Just thinking about it made her feel like she might spontaneously combust from embarrassment.
Cloud looked at the girl squatting on the ground like a perfectly ripe peach, radiating sweet, bashful energy, and couldn't help but laugh.
Was this the charm of a maiden in love? Just moments ago she'd been a "goddess" capable of shattering mountains with a thought, yet now a single kiss had left her too embarrassed to show her face.
This extreme gap moe was more lethal than her psychic powers.
He walked over but didn't help her up. Instead, he crouched beside her and spoke in a relaxed tone: "Alright, stop being shy, Miss Psychic Idol Athena. Congratulations—from today on, you stand alone above heaven and earth."
"Now then, shouldn't we discuss how you, a hidden boss at 90% Absolute Domain, plan to play the pig to eat the tiger in upcoming tournaments?"
He skillfully used humor and future planning to redirect the girl's attention and dissolve the awkwardness.
Athena peeked at him through her fingers. Seeing that familiar, slightly mischievous yet gentle smile on his face, the shyness and panic in her heart gradually subsided.
Right. Compared to being embarrassed, there were more important things to focus on.
She, Athena Asamiya, was no longer who she used to be.
A storm that would sweep the world was approaching, and she finally had the qualifications to stand beside him, to fight at his side.
With that thought, confident and determined light reignited in the girl's eyes.
Though... her face was still so hot!
...
When Cloud and Athena's "primordial spirits" returned from the spiritual world to their physical bodies and opened their eyes atop Mount Wutai, the entire summit's atmosphere instantly changed.
If before Athena had been a brilliant pearl radiating gentle light, now she was a blazing star suspended in the highest heavens, shining with boundless radiance!
That terrifying aura unconsciously leaking from her—the qualitatively transformed 90% Absolute Domain—was being instinctively restrained, yet to "old monsters" of Chin Gentsai and Tang Fulu's caliber, it was still as eye-piercing as a searchlight in the dark night, impossible to ignore.
Clatter.
The chess piece Chin Gentsai had been about to play for "checkmate" dropped onto the board. His old face—ruddy from years of drinking—was now covered in shock, mouth gaping wide enough to stuff a wine gourd into.
Gulp.
Tang Fulu unconsciously swallowed, forgetting to set down his teacup, letting scalding tea spill over his hand without even noticing.
Those old eyes that seemed capable of seeing through all the world's illusions were filled with disbelief.
"This... this aura... is from that girl Athena?" Chin Gentsai's voice trembled. He even suspected he'd drunk fake liquor and was hallucinating.
"That's right..." Tang Fulu's expression was more spectacular than if he'd seen a ghost. "Moreover, this power... pure, vast, perfectly unified... It's simply not something a mortal should possess! What... what did she experience?"
Both men simultaneously turned their gazes toward Cloud, who looked completely relaxed, as if he'd merely taken a student on a field trip.
In this moment, in their eyes, Cloud's image had upgraded from "junior with unfathomable strength" directly to "walking miracle," "immortal descended to earth," and "human cheat code"!
"This... this is what you called a simulated date?" Chin Gentsai felt his worldview receiving an unprecedented shock.
It was like a martial grandmaster who'd spent his whole life studying the "Nine Yang Divine Art" suddenly seeing someone use "love charging" to max out "Heaven and Earth Great Shift."
"Yep." Cloud spread his hands, looking completely matter-of-fact. "I told you, it's called Psychological Counseling Martial Therapy. Through deep spiritual exchange, I helped her shatter her inner demons, recognize her true self, and then duang—she broke through. Makes perfect sense, right?"
Makes sense?
Makes sense my ass!
Chin Gentsai and Tang Fulu screamed internally.
You call this rocket-speed power surge "makes sense"?!
This isn't psychological counseling—you basically reinstalled her entire "god-tier system," complete with "lifetime VIP" and a "one-click max level" gift package!
Most fighters train their entire lives, eating countless rare treasures, braving countless secret realms, just to barely reach the Absolute Domain. Yet you take this girl on an "afternoon date" and directly boost her to 90%?!
Where does that leave us old seniors' dignity?!
Is the gap between people really bigger than the gap between people and dogs?
These two martial grandmasters—who'd lived over a century and seen countless storms—for the first time deeply understood what "tears of the era" meant, what it meant to be "slapped to death on the beach by the next wave."
"Cloud!" Chin Gentsai's attitude did a complete 180.
He cupped his fists toward Cloud with utmost solemnity, eyes full of admiration and respect. "This old man... concedes! Your understanding of martial arts, your comprehension of power, has long surpassed our imagination. That Athena has a friend like you is her fortune across three lifetimes!"
"There's always a higher mountain, always a stronger person... the ancients truly didn't deceive us." Tang Fulu also let out a long sigh, looking at Cloud as if seeing a "god" wearing human skin.
They knew that from today on, the martial world's power structure would be completely transformed—by this man, and by this "Daughter of the Patch" he'd single-handedly "created."
...
Night deepened.
Mount Wutai's evening was utterly silent, with only cold moonlight and a sky full of stars.
Athena lay in her room's bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep no matter what.
Every time she closed her eyes, her mind filled with everything that had happened in the spiritual world that afternoon.
...
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