Qingzhou.
That was Wei Qing's title as a Lord Ravager—a name no one had known until this moment.
"Form up and lock down the airspace! Don't let him escape!" Teng Xiao roared.
At this point, there was only one thing left in him: the ruthless resolve of the Hunt—to cleanse his own house.
Ancient Cloud Knight formation arrays flared to life. Countless chains of condensed energy shot skyward, weaving into an enormous net that sought to shackle the incarnation of Destruction hanging above them.
[The World].
Wei Qing didn't dodge.
In everyone's eyes, he didn't even take a defensive stance.
And then—between the opening and closing of that time-stop—Wei Qing's figure vanished from sight.
"H-He… disappeared?!" A Cloud Knight cried out in disbelief, weapon raised toward an empty sky.
"Search! Lock down the entire ship immediately! Highest-level alert—he's still on the Luofu!" Teng Xiao's furious shout shook the Seat of Divine Foresight, packed with pain and rage compressed to the breaking point.
The newly retired old general's hair and beard bristled. The Hunt's power around him fluctuated violently under the weight of his emotions, like a wounded lion.
"…Wait!"
"That aura—it's coming from the Scalegorge Waterscape!" Dan Feng's senses were the sharpest.
His power as Imbibitor Lunae resonated faintly with the Ambrosial Arbor's root. He was the first to catch the direction of that abruptly retreating yet unmistakable Destruction aura—straight toward the depths where the Arbor lay sealed.
"He's after the Ambrosial Arbor!" Dan Feng's voice carried fury like he'd never shown before as he became a streak of azure light and shot toward the Scalegorge Waterscape without hesitation.
Teng Xiao and Jingliu's faces changed instantly. They followed at once.
Scalegorge Waterscape
The sea, once ravaged by Shuhu and the living planet, had yet to be fully purified. A foul residue still lingered in the water.
And there—rooted through the very body of the Xianzhou—stood the colossal Ambrosial Arbor, its base suppressed by layer upon layer of ancient seals and the binding force of Vidyadhara dragon power.
Wei Qing hovered before those immense roots.
Facing this miracle personally bestowed by Abundance, he could feel it: the inexhaustible life within, the proof of Yaoshi's generosity—also the source of Xianzhou longevity and mara, the root of endless conflict, the first spark of innumerable disasters.
But to the Xianzhou… this Arbor had long since stopped being "useful."
It would serve him better.
In the original timeline, after all, once Phantylia obtained power drawn from the Arbor, her strength surged—otherwise Shuhu would never have craved it so desperately.
Since he was leaving the Xianzhou anyway…
As the current General of the Luofu, wasn't it perfectly reasonable to take the Arbor with him?
Wei Qing slowly raised his hand. Abundance flowed through his palm, calling to the Arbor's same-origin vitality with a fierce, hungry resonance.
At the same time, Destruction coiled up along his arm—not to break the Arbor, but to seize it in a far more tyrannical way.
He didn't bother unpicking the countless seals laid down by the Vidyadhara and the Alliance. That would take too long—and the commotion would be too great.
His method was simpler.
More brutal.
And only someone who carried both Abundance and Destruction could pull it off.
A low, strained groan shuddered through the sea.
A balance maintained for millennia was being ripped open by force. The Ambrosial Arbor itself trembled, as if dragged out of an ancient slumber—awakening into pain.
"Stop—NOW!"
A furious shout exploded from behind.
Dan Feng arrived first. Dragon authority surged, calling the surrounding waters into existence as countless roaring water-dragons, the tidal force smashing toward Wei Qing with overwhelming wrath.
Wei Qing didn't even turn his head.
He simply flicked his hand backward.
Boom—!
The water-dragons disintegrated midair, detonating into a storm of chaotic rain that poured down like a curtain, disrupting Dan Feng's follow-up.
And in that brief interruption, Wei Qing did not stop.
His five fingers clamped down against the Arbor's roots.
Destruction spread like the greediest of rootlets, tearing open microscopic fissures in the seals and violently siphoning the Arbor's boundless life-force.
That was when the others finally arrived.
"…Wei Qing. Turn back now, and it's not too late." Teng Xiao's voice held the last scrap of hope—so faint it was almost imaginary. "Don't keep walking this path. Don't become Destruction's slave."
Jingliu said nothing.
Her eyes, full of pain, stayed fixed on Wei Qing.
She couldn't understand—she'd only just accepted his "gift," only moments ago tasted that quiet calm easing her mara…
And now he was betraying everything, decisively, without hesitation.
That peace in her mind felt like the cruelest joke imaginable.
Wei Qing—his back to them—gave no response.
Every ounce of his focus was sunk into plundering the Arbor's power.
"Looks like words are useless after all." The last light in Teng Xiao's eyes went out.
He roared and charged.
But the Spirit-General—the golden giant that should have protected the Luofu, the authority now transferred to Wei Qing—manifested without warning.
Its towering, radiant form slammed down between Teng Xiao and Wei Qing.
And its attack… was aimed at the Luofu's former General.
Teng Xiao's forward momentum halted as if he'd run into a wall.
Even with his iron will, something in him cracked.
That Spirit-General had fought beside him for a thousand years.
And now it pointed its blade at him.
Teng Xiao tried to reach for the remnants of his link—tried to influence it—
and found nothing.
A stone dropped into an ocean.
The Spirit-General's will was pure and cold now, obeying only the command of its current master: Wei Qing.
While Teng Xiao was held at bay, Jingliu and Dan Feng's attacks surged again.
"…Why?"
Jingliu's voice was complicated—this was the first time she had asked the question aloud.
She needed an answer.
Only then did Wei Qing finally turn to face them—and he smiled, bright and sunny, the same easy grin they'd all known.
"Sorry," he said lightly. "Looks like I'm still going to disappoint you."
"If I hadn't chosen to come to the Luofu back then… maybe none of this would have happened."
That familiar cadence—those familiar words—made Jingliu freeze.
So that strange question he'd asked that day…
This was what it had meant.
"Absurd!" Dan Feng snapped, voice tight with fury. "You think one 'sorry' is enough?"
"What is the Luofu to you?"
"And us—what are we to you?"
"Were all those years—everything between us—worth less than nothing in your eyes?"
Even now, Dan Feng couldn't accept it.
He couldn't understand how a friend of centuries could be a hidden Lord Ravager—how that friend could commit betrayal like this.
Had he been replaced at some point?
Or had he come to the Luofu with a different purpose from the very beginning?
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 175)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 126)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter105)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter100)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter82)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter134)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 70
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 87
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 79
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 64
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 73
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 45
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 49
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 45
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 45
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 31
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 27
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 26
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