Secret Sword: Ember!

Zhou Zhe's subtle change in expression went unnoticed by the viewers in the Cosmic Live Stream.

But Hansenelton took it all in.

"HAHAHA! I really did want to kill Zhou Yulin outright just now!"

The Bronze Colossus let out an earthshaking roar. "Cunning little brat! You nearly fooled me!"

"What a pity, young man. You're still too green!"

"If I killed him now, it would be a release for him!"

"His soul hasn't collapsed yet. How could this end so quickly?"

"I'll torture him viciously! I'll torture him until his soul shatters!"

A flicker of panic crossed Zhou Zhe's eyes, and he put on the air of someone saying, "I tried so hard to pretend I didn't care, yet you turned a blind eye."

The exchange between the two immediately triggered a tidal wave of melon-eating Bullet Comments in the live stream.

"Wasn't Master Zhou's opponent Wenren Yi? Where did this Hansenelton guy come from?"

"Holy crap! Isn't this cheating?! He said his true body is a Silver One-Star Gladiator!"

"Why isn't the Dao doing anything? Someone's using hacks! Having some old grandpa give a little guidance from the sidelines would've been one thing, but personally entering the ring is damn outrageous!"

"That's too much (#`O′)! @Dao, Dad, look! Someone's using hacks! He's insulting Your intelligence! Dad! Ban his account! Force him offline!"

"This idiot cracked me up! Are you tap-dancing in front of the Grim Reaper? You dare claim kinship with the Dao?"

"Since he hasn't been erased, that means the Dao has already tacitly permitted it! Though I don't understand why. Anyway, we don't dare speak, and we don't dare ask..."

"A twisted sense of fun?"

"Didn't you notice? To take revenge on Zhou Zhe, Hansenelton voluntarily and permanently lowered his own strength. Only after being downgraded did his evaluation become Silver One Star! Originally, he might have been an invincible existence who ran rampant across some planet!"

"Damn! What kind of grudge, what kind of hatred was that?"

"Master Zhe's luck is truly beyond saving. He only took part in Cosmic Arena Combat once, killed some so-called Super Horned Demon, and ended up provoking such a ruthless enemy. His luck is really rotten!"

"You can't blame society for bad luck, and you can't blame the government for a bitter fate! It's a matter of personal 'rank.' Zhou Zhe was born a 'catalyst,' understand? He attracts protagonist physiques, get it?"

"You make it sound so damn real. Are you trying to say Wenren Yi is a protagonist too?"

"Why not? Wenren Yi said it herself before the fight. She's an orphan! Her whole sect was wiped out. Isn't that enough qualification to be some lousy protagonist?"

"Fine ⑧! Sacrifice the sect to the heavens, and your power knows no bounds! I'm convinced!"

"Ceramic Domain, Bronze Puppets, and now the old grandpa personally entering the ring! I'm so angry my whole body's gone cold, my hands are shaking, and I can't stop crying. It feels like the entire world suddenly darkened! Why can this Wenren Yi summon outside help? Why are they targeting Your Highness Zhe like this?"

While ridiculous Bullet Comments flew wildly through the live stream, Wenren Yi finally amassed her aura and spirituality to their peak and unleashed her killing move!

"Go..."

"Secret Sword: Ember!"

Wrapped in incomparable sharpness and spiritual blade aura, the Purple Flying Sword shot toward Zhou Zhe at high speed!

At that moment, it seemed less like a weapon and more like a person—the person who had lost everything, left with nothing but despair and hatred.

In an instant, an immense terror seized Zhou Zhe.

He would die!

If it hit him, he would definitely die!

Even if it merely scraped a little skin off his face, his body would shatter into a skyful of bloody flesh and powder, and he would die on the spot!

The warning of death urged Zhou Zhe to evade, yet an invisible Aura Field locked him down like shackles, leaving him utterly unable to move!

This Aura Field was extraordinarily powerful, dozens of times stronger than the one naturally emitted by the Essence of Xingtian. It was completely impossible to resist!

After all, this was Wenren Yi's all-out strike, with everything staked on it.

Succeed, or die trying!

"Secret Sword: Ember? I'll remember that."

Zhou Zhe's face was grave, his heart pounding uncontrollably. The world in his eyes seemed to slow.

A hundred meters...

Fifty meters...

Ten meters...

Closer, even closer!

Mysterious brilliance flickered across the pale-purple flying sword.

Bricks, tiles, walls, dust in the air, grass, trees, decorations...

Everything along its path was annihilated.

Yet when the flying sword was only one meter from Zhou Zhe, a faint smile bloomed across his face.

"See you later."

Temporary Class: Plane Traveler, activated!

In the blink of an eye, Zhou Zhe left Senter Dreamland and returned to the cube where he had first arrived in the Kindling World.

Rumble...

The violent tremors were like a magnitude-ten earthquake on a natural planet, making it impossible to stand steady.

Leaning against the wall, Zhou Zhe silently looked toward a screen wall.

"We now interrupt with an urgent news report!"

"A female Cosmic Gladiator wielding a cold weapon has caused damage in Senter Dreamland, resulting in the current minor disturbance!"

"Citizens, please do not move around recklessly. Remain calm!"

"Everything is under control!"

"We will soon complete repairs on the malfunctioning structural module of Dreamland!"

Seeing this, Zhou Zhe shook his head.

Fake news!

Textbook fake news.

The more precise the machinery, the more it resembled the human body—the easier it was for a single hair to pull and move the whole body!

Put simply, the Kindling World was an artificial world shaped like a Rubik's Cube!

It was precise to the extreme!

Wenren Yi was a veteran gladiator who had suppressed her evaluation at Black Iron Five Stars for many matches. Her actual strength was likely at least Bronze One Star.

For someone like that to mobilize her trump cards, exhaust every ounce of effort, and pour everything into a killing move, only to cause a "minor disturbance"...

Who were they looking down on?

The next moment, Zhou Zhe slipped into the void. His figure flashed, and he returned to Senter Dreamland.

A sword radiance suffused with faint purple completely tore Senter Dreamland into two halves!

The blue sky and earth were both brutally severed!

Countless nanobugs wriggled frantically, attempting to repair Senter Dreamland, but their efforts were futile—the pale-purple sword radiance was like a millstone, grinding them away bit by bit!

Repair it?

Repair my ass!

Zhou Zhe saw The Silent One leading a group of gray-skinned little bald heads as they madly squeezed into escape pods. They were clearly preparing to flee.

As the saying went: for want of a nail, a horseshoe was lost; for want of a horseshoe, a warhorse was lost; for want of a warhorse, a king was lost; for want of a king, a battle was lost; for want of a battle, a kingdom was lost.

There were countless butterfly effects throughout the cosmos!

What was more, what had been destroyed was no insignificant peripheral module that could be discarded at any time, but the core of the Kindling World—Senter Dreamland!

The Kindling World was about to be destroyed!

Wenren Yi had been afraid she would fail to kill Zhou Zhe, so her attack had been exceptionally ruthless. She had truly given it everything!

Not far away, she seemed to have completely fallen into a state of exhaustion. Her face was pale as gold paper, her breath as thin as a thread, and she looked pitiful enough to stir anyone's heart.

From that perspective, being beautiful did have its advantages.

Whether she was a strong, commanding sword immortal or a frail, sickly Lin Daiyu, Wenren Yi could perfectly pull off every image.

Her current appearance did not make her seem disheveled. Instead, it naturally aroused an intense urge to protect her in the vast majority of men.

Unfortunately.

Zhou Zhe clearly did not belong to the "vast majority."

A smile spread through his pitch-black eyes. His gentle words even carried a trace of praise. "Buddy, that was a good fight."

"I learned a great deal from that move of yours."

"The transcendent road is long. If fate allows, we'll meet again!"

"Now I..."

"...will send you on your way!"

As soon as he spoke, flames exploded and wind and thunder surged!

The Straight-Bladed Long Saber flew from its sheath and pierced into the void.

The next instant, its blade plunged into Wenren Yi's chest and directly ground her heart into powder.

Dinner time~

Honestly, I agonized over this chapter title for a very, very long time, aaaaah!