205: Chapter 205 Let not the golden goblet stand empty before the moon; a single sword can shatter all laws.

The black longsword in the Original Sin Entity's hand swung at an extremely high frequency, each strike leaving a pitch-black vacuum trail in the air.

It had no superfluous movements, no need to charge power, no need to adjust its breathing.

Its sword techniques stripped away all the encumbrances named 'aesthetics,' leaving only the purest killing efficiency.

"Data correction." The Original Sin Entity's flat voice rang out, "Sword path deviation 0.03 millimeters, kinetic energy loss reduced by 12%."

It was teaching Li Bai how to use a sword.

Using Li Bai's most cherished sword techniques to, in turn, dismember Li Bai.

Li Bai tumbled awkwardly through the ruins, barely dodging a direct thrust, only for the ensuing sword qi to slice a chunk of flesh from his left shoulder.

Blood stained half of his green robe.

He was too familiar with these moves; the start of each sword strike, the landing point of each sword strike, he had rehearsed them countless times in his mind.

But he couldn't block them.

Because the opponent was too fast, too heavy, too perfect.

If Li Bai's sword was like a free-flowing ink wash landscape painting, then the Original Sin Entity's sword was an industrial blueprint cut by a precision machine tool.

The former emphasized blank space and artistic charm, while the latter pursued absolute precision and tolerance.

"Is this your limit?" The Original Sin Entity's wrist twisted.

Black sword qi surged.

[Flying Water Falls Three Thousand Feet]

In Li Bai's hands, this move was like the Milky Way inverted, a waterfall descending from the nine heavens, imbued with a grand romanticism. But in the Original Sin Entity's hands, this poetic line was distorted.

It was just a high-energy fluid blade compressed to its extreme.

It didn't spread, didn't splash; all its energy was confined within that thin layer of black light.

Like a waterjet cutting machine operating at full power, it cleaved down towards Li Bai.

Li Bai parried with his sword.

Clang!

The green lotus sword let out a mournful cry, unable to bear the strain.

The immense impact directly shattered the rocks beneath Li Bai's feet.

He was like a man hit head-on by a heavy artillery shell, his feet plowing two deep furrows in the ground, sliding for dozens of meters before he barely managed to stop.

With a 'wah' sound.

Li Bai spat out a mouthful of clotted blood; the web of his hand was completely mangled, revealing the white bones.

...

Real world.

Billions of viewers in front of their screens stared intently at this scene.

Suffocating.

An unprecedented sense of grievance choked the chest of every Chinese person.

If he had been defeated by some unknown evil god, perhaps it would have been acceptable.

But what was this? Being rubbed on the ground like a dog by his own shadow, by a monster that had stolen his poetry and swordsmanship?

"Stop fighting... it's too terrible..."

"What kind of situation is this! That's the Poet Immortal! That's our Li Bai!"

"Piracy beating the original? Does this damned world not even follow physical laws anymore?"

The comments section was filled with wails of despair.

Some even smashed their keyboards out of sheer rage.

The pain of having one's faith trampled was more unbearable than physical wounds.

Especially when the Original Sin Entity raised its sword again.

It stood at the highest point of the ruins, looking down at the blood-soaked green-robed swordsman.

In those eyes burning with data glitches, an emotion called 'pity' emerged—the arrogance of a higher being towards a lower being.

"Your algorithm is too outdated."

The Original Sin Entity slowly spoke, the black mud behind it began to boil, countless black particles surged skyward, converging above its head into a rushing river.

"The emotional module is meaningless besides increasing computational burden."

"See clearly."

"This is the ultimate logic."

Buzz—

Space began to tremble.

That was a gravitational wave caused by mass stacked to its limit.

The black long river above the Original Sin Entity's head was no longer illusory sword qi, but solidified Abyssal energy.

Every drop of 'water' was liquid magic compressed from countless despair and curses.

It was going to use Li Bai's strongest Noble Phantasm to send Li Bai on his way.

"Don't you see..."

The Original Sin Entity's voice, electronically synthesized, was as grand as a divine oracle, echoing throughout the New Delhi ruins.

"The Water of the Yellow River Comes from the Sky!"

Rumble!

The black celestial river burst its banks.

With an overbearing will to swallow and assimilate everything, it crushed down towards that tiny green silhouette.

The power of this strike, amplified by the Abyssal Core, had already surpassed the A++ rank, touching the edge of a World-Class Noble Phantasm.

The entire city ruins groaned under this pressure.

A certain death situation.

However.

In the ruins, the blood-soaked man moved.

Li Bai shakily straightened his body, his steps unsteady as if he were drunk.

"Heh..."

A soft chuckle.

Followed by a loud laugh.

"Hahahahahahaha!"

Li Bai laughed wildly, tilting back and forth, tears almost streaming from his eyes.

Even the green lotus sword in his hand drooped, its tip dragging on the ground, completely unguarded.

The Original Sin Entity's movements paused for an extremely subtle moment.

Its logic database could not parse this behavior; when faced with a fatal attack, the target displayed not fear, not anger, but... mockery?

"What are you laughing at?" The Original Sin Entity asked.

"I'm laughing at you for being a pathetic worm."

Li Bai wiped the blood from his face, he looked up, his previously somewhat unfocused eyes now shining terrifyingly bright.

"You learned my sword, you learned my poetry, and even this body is an imitation."

"But there's one thing you never learned."

Li Bai pointed to his chest.

"Heart."

The Original Sin Entity's data eyes flickered: "Heart? That's a useless variable."

"Useless?"

Li Bai shook his head, his face full of regret, "That's why you're a useless shell. Poetry was never meant for killing, nor was the sword."

"You turned 'flying water falls' into a cutting machine, and 'Yellow River water' into a mudslide. The power is great, the efficiency is high."

"But it's not beautiful."

Li Bai sighed.

"Not beautiful at all."

The Original Sin Entity stopped speaking nonsense; logic told it that conversing with this mad human was a waste of time. It pressed its palm down.

Boom!

The black long river, long prepared above its head, descended with a world-destroying roar.

It wanted to use absolute power to crush this silver-tongued poet and his theories into dust.

Facing the overwhelming black despair.

Li Bai did not move.

He just gently closed his eyes.

At this moment, he forgot the pain in his body, forgot that this was a war concerning the world's survival, and even forgot the sword in his hand.

He returned to that night.

The moonlight in Chang'an City was beautiful, the wine was warm, he and his shadow became three, dancing with the moon. There was no Abyss then, no monsters, only a heart full of heroic spirit and inexhaustible talent.

Who says you can't get drunk without wine?

This heaven and earth, this land, this scarred human world, which one isn't a good dish to accompany wine?

As long as there's a moon in your heart.

Everywhere is Chang'an.

"When life is at its best, one must enjoy it to the fullest..."

Li Bai murmured softly.

He moved.

There was no earth-shattering aura, no space-rending sharpness.

He was like a drunken dancer, casually waving his sleeve in his backyard.

The green lotus sword, following his movement, drew a wobbly circle.

"Never let the golden goblet..."

"Face the moon empty."

Swish.

A light shone.

Cool, hazy, even somewhat delicate. In this dead and silent world covered by the Abyssal black mud, this sliver of moonlight seemed so out of place, yet so breathtaking.

It lightly met the roaring black long river.

What happened next caused the brains of billions of viewers worldwide to collectively crash.

That black long river, powerful enough to crush mountains and containing terrifying energy, stopped the instant it touched this sliver of moonlight.

It was as if a violent beast had its forehead gently stroked by a tender hand.

The concepts of 'killing intent,' 'destruction,' and 'devouring' contained within it melted away silently, like ice meeting boiling water.

The originally ferocious and roaring black dragon suddenly turned into stagnant water, then, it dispersed.

Whoosh.

Billions of tons of black mud lost their cohesive force, becoming ordinary sewage, pouring down over everything. But not a single drop touched Li Bai's clothes.

"This... this is impossible!"

The Original Sin Entity emitted harsh electronic static, its logic core reporting frantic errors.

[Warning! Attack invalidation!]

[Error! Unable to parse energy attributes!]

[What is this? What is this? What is this?]

It didn't understand.

Why would energy capable of destroying matter be neutralized by a light with no destructive power?

"Because this is 'intent,' you fool."

Li Bai's figure had, at some unknown point, passed through the sky full of black rain.

He appeared before the Original Sin Entity.

The distance between them was less than three feet.

Li Bai casually thrust the sword in his hand forward.

"Raising My Cup, I Invite the Bright Moon."

"Facing my shadow..."

"We become three."