Rewind time to before entering the delve...
After confirming that Takatsuki and the others had gone far, Seele alone... no, perhaps it should be said, two people, followed a spirit deer emitting a soft glow and with a translucent body, to a corner where roots were intertwined.
Compared to the dragon-shaped Roots of the Ambrosial Arbor, this place seemed very inconspicuous, like a drain in the corner of a kitchen, but who would have thought that such an inconspicuous thing was the Ambrosial Arbor, the true core?
"Is it really here?"
Even Seele, who had followed the spirit deer here, was a bit doubtful.
[Won't you know if you go try it out yourself?]
"That's true."
The spiritual deer behind her nudged Seele's body, pushing her forward a bit. She walked up to that section of seemingly ordinary root system and placed her hand over it.
The ability of Minegishi Toshiki activated here, and a connection was established between Seele and the Ambrosial Arbor.
Do plants have thoughts?
Ordinary plants do not have thoughts of their own; they are guided more by instinct, and a passive function of recording the circumstances around them.
But the Ambrosial Arbor was different. Seele had discovered during her very first communication that the Ambrosial Arbor possessed its own consciousness.
Or rather, it wasn't that the Ambrosial Arbor had a consciousness, but that this conscious entity manifested itself in the form of the Ambrosial Arbor, so it happened to walk straight into the crosshairs of her ability to communicate with plants.
Seele activated her ability to establish a connection with the Ambrosial Arbor, and in an instant, countless memory fragments flooded into her mind.
It was also at this moment that Seele truly came to recognize what kind of existence the Ambrosial Arbor actually was.
What the Aeon named Yaoshi practiced was the Path of Abundance, and Yaoshi's behavioral logic was very simple—it was healing and altruism. As long as one could arrive before them, regardless of good or evil, regardless of merits, as long as a prayer was made, they would receive Yaoshi's blessing, healing the curse named death.
But this power, in itself, was also a curse.
Because Yaoshi was only responsible for healing, and never cared about what occurred after the healing took place.
For instance, the resource scarcity brought about by immortality, or how mortals would fall into madness because they could not control their ever-growing power—they did not care about any of these things.
Although many who walked upon the Path of Abundance possessed other motives, as Yaoshi's miracle, and even a boon that transcended an Emanator, the Ambrosial Arbor could be said to be the existence closest to Yaoshi in this world.
The Ambrosial Arbor had no other thoughts; it merely grew continuously, sharing its power with others.
But it didn't understand why, even though it was healing death for others, it was rejected and attacked?
Although it was for altruism, the Ambrosial Arbor itself did not want to be killed by others; even if it was difficult to kill, being sealed was a very tormenting thing.
As a pure grace, the Ambrosial Arbor had no human moral or ethical concepts, so it also couldn't understand why, even though these people prayed for eternal life, they ended up regretting it and hating it instead.
The Ambrosial Arbor wanted to ask, but it couldn't, because it couldn't communicate with anyone...
Until Seele's arrival...
"Seele understands your thoughts."
Seele pressed her forehead against the rough bark, communicating her thoughts with the Ambrosial Arbor.
The power of the Ambrosial Arbor, through that connection of communication, entered Seele's body.
"Now... go help Takatsuki and the others..."
...
The core of the Ambrosial Arbor disappeared, but the power within its other branches would remain for a period. However, without the core, these branches were like rootless duckweed, destined to wither once their power was exhausted.
"You're asking for death!"
The power of Destruction shook off the white flowers Seele used to bind Phantylia. Although she inherited the power of the Ambrosial Arbor, Seele was not skilled at using this part of the power, or rather, she was not skilled at combat.
And for some reason, the other Seele couldn't come to help her at this moment either.
"Flora!"
A pure white flower fairy suddenly appeared, and with her appearance, a large number of white flowers bloomed where she flew.
She quickly circled Phantylia, forming a cage made of white flowers.
"Now!"
Jing Yuan broke free from the lotus as soon as Phantylia was bound, but the power of Destruction within the Ruin Lotus had severely corroded him.
Although he wanted to take the opportunity to land a finishing blow, he failed multiple times and could only shout warnings to the others.
Buzz!
Just as Dan Heng was about to attack, the surrounding space was suddenly filled with terrifying energy.
"Taixuan Sword God!?"
Yang looked at the familiar scene and the surrounding energy fluctuations, then turned to the direction obscured by Dan Heng's water curtain, showing a nostalgic expression.
Phantylia looked up at the giant sword formed by energy gathered above her head, feeling the terrifying energy within it, but in an instant, she saw through the weakness of Taixuan Sword God.
"Hmph, a petty trick."
Taixuan Sword God has the characteristic of being inescapable because it has no physical form; the giant sword is merely one of its manifestations.
This sword is space itself, omnipresent.
And in the Honkai Impact 3rd universe, it also has the characteristic of being irresistible; it is truly unblockable and unavoidable.
But in reality, it's irresistible because Taixuan Sword God's attack is divided into two stages: the first stage is a mental attack. If one cannot withstand the first mental attack, then naturally, there's no way to resist the damage of the second physical attack.
But...
Phantylia was inherently formless, a Lord Ravager who acted as a spiritual entity. A physical body was merely a form she could create at will.
Therefore, the always-victorious Edge of Taixuan could not achieve a surprising victory against her.
Even while bound by white flowers, Phantylia still blocked the Edge of Taixuan descending from the sky.
"Is that all you've got?"
Phantylia crushed the Edge of Taixuan's energy, but she didn't realize.
When an attack makes a grand show from the front, the greater possibility is that it's meant to conceal the fatal blow in the darkness.
Or perhaps Phantylia didn't believe anyone could get close to her undetected, so she was careless.
She didn't dodge...
And at the very moment she crushed the Edge of Taixuan, an unremarkable blade emitting green smoke sliced through space, cleaving down from a portal.