Chapter 105: Moonlight Breathing Technique
Under the night curtain, Iona’s figure twisted unnaturally, moving like a marionette on strings.
Her originally bright red eyes gradually turned pitch black, and her once dazzling golden hair also dimmed, gradually becoming deep and pitch black.
Just as Xilutiya thought the other had completely lost consciousness and turned into some kind of monster, another invisible pulse rhythm fluctuation occurred.
Then Iona’s stiff body gradually softened, and she knelt on the ground. Afterward, a sobbing sound echoed in the woodland, and when she looked up again, black tear tracks slowly flowed from beneath her eyes.
Black-purple veins spread across her body, bit by bit devouring the blazing sun within her, and even the ‘blood law’ nature in her blood was eroded and twisted.
A strange sensation—Iona’s consciousness awoke once more.
She felt as if her body had been completely replaced; the previous accumulated fatigue, soreness, and exhaustion had all vanished, and at this moment, she noticed the shadow on the ground.
That was her shadow under the moonlight. Although it was merely a shadow, it felt strangely familiar to her, carrying a sense of exhaustion and injury.
Her body felt as light as nothing. She gripped the sword blade in her hand again, leaping up effortlessly, reaching behind Xilutiya in the blink of an eye.
She had become so strong—a surge of joy dispelled her doubts. She immediately thought of tonight’s goal, her gaze locking onto the lantern at Xilutiya’s waist.
She didn’t know what changes had occurred to her body after the black sun eclipse ritual, but to resolve the side effects, she had to go to the secluded forest. There were many school’s inheritances, and she could easily access all kinds of knowledge. Only by going there could she continue walking the path of transcendents.
Her past ‘blazing sun’ path was severed; from now on, she could only walk the ‘nightmare’ path.
On the other side, when Xilutiya sensed Iona passing by her side, a chill ran down her back.
So fast—this speed had already surpassed human limits. Or rather, with Iona’s current ability, it was impossible to reach such speed. It probably approached the strength of ‘second order nightmare’.
There was no time to think about what changes had happened to Iona’s body; another clash began.
Iona wielded her sword blade with one hand. Though the sword arc no longer had its former fierceness and majesty, it was now incomparably light and swift, far surpassing her previous speed.
Under this eerie and incredibly light sword technique, Xilutiya’s original defense was no longer perfect. The bizarrely swift sword blade easily found flaws and gaps, piercing through her blocks and parries.
In several exchanges, several slender cuts appeared on Xilutiya’s body, bringing spots of blood. Though not deep, the pain made her frown repeatedly.
Black hair fluttered. Iona, who originally had short hair, now had her hair growing wildly, and her entire temperament was slowly changing.
Her eyes became slightly narrower and sharper, and her voice carried a bit more coldness.
“Tiya, I win.” Her voice was icy cold.
She looped back once more, invisible ripples spreading from the sword blade in her hand, bringing dark black strands. The trees that were slashed began to deform, emitting a sinister and eerie feeling.
This situation made Xilutiya involuntarily recall the monsters of the shadow world.
Such a ritual—after the change, she could no longer be considered a pure human.
The two paused their clash. Iona stood under the clear, cold moonlight, slowly turning around.
At this moment, Iona’s eyes were pitch black, with some turbid tear tracks flowing from the corners. Not only that, her body was also covered in strange black-red blood threads.
【Black Sun Eclipse】 ritual can convert 【Blazing Sun】 to 【Nightmare】, but this transformation was never meant to be for the better from the start—it was to destroy the 【Blazing Sun】 Corona Dragon of that time.
Therefore, even after converting to 【Nightmare】, Iona’s body was full of twisted traces. That 【Nightmare】 nature was also filled with strangeness and instability, vastly different from a true nature obtained through self-cultivation and training.
In Xilutiya’s view, Iona’s fate plate had been polluted. The originally golden 【Maiden of Dawn】 had now become a purple-black entwined mirror frame, with a blurry humanoid figure standing inside. Instead, outside the mirror frame, lifelike humanoid fragments were shattered.
This bizarre scene sent a chill through Xilutiya’s heart, giving her a very bad premonition.
Sure enough, the opposite Iona’s fingers began to deform, like pitch-black purple-tinged tentacles wrapping around the longsword in her hand, charging at her again.
The originally golden blade turned pitch black, slashing onto the firefly-green jade sword, with some 【twisted】 nature infecting and impacting, as if it wanted to infect Xilutiya as well.
In response, Xilutiya grew vigilant and quickly retreated, but the other relentlessly pursued.
“Clang—”
Xilutiya swung her sword blade with full force again, clashing with the black sword in Iona’s hand and knocking the longsword flying.
After losing reason, Iona’s sword technique had plummeted, currently probably only some crude instinct.
Taking advantage of the gap as Iona retreated without her weapon, Xilutiya decided to temporarily avoid the strangely altered Iona and head back to the foot of the mountain first.
But the opposite Iona now abandoned even the lantern, continuing to chase after her.
She even abandoned the blood strange flower in the lantern. It seemed Iona had completely lost control, Xilutiya thought.
Sure enough, anything involving twisted nature is no good. Otherwise, why did those superior races build the heavenly courtyard? It was to stay away from the Twilight Sea polluted by ‘twisted’ nature.
With no other choice, Xilutiya could only fight while retreating, but after Iona’s change, though she lacked technique, her speed was much faster than before.
Along the way, Xilutiya’s body accumulated quite a few sword wounds.
She couldn’t keep fleeing; she had to confront Iona head-on. Xilutiya decided to stop in a clearing.
Surrounded by twisted withered trees, the two began their final decisive battle in this clearing.
Both now had black long hair. In the flipping battle, sword edges crossed, black hair danced, metal clashed, bringing sparks of shattered fragments.
Constantly adjusting her breathing technique, accelerating circulation, bursting power, enhancing speed—Xilutiya felt she had never so clearly experienced how the flow of blood would bring such distinct changes to the body.
And at this moment, moonlight fell on her, also bringing waves of ripples.
As if suddenly enlightened, just as the dew prayer method borrows the power of blazing sun to transform into emerald honey, could she also borrow the power of moonlight to transform into blood law?
With this thought arising, the inheritance book 『Melelan Ke of Lake Prayer』 that she had directly seen in the shadow world before—details she originally didn’t understand—now all became clear one by one.
So that’s how it is. Xilutiya swung her sword blade again, pushing Iona back a short distance, then leaped up, surging into the treetop and jumping into the air.
At this moment, moonlight bathed down over the entire clearing, and an invisible white halo manifested on her body.
【Breathing Technique Lv.4】（Blood Law）→【Moonlight Breathing Technique Lv.3】（Brilliant Moon）
【Moonlight Breathing Technique Lv.3】（Brilliant Moon）: A new ability from fusing ‘dew prayer method’ with ‘breathing technique’. It can borrow moonlight to restore stamina, greatly enhancing the breathing technique’s sustainability and reducing side effects like hidden injuries.
