Lu Xing assessed his own power.

Unfortunately, aside from Sheshe, there didn't seem to be any targets nearby to test his skill's might.

Based on aura alone.

The only Judgement-class Honkai Beast Lu Xing had personally seen seemed to be the Old Emperor; and he felt that his current self, in terms of sheer Honkai energy strength, was probably already on par with the Old Emperor.

If authorities were factored in...

The Old Emperor would not be his match—extrapolating from this, Lu Xing, still a "lower-tier Honkai Beast," should be able to contend with the Herrscher of Flame from back then.

Taking it a step further.

If he could use his weapon, Lu Xing even felt confident he could slay the Herrscher of Flame.

Speaking of weapons...

"Shoo."

The lance slowly floated to Lu Xing's side.

The Herrscher of Sentience's Herrscher Core was unique; it consisted of two parts: a materialization core capable of "birthing the immaterial from the material"—which was the part taken from Ange's body by the Flame-Chasers; and a spiritual core capable of "condensing the immaterial into the material"—the gem left behind after Lu Xing eliminated the Herrscher of Sentience's consciousness.

Both parts were Herrscher Cores, merely differing in their capabilities.

The former focused on allowing material existence to enter the spiritual domain, while the latter excelled at enabling consciousness and thought to manifest a physical form in the material world. In truth, both parts possessed all the abilities of a Herrscher Core, just with slightly different emphases.

As for why this was being mentioned...

"Awaken!"

Lu Xing began to continuously pour Honkai energy into the lance.

By "sacrificing" the Herrscher of Sentience's Herrscher Core, [Black Light] had already completed a brand-new evolution—

Name: Midnight's Atajina

Type: Weapon

Grade: Wa!

Effect: A weapon with its own consciousness, and a comrade that fights alongside you.

More magnificent, more profound, and, more agile.

The difference was.

The originally deep-blue lance, as Lu Xing continuously infused it with Honkai energy, began to transform towards a splendid, majestic gold.

The moment the dazzling light fully converged within the spear shaft, the name [Midnight's Atajina]—the lance's name—blurred and dimmed for an instant. After a fleeting flicker of [The Emperor's Cheche], it finally settled clearly upon [Radiance of the Rising Sun]—revealing its newest form!

"Cheche!"

"BOOM!!"

————

The gravitational field trembled for an instant.

This was already enough to astonish Lu Xing—although it was just an auxiliary ability from the Honkai energy halo, with Lu Xing's current strength, a casual strike with the gravitational field could absolutely pulverize a small half of a city.

A being that could generate such oppressive force merely by appearing...

Lu Xing shifted his gaze to the behemoth before him.

Hmm, that wasn't quite right.

Though not mentioned before, Lu Xing's "Imaginary Emperor" in its complete form was no longer the petite 3-meter-tall figure of his previous Temple-class... To accommodate the vast amount of Honkai energy contained within this body (its structure could also be compressed to become smaller when needed), the [Imaginary Emperor]'s body stood a full 60 meters tall.

That's right.

Never mind Gundams and Thors; even Godzilla and the Giants of Light would doubt their own height upon seeing him.

Appearing before Lu Xing, the Chariot-class Honkai Beast, which definitely qualified as a behemoth, could only be considered barely adequate with its 40-meter height.

However.

Its "unremarkable" size couldn't conceal its distinct differences from a typical Chariot-class—its massive body shared the exact same pitch-black coloration as the Imaginary Emperor. Even the translucent crystal texture and the flowing dark-gold "blood vessels" were identical to Lu Xing's.

Directly above its head.

A super-large, lightning-bolt-shaped horn was probably the only feature inherited from [Black Light].

Around this very horn, three Honkai energy halos, decreasing in size from largest to smallest, also encircled it—through these "antenna-like" halos, Lu Xing could perceive a certain connection with this Chariot-class Honkai Beast.

Simply put.

He could temporarily bestow his own Honkai energy, even his authorities, upon the Chariot-class, allowing it to use moves that originally belonged to him... and vice versa.

Having said all this.

In truth, the Honkai Beast before him was no longer a pure Chariot-class, and couldn't even be reclassified as one.

The current Cheche was, true to its name... Emperor-class!

————

Name: Cheche (Helios)

Level: 70

Abilities: Omitted

Attack: 210

Speed: 180

Constitution: 340

Evaluation: A new mount has been born

————

"A Companion Honkai Beast!?"

Shesha, who had witnessed the entire evolution process, had been speechless for a long time.

But when it saw Lu Xing's weapon actually transform into a living, breathing Judgement-class... no, an Emperor-class Honkai Beast, Shesha's mind completely froze.

Through the combination of authority and Honkai energy.

To give birth to a special, higher-tier Honkai Beast possessing some of the main body's abilities... Sheshe knew very well what this ability belonged to; it was born this way itself!

The power of a Herrscher!

The Emperor was using power that belonged to a Herrscher!

And then—

"Voom!"

Cheche opened its eyes.

To be precise, Chariot-class beasts shouldn't have eyes; it was using its newly awakened consciousness to scan its surroundings.

It was this very action.

That made Shesha cautiously curl itself into a ball.

Lu Xing had just completed his evolution and hadn't returned to the Emperor's body; it clearly lacked sufficient sense of security—this fellow had just awakened. What if, before the Emperor could react, it indiscriminately "slurped" it up, friend or foe? That would be a huge problem.

"Bai? Emperor?"

Cheche's somewhat confused voice echoed in its mind.

In its perception, two unfamiliar yet familiar auras were mixed together.

"It's me, Cheche."

"Bai."

After contemplating for a good while.

Cheche, clearly much smarter than before, finally confirmed Lu Xing's identity.

This, however, caused suffering for Shesha nearby... mainly on a mental level—it had never seen the Emperor interact with any "life form" with such genuine gentleness and pleasure.

In its impression.

The Emperor was either killing (Honkai/humans), or on the way to conspire to kill (Honkai/humans).

Furthermore.

This was the first time Shesha had learned Lu Xing's actual name.

Lower-tier Honkai Beasts aside, higher-tier Honkai Beasts all had names to refer to themselves, and this word "Bai"...

Was extremely out of place!

Never mind that the Emperor's surface had hardly any connection to the color white (there was a little when he was Temple-class), even if you included the inside...

Whether you included it or not, this entire Honkai being was thoroughly black from the inside out!

No matter how you looked at it, it shouldn't have such a—

"Sheshe."

A voice as vast as the deep sea resounded in its mind, forcibly interrupting the thought Shesha only dared to entertain for a tiny moment.

"This is Cheche."

"From now on, you will be comrades fighting side by side."

Lu Xing's voice turned towards the behemoth before him.

"This is Sheshe."

"The stories of what happened while you were asleep..."

"Let me tell them to you slowly."