Between Being and Non-Being, Yu Xian and Quan Juehua clashed frantically.
Both moved faster and faster. Yu Xian would be a bit faster than Quan Juehua, and then Quan Juehua would instantly become a bit faster than Yu Xian; the two escalated boundlessly in this manner.
The Great Thick Earth Guiyao Heavy Mountain Saber and the Infinite Malevolent Blade violently collided, weaving into a zone without a single gap.
If an ordinary person were to see their battle, they would see only a mass of metal—half black and half earthen-yellow, exhibiting bizarre vibrational properties.
Well.
In truth, it was simply too fast.
And this speed was constantly ramping up infinitely, to the point that a single second was infinitely stretched.
Yet beneath this clash of ultra-high speeds, Yu Xian still landed a punch on Quan Juehua's face every now and then. Quan Juehua, however, found himself completely unable to retaliate. They were clearly both existences of an infinite tier, yet he somehow seemed just a fraction behind Yu Xian.
"The ones who are truly invincible are Transcenders. While Unity and Origin Return are also invincible, they're only Rank Nine Omnipotence in the end. And among Rank Nine Omnipotents, I am a Unity Returner and you are an Origin Returner. When it comes to combat... Unity Returners have the upper hand. Don't you know that?" Yu Xian bragged smugly as he struck.
Well.
That was purely him talking nonsense to hoodwink Quan Juehua.
Yet Quan Juehua believed it. He had never expected Origin Returners to actually be inferior to Unity Returners. Still, his temperament was immensely resilient, and he knew very well that Origin Returners and Unity Returners were ultimately on the same tier; neither could kill the other.
In that case, so what if he took a beating?
In short, he would fight Yu Xian until the end of time, until Yu Xian grew sick of fighting, until Yu Xian begged for death.
Inside the God Vault Space, the livestream was still going.
Considerate as always, Yu Xian kept the livestream running for Nora and the others, filtering out the unviewable imagery within Between Being and Non-Being. Thus, in everyone's eyes, Yu Xian and Quan Juehua were locked in a frantic duel within a pitch-black void.
Seeing Yu Xian throw another sly punch, caving Quan Juehua's nose inward with a single blow, Gong Qian couldn't help but say, "Why do I feel like... Yu Xian is toying with Quan Juehua?"
"I feel the same way. How strange. Unity and Origin Return should clearly be on the same level," Zhang Buyao said, somewhat bewildered.
Still, it was undeniably satisfying. Yu Xian's fists struck solid flesh, beating Quan Juehua black and blue. The moment Quan Juehua recovered, he was struck again. The clash of blades had become irrelevant, because the blades colliding was meaningless—neither could harm the other that way—yet Yu Xian's fists were landing squarely on Quan Juehua's face.
Finally, pushed past his limit, Quan Juehua opened his mouth to bite down as Yu Xian's fist flew in. Once opened, his mouth was wide enough to swallow Yu Xian's whole fist, but Yu Xian immediately stuffed a mouthful of feces into it.
"Ew..."
Seeing this, Nora and the others instantly showed looks of disgust, feeling physically repulsed.
They were clearly both invincible beings, so why did they fight like children? And that move was just way too... vulgar.
"Why do I feel like their fight's whole vibe is wrong, like those gag comedy characters?" Gong Qian couldn't resist complaining.
Zhang Buyao remembered something and said, "Speaking of gag characters, I think my dad mentioned once that there really is a world like that. A group of Transcenders created it, and any Transcender can go play there. The style... is kind of like gag characters. Nobody can kill anybody, and anyone can prank anyone."
"So those gag characters in cartoons might actually just be Transcenders playing around?" Gong Qian gasped in shock.
Zhang Buyao shook her head. "I wouldn't know."
"The myriad worlds hold all manner of bizarre wonders. Some are likely due to world laws, while others really might be Transcenders. So if we ever come across a world like that in the future, it's best to be cautious," Nora concluded after some thought.
Every second and minute of their conversation here was an infinitely long stretch of time for Yu Xian and Quan Juehua. In their perception, countless cosmic annihilation epochs had already slipped by.
Quan Juehua was entirely suppressed and pummeled by Yu Xian. Furthermore, he discovered he couldn't flee; he could only endure the continuous beating. By now, he had taken an unquantifiable number of punches from Yu Xian.
The difference between them was only slight, but over infinite time, that slight difference became infinitely magnified, ultimately turning into an infinite chasm.
"Who wants to die now?" Yu Xian asked with a beaming smile.
Quan Juehua's expression chilled. He continued to grit his teeth and hold on, and so his face was struck countless more times by Yu Xian.
Epoch after epoch of cosmic annihilation flew madly past, yet Quan Juehua felt every second drag on endlessly. Meanwhile, Yu Xian's fists reminded him again and again that the torture would likewise be infinitely prolonged.
If he were still devoid of emotion, he might have endured it. But right here and now, his emotions were exceedingly abundant, and all his thoughts and senses were starkly vivid.
Pain was not terrifying.
What was most terrifying was suffering pain while wide awake.
Suddenly, a terrifying thought arose in Quan Juehua's mind: could he be the one who ended up wanting to die first?
No!
No!!
NO!!!
Quan Juehua's fighting spirit reignited once more. He would never admit defeat, he would never seek death, he would have the last laugh, he would win!
"Nice fighting spirit. Let's keep going!" Yu Xian smiled faintly and threw another punch at Quan Juehua's face. That single strike nearly knocked Quan Juehua's will to fight right out of him.
Time continued to accelerate.
Their speeds grew ever faster, going from one second equaling a cosmic annihilation epoch to 0.00000001 seconds equaling one.
Quan Juehua didn't want to keep up, yet had no choice. In reality, having lost any frame of reference, time held no meaning for them; between Being and Non-Being, a second passed just like an epoch passed, with no difference whatsoever.
Finally, Quan Juehua broke under the relentless assault. He wanted to die, because nothing remained in life but agony.
The infinite torment had broken him at last. Yet when he wished to die, he realized he couldn't—there was something wrong with his power.
"Finally figured it out?"
Yu Xian's voice rang out again. It was impossible to tell how long had passed since he had last spoken.
"Just what is going on?" Quan Juehua looked at Yu Xian, his face deathly dim, his eyes steeped in a despair he had never experienced in all his life.
Yu Xian smiled. "You didn't actually think you'd achieved Origin Return, did you? In truth, you're only 99.9999999999999999% Origin Return!"
"What's the difference?" Quan Juehua asked lifelessly, feeling the uncontrollable power within his body.
Yu Xian kindly explained, "The difference between 100 and 99, of course. The difference between perfection and deficiency. In fact, 99.99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999... no matter how many nines come after, it doesn't count as Origin Return."
"So... from the very start, I was never an Origin Returner?" Quan Juehua's eyes flew wide open, staring at Yu Xian in shock.
Yu Xian chuckled and nodded. "Yup. Well, what do you think? Quite a pleasant surprise, isn't it?"
His words drove the dagger straight through Quan Juehua's heart. For Quan Juehua, who had already lost all will to live, every ounce of pride, purpose of existence, solemn dignity, and endurance through agony was utterly annihilated in that instant.
In the end, he was nothing more than a clown.
Pain and despair were words no longer sufficient to describe it.
"..."
Quan Juehua stared at Yu Xian without uttering another word, the light in his pupils merely fading away.
At this moment, his spiritual spark extinguished itself. It was not merely his soul scattering; his foundational spiritual spark had thoroughly gone dark.
Watching Quan Juehua's corpse, Yu Xian's smile slowly faded, replaced by an expression neither sad nor joyful. He put away Quan Juehua's body and murmured to himself, "It's over. Now I can finally get a good rest."
The next moment, he vanished from Between Being and Non-Being.
Chapter 753