"Welcome back."
"Guest, do you require any assistance?"
Muse appeared beside Cheng Pi, inquiring with a smile.
"How long has it been since we entered the Zhen Realm?" Cheng Pi rubbed his temples and asked.
Muse replied, "Time does not exist within the Tree Universe, but according to internal time aboard the Aska, nearly a year has passed."
"I see. Please bring me a glass of lemonade," Cheng Pi said with a slight nod after a moment's thought.
Muse vanished in an instant and reappeared holding a glass of lemonade. Cheng Pi thanked her, took the glass, and gulped down a large mouthful before finally feeling a bit better.
Although dying in the Zhen Realm wasn't a true death, the experience of dying felt entirely real.
In particular, having the joints of his limbs severed by Di Renjie, left unable to move while forced to stare helplessly at his foe—that feeling had been far too painful and humiliating.
"It really is true: among all martial arts under heaven, no fortress cannot be breached, and speed alone is unbreakable."
Thinking of his own ability and then of Di Renjie's, Cheng Pi finally let out a long sigh.
Having finished his lemonade, he was about to return to his guest room to rest when Shui Yuetian suddenly appeared before him the moment he stood up.
"Shuishui, you died too?" Cheng Pi asked, looking at Shui Yuetian in surprise.
Her face somewhat pale, Shui Yuetian nodded. "Some pretty boy wielding twin swords ambushed me out of nowhere. Before I could even react, he killed me."
"That bastard again!" Cheng Pi ground his teeth.
Shui Yuetian looked at Cheng Pi in astonishment. "He killed you too?"
"Yeah. His level must be way higher than ours; otherwise, with my defenses, he wouldn't even be able to scratch my stone skin," Cheng Pi said, nodding.
Realizing that an extremely high-level bastard was currently hunting down class users on the third floor, their hearts sank, and they began to worry about the others.
Soon, their forebodings came true.
Gong Qian, Jin Sheng, Nora, Zhang Shou, and Niman appeared one after another.
After a brief discussion, everyone discovered they had all been killed by the same man, and Niman even knew his identity.
Niman's eyes blazed with fury as she gritted her teeth. "That bastard is Di Renjie, the Twin Swordsman. He seems to be a figure from some High Martial Tang Dynasty, and his level should be around 150."
"He severed our path forward. I'll remember this! If I ever get the chance, I will have my revenge!" Jin Sheng said angrily.
Niman said coldly, "If there's no chance, then we make one! If I don't avenge this, my name isn't Niman!"
Among those present, Niman and Jin Sheng valued this opportunity in the Zhen Realm the most. Both knew full well that this was a rare shot at ascending to the heavens in a single bound.
Both had approached everything in the Zhen Realm with utmost seriousness, hoping to become Mighty Ones through it.
Who could have guessed that a Di Renjie would suddenly burst onto the scene and shatter their dreams?
***
Zhen Realm, event labyrinth, third floor.
Little Huangquan ran with all her might. Di Renjie followed behind, somewhat conflicted about whether to strike.
Though he did not consider himself a good person, he was still a man of principle. Children and pregnant women were off-limits to him.
At that moment, Xia Hai finally caught up with Di Renjie. Seeing the fleeing Little Huangquan, he asked, "Di Renjie, what's wrong? Can't bring yourself to strike?"
"I never kill children or pregnant women," Di Renjie admitted.
Xia Hai sneered and countered, "And what if an old monster disguises itself as a child? You still wouldn't bring yourself to do it?"
"That's different," Di Renjie said, shaking his head.
Xia Hai pressed on, "What's different about it? She definitely isn't a real child. If you won't do it, I will."
As he spoke, he thrust out a hand. Vast telekinetic force surged forward in an instant. Little Huangquan felt something strike the back of her head, and the next moment, her vision went black as her consciousness plunged into boundless darkness.
Watching this, Di Renjie slowly closed his eyes and let out a faint sigh.
"Sister Huangquan!"
Just then, on the other side of the mirror, Little Nora was eating when it witnessed the scene. Tossing aside its food, it let out a loud cry.
It rushed over from the other end of the corridor, scooping Little Huangquan into its arms. Only after discovering that Little Huangquan was already dead did it turn its gaze toward Xia Hai and Di Renjie.
"Another one," Xia Hai remarked with a faint chuckle upon seeing Little Nora.
Di Renjie opened his eyes and glanced at Little Nora. This one he could bring himself to kill. It was an alien creature, after all; no matter how cute, it wasn't human, so killing it carried no guilt whatsoever.
"Leave it to me!"
With a slight push off his feet, Di Renjie vanished, instantly reappearing before Little Nora, his right hand already raising a sword to slash.
"You... two bastards... dare hurt... Sister Huangquan!"
Little Nora looked up in fury, its eyes locking directly onto Di Renjie's. For reasons he couldn't fathom, a spine-chilling dread washed over Di Renjie at that very instant.
In a flash of flint and spark, his expression turned fierce. Gritting his teeth, he swung his blade at maximum speed.
Yet something was faster.
A gold coin materialized out of thin air. In an instant, the coin collided with his sword. The force behind it was shockingly immense, snapping his blade clean in two.
Di Renjie's reactions were exceptionally swift; failing with one blade, he immediately sought to strike with his other sword. Yet a dense barrage of gold coins moved faster than his swing. In an instant, a coin tore straight through his shoulder blade. Another smashed into the bridge of his nose, piercing right through it on the spot, followed by yet another punching through his cheek.
In a mere millisecond, Di Renjie's entire body was riddled and shredded by gold coins. Only at this moment did he realize he was going to die.
"I... actually lost?"
Di Renjie stared in disbelief at the furious little yellow duck before his body finally collapsed.
*Clang.*
The two broken swords slipped from his palms to the floor. He was dead.
Hundreds of meters behind Di Renjie, Xia Hai stood frozen in shock. But then he saw countless gleaming gold coins flying toward him. Clearly, Di Renjie's death was not the end, but merely the beginning.
Xia Hai immediately unleashed his telekinesis, desperate to block the approaching coins.
Yet the moment his telekinetic power clashed with a coin, Xia Hai violently spat a mouthful of blood, feeling as though his very soul had been struck by a massive hammer.
Before he could recover, coins tore through his body, and in an instant, he followed in Di Renjie's footsteps.
*Thud!*
Xia Hai collapsed, blood gushing incessantly from his body. Like a fish hauled onto the riverbank, his mouth opened and closed repeatedly, wanting to speak yet unable to utter a sound.
Had he known, he never would have fought for this opportunity.
Besides, he recognized Little Nora—wasn't that Yu Xian's follower? How could it be this powerful?
*Boom!*
A gold coin blasted Xia Hai's head apart, putting an abrupt end to his thoughts.
***
High Martial Tang Dynasty.
Wu Zetian reclined on her side deep within the palace. Suddenly, she saw the sky blaze with brilliant golden light as coin after coin appeared—each stamped on the front with an image of 'Happy Little Duckie' and on the back with a silly little girl.
Startled, she rose to her feet and immediately channeled her divine art to retreat.
Elsewhere, having just revived, Di Renjie stepped out of his residence with a grim expression. Looking up, he saw a dense rain of gold coins descending from the heavens.
"How is this possible... This makes no sense!"
Seeing the coins shooting toward him, Di Renjie broke down and screamed.
Living beings possessed of extraordinary power did not have their memories of the Zhen Realm sealed. Yet he could not fathom how Little Nora, still within the Zhen Realm, could project an attack all the way into reality.
*Boom!*
Beneath the countless gold coins, Di Renjie was obliterated into utter nothingness.
High atop the imperial palace, Wu Zetian watched this scene from afar, her nerves still rattled. Deep in thought, she wondered, *Di Renjie, just what kind of existence did you provoke?*
Chapter 560