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"Why did he leave?"

Even long after Old Liu had departed, Ao Zhen, gripping her sword, refused to relax her vigilance.

That man was the most dangerous person she had ever encountered.

Even though he had left for some time, the residual aura he left behind still sent shivers down her spine.

The bloodline in her veins told her that many elders of her family had once been nothing more than food on his table.

Her genes informed her that he was a figure from the clouds, one of the most terrifying beings in this world.

And such a person had carried unmistakable killing intent moments ago.

"Because he has changed..." Chen Qing said with a sardonic smile.

This might have been his best chance to kill me. Once I return to Jiangnan, with the revival of multiple factions and a mix of chaos, trying to eliminate a faction leader would require overwhelming power. At least in the short term, the Shenwu Guild won’t be able to manage that.

But even with such a golden opportunity, he chose to give it up.

Because, even with seventy to eighty percent certainty, he was unwilling to take that gamble.

Chen Qing gradually sat down. With his spiritual power depleted, he had forcibly employed the Thousand Eyes Technique.

His body was already pushed to its limit.

Just now, Old Liu had been exerting constant pressure on him.

If Chen Qing showed even a hint of fatigue, the situation would undoubtedly have ended differently.

Conversely, if Old Liu had been a fraction more decisive and acted himself, the outcome would have been another story.

"He’s grown old..." Chen Qing suddenly laughed.

It’s often said: the older one gets, the more cautious they become, the more they fear death.

Perhaps this is the universal affliction of all living beings.

Even if he was once a blood-soaked general of the battlefield, having lived for so long has made the notion of life’s end utterly intolerable for him.

Even a sliver of risk, he wouldn’t dare take...

"My lord, what now...?"

Chen Qing looked at her. "How is it that after crossing swords with that guy, you came out completely unscathed?"

This was the point that puzzled him greatly.

Even if Ao Zhen had regained her former mindset, reacquiring the world’s will and achieving parity with the other party in power, they should at best be evenly matched.

Furthermore, her years of mental decline and a sudden epiphany should require time for her body to adapt.

Under such circumstances, Chen Qing had always thought the other party had a better chance of winning.

But he hadn’t expected Ao Zhen to win so swiftly, and without taking a single hit.

"He was a pure swordsman..." Ao Zhen thought back, a complex expression flickering across her face.

"He could tell I was holding back because of the great enemy outside.

I would inevitably conserve my strength.

He did not want an unfair fight and thus chose a method of combat actually unfavorable to him. "

"Oh?" Chen Qing’s curiosity was piqued. "What method?"

"Sword Drawing Technique!"

"Sword Drawing Technique?" Chen Qing froze for a moment.

He recognized it. The so-called Sword Drawing Technique was a common dueling method among swordsmen.

Two individuals stood at striking distance, drawing swords against each other—a contest of who could best grasp the timing and who could draw their blade the fastest.

"No wonder..."

Now Chen Qing understood. The Sword Drawing Technique settled everything in a single strike. Regardless of who won, the victor expended minimal energy. It was likely the least taxing duel the swordsman could have conceived, and Ao Zhen would have no choice but to go all-out!

But even so, he miscalculated.

Chen Qing looked at Ao Zhen. "If my guess is correct, you were already subjected to mental weakening by that Joyful Buddha before the duel, weren’t you?"

Ao Zhen nodded. Joyful Buddha had used lustful temptation, forcing her to maintain high-intensity mental resistance for over ten days.

Although her physical strength remained unchanged, her mental energy had been greatly depleted.

This was undoubtedly Joyful Buddha’s precaution, as she carried none of the Buddhist Sect’s seeds within her.

"Even under those conditions, you still managed to win?" Chen Qing chuckled.

"Because I was always stronger than him!" Ao Zhen replied with a smile.

A million years ago, her victories hadn’t relied on tricks. Back then, their contest in swordsmanship had been initiated by him. She had won for one simple reason: her swordsmanship surpassed his.

And now it was the same. The Sword Drawing Technique tested focus and timing. She had defeated countless sword masters in her lifetime, accumulating immeasurable experience—it was by no means in vain.

"You seem quite at peace with your victory..." Chen Qing slowly stood up.

"In a fair fight, I would still win!" Ao Zhen declared confidently.

Chen Qing glanced at her. This woman had indeed changed. But it made sense. As the inheritor of the Sword Dao Fruit, this was her nature—sharp and defiant.

"Let’s go..."

"My lord, are we returning to Jiangnan?"

"Not yet..." Chen Qing shook his head.

"Not returning to Jiangnan?" Ao Zhen was momentarily stunned.

At this moment, her condition was extremely poor, and Chen Qing’s spiritual power was completely drained. Not returning to Jiangnan and wandering outside—were they not courting disaster?

"That old man may not dare to act himself, but that doesn’t mean he won’t set up ambushes along the way. Returning to Jiangnan now would guarantee Buddhist Sect roadblocks. With you not yet having reached King Level and your current poor state, encountering one would mean certain death..."

Chen Qing sighed. After inheriting the Dao Fruit, Ao Zhen had gained one drawback—she would never evade a battle. If encountered, she would undoubtedly fight, making any cunning evasion nearly impossible. Going forward, there would be many situations where she’d be a liability.

"Then, my lord... where shall we go?"

"We just need to stay hidden from Old Liu’s people..." Chen Qing murmured. "Ziyue has a large reserve of Bai Yu. She should recover quickly. As a top-level Spatial Sorcerer, she will come to find me. All we need to do is last until she arrives."

"You seem to trust Ziyue quite a lot, my lord."

"I trust all of you," Chen Qing smiled. "Just as I trusted you to win."

"That’s only because you had no other options..." Ao Zhen ruthlessly exposed the truth.

Chen Qing, unbothered, merely grinned. "Right now, we still have no other options."

"My lord..." Ao Zhen stepped forward to steady Chen Qing, who seemed barely able to stand. "What do you think the future world will look like?"

"That..." Chen Qing was taken aback, not expecting the question. After mulling it over, he replied, "It will be unlike anything you’ve ever known. This might become the most chaotic Era ever. The previously restrained factions will likely wrestle to the death this time because... if they don’t fight, no one may survive. "

"Oh?"

"In other words... the Era of Great Strife!"

The Otherworldly Demon Statues could no longer be suppressed.

The arrival of the fourth version was now inevitable.

No matter how hard Pu Yunchuan tried, the program he had originally set up represented a grand design—it could not be altered.

Over the years, Pu Yunchuan must have attempted to change the program from the outside, right?

But as a fellow programmer, Chen Qing knew very well that such fixed programming, once modified, necessitated data reassembly. That meant all living beings in this world would be formatted and rebuilt. Would the formatted beings still be the same as they were before?

To a technician, there might be no difference. But once one’s heart began to regard every being here as truly alive, things changed.

It was impossible to alter the underlying program without formatting. Since it was impossible, and the original program was immutable, the only solution to the fourth version’s threat from the Otherworldly Demon Statues lay internally.

Pu Yunchuan...

Chen Qing gazed at the sky, his emotions a tangled web.

All those years ago, your decision reshaped the Human World.

Hundreds of billions of humans perished; the entire Human Race became data lifeforms. And now, if we lose again, not only the people here but even the inhabitants of Digital City face extinction.

Such consequences... do you still remain resolute in your past convictions?

What... exactly are you thinking?