Return to Void

"Crystal Marrow Clan World Lord, if you can withstand this one move of mine, I'll spare your life," Qin Cang said teasingly, his eyes fixed on the Crystal Marrow Clan World Lord.

"A Human Race World Lord should keep his word." Hearing Qin Cang say this, the Crystal Marrow Clan World Lord stopped worrying about anything else. In his view, this Human Race World Lord had been unable to kill him despite fighting for so long, which clearly meant his strength was limited. Perhaps he had used some sort of potion to temporarily boost his power for that first claw strike. Besides, he had complete confidence in the armor his teacher had given him, and was sure it could withstand Qin Cang's attack!

"Good. Then let's do this!"

Qin Cang had no intention of holding back now. Light blazed from the pair of claws in his hands, and one miniature black hole after another appeared in his palms. Flames burned across all five claws, as if ready to destroy everything.

This move was the result of Qin Cang merging the true meaning of Black Hole Evolution into Shattered Shadow. As one of the Human Race's most widely circulated advanced secret techniques, Black Hole Evolution had the obvious characteristic of imbuing every move with the power of a black hole.

That also made it one of the easiest secret techniques to recognize.

The greatest goal in practicing Black Hole Evolution was to make every move produce a black hole. Naturally, through his own deductions, Qin Cang could merge its true meaning into Shattered Shadow. Shattered Shadow was originally a claw technique, but after several years of practicing it, Qin Cang had long since mastered the secret technique. He had no plans to delve deeply into claw techniques, but that didn't mean he had to be confined to Shattered Shadow's original nine forms.

Over the years, besides practicing Shattered Shadow and Seven Kills of Burning Sky, Qin Cang had spent more time than anything else trying to incorporate the true meaning of Black Hole Evolution into his own secret techniques. By the time he arrived at the Outer-Region Battlefield, he had successfully created a new claw technique.

Using the ninth form of Shattered Shadow as its foundation and incorporating the true meaning of Black Hole Evolution, he had created a new claw technique called "Return to Void"!

"You're very lucky to be the first enemy to witness this claw technique of mine. I'd originally planned to celebrate its successful creation by taking the life of an Immortal, but now you're the most fitting choice. After all, you're the first enemy I've encountered on the Outer-Region Battlefield. You're far more memorable than some mere Immortal!" Qin Cang was in a good mood and was willing to say a few extra words, but that was all.

"Return to Void!"

As he unleashed the claw technique, the Crystal Marrow Clan World Lord seemed to see nothing but a colossal claw shadow filling all of Heaven and Earth. Five claw shadows came surging toward him, carrying boundless flames and sealing off every avenue of escape.

Space shattered layer by layer wherever the claw shadows passed. The flames amplified their power, making them even more devastating. At last, the flames collapsed, and five miniature black holes took shape before his eyes!

Beneath the claw shadows, the Crystal Light Armor reached its limit and broke apart inch by inch.

The Crystal Marrow Clan World Lord took the claw head-on, but that wasn't the end. The five miniature black holes crushed his body. Still short of becoming an Immortal, his body shattered under their force, and his Internal World was pulverized along with it, vanishing from Heaven and Earth.

The buddies watching from afar were all stunned!

"Holy crap, who exactly is Cao Benqi? That claw was insanely powerful!" Gu Shi and Lie Feng, watching from a distance, were both dumbfounded. They had fought on the Outer-Region Battlefield for thousands of years and seen plenty of powerful fighters, but they had never witnessed anything like this: a World Lord delivering a blow on par with an Immortal God's—or no, even surpassing one.

After all, Qin Cang wasn't an alchemist. If he had been an alchemist with a large supply of powerful potions prepared in advance, then it might have been possible for him to raise his strength to the point of contending with an Immortal God.

But Qin Cang was neither an alchemist nor supported by any powerful plant or metal lifeforms. He had relied solely on his own strength to unleash a single strike with power comparable to an Immortal God's.

There were countless World Lords on the Outer-Region Battlefield, but only the rarest of them could contend with an Immortal God as a World Lord.

Kailun, who had watched the entire fight from the outer perimeter, was grinning from ear to ear. The stronger his teammates were, the more likely they were to reach that place and claim its treasure.

"If we get the treasure, I'll be able to return to my homeworld and maybe even join a sacred land. If I can raise my strength to Marquis Level..." Kailun mused, already thinking about how to spend the money before he had even seen it.

"No, no, I need to wait a little longer. It was only one battle, after all. I'll wait until we've killed a few Immortals in the next few days and made all the necessary preparations before we go." Kailun made up his mind to play it safe a little longer. That place was far too dangerous. If they could kill a few Immortals, he would be able to buy even better equipment. They could explore then, when their chances of success would be higher.

Before this, Kailun had been extremely reluctant to provoke any team that had an Immortal God. After all, anyone who had become an Immortal God had to have some tricks up their sleeve. Even he could only hold one of them off; actually killing one would be extremely difficult. And although his teammates were considered quite capable among World Lords, they would have almost no way to fight back against an Immortal God.

After all, World Lords and Immortals were beings on entirely different levels. Among the Human Race, only Core Members raised by great powers generally had the strength to contend with Immortals as World Lords.

But how could he so easily run into a scion of one of those great powers? The Outer-Region Battlefield was vast, and the number of World Lords was beyond counting. Finding one capable of contending with an Immortal among them was incredibly difficult.

Seeing the battle below come to an end, Kailun stopped hiding, hurried over to rejoin his teammates, and checked whether anyone was injured.

"Haha, Cao Benqi, you've given me the surprise of a lifetime! I never imagined your strength was so terrifying. Now we have the confidence to go after those lone Immortals." Kailun grinned at Qin Cang, liking him more and more.

"Cao Benqi, from now on, whatever you say goes. Other than the captain, I'll listen to you." Lie Feng had put aside his pride. He might have been arrogant, but he knew his own limits: there was no way he could withstand that claw.

"Hey, Lie Feng, who was it that kept challenging Cao Benqi to a fight back then? Why are you backing down now? Where's your pride? Your self-respect?" Lan Ying said with a smile, her lips pursed. Her laugh was soft, but it sounded grating to Lie Feng. He simply kept his mouth shut.

"See that? He's even getting shy. Lie Feng should just go confess to Lan Ying if he likes her. Instead, he says he won't propose until he becomes an Immortal. Lan Ying's hinted at it so many times, but he acts like he has no idea." Gu Shi sent Kuin a sound transmission. Naturally, he wouldn't dare say something like that out loud, or Lie Feng would drag him into a fight. Still, that didn't stop the two of them from watching the pair bicker.

"Exactly. Lan Ying already said that if he dares to go propose to the Butterfly Spirit Race, she'll say yes. I don't know what Lie Feng is thinking. Let them be." Kuin had no opinion on the matter. He simply went on quietly raising his Dark Winged Beast.

"All right, everyone. We gained a lot from this battle, and none of us were seriously injured. Let's take this chance to digest what we learned from the fight, then find our next hunting target!" Kailun fulfilled his duty as captain and gave the group their orders.

"Yes, Captain!" everyone answered in unison.