Gazing briefly at Ashara beneath the twilight, Seraphine ceased suppressing her physical capabilities.
Her lithe body sank slightly, her legs exerting force.
Crack!
Crack!
The ground beneath her feet groaned and shattered, sinking three inches instantly as jagged, radiating fissures tore across the pavement.
Then, Seraphine’s silhouette blurred and vanished.
Transforming into a phantom shadow, she shot toward the distance at extreme speed.
Rumble ~~
As Seraphine’s long, powerful legs churned, her immense strength repeatedly detonated the ground. The force even caused the dark soil beneath the asphalt to erupt upward, creating a continuous line of earth-fountains in her wake.
Finally.
A circle of grayish-white air-waves suddenly exploded around Seraphine’s charging frame.
She entered a domain of absolute silence.
By releasing only a fraction of her bodily functions, she had shattered the sonic barrier.
Bolting across the terrain like a streak of lightning, Seraphine could not help but roar toward the heavens:
"Roar!!!"
The vast volume of air surrounding her was instantly blasted into a vacuum by her thunderous cry.
Bang bang bang bang bang!!!
Violent, turbulent shockwaves swept across the eight wildernesses.
After the long roar, Seraphine felt an immense sense of relief. Every cell in her body pulsed with waves of excitement and joy.
This was the feeling of freedom.
In mid-sprint, Seraphine extended her arms and casually swiped at the edge of an unfinished commercial building.
Boom!!!
Instantly, half a floor of that thirty-meter-tall structure was pulverized into dust and debris by that supersonic claw-swipe, which contained boundless might. The building collapsed with a roar.
Yet, despite causing destruction of such magnitude, Seraphine’s palm felt not the slightest resistance.
It was as if that building had not been constructed from reinforced concrete, but stacked from countless light sponges.
Fragile.
Too fragile.
Given Seraphine's current physique, if she did not intentionally suppress herself, her everyday movements—walking, sitting, or lying down—could easily exceed the speed of sound. This would cause catastrophic destruction to everything around her.
She had become a true, permanent supersonic being.
...
Night.
Ashara Eastern International Airport, departure lounge.
Dressed in her black robe with a cold expression, Seraphine walked with hands clasped through the bustling crowd. Strangely, among the many people passing by, no one noticed her existence. It was as if she were completely invisible.
This was the benefit of a powerful soul attribute.
In fact, to the current Seraphine, an ordinary human soul was as fragile as a flickering candle flame. With just a slight application of mental power, she could easily shroud all their perceptions and senses.
Simultaneously, within Seraphine's unimpeded spiritual vision, the heads of everyone in the airport were emitting mental fluctuations invisible to the naked eye. These fluctuations rippled and swirled like streams of water—some clear, some turbid—flowing rapidly into her mind.
‘I wonder if this business deal will pull through.’
‘The beef noodles at the airport are way too expensive.’
‘That old man’s wallet looks so full; let's see if I have a chance to snatch it.’
‘Damn woman, I’m divorcing you the moment I get back!’
‘I haven’t seen her in so long; why has she been ignoring me lately?’
As these mental fluctuations poured into Seraphine's soul, the thoughts and ideas of everyone within a several-hundred-meter radius resonated in her mind like a loud broadcast.
Indeed, since her soul attribute surpassed 3,000, Seraphine's brain had broken through a thick barrier, entering an entirely new level.
Thereafter, a series of extraordinary abilities began to manifest. Among them was telepathy—the ability to perceive and receive the psychological activity and information of other humans.
"A bit noisy," Seraphine murmured, her brow furrowing slightly as she proactively deactivated her telepathy.
Shortly after, she arrived at the security checkpoint. With her hands clasped behind her back, she walked calmly past several staff members. However, the security personnel acted as if they didn't see her at all, offering not the slightest obstruction.
This was sensory distortion—with a single thought, she could alter the perceptions and five senses of ordinary people, causing them to fall into a psychological "brain in a vat" prison.
"Passengers on flight TD7526, please note..."
Seraphine looked up at a giant screen above. It clearly stated that a flight to Cloud City was about to depart. Cloud City was the venue for this Martial Arts Convention.
"Very well, I'll take this one."
Having confirmed her direction, Seraphine walked directly toward the boarding gate for flight TD7526. Repeating her previous tactic, she easily warped the senses of the flight attendants and gate agents, stepping onto the plane in broad daylight.
Upon entering the cabin, Seraphine randomly selected a bald, obese middle-aged man wearing glasses in first class. She walked over and said indifferently:
"Get off the plane."
"What did you say—" The bald man blinked. Just as he was about to protest, his expression instantly stiffened. Then, standing up in a daze, he walked off the plane without even taking his bag.
Once he had gone, Seraphine took his seat as a matter of course and began flipping through a magazine. This was forced hypnosis—ignoring the logic of the target's brain and behavior, she forcibly implanted a compelling command, controlling them to execute a specific action in the short term.
At that moment, a beautiful flight attendant approached with a sweet smile and a graceful gait. When she saw Seraphine, her smile faltered slightly. She knitted her eyebrows and asked with some confusion:
"Miss, you... the gentleman who was just here..."
Seraphine looked up at her and said indifferently:
"It was me."
The flight attendant paused, her expression changing rapidly. Within a split second, she smiled warmly and said, "I'm so sorry, I must have remembered incorrectly. Would you like fruit juice or Coca-Cola?"
"A glass of juice will be fine."
"Certainly."
Recognition distortion—modifying an individual's short-term recognition of an event, object, or person, causing a momentary scramble of memory.
Seraphine frowned slightly and rubbed her temples. She was somewhat dissatisfied with her psychic abilities. She felt that her application of these skills was still somewhat crude and simplistic. Aside from basic telepathy, the other abilities operated on the principle of forcibly shoving or rewriting information, and their duration was not particularly long-lasting.
Essentially, it was still a matter of "using brute force to fly a brick." It consumed too much mental energy while having a short duration.
"I need to look for Secret Art cultivation methods specifically for the soul. That will make it easier for me to explore and deduce more effective and powerful ways to utilize mental power."
"The aircraft is about to take off; please stow your tray tables..."
Following the gentle announcement in the cabin, the aircraft on the airport tarmac began its slow turn. Once aligned with the runway's centerline, it began to surge forward.
...
Vroom, vroom, vroom.
The aircraft's forward speed increased. Upon reaching peak velocity, the fuselage vibrated, and it gradually ascended, sliding into the deep blue night sky.
In the first-class cabin.
Feeling the slight vibrations of the aircraft in flight, Seraphine rested her chin on her hand, sinking into deep thought.
In reality, with the 【Infinite Attributes】 system, even if she simply lounged around, her combat power would skyrocket sooner or later through the system's power. Anyone with even a basic understanding of mathematics knows how values explode when growth is exponential.
The growth rate of the combat power ceiling in the original work corresponding to this world could not even begin to catch up with her. Even if several great Ether tides descended in the future and Earth produced countless experts, Seraphine remained supremely confident. She believed that absolutely no one could block her will.
The frustrating part, however, was that 《Dragonblood》 was not an ordinary work. It was... a work with a terrible ending.
"Sigh."
Seraphine frowned slightly, unable to resist rubbing her temples again.
In the original 《Dragonblood》, from the beginning of the story until near the end, the combat power ceiling was consistently maintained around the planet-destroying level. However, perhaps because the author's ability was insufficient, too many plot holes were dug, and they couldn't be filled.
Ultimately, this led to a major structural issue in the final plot.
It nearly resulted in a total collapse.
Of course, this is a common ailment in long-running serials.
Even web novels suffer from this.
If it were only that, it wouldn't be much of a problem.
The crux was that "dogshit author" must have suffered some kind of breakdown near the end.
For whatever psychological reason.
He suddenly decided to design a Boss that seemingly dropped out of nowhere—the Shadow of the Unreal—to forcibly end everything.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Back on her old Earth.
《Dragonblood》 was once a very popular work.
Aside from the main series, there were several spin-offs, games, and theatrical versions.
Among them, powerful characters and troublesome forces were not few in number.
In principle, those belonged to stories of parallel space-time and did not participate in the main plot.
But Seraphine felt.
The probability of these enemies and forces from outside the main story of 《Dragonblood》 appearing was extremely high.
After all, a work is just a work.
It is only one facet of a world.
The real world, the real universe, will never be that simple.
As for those branch works, their timelines compared to the main story were extremely vague.
Therefore, in this Earth world where Seraphine resided, there was no telling when she might bump into a difficult Boss.
Being a bit cautious is always beneficial.
To that end, the strength of those enemies was still acceptable; they didn't exceed common sense too much.
Or rather, relying on her infinitely soaring attributes, Seraphine had the confidence to suppress them all.
It was just this so-called Shadow of the Unreal whose combat power was truly a bit too outrageous.
According to the original settings and the performance in the original plot.
The existence of the Shadow of the Unreal.
Is a supreme being that transcends the limits of human imagination.
He is so terrifying that he can arbitrarily warp the physical laws of reality.
Even reversing all the rules of the universe, reaching the level of incinerating karma and reincarnation.
The moment he appeared at the end of the work.
In an instant, he pulled everything known and unknown in the entire 《Dragonblood》 universe into an irreversible Great End.
What is the Great End?
It means that regardless of past or present, regardless of universal beings or space-time matter.
Everything.....
All turned into a dream-like illusion.
Drawn into the memory-painting of this great cosmic enemy, becoming a fragmented and blurred landscape.
Countless sentient beings, from ancient times to the present.
The entire universe was merely a faint memory he used to pass the boring time during his endless journey to "prey" upon the next vast universe.
It was as if this universe of 《Dragonblood》 had never existed.
Clearly, such an action was far too malicious.
It was almost no different from the ruined endings of other popular works, to the extent that it triggered widespread outrage online.
The original author’s social media accounts were utterly decimated by countless furious netizens.
After his platforms were repeatedly blasted, the author—who initially planned to stay silent and "play dead"—was forced by necessity to rewrite a normal ending overnight.
Ultimately, this caused 《Dragonblood》 to become a botched work.
This entire incident became a hot news topic at the time.
However, all of this actually wasn't important to Seraphine.
After all, it was just a fictional work.
In her past life, as a bit of a thrill-seeker, she had watched the whole thing as a joke from start to finish.
But now...
She, Seraphine, had actually transmigrated into the world of 《Dragonblood》 herself.
This made things difficult.
Who knows exactly how powerful that Shadow of the Unreal really is?
From the basic descriptions, the baseline is at least Universe-level.
But considering he instantly annihilated the entire 《Dragonblood》 universe with such ease, high probability suggests he is Multiverse-level.
But what is the scale? How many times larger than a universe?
Ten thousand times?
One hundred million times?
Even one trillion times?!
If the opponent is truly that overpowered, what then?
Seraphine had no intention of closing her eyes and waiting for Death.
She was visibly about to ascend.
As time passes, never mind Earth—even in the Milky Way, Seraphine would rightfully be the overlord.
Furthermore, she currently resides in a real world, not a so-called "work." The plot is merely an insignificant side of the real world.
As for an existence like the Shadow of the Unreal, who clearly transcends the logical layers of space-time, who knows if he will faithfully wait until the end of 《Dragonblood》 to make his appearance?
So, this is a bit awkward.
She wouldn't want to find herself in a situation where she can't even "run" because her combat power isn't high enough.
To ensure her own safety, Seraphine made a decision.
She would add more fuel to the process of her exponential attribute expansion.
Accelerate!
For example, after bypassing several realms and reaching the martial arts peak of Evershield Body this time, Seraphine’s attribute values had changed.
Attribute Interface ——
【Host: Seraphine】
【Physical Strength: 8103】
【Soul: 8095】
Looking at her attribute panel, Seraphine thought carefully:
"My foundation is too massive, so even though I leaped through seven realms, it only roughly doubled."
She wasn't particularly disappointed. After all, this was only the beginning.
According to the system's ability, by tomorrow, her attributes would expand to sixteen thousand.
In other words, by tomorrow, Seraphine would possess ten thousand tons of immense strength!
If she works diligently and makes a bit of effort every day thereafter, doubling and doubling again, the speed of her combat power expansion would become even faster.
Thinking of this, Seraphine’s "combat power deficiency phobia" was finally somewhat alleviated.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the aircraft has arrived at the station..."
Accompanied by the flight attendant's sweet announcement in the cabin, the plane finally reached Cloud City Airport.
Unconsciously, time had quietly crossed the midnight mark of 12 AM.
【Host: Seraphine】
【Physical Strength: 16206】
【Soul: 16190】
She slowly opened her eyes.
Buzz ~~
A deep and boundless surge of mental power radiated out, easily enveloping the entire aircraft.
In an instant, the noisy atmosphere in the cabin froze. All the passengers who were about to stand up or reach for their luggage to disembark remained fixed in place, their faces vacant.
Click ~
Seraphine slowly unbuckled her safety belt and stood up with a calm expression. She walked past the passengers who stood as stiff as statues, descending from the plane with her hands clasped.
A short while later, everyone in the cabin snapped awake simultaneously. As if nothing had happened, they resumed their bustling and shouting, crowding the aisles in groups as they slowly filed off the plane. Surprisingly, no one noticed the abnormal situation that had just occurred.
"Hmm..."
A beautiful woman who had been sitting next to Seraphine held her forehead, looking around in bewilderment. For a moment, her brain felt blank and chaotic.
"Strange, how did I... sleep for so long?"
While she was lost in confusion, a sharp, unbearable pain suddenly flashed through her head, and two streaks of blood spurted from her nostrils.
"Ah ah ah, help! Why is my nose bleeding?!"
Terrified and frantic, she scrambled to pull out tissues to cover her nose.
Leaving the chaos on the plane behind, Seraphine had already flickered away, leaving the airport far behind. Her figure was elegant as she detonated the atmosphere with every stride, sprinting toward the heart of Cloud City at extreme speed. She moved so fast that even the drivers passing on the highway failed to notice her.
Right at that moment, thunderous rumbles echoed from the horizon.
In Cloud City, a thunderstorm suddenly broke.
...
In the early morning hours.
Above Cloud City.
Boom!
Crack crackle zap!!
Thunder rolled through the ten-thousand-zhang heights.
Thousands of purple lightning bolts enveloped the four quarters of the sky, shredding the layered clouds into a million pieces. They transformed into boundless, torrential rain that struck the earth, mingling with the pitch-black night.
Whoosh whoosh!!
Splash splash splash!!
For a moment, the heavens were hazy.
Sky and earth merged into one, looking like a vast world of rain.
Right then.
Amidst the dense curtains of rain in the high altitude, a colossal, perfectly round orb of blazing blue light hovered in the void.
Rumbling and roaring.
The radiant light orb instantly evaporated all raindrops within a several-dozen-meter radius into a vast shroud of steam.
Sizzle sizzle sizzle...!
Within the light orb, Seraphine sat cross-legged with a calm expression, her eyes closed as she silently operated the cultivation mnemonic for Palm-Heart Lightning.
She was continuously absorbing the explosive power of thunder swelling relentlessly within the celestial clouds.
Crack!
Another wild lightning bolt struck down, carving a Z-shaped path through the layers of the atmosphere in a split second, hitting the light orb directly.
But in the next instant.
This violent thunder was swallowed whole by Seraphine.
It transformed into surges of massive, pure lightning energy, dispersing throughout her entire body.
Palm-Heart Lightning!
The second killing technique within the Primordial Ether Unification Art, following the Ignorant Flame.
According to the records in the cultivation manuals.
One who practices this art must wait for a thunderstorm to just end, when the lingering lightning has not yet dissipated. They must cautiously ascend to a high place, risking their lives to absorb a tiny fraction of thunder power into their body.
Thereafter, using the mind as a vessel and lightning as the material, they condense a sphere of Electro-Magnetic Ball.
This method requires a martial artist of at least the Evershield Body realm to even have the qualification to practice.
Furthermore, it damages the body and shortens one's lifespan; the time required is also immense.
Even in seasons where thunderstorms are frequent, a cultivator typically spends half a month just to condense a single sphere of Lightning Force.
More importantly.
Even among the elite of the Evershield Body realm, the number of Lightning Forces their bodies can contain would not exceed twenty.
Therefore, if the creator of the Primordial Ether Unification Art were resurrected today.
Seeing Seraphine so recklessly diving alone into the vicinity of violent thunderclouds, actively summoning bolt after bolt of lightning to strike her body, they would likely be scared to death all over again.
Crack!
Crack!
Two more purple bolts struck down, and in an instant, they were completely drawn into Seraphine's body without her expression changing an inch.
"The body has almost reached the limit of its carrying capacity."
Seraphine slowly opened her eyes, a flash of purple lightning patterns suddenly crossing her pupils.
She looked down toward the spire of a needle-shaped skyscraper hundreds of meters below.
She slowly opened her palm, and strands of lightning immediately seeped out from her pores.
Sizzle sizzle sizzle!
In a flash, they condensed into a roaring orb of blazing lightning.
Crack!!
The lightning orb detonated!
In an instant, it transformed into a real, tangible bolt of explosive thunder, about the size of an arm.
This thunder spanned several kilometers in a heartbeat, fiercely striking the roof of an unfinished building on the outskirts of the city.
Bang!!!
The dirty, old reinforced concrete roof, measuring about a hundred square meters, was shattered into dust and debris by the lightning in the time it takes for a spark to fly.
Thereafter, these fragments of earth and debris, accompanied by a deafening roar capable of piercing eardrums, tumbled down toward the wasteland below.
But this was not the end.
With a calm expression and palms flashing with lightning, Seraphine frantically hurled over a dozen more thunderbolts in that same direction.
Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
In a flash, that abandoned construction site several kilometers away fell into ruin. Amidst exploding concrete and flying rebar, with thick smoke rising from all sides, countless workers in a nearby dormitory—temporarily closed due to the heavy rain—witnessed the scene.
They were instantly struck by panic, their terrified cries echoing one after another.
"What's happening?"
"Holy crap!"
"That lightning is way too terrifying!"
"Haha, film it! I'm posting this to my Moments."
Amidst the wind and rain, safety alarms wailed incessantly. Yet, this chaos did not draw the slightest bit of Seraphine’s attention.
She sat cross-legged in the sky, silently calculating:
"The maximum strike range is five kilometers. Against a normal Evershield Body, one bolt can inflict minor wounds, two can cause heavy injuries, and three or four will ensure death. For anyone below the Evershield Body realm, one bolt is sufficient to kill. Moreover, because it contains a trace of the Planet, any ordinary ghosts or evil spirits will surely perish upon contact."
Seraphine felt the massive electrical energy stored within her. She silently estimated the number of Electro-Magnetic Ball she could convert.
"Five thousand."
"Based on the intensity of my Physical Strength, once I absorb enough thunder energy, I can convert and store five thousand orbs of lightning force."
"Hah."
Seraphine let out a light chuckle.
She deactivated the Palm-Heart Lightning circulation technique. Within a single breath, the blazing blue light orb in the rain slowly dissipated.
At that same moment, the thunderstorm gradually receded. The night sky became as clear as if it had been washed, and the vast space reappeared. Seraphine, following her intuition, looked up toward the heavens.
"Perfect. Now is the right time to cultivate the Starlit Sword Qi."
The final killing technique of the Primordial Ether Unification Art.
Starlit Sword Qi.
This was a method of cultivation that borrowed the Essence of stars from beyond the heavens. Likewise, those not of the Evershield Body realm must not dare to practice it; otherwise, death or permanent disability was certain.
One who cultivates the Starlit Sword Qi must harvest the immeasurable Star Essence from the night sky and refine it for storage within the lungs. Once sufficient Star Essence has been accumulated, they operate the technique to forge and condense the Starlit Sword Qi.
During combat, the sword qi can be discharged through the seven orifices of the head or even every pore of the body. Once released, the sword qi is invincible in destroying objects and slaying foes.
However, this method differed from the Ignorant Flame and Palm-Heart Lightning. It was merely a theoretical deduction created by the founder of the Primordial Ether Unification Art. According to the ancient records, even the creator did not know if this method could be successfully mastered.
Because in that ancient era when Ether was absent, the so-called Star Essence likewise did not exist.
But now was different.
Based on Seraphine’s observations and her cross-referencing of the original plot's timeline, she was certain:
Earth had already begun its Ether recovery.
