Black Flash

As his body swam through the air, arms spread apart, his eyes reflected the vast blue sky. A fleeting sense of déjà vu crashed into him, a moment from the past overlaid onto the present. Back then, in this same position, he had declared mighty words, crowned himself in defiance of fate. Yet now, those words would not come. The weight of reality pressed down, silencing him.

Time slowed. Then, in an instant, he flipped mid-air, body accelerating toward the earth at terrifying speed.

"Void God's Fist Art: Black Flash!"

The sky dimmed as if recoiling from the power he unleashed. The silvery-blue aura encasing his fist twisted unnaturally, distorting space itself. A ripple coursed through reality, shattering invisible boundaries. Lightning, deep red and black as abyssal voids, crackled along his frame, carving streaks of destruction in the air. His fist struck forward, obliterating everything in its wake.

BOOOOM!

Silence followed the explosion. Then, as the dust settled and the winds stilled, a lone figure emerged from the devastation. His shirt was torn, face bruised, and nose bleeding. He walked forward, unfazed, straight toward MeiYing, who stood frozen. Her wide eyes locked onto the apocalyptic landscape where the final collision had occurred. The ground was unrecognizable—not merely destroyed but erased.

Everything—the Golden Ape, the earth beneath it, the very essence of existence in that space—had been swallowed by the phenomenon she had witnessed. Her mind replayed the moment his fist connected. Amid the reddish-black lightning, she had glimpsed something beyond comprehension. Shattered reflections of herself had appeared in the splintering void, each one existing in separate planes. For a fleeting second, it was as if she had looked into countless possible realities, each fragment holding a different version of herself. A supernatural force beyond mere power.

Gojo stopped in front of her. She instinctively took a step back, nearly stumbling. He caught her by the waist, his sapphire-blue eyes piercing into her brown ones.

"What's wrong?"

His voice snapped her out of her trance. She shook her head, unable to form words. Gojo let go, scratching his head awkwardly before his body wavered. A surge of nausea struck him, and he spat out a silver glob of blood, quickly wiping away the fresh trickle from his nose.

Without a word, he blindfolded himself and pulled out several water jugs and the Honey Peach fruits from his Qiankun bag. He tossed some to MeiYing before taking a seat beside her, biting into the fruit with unbothered ease.

MeiYing stared at the large peach-like berry in her hand and sighed. "You're probably the only one who can eat a Honey Peach raw without refining it."

Gojo shrugged, lying back on the soft grass. "Tastes better this way. I should make some Honey Peach juice when I get back."

She scoffed but turned her gaze to the sunset. Meanwhile, Gojo's mind raced. He had power—far more than most could dream of. But his cultivation realm lagged behind. His Yuan Power struggled to keep up with his destructive capabilities. The Earthly Titan Physique's middle stage granted him greater control, but that alone was not enough. Not when his techniques demanded more than his body could sustain.

He had received three innate abilities from his physique. Two were divine, transcendent—but he could barely wield them without burning through his reserves. The Black Flash had vaporized the Golden Ape, proving his overwhelming might, but had he needed to go further, he would've been pushed to his absolute limits just to unleash one of his divine abilities.

But that wasn't his only concern.

The red glow in the Golden Ape's eyes lingered in his thoughts. Just like the other beasts they had slain, except for the Iron Spiked Warthog, the ape had those same eerie specks of crimson. Unlike the others, however, it wielded something different—a perverse, berserk Yuan Power corrupted by Demonic Qi.

More than that, its gaze had held something more—sentience, intelligence far beyond ordinary beasts. A chill ran down his spine.

Then it hit him. His body jolted upright in realization. The red miasma within the beasts' eyes—he had seen its properties before. Recently. Too recently.

"That bastard!"

Gojo ran a hand down his face, sighing deeply in frustration. He should've killed that green-robed, skinny bastard when he had the chance. The evidence was clear now. That cultivator had been controlling the beasts, orchestrating the attacks against them.

How? Why? He didn't know. But now, the real question was: Who the hell was he?

MeiYing noticed his sudden shift and raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong?"

Gojo exhaled and redirected his thoughts. "Apart from increasing cultivation aptitudes, do special physiques grant divine abilities?"

She studied him for a moment. "That final attack you used—was that some kind of divine ability?"

Gojo smirked. "Nah, I made that one myself. Like it? I could let you study it if you let me study your Empress Soulblade Sutra. What do you say?"

She rolled her eyes. "Even if I gave it to you, you wouldn't be able to cultivate it."

Her sword materialized in her grip, its lustrous glow gleaming in the dimming light.

Gojo leaned in. "Why not? My cultivation aptitude isn't that bad, you know."

MeiYing shook her head and closed her eyes. "It can only be cultivated by a direct descendant of the Great Empress... and the holders of the Seven Emotions and Six Desires Divine Physique."

The moment she spoke, an ethereal aura bathed her figure. Gojo's breath hitched. It was as if reality itself bent to her presence. The air thickened, emotions took form, desires whispered into existence. Love, joy, hate, anger—all reflected in her deep brown eyes as she turned to him with a gaze so soft, it unraveled him.

For a moment, Gojo forgot himself.

'Gojo Satoru! You're everything in this goddamn world, but you're not a simp. Keep it player!! Keep your composure, man!!'

He barely tore his gaze away, forcing his mind to steel itself. And this... was just the passive form of her physique.

Taking a deep breath, he reeled in his thoughts. Her physique—it wasn't just special. From what he felt, it was only a step below the Voidforge Titan Physique itself. And that was probably because it wasn't designed for combat like his.

"Yes and no," she finally answered his earlier question, stepping out of her ethereal state.

Gojo cleared his throat. "Yes and no?"

She nodded. "Saint Physiques grant unparalleled cultivation aptitude, and all physiques have unique abilities tied to their affinity. But divine physiques..."

She met his gaze, her voice carrying an unshakable certainty. "Divine physiques grant abilities that make their wielders look like gods. That's the difference."

Gojo's lips curled into a grin. He liked the sound of that.

A/N: Twenty powerstones for an extra chapter. Who's up for the challenge...?