I Cultivated Too Long and Got Isekai'd Into a Game-Chapter 203: Return to Your Senses!

Henrietta’s roar shook the trial grounds, causing large stalactites to fall toward the magma below. Her flames ravaged, licking higher with every ragged breath.

She no longer moved like a warrior, but a beast driven by instinct and frenzy. Her fists crashed down like thunder, and each step shook the platform as if it could no longer bear her weight.

"Ritta!"

Uriel cried out desperately, but her voice couldn’t reach the other party.

Jehanne hesitated to move, as she was keeping Zetian—who was prone to not bothering about someone else’s life—from adding fuel to the fire.

Even if striking Henrietta down now would save lives—it would also mean heavily injuring her, if not outright killing her. She could only be stopped by someone either not too far from her level, or someone beyond the heavens in comparison.

That left only a few possibilities—one of which was Alexis, her father.

With grave determination to protect his family—Henrietta included—he resolutely stepped forward.

"Henrietta."

His voice was calm, firm, but a shadow of sadness lined it.

His coat billowed behind him as his hand reached out. "Stop this. Return to your senses!"

But the girl who met his gaze was not his daughter anymore. Her crimson eyes flared with bloodlust, her breath came like a predator’s growl, and her flames seared everything she touched.

And then she lunged.

"Kh—!"

Alexis blocked the first strike with his arm, his forearm blazing with protective Qi. The impact cracked the rocks beneath him, forcing him to slide back several steps.

Henrietta didn’t relent—her fists fell in a flurry of blows that forced him on the defensive.

Her strikes were fast, wild, and carried terrifying power, yet Alexis couldn’t bring himself to counter with equal force. His movements were careful, his parries designed to deflect rather than block—careful not to let Henrietta injure herself from striking too hard.

"Things can’t go on like this..." he murmured, a trace of anguish flickering across his face as he met her attacks.

The two clashed again and again, blue fire colliding against pure, hardened Qi. The shockwaves of their blows rattled the air. To the onlookers, it was a storm of strikes—yet anyone who watched closely could see it.

Alexis was holding back—and was being pushed back.

Every strike that should have been fatal even to him, he redirected, leaving small cuts over his body. Every opening where he could have ended the battle, he ignored.

Because despite everything, his opponent was still his daughter.

"Fa... ther...!"

Henrietta hissed through clenched teeth, her voice a guttural distortion of itself. Although that brief moment brought hope to Alexis—that his daughter had returned to her senses—

BAM!

She launched a spinning kick that forced him to guard with both arms, sending him tumbling back across the cracked stone.

Alexis rolled to a stop, blood trickling from his mouth.

"This..." Uriel, watching the proceedings with tears in her eyes, pressed a hand to her lips. "He’s... he’s losing...?"

"No," Zetian corrected, her fan lowering as her sharp eyes watched every movement.

"He’s restraining himself. If he wanted to win, it would be over already. But that’s the problem. He won’t strike her as he should."

Jehanne bit her lip. She knew that, among everyone present, only Zetian would dare hit Henrietta without batting an eye. But if someone as powerful as her struck Henrietta... the poor girl’s body would turn into a bloody mist instead.

Just then, a quiet snap rang out.

Xu Tao pulled out his fan and tapped it against his palm, stepping forward with a steady gait.

As Alexis staggered upright, Henrietta charged forward again—only to halt mid-step.

Her crimson eyes flicked toward the figure now standing calmly in her path.

Xu Tao’s presence was not loud, nor forceful, but it pressed upon her in a way even a berserk beast could not ignore. It was a suffocating stillness, like standing before an endless abyss.

For the first time since her frenzy began... Henrietta hesitated.

Her feral instincts screamed at her:

’I can’t beat this one.’

’I’ll die if I make a wrong move.’

’I can’t escape from him even if I try.’

Her flames sputtered violently, her feet shifting backward an inch as her hands trembled.

"Henrietta," Xu Tao’s voice was cold, steady, as if speaking to the wind itself. "Return to your senses."

His words struck her like a bell toll. It wasn’t a suggestion, nor a question—it was a command specifically for her.

For a moment, her body shook.

The madness in her eyes flickered, dimming faintly—as though part of her recognized him, clinging desperately to his voice...

But then the frenzy screamed louder.

With a feral shriek, she lashed out, flames bursting as she swung her fist at his chest.

Xu Tao sighed, his disappointment clear.

"Stubborn child."

He didn’t evade.

He didn’t even raise his fan.

Instead, his hand blurred, striking across her shoulder, chest, waist, and neck in a rapid cascade of movements too fast for mortal eyes to follow. Each tap carried pinpoint precision, locking down the flow of Qi within her meridians.

"Pressure Point Arts: Suppression."

Henrietta’s fist halted inches from his chest. Almost as if she were suddenly petrified. Her body convulsed violently as her flames withered away, like candlelight before a raging storm. And lastly, her eyes widened in confusion before rolling back.

With a sharp exhale, she collapsed into his waiting arm.

The entire place fell into silence.

Everyone held their breath, staring at the sight of the rampaging beast—now reduced to an unconscious girl, resting limply in Xu Tao’s grasp.

He glanced once toward Alexis, who wiped the blood from his lip with a bitter smile.

"...You were gentler than I would’ve been," Alexis admitted. "If only I was as strong as you..."

Xu Tao ignored him.

With a flick of his sleeve, he lifted Henrietta’s body into a gentle cradle, then turned toward the Evil Spirit members who had observed the trial in silence.

Their eyes gleamed with interest, some even with faint amusement. Only two figures stared at him with contempt.

"The Bloodline Trial is over, and it is our side’s victory. I will be taking my disciple with me," Xu Tao said flatly, his tone carrying the weight of finality.

Lodia chuckled from his floating piece of rock, hands crossed behind his back. His crimson eyes gleamed with mirth as he smirked.

"Heh. To think you’d walk out with such boldness... Very well. Go on, Immortal. The path is yours to choose."

With a flick of his fingers, the space around them warped.

A glowing gate of swirling light appeared behind Xu Tao and his group, its edges humming with otherworldly resonance.

The exit.

Xu Tao said nothing more.

He casually moved his finger into an inconspicuous sign, and a new path opened up. He strode toward it without hesitation, Henrietta in his arms, the others following quickly behind. He didn’t even glance at the portal Lodia opened for them.

Uriel cast one last look toward the Evil Spirits, her heart still pounding, before darting after him.

Jehanne and Zetian exchanged tense glances but followed nonetheless. Henrietta’s family followed next, with Alexis bringing up the rear, his expression heavy.

Behind them, Lodia raised his chin, eyes closed as if savoring a nostalgic flavor—with a wry smile. "Interesting... very interesting indeed. Great Cultivator... Xu Tao."

And with that, the victorious human’s group left the trial space.