Scripture of Calamitous Chaos: Shadowstep.

It let him move through the shadows. At Luo Qingchuan's current Qi Refining Level 7, its range was seventy meters.

The spiritual energy cost was huge. Nearly a third of Luo Qingchuan's reserves vanished at once.

The two dancers were blasted away by an invisible, freezing wind. They were lucky. They were still alive.

In an instant.

Terrified screams boiled over. The crowd shoved and scrambled for the exits.

[Ding. Host has saved others from a certain death calamity. Saint Value +2000.]

[Ding. Host has participated in and triggered chaos. Defiance Value +2000.]

23:19:00.

Luo Qingchuan steadied himself and waited grimly. There were only twelve seconds left until the moment everyone died.

Fate was turning around. From this moment on, the future would head somewhere new.

The countdown began.

Luo Qingchuan burst toward Peony like a tiger going for the kill.

"Calamity Blade: Calamity Blade."

A tiny ominous sword shot ahead first, but Peony caught it in his huge hand.

But Luo Qingchuan was already in front of him.

In a flash, the boy swung out a pitch-black long blade. It carved a horrifying black arc through the air and slashed across Peony's waist, aiming to cut him clean in two.

Crk, crk, crk—

The blade bit into Peony's waist, sank into flesh and blood, then stopped against his spine.

Under the work cap, the man's face twisted with shock and fury. He crushed the small sword in his hand and smashed a punch into Luo Qingchuan's shoulder!

Bang.

Luo Qingchuan staggered back several steps. The long blade in his hand scattered into black particles and vanished.

His vision swam.

"Luo Qingchuan!" Chen Yanyu finally reacted, but Luo Qingchuan barked her to a stop.

"Don't come over!"

Luo Qingchuan spoke in a calm, low voice. "Miss Chen, get the two injured civilians out first."

"But you—"

"I can hold him off."

Eyes reddening, Chen Yanyu ran toward the two unconscious dancers. The few scraps of cloth on their bodies were torn even more, exposing large swaths of pale skin.

On the main stage, "Peony" dropped to the floor. He clutched the heavily bleeding wound at his waist and bared his teeth at Luo Qingchuan.

"You're a demonic cultivator too."

Peony ground the words out through clenched teeth. Facing those chaotic black shadows, he felt overwhelming fear in his mind.

It was like facing a pure higher being, one far above him. This was definitely a cultivation art above Heaven-grade!

"What are they to you?!"

"They've got nothing to do with me."

"Do I have a grudge with you?"

"No old grudges. No recent enmity."

"Then why—"

Luo Qingchuan grinned. "You eat people. I eat you. That's only natural."

Both his Defiance Value and Saint Value had gone up by 2000 at the same time. That was an unexpected bonus.

"Good... very good..."

Blood slithered around Peony's waist and abdomen like little snakes, healing his wound.

His muscles began to swell, tearing at his body. He rose on the main stage like a giant, nearly three meters tall!

"Who's eating who isn't certain yet, boy! Your whole cultivation is mine!"

Peony charged forward in quick strides. He lowered his body and drove a heavy punch straight at Luo Qingchuan's face.

Luo Qingchuan gripped the black Calamity Blade from the void once more.

Blade against fist.

Amid the crowd's screams and chaotic shoving;

amid the bar's pounding drums and riotous rhythm;

fist and blade crashed together again and again, bang bang bang, merging into a dazzling symphony.

Under the flashing lights,

the lean, straight-backed boy and the bear-like man clashed on the stage, like warriors trapped in an arena, fighting to the death.

23:19:09.

23:19:10.

Peony couldn't break through with his rapid assault, so he retreated several steps, his heart sinking.

He could tell the boy's realm was lower than his. But that terrifying cultivation art and that calm mindset erased the gap in realm.

If this kept going, he'd die. He'd die here.

Peony suddenly shoved his right hand into his mouth and bit down hard, tearing open a gruesome wound.

With blood at the corner of his mouth, he gave Luo Qingchuan a savage grin as the boy charged in.

In the shifting light and shadow, the man looked like a demon straight out of hell.

Peony straightened up. He neither dodged nor retreated. Instead, he violently flung that bitten hand.

Countless drops of blood sprayed into the air.

"Let me see what kind of person you really are!" Peony laughed, trembling and insane.

Luo Qingchuan frowned and pressed the attack, but his steps stopped abruptly. His pupils shrank as he watched the rain of blood brush past him.

He tightened his grip on the blade, then turned his head to look back.

The blood droplets filled the air and rushed toward the people still trapped together, the ones who hadn't escaped yet.

Fate had arrived.

This was the final moment.

23:19:12.

Two roars rang out at the same time.

"Sea of Flowers!"

"Calamity Shadow!"

Bang bang bang—

The blood droplets dancing through the air exploded like fireworks, turning into clusters of brilliant blood-red peonies that bloomed one after another in midair.

They were breathtakingly beautiful, gorgeous enough to make the heart tremble.

Luo Qingchuan's body turned into a wide, curtain-like black shadow. It unfurled through the air with a rushing sound and blocked every blood-red peony for the terrified crowd.

The next second, Luo Qingchuan reappeared. Covered in wounds, he collapsed to the ground and coughed up a mouthful of blood.

Even so, he kept his head raised, cold killing intent flashing in his eyes.

The burly man on the stage seemed to freeze for a second, then sneered.

"So that's the kind of person you are."

Luo Qingchuan's vision began to redden. Bloody halos spread through it, and everything turned blurry.

A beast-like man was striding toward him, raising his fist like a cannonball.

Closer.

Closer still.

It almost filled his entire field of vision.

So he chose to kill me up close with his fists... because that blood explosion move drained all his spiritual energy, didn't it?

Luo Qingchuan smiled faintly and said, "Evil Deeds Come Easy."

The shadows shook.

Behind Luo Qingchuan, a strange human shape condensed from black mist and lunged out. From an unexpected angle, it slammed a vicious punch into Peony's abdomen.

Fear flashed across Peony's face, but he had no time to dodge. The blow sent him flying to the second floor, where he crashed onto an unused piano.

Clang clang clang clang!!!

The black and white keys shrieked under the impact, bursting into a chaotic, thunderous noise.

"Damn you... damn you! I'll eat you for this and take everything you have!"

Peony lifted the piano and hurled it down at Luo Qingchuan on the floor.

The heavy object blotted out the light.

Through it, one could vaguely see Peony leaping through the air along with the piano, diving toward Luo Qingchuan.

In the dim bar,

a blinding bolt of lightning suddenly tore across the darkness.

Scorching, glorious, dazzling!

The piano shattered into pieces.

Luo Qingchuan looked back.

Peony in midair saw it too.

It was a person.

A silver-haired girl in the first bloom of youth.

Chen Yanyu had returned after sending the injured away.

Her lovely face was covered in a chill like shards of ice, and her brilliant golden eyes burned with unmatched fury.

Brilliant arcs of lightning flashed around her soft, graceful figure.

Her silver-white long hair whipped wildly, like lightning tearing through the dark.

Dragonkin, demon immortal, a god walking the mortal world!

The storm, the storm was about to come.

Chen Yanyu raised a slender pale finger and pointed into the air above the bar.

What entered Peony's eyes

was a pillar-thick silver-white bolt of lightning, radiant beyond belief.

...