I gain ten years' worth of cultivation every day, and even geniuses will only see my doorstep!

He reached into his sleeve and took out two things. Not people, but two specks of dust. He pinched one and placed it on the table. The dust grew larger, transforming into a person—Qin Yuan. The other speck transformed into Lin Qing'er.

The two landed on the ground. Lin Qing'er immediately helped Qin Yuan up. As soon as Qin Yuan's foot touched the ground, his right leg bent, but he gritted his teeth and stood up straight.

Chaos Heaven looked at them, its golden eyes expressionless. "You are the strongest humans I have ever seen. The Void Supreme and the fifth level of the Chaos Primordial Realm, you killed three of my elders and four of my protectors. In the history of the Chaos Abyss, no outsider has ever accomplished this."

He leaned back in his chair.

"Unfortunately, I still have to die."

Qin Yuan stood up. He released Lin Qing'er's hand, his right leg trembling slightly, but he stood firm. He held the broken sword in his hand—only the hilt and less than an inch of blade remained.

Chaos Heaven's gaze fell upon the sword. At the broken edge of the blade, there was a hazy, grayish luster. It wasn't the reflection of metal, but rather a residual energy. His brow furrowed slightly.

"What did you do in my sleeve?"

Qin Yuan did not answer. He raised the broken sword, its tip pointing towards the chaotic sky. A hazy light surged from the hilt to the broken edge, condensing into a three-foot-long blade of light. The blade was a murky gray, like the clouds of a cloudy day.

Chaos Heaven looked at the blade of light, and for the first time, his golden eyes showed a flicker of emotion—not fear, but surprise.

"Your aura has changed. The fifth level of the Primordial Chaos remains the same, but your power... you've stolen my Three Powers of Chaos?"

Qin Yuan said, "It's not about stealing. It's about dismantling. You forcibly pressed the three forces together, causing them to fight each other, wasting most of their potential. I let them take turns, without fighting, which is more efficient than your method."

Chaos Heaven stood up. He was about the same height as Qin Yuan, but when he stood up, the entire palace seemed to sink.

"Interesting," he said. "Let me see how well you've taken it apart."

He raised his hand and struck out with his palm. There was no black sphere, no outward energy release, just pure palm force. But Qin Yuan felt the entire palace pressing down on him—the walls, the roof, the ground, all directions were squeezing him.

Qin Yuan swung his sword. The hazy sword energy slashed towards Chaos Heaven's palm. The palm print collided with the sword energy, sparking three colors of sparks—red, blue, and purple. The palace trembled, and the flames of the bronze lamps flickered violently.

Chaos Heaven looked down at his palm. There was a shallow bloodstain on his palm, bleeding black blood.

"You hurt me," he said, his tone not of anger, but of curiosity.

Qin Yuan remained silent. His right leg was still trembling, and the wound on his left shoulder had reopened, blood seeping from his sleeve. But his hand holding the sword was steady.

Chaos Heaven remained silent. He thrust out both hands simultaneously, one to the left and one to the right, two black spheres attacking Qin Yuan from either side. Inside the spheres, three forces were tearing at each other wildly, larger and more unstable than the previous one.

Qin Yuan couldn't dodge. His right leg was powerless, and his left shoulder couldn't move much. All he could do was swing his sword—to the right, shattering a sphere. The hazy sword energy collided with the sphere, causing it to explode, scattering flames, ice, and lightning. Qin Yuan was pushed to the left by the shockwave, crashing into the second sphere.

The sphere struck his left shoulder—the one that had been shattered and barely reattached by Lin Qing'er's spiritual power. The sound of bones breaking was more piercing than an explosion. Qin Yuan was sent flying, crashing into the palace wall, leaving a human-shaped dent. He slid to the ground, his mouth full of blood.

Lin Qing'er rushed forward and stood in front of him. Her sword pointed at the chaotic sky; her hand trembled, but the tip of the sword did not deviate.

Chaos Heaven looked at her. "Void Supreme. You can't even withstand a single palm strike from me."

He didn't make a move. Because he saw Qin Yuan stand up again.

Qin Yuan braced himself against the ground with his right hand. His left shoulder slumped, and his left hand hung limply at his side like an extra rope. His right leg trembled, but he stood firm. He switched the broken sword to his left hand—the hand that could no longer move. He grasped his left wrist with his right hand, raised his left arm, and pointed the broken sword at the chaotic sky.

Chaos Heaven looked at the broken sword that required two hands to lift, but did not laugh.

"You'll never beat me if you take her with you," he said. "If you let her go, you might still have a chance to survive."

Qin Yuan did not answer. His eyes were so swollen that they were barely slits, but the light shining through those slits was as bright as the gold in the Chaos Heaven's Eye.

Chaos Heaven sighed. It wasn't a sigh of regret, but rather a sigh of "I understand."

He raised his hand, clenched his fist, and opened it. Chaotic energy condensed in his palm, forming a black sphere. Inside the sphere, the three forces no longer tore at each other, but rotated slowly and orderly—like three gears meshing together.

"Look," said Chaos Heaven, "you taught me. Take turns, don't fight. Thank you."

The black sphere was pushed out from his palm and flew towards Qin Yuan. It wasn't fast, but Qin Yuan knew he couldn't catch it this time. This wasn't a forced fusion of three powers, but a balanced, stable, and completely new power.

Qin Yuan turned and glanced at Lin Qing'er. Her face was covered in tears and blood, making it impossible to distinguish which were his and which were her own.

"Don't be afraid," he said.

Then he turned back, faced the chaotic sky, and raised the broken sword.

Qin Yuan awoke in the darkness.

It wasn't the kind of darkness hidden in Chaos Heaven's sleeves, but a normal, warm darkness. He could feel that what lay beneath him was hard and cold, like stone. He smelled a stench—rust, old wood, and an indescribable stench of decay.

"You're awake." Lin Qing'er's voice was very close to his ear.

Qin Yuan tried to sit up, but failed. He had no feeling in his left shoulder, and even the slightest movement of his right leg caused excruciating pain, as if someone were scraping his bones with a knife.

Where are we?

"He's still in his palace," Lin Qing'er said. "He threw us on the ground, then sat back down in that chair with his eyes closed. I don't know what he's doing; maybe he's resting, or maybe he's thinking about what to do with us."

Qin Yuan turned his head to look in Lin Qing'er's direction. In the darkness, he couldn't see her face clearly, only her outline.

"You cried."

"no."

You can't fool me.

Lin Qing'er was silent for a moment. "You almost died."

"I'm not dead."

"Almost."

Qin Yuan said nothing more. He closed his eyes and focused his consciousness into his body. The bones in his left shoulder were shattered, and his tendons were severed. The bones in his right shin were dislocated and needed to be realigned. The wounds to his internal organs were slowly healing, but it was too slow, so slow that there was almost no change.

The three forces remained. Flame in his right arm, ice in his left arm, and lightning in his spine. They no longer fought, but they didn't help him repair his body either. They simply remained there, like three hibernating snakes.

Qin Yuan attempted to mobilize them to repair his meridians. Flames traveled upwards along the meridians of his right arm, stopping at the broken points and blocking them. Ice also stopped at the broken point in his left arm. Lightning traveled along his spine, encountering no breaks, but it did not aid in the repair.