Chapter 577 - 317: All for Nothing

Qin Yun had a passable understanding of her grandson. He could be summed up in three words—a young man.

She was more concerned about something else. ’Using the Sun Flame with such familiarity is absolutely not something Tianlin is capable of. That old ghost... he deceived me...’

As the changes to the ranking list settled, the clamor outside grew even louder.

Qin Tianlin retracted his gaze. As a Tier Six Professional, his hearing was decent, and he could take in all the nearby discussions. Most of them were about Su Chen; almost no one was talking about him anymore.

Further away, there was only a buzzing clamor, too indistinct to make out.

But in his ears, every sound twisted into contempt and ridicule. The self-satisfaction and excitement he’d felt just moments ago had turned into a harsh slap across his own face.

"Su Chen... Su Chen... Su Chen..." Qin Tianlin murmured, the name already an inescapable nightmare in his mind.

Just thinking the name filled him with an impulse to tear the man to shreds.

Suddenly, he sensed something. Looking up, he saw a figure more than ten floors above, looking down on him.

"Su Chen!"

Qin Tianlin’s fists clenched. The other man’s gaze was indifferent and calm, as if he wasn’t even worth his notice.

"Damn it!" Qin Tianlin gritted his teeth, then spun around and stormed away.

’That looks like Qin Tianlin. What a coincidence,’ Su Chen thought, glancing down. He stepped over the railing and leaped.

The building had elevators, but they were too slow. Many Professionals just jumped.

He landed without a sound as a faint gust of wind rippled outward. Su Chen hesitated, watching Qin Tianlin’s retreating back, and didn’t immediately step outside.

’I’m going to kill him. I’ll do whatever it takes to kill him! Do you have a way? Tell me!’

Qin Tianlin roared inwardly as he stepped out of the arena, his resentment nearly drowning his reason.

A voice immediately replied in his ear, "If you are truly willing to pay any price, I have many methods. If you can find three Tier Nine Professionals and let me extract their..."

"Wait, something’s wrong!"

The voice in his ear cut off, tinged with alarm. Qin Tianlin faltered and instinctively looked up, his gaze meeting a pair of familiar eyes.

It was that man from the Dark Moon Group, but now, his eyes were shrouded in a silent, profound black mist. A chill shot through Qin Tianlin’s heart, and he froze on the spot, unable to move a muscle.

Hm?

Qing Cang seemed to sense something. His brow furrowed slightly as his gaze swept the area, but he couldn’t immediately pinpoint the source of the strange sensation.

But someone else moved faster.

A fluorescent light swirled in front of Qin Tianlin. Layers of deep blue and moon-white light intertwined as Qin Yun appeared before him, her expression grave as she stared at the figure.

The man’s pupils were pitch-black and bottomless, and his bones twisted and contorted as if being kneaded by giant hands.

"CRACK—"

His skull split open from between his brows, forming a long, narrow fissure. No blood seeped out, only a wisp of inky-black mist.

Deep within the fissure, a pitch-black vertical pupil slowly opened. It spun like an abyssal vortex as a beam of solidified black light shot forth.

"Black Tuo!" Qin Yun’s expression changed drastically. The aura around her surged as the golden light at her fingertips suddenly blazed. Her sleeves billowed without a wind as the surrounding air was torn and compressed by an invisible, immense force, forming a visible vortex.

The ground beneath her feet cracked, inch by inch, as fine lines spread out like living things, weaving together to form a shield of light that covered both her and Qin Tianlin.

But it was useless. The beam of silent, black light, seemingly slow but in fact impossibly fast, ignored space, passed straight through Qin Yun, and poured down onto Qin Tianlin like spilled ink.

At the same time, the vertical pupil on the man’s head suddenly disintegrated. All of its power was transferred to Qin Tianlin through some unpredictable means.

It all happened in an instant. Black Tuo had been waiting for this moment, his plan long in the making. No one had time to react.

By the time Qing Cang’s gaze locked onto the scene, he only heard Qin Tianlin let out a wretched howl. A torrent of purple flames erupted from his body, instantly becoming a rushing flood of molten rock. A faint purple mist steamed at its edges.

"These flames?"

Not far away, Han Xingliu jumped in fright. He stared at the purple flames erupting from Qin Tianlin, a vague sense of familiarity creeping over him.

But instinct drove him to retreat immediately. The others were no different. Even without knowing what was happening, they all shot back several hundred meters in an instant.

"Black Tuo!" Qing Cang was also stunned, but his reaction was just as swift. With a wave of his hand, currents of cyan wind rose from all directions, isolating the central area.

"Tianlin!" Qin Yun cried out, her face a mask of horror. She stared at Qin Tianlin, now enveloped in purple flames. His expression was contorted in agony as strands of black mist wove together deep within the fire.

"A Spirit Fragment... And here I thought this Sun Residual Fire was empty. Another old relic," a hoarse, guttural voice came from within the flames. "Good thing I made my move when I did..."

"Black Tuo!"

A deafening roar suddenly echoed. Some of the people gathered nearby still didn’t know what was happening, but they all felt their hearts clench.

It was as if they’d been targeted by an apex predator. The terrifying pressure made it impossible to even think of resisting.

"Master!" Qin Yun cried out, her voice filled with a rare panic. Unseen, the Bronze Ancient King had appeared at her side. His cold gaze was fixed on the black mist swirling within the purple flames.

The look of agony had vanished from Qin Tianlin’s face, replaced by a placid calm.

"To think you’d dare come here..." The Bronze Ancient King’s face was impassive, but his hands moved with blinding speed. His fingers curled slightly, and his palm fractured into a spiderweb of cracks from which countless streams of emerald light erupted.

Each arc of light hummed with subtle electromagnetic energy, weaving an impenetrable net. Pale cyan arcs of electricity sparked at its edges.

"Since you’re here, your consciousness can stay!"

"Leave? Little Yuan Shuo..." Black Tuo’s voice was tinged with the detached calm of a being who has existed for eons. "I’ve never underestimated you. Now that I have descended, I have no intention of leaving."

Though his words were defiant, Black Tuo couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. ’Looks like I’ll have to lay low for a while after this.’

He had anticipated a quick reaction from the Bronze Ancient King, but not this quick.

Descending into a vessel of flesh and blood was certainly convenient for a Great Deceitful God like him, but it came with a hidden danger. Ultimately, he had to use his consciousness to control the body.

To an ordinary Professional, consciousness is ethereal and imperceptible. Even those at the Morning Star Tier would find it difficult to probe.

But a being like the Bronze Ancient King could intercept it. If his consciousness were to be snuffed out here, it would be a significant loss for him.

The surrounding data streams churned like liquid metal. Filaments of light stretched taut, weaving a constantly tightening net in the void before solidifying into chains etched with ever-refreshing flows of data.

The chains wrapped around the black, viscous mass, digging into its surface and creating faint ripples. They formed a cage of perfect geometric design, sealing it within.

The Bronze Ancient King reached out, and a data cube fell into his hand.

At the same time, several streaks of light descended from the sky—the Morning Star Tier Professionals from the other Sects and the Royal Court had arrived.

Chu Lingyuan had also arrived. They landed in a loose circle, looking on with uncertain shock at the center of the commotion, where the erupting purple Flame Fire was now converging back into Qin Tianlin’s body.

"Tianlin!" Qin Yun’s gaze trembled as she called out his name in a low voice. Lying on the ground, Qin Tianlin was completely unresponsive.

The Bronze Ancient King simply reached out a hand, and a dazed Su Chen appeared beside him.

"How did I..." Su Chen didn’t immediately register what happened. He glanced behind him, then at Qin Tianlin on the ground. ’Is he dead?’

He had seen the purple flames erupt from inside the arena and realized Black Tuo had likely made a move.

"Stay by my side. Don’t go anywhere," the Bronze Ancient King said, his expression grim.

"Master..."

Qin Yun looked up, her eyes filled with grief and pleading.

The Bronze Ancient King’s brow furrowed slightly. He looked at his apprentice and sighed to himself.

’Is he really dead, or just faking it?’ Su Chen was still wondering when movement in his peripheral vision caught his eye. Green data streams were rising all around them like countless glowing, data-based dragons, finally converging into a massive pillar of light.

In an instant, it shot into the heavens and exploded high above Dragon Abyss Star. A bronze-colored metallic mist began to spin and descend, its surface etched with fine, calibrated markings as it condensed into a gigantic bronze clock face.

Everyone stared, aghast, their faces paling as they looked up in a daze.