Chapter 51: True Colors, Play It Safe

Chapter 51: True Self, Playing It Safe

There was no sound of an explosion, nor any flashy light effects.

Chen Yu’s entire body instantly shattered into a mist of blood. A fierce fist pressure whistled as it tore through the air, shooting high into the heavens and sweeping up an American in its path in one fell swoop.

That unlucky fellow didn't even have time to utter a sound before he too exploded into a cloud of blood.

The terrifying fist pressure showed no signs of stopping, shooting straight into the sky.

The gloomy night sky of the Cold Moon Secret Realm was violently torn apart, forming a scalp-numbing, abyssal fissure as if the heavens themselves had been punched right through.

This sudden turn of events instantly stunned the remaining three Americans.

Killing a Tier Four immortal practitioner in a fraction of a second with a single punch, leaving not even a skeleton behind for anyone caught in the crossfire, and even tearing the sky asunder!

Could this level of combat power possibly be Tier Five?

Fear flickered across the faces of the three men in mid-air.

Tier Five martial artists!
The pinnacle of martial arts!
Invincible among peers!
Without a Tier Six cultivation base, who would dare to willingly face a warrior who has reached the pinnacle of martial arts?

Without a moment of hesitation, the three of them decisively chose to scatter and flee. Their flying speed broke all personal limits, and they vanished from sight in the blink of an eye.

Having slain two men with his true-self punch, the True Self wanted to give chase upon seeing the remaining three escape, but willing as he was, the spirit was strong while the flesh was weak, leaving him no choice but to let out a long roar toward the heavens.

No matter how he broke his limits, Qin Zhe was still Qin Zhe.

His actual cultivation base was simply too low. Even with the True Self—an epic-tier cheat code—acting as his "substitute fighter," his low foundation remained a fatal flaw.

At this moment, inside Qin Zhe's consciousness, his mind was entirely blank and overwhelmed.

He knew his rebound innate talent was a bug, but he never expected it to be this overpowered! It absorbed everything thrown at it, no matter how much, as if there was no limit at all!

Compared to the unprecedented outburst of the True Self and the instantaneous killing of two men, Qin Zhe felt an eerie, unexpected calm in his heart.

Whether in his past life or the present, he had never killed anyone before.

Yet for some reason, he felt completely serene.

Perhaps it was because the True Self was the one who struck, or perhaps due to other reasons.

As the two died and three fled, a crisp cracking sound echoed across the firmament, presumably the "Heaven-Confusing Illusion Array" shattering.

Thanks to the existence of the Unity of Heaven and Man, Qin Zhe had remained completely unaffected throughout; he couldn't even sense that the vicinity had been shrouded by an array in the first place.

"Qin Zhe?"

A voice called out from the cave behind him. Qin Zhe promptly regained control of his body, while the True Self went back to "playing it safe."

Qin Zhe looked up at the sky, speechless.

He wasn't sure what other people's True Selves were like, but their behavioral styles were bound to be largely similar, considering the dark history of the True Self Heart Scripture circulating online.

He took a heavy breath, exhaling the turbid air from his chest, and turned around to re-enter the cave.

Inside, the Cold Moon Divine Hound had already resumed its original size, trembling and cowering behind Shangguan Yan.

With its spiritual beast perception, it had sensed everything that had just happened outside.

Right now, facing Qin Zhe, whose aura was intense and who was still burning his potential, the hound felt pure terror.

Glancing sideways at the utterly cowardly and foolish dog, Qin Zhe shifted his gaze to the pale-faced Shangguan Yan.

"It's fine now. Everything has been resolved."

Although Shangguan Yan was an academician at the Research Institute, she was only a martial artist herself, with a cultivation base of merely Tier Two.

At twenty-five or six years of age, having such a cultivation base was truly embarrassingly weak.

Unlike the Cold Moon Divine Hound, which possessed heightened perception, Shangguan Yan had no idea what had happened outside. She only knew that shortly after Qin Zhe went out, a loud explosion echoed and then everything fell silent.

"Resolved? Did Chen Yu and the others... retreat?"

"Chen Yu is dead. Of the four Americans, one died and three ran away."

Qin Zhe answered truthfully without concealing anything.

"Chen Yu... is dead?"

Shangguan Yan's face turned ashen, and she stumbled backward.

"Do you want me to step outside so you can have some quiet time?"

Qin Zhe asked calmly, bracing himself for a torrential storm of emotions.

It was obvious that Shangguan Yan and Chen Yu had not been traveling together for the first time, so even though the latter had colluded with the Americans to make a move against her, she still held a shred of hope.

Shangguan Yan lowered her head in silence for a moment before speaking with a hint of a sob in her voice.

"No need. Thank you for saving me."

Qin Zhe didn't respond. He pulled out a communication token and tried to contact nearby people with his mind.

The time limit for the Blood-Burning True Self Decision was coming to an end, and he would soon return to his Tier One cultivation state, which would be far from enough to escort Shangguan Yan safely back to the camp.

Soon, the communication token vibrated slightly, and someone nearby responded.

Seeing that someone had answered, Qin Zhe let out a sigh of relief.

The three-minute limit quietly arrived, and the Blood-Burning True Self Decision dissipated.

"Academician Shangguan, sit down and rest for a while. I've contacted people from the academy, and they'll be here soon. When they arrive, I'll go with them to escort you back."

"Thank you."

Shangguan Yan replied, entirely devoid of her previous excitement upon discovering clues, and muttered apprehensively, "Do you think... Chen Yu was forced into this? I know him; he's not that kind of person. He's been with the Super Disaster Bureau for five years, he has no reason to commit treason..."

"Do you really know him?"

Qin Zhe asked, walking over to sit down against the wall.

Shangguan Yan fell silent. Once upon a time, she truly believed she understood Chen Yu, but after this ordeal, she was lost.

Silently walking over to sit next to Qin Zhe to grant herself a little more sense of security, Shangguan Yan lowered her head and said no more.

After a moment of mutual silence, Qin Zhe looked at her hesitatingly and asked, "Would you... like to borrow my shoulder?"

Shangguan Yan was startled by the question and shook her head.

"Little brat."

"..."

Qin Zhe was speechless. If you didn't want it, you didn't have to take it! What was the meaning of calling names?

Judging by actual age, you might not even be older than me!

Just as he was inwardly complaining, Qin Zhe suddenly felt a heavy weight on his shoulder, his entire body involuntarily tensing up.

The next moment, however, Shangguan Yan pulled away, let out a scoff, and said, "Uncomfortable, too hard."

"Feeling a bit better?"

Qin Zhe smiled faintly, thinking that this woman adjusted her mood quite quickly.

"If I said I wanted to cry, would you comfort me?"

Shangguan Yan said, wiping the corner of her eye.

At this moment, her mood had indeed settled down a good deal, no longer feeling quite so heavy.

After all, she was an adult and an academician at the Research Institute; she still possessed some emotional resilience.

"No."

Qin Zhe fully displayed his blunt nature, answering quickly and turning her down quite decisively.

"I knew you'd say that!"

Shangguan Yan was amused, leaning back against the cave wall behind her and letting out a long breath.

"I never imagined someone I knew well would commit treason. Good thing you were here this time, otherwise I shudder to imagine what would have happened to me."

...

Inside the cave, the two chatted casually back and forth.

As time passed, Shangguan Yan's state of mind settled, and a few smiles crept back into her speech.

About half an hour later, a familiar voice echoed from outside the cave.

"Qin Zhe?"

"President?"

Qin Zhe was taken aback, never expecting the newcomer to be Li Zongheng, and quickly replied, "I'm here, come inside."

Hearing the response, Li Zongheng quickly walked into the cave.

His clothes were tattered and he looked somewhat disheveled, as if he had recently been through a fierce battle.

Seeing him in this state, Qin Zhe couldn't help but ask, "President, didn't you go to the infirmary to guard James? What brings you into the secret realm? And what's with your appearance..."

"Don't ask, it's a long story."

Li Zongheng waved his hand, plopped down, and said, "I had a moment of negligence, and James was taken away, so I simply came to the secret realm for backup. I didn't expect that as soon as I got near the scorched earth, I ran straight into nine Americans, and I barely managed to escape."