Yes, I did all of this!

"Huh?" The orca also sensed the same power and looked up at Duanmu Mo in confusion.

This is a manifestation of power exceeding one's own capacity. If Duanmu Mo's senses are not mistaken, Cangyuan's power is considered quite strong among gold-quality cards.

He stretched his body, raised his hand, and a stream of water emerged from his hand, condensing into a trident.

—A deep blue blade, a golden handle, and countless intricate carvings and gemstone inlays—it's an art form so magnificent it can hardly be called a weapon.

"Let me test the power of Cangyuan!"

Duanmu Mo gripped the trident with both hands and charged toward the sea monster, his body leaving only a bright blue trail in the dim seawater.

"die......"

Before Leviathan could finish speaking, seawater appeared from all around, and countless Duanmu Mo remained in their charging posture as a large number of tridents simultaneously struck the sea monster's body.

Sizzle!

The body generated by negative emotions has no flesh and blood, but each strike blasts out a large amount of white mist.

The immense power finally made Leviathan feel pain.

"Die! Die! Die! Die!"

Beneath him, countless hanged ghosts screamed and attacked each of his seawater clones.

"You talk too much nonsense!"

Duanmu Mo deliberately dispersed his clone, creating distance between himself and the attack, and swung his trident to deflect the invisible attack.

Only after transforming did Duanmu Mo realize just how terrifying Cangyuan's power was.

Water is formless yet has countless forms, so Duanmu Mo could use this power to pull off a whole bunch of fancy and outrageous maneuvers.

But no, the small amount of power in this card is enough to deal with most enemies.

—Inexhaustible physical strength like the ocean, vast power like the ocean, and... the characteristic of the move Duanmu Mo just used, which attacks intangible things.

Grasping the trident, Duanmu Mo's eyes blazed with blue light, and he suddenly threw it away.

Whoosh!

The trident made a sharp sound in the sea, striking the hanged ghosts hanging from the lower body of the sea monster.

Even if it wasn't actually hit by the trident, the shockwave from its speed was enough to tear apart a large number of enemies around it.

Seeing the sea monster with a hole suddenly appear in its lower body, Duanmu Mo raised his hand, and the trident reappeared in his hand.

"Come on! Let's see how many times you can last!"

The golden trident fired in succession, blasting huge holes into the city-sized Leviathan.

The sea monster roared, glaring angrily at Duanmu Mo:

"—Can this power of yours truly be called real?!"

The power in the words spread like ripples, but Duanmu Mo swung his trident, tearing apart the seductive power in its words, and threw it back at it: "Does it hurt? Tell me! If it hurts, then it really does!"

"Merely outside forces..."

Leviathan could have put up a fight against this power, but it had been fighting the orca for several days. Even if the eyeball weakened the orca, it still had far too many injuries.

"So what if it's external force? If it hurts you, that's what matters!"

"—If I were in my full form! You ant wouldn't even deserve to appear before me!" Leviathan roared, and obvious ripples appeared in the surrounding aura as it forcefully pressed down on Duanmu Mo.

"Whether it's complete or not is none of my business. Just tell me, does it hurt when I hit you? If it hurts, then it's real!"

Tridents were fired one after another, piercing Leviathan through the air. Feeling the damage to its body, Leviathan disregarded the risks and raised its head to let out a long roar.

"Stop yelling—just say it hurts!"

Duanmu Mo threw down his weapon, not even thinking about what it was doing, and subconsciously shouted something.

He usually employs a lot of fancy tactics, but occasionally trying out this simple and straightforward strategy can be quite enjoyable.

However, he soon sensed a large number of auras coming from afar, densely packed like a tide.

"Ok?"

He looked into the distance and sensed that a large number of strange, remnant souls were appearing and surging towards him.

"I don't have time to argue with you now—die!"

After Leviathan continued to tear Duanmu Mo apart, its body turned into white mist and flowed into the orca's body.

"Did you escape... to destroy Cangyuan's self, right?"

Carrying his trident, Duanmu Mo chuckled and looked at the approaching remnant soul of the strange man in the distance.

"However... you're mistaken if you think you can use them to entangle me. I'm not one of those magical girls."

Duanmu Mo approached the orca, placed one hand on its head, and took out the Leviathan card he had recently acquired with the other.

This card can only be used for location tracking, which is exactly what Duanmu Mo needs right now.

"Hmm...found it—well then, magical girls, I won't keep you company any longer. This place is yours~"

He turned and smiled at the magical girls, then his body transformed into a vortex and disappeared from the spot.

Here, only Huangyi and Fengling remained, struggling to face the giant serpent before them, as well as the large number of strange remnant souls that were about to arrive.

. . . . . .

Chapter 356: Futile Persistence

call!

Golden flames and emerald winds flew through the air, while the setting sun and the sound of listening looked down at the ground, amplifying their senses to the maximum.

"Where...where exactly is it?!"

As the sun set, it glanced down at its phone, where Duanmu Mo had left only a single, fleeting message:

"I'm leaving for a while, but I'll be back soon."

After Duanmu Mo left, Xia Yan didn't find it strange at first, assuming he had just gone out for a drink of water. But after a while, Xia Yan had a bad feeling and immediately got out of bed to look for him.

But he has disappeared without a trace, with only a message he sent not long ago remaining.

Xia Yan's search also woke Shen Wuyin up. After their search proved fruitless, the two immediately transformed and began searching the city.

But Duanmu Mo's motorcycles are all left in the garage, so where can he go?

So they quickly came to the conclusion that the only one who could take him away was Neville.

Judging from the information he left for them, Duanmu Mo was probably not forced into anything; his disappearance was mostly of his own volition.

"Damn it, that damned Neville... Duanmu Mo is a bastard too!"

As the sun set, it looked towards the city, then finally looked up at the vortex, clenching its fists in anger: "What are you trying to do?!"

Duanmu Mo was no longer in the city; he had already gone to the seal of the vortex.

. . . . . .

—The salty sea breeze brushed against his face. Cang Yuan sat on the beach, looking at the boundless sky. The sun set on the sea, turning the water and sky a hazy yellow.

"..."

In the past, this time of year was when fishermen would return from their catch, and Cangyuan should have hidden himself away to avoid attracting attention.

But now, Cangyuan sat with his knees drawn up to his chest for who knows how long, and not a single fisherman appeared, as if the whole world had become incredibly empty.

In this dream world, even if they have died, they will reappear after a while and continue the life that Cang Yuan imagined, as if nothing had happened.

The problem isn't with her dream; in fact, the only one with the problem is Cang Yuan.

"There's no one left..."

After a long while, she spoke softly, but naturally no one answered.

She said it aloud, even though she could do it just by thinking about it, as if she was expecting someone to respond to her at that moment.

Even so, the world remained incredibly quiet.

Or rather, this is the essence of this dream: empty and void.

But then Cangyuan thought about it again and realized the sad truth—they had always been here.

A grain of sand, a drop of water, a table, a chair, from stars to clouds, from birds to fish—these are no different from the villagers' lives; they are all products of his own delusion.

However, as one's thinking stagnates, all unnecessary existences also disappear.

unnecessary......

Cangyuan grasped a piece of information and had his answer.

After she drove Duanmu Mo away, this desolate scene remained unchanged.

In this lonely dream, even if the spirits of outsiders are brought here, they are like puppets doing what the characters in the dream should do.

Day after day, year after year, until Duanmu Mo appeared.

Perhaps because no outsiders had ever entered this place before, Cang Yuan admitted that he had let his guard down around him, but more so because of Duanmu Mo's unreasonable interference in this world.

Instead of spouting a bunch of道理 (principles/truths), it subtly alters Cangyuan's daily life as if it were everyday life itself.

Amidst his occasional boasting and complaints, Cangyuan felt that the time he had spent with Duanmu Mo was more fulfilling than the past thousands of years.

After he left, an emptiness welled up inside him.

Once the only audience member disappears, the stage naturally becomes unnecessary.

. . . . . .

tear--

Just as she was curled up and hugging herself, a violent tearing sound rang out from the sky, and countless hands widened the crack, along with a powerful aura.

"..."

His thoughts were interrupted, and Cang Yuan frowned, looking up at the sky.

Sensing that aura, a look of understanding appeared in her eyes. She had already heard Duanmu Mo's description and knew about her enemy's situation.

I never expected it to come back again, and in this way at that.

"Not dead yet...?"