Brother Su, the future of half of Jiangxia is entrusted to you.

The two examinees who had fled earlier now collapsed to the ground, their legs giving out completely as they gasped for breath. The way they looked at Su Qi could no longer be described as mere awe—it was as if they were gazing upon a deity walking among mortals.

Liu Yuan was also momentarily stunned. She stole a glance at Su Qi.

Brother… has grown so much stronger.

This was the first time she had witnessed such power.

Only Su Qi remained calm, his expression unreadable.

As if all of this was only to be expected.

He couldn’t just stand by and watch these people die one by one.

But losing a few stubborn fools who refused to listen?

That was inconsequential.

In a large group, there were bound to be a few odd ones.

No one knew that the moment Su Qi crushed the skull of the first crimson Sourcebeast, an imperceptible wave of shadow energy rippled outward from him, invisible to ordinary eyes.

And when it struck the other two Sourcebeasts, it triggered an "overflow damage" effect.

Any target harboring killing intent toward him would bear the brunt of this "excess damage."

Against opponents of the same tier or higher, it would only cause minor disruption.

But for these low-tier "ants" far beneath him?

It was the art of explosion.

Even the faintest residual energy was enough to obliterate their lives.

Without a word, Su Qi continued forward, as if the brief interruption had been nothing worth mentioning.

The terrain began to slope upward slightly.

More importantly, the density of the ash in the air was visibly thinning.

"Look! Up ahead!"

Someone shouted in excitement.

Following their pointed finger, about a hundred meters away stood a towering metal wall, and behind it, a radiant beam of light shot into the sky.

"Is that the headquarters inside the Source Realm? We’ve made it!"

"Finally… we’re finally getting out of this hellish place!"

A hundred meters wasn’t far, but for those who had teetered on the brink of despair, every step felt like it drained the last of their strength.

When they finally stepped beyond the ash-covered wasteland and took their first breath of relatively fresh air, many collapsed on the spot, gasping as if trying to replenish hours of lost oxygen in a single moment.

Yun Huang approached him, her voice hoarse. "Thank you."

No matter how it had happened, the result was that they had survived.

Su Qi shifted his gaze from the others to her and replied indifferently, "No need. It was just a small effort."

Yun Huang let out a self-deprecating laugh. "Small effort, huh…"

Su Qi didn’t respond.

He turned and walked toward the massive metal gates of the Source Realm’s official headquarters.

The gates swung open instantly.

Chen Yuan had already noticed the bedraggled group.

Su Qi stepped inside.

The interior of the headquarters was brightly lit, a stark contrast to the ash-choked world outside.

Staff in uniform hurried about, their expressions tense.

Su Qi returned to the surveillance room.

Chen Yuan stood at the front, his back to the door as he issued orders.

Hearing footsteps, he turned.

The exhaustion on his face gave way to an indescribable mix of emotions the moment he recognized Su Qi.

"You… you’ve been holding out on us, haven’t you? Damn it, I actually thought you were just coasting by…"

Clearly, someone had reported the scene of him taking down a Tenth-Tier creature with a single shot.

Su Qi skipped the pleasantries and cut straight to the point. "What’s the situation?"

Chen Yuan hesitated, as if choosing his words carefully. "Not great, but…"

"That shot of yours…" Chen Yuan began slowly.

Though he had already seen the unbelievable footage—the black spear materializing out of thin air and piercing through the Tenth-Tier Sourcebeast in an instant.

"A Tenth-Tier Sourcebeast," Chen Yuan enunciated each word, "killed in one strike."

Even the guardians of Jiangxia would have to pay a steep price, possibly even sacrifice themselves, to achieve the same feat.

A heavy silence fell over the command center, broken only by the faint hum of machinery.

"That level of attack," Chen Yuan finally voiced the question burning in his mind, his eyes alight with a mix of hope and tension, "can you do it again?"

If this power could be replicated—even just once more—it could turn the tide of their desperate battle.

A stable, repeatable method of eliminating Tenth-Tier Sourcebeasts would be a game-changer.

Su Qi met Chen Yuan’s searching gaze and answered calmly, "Yes."

He paused, then added, "But…"

That single word sent a chill down Chen Yuan’s spine.

"Not right now."

"My soul force is depleted. It needs time to recover."

Chen Yuan’s eyes brightened further.

It would have been unnatural if such a technique didn’t have a cost!

What mattered was that the spear was a skill, not a one-time consumable.

As long as it could be used again, they had a trump card capable of reshaping the battlefield.

"Good! Good! Good!" Chen Yuan repeated the word three times, the tension in his face easing slightly.

The heaviest weight pressing on his heart had been lifted, if only a little.

The two Tenth-Tier Sourcebeasts that had loomed over them no longer seemed so insurmountable…

He strode forward and clapped a hand on Su Qi’s shoulder, his tone solemn.

"Brother Su, half of Jiangxia’s future now rests on your shoulders."

"I’ll fight to the death to buy you the time you need for that second shot."