Somewhere in the cosmos—within a star system so unremarkable it didn't even warrant a footnote—
On the dark side of a barren rocky planet, a twisted spatial rift silently pried itself open. Two figures stepped out one after another.
The aura of Destruction still hadn't fully settled. In Wei Qing's hand, he held a tight-condensed sphere of emerald light—
The core power he had forcibly ripped out of the Luofu's Ambrosial Arbor.
Huanlong leisurely surveyed the dead, silent starfield, then let her gaze fall on the glowing mass in his palm. Admiration and greed flickered nakedly in her eyes.
"What an enviable haul, Qingzhou," she purred with a soft laugh. "If Shuhu were still alive, he'd be so jealous he'd go mad."
She tilted her head, smile half-playful and half-probing.
"So—how are you planning to enjoy this feast? Or perhaps… you might share a little with me, seeing as I was the one who so thoughtfully built the stage for you?"
Wei Qing didn't answer right away.
He opened his hand. The aura of Destruction—like hungry, invisible tendrils—began to slowly gnaw at the Abundance blessing, eroding it bit by bit.
Only then did he speak, tone flat:
"Say, Huanlong. You've been tailing me for days now, haven't you? Still not willing to leave?"
It had been several days since they fled the Luofu. Over those days, Wei Qing had tried more than once to shake this "colleague" off and find somewhere quiet to digest his gains.
But she clung on like a sticker that wouldn't peel—jump after jump after jump.
Don't tell me Huanlong's secretly in love with him.
Huanlong's smile visibly stiffened.
Of course she could tell what he was doing. Of course she knew he wanted to ditch her.
But she had no intention of leaving.
First: she still wanted to "collect credit"—to see if she could pry a portion of the benefits out of his hands.
Second: she was genuinely curious what her bizarre colleague intended to do next.
Because even while shadowing him through successive warps, she'd still managed to gather outside intel through her planted eyes and ears.
"Qingzhou" had become an overnight cosmic celebrity—so famous that even their fellow Lord Ravagers were being dragged into the spotlight along with him.
Huanlong was dying of curiosity. After defecting from the Luofu, what was Qingzhou's plan?
After all, a Lord Ravager who "countered" Abundance would find it far easier to operate with the identity of a Hunt General still intact.
If he'd willingly thrown that away, then he had to be calculating something she didn't know.
Recovering from being verbally choked for a beat, Huanlong's sultry smile returned—slightly restrained now, with a trace of feigned reproach.
"Oh, Qingzhou… that's really not fair."
"We just worked together to slap the Xianzhou Alliance squarely in the face. Such a marvelous collaboration—doesn't it deserve a little more… conversation?"
She glided closer.
"If you don't have a suitable place to go, I do have a few suggestions."
"No need," Wei Qing said coldly, refusing again.
"And stop squeezing your voice."
Huanlong's smile finally vanished completely.
She realized that once this peculiar colleague stopped pretending—once he fully revealed his nature—he seemed to be the same "type" as Zephyro: the kind that didn't play well with others.
It bored her.
And it made her more wary.
Wei Qing, for his part, had no interest in entertaining her further.
He had something else to do.
He intended to collect his main-quest reward.
Because the idiot system had explicitly said this reward scaled with completion.
And if he still failed to max it out after pulling off something like this…
He'd eat dirt.
Yes—because of the whole "Terminus" situation, he'd long considered leaving the Luofu.
But in the end, it was the system that pushed him into leaving in such a violently spectacular way.
[Ding! Congratulations, Host, on completing the main quest!]
[Under the Hunt's gaze, amid the cheers of all living beings, you—bearing the status of a Lord Ravager—seized the Ambrosial Arbor and defected from the Xianzhou Alliance!]
[My goodness, Host! That was some insane execution!]
[Now issuing main-quest reward: Basic Authority over the Path of Destruction.]
The system's voice rang inside Wei Qing's head, still carrying that ever-punchable tone—yet the content made his heart shift.
"Basic authority…?"
He repeated the phrase internally and felt the change in his Destruction power.
It didn't become docile.
But it did feel as if it had been given rules—structure—something like a framework it hadn't possessed before.
He was still absorbing that novel sensation when Destruction descended without warning.
The dead starfield seemed to be seized in a merciless grip. Reality itself collapsed into a hollow black emptiness.
Huanlong's face froze.
All expression drained away, replaced by absolute shock and reverence. She bowed her head almost on instinct.
The Aeon of Destruction.
Nanook.
That gaze pierced endless distance and time, landing here—landing on the Lord Ravager who had just announced his existence through betrayal and plunder:
Qingzhou.
Wei Qing felt the Destruction within him boil under that gaze.
The process was brief—so brief it was almost a blink—
And yet it was unbearably familiar.
Just like Yaoshi of Abundance.
Just now, Nanook too had formally opened the totality of the Path of Destruction to him.
Wei Qing was no longer merely an "Abundance heir-in-waiting."
He had become a Destruction heir-in-waiting as well.
And with the two layers of blessing he already carried from the Hunt—
He had, in the most literal sense, achieved full-spectrum development.
Wei Qing felt… like he was starting to become genuinely unstoppable.
When the empowerment ended, Nanook didn't linger the way Yaoshi had.
The Aeon simply withdrew.
But nearby, Huanlong remained frozen for a long time, unable to calm down.
She maintained her bowed posture. Her chest rose and fell with the violence of her emotions. In the eyes that usually brimmed with teasing allure, there was now only disbelief—
And a trace of jealousy she couldn't hide.
Why?!
Why the hell does he get this?!
Another blessing from Destruction—clear, unmistakable, and granting authority at a depth that made her scalp go numb.
And yes: as a fellow Lord Ravager, Huanlong could sense it precisely.
In that short instant—so short it should have been negligible—
The Scarred God didn't merely glance.
Nanook stamped Qingzhou with a portion of Destruction's authority that was far more complete than what an ordinary Lord Ravager would ever receive.
This was treatment none of their other "colleagues" had ever gotten.
Nanook never spoke. Nanook's actions were the only command.
And that command was now painfully obvious:
Qingzhou—this three-Path anomaly—had been granted an unimaginable degree of potential and favor on the Path of Destruction.
Huanlong's fingers curled slightly.
I've worked hard too.
So why—
Why couldn't the Scarred God spare her even one more look?
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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