Facing an Ancient God for a Year

Chapter 1470: Chapter 1468 Artificial Existence Core (End)

The setting sun slants, a gentle breeze wafts by.

It’s hard to think it’s out of public spirit, but the prey chose to flee in a direction that was indeed a quieter corner than the office building.

So neither the floating debris from before nor the current remains have attracted any audience yet.

But that’s only temporary; the commotion inside the building earlier clearly has already caught someone’s attention.

But it doesn’t matter, the one on the ground doesn’t have much longer anyway.

”This form is much more pleasing to the eye.”

As a courteous hunter, at this moment, Fu Qian did not belittle his opponent’s form or its performance along the way.

”The strategy is quite good too.”

This is by no means flattery.

The massive heap now coiled on the ground still faintly shows the grace of the giant dragon’s bones from earlier, but the texture is far more beautiful.

No longer the interwoven flesh of a vile plague aesthetic, but smooth and delicate, with an inherent feeling of timelessness in its gray-white skin.

The form is much more emaciated, yet inexplicably harmonizes with this hue.

Paired with the slightly golden eyes that are barely open, under the sunset rays, it seemed like an elder approaching the end of life yet calmly watching the sunset.

Its time is indeed running out.

The most direct point is that upon closer inspection, the emaciated body is clearly covered in countless intersecting cracks, with barely any large intact areas.

As if cut into fragments and then forcibly pieced back together.

In fact, that’s exactly the case; the ultimate move earlier was detonated right inside its belly.

This is why Fu Qian praised the escape strategy as commendable.

The recent events were simple.

After rushing out of the building, in the face of an unseen threat, the retractable dragon chose a very efficient escape method, flying directly into the air.

Unfortunately, being so conspicuous, it was pulled back by myself, the Hunter, using the Thread of Concern, and finally shattered to pieces under a Visceral Critical Strike.

However, this is just the surface; essentially, at the moment of skyward flight, its existence had already been divided into two parts.

The part that was pulled back and shattered was not an illusion, but neither was it the core essence.

The basis of this judgment is that the Wriggling Seed I planted remained on the part entering Stealth State.

I didn’t expect a single Visceral Critical Strike in a non-Abandonment King state to instantly kill the target, so when creating the wound, I conveniently put something in.

And the unhatched Wriggling Seed, as long as it’s within a certain range, can serve as a target for Extreme Hunger Infection.

Infecting the source of pollution, it even sounds somewhat darkly humorous.

In summary, Fu Qian discovered the target behavior at the first opportunity and chose the most efficient method to handle both targets thoroughly.

”Thank you.”

At this moment, a voice emerged from the remains.

And this time, it sounded much more sincere.

”Not at all.”

...

”Though the time wasn’t that long, it was truly an agonizing experience for me...”

The hunter did not interrupt the final words, even casually responding politely, giving a touch of relief to the shattered giant dragon.

”You can call me ’Huo’... I am the living fear, the wandering nightmare, born from the midnight terrors of the dying.”

”They fear me, they know I’m there, yet they try to look away.”

”Though a convergence of pale will, always dormant, a clear concept defines and protects me, inherently more pure than a true dragon.”

Are you saying only those over fifty-nine can see you? That is indeed a clear and strict condition.

Fu Qian naturally thought of Lek’s birthday around the same period, but he didn’t rush to interrupt his counterpart’s narrative.

”Until that day, an unavoidable filth arrived...”

Sure enough, Huo soon touched upon the key point, and worthy of being a convergence of pale will, even when recounting such an offensive part, the tone remained calm and gentle.

”Initially, I thought it was just another soul amassing experience... However, the moment of contact, I realized it was just an illusion, there was no soul... It was just a tongue covered in mucus...”

A tongue... this description isn’t entirely off.

After all, if the conjecture about the oath is true, it could indeed be defined as a part of a Superior Being.

Silently appraising, Fu Qian noted that under the final glow of life, great realizations come into clarity.

”That desecration... there was no resisting it, but fortunately, I soon discovered that the will behind this authority was not active, so I decided to intensify the process, to see if I could use the accumulating power to break free, to purify.”

”It doesn’t seem very successful.”

The counterpart had spoken quite a bit in one go, and the description matched previous assumptions closely, finally prompting Fu Qian to nod in evaluation.

Lek’s sudden severe symptoms were indeed driven by this being from behind the scenes.

”Yes... this is a path of no return, I indeed grew, but the will behind the authority also awakened in me... Sadly, by the time I noticed, I could no longer control anything but a sliver of self-will.”

”So I don’t hold any grudge against you, without the tainted flesh, I’ve lost the basis of existence, but your purification returned me to myself, granting peace in my final moments...”

”Thank you for listening so far... so please accept this...”

At this point, Huo’s explanation reached its conclusion, accompanied by the rapid expansion of cracks on its body, as it began disintegrating entirely into pale dust enveloping the surroundings.

And in this final moment, the only remaining eye opened fully, reflecting Fu Qian’s image.

Almost simultaneously, the flying dust began to roll quickly, forming an alternative scene.

”Withering is also ascension, uncertain if it can help you or how much you can see, my will is unclear, but I’ll persist with the last bit of strength... Hope it’s useful.”

[Current task completed, No. 2-020 containment successful]

Following this, Huo’s final words almost synchronized with the task completion prompt.

...

This thing...

In Fu Qian’s eyes, it was merely a blurry scene formed by swirling dust, yet some essential, fate-level connection transparently pierced through, as if it were something he was destined to experience.

It was a deep river in which what flowed was not water, but something both illusory and viscous, both united and infinitely divisible in black.

And a figure was standing in this special current, decaying yet continuously reborn, and in the process, another figure was being washed out.

That was the Abandonment King.

Fu Qian had a fair amount of insight into this.

As for the original body, comparatively, it was even clearer - it was himself.

Some higher form of existence of himself.

Even the river seemed somewhat familiar, akin to what Emperor Yasui depicted during their confrontation.

An opportunity for ascension? This one helped illuminate a bit of the path with its final ripple?

While observing, it didn’t hinder Fu Qian from listening to all the sounds, including Huo’s resoluteness.

Faced with such courtesy, Fu Qian took a deep breath and locked onto it, unleashing a Gospel Blast at maximum power the moment the voice stopped.

Unclear will, then comprehend it properly again!

Everything vibrated thunderously, the ultimate skill from the Mother of the Gospel, instantly enlightening this will about to wither.

Unfortunately, the scene in front of him didn’t become clearer; instead, it was as if another layer of mosaic was added.

Fu Qian wasn’t particularly regretful, listening to the last few words of the task prompt before waiting quietly there.

”...Hold on, I’m not me—”

And just as the scene in front blurred, bidding farewell to this realm, amidst the fully chaotic dust, a voice, weaker than ever, yet awakening as if from a dream, suddenly shouted out.

”Thank you...”

And the last thing Fu Qian heard was a more sincere thank you than the previous two times.

It showed a little bit of enlightenment.

To this, his reaction was a scoff in his heart, giving the Dragon of Decay a positive evaluation for the first time.

”Can’t control anything but a sliver of self-will”?

Who gave you the courage to think you still have free will?

Opportunity for ascension, fate connection?

Trying to use a trick that failed the first time on the Saint Fighter?

When this one was dealing with something known as desecration, Ji Family’s next Family Head hadn’t even yet controlled the Gospel Group.