Dawn Has Arrived, and Shall Arrive Forever

"Dao Chong! Use it, and it may never be full; deep and vast! It seems the ancestor of all things."

A vast, boundless voice echoed by He Ao's ears like celestial music descending from the nine heavens.

In an instant, his figure transformed into countless afterimages before returning to one.

The Great Dao arose from emptiness and transformed into infinity. It took the shape of an abyss and gave birth to all things.

The Bull-like Youth glared furiously at He Ao's drifting figure. "Good! So you really are one of the chosen ones!"

He let out a low roar, swung both fists, and charged at He Ao. His fists cut through the air with a fierce whistle. "Watch me smash these bluffing tricks of yours."

However, He Ao kept his eyes tightly shut, as though he had not seen the Youth at all, and lightly shifted to the side.

The movement was extremely slow, like an ordinary turn while walking down the street, yet it happened to evade the Youth's fist.

The Youth seemed to have expected him to dodge. He changed his fist into a claw and spun around to grab at He Ao.

He Ao turned back, pressed his index and middle fingers together, and lightly tapped the Youth's wrist. The Youth's movements immediately stalled, his whole body freezing for an instant.

He only felt a numbing force spread from his wrist, stripping away all his strength and momentum.

He wanted to turn and withdraw his fist, but He Ao had somehow already stepped in front of him. Those joined fingers struck several points below his chest and across his abdomen, and in an instant, his body went out of control, as if no matter how much strength he had, he could not use any of it.

The sensation was like being pinned down by a ghost. No matter how hard he struggled, he could not move his body even an inch.

Then He Ao grabbed the hand he had yet to withdraw, turned, stepped back half a pace, lowered his center of gravity, and threw him over his shoulder in one smooth motion.

With a thunderous boom, the Youth was slammed directly onto the floor.

The impact also snapped him out of that terrifying "ghost pressing the bed" sensation. He tried to move, but his entire body was numb and weak, unable to muster even the slightest strength.

By then, He Ao had already retreated to the study door.

It was not that he did not want to keep showing off. It was just that his... cheat had expired.

The last trace of power left after the Vermillion Fruit had cleared his body had been completely consumed by those movements.

"Qi..."

He Ao sensed the patterns through which the energy had flowed just now. Following the description in that little book, he guided the energy along specific routes and vaguely sensed something called "qi."

This qi was indistinct, like a girl playing the zither behind a gauze curtain in ancient times. You could see her graceful figure and hear the beautiful music she played, but you could never glimpse her true face.

This mysterious qi was the force that had supported the techniques he had used just now. Those techniques were actually diagrams drawn in the little book, but only with the enhancement of qi could they truly possess power.

And after acquiring qi himself, He Ao could vaguely sense other people's qi as well. Or rather, what others possessed was not qi, but a method of energy flow similar to qi.

The few taps he had delivered to the Youth just now had severed the flow of energy inside him. The Youth might not have known the patterns of energy within his own body, but once his vital points were struck, that energy would surge wildly like water leaking from a broken pipe, even causing harm to his body.

At that moment, the Youth lay on the floor, unable even to crawl.

He Ao had a chance to kill the Youth then, but he did not make a move.

If he had killed the Youth in a single strike during the initial attack, that would have counted as self-defense.

But after making a second move, it might be considered excessive self-defense or even negligent homicide.

There was no need for that. He Ao was a good, law-abiding person.

He slipped toward the study, preparing to enter.

Though the study was small, it was heavily fortified. All four walls, the floor, and the ceiling had been reinforced with two layers of brick, with thick steel plates sandwiched between them.

The study door was also the newest and best security door available on the market, unlike the front door, which could be easily smashed open.

It was practically a small Safehouse. It should hold until Team Leader Liu arrived.

However, just as He Ao was about to enter the room, a blaring alarm suddenly sounded outside.

Team Leader Liu had arrived even earlier than he expected.

"Ah!!!!"

The Youth, who had still been lying on the floor moments ago, ignored the numbness in his body and hurriedly scrambled to his feet.

He wanted to take the stairs, but he could faintly hear footsteps coming up them.

He looked around, then rushed toward the large window in the living room.

"Huh?"

He Ao hurried over and waved, just about to say something.

The Youth shuddered. Thinking He Ao was going to join the police in surrounding him like dumplings, he scrambled over the window and fell with a boom.

"This is the fifth floor..."

He Ao lowered his hand in confusion.

Don't die from the fall...

He hurriedly leaned out the window to look.

He heard a series of booming, banging, and thudding sounds.

The Youth crashed through several rain awnings belonging to the neighbors downstairs before landing on the ground with a smack.

This was the back of the building, and Team Leader Liu's people had not arrived yet. The Youth glanced around, saw no police officers, and hurriedly climbed up before stumbling toward a nearby electric scooter.

Then he took out a small tool He Ao could not make out, started the electric scooter, and sped away.

Seeing that he was fine, He Ao breathed a sigh of relief.

If he had fallen to his death here, He Ao might have been implicated in some trouble.

It would be a real headache if it somehow turned into negligent homicide.

This guy might not have looked very bright, but he was certainly tough.

He Ao watched the Youth's retreating back, watching the bulging muscles on his body gradually shrivel. He did not know whether the Youth had voluntarily deactivated his skill or whether its duration had run out.

He turned around and looked at the battlefield. Several floor tiles had been broken beneath the Youth's feet, and the old security door had been dented in several places.

Tsk—

Replacing the security door and the tiles would cost money.

He was a good person. Who had he offended?

Just then, he noticed something white beneath some torn clothing on a shattered tile. It seemed to be a small card, so he walked over and picked it up.

It was a white card about the size of an ID card. It seemed to have been treated with a special process. When He Ao looked at it straight on, the surface reflected a faint, warm glow. The image on it showed a rising sun emerging over the horizon, but when he tilted the card, the image became a dim, gray-black night scene.

As it shifted from tilted to straight, the image showed night slowly transforming into sunrise.

"Interesting."

He turned the card over. A short sentence was written on the back.

[Dawn has arrived, and shall arrive forever.]

It looked like an identity card for some secret organization.

Under normal circumstances, the more impressive a name and slogan sounded, the weaker their actual combat power tended to be.

Just then, hurried footsteps came from nearby as Team Leader Liu entered with a squad of police officers.

"He Ao," Team Leader Liu said, one hand resting on his waist as he surveyed the area. "Where is he?"

"He ran," He Ao said, pointing out the window. "He heard you coming, jumped out the window, then stole Big Sister Li's electric scooter from the sixth floor and took off."

"That's good," Team Leader Liu said, seeming to relax. He looked at He Ao. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," He Ao nodded, then casually asked, "Team Leader Liu, when can I collect the reward?"

He needed money to replace the security door and the tiles.

For a moment, Team Leader Liu could not keep up with He Ao's train of thought. Weren't they discussing the criminal? How had they suddenly gotten onto money?

Then he looked at the mess around them and understood. "That money should come through tonight. I also need to ask you about the details of what happened this afternoon. How about coming to the station with us?"

He was worried that the man might come back. Without their protection, He Ao could get hurt.

"Sure!"

He Ao nodded decisively.

As He Ao spoke with Team Leader Liu, a figure in a black trench coat circled around to the back of the building. He looked in the direction the electric bike had disappeared, then raised his head toward the rain awnings on the first through fourth floors that had been smashed apart.

Through those twisted, warped awnings, he could almost see the Youth's miserable escape as he jumped down from the fifth floor.

"Bull" might not have been very smart, but he was strong.

He would not have been frightened into such a panic by the sound of police sirens.