The shattered flesh gradually regenerated in midair. An Qingyu's body fell onto the sea, instantly freezing a patch of seawater into ice. Moments later, a blood-red figure slowly rose from the center of the ice.
"You were pretending?"
The wound in An Qingyu's chest gradually healed. He frowned at the red-haired girl rising from the stone platform and spoke coldly.
"That's right, I was pretending." Chloe chuckled. "Otherwise, it wouldn't have been easy to catch you off guard."
"It wasn't easy for you to deceive my eyes either." An Qingyu paused. His injuries had already fully healed.
"Besides, your carefully planned sneak attack didn't have much effect on me, did it?"
Chloe smiled but said nothing.
Two figures stood facing each other atop the thick ice. An Qingyu watched the girl before him. After hesitating for a moment, he raised his bloodstained fingers and wiped them across his pupils.
Chloe possessed No. 001, the divine realm of the strongest god currently known in the world, and she had apparently survived for an incomprehensibly long time. Facing an existence like her, An Qingyu did not dare let down his guard in the slightest. He intended to strike with his full strength from the outset.
"Summoning the Gate of Truth again already?" Chloe raised an eyebrow. "In your current state, can you summon it a second time today?"
"Why not?" An Qingyu replied calmly. "It merely requires a greater price..."
As blood streaked across the surface of his gray pupils from his fingertips, a majestic and mysterious aura descended once more. The calm sea churned violently, and the phantom outline of a gate gradually took shape behind him.
Chloe's expression grew more solemn. Looking at An Qingyu, she slowly said:
"So you're determined to kill me... There's no possibility of negotiating, then?"