Chapter 260

Chapter 260: The Star Ocean’s Radiance

Midi paid no mind to others’ thoughts. His entire focus now centered on the cloud beast.

The creature had clearly noticed him. As the unchallenged ruler of the Ice Cloud Circle, it had never faced true combat. When Midi’s Golden-Red Sword Lights flew toward it, the beast merely exhaled freezing mist carelessly.

Compared to the cloud beast’s colossal form, Midi’s attack seemed mosquito-sized. Just as humans ignore insects, the beast saw no need to engage seriously. One casual breath would suffice.

The subzero blast could crack steel. Had it struck the Narwhal, the ship’s keel would’ve warped beyond repair. Ordinary Sea of Clouds dwellers lacking cold resistance would shatter into ice sculptures instantly.

But Midi the reincarnator understood this danger. He’d calculated his Dragon Sealing Sword’s glow could neutralize the attack. The golden-red radiance surged forward like an icebreaker’s prow, splitting the frosty torrent before piercing the cloud beast’s body!

The wound amounted to mere thousandth of the beast’s mass. Its magic network pulsed briefly, sealing the injury as if untouched.

Now inside the cloud beast, Midi faced temperatures far colder than its exterior. Even his Extraordinary Awakening body stiffened under the knife-like cold piercing through his golden-red glow, freezing his magic.

Level 52… still pushes my limits.

He frowned but didn’t falter. Drawing deep breaths, he accelerated his magic flow. The engraved Dragon Sealing Sword chimed, expelling invasive cold. His Sky Sword Dance accelerated sharply.

Cold was merely environmental – manageable with preparation. Yet maintaining full-power awakened Secret Techniques strained his 52nd-level capabilities, imposing strict time limits.

He had to find the core before his White Crystal magic depleted.

Midi knew cloud beasts well. In his past life, he’d lingered in the Ice Cloud Circle with Fina and Alice, capturing these magical entities for war supplies. Though the beast’s interior showed only white voids and raging storms, focusing revealed its magic network – and through it, the consciousness-storing star-like entity.

Following magic currents through the network would lead to the core.

Holding focus, Midi detected magic streams flowing like invisible rivers through the blizzard. He sliced through ice mountains until reaching a vast cavern.

No storms troubled this space. Repelled ice clouds left magic networks coiling into a grand chamber. At its center hung a cold lunar radiance – the star-like entity.

Midi halted at the chamber’s edge.

This seemingly calm space seethed with magic. All power from the kilometer-long beast converged here – a magical heart whose natural flow held incredible power.

Past adventurers who entered had been shredded with their flying vehicles into metallic gore. Heavy armored cruisers avoided this zone, fearing magic resonance’s hidden damage.

A level 52 Extraordinary Awakening couldn’t outmatch a cruiser’s durability. Worse, the cloud beast’s centuries-old consciousness within the star-like entity would counterattack intruders.

The true trial began now.

Victory lay within reach yet required overcoming steep odds.

Midi smiled. He’d prepared a method from his past life – simple, effective, and cheap.

He first focused on observing the magic flow, then thrust his sword. Golden-red sword energy shot forth from "Sun’s" blade, slicing toward the thinnest strand in the magic network.

The cloud beast consciousness reacted instantly. Violent storms erupted in the calm space, crushing Midi’s sword light into dust without leaving magic residue.

The targeted network strand suffered damage. Though unbroken, its magic flow became turbulent, forming blockages. Before the storm subsided, Midi struck another strand.

A second storm arose, damaging more threads. Then came the third strike, the fourth…

The fifth, sixth…

With a metallic ring, "Moon" appeared in Midi’s other hand. Now wielding dual swords, he attacked faster with each strike. Golden-red lights darted through the space like fiery needles. The enraged cloud beast consciousness summoned chaotic storms, shredding the magic network into fragments.

Using the cloud beast’s own power against itself – this was Midi’s strategy.

Had the creature lacked consciousness, relying only on magic flow to repel intruders, Midi’s current level would’ve left him helpless. But provoking the simple-minded consciousness made it destroy its own defenses through uncontrolled rage.

As magic storms raged, cracks spread through the space. External ice clouds seeped inward. Midi shadowed these encroaching vapors, slipping deeper into the magical realm.

He dimmed his defenses to a thin golden-red film. Each new sword strike now curved away from his position before circling back to attack. The distracted cloud beast consciousness kept raging at the decoy assaults, unaware the human approached its core.

Another magic storm obliterated Midi’s residual sword energies. The area around the star-like entity lay exposed, protected only by a final magic barrier.

Now.

Midi smiled like the Grim Reaper and thrust Sun. Perfect coordination of mind and muscle sent hair-thin sword light piercing the barrier. The attack softened upon impact, becoming silken strands that wrapped the star-like entity. A sharp tug brought the prize crashing into his palm.

This technique came from experience – in his past life, he’d stolen many star-like entities for funding. Now he became Arad’s first cloud beast slayer.

The space trembled as the magic network collapsed without its core. Before the disintegration spread, Midi activated Sky Sword Dance. He became a streak of light blasting through the disintegrating realm, never looking back.