In front of Ning Yu, the Blood Kite emitted a dazzling pale red light.
The faint lights converged together, forming a rounded hexagonal light shield, just like a mirror.
The light shield vanished in an instant, but it expanded to its maximum size at the exact moment the enraged beast crashed into Ning Yu.
Ji Mengyao and Shen Yiyue, seeing that Ning Yu didn't dodge, were too afraid to watch, but the expected scene of Ning Yu being sent flying didn't materialize.
Ning Yu remained motionless in front of Wu Di.
"BOOM!!"
They then realized the enraged beast had completely disappeared, but they could tell what happened from the dust on the ground that was uniformly flowing in the reverse direction.
Something incredible had just happened - the beast had been blasted backward!
Its entire body had been thrown backwards, now embedded upside down in an industrial tower.
Its massive body caused bricks and tiles to scatter everywhere upon impact.
Ning Yu calmly shook the long blade in her hand and flew like a streak of blood toward the beast that had been thrown back.
Only she knew what had just happened:
It was what she called "hitting oneself."
The beast had been thrown back by its own overwhelming force reflected by the [Blood Mirror] - the harder it had tried to hit Ning Yu, the more violently the force had rebounded.
According to the skill description, Ning Yu had successfully used [Blood Mirror] within 0.1 seconds, triggering a perfect counter, which meant triple feedback.
She figured that had stunned it pretty good.
Passing by Ji Mengyao, Ning Yu quickly said:
"Go check on his condition."
She wanted Ji Mengyao to quickly check on Wu Di's state - she had been trying to stop Wu Di from using his ability earlier, so she must know what Wu Di had done.
Ji Mengyao finally snapped out of it and hurried over.
Meanwhile, Ning Yu continued straight toward the beast that was still struggling in the rubble.
Its right arm, which it had used for charging, was completely gone, reduced to a bloody mess by the reflected force of its own charge.
The force had been so great that if Ning Yu hadn't successfully used [Blood Mirror], both she and Wu Di behind her would likely have been crushed.
It was still struggling to get up from the pile of ruins, its remaining arm flailing wildly.
Ning Yu had already reached its front, leaping through the ruins, wielding the Blood Kite to slash one bloody mark after another across the beast's body.
The Blood Kite's sharpness far surpassed that 1500-point long sword she had before.
The beast was still trying to heal its wounds while attempting to regain balance with its remaining hand.
As the Blood Kite inflicted damage on the beast, Ning Yu's amber eyes slowly began turning red.
She felt familiar warm currents flowing back from the blade handle into her body, enhancing both her physical and mental strength - this was the Embrace of Fire activating.
But unlike the previous Crimson War Blade's Blood's Ancient Wish, this time she didn't hear any annoying voices in her ears - that side effect had disappeared.
She no longer had to fight while enduring that 360-degree surround sound that kept demanding "more..."
At the end of the blade handle, the blood butterfly ornament suddenly doubled, becoming two blood butterflies.
They seemed to have souls of their own, dancing around Ning Yu without interfering with the battle.
This must be the indicator of enhancement level.
"ROAR!!!"
The beast finally managed to turn over completely and stand on the ground. The multiple wounds Ning Yu had inflicted made it roar in pain and anger.
It swept a foot toward Ning Yu, which she easily dodged with a backward jump.
Instead of pursuing immediately, it watched Ning Yu with cautious eyes as its right hand slowly regenerated, almost complete now.
The reflected force from earlier made it hesitate, seemingly understanding this wasn't Ning Yu's own power.
It stepped forward forcefully, swinging its newly regenerated right arm at Ning Yu.
The massive hand only fully regenerated when it was almost at Ning Yu's face. She realized this wasn't a punch but an open palm.
It didn't dare use too much force for fear of another reflection, instead trying to grab Ning Yu.
Clever, but it didn't know that Ning Yu's [Blood Mirror] was now in cooldown.
"Swoosh!"
But Ning Yu still had [Future Reading] active. She leaned to the side, not only avoiding the attack but also striking with the Blood Kite again, cutting off two of its fingers.
Her movement didn't stop there. [Future Reading] activated once more as the beast's other hand came grabbing.
It wanted to end the battle quickly, catch Ning Yu and slowly crush her to death.
But all its grabbing attempts were in vain, and instead, it kept getting its fingers cut off or getting slashed.
After another missed strike, it was already holding its knees, its hand injuries still healing, breathing heavily through gritted teeth, with rage burning in its eyes like something tangible.
Yet it couldn't do anything against Ning Yu standing before it.
Ning Yu's amber eyes had completely changed to her familiar bright red, like a vampire who had just completed their first embrace.
While toying with the beast, she now had six or seven blood butterflies dancing around her.
As the effect of [Embrace of Fire] grew stronger, the blood butterflies had detached from the blade handle's decorative string and were now freely swaying with Ning Yu's silver hair, creating a scene of extraordinary beauty.
Ning Yu held the blade in her right hand and gently raised her left, extending one jade-like finger for a blood butterfly to gracefully land upon.
She slowly spoke:
"Tired of fighting? Should it be my turn now?"
Looking at the panting giant, Ning Yu remained composed.
At this moment, with the physical enhancement from [Embrace of Fire], plus the +6 to physical ability from [Enchantment (Blooming)].
She felt her physical capabilities had surpassed her former self when using [Dark Side of the Moon] - worthy of feeding the blade for so long.
Ning Yu's gaze suddenly turned sharp, emanating such killing intent that the beast stepped back, its massive body actually showing signs of retreat.
She twirled her blade in a beautiful pattern, as if communicating with the butterflies surrounding her.
The next second she vanished, a blood-colored lightning flash appearing in the air.
The beast barely made out Ning Yu's movement and, no longer caring about possible reflection, grabbed at her with both hands.
But it was now completely unable to match Ning Yu's speed - she had even turned off [Future Reading], able to easily dodge on instinct alone.
"Shick!"
There was only the sound of a blade piercing flesh.
The beast grabbed at empty air, while Ning Yu had somehow already driven Blood Kite straight into its chest.
She stood on the blade handle like an immortal sword master.
"ARGH!!!!"
The beast didn't feel anything strange - this was just an ordinary external wound, nothing compared to the previous injuries.
Its arms moved to grab Ning Yu again, but she had already lightly jumped backward, landing steadily on the ground.
Blood Kite's handle remained stuck in its chest.
Missing again, the beast didn't pause but moved to attack Ning Yu once more.
The previously clear and bright sky suddenly turned gloomy, the air becoming so thick it seemed it could drip water.
Within the beast's body, for just the briefest moment, dense red lines lit up, covering its entire form.
The blood butterflies were no longer dancing around Ning Yu.
Now they were fluttering their wings around the beast, as if celebrating a beautiful and intense death.
[Thousand Moment Slash] had activated.