Gathering her destructive energy, Phantylia prepared a massive strike. Pei Guang's power was strange—was it strong? Not particularly. Honestly, without that ridiculous block mechanic that seemed to nullify any physical attack, she could have crushed him with a flick of her finger.
Without the flames from the Lighting Lord, she could have unleashed Nanook's destruction and obliterated the Xianzhou instantly. But the flames weren't just ordinary Savory Truefire—they were laced with Path-based energy, which countered Destruction as effortlessly as a chef adding a pinch of salt into a dessert.
Her physical strikes, no matter how devastating—even powerful enough to shatter a planet—were easily blocked by Pei Guang's shield, and the flames on the Lighting Lord burned away any destructive energy she released, making her own strength turn against her.
But in reality, none of these advantages mattered as much as one core reason: Pei Guang was a player.
This world might be real, but Pei Guang was also real—and games always catered to the player experience.
No matter how strong the boss was, as long as the player had the right tools or mechanics, that strength could always be countered.
Pei Guang's choices—some random, others carefully planned—were now converging at this moment, turning Phantylia's supposed overwhelming power into a liability.
As for the mysterious Path-based energy? Pei Guang didn't know the details, and he didn't care. He just knew that right now, the Lighting Lord was the perfect weapon against Phantylia, and as long as the system kept feeding him buffs, he was going to make the most of it.
Defeating her outright? Pei Guang doubted it. This had all the hallmarks of a scripted battle where the boss would survive and trigger the next phase.
Still, Pei Guang noticed something—Phantylia's body was starting to crack. Her fusion of Abundance and Destruction energies was destabilizing, and her body looked like it was on the verge of exploding.
Empowered by Nanook's blessing, Phantylia prepared to sacrifice most of her body for one massive attack—an attack so powerful that no mortal could possibly survive it.
But Pei Guang wasn't about to let her self-destruct.
While he had been controlling the Lighting Lord to keep Phantylia busy, he had never stopped communicating with his allies.
As soon as he confirmed that his teammates had powered up, both his frontal attacks and Stelle's surprise strikes served as distractions—not just to weaken Phantylia but to ensure she never saw what was coming from behind.
Now the moment had arrived. Just as Phantylia was about to unleash her apocalyptic attack, Dan Heng and Bailu had finished their preparations. Two dragons—one pink and one dark brown—soared into the air, circling around Phantylia.
Dan Heng and Bailu, empowered by their boosted abilities under the battle's BGM, had taken their time building up their strength.
Dan Heng channeled the power of Abundance to create a pink water dragon, while Bailu infused Pei Guang's coffee brew with her extensive pharmacological knowledge, turning it into a concoction packed with potent medicinal effects.
But this time, the dragons weren't there just to deal damage…
Two massive water dragons surged toward Phantylia, encasing her colossal body just as she was about to unleash a devastating attack.
Dan Heng and Bailu, controlling the dragons, merged their powers. The combined forces, infused with Bailu's special concoctions, began to suppress both the Abundance and Destruction energies within Phantylia.
Bailu's coffee was now down to the last few barrels Pei Guang had prepared for the expedition. Yet, when merged with the nihility-infused water dragons, it halted the explosive energy building up inside Phantylia.
Alone, Dan Heng and Bailu's control might have only lasted ten seconds at most against the enhanced Phantylia. But this wasn't a fight with just the two of them—Pei Guang and his Lighting Lord were still in play.
With less than a minute left on the timer for controlling the puppet, Pei Guang plunged the flaming ladle into the swirling waters and began to stir.
The combined powers of Hunt, Nihility, Abundance, Elation, and a player's unpredictable tricks swirled together, grinding down Phantylia's defenses.
Beneath the churning waters, flames began to rise.
The liquid, once clear and flavorless, had taken on the bitter yet aromatic essence of Bailu's coffee. Now, with the added blaze of Pei Guang's Savory Truefire, the submerged Phantylia began to release a sweet, savory aroma—a scent that mixed with the coffee's bitterness and hinted at something disturbingly appetizing.
With Pei Guang's puppet stirring the pot, the pink and dark-brown waters blended as Phantylia's body weakened. The coffee's effects dulled her strength, while the flames roasted her flesh, enhancing the flavor of this "Phantylia stew."
If this body had been forged through endless refinement, Phantylia might have resisted the concoction's effects. But the truth was that her form had been hastily created—an amalgamation of Abundance and Destruction, further strained by the sudden infusion of Nanook's power.
And now, caught in the fusion of Permanence and Nihility, her spirit began to lose its grip on the crumbling vessel.
Phantylia panicked as her body refused to obey her commands. The puppet's ladle stirred relentlessly, grinding down her accumulated power and dismantling the attack she had been preparing.
Abundance was supposed to be unstoppable—but Pei Guang's flames burned through her vitality itself. Long before the puppet's arrival, Pei Guang had been chipping away at her health, slashing her maximum capacity. Now, with the added power of the puppet and enhanced fire, Phantylia's form was reduced to a weakened state, vulnerable and unstable.
As Phantylia struggled, Pei Guang grinned and taunted her mid-stir.
"Phantylia, the mighty Lord Ravager? I'm going to turn you into my dish!"
March 7th, striking a triumphant pose with her hands on her hips, added her own commentary. "It's an old saying from Ah Guang's world—if you want a perfect dish, you have to simmer the big bones first. And Phantylia? You're the star ingredient in today's feast!
Phantylia's body continued to deteriorate rapidly. She felt her immense strength draining away, her once-indestructible form crumbling into weakness.
But just as the stew seemed ready to boil over, the unexpected happened.
Well, not unexpected to Pei Guang—he saw it coming.
The apparition vanished. Its ten-minute timer was up. Just like that, the ladle stirring Phantylia into submission disappeared, leaving only the swirling waters and flames.
Phantylia seized the opportunity, her desperation turning to raw defiance.
"No! I won't accept this!"
She writhed in the swirling waters, resisting with everything she had. She couldn't accept this humiliation—after receiving Nanook's blessing, she was supposed to crush them, not be reduced to a mockery!
It was unbearable, absolutely unbearable!
Before Nanook's blessing, she had been able to fight them evenly. But after receiving that so-called "power," she had been turned into a spectacle—poked, stirred, and roasted like some ridiculous cooking experiment.
Phantylia's anger boiled over. She refused to let this end . She wasn't going down without a fight.
She just couldn't accept it!
As the makeshift stew pot exploded, scattering its broth like rain across the battlefield, Phantylia staggered free from her confinement. However, her situation was far from ideal—after enduring a five-in-one boiling session, her body was on the verge of collapse.
Pei Guang, now without the borrowed power of the Lighting Lord, quickly checked his gear before turning to his companions.
"Alright, everyone! The cutscene is over, and now it's time for us to finish off this weakened boss! But stay sharp—she's still a main story boss, so don't get cocky, or we'll pay the price!"
Phantylia's expression twisted in disbelief. She finally understood—she had made a huge mistake. If given another chance, she would never have provoked this player. She wouldn't have ambushed them, and the moment she sensed something off, she would've turned tail and run.
But now it was too late. Not only had she been defeated by a player teaming up with the Xianzhou's general, but even after receiving power from Nanook, she'd spent ten minutes being humiliated—boiled alive in some ridiculous cooking metaphor until her body was completely broken.
Worst of all, she couldn't shake the thought that Nanook's so-called "blessing" wasn't intended to help her destroy Xianzhou at all. Instead, it felt more like a test—an experiment to see how far this player named Pei Guang could be pushed.
And now, seeing Pei Guang and his team regroup and prepare to fight again, Phantylia's remaining sanity cracked. She just wanted to scream—
"Are you guys not done playing around yet?!"
Pei Guang turned to Stelle and March 7th and grinned. "See? That's how it goes after a boss fight cutscene—they get nerfed to our level. Let's go, raid time!"
His words left everyone speechless, but they couldn't help smiling. Pei Guang was still committed to his "player" mindset, and somehow he always managed to make it sound convincing.
But honestly…who cared anymore? After all, this was a once-in-a-lifetime experience—boiling a Lord Ravager in a giant stew pot and living to tell the tale.
At this point, even the usually composed Jing Yuan, now more of an audience member than a combatant, simply shook his head with a wry smile. He'd lived for centuries, but this? This was definitely a first.
With how things were going, Jing Yuan figured that if one day someone captured a Lord Ravager and turned it into an energy source, he wouldn't even be surprised anymore.