The disappearance of Bu was complete, along with Hulao Pass and the million-strong army of the eighteen allied lords! The Battle of Hulao Pass, an event passed down through the ages and still celebrated, was gone.
The spiritual space remained the same—dark, boundless, and vast. The light figure still hovered high above, its eyes flashing with piercing crimson beams.
Qin Fen didn't pay much mind to the light figure; his thoughts were still trapped in the moment at Hulao Pass, focused on Lü Bu. In his mind, the image of Lü Bu's back as he turned to leave, the profound loneliness of his defeat, and Liu Bei’s triumphant, upward-tossing laughter—two starkly different emotions flooded Qin Fen’s entire being.
In that instant, Qin Fen felt Lü Bu's isolation more keenly than ever before. "Lonely?"
In the dark void, the light figure had vanished without a trace. In its place stood a man Qin Fen had never seen. His handsomeness was indescribable, yet his expression carried an inherent arrogance, as if nothing in the world commanded his notice.
With short, crisp hair, a high-bridged nose, broad shoulders, a slender waist, and eyes like shining stars, his face looked chiseled from stone. A sleek black warrior’s uniform draped his frame, radiating an undeniable elegance. An aura of refusing to bow to anything emanated from every pore, yet his starry eyes and the words he spoke betrayed an unspoken, profound loneliness.
That very loneliness instantly brought to mind the sight of Lü Bu’s retreating back as he left the fray.
Rumor had it that this strange spiritual space housed eight supreme warriors. Seven were dubbed Black Hole level, and one, who had never shown himself, was the Heaven-Shattering level warrior, Zong Jue Lü!
Qin Fen had met the other seven Grandmasters of Martial Arts countless times; their appearances were etched into his memory. This newcomer, however, was entirely unfamiliar, meaning this could only be the legendary, heaven-defying, Heaven-Shattering Supreme Warrior, Zong Jue Lü, known only by name until now!
"Lonely?"
Zong Jue Lü looked at Qin Fen and spoke again. His voice sounded calm and gentle, yet it could not mask the underlying melancholy.
Qin Fen nodded softly, then shook his head gently. He could feel Lü Bu’s loneliness, and he could feel Zong Jue Lü’s loneliness, yet he himself had never felt truly lonely.
Zong Jue Lü smiled and sat down in the void beside Qin Fen, gazing into the deep, dark expanse as he spoke lightly, “The lonely ones in this world are not necessarily those who are unrivaled. Invincibility is a form of loneliness, but are there no other kinds of loneliness? The gods you humans speak of—they may not be truly invincible, but they are still lonely.”
Qin Fen shook his head again, a hint of a wry smile playing on his lips. “Perhaps my loneliness can only stem from invincibility, but I am not invincible now. As for other loneliness…?”
Qin Fen shook his head with firm resolve. “In any other circumstance, I would not be lonely. Because…”
A confident smile touched Qin Fen’s face, tinged with a rare pride. “I have friends.”
“Friends…” Zong Jue Lü murmured the word several times, as if savoring its taste. He looked at Qin Fen. “Can you free me from loneliness?”
Qin Fen smiled. For a warrior dedicated solely to the Martial Path, such a question was simple. Who didn't wish to stand at the pinnacle of martial arts? Who didn't desire to know the ultimate end of the Martial Path?
“Very good,” Zong Jue Lü said, a look of slight satisfaction on his face. “A warrior who doesn't even harbor a heart of invincibility—how can he speak of being unrivaled? Which one of your Divine Beast Warriors doesn't possess a heart of invincibility? Do you think becoming a Divine Beast only requires reaching a certain strength level? Perhaps so. But without a heart of invincibility, how could one ever reach that height?”
A heart of invincibility…
Qin Fen pondered seriously. Back during the New Recruit Tournament, didn't he possess that spirit of being unstoppable against all odds—a heart of invincibility? But as his horizons broadened, as he witnessed more powerful warriors, his drive to ascend in martial strength grew fiercer, yet the heart of invincibility had silently begun to fade.
“A heart of invincibility does not necessitate loneliness,” Zong Jue Lü stated proudly while standing tall. “The Masters also possess hearts of invincibility, but they are not lonely, because I am here! You are different. You walk the Path of the Gods; you need a heart of invincibility, and you must also be lonely. To you, this may seem contradictory, but such is the reality.”
“A heart of invincibility… loneliness…” Qin Fen looked down at his hands. These were the fists once claimed to break the sky, and these legs had once told Caesar and the others that he would wait for them at the peak. Now, he had surpassed them by a great distance, yet he lacked the intensity he once held.
Invincibility—loneliness—
Qin Fen clenched his fists tightly, his thoughts drifting back to the eve of the Battle of Hulao Pass, remembering Lü Bu’s loneliness. He didn't seek to emulate that loneliness, but he needed to comprehend what the loneliness of true invincibility felt like.
Zong Jue Lü watched Qin Fen's expression and nodded repeatedly. A few words from Di Gang wouldn't suffice for training that spanned twenty-four hours of continuous combat, but Qin Fen was indeed beginning to find his direction. He wondered how much help this period of contemplation would bring him. How long would this meditation last?
Forty-eight hours had passed! Lin Ling glanced intermittently at the deeply slumbering Qin Fen. Forty-eight hours had elapsed since the ship took off, and Qin Fen had been continuously asleep, showing no sign of waking.
“Martial Venerable! I’ll fight you to the death!”
A thoroughly disgruntled shriek burst from Xue Tian’s mouth. Xue Tian, who had just been asleep, woke up again. Everyone nearby cast exasperated glances his way. This young man had already slept three times on the ship, yet each awakening was heralded by such a shout. Nobody knew what grudge he held against the "Martial Venerable" he bellowed about, that he featured in every dream, calling for a final confrontation.
“Bad luck!” Xue Tian vigorously scratched his head and snatched the nearby juice, downing several sips. “I used to dream of beautiful women. These past six months, being tormented by the Martial Venerable and the Six Stars of the Sacred Martial Arts has been hell. I can’t even dream of Gandharva, my own Shakti power.”
Yang Lie turned to look at Xue Tian in the row behind him and shook his head repeatedly. He wasn't much better; the moment he closed his eyes, he saw the ice and snow of the North Pole. He wondered if this was his body instinctively simulating an environment for practice.
Caesar turned to look at the sleeping Qin Fen, then turned to Lin Ling. “Is Old Qin still sleeping?”
Lin Ling nodded lightly. “Blood pressure normal, heartbeat normal, all vital signs normal. He’s just deeply unconscious.”
Brooks pouted, looking at Qin Fen. “Is sleeping some kind of special training? Otherwise, how could Old Qin sleep this long?”
“Five more days until Saturn. This is so boring,” Xue Tian checked the schedule and pressed the service call button again.
Beep… beep… beep… In the air stewardess duty room, the young attendant on duty looked at the illuminated seat number light with a strangely complex expression. For the past two days, almost all the female attendants had learned about one thing: there was a particularly talkative, handsome young passenger on this vessel.
His gossip skills far surpassed those of entertainment reporters; if he became an entertainment reporter, the others would likely starve.
“Miss, you are truly beautiful.”
“Miss, where are you from?”
“London? Really? What a coincidence! I’m from London too! We’re practically neighbors!”
The female attendant felt black lines appearing on her forehead. Didn't this guy just claim to be from Zibo City last time? And the time before that, didn't he say Shanghai? And even earlier, he claimed to be from Vermillion Bird City on Mars?
“Do you have a boyfriend? No? What about me? Not only am I handsome, but my martial arts strength is not to be underestimated! If I were your boyfriend, I could absolutely guarantee your sense of security.”
“Sir, what can I get for you?”
“I need you to be my girlfriend.”
“Sir, you must be joking. What can I get for you?”
“I need you to be my girlfriend.”
“…Sir, what can I get for you?”
“Fine. I need a glass of juice.”
“Please wait a moment…”
“Hey you guys, don’t worry so much about Old Qin,” Xue Tian leaned over the back of Qin Fen’s seat. “He’ll probably wake up by the time the ship lands.”
The others looked at Xue Tian, then back at Qin Fen, and returned to their seats, either meditating or resting their eyes.
“Too boring,” Xue Tian stretched his back, rose from his seat, and announced, “I’m heading to the billiard room for a while. Anyone joining me?”
Caesar shook his head, Solomon shook his head, and Yang Lie and the others all shook their heads too. Xue Tian saw their reactions, shook his head like them, and sighed, “Alas! Without opponents, who can match me in the billiard room? I always play against a crowd and clear the table in a single shot every time. It’s truly lonely! Invincibility, what a lonely thing it is.” Yang Lie watched Xue Tian’s retreating back and shook his head again. He’s just going there to fleece people; why pretend like that? I heard last time, Xue Tian took over twelve tables simultaneously, playing snooker against twelve different travelers. He cleared all twelve tables in one shot, making those travelers pay the bets. A Martial Arts Grandmaster using his machine-like control of force to hustle money in snooker? Only someone like Xue Tian could pull that off.
Solomon stood up and walked in Xue Tian’s direction. Caesar watched Solomon leave, then also stood up and followed. Brooks, Morade, Du Peng—all rose and departed. Yang Lie glanced at Chen Feiyu and Lin Ling, who remained motionless, then quickened his pace to enter the second-floor billiard room.
Xue Tian hugged a cue stick and looked at the group that followed him. “How do you guys want to play? Clearing the table in one shot isn't hard for any of us.”
Yang Lie picked up a cue stick and skillfully performed a pool shot motion. “Three tables each. Since it’s going to be a one-shot clear anyway, let’s see whose speed and time are shortest and scores are highest.”
Solomon already broke the rack. The white ball scattered the reds, sending one red directly into the pocket. The cue ball traced a high-speed arc and stopped just in front of the black ball, followed by another sharp, crisp strike.
In an instant, the billiard hall was dominated by the fast movements of the young men. The rhythmic crack of impact sounded like hundreds of billiard balls colliding.
Xue Tian chuckled as he kept shooting. They were all martial arts experts; calculating and controlling force was easy for them compared to ordinary people. However, their strengths differed, and in terms of precision stopping the cue ball, there were still slight gaps—gaps so minute that only a supercomputer could calculate the infinitesimal margins of error.
A small game of pool could focus all their energy. Wasn't this another form of combat? Since they couldn't spar physically on the spaceship, they found an alternative competition.
The effect wasn't as good as a real spar, but it still provided some benefit.
Lin Ling turned to Chen Feiyu and asked in a voice utterly devoid of emotion, “Aren’t you going?”
Chen Feiyu looked at Qin Fen and shook his head with a smile. “I’m not going. Qin Fen hasn’t woken up; I’m not going anywhere.”
Lin Ling observed Chen Feiyu for a moment longer. Chen Feiyu withdrew his gaze from Qin Fen. “I told Qin Fen that this life is his. Without him, I wouldn’t even have the foundation to seek revenge. Now, because of his help, I’ve broken that strange barrier and have hope for vengeance. One must always know gratitude. Qin Fen is the only benefactor I have right now.”
Lin Ling said nothing more and returned her gaze to Qin Fen, noticing that his fingers twitched slightly.
Time in space travel was long and tedious, sometimes feeling like years passing in a day. The spaceship flew on through this monotonous duration for six days.
For four days, Qin Fen sat in deep contemplation, reviewing every detail of his life, recalling the emotion Lü Bu held while polishing the Sky-Piercing Halberd.
Zong Jue Lü watched Qin Fen’s vacant eyes, and slowly, his consciousness began to return. In the blink of an eye, he was fully lucid.
“Enlightened?”
With those two simple words, Qin Fen listened and slowly nodded.
Zong Jue Lü’s lips curved in faint satisfaction. “Truly enlightened?”
“Enlightened.” Qin Fen stood up and stretched his chest slightly. “In truth, every field has the potential for invincibility; it’s not limited to martial arts. But the previous Light Figure only showed me Lü Bu’s loneliness. That’s because his loneliness is the most difficult and the most domineering. The invincibility in any other field cannot be compared to the invincibility in another field—crossing disciplines is like crossing mountains. But only his mortal enemies can be compared to them. Or rather, Lü Bu's invincibility could destroy those others who are invincible in their own realms. He might not surpass them in their specific domain, but he could crush them.”
Zong Jue Lü’s satisfaction deepened. “Yes. The Masters have hearts of invincibility that lie in their absolute dominance within their self-defined domains. For instance, the Master’s heart of invincibility lies in research; in that area, I cannot match him. In the realm of pure force, I cannot match Turbulent Lord. They can all grasp their own form of invincibility. My invincibility cannot surpass their invincibility within their specific areas, but I can destroy them.”
“So…” Zong Jue Lü looked at Qin Fen. “What do you feel?”
“Feel?” Qin Fen threw a punch skyward into the endless void. The vast power of his fist radiated an aura of world-beating invincibility! The Qin Fen who once claimed his fist could shatter the heavens, the one who declared, ‘I stand at the peak waiting for your challenge’—he was back!
Di Gang! Eighteen-Star Level!
“Kid, you reached Di Gang?”
In the void, Turbulent Lord emerged. Wasting no words, he unleashed a fierce, overwhelmingly powerful Eighteen-Star Di Gang wave, the Mountain-Overturning Tide. Qin Fen neither retreated nor dodged, smashing the Investiture of the Gods Tablet upward.
Boom! Astral energy scattered wildly, and the void itself seemed to warp. Qin Fen’s Investiture of the Gods Tablet was once again blown to smithereens, but Turbulent Lord’s punch, unlike last time, did not land solidly; it too disintegrated like the tablet.
No victor, no loser! Turbulent Lord gave a thumbs-up. “Not bad, kid. From this moment on, you’re considered my peer.”
Qin Fen smiled. Turbulent Lord hadn't used his full power, but achieving this level was certainly a source of pride and accomplishment! He’s settled.
“Kid, let’s have one!”
Turbulent Lord vanished, and Zeng Yicheng popped out. Qin Fen crossed his arms over his chest, not using the Divine Fist Dao, merely opening his arms as if to embrace Zeng Yicheng.
“Damn it! Overly intimate? What the hell! Can you get any more perverted?” Zeng Yicheng didn't dodge, planting his feet firmly for a head-on clash. The immense Heavenly Gang Qi slammed into Qin Fen. Twenty-Star Level! Heavenly Gang Qi!
Qin Fen’s eyes rolled back, and he was immediately knocked unconscious by the tremendous force. In the final instant before losing consciousness, he clearly heard three sentences:
“Damn it! Kid, playing dirty with me? Know who the true King of Perversion is now?” “Zeng Yicheng, you knocked Qin Fen out! Who am I supposed to fight? I’ll kill you!” “Kill Poqi, are you crazy?! I’m getting out of here, I’m not fighting you!”
The sleeping Qin Fen’s body trembled violently, and his eyes slowly opened. He saw Lin Ling looking at him. Within her emotionless eyes, faintly, faintly, there were tiny, almost unnoticeable traces of emotion: concern, and confusion!
Such a small amount that Qin Fen almost doubted whether Lin Ling herself was aware of it.
“You slept for six days.”
The concern in Lin Ling’s eyes vanished, leaving only that tiny trace of confusion, though her tone remained devoid of emotion.
Qin Fen pondered briefly. “I was cultivating.”
The confusion in Lin Ling’s eyes disappeared.
“Watching me the whole time?” Qin Fen suddenly asked. Lin Ling nodded.
“Is that so?” Qin Fen nodded slightly. “Sorry.”
Lin Ling offered no pleasantries, her words still completely flat. “You are the leader of the team, whether you admit it or not, that is a fact. Before you do anything, you must consider everything comprehensively. This time, your performance was a failure. If you had been ambushed while cultivating, it would have divided our combat strength and focus.”
Qin Fen nodded repeatedly. Although Lin Ling’s words were sharp and bordering on unfeeling, everything she said was fact. There was absolutely no room for rebuttal or excuse. Even if this retreat hadn't been his subjective choice, the fact remained: he slept for six days. This reality could not be escaped.
A man must dare to bear responsibility. One who only seeks excuses when facing trouble is no man! A man with a heart of invincibility disdains finding excuses; right is right, wrong is wrong, and if wrong, one must bear it!
“Oh, where are Xue Tian and the others?” Qin Fen noticed that Caesar and the others were not in their seats, looking slightly puzzled.
“Second floor, billiard room,” Lin Ling reported as if reading from a work log, her tone unwavering in its neutrality.
“Oh, I’ll go find them.” Qin Fen stood up, took one step, then turned back to Lin Ling, leaning down to whisper near her ear, “Also, thank you. Having you around truly is a good thing.”
After Qin Fen walked away and headed upstairs, Lin Ling slowly unclenched her fists. Her palms, which never sweated even when assassinating a Martial Arts Master, were slick with sweat. Her body, which always maintained a stable heartbeat and normal blood flow, experienced its first ‘abnormal state.’
Having you around truly is a good thing. Lin Ling narrowed her perfect eyes. A faint trace of happiness flickered in her pupils—this time, it wasn't imitation, but a genuine smile. It was a pity Qin Fen didn't see it.