“It was yours all along. I’m returning it to you,” he murmured softly, too low for anyone to hear.

Feng Mingyue understood and made a firm decision. “Everyone, our lives were saved by the commander. Now the commander needs us! We must not give up until the very last moment!”

As soon as she finished speaking, silver sword energy swiftly slashed across her wrist.

Lu Wei had been silently maintaining Qin Ruqing’s vitality with medicinal energy since she was pierced by the blood threads.

By now, her face was pale, her breath weak.

Qirong looked in Qin Ruqing’s direction, then suddenly sat down. He spoke words that had long been buried in his heart: “Sister, the chicken soup you made for me when I was a kid… you added something to it, didn’t you?”

“I’ve always borrowed your light. I’ve always known…”

Qirong closed his eyes and collapsed, his body limp.

In the end, everyone in the blood formation offered their strength to Qin Ruqing.

Even if it was like a stone sinking into the sea, even if it was just a drop in the ocean, they gave it without hesitation.

The Beast Emperor was busy absorbing Qin Ruqing’s bloodline power.

He noticed the small actions of the weak ants in the blood formation, but he chose to ignore them.

Humans were foolish.

Every power in the blood formation would be his to use.

Offering everything to that human—did they really think it would turn the tide?

It would only make them die faster.

Not far from the blood formation, the only one who escaped was Rui Fenhua.

Rui Hehua admitted she was cowardly, afraid of death, selfish.

She should’ve fled long ago when luck allowed her to escape, but something kept her rooted to the spot like a nail.

She watched the direction of the blood formation, saw her commander suspended there, saw her comrades sacrificing themselves one by one.

Tears rolled down her cheeks.

Suddenly, she knelt toward the blood formation, crying out through her tears:

“Commander! Commander! I offer all my luck—please don’t die!!!”

In the end, even Rui Fenhua collapsed, lying in a pool of blood.

…

Qin Ruqing hadn’t lost consciousness.

She had a vague awareness of the outside world.

She knew the Beast Emperor had sealed her with a secret technique, restarted the blood formation, and threw her companions into it, turning them all into nourishment for him.

She knew she was only one step away from death.

When the blood threads pierced her, her most primal power was being siphoned away, flowing toward a filthy abyss.

Even in such a moment, she was still thinking: What power is left that I can use?

But as she thought, Qin Ruqing felt weary.

She wanted to just give in and sleep.

From the moment the battle began, she had been yearning for rest, but there had never been a chance.

She couldn’t afford it.

Now, with all her strength drained, she had lost the ability to fight.

So, could she really be blamed for no longer struggling?

Qin Ruqing smiled faintly, feeling her body grow cold.

So this was what it felt like to have all your blood drained—it was like lying naked in a frozen wasteland, cold to the bone.

Qin Ruqing felt herself slipping away, and as she prepared to fall asleep, she thought, Maybe this isn’t so bad.

But just before she could fully succumb, she heard a voice shout, “Qingqing, you still have strength. You still have…”

Huh?

Qin Ruqing was startled, forcing herself to stop falling.

Suddenly, a bright light appeared before her, pulling her into a new world.

She blinked, and at the end of the light stood a tall, slender figure.

The figure looked familiar, and when they looked at her, they smirked with their hands on their hips.

“You coward.”

Qin Ruqing froze, momentarily forgetting the cold.

“I haven’t been defeated, and you, being so strong, are just going to give up?”

“Have you forgotten who said it—’The world gave me pain, and I will repay it with laughter!’ Not with songs, but with laughter and contempt! Whoever wrongs you, you wrong them back! If your father wrongs you, be a ‘filial daughter’; if your enemies wrong you, strike them down and defeat them utterly.”

“And now, with this ugly thing hurting you, how could you just give up like this?”

Qin Ruqing felt aggrieved, defending herself: “Because I have no strength left.”

The familiar figure of the girl in the white light suddenly laughed, her smile just as familiar.

“Who says there is no power? Have you forgotten? The entire world is your power.”

The girl bathed in white light walked towards her with a smile, embracing her and merging into one with her.

She softly said, “Wake up. They are all waiting for you.”

Qin Ruqing suddenly opened her eyes.

The dark red, gloomy sky loomed above her, like vengeful ghosts with six bronze statues, and the bloodlines entangled like spider webs…

She clearly sensed that the bloodlines had penetrated all her veins and meridians.

The power transmission had stopped because there was not a trace of power left in her body.

Qin Ruqing recalled something and glanced sharply to the side.

Her companions, though weak, still had life—The beast emperor had first drawn upon her bloodline power.

Qin Ruqing sighed in relief.

Not far away, the beast emperor was digesting the power he had absorbed from Qin Ruqing.

The large wound pierced by the Judgment Arrow was slowly healing.

Power.

Qin Ruqing suddenly felt that everything in the world had fallen silent.

Once, she had formally asked the Dao Ancestor about the power of Chaos.

At that time, the Dao Ancestor had given her the first and only lesson of the Azure Lutos Dao lineage.

---

The girl kneeling in the illusion self-mockingly tugged at her sleeve. “Everyone says I’m your successor, but only I know how inadequate I am as a successor. I don’t even know what the techniques of our Dao lineage are…”

The woman in green looked at her with a gentle gaze. “The path of Chaos has no techniques.”

The girl wiped her face, helplessly pouting. “So, in the great battle, should I just wield the Dao Physique and go directly into battle with the beast race—this does fit my style.”

The woman in green replied calmly, “The path of Chaos has only one principle. Our meeting now is to give you this first and only lesson.”

“Chaos is the origin, the beginning.”

“Everything originates from Chaos.”

“You need not pay too much attention to the Dao Physique. Because the entire world is at your disposal.”

The entire world is at your disposal.

The Dao Ancestor’s compassionate voice echoed in her ears.

Qin Ruqing slowly looked up, feeling the clarity of all things in the world at this moment.

In her view was a dark, viscous chaos, with only a wisp of light, which was the Moon of the Beast Realm.

But Qin Ruqing knew it was merely an illusion.

It was this realm, obscured by the beast emperor’s influence, hiding the truth.

Qin Ruqing suddenly extended her hand towards the sky, and the bloodlines binding her snapped one by one.

Her delicate white hand slowly traced the shape of the moon, as if caressing it.

Suddenly, her fingers twirled and clenched fiercely.

The sky seemed to wrinkle in that instant, as if she had pinched it.

“False, after all, is false.” Her calm voice reflected her serene expression.

A magnificent fire erupted from her body, and her slender hand, like a deity controlling everything, forcefully yanked down into the void!

The illusory curtain was pulled down, revealing the hidden reality.

It was a torrential downpour.

In the rain, a flame was burning.

The heavy rain washed the blood from Qin Ruqing’s face.

She stepped out of the fire and walked forward, like a phoenix reborn from the flames, moving towards her new beginning.

“I can lose, I can endure defeat.”

“I can lose at any moment. But not now.”

Her gaze was as sharp as a blade, piercing the beast emperor.

Under the beast emperor’s numerous eyes watching with extreme shock, Qin Ruqing calmly reached out and pulled.

“My power, return.”

The beast emperor was terrified to find that the bloodline power he had absorbed was indeed showing signs of returning.

No, it was already returning.

The beast emperor looked at Qin Ruqing and made a decisive choice—kill her!

She was the source of all heresies.

As long as she was killed, everything could return to the right track!

Qin Ruqing calmly looked at the beast emperor, her fingers interlocking to form a seal.

Only one seal.

“Chaos Art: Domain of All Things.”

It was not the previous space domain but the true birth of all things.

Heaven and Earth were born with me, and all things were one with me.

A light more brilliant than the sun burst forth from Qin Ruqing’s fingertips, covering everything, including the beast emperor.

The beast emperor saw an absurd scene.

All the plants and creatures around Tianxing Mountain lowered their heads towards Qin Ruqing, offering their power to her like tribute.

And his power was also draining!

The beast emperor used all his strength to instantly recall the bronze statues and activated the secret art, creating a tug-of-war between light and darkness with Qin Ruqing.

“Humans pride themselves on light and justice, so what are you doing now?”

“By absorbing the power of all things in this way, what difference is there between you and me?!”

The beast emperor screamed in terror, realizing for the first time how he had underestimated this human.

Qin Ruqing coldly watched the beast emperor, drawing an arrow from the magnificent light and fire.

The beast emperor recognized the arrow; it was the one that had pierced his chest and had not yet healed!

“The difference is that I do not take without giving.” Qin Ruqing nocked the bow and spoke softly.

“The difference is that I am not greedy like you.”

“The difference is that I am stronger than you.”

The arrow flew out, aiming directly at the beast emperor’s eyes.

At this moment, the beast emperor had only one correct choice: to abandon the power struggle and let Qin Ruqing absorb it, using all his mental focus to resist the arrow carrying his own primal essence.

The beast emperor made the most correct choice.

But he was one second too late.

This second was delayed by his reluctance to part with power.

After a thousand years of dormant confinement in the void, he had staked everything, all his chips, for the chance at rebirth.

How could he give up!

It was precisely because of this hesitation that he lost the only opportunity.

An arrow with a howling sound pierced his head as the beast emperor, having given up the struggle and prepared to turn and defend, was struck.

The largest eye in his head was pierced through, and with that, all things ceased.

The beast emperor’s body began to deflate like a balloon losing air.

The immense power he believed in clearly dissipated under the gaze of his remaining eyes.

He began to weaken, collapsing helplessly, and fell before Qin Ruqing.

She then gripped his throat with one hand.

The beast emperor’s eyeballs extinguished one by one, like extinguishing light beads.

Only the last one remained, staring persistently at Qin Ruqing.

Qin Ruqing looked at it calmly and spoke:

“You don’t understand why you lost?”

“You certainly don’t. Because you always look back.”

“You reminisce about past glory, using all your strength to try to replicate the past.”

“You gaze at the peaks, not realizing that all the peaks lie ahead on the road.”

As Qin Ruqing uttered her final word, the last remaining eyeball suddenly widened, its white and red iris sharply distinct.

It looked at Qin Ruqing with unwillingness until its light dimmed and eventually went out.

At the same moment, Qin Ruqing retracted her fingers.

She seemed to see the spirits of countless sages emerging, using time, blood, and tears to pave a path of stark white.

She walked on this path, seeing it stretch endlessly with countless white bones and flowers of blood and tears.

She ran, stumbled, and got back up again.

Until the sun rose, illuminating the earth.

She saw a sword appear in her hand, its tip pointing forward.

She raised the sword high, with thousands of troops behind her.

She swung the sword down—!