Chapter 54: The Last One

In an instant, the earth shook and the mountains quivered!

Over a hundred trees were crushed into fine powder, with branches, leaves, and dust flying wildly across the sky. The giant's thick limbs sank deep into the mud, leaving a human-shaped crater carved into the mountain forest.

"Roar, roar, roar!"

The massive giant roared toward the heavens, the sound waves shattering even the thin clouds scattered beneath the night sky.

From a distant hill, the horse-faced entity stared in horror. "Didn't the Nether Land suppress everyone to the First Restriction? Is this kind of terrifying strength something a First Restriction entity should possess?!"

"My lord, this is the Li Chenqiu I was trying to tell you about earlier," his subordinate said, pointing at Li Chenqiu.

"Then why didn't you tell me?!" Rage filled the horse-faced entity's eyes.

The subordinate lowered his head with a wronged expression. "I did tell you. I said a Destiny-bearer had appeared on the mountain peak; though he is only at the First Restriction, his combat power is immense. But right as I wanted to continue, you interrupted me directly, telling me not to bother you with trivial, petty matters."

The horse-faced entity: "..."

***

Before the Palace of Doubt, Li Chenqiu wiped a streak of blood from the corner of his lips and stood up swaying unsteadily. "That was close, I almost got hurt."

Beside him, He Lu's Adam's apple bobbed as his pupils shook violently, his gaze locked onto Li Chenqiu.

Why was this strength somewhat different from what he knew? Weren't First Restriction entities supposed to merely fight against the Third Restriction? How could this guy now go toe-to-toe with a giant comparable to the Fourth Restriction?

Before He Lu could process this, a pitch-black shadow covered him. A smaller giant widened its bloody maw and lunged straight at He Lu with a speed so ferocious he had no time to react.

At the critical moment, Li Chenqiu's figure flashed, leaving a trail of afterimages across the ground. In a fraction of a second, he appeared right in front of He Lu, grabbing the giant's teeth with his bare hands to keep its jaws from snapping shut. The giant could only glare wide-eyed at Li Chenqiu.

A stream of foul-smelling saliva dripped from the giant's mouth, splashing onto He Lu's head, which finally shocked him back to his senses.

When He Lu looked up and saw that cavernous, bloody maw looming right above him, his lips trembled uncontrollably.

He could face death with composure, but that did not mean he was devoid of fear.

"You owe me a life." Li Chenqiu lowered his gaze to look at He Lu, then pulled his hands apart with all his might.

Rip!

Blood sprayed in torrents.

Li Chenqiu drove his knee upward in a vicious thrust. With a crisp "crack," the thick neck connecting to the giant's head snapped instantly, and the severed head rolled onto the ground, its crimson eyes staring straight ahead even in death.

"Borrowing your blade for a moment." Li Chenqiu bent down to pick up He Lu's horizontal dao, a thrilling grin curving across the corner of his lips.

Whoosh!

Amidst the howling gale, Li Chenqiu shuttled freely back and forth, the blade in his hand flashing with an eerie, pale red under the crimson moon.

***

"Haha, excellent!"

Li Chenqiu laughed wildly, leaping high off a tree trunk. Above him hung the crimson moon, while beneath his feet were thrashing, clawing small giants.

He pulled his knees tightly up to his chest in mid-air, gripped his horizontal dao with both hands beside his waist, and gazed down quietly with dark, gleaming eyes.

"Roar—"

"Eat... Eat them!!"

With greedy eyes, the giants stared fixedly at Li Chenqiu, swarming toward the exact same spot and piling up into a small mountain of flesh. Dozens of massive hands reached out toward the descending Li Chenqiu.

Fifty meters... forty meters... thirty meters...

Li Chenqiu continued his descent, his gaze growing increasingly chilling and detached.

At this moment, all surrounding noise faded from his ears, leaving only the whistling night wind. Before him were no longer hideous, distorted faces, but taut, trembling bowstrings.

"Hoo—" Li Chenqiu let out a long breath. Just a few meters away from the swarming giants, he moved.

Swish—

The horizontal dao swept out like the crescent moon. With a mere flick of his wrist, dozens of massive hands were sliced off, sent flying high into the air.

Blood bloomed like stars, adorning the lonely blade light.

Like the wind, Li Chenqiu threaded through every needle-sized gap, wielding his horizontal dao to paint the swarm of giants in a brilliant, bloody red, staining even the black soil a deep crimson.

Giant after giant was hacked down, trampled into pulp by their own kind. They surrounded Li Chenqiu so tightly not a single drop of water could leak through, yet despite this, none of them could breach the one-meter radius around him.

Whoever dared to cross that invisible line was met only with a freezing flash of steel.

Meanwhile, the Awakeners from the New World had also rushed to the vicinity, arriving just in time to witness Li Chenqiu plunging from the sky. They froze in place, standing as rigid as wooden stakes.

At the head of the group, Shen Yuanguo voiced the exact same doubt the horse-faced entity had earlier: "Is this motherfucking strength something a First Restriction entity is supposed to have?"

"Boss, isn't that guy Li Chenqiu from the news?!"

"Do I not have eyes to see for myself?" Shen Yuanguo snapped impatiently, though his eyes brimmed with irrepressible shock.

Although he had read news reports about Li Chenqiu, actually witnessing someone possess such monstrous combat prowess while still at the First Restriction dealt a heavy blow to his worldview!

Boom!

The ground suddenly began to tremor violently.

The massive giant that had previously been knocked to the ground finally hauled itself back up. Seeing Li Chenqiu ruthlessly slaughtering its kin, its eyes were completely flooded with crimson, and thick veins bulged across its skin.

"Eat... Eat him!"

Taking heavy strides, the massive giant charged toward Li Chenqiu, its flailing arms smashing lower cliff walls into powdered rubble.

***

In the distance, Li Chenqiu stood atop a pile of corpses, breathing heavily.

Just a few seconds ago, he had slain the very last small giant.

Hearing the commotion erupting behind him, Li Chenqiu looked down at the notched blade of his horizontal dao, then swept a glance over his own blood-drenched body.

"The last one."

Li Chenqiu gently stroked the blade's edge with his hand, revealing its true, battered form.

Thud... thud... thud...

The footsteps grew closer, and the vibrations of the earth intensified.

Li Chenqiu took a deep breath, slowly turned around, and locked his gaze dead onto the massive giant.

In the Nether Land, life energy could not be utilized, which meant Awakeners could neither regenerate nor recover their stamina.

After such high-intensity combat, Li Chenqiu's body was already sending out signals of profound fatigue, meaning he could no longer afford a protracted, head-on collision with the massive giant.

Therefore, he had only one path to victory: speed. To be faster than the giant, faster than the gale-force wind.

"Eat you!"

The massive giant's palm, resembling a small mountain, lunged toward Li Chenqiu, completely engulfing him in shadow.

One was a human little over a meter tall; the other was a giant towering over fifty meters. Their collision was like pouring clear water into boiling oil, carrying an extreme visual impact.

For a moment, everyone held their breath, watching the scene in dead silence.

Just as that colossal hand was about to make contact, Li Chenqiu moved.

His legs acted like coiled springs, launching his entire body forward, slipping deftly through the microscopic gaps between the giant's fingers.

"Do you really think you can kill me?!" Li Chenqiu's gaze sharpened as he gripped the horizontal dao with both hands and slashed viciously at the back of the giant's hand.

Slash!

The notched horizontal dao bit deep into the giant's palm, and blood gushed out like a bubbling stream.

"Roar!"

Howling in pain, the giant swung its other palm at Li Chenqiu, but it was already far too late.