The Reaper

The same scene played out again.

Whether it was a confident genius traveling alone, a team of more than a dozen who had just won a brutal battle, or two law geniuses fighting to the death over points... once Qin Zhao set his sights on them, they were almost always killed instantly, without the slightest chance to fight back!

The terrifying suppression of the Black Stone Prison's domain, strengthened after it contracted, combined with his increasingly refined movement technique, had brought his hunting efficiency to an astonishing level. He no longer stayed in one place. Instead, he roamed the wasteland like he was teleporting, precisely seeking out those "fat sheep" with bountiful points and powerful auras.

His points began to soar once more, and his ranking shot upward as if he'd strapped himself to a rocket. He quickly returned to the top fifty, then surged into the top twenty, and finally the top ten! Qin Zhao's reckless, astonishingly efficient slaughter had finally enraged the most elite geniuses in World Zone 39.

"You've gone too far! Does he really think he's a Deity?"

"We can't let him keep killing like this! We have to join forces!"

"Right! Let's pool everyone's strength. Surely we can wear him down!"

Under the threat of death and the allure of points, some of the top geniuses—who had once been wary of one another, or even enemies—were forced to set aside their differences. Using every means at their disposal, they quickly contacted one another and gathered together.

In just half a day, a massive "God-Slaughtering Alliance" had quietly formed. It had more than a hundred members, all of them experts who had at least touched the threshold of the laws. More than ten had comprehended a complete domain, and two or three had even gained profound insights into the laws. They were considered super-geniuses with the strength to break into the top ten of their world zone!

They devised a detailed plan to ambush Qin Zhao in a vast ring-shaped canyon on the edge of the wasteland. They would send out a decoy to lure him into their encirclement, then use the combined strength of a hundred people to eliminate their greatest threat in one fell swoop!

The plan went "smoothly" beyond all expectations. A wind-law genius known for his speed, acting as bait, successfully "lured" Qin Zhao—who had been hunting in the nearby area—toward the ring-shaped canyon.

When Qin Zhao's distinctive black-robed figure appeared above the entrance to the canyon, more than a hundred geniuses lay in ambush along the surrounding cliffs and beneath the ground. Some had even hidden themselves in the Space Interlayer using special secret techniques. Their hearts tightened in unison, then surged with delight and desperate resolve.

"He's here! Get ready!"

"Wait for my signal, then attack together!"

At their head was a tall young man wreathed in purple lightning. With a furious roar, he launched the first attack! A purple lightning dragon as thick as a barrel roared through the air, tearing it apart as it hurtled toward Qin Zhao with a destructive aura!

At the same time—

"Kill!"

"Freeze everything for thousands of miles!"

"Space-Splitting Slash!"

More than a hundred powerful attacks, imbued with different laws, surged toward him from every direction like a bursting flood. They covered nearly every possible avenue of escape, above and below, left and right! The force of this combined attack was enough to make any Star Level peak expert blanch. Even a Universe Level ninth-rank powerhouse would hardly dare to take it head-on!

Faced with this combined attack, powerful enough to destroy the heavens and earth, Qin Zhao remained suspended in midair. He didn't even change his posture. He merely glanced at the dazzling torrent of light bearing down on him, his eyes utterly calm.

Then he raised his hand once more.

This time, he didn't press downward. He simply spread his fingers slightly and gave a gentle clench toward the space in front of him.

"Black Stone... suppress the prison."

"BOOM—!!!"

The Black Stone Prison, which had expanded to a radius of a thousand kilometers, was instantly drawn toward the entrance to the ring-shaped canyon, centered on Qin Zhao. Like an invisible tsunami, it came crashing down! It didn't spread in every direction. Instead, it condensed into a visible torrent of gray-black energy that warped the light around it!

The space groaned under the strain wherever the torrent passed. The more than a hundred powerful attacks imbued with various laws—lightning, frost, blade and sword strikes, even invisible soul attacks—crumbled, shattered, and dissolved the instant they touched the gray-black torrent, like snowflakes beneath the blazing sun! They couldn't even stir a ripple!

The gray-black torrent kept surging forward, sweeping into the ring-shaped canyon in an instant, crushing everything in its path like ants!

"No!!"

"How is this possible?!"

"Run!!"

Inside the canyon, the hundred-plus geniuses who had been sure of victory saw their delight and resolve turn to boundless fear and despair! They could feel that the power within the gray-black torrent was not something that belonged to the Star Level! It was absolute, soul-shaking suppression!

Those who tried to resist saw their domains shatter like paper, their bodies crushed into nothingness. Those who tried to flee found that the surrounding space had been completely locked down, leaving them moving as slowly as snails. Those who tried to hide had their souls directly shattered by the indiscriminate pressure.

The gray-black torrent swept through the ring-shaped canyon like the scythe of the Grim Reaper.

It took no more than a single breath.

The torrent faded, leaving the ring-shaped canyon intact—but eerily "clean." The more than a hundred geniuses who had been lying in wait there, along with every trace of their existence, had vanished without a trace, as if they had never been there.

Qin Zhao hovered in midair as the points on the screen on his arm surged more wildly than ever before! His ranking shot up in an instant, landing him at the very top of World Zone 39! He left the runner-up's score far behind!

He slowly lowered his hand and calmly surveyed the empty canyon, as if he had done nothing more than a trivial task.

"A rabble."

His quiet words faded into the wind. His figure blurred once more as he headed toward the next gathering of "fat sheep" he sensed.

After this battle, the God-Slaughtering Alliance vanished into thin air. Every participant, and every genius who heard what had happened, was consumed by fear of Qin Zhao, the "Deity." No one dared entertain the thought of opposing him. They could only try to stay as far away from the monster as possible and pray he wouldn't set his sights on them.

With his undisputed, overwhelming strength, the "Deity" of World Zone 39 had firmly claimed the throne in the preliminaries.

The destruction of the God-Slaughtering Alliance was like a basin of ice water, dousing the last spark of resistance in the hearts of every surviving genius in World Zone 39. The terrifying scene of Qin Zhao concentrating the full power of the Black Stone Prison into a single strike and crushing the combined forces of more than a hundred top geniuses spread by word of mouth through the few who had watched from afar. It quickly became accepted as an indisputable fact throughout the entire zone.

The name "Deity" was no longer merely a title of reverence. It had become a symbol of absolute power and a deadly taboo.

Panic spread like a plague. The surviving geniuses, no matter how confident or arrogant they had once been, had now completely lost the courage to challenge Qin Zhao. They no longer thought about hunting others for points. They had only one thought—run! Get as far as possible from anywhere that black-robed figure might appear!

Yet World Zone 39, vast as it was, wasn't endless to Qin Zhao, who was determined to scour every corner.

After effortlessly destroying the God-Slaughtering Alliance and taking the top spot in points, Qin Zhao didn't stop. Like a calm and efficient reaper, he began a systematic, inescapable "sweep" of World Zone 39.