Liu Xing braced himself for the worst. In his imagination, the giant corpse below would reanimate, sprouting dozens of arms, feet, and heads, forcing him into another all-out fight. He looked down, but the giant lay still. He scanned his surroundings, trying to pinpoint the source of the rumble. Another thought, that Wei Yi might reappear with yet another giant, flashed through his mind, but he soon realized the shaking emanated from the Royal Barrier itself. It trembled as if it were pudding flicked by a finger.

A loud cracking sound suddenly echoed through the air. To his right, a giant crack split the Royal Barrier. Dense qi surged from the fissure, and the crack began to spread, branching out like tree roots seeking nutrients. More and more cracks appeared on the Royal Barrier. It was as if the barrier was a giant dam, finally failing to hold back the water. Each new crack tried to grow as large as possible, even linking with others. Seeing this, Liu Xing grinned. The Royal Barrier was finally breaking! This was the final confirmation of his victory.

After a moment, thousands of cracks spiderwebbed across the Royal Barrier's surface, as if the barrier were a festering wound infested by roots with qi leaking from each fissure. The Royal Barrier groaned, holding on for dear life, but then a tremendous breaking sound echoed, like a giant hammer shattering a colossal mirror. The Royal Barrier finally collapsed. Fragments of the Royal Barrier scattered, momentarily becoming millions of tiny orange gems before dissolving into qi and flooding the surrounding area. Looking up, Liu Xing saw a clear blue sky, the sun shining brightly and warming his skin. A gentle breeze caressed his hair and body. Liu Xing smiled contentedly; it felt as if the world itself was congratulating him on his victory.

In the end, Wei Yi had never used the Royal Barrier. Liu Xing was grateful for this, though he didn't know its full capabilities. The Royal Barrier was supposed to have many uses, one being to concentrate vast amounts of qi into a single point. Perhaps it was intended to be used with the third ingredient, or for some other purpose entirely. Whatever the reason, he was simply glad he hadn't had to contend with it.

Liu Xing stretched a hand upwards. He hadn't forgotten that Wei Yi was still out there. Knowing Wei Yi, Liu Xing was certain he would attempt some trick, either to attack or to flee. But, he felt he deserved a second or two to relax. He had just killed a giant nearly a kilometer tall and broken through from the Lock Opening realm sixth stage to Core Splitting realm second stage. He had earned this brief respite.

After a moment of stretching and a contented sigh, Liu Xing nodded. "Alright, let's finish this for good."

He was obviously referring to Wei Yi. He then inhaled deeply and prepared to stop the Flowing Meditation Method. He dreaded it slightly. The last time he had tried to stop it, he had felt like his body was being torn apart. Logic suggested that now that he had broken through, he could close the hole into his consciousness. Still, he braced himself for the worst. Exhaling, Liu Xing ceased the meditation method, his heart drumming in his chest. When he felt the hole to his consciousness waver and silently dissipate, Liu Xing sighed in relief. So, the reason he couldn't close it before truly was because he had been undergoing a breakthrough.

Smiling, Liu Xing was relieved that no trouble occurred. "Now, let's try to find Wei Yi."

Liu Xing closed his eyes for a moment, suppressing his qi sense, smell, and hearing. Then, simultaneously, he extended all his senses outward. Instantly, the world that had been blurry snapped into sharp focus. His eyes could see far, from footprints imprinted in the ground below—probably Prince Yang Jinyan's—to a small blue bird with a yellow beak perched in a distant tree. His ears could hear the gentle wind, the fall of pebbles, and even exclamations and happy sobs from some people—who he again assumed were Prince Yang Jinyan and his clan. With his qi sense, he could perceive them more clearly, even Yang Suyin, who was quite far underground and moving upwards. But two points particularly interested him.

Looking to the left, he saw a stone blade jutting out from the ground, its handle stabbed into the earth, the blade pointed skyward.

"So that's where you are," Liu Xing muttered. He had lost his blade when he had failed to close the hole into his consciousness. He sent some of his qi to envelop it, making it float towards him. He needed to figure out how to handle it better. His gun could enter his consciousness, while the shield and turtle he could dismiss and summon at will, though it did raise the question of where they actually resided when dismissed.

Liu Xing glanced toward the second point of interest. It was located near the giant's right armpit, a position obstructed from his view, preventing him from seeing the source of the qi. However, he suspected it was deliberate. If he were Wei Yi and trying to flee, he would minimize his presence and silently escape.

Wasting no time, Liu Xing jumped from his shield and shot off like a bullet. In the air, he reactivated his Lightning Cloak Technique and summoned his shield and kicked it again, accelerating until he moved like true lightning across the sky. As he flew, he couldn't help but think about how much his strength had truly improved. There were no new abilities gained as when he had crossed from Lock Opening to Core Splitting realm, but every aspect of his being seemed upgraded. His physical abilities were enhanced, his senses sharper, his qi control finer, his vitality doubled, his toughness increased, and countless other minor but cumulative benefits. If the current him fought his previous self, he could easily overwhelm him. He still didn't know exactly how strong he was now, but if he avoided arrogance and fought with complete focus, defeating Wei Yi should be easy.

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Moments later, Liu Xing flew to the side of the giant's arm and saw the peculiar qi signature he had sensed. A black cloud with a hint of green, reminiscent of the moss he had fought before, leaked from the giant like escaping gas. With his sharp eyes and qi sense, Liu Xing recognized it as Wei Yi. Summoning his shield and kicking it to adjust his trajectory, he flew straight towards the gaseous form. He saw it suddenly panic and try to extract its entire being from the giant, like a long noodle being slurped from a bowl. A moment later, the dark green gas shot across the ground, attempting to flee. Liu Xing adjusted his trajectory once more. But, coincidentally, the direction Wei Yi chose was directly into the path of his stone blade, now flying like a missile towards him.

"Wei Yi!" Liu Xing shouted. When the black-green gas actually looked behind, even without eyes, he sensed fear emanating from it at the sight of him. As Wei Yi looked forward again, he saw Liu Xing's stone blade flying straight towards him. A small screech, as if Wei Yi were a mere chicken, could be heard as the stone blade split the black-green gas in two before continuing towards Liu Xing.

Liu Xing caught his stone blade with his right hand. As he grasped it, it felt like a missing puzzle piece finally slotting into place. With the stone blade in his right hand and gun in his left, he grinned ferociously. Lightning crackling around him, he kicked his shield as hard as possible, shooting right towards Wei Yi.

Wei Yi himself was actually slowing down, trying to rejoin his gaseous body that had been split in two. But when Liu Xing kicked his shield, creating a loud booming sound, Wei Yi abandoned half of his body and bolted. The gaseous remnant he left behind vaporized into a small cloud of qi and a wisp of black smoke. As Liu Xing passed through this, his gun absorbed it, but he didn't dwell on it. Instead, he raised his stone blade, and it began to emit a purple light. Wei Yi in this form was fast, but he couldn't escape his next attack.

The small gas cloud suddenly formed a single eye and a tiny mouth. Their form was illusory, like clouds mimicking a face.

"Wait, wait! Don't attack! I surrender! I surrender—"

Before he could finish, Liu Xing swung his stone blade. A giant crescent of purple qi, dozens of meters high and a meter wide, erupted from his stone blade. It tore a gash in the ground before swallowing the small black-green gas that was Wei Yi. Liu Xing heard Wei Yi's scream in terror, as if he were a child suddenly plunged into an ocean full of giant sharks. It sounded pitiful, yet Liu Xing felt no remorse. Wei Yi was not someone deserving of mercy or the benefit of the doubt. He was a demonic cultivator who had transformed an entire capital into abominations. So much life lost, grief that would plague the entire empire, and more. No, even if Wei Yi were to reappear in human form, blinded, limbs severed, crying and begging for repentance, Liu Xing would still kill him.

Wei Yi's screams intensified for a moment, like a startled sleeper drenched in ice water. But then, though his cries echoed in the empty expanse of the former capital, they faded, becoming softer and softer, until silence fell. Liu Xing landed on the ground, his feet dragging for several meters before he stopped right in front of a swirling black smoke. Without hesitation, he pointed his gun at the smoke, and like a leaf on flowing water, the black smoke rushed into his gun. Upon contact, his gun absorbed it, and a second later, no trace of Wei Yi remained.

Liu Xing let out a long breath. With this, he had truly won. The giant was dead, and as far as he knew, Wei Yi was gone. Looking back, he saw the giant's corpse sprawled atop the ruins of the Twelve Sun Empire. He decided to sit, supporting himself with both hands. A contented smile spread across his face. This long and grueling fight was finally over. Thinking about it, today had been the longest day of his life. The morning had started well, but had become progressively worse before finally culminating in victory.

Deciding that merely sitting on the ground wasn't enough, he lay on his back and watched the sky, reflecting on what had just transpired. His thoughts centered on Wei Yi. Bai Lin, the one indirectly responsible for involving him in this mess, had said Wei Yi was a talented cultivator and relatively young. He probably turned to demonic cultivation to gain power quickly, and then likely stumbled upon some inheritance from the Ji Dongyang sect or one closely related.

Liu Xing suddenly remembered the grieving mother, the one who held the Flute of Serenity. "Wasn't her son on an expedition? Did he have a connection to Wei Yi?" He couldn't recall the details, and as he tried to piece together the information he had, another thought surfaced, eclipsing all thoughts of Wei Yi.

"A Heaven Grade Technique!" Liu Xing muttered with a happy smile. This whole mess had started because he had wanted this technique. His original plan had been to gather treasures and confront Wei Yi later, but that plan had been ruined after meeting Elder Xia Juentian, spiraling out of control until he found himself lying here, in the ruins of the capital city of the Twelve Sun Empire.

"I wonder what technique Bai Lin will give me." He had said it wasn't a combat technique, but one that would allow him to observe Wei Yi from afar. Even if it wasn't a combat technique, a Heaven Grade was still a Heaven Grade, and he wanted to get his hands on it soon. In fact, he felt an urge to get up and rush to Bai Lin right now. The injuries on his body were already healed, and he felt overflowing with energy. The only thing feeling strained was his mental state, arguably the most important aspect.

As Liu Xing pondered whether he should go right now or sleep first, he suddenly sensed a large amount of qi gathering in the sky. Sensing this, he stood up abruptly, gripping his blade and gun tightly. His mind raced with apprehension, his heart pounding harder.

Liu Xing looked up, wondering if this was Wei Yi's doing. He was sure he had killed Wei Yi. That black smoke—darkness—was something that could conceal oneself from others. He suspected that in the entire world, only he could sense Wei Yi without trouble, and he was quite certain this wasn't Wei Yi. Still, he remained open to any possibility, even if it was Wei Yi somehow, he would accept it and proceed to kill him again.

In the sky, a huge amount of qi coalesced into a golden cloud. This cloud was directly above him, close enough that if Liu Xing jumped straight up, he would reach it. As he wondered what this golden cloud could be, it suddenly transformed into a golden bell.

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