Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time

A vortex of blurred energy spiraled upward, stretching toward the heavens.

Though Phantom Moon had shaped a dome of false sky, it could not reach the real firmament.

And yet, at this moment, the updraft of divine starlight was carving cracks into that illusory ceiling.

KWAKWAKWAKWAKWA—!

At the surface of the swirling storm, the shattered fragments of the Radiant Wheel flickered in and out of existence.

The air resonated with a crushing roar, akin to boulders being ground into dust.

The phantasmal battlefield, once unshakable, was beginning to crack apart.

And within the eye of the storm, trapped, was the Greatest Under Heaven of Sichuan.

Suspended forcibly in midair, her waist-bound gourd had already been shattered beyond recognition.

"This... This is...!"

Her golden-feathered defensive aura was being shredded apart by the relentless cyclone, blood seeping through the gaps of luminous currents.

For years, Ma Gwang-ik had effortlessly walked upon air, utilizing Void-Stepping Technique as naturally as breathing.

Simply being lifted into the sky would not have constrained her movement.

Normally.

[They say the Flower Rain of Sichuan can even trap a Flood Dragon. A mere human would be no different.]

Jeong Yeon-shin spoke.

His defensive aura, rooted in Ten Thousand Blossoms, was a storm that followed his intent—its movements seemingly chaotic, yet intricately controlled.

And now, Rising Star’s vortex had integrated the subtle mysteries of the sword, making every shift of the current a deliberate variation in form.

"……!"

Ma Gwang-ik could not counterattack.

She struggled within the gale, but the moment she tried to move a wrist, her entire arm was wrenched away.

When she tried to release internal force from the Yongcheon point of her sole, the sheer weight of the spiraling winds pressed against her legs and thighs, forcing her to lose balance.

It was no longer the same Jeong Yeon-shin she had met in Jinmun, where she had first tested him.

The slicing winds that bent and coiled through the air were now composed of infinite variations—each movement refined by experience gained in this very battle.

"A… A……!"

[Die now.]@@novelbin@@

The quiet gaze of the Demon Wings Lord locked onto her.