Lin Xiao drifted forward into the upper ether, his semi-clear blue body bobbing with eager culinary excitement.
Tucked safely inside his fluid flank were the polished bamboo chopsticks Auntie Wang had pressed into his care, but for stonework on this grand scale, ordinary dining utensils were far too modest. Extending two dense tendrils of Ancient Water, Lin Xiao shaped them into a pair of towering, sixty-pace azure chopsticks, twirling them between his pseudopods with practiced ease. A proper gourmet always approached a twelve-course banquet properly equipped.
Suspended fifty miles above the mortal dirt, the twelve huge brass giant pillars hummed with leftover solar fury, their emergency circuits sputtering as they tried to re-anchor the shattered space-folding rift.
Aboard the flagship below, Bai Ming finally found his voice, though it cracked with shrill panic. “The... The beast is gorged! It can’t possibly contain more sky flame! Array masters, manual override! Channel the pylon reserves directly into the moving dispersal spikes! Crush it with divine weight!”
A trembling master crawled toward the brass stone stand, his trembling fingers hovering over the activation glyphs. “My Lord... The feedback loop is cut! The pylons are running on nearby emergency capacitance—!”
“Then discharge them manually!” Bai Ming shrieked, spittle flying from his lips. “Don’t let that blue monstrosity go down to the mortal dirt alive!”
