All Swords Return to the Source

The moment Ye Chuan teleported into the gray-white energy, he immediately sensed something was wrong. His body began disintegrating into fine particles under the influence of this power—though the process was slowed by the resistance of his Chaos Force.

"No way, is this Lilith's power?" Ye Chuan felt dazed. His Indestructible Chaos Body couldn’t fully resist this gray-white energy.

"Whatever." There was no time to think. With one arm wrapped around his sister, Ye Chuan transformed into a streak of light and shot out of the energy.

The instant he escaped, his condition stabilized. His partially disintegrated body rapidly restored itself, and his weakened sister recovered as well.

"Idiot, what were you thinking?!" Just as Ye Chuan let out a sigh of relief, Lilith's furious voice rang out nearby.

Turning his head, he saw Lilith glaring at him, her cheeks puffed up like steamed buns.

"You almost died, you know that?!"

"YOU KNOW THAT?!!!!"

"I have magic immunity—"

"That’s Primordial Force, not magic! It decomposes and assimilates all energy. A little longer in there, and you’d be dead!" Lilith was livid. Her translucent form flew over to Ye Chuan, her tiny feet repeatedly kicking his shins.

"If you died there, who knows if you could even return!"

Ye Chuan froze. Did that mean dying in that energy would prevent him from returning to the real world?

Just how terrifying was this Primordial Force?

Watching the purple-haired loli kicking and hitting him, Ye Chuan suddenly grinned. "Seems like you were worried about me."

"Who’s worried about you?!" Lilith’s face flushed pink. "Hmph! You’re just… slightly useful to me, that’s all!"

"Alright." Ye Chuan observed Lilith’s increasingly transparent body. Her time was almost up.

Lowering his gaze, he looked at his sister in his arms.

If he wasn’t mistaken… the "red-tier" item might be his sister herself?

If the headmaster said all living beings in the world had been devoured by her, then there shouldn’t be any actual "item" left, right?

"Mmm…" His sister stirred slightly in his arms. Her eyes fluttered open, landing on Ye Chuan’s profile.

"B-Brother…?"

"Hey, awake now?" Ye Chuan smiled. "How do you feel?"

"You… saved me?" His sister seemed to realize something, her small hands clutching his clothes. Her voice was soft and sweet.

"Brother…"

Ohhh, that tone was downright sugary.

"Pretty much. Almost died doing it." Ye Chuan sighed.

You better repay me properly, you red-tier troublemaker.

Time to collect some serious rent!

"I…" His sister stared at him, but in the next moment, the whites of her eyes were overtaken by red. Her voice twisted into something eerie.

"I… will devour you!"

Ye Chuan barely had time to react before an explosive force erupted from her body, sending him flying!

"What the—?!" Stabilizing himself midair, he saw his sister’s form now surrounded by grotesque crimson phantoms. A violent aura radiated from her, staining the already purple sky a deep red.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!"

A crimson shockwave surged skyward. Her once-gray hair turned blood-red, each strand transforming into writhing tentacles.

"She’s the core." Lilith finally spoke. "You saved her, but the thing symbiotically bound to her isn’t dead yet."

"A force that devoured an entire world’s worth of life… won’t perish so easily."

"Then—" Ye Chuan turned to Lilith, only to find her form nearly invisible now. Her last words lingered in the air.

"Such an idiot."

"Don’t die…"

With one final glance, Lilith dissolved into purple motes of light, her power exhausted.

Ye Chuan faced his sister again. "No way… Phase Two?"

Seriously?

And with Lilith gone, how was he supposed to handle this?

"Tch. Red-tier’s always a pain. Should’ve known it wouldn’t be easy." Ye Chuan took a deep breath, now fully appreciating how precious the Holy Grail Lilith had given him truly was.

As his sister’s aura intensified, the surrounding buildings began melting into pulsating flesh, the environment twisting into a grotesque living nightmare.

"I’m so hungry…"

"Brother… run…"

"I’ll devour you!"

Her expression flickered between madness and despair. The mass of tentacles behind her coalesced into vast, blood-red wings that blotted out the sky.

Ye Chuan gritted his teeth. "No holding back now!"

His fingers formed a seal. Black flames erupted around him, manifesting a towering hundred-zhang-tall Nine Flames Avatar. The inferno scorched the air with a sizzling roar.

"Break!" Ye Chuan roared. The avatar’s colossal fist slammed toward the monstrosity his sister had become.

The creature’s wings folded into a shell-like barrier, tanking the blow with a thunderous impact.

Then, the wings came alive—unfurling into countless tendrils that ensnared the entire avatar, wrapping it in a squirming mass of flesh. The sight was nauseatingly grotesque.

"Try this then!" Ye Chuan fired a beam of concentrated magic, but the energy was absorbed without a trace, like a drop vanishing into the ocean.

Seeing his attacks barely making a dent, Ye Chuan swiftly changed tactics. His fingers danced through another seal as he uttered a low incantation.

"Swords—come forth!"

The sky trembled with a chorus of metallic hums. A thousand spiritual swords materialized, their gleaming blades forming a swirling vortex above.

Channeling every ounce of his spiritual energy, Ye Chuan unleashed a torrent of power into the swords. Each blade trembled, then split into dozens of identical projections—in an instant, a thousand became tens of thousands, saturating the crimson sky with a deadly storm of steel.

"Azure Cloud Art: Ten Thousand Swords Return to Origin!"

With a fierce shout, Ye Chuan thrust his arms forward. The sword vortex exploded outward, the countless blades descending like a hurricane of razors, their shrieks tearing through the air as they rained upon the abomination.

The creature reacted instantly, its wings splitting apart once more to shield itself.

The clash of steel against flesh resounded in a relentless drumbeat. Sparks flew as crimson patterns on the wings cracked under the onslaught.

"Now’s the chance!" Ye Chuan gestured sharply. The remaining swords surged forward—some piercing straight for the monster’s torso, others shredding the writhing tendrils around it. The barrage was impenetrable, leaving no room for escape.

Just as he thought he’d gained the upper hand and pondered how to awaken his sister, an eerie whisper sounded behind him.

"Brother…"

"Let’s stay together forever."

"Brother… run…"

"Forever… together…"

A chill crawled down Ye Chuan’s spine. One of the severed tendrils had morphed into the creature’s main body—and now, it clung to his back, its arms slithering around his neck.

Then, it transformed into a mass of flesh and blood, enveloping Ye Chuan.