow Rose's left abdomen, simultaneously yanking her arm. The force tore her arm from her body, causing blood to spray, further staining her already blood-drenched robe. Snow Rose's Soul Manifestation also lost its left arm, causing it to become even fainter.

The force of Absolute Diamond's kick sent her flying into the distance.

"Haaah...." Absolute Diamond exhaled, "Ha ha ha, how was my attack? Are you surprised that I can also move fast? Ha ha ha ha," he boasted, satisfied that he had finally managed to inflict serious injury on Snow Rose.

"Wow... you are indeed very beautiful. Your skin is so smooth and soft," Absolute Diamond nodded to himself as he muttered, scrutinizing Snow Rose's severed arm that he held, admiring its smooth and flawless complexion.

"Stop it, you creep! It seems that you're asking for a terrible death, huh?!" Snow Rose uttered in a cold, dangerous tone, her expression turning fierce and intimidating.

"Uh... uhmm, yeah, so... sorry about that," Absolute Diamond stammered, releasing Snow Rose's severed arm as he rubbed his head in embarrassment.

"It's okay," Snow Rose retorted coldly, "you can pay for it with your life."

Snow Rose's severed arm fell, and she used her Spiritual Sense to control it. It disintegrated into snowflakes and disappeared. Then, Snow Rose's left shoulder glowed bright green as a new arm began to grow. As a Soul Ascendance realm cultivator, Snow Rose possessed high regenerative ability. While she could wait for a few days for her severed arm to grow naturally, in a fight like this, she resorted to using her Blood Essence and Qi to quickly regenerate her severed arm.

Sorry, master, but I need to use forbidden technique, Snow Rose thought to herself. "[Sword Dance of the Moonlight, Sword Blizzard]," she muttered under her breath.