In a high-level martial arts game, a wife is given to you at the start.

"No—impossible—this is impossible—" Luo Song's voice became sharp and terrified. He pressed his hands tightly against the crystal core in front of his chest, trying to stop the loss of that power. But as soon as his palms touched the surface of the crystal core, they were bounced away by a powerful backlash, and the skin on his palms was scorched black.

"You—you can't—this is mine—this is everything—"

Lin Qiye walked up to him, looking down at him with a completely emotionless voice: "Yin He lied to you. He didn't tell you that the core of this crystal was formed from fragments of his remaining soul. Anyone who tries to merge with it will be corrupted by his residual consciousness and ultimately become his puppet."

"And you, from the very beginning, were his puppet."

Luo Song's body trembled violently. He raised his head, his fluorescent blue eyes filled with fear and resentment: "You—you knew all along?"

"I guessed," Lin Qiye said calmly, "but your reaction confirms my guess."

Luo Song was stunned.

Then, he suddenly laughed. The laugh carried an extremely complex emotion—self-mockery, despair, and a hint of relief.

"So that's how it is..." He lowered his head, looking at the rapidly dimming crystal core on his chest, his voice becoming extremely weak, "My whole life has been a pursuit of power... a pursuit of transcendence... and in the end, I'm just a pawn..."

He raised his head and looked at Lin Qiye. The fluorescent blue light in his eyes had completely dissipated, revealing the gaze that originally belonged to a human—tired, aged, and with a hint of pleading.

"Am I... still alive?"

Lin Qiye remained silent for a moment, then slowly shook his head.

The crystal core was already deeply bound to Luo Song's soul. From the moment he began to fuse with the crystal core, his fate was sealed. Even if Lin Qiye were to completely erase Yin He's remaining consciousness from the crystal core, Luo Song's soul would have already suffered irreversible damage and could never be restored to a normal person.

Looking at his expression, the last glimmer of light in Luo Song's eyes went out like a candle flame.

He closed his eyes, his body slowly leaning forward, and Lin Qiye reached out to support him, gently placing him on the ground.

The crystal core, now completely dimmed, slid off his chest, rolled onto the ground with a few crisp thuds, and then shattered into countless tiny fragments scattered across the cold laboratory floor.

Lin Qiye stood in the center of the laboratory, looking at the scattered crystal core fragments around him, at the five array masters lying unconscious on the ground, and at Luo Song lying on the ground, no longer breathing. He remained silent for a long time.

He bent down, picked up a crystal core fragment, and gently twirled it between his fingertips.

The moment the fragment touched his fingertips, it transformed into an extremely fine wisp of fluorescent blue light, which was swallowed by his dark golden source energy and vanished without a trace.

Lin Qiye stood in the center of the laboratory, the lingering warmth of the fluorescent blue light filaments formed from the crystal core fragment, which had been absorbed by the dark golden source energy, still clinging to his fingertips. He looked down at Luo Song, who lay lifeless on the ground, remained silent for a moment, and then slowly withdrew his hand.

Just then, a series of hurried footsteps echoed down the corridor—not the footsteps of one person, but the footsteps of dozens, orderly and rapid, like some well-trained army rapidly approaching. The footsteps paused for a moment at the end of the corridor, and then the half-closed iron door to the laboratory was suddenly pushed open.

Shangguan Lin was the first to step into the laboratory.

He wore a dark gray battle robe, the silver cloud pattern on the lapel gleaming coldly in the pale light of the source energy lamp. A slender, narrow sword hung at his waist, the runes on its scabbard slowly circulating, clearly activated. Behind him, at least twenty guards clad in the black armor of the Overwatch Council filed in, quickly forming a defensive formation at the laboratory entrance and along both sides of the corridor, their crossbows and shortbows all cocked, arrows pointed directly at Lin Qiye.

After the formation was set up, the combat commander, Mo Shan, followed closely behind into the laboratory. He wore a dark blue heavy armor and carried a heavy battle sword taller than himself, its blade engraved with intricate armor-piercing runes that gleamed coldly under the pale light. His gaze swept quickly across the laboratory, passing over the five unconscious array masters on the ground, over the scattered fragments of crystal cores, and finally settling on the lifeless corpse of Luo Song lying on the ground.

Mo Shan's pupils contracted slightly.

He didn't speak, but the knuckles of his fingers gripping the knife hilt turned slightly white for a few breaths before slowly loosening, as if he had quickly processed the information in his mind and adjusted his response strategy.

Shangguan Lin stood at the door, his gaze sweeping across the laboratory before finally settling on Lin Qiye. His expression was calm, but his eyes churned with extremely complex emotions—shock, annoyance, vigilance, and a sense of suffocation as if something was stuck in his throat.

His original plan was to wait until Lin Qiye and Luo Song were both severely injured, then use the pretext of "rescue" and "suppression" to lead his men in and wipe them out in one fell swoop. Regardless of who won or lost, it would be advantageous to him.

He had calculated the timing, the troop strength, and even arranged the room for detaining Lin Qiye and the interrogators in advance.

But the one thing he hadn't anticipated was the time it would take Lin Qiye to solve the problem.

From receiving the intelligence to assembling his team and arriving here, it took no more than half an hour. In that half hour, he expected to witness a fierce battle that would exhaust both sides' full strength—at the very least, a scene where Luo Song, aided by the power of the crystal core, fought Lin Qiye to a standstill, leaving both severely injured. What he needed was that window of opportunity where both sides would be severely weakened, that chance to subdue Lin Qiye with minimal cost.

But what he saw was Luo Song's corpse, scattered crystal core fragments, five array masters lying unconscious on the ground, and Lin Qiye standing in the center of the laboratory without a single wound on his body.

Lin Qiye stood in the center of the laboratory, with no obvious injuries on his body. Although his robes were somewhat wrinkled, they were otherwise intact. His breathing was steady, and the fluctuations of his Origin Qi were so restrained that they were almost imperceptible, making him seem like someone who had just finished his morning exercise, rather than someone who had just defeated the guild leader of the Array Master Guild who had fused with the power of a crystal core.

Shangguan Lin opened his mouth, but the words he had prepared stuck in his throat, and he couldn't utter a single one.

His prepared opening remarks were: "Lin Qiye, you trespassed into the Array Masters Guild, attacked the guards, and attempted to assassinate Guild Master Luo Song. Do you know your crime?"

Shangguan Lin had spent years navigating the arena, witnessing countless battles and deaths. He could deduce the course of a fight from the state of a corpse. Luo Song's death told him that in this laboratory, from beginning to end, there was only one true fighter—Lin Qiye. And Luo Song, from start to finish, was merely an object to be crushed.

"Lin Qiye!" Mo Shan's voice broke the silence in the laboratory. His voice was deep and resonant, carrying a deliberately crafted sense of authority. "You trespassed into the Array Master Guild, injured the guards, and plotted to assassinate Guild Master Luo Song—"