Chapter 1700: Unyielding Will

Two seconds later

The fortress, already a ruin, was empty; within a radius of several hundred kilometers outside, over three hundred Fifth Stage cultivators were desperately fleeing on foot.

Aside from lingering rules filling the air, it seemed as if nothing had ever happened here.

Just like a dream.

In midair, Lin An slowly descended holding the head of the flame giant.

Seeing the Chimera Emperor and Hei Di frozen in place, he simply spoke:

"What are you standing there for?"

"Chase after them and catch them."

No nonsense, no explanation.

Having said that, Lin An turned without looking back, carrying the head toward the exchange point.

Although it was abnormal for him not to go out and kill, and even abnormal that he didn't act after slaying Gul Hong Mo, for Lin An the intimidation had already been achieved; he needed to do nothing further.

Let them doubt.

Once these Fifth Stage cultivators come to their senses and figure out what happened, he will likely have bought enough time.

Moreover, he was utterly exhausted.

No one knew he had burned out his oil and exhausted his wick; he could barely stand.

Stiffly turning his head.

Hearing Lin An's command, Hei Di, who had suffered the greatest impact, could only hastily agree.

As the person least able to believe all this, he still hadn't reacted, or rather, his own imagination had frozen him.

"Yes!!"

After hastily agreeing, Hei Di unconsciously exchanged a glance with the Chimera Emperor.

For a moment, he actually saw the same thing in that silly dragon's eyes as he saw in his own.

That thing was fear, that thing was panic.

"Hei Di! What on earth is going on!? What on earth is going on!?"

"Gul Hong Mo is dead! Is that person truly a Star-Shatterer!?"

Half a minute later, while capturing a large number of War Stage cultivators who couldn't escape in time, the Chimera Emperor repeatedly asked Hei Di in horror.

His imagination ran wilder than Hei Di's; in his judgment, Lin An was strong, but no matter how strong, he shouldn't possess this level of power.

Instantly killing the flame giant, he even saw from Gul Hong Mo's dying, unblinking eyes how that fellow had died.

With no power to resist, the barely struggling cut seemed to tell him that this Star-Destroying Level powerhouse of equal strength to him, before Lin An, could not even resist—like a chick, its head was severed in a single stroke!

This is too terrifying! This is simply impossible!

Even if Lin An were truly a Star-Shatterer, it would be impossible for him to so easily kill a Star-Destroyer!

He could not imagine what, in that extremely crude spatial interlayer, Gul Hong Mo had 'seen' that could make a Star-Destroyer despair and accept death!

"I don't know."

He simply replied.

Hei Di's face turned pale as he hoarsely spoke, shaking his head directly.

He also didn't know; he truly didn't know.

Even as Lin An walked up to him, he saw Lin An's head full of white hair, and saw Lin An's steps somewhat unsteady after turning.

He felt Lin An was like a withered tree, as if a breath could kill him.

Thinking that Lin An had actually let those Star-Destroyers go and even had them substitute in capturing people.

These abnormalities all told him that Lin An still had a problem; Lin An could not possibly be a true Star-Destroyer. Perhaps Lin An had used the ultimate trump card he had previously guessed, enabling this scene.

But...

He dared not gamble anymore, nor trust his own judgment.

If he misjudged again, he truly feared he would die.

"Don't think so much."

"After capturing these Fifth Stage cultivators, we won't do anything."

"Don't keep that person waiting anxiously."

Hei Di took a deep breath, giving the Chimera Emperor a meaningful look.

After this, he had decided to stop probing; at least until he had absolute certainty, he did not want to die like Gul Hong Mo.

Who knows whether these abnormalities are real or false?

Who knows whether Lin An is perhaps again putting on an act with them?

But he had noticed.

He noticed that, as Lin An walked out, behind him was a sea of rules.

(Over thirty kinds of rules...)

(What kind of monster is this!?)

"Query... vitality... recovery options!"

"System!!"

"Hum--"

"Hum--"

"Hum--"

In a quiet exchange hall, Lin An trembled all over as he removed his mask; white light flickered all over his body.

He appeared withered.

The face that once brimmed with life was now covered in withered, ashen decay.

Just like a dying old man, his face already bore the aura of death.

He had practically crawled his way in.

After forcing himself to walk to the exchange point, he had no strength left at all.

Like a worm reaching the end of its life, he inch by inch crawled beneath the exchange light sphere.

Cold... so cold...

Waves of weakness felt like an invisible pair of huge hands pulling Lin An into the abyss of death.

Even though he had spent millions of points, the constant exchange-state recovery function could not ease his current "injury".

Obviously his vitality was strong, obviously he had no injuries at all.

But to Lin An, he only felt himself turning into machinery; with his fundamental life force exhausted, he would soon become an empty shell.

Point-based repair could not save his life at all.

It's like filling a scrapped car with more gasoline—it simply won't start again!

No one knows what price he paid to kill a Star‑Destroyer with Fourth‑Stage strength!

I can't die...

How could I die here!!

I've already passed the hardest level—I will absolutely not die here!

Lin An strained to lift his head; his gray‑white eyes, barely seeing anything, were filled with reluctance.

He clenched his fists tightly, his fragmented will frantically searching the system for a way to survive.

If he could still use the Eye of Samsara now, he would surely see the three flames of life on his body like dying embers, almost extinguished.

The cost of burning the Flame of Time was greater than he had imagined.

In that less than a second, his future was burned to nothing! If that was lifespan, it was the time he had left to live.

In those mere fractions of a second, he had likely exhausted over thousands of years of time!

And the time left was probably only a few minutes!

Moreover, from the burning, Lin An could not even remember anything before the Apocalypse.

From the start of the burning, fragments of his earliest memories vanished; during the burning, it felt as if he were constantly dying!

"Beep, querying exchange options according to conditions."

"Beep, query failed—current points insufficient to exchange Cosmic Light (Silver Core Grade)."

"Beep, modifying recovery standard, requerying."

"Beep, query failed—current points insufficient to exchange Life Origin (Dead Star Grade)"

"Beep, modifying recovery standard, requerying."

"Beep, query failed—current points insufficient to exchange Life Spring Water (Silver Star Grade)"

"Beep..."

Consciousness grew increasingly fuzzy.

One after another, the icy failure prompts sounded like a death sentence being pronounced.

On the cold ground beneath a faint blue light, Lin An, like a corpse on the brink of death, strained with his last will to prop himself up.

The ever‑weakening flame of life seemed ready to snuff out at any moment.

Yet beneath the shroud of death, his will burned fiercely!