Ineffective Stealth and Broken Common Sense (Cont.)

Ling Ye clutched the small, gray-white stone tightly, his knuckles turning white from the excessive force, the veins on the back of his hand slightly bulging. The usual laziness or disdain on his face was gone, replaced by a solemnity Su Wanqing had never seen before, almost frozen. A faint bead of cold sweat on his temple, under the soft light of the living room, looked particularly jarring.

"This is troublesome..."

"This time... we're in real trouble..."

"Those old guys with noses sharper than dogs... they must have sensed it already..."

His low, hoarse muttering struck Su Wanqing's heart like a death knell, chilling her to the bone. She didn't know what the stone was, but she clearly felt the great one's fear—yes, fear! Though incredibly faint, it was undeniably fear! There was no mistaking it.

The being who could dismiss the Supreme Will with a scoff and shake planets with a stomp, was actually afraid of a mere stone?

Then what kind of terrifying disaster did this stone represent?!

Ling Ye took a deep breath, as if forcefully suppressing the turmoil in his heart. He no longer looked up at the void, but abruptly lowered his head, his gaze refocusing on the culprit stone in his palm.

His eyes became incredibly sharp, countless stellar trajectories seeming to furiously calculate and deduce within the depths of his pupils. He extended the index finger of his other hand, and a speck of chaotic light condensed at its tip. With extreme caution, as if disarming a bomb's fuse, he gently touched the surface of the stone.

The instant his fingertip contacted the stone—

"Buzz..."

The rough, uneven patterns on the stone's surface flickered faintly, as if dormant circuits had been instantly activated for a fleeting moment! A clearer, more fundamental, peculiar fluctuation, like the "origin point" of the entire multiverse, rippled outwards like a pebble dropped into a calm lake. Though faint, it spread resolutely into the depths of infinite dimensions!

"Damn it! The Boundary Membrane's self-manifestation pattern hasn't completely subsided!" Ling Ye cursed under his breath, his expression growing even more grim. The chaotic light on his fingertip flared, attempting to forcibly suppress and conceal the fluctuation.

But the fluctuation seemed exceptionally peculiar. His power could temporarily interfere with it, but couldn't completely obliterate or hide it, much like one cannot hide a shadow in the sunlight.

"No... there's no time to completely shield it..." Ling Ye's brows furrowed tightly, and he decisively changed his strategy. He no longer attempted to eliminate the fluctuation entirely, but instead clapped his hands together, tightly cupping the stone within his palms!

An even more immense and boundless Chaos Origin Qi surged from his body, creating an invisible cocoon that tightly enveloped the stone and the continuously dissipating coordinate fluctuation, compressing them within a minimal range to slow down its spread as much as possible.

"I have to leave this place!" Ling Ye raised his head, his gaze quickly sweeping across the villa, his tone urgent. "This small world is too fragile, the Boundary Membrane too thin. It can't hide this thing! Once it's locked on, this entire plane will be pulverized!"

His gaze finally fell upon Su Wanqing, who was slumped on the ground, looking bewildered. His brows furrowed, as if rapidly weighing something.

Take her with him? She'd be a burden.

Leave her behind? She'd likely be casually wiped out by the terrifying existence that would come searching for the stone, or worse, have her soul refined and her spirit extracted, dying an agonizing death.

Troublesome!

A flicker of extreme impatience and ferocity flashed in Ling Ye's eyes. He detested these unplanned troubles and choices the most!

But in this brief moment of hesitation—

In his palm, the small stone, forcefully suppressed, seemed to be stimulated by his power, or perhaps it sensed the faint resonance with the Primordial Anchor Fragment buried beneath the villa. It... trembled again, ever so slightly...

This time, the tremor was clearer!

A more defined coordinate information, mixed with that unique "origin" fluctuation, like a beacon fire in the night, suddenly pierced through the layers of chaotic seals he had laid down. Though incredibly faint, it was sent with unwavering resolve towards a specific, infinitely distant Primordial direction!

"Not good!" Ling Ye's face changed drastically!

Almost simultaneously!

RUMBLE—!!!

The sky above the villa, without any warning... instantly turned gloomy! As if the entire firmament had been abruptly pulled shut by an invisible giant hand! It wasn't clouds gathering, but the light of the entire space being forcibly devoured and stripped away! Daylight instantly turned into pitch-black darkness, where one couldn't see their hand in front of their face!

An indescribable, ancient, wilder, and more greedily destructive will than the previous "gaze" roared to life, like a slumbering world-ending beast. It tore through the barriers of distant space, precisely and unerringly... locking onto this planet! Locking onto this villa! Locking onto... Ling Ye's tightly cupped hands!

"Found... you!!!"

A roar that couldn't be heard by the ears, but directly resonated in the deepest part of every living being's soul, filled with boundless ecstasy and brutality, exploded like billions of thunderclaps at once!

CRACK—!!!

The villa's massive floor-to-ceiling window shattered! It wasn't shattered by impact, but as if directly crushed into its most basic particles by that terrifying will, instantly annihilated! A gale, mixed with the cold, destructive aura from outer space, poured in!

The entire villa groaned under the unbearable strain, as if it would disintegrate the next second!

Su Wanqing couldn't even scream. She was struck by the terrifying soul-shattering roar, her vision went black, and she lost all consciousness, collapsing softly onto the ground.

Ling Ye gritted his teeth, a trace of golden blood even seeping from the corner of his mouth! The roar was primarily aimed at the stone in his hand, but its mere aftershock caused his Blood Essence to churn!

He stubbornly held up his chaotic shield, protecting himself and the stone in his hand, his eyes as cold as ice. He looked up at the pitch-black firmament, where countless colossal, terrifying shadows seemed to be furiously converging.

"Primordial... Greedy Wolf..." he gritted out the words through clenched teeth, recognizing the owner of this will—an old adversary known for his tracking and greed since the Primordial Era. He hadn't expected the first one to sniff it out to be this guy!

"Hand it over!!!" the terrifying will roared again, carrying a soul-freezing greed and an irrefutable command. A colossal black wolf's claw, formed from pure destructive law and covering the sky, seemed to pierce through infinite space and clawed down fiercely towards the villa! Where it passed, space collapsed inch by inch!

At this critical moment!

A ruthless and resolute glint flashed in Ling Ye's eyes!

He knew that with this fully activated stone, there was nowhere to escape! It would only attract more, even more terrifying existences, ultimately affecting and destroying countless worlds!

It had to be dealt with immediately! At least... make it "disappear" for now!

His gaze suddenly swept towards the corner of the living room—the Chaos Green Lotus pot that had been quietly waiting there, its edges flowing with faint chaotic light!

This thing... could devour all things, isolate all laws, and even interfere with space-time and karma to a certain extent! It was the only container that could possibly temporarily shield the stone's fluctuations at this moment!

"Let's take a gamble!"

Ling Ye didn't hesitate! The moment the destructive wolf claw was about to descend, he used all his strength to hurl the scorching stone, which was constantly emitting coordinate fluctuations, towards the Chaos Green Lotus pot in the corner—

"Get in!"

The small stone transformed into a stream of grey-white light, precisely plunging into the swirling mist of the Chaos Green Lotus basin!

"Plop--"

A faint sound, like a stone dropping into water.

The instant the stone submerged into the basin's mist--

The basin itself violently shook! All the chaotic light and runes on its surface flashed with unprecedented brilliance! The mist within churned and boiled like exploding water, compressing violently! It was as if it were enduring an extremely terrifying impact originating from the very essence of things!

The "coordinate origin" fluctuation contained within the stone clashed fiercely with the Chaos Green Lotus basin's "devour and isolate" characteristic!

The entire basin let out a series of teeth-grinding groans, as if it might collapse and disintegrate at any moment!

But ultimately, the Chaos Green Lotus basin was, after all, a remnant of an Innate Supreme Treasure, possessing an extremely high grade. After a suffocating period of intense struggle, the chaotic mist within the basin formed an invisible vortex, forcefully locking onto the stone's fluctuation and compressing it into the deepest part of the basin's bottom! While it couldn't be completely annihilated, its explosive spread was at least temporarily suppressed and isolated!

The basin's light and anomalous phenomena rapidly dimmed and subsided, leaving only a slight tremor. Its surface was frighteningly hot, like a freshly forged brand.

And at the exact moment the stone's fluctuation was isolated--

Above the villa, the destructive wolf's claw that was about to descend suddenly froze!

The terrifying will of the Primordial Greedy Wolf let out an extremely confused and enraged roar: "Huh?! It's gone?! How is that possible?! It was clearly right..."

Its will swept through the villa, the Earth, and this starfield like a frenzied searchlight, but it could no longer detect the clear coordinate signal. Only faint, heavily interfered residual traces remained.

"It hid?! You insignificant ant! How dare you!!!" The Greedy Wolf's will contorted with rage. The paused destructive wolf's claw gathered strength once more, intending to smash down regardless, preferring to kill indiscriminately rather than let anything escape!

However, at this very moment--

Ling Ye had been waiting for this opportunity!

The instant the stone's fluctuation was isolated, and the Greedy Wolf's will experienced a moment of confusion and hesitation!

He fiercely bit his tongue, spitting out a mouthful of pale golden vital blood, his hands forming seals at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye! Countless complex Chaos runes instantly generated, combined, and burned before him!

"In my name! Vanish!"

He let out a low, hoarse roar, imbued with some kind of Great Dao Oath!

The burning vital blood and Chaos runes instantly transformed into an extremely dim, yet incredibly pure, stream of chaotic light. It was neither an attack nor a defense, but rather... it enveloped him, the unconscious Su Wanqing on the ground, and that worn cloth bundle!

Then, this stream of light plunged downwards like a drop falling into water!

Not spatial teleportation, not a breakthrough in speed, but something more fundamental, a... ultimate escape technique that seemed to temporarily "delete" oneself from the current plane of "existence"!

Swish--!

The chaotic stream of light flashed and vanished.

In the center of the living room, Ling Ye, Su Wanqing, and the worn cloth bundle... disappeared without a trace!

As if they had never existed in this space!

Almost the next second after they disappeared--

Boom!!!!!!!!!

The terrifying wolf's claw, imbued with endless destructive power, fiercely struck the location where the villa stood!

There was no sound, no explosion.

Only an absolute, complete... void.

The villa, the courtyard, the mountain... even the space itself, was utterly erased by this claw! All that remained was a bottomless, mirror-smooth, colossal pit exuding an aura of absolute deathly stillness!

"Roar--!!!"

The will of the Primordial Greedy Wolf let out a world-shattering roar filled with unwillingness and fury, reverberating wildly above the void, but finding no trace whatsoever.

After an unknown amount of time, perhaps an instant, perhaps ten thousand years.

On the outskirts of the city, in a dirty, chaotic back alley, within a damp corner piled with trash cans.

The air twisted slightly.

A stream of extremely dim chaotic light flashed by.

Ling Ye's figure staggered into existence, his face as pale as paper, golden blood at the corner of his mouth, his aura extremely weak. He clutched the worn cloth bundle tightly in one hand, while the other... still dragged the still unconscious Su Wanqing.

As soon as he appeared, he coughed up another mouthful of golden blood, swayed, and nearly fell to the ground.

That ultimate escape technique had taken a massive toll on him, especially since it was performed in haste and while carrying a burden.

He managed to stand steadily, breathing heavily, and cautiously scanned his surroundings.

The stench of garbage, the mottled walls, the dim light... it seemed safe for now.

However, before he could even catch his breath--

His gaze suddenly fixed on the entrance of the alley!

There, at some unknown time, a person stood quietly!

A figure wearing a faded delivery uniform, a helmet, and pushing an old electric scooter!

The person seemed to be about to deliver a package to a small shop in the alley and happened to witness the scene of Ling Ye and Su Wanqing appearing out of thin air!

Their eyes met.

The deliveryman's eyes widened, his mouth agape as if an egg could fit inside, his face filled with extreme shock and... bewilderment.

Ling Ye's pupils constricted sharply! His internal alarm bells blared!

He'd been seen!

Even though it was just a mortal, but...

Just as a killing intent flashed in Ling Ye's eyes, considering whether to casually eliminate this unexpected witness—

The deliveryman seemed to have finally snapped out of his immense shock.

He blinked hard, the extreme shock on his face receding like a tide, quickly replaced by an expression of... "I get it," filled with deep sympathy and understanding.

He pushed his electric scooter a few steps forward, arriving in front of Ling Ye. His gaze swept over Ling Ye's pale face, the golden bloodstains at the corner of his mouth, and the unconscious Su Wanqing in his arms, whose clothes were slightly disheveled.

Then, the delivery guy put on an "I understand, bro" expression, lowered his voice, and spoke to Ling Ye with the earnest tone of someone who's been there before:

"Dude... you're really going all out, huh? Cosplay? Even faking the blood-vomiting effect? Tsk tsk... But take it from me, next time you're tying up a rich woman... you should probably find a more discreet hotel... this back alley... the smell is too strong!"