All Living Things, Calamity of All Living Things

Qin Zhaoer tilted her head back, her beautiful eyes fixed on the profile so close to hers, gazing at those golden eyes that reflected the Destructive Radiance yet remained as calm as an ancient well.

My heart was pounding violently and uncontrollably in my chest.

Boom--!!!

The Heavenly Sword struck the earth, causing it to tremble and mountains to shake!

With a deafening roar, everything where Qin Hongchen stood, including the ground, was instantly torn apart and evaporated.

A bottomless crater instantly formed, and billowing smoke and chaotic Spiritual Power surged into the sky, completely engulfing his figure.

Looking at this huge pit.

Qin Wangchuan was about to step forward when, in the next instant, he felt a sudden chill on the side of his cheek—

It was a soft, slightly cool, delicate hand, with a woman's unique warmth and gentle touch, that unexpectedly pressed against me.

He paused slightly, then glanced to the side.

Qin Zhaoer's eyes were hazy, as if she hadn't completely recovered from the terrifying sight of the Heavenly Sword. Her gaze was shimmering, reflecting his face, and her movements were entirely subconscious.

With his Future Sight focused, he didn't notice her subtle movements when he relaxed.

"What... are you doing?" Qin Wangchuan frowned slightly and asked in a low voice.

The sound was like a thunderclap, instantly snapping Qin Zhaoer out of her daze.

"Ah--!"

She shuddered, jerking her hand back as if burned, the dazed look in her eyes instantly replaced by anger.

The girl forcefully shook off Qin Wangchuan's grip on her wrist, her eyebrows furrowed, her beautiful eyes glaring at him, her voice carrying a hint of spoiled accusation:

"What are you doing? You're hurting me!"

After saying that, as if still not satisfied, he let out a very soft but clear sound from his nose:

"Snort!"

That posture, with its awkwardness and... cuteness, was somewhat like a forced attempt to maintain a certain air and a cover-up.

Before the dust had even settled, Qin Wangchuan ignored her affectation and slowly walked to the edge of the deep pit.

Looking down, the smoke and dust at the bottom of the pit had not yet dissipated, and the outline of a figure sitting cross-legged could be vaguely seen.

Qin Wangchuan casually kicked a pebble off the edge of the pit with his toe.

The pebble fell silently into the bottomless darkness, and after a long while, a faint echo was heard.

"Sixth Brother, is he still alive?"

"Ha--!"

A soft, amused sound suddenly exploded from the bottom of the pit!

"Saying such things is a bit of an underestimation of me, Ninth Brother."

Qin Hongchen sat cross-legged in the middle of the mess, one hand propping up his chin, his posture even appearing quite relaxed.

The ground beneath him was cracked like a spider web, and although his robes were stained with some dust, there was not a trace of blood or wound on his body.

Unharmed.

Seeing this, Qin Wangchuan wasn't surprised, but a hint of admiration still flashed in his eyes.

Throughout the entire process, not a trace of Spiritual Power fluctuation could be detected.

This means that the devastating sword strike just now was withstood by Sixth Brother purely with his physical strength.

That concludes the discussion.

Qin Wangchuan had a general understanding of his Sixth Brother's strength.

Swish!

Qin Hongchen flashed, carrying the last wisp of lingering dust, and shot into the sky from the bottom of the pit.

It landed lightly on the edge of the pit, only a few feet away from Qin Wangchuan.

He patted off non-existent dust from his robes, and his neck cracked slightly.

Instead of showing any anger, his eyes shone with an almost scorching light.

"This sword is good, it's powerful!"

"It seems I underestimated you."

Qin Hongchen looked up at Qin Wangchuan, one hand quietly behind her back, her knuckles slightly curled, and a barely suppressed tremor emanated from her palm.

His gaze finally settled on the other person's unfathomable golden eyes, and he asked with certainty, "To foresee, or to see the future?"

Without a doubt, the Heavenly Sword technique he had just used had not only failed to destroy the illusory image, but also...

Instead, it used the sword's momentum against it to find its own position, and then--

He returned the favor with an even more lethal strike!

It's not a difficult task, but the problem is—it's just a phantom mark.

Qin Wangchuan nodded. "It's about seeing the future."

Upon hearing this, Qin Hongchen looked at the deep pit again, a hint of admiration flashing in his eyes:

"To be this powerful with just a single brand, not bad!"

"In response, we'll need to demonstrate some strength as well."

A smile returned to his lips, but this smile no longer held the ease and smugness of before; instead, his eyes were filled with a burning light and a sharp, eager look.

With a slight lift of his fingertips, it was as if he had locked onto a trajectory that transcended ordinary Technique Method, and the air around him seemed to freeze slightly.

"Since we can see the future..." Qin Clan's Liudao Child Disciple muttered to himself, a dangerous smile playing on his lips, "Then let's use that—"

Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly remembered something and paused, his hand raised in mid-air.

The intense interest in his eyes cooled and dissipated quickly, as if splashed with ice water.

"Never mind."

Qin Hongchen clicked his tongue softly, a hint of helplessness mixed with a touch of "this is really troublesome" laziness on his face.

"If the Book Palace is destroyed again, I'll get nagged for ages." He glanced at the already wrecked Arena in the distance, shook his head, and said, "It's not worth it."

Then, his gaze turned to Qin Wangchuan beside him.

The fighting spirit in Qin Hongchen's eyes had not completely died out; it had simply shifted from probing the illusory figure to a deeper curiosity and anticipation for the "real person."

"Besides," he chuckled, patting Qin Wangchuan on the shoulder, "It's better to fight against a shadow than to..."

"Next time—I'll come and fight you in person."

Don't let me down.

Upon hearing this, Qin Wangchuan's lips twitched almost imperceptibly.

Unlike Qin Hongchen's flamboyant and outward smile, it was more like a faint ripple that swept across the deepest part of the ice when the undercurrent subtly shifted beneath the surface.

Extremely faint, yet remarkably clear in the other person's eyes.

"Yes," Qin Wangchuan responded, his voice still steady, yet carrying an undeniable certainty, "We will have our day."

It's not an expectation, nor is it just polite talk.

The tone was as if stating an unchangeable ending.

Qin Hongchen was slightly taken aback at first, but then he caught something completely different from his own "eagerness at first sight" beneath the calm surface—a kind of almost fatalistic certainty.

Although he didn't know why, the weight made the smile in his eyes pause slightly, then melt away, radiating into a deeper joy.

"Good."

"Then I'll wait and see."

Their eyes met briefly before looking away.

One of them had burning fighting spirit and curiosity in his eyes.

In the depths of his other eye, however, lay a blood-red future that only he knew was about to arrive.

Qin Hongchen withdrew his challenging gaze and instead took something out of his sleeve.

It was a square jade talisman, pure white and only the size of a palm, with fine and mysterious silver patterns flowing across its surface. It floated quietly in his palm, emitting a soft yet undeniable glow.

"Your phantom caused quite a commotion; this year's score... no, the next few years probably won't be too good either."

"This time it's truly over." Qin Hongchen activated the jade talisman, his tone regaining its slightly languid composure.

As soon as he finished speaking, the jade talisman in his palm shone brightly!

Buzz--

The seal trembled slightly, and an invisible yet vast wave swept out from the center of the Myriad Dao Book Palace.

Myriad Dao Book Palace, on the Eleventh Layer.

Chu Wujiu's entire mind had merged with the Heaven and Earth Dharma Manifestation, traversing through the turbulent flow of Spiritual Power.

At this moment, his eyes saw nothing but the illusory image of Qin Wangchuan. His boiling fighting spirit, like a desperate flame, burned away all distractions, leaving only the purest obsession.

Defeat him! Defeat him!

"Again!!"

Just as the fighting spirit was about to explode—

The illusory figure suddenly froze.

Then, like quicksand scattered by the wind, part of his body began to turn into specks of golden light.

Just before he began to disintegrate into a sky full of golden light, his golden eyes naturally turned, calmly sweeping across the entire scene.

He glanced past Chu Wujiu's frozen rage, past the lingering fear in Xiang Haoran's eyes, past every defeated opponent's face filled with resentment, exhaustion, or bewilderment.

There are no emotions, no judgments.

His eyes were clear and bright like an ancient mirror, reflecting the faces of all living beings.

Like Deity looks down upon the struggles of humanity, watching the squabbles of ants in their nest—its very existence is a silent indifference.

Then, the phantom silently disintegrated, turning into dust and dissipating.

A cold announcement followed:

[The Eleventh Layer trial of the Myriad Dao Book Palace has ended.]

As the sound faded, the Arena fell into Deathly Stillness.

Everyone stood frozen in place, a sense of shame rising in their hearts.

This battle, in which they fought with all their might and used every means at their disposal, was fought from beginning to end...

None of it seemed to register in the eyes of that illusory figure.