Visitor

His voice was not loud, but every word was like a stone thrown into water, weighing down on people until they could barely breathe.

"I still have things to do."

"But you just fell from the sky—"

The girl's voice still carried a trace of panic and unease.

She tilted her head up, sunlight dancing across the tips of her pale purple hair.

It was obvious that she had not yet recovered from the shock.

"Thank you for your help."

Qi Heng cut her off directly.

His tone was as calm as a stagnant pool, yet that very calmness made him impossible to refute.

He turned his face slightly, his gaze seeming to skim past Bulla, yet also seeming to look somewhere far, far away.

"I'll come back another day to thank you properly."

Before he had even finished speaking, he raised his right hand.

That hand was slender, its knuckles distinct. The movement was clean and practiced, as though he had repeated it countless times.

His fingertips touched his forehead.

Instant Transmission.

There was no earth-shaking sound, nor any dazzling flash of light.

The air around him merely rippled gently like water, as if someone had tossed a small stone into a still pond.

The next second, only an empty patch of grass remained.

A few blades of grass were swept up by the air, spun around several times, then quietly drifted back down.

Bulla blinked sharply, her long lashes trembling like the wings of a startled butterfly.

She stared blankly at that empty patch of ground, taking several seconds to process what had happened.

She instinctively rubbed her eyes. When she opened them again, there was still nothing there.

"He... disappeared?"

She muttered softly, her face filled with shock.

Then, amazement and excitement surged through her like a flood.

Without realizing it, she clenched her fists, her cheeks flushing red.

"Wow... that Saiyan... was way too amazing!"

—Supreme Kai Realm.

Space rippled faintly once more, and Qi Heng's figure appeared on a vast expanse of green.

Beneath his feet was a soft, thick lawn, like the finest carpet, stretching all the way to the foot of distant pale purple mountains.

The sky overhead was a clear blue, with several white clouds drifting lazily by. The sunlight was gentle and not harsh, making the whole world feel as though it were wrapped in warmth.

Several strangely shaped trees stood scattered across the grassland, their branches and leaves glowing faintly, adding a touch of mystery to the tranquility.

The air here was unbelievably clear, carrying a purity that put one at ease, as though even the soul could be cleansed.

He knew this place extremely well—it was exactly the same as the Supreme Kai Realm in his memories.

But something was wrong.

It was an indescribably subtle oddness, like icy threads silently winding around his senses.

Qi Heng stopped and closed his eyes.

He no longer looked with his eyes. Instead, he let his entire mind sink down, like tossing a stone into a deep pool as ripples of spiritual perception spread in every direction.

Familiar coordinates and familiar presences lit up in his mind one after another like a star map.

Earth's vitality, King Kai's Planet's mischief, Grand Kai's Planet's solemn weight, and the unique power fluctuations of the sacred land beneath his feet—the Supreme Kai Realm.

Everything was there. Everything seemed completely unchanged.

But—

Something was missing.

Two presences that should have shone as intensely as beacons had completely vanished.

The destruction and majesty of Beerus, the God of Destruction, were gone, and Whis's unfathomable presence had vanished without a trace as well.

The entire universe seemed to have been covered by an invisible lid, becoming an exquisite yet isolated miniature model.

It looked perfectly fine, but it had been completely severed from the higher "rules."

"Who are you?"

A voice filled with vigilance and surprise shattered the silence.

Qi Heng opened his eyes.

Not far ahead stood a man with green skin, Potara Earrings hanging from his ears, dressed in the uniform of a Supreme Kai.

His eyes were wide as he stared warily at Qi Heng, his face filled with shock.

—Supreme Kai Shin.

"How did you... how could you use Instant Transmission to get here?" Shin's voice rose, full of disbelief.

He sized Qi Heng up and down. Sensing that unfathomable aura, his entire body tensed even further.

"You're a Saiyan? No... even if you were a Saiyan, you shouldn't possess such power, much less know the coordinates of the Supreme Kai Realm and break in without being summoned..."

Qi Heng gazed back at him silently, his eyes profound, as though they could see the ripples in the other man's heart.

"Lord Shin," he called out the other's name directly, his tone as mild as if discussing the weather. "I came to find Old Kai."

The moment those words left his mouth, Shin's pupils contracted sharply. The shock on his face turned to vigilance, and he unconsciously leaned forward, as though suspecting he had misheard.

"You... know me?" Shin's voice was taut. "Who exactly are you—"

"Let him come over."

An aged, hoarse voice came from the depths of the temple, as if carrying the dust of time.

The temple's stone pillars towered high, covered in the traces of countless years and gleaming coldly beneath the starlight.

The surroundings were so still they seemed frozen, with only the distant, low hum of stars in motion.

Slow footsteps gradually sounded.

The crisp taps of a staff striking the ground rang out clearly.

Leaning on a staff entwined with vines and star patterns, Old Kai emerged tremulously from the shadows.

His body was hunched, as if burdened by the weight of ages. With every step, his voluminous divine robe swayed, the cosmic star map upon it long since faded.

His face was covered in wrinkles, and his long silver-white beard hung to his waist, swaying gently in the wind.

He reached the stone steps before the temple and finally raised those old eyes that should have been clouded, looking toward Qi Heng.

The instant their eyes met, Old Kai's pupils abruptly shrank, like a heavy stone striking the surface of a lake.

His shriveled fingers clenched the staff tightly, his knuckles turning white as the veins on the backs of his hands stood taut.

"This, this aura..." he murmured shakily, as though even his vocal cords were trembling. "So unfamiliar... yet so vast... You aren't... you don't belong to this spacetime?"

Qi Heng stood there, a faint violet-gold radiance flowing around him—the inadvertent leakage of God of Destruction power.

He nodded calmly, his voice low and certain. "Universe 6 candidate God of Destruction, Qi Heng."

"U-Universe 6?!" Shin leaped up as if pricked by a needle, his shriek shattering the silence.

Disbelief covered his green face. He pointed at Qi Heng, then looked anxiously at Old Kai. "Someone from another universe? How is that possible?! The barriers between universes..."

But Old Kai seemed not to hear Shin's cry.

His gaze remained locked onto Qi Heng, the gravity on his face piling up layer by layer like storm clouds overhead.