A Gift of Thanks

Whether Luo Di was tempted or not, he most certainly was.

When he had previously recognized that the other party's essence was a weapon, he had roughly understood the true purpose of this match. The one behind it was not Oculus, but someone of an even higher standing.

It was the being who had once given him guidance, the one firmly seated at the top among the Spine-bearers.

Besides,

this was Luo Di's first time performing a Deep Spinal Opening. He had even completed Divine Contact in this state, and something unexpected had happened—the enormous hand from the depths of the Corner had actually covered him in skin.

Such a state,

such an appearance,

gave Luo Di the confidence that he could kill Jock right now.

He had thought the Hand of God could easily catch the weapon's horizontal slash. Who could have expected it to cut through even divine skin? The force behind it even made the Hand of God tremble slightly, sending him sliding more than ten meters before he barely caught it.

If they had continued fighting, Luo Di would have needed to put in quite some effort to truly suppress this greatsword.

Moreover,

after gripping the weapon, Luo Di had made another discovery. This greatsword was incomplete, left in a damaged state. It had likely suffered severe damage in some battle.

That was why she had been abandoned, why she had been thrown into the prison to seal herself away.

From the very first glance Luo Di had taken at her, just two sentences of conversation had already allowed him to grasp her mindset. Or perhaps spending so much time with the class monitor had made such superficial acts of pretense far too easy for him to see through.

Luo Di could clearly see a longing