Aftermath

In the void, there remained only Quan Juehua—drenched in sweat and trembling with lingering dread—and the Grand Blaze Sky-Burning Saber, burned down to scrap iron. Everything that had just transpired felt like a dream to Quan Juehua. He glanced around in a daze, and only after steeling his nerve did he slowly turn his gaze toward the Grand Blaze Sky-Burning Saber before him. Had he truly come that close to dying at the hands of a mere brat? Suddenly, like a lunatic seized by madness, he broke into a low, raspy chuckle: "Heh... haha, hahahahahahaha!" It had been so long that he had forgotten what it felt like to have his life hanging by a thread. The legendary Ten Divine Sabers truly lived up to their name; any single one of them could elevate an inexperienced brat to the point where he could wage a life-and-death struggle against him. Yet in the end, luck remained on his side. As expected, destiny was his to claim! The one to achieve Origin Return this time would undoubtedly be him! After confirming there was no danger, he slowly reached out his hand, intending to claim the Grand Blaze Sky-Burning Saber for himself. Yet the moment his finger touched the weapon, the Grand Blaze Sky-Burning Saber—already reduced to scrap—crumbled into a pile of pitch-black powder. In the end, even the powder slowly decomposed on its own, leaving behind only a few wisps of black smoke. "..." Quan Juehua fell into silence. Only after a long while did he laugh out of sheer fury. The Ten Divine Sabers! Very well. Once he achieved Origin Return, he would turn every last one of the Ten Divine Sabers into genuine, worthless scrap! ... ... The earth-shattering clash between Zhang Shou and Quan Juehua had come to an end, concluding with nothing more than minor injuries to Quan Juehua. Across the myriad realms, the Mighty Ones who had been watching from the sidelines were plunged into bitter disappointment—and absolute terror. Quan Juehua was simply too horrifying. Many Mighty Ones quietly abandoned the struggle for the Calamity Origin, desiring only to flee to some inconspicuous corner of the Tree Universe to stay clear of Quan Juehua's razor-sharp edge. Soon, however, they would discover that fleeing was entirely futile. After absorbing the immense Calamity Origin generated by the battle with Zhang Shou, Quan Juehua immediately set out to rampage across the myriad realms. No hiding place was safe; with a single swing of his blade, Quan Juehua obliterated countless worlds in an instant. Many of the Mighty Ones hiding within obscure worlds never even knew how they died, cut down in a fraction of an instant by a single stroke of Quan Juehua's blade. And so, the Mighty Ones sprang into action. An organization formed to resist Quan Juehua quickly mobilized. While keeping watch over his movements, they searched frantically for hidden masters, laying out the stakes and winning over one secluded Mighty One after another. Unfortunately, the vast majority of Mighty Ones could only shake their heads helplessly after watching the recording of Zhang Shou's duel with Quan Juehua. Clearly, none of them had the confidence to last as long as Zhang Shou had. Well... To be fair, it had not actually been that long. Had Quan Juehua not held back at the start, Zhang Shou would likely have fallen in their very first exchange. ... ... Inside the God Vault Space. Having watched the fight between Zhang Shou and Quan Juehua, Nora and the others wore expressions of deep sorrow. "Sister Yaoyao, can't we really go beat up that villain Quan Juehua?" Little Nora asked, pouting petulantly. Zhang Buyao gave a wry smile. "We can't. My brother completely sealed all the entrances and exits to the God Vault Space. He said none of us can even think about leaving until this whole thing is over." "Damn it!" Gong Qian slammed her fist into the ground, gritting her teeth in frustration. Little Huangquan murmured dejectedly, "I miss Sister Niman so much..." Her single sentence cast an immediate pall over everyone present. The reason they were currently in the God Vault Space was due to the Little Mobile Ant Car Zhang Buyao had left behind earlier. Everyone had used the Little Mobile Ant Car to return to the God Vault Space, originally planning to utilize its time-dilation cultivation function to boost their strength. Instead, the moment they entered, they discovered they could no longer leave, leaving them with no choice but to stare helplessly. Fortunately, despite being trapped, the God Vault Space's networking function still worked. They could still connect to the network spanning the myriad realms, which was how they had watched the recording of Zhang Shou's life-and-death battle with Quan Juehua. ... ... Time flew by. To a Mighty One, a hundred years felt shorter than a single second to an ordinary mortal. In the blink of an eye, tens of thousands of years passed. It was as if the Tree Universe had entered the Quan Juehua Era. He rampaged through the worlds within the Tree Universe, mindlessly wreaking destruction and ravenously absorbing the Calamity Origin. The Origin Seed within him had already taken root and sprouted, growing into a small sapling. Naturally, this was merely a metaphor. In reality, describing the Origin Seed as sprouting and growing into a tree was not entirely accurate. To truly describe it, the Origin Seed was more like something rooted deep within Quan Juehua's soul, nestled inside his spiritual spark. Imagine a round piece of jelly with a seed embedded inside. The seed had sat there for so long that it began to grow moldy, sprouting a thick coat of mycelial fuzz... All right. Perhaps that still wasn't the most vivid comparison, but it was remarkably close to the transformation occurring within the Origin Seed. In truth, the Origin Seed was like a miniature Tree Universe. Its sprouting and rooting did not occur in just one direction, but in all directions—extending infinitely outward while simultaneously delving infinitely inward. Countless 'roots' spread into the surroundings, and countless branches reached beyond the spiritual spark, nourished by the steady influx of the Calamity Origin. Although true Origin Return was still far beyond the horizon, Quan Juehua could already wield the power of the Calamity Origin. Wherever he went, he did not even need to lift a finger for a world to spiral toward ruin on its own, plunging into endless natural disasters and man-made catastrophes. Simply put, wherever he set foot played out like a disaster film—except no one was ever saved, leaving behind only bottomless, boundless despair. "How dull." In the void, Quan Juehua sat cross-legged atop a colossal boulder as the surrounding Calamity Origin trickled into him like tiny streams, slowly absorbed to the last drop. He opened his hand, letting wisps of Calamity Origin flutter like butterflies above his palm, and muttered to himself with a hint of impatience. The Mighty Ones across the myriad realms were terrified of him, doing everything in their power to hide. Some Transcendence-grade items were indeed tricky to counter. In particular, when aura-concealing and spatial items were combined, it became genuinely difficult for him to track down those Mighty Ones if they were determined to hide. When all was said and done, it was Zhang Shou's fault. If Zhang Shou hadn't forced out eighty percent of his true strength, those Mighty Ones wouldn't have been scared out of their wits. Now, he was reduced to scouring the realms for Calamity Origin all by himself, without even a decent target to plunder. At times, he almost felt like a lowly miner, having to chip away branch by branch. Granted, every time he struck, he caused casualties beyond calculation, making him infinitely more ruthless than any miner. At this moment, he glanced up at the surrounding void. After confirming that the worlds here were virtually all wiped out, he willed the stone beneath him to slowly drift toward another direction. Tedious though it might be, patience was something he had in abundance. He was unquestionably the one who possessed the most Calamity Origin right now, and the being closest to achieving Origin Return. Even if there was no amusement to be found, he would continue his slaughter and destruction without wavering—until Origin Return was achieved!