Chapter 36

Lumine's figure tore through space, carrying the tainted aura of the Abyss, and landed heavily on the flat stone slabs of the core area. Slumped across her back was a small figure; green robes stained with mud and dark purple filth, with a few fragments of glowing Aranara debris clinging to like dying fireflies. Dendro Archon Nahida's eyes were tightly shut, her young body limp and soft, save for the irregular crystal she clutched tightly to her chest, which emitted an intermittent, dim green light that seemed as though it might extinguish at any moment. "Madam Ping!" Lumine's voice carried hurried gasps. Without a word, Madame Ping's cloudy eyes instantly sharpened like an eagle's. With a hollow grab of her withered hand, the air around a small clearing at the edge of the core area suddenly twisted and stripped away. Space was compressed and folded by an invisible force, forcefully carving out an absolutely independent domain within the crowded core area—the "Lesser Lord Kusanali Restricted Zone." Almost simultaneously, a deep purple lightning barrier formed out of thin air, fine electric arcs silently crawling across its surface, tightly wrapping this newborn restricted zone and isolating the unstable energy radiating from Nahida that might cause elemental chaos within the teapot.