Caution

"Is this a Blood Luo Crystal?"

Qin Ming toyed with a long, triangular-prism-shaped crystal.

It was translucent and bloodred throughout, faintly radiating wave after wave of invisible pulses, like a beating heart.

Whoosh!

With a wave of his hand, the corpses of Lord of Lingbi City and his lackeys vanished from the ground.

Then his eyes narrowed slightly as the power of the Space-Time Law silently surged, spreading over the entire blood-soaked village ruins.

The blood on the ground seeped back into the earth at incredible speed, as if time were flowing backward, then evaporated. The rubble of the collapsed buildings crumbled to dust and scattered in the wind.

The traces of battle were swiftly erased... In a short while, the land that had just witnessed a massacre had become a relatively "clean" stretch of flat ground, as though the tragedy had never happened.

Whoosh!

Having finished all this, Qin Ming vanished into thin air.

Ten days later.

Qin Ming's figure quietly reappeared at the edge of the flat ground, where a little fresh grass had begun to grow.

His gaze swept over the surroundings as his soul power carefully examined every inch of earth and every wisp of air, even probing deep beneath the ground and down to the level of microscopic particles.

Looks like I was overthinking it. How many people in this world could possibly fit the template of "coming back from the dead," "stumbling upon a treasure," or "overcoming a tragic past to make a comeback"? Qin Ming thought to himself, relaxing slightly.

The child's hate-filled accusation before death had put Qin Ming on guard.

He had read far too many similar stories in his previous life. The villain thought he had eliminated a threat, only to leave behind an insignificant "protagonist" who eventually grew powerful enough to turn the tables.

To avoid becoming that kind of "classic villain," Qin Ming had taken the most thorough measures.

He had not only erased every trace physically, but also put off testing the Blood Luo Crystal. He had hidden himself near the area and kept watch for ten whole days!

He wanted to make sure there were no so-called "accidental survivors," "observers lurking in the shadows," or people with a protagonist's knack for "coming back from the dead."

Fortunately, the ten days passed without incident.

There were no unusual soul fluctuations, no mysterious inheritance orbs descending, no old man passing by—and not even a particularly powerful Desolate Beast came near the area.

"It's always better to be cautious." Qin Ming didn't linger.

He turned, picked a direction, and vanished from the area after a few flickers.

Now it was time to find a completely safe place and study the Blood Luo Crystal properly.

After finding a secluded spot, Qin Ming sat down cross-legged.

His finger became like a blade as he gathered Origin Force at its tip and gently drew it across his left palm.

Ssh!

A wound deep enough to expose bone appeared, and bright red blood immediately welled up.

Qin Ming took a deep breath and pressed the triangular Blood Luo Crystal against the wound without hesitation.

The method of fusion was simple, but whether it succeeded depended on the recipient's body and will.

The instant the Blood Luo Crystal touched his blood—

Buzz!

An invisible yet supremely violent energy burst from the crystal, like a peerless beast imprisoned for countless ages, and charged savagely into Qin Ming's body!

"Ugh!"

Qin Ming's expression changed drastically. The veins on his forehead bulged, and his face twisted in agony.

"I... damn... damn... damn..."

Pain!

An indescribable agony!

It was as if countless red-hot blades were churning and slicing through every cell, every nerve, even the depths of his soul!

This pain far surpassed any "death" he had experienced in the Virtual Universe.

At the same time, a savage, brutal will filled with an endless desire to kill descended like a crimson flood and forced its way into his sea of consciousness!

"Kill!"

"Kill!!"

Shouts of slaughter and roars echoed wildly throughout his sea of consciousness. That brutal will was like the maddest of beasts, clashing with Qin Ming's own will in the most primal and ferocious confrontation!

This wasn't a contest of consciousness strength, but a pure clash of will and conviction!

"Pfft!"

Outside, a savage wound split open across Qin Ming's chest without warning, and blood sprayed everywhere!

Splash, splash...

Immediately afterward, much of the blood-colored energy that had entered his body seemed to lose its support and began to pour back out, swiftly retreating into the Blood Luo Crystal in his palm.

In just a moment, the Blood Luo Crystal, which had nearly turned transparent, regained its original, beautiful yet eerie bloodred hue.

Qin Ming grunted and immediately drew on his pure Origin Force and life energy to repair the wound in his chest. In a short while, it had healed completely, as if the terrifying change had never happened.

But the Blood Luo Crystal in his hand was clear proof that his attempt had failed!

"It failed." Qin Ming's expression darkened, and his brows knitted together.

Although his consciousness and will were only at the World Lord Level, even the native Domain Lords of the Blood Luo World could successfully fuse with Blood Luo Crystals. There was no reason his will shouldn't be able to withstand it.

His body's Gene Multiplier was as high as 180, far beyond Luo Feng's when he fused with one in the original story. His body should have been even more resilient.

"Since it's not a matter of will or physical endurance... there's only one possibility." Qin Ming stared at the Blood Luo Crystal in his hand.

"The life-origin laws and energy properties contained in the Blood Luo Crystal fundamentally don't match the essence of my Space-Time Nightmare Beast clone—or, rather... they repel it."

The Space-Time Nightmare Beast was a favored child of the Space-Time Law, and its life structure leaned toward the space-time attribute.

The Blood Luo Crystal, however, originated from a natural Beast God of the Gold-Space aspect. The two seemed incompatible at the level of their life origins.

"What a pity."

Qin Ming toyed with the Blood Luo Crystal in his hand. Although he couldn't fuse with it, the violent Will Impact contained within the crystal could still offer him a reference for tempering his will.

"Since this fusion method won't work..." He put away the Blood Luo Crystal and looked toward the distant horizon.

"Then I'll go to the Ancient God Ruins!"

This was the backup plan he had prepared long ago.

The Ancient God Ruins was one of the Blood Luo World's famous perilous places, where terrifying Evil Aura that could corrode souls and erode wills lingered year-round.

It was a dangerous place where the natives of the Blood Luo World tempered their wills and tried to fuse with more Blood Luo Crystals. It was also an ideal place to temper his will to the extreme.

With that in mind, Qin Ming flew straight up to the Eighteen Cloud Layers.

Because of the Blood Luo World's laws, even World Lords could only reach speeds of a few hundred kilometers per second.

But the Ancient God Ruins were nearly twenty billion kilometers away from where Qin Ming was.

At his own speed, he had no idea how many days it would take to reach the Ancient God Ruins.

If he traveled in a spacecraft at near-light speed, though, he would need only two days.

With a thought, a spacecraft appeared beside Qin Ming.

Inside the control room, Qin Ming ordered the ship's intelligent assistant, "Set off! Head toward the Ancient God Ruins."

"Yes, master," the ship's intelligence replied.

Whoosh!

The spacecraft broke through the clouds and sped through the void.