At the very last instant, Wei Qing twisted his body aside. The arrow—laden with an uncanny, alien force—skimmed past his arm, tearing a line of pain across his skin.
Inside the stopped-time domain, Wei Qing snapped his head around and stared toward the source of the attack.
On the rubble stood a woman in fitted black combat attire, a longbow in hand. Her posture was straight as a spear, her gaze sharp as a hawk's. The fluctuations around her didn't belong to this space at all—as if she were standing half a step outside reality.
Marshal Hua of the Xianzhou Alliance.
Wei Qing recognized her immediately.
The supreme authority of the Alliance rarely acted in person.
Yet to keep him here, even she had been brought to the table.
What truly sent a chill through him was this—
She could move inside The World's time-stop… and even attack.
This was the first time since obtaining The World that Wei Qing had encountered someone with a comparable method.
No wonder she stood at the apex of the Hunt's Path.
A "version T0" woman, straight-up.
He'd underestimated the world.
"Power over time…" Hua's voice was calm, as if she weren't facing the Alliance's most notorious traitor at all. "It isn't yours alone, Qingzhou."
She slowly drew her bow.
A silver arrow coalesced out of nothing, light flowing along its shaft like liquid moonlight. The arrowhead pointed straight at him.
The arrow loosed.
Gold flared in Wei Qing's eyes. The aura of Destruction erupted like a volcanic blast.
He stopped holding anything back. The terrifying pressure of an Emanator spilled out in full, twisting space until it cracked and buckled.
"Marshal Hua," Wei Qing said, voice low, "you don't actually think that cracking my time-stop is enough to deal with me, do you?"
He didn't dodge.
He didn't move.
He let the silver arrow fly straight for his chest.
At the moment of impact, he raised a hand and closed his fingers.
His palm became a devouring abyss—Destruction given form—crushing the arrow into shimmering fragments of silver that scattered into nothing.
Hua being able to bypass The World was a shocking surprise, yes.
But Wei Qing had never been a one-trick act.
He used The World because it was convenient—because it let him play clean and quiet, with fewer exposed cards.
Not because it was all he had.
"Ha!"
Wei Qing swept the Undying Blade in a broad arc. A dark-red saber wave screamed outward, carrying an annihilating intent that made the air itself feel like it was being erased.
Time resumed.
Hua's pupils tightened. She retreated in a blur, carving a cryptic sigil with her bow. Silver threads surged into existence, weaving into a radiant shield.
BOOM—!
The saber wave collided with the shield. Light exploded so violently that people instinctively squeezed their eyes shut.
When the glare faded, Hua still stood where she'd been—
But the hand gripping her bow trembled, and her face had gone a shade paler.
Her eyes, fixed on Wei Qing, sharpened with new gravity.
"It seems," Hua said evenly, "you haven't wasted these years."
"High praise," Wei Qing replied, flicking the Undying Blade with a faint smile. "People grow."
His gaze swept across the forces closing in again.
"So?" he asked, weighing the Stellaron lightly in his hand. "Still want to continue?"
"I already have what I came for. If we keep going, the Luofu's losses… will exceed what you're willing to pay."
He spoke calmly, but the threat was unmistakable.
Jing Yuan wiped blood from the corner of his mouth and said, voice heavy, "Wei Qing. Hand over the Stellaron and surrender. This is your last chance."
"The Marshal is here. Two generals are here. You can't fly away this time."
Jingliu pointed her sword at him, killing intent freezing the air into substance.
"Today," she said, voice like ice, "you're not leaving."
The two veteran generals didn't answer Wei Qing directly. They first inclined their heads toward Hua.
This entire operation had been escalated and approved—by the Marshal herself.
Hua's eyes passed over the wreckage and returned to Wei Qing, ancient and sharp.
"Teng Xiao. Huaiyan."
The two stepped forward at once, bowing.
"Marshal."
"Has the outer blockade been completed?"
Teng Xiao answered in a deep voice, "As per your orders, the Sky-Shielder Array has been fully activated. The Luofu's four celestial gates have been temporarily severed. Unless he tears open space under our combined suppression, he cannot leave without making a sound."
Huaiyan added, voice carrying restrained fury, "This beast just hard-countered our joint strike. He may look unscathed, but he cannot truly be untouched. Marshal—today we must keep him here, and restore the Xianzhou's law!"
Hua gave a small nod. Her gaze never left Wei Qing, as if she were weighing every micro-expression.
"Qingzhou… or perhaps," she said, "Wei Qing. You've heard them. The Luofu has prepared heavily for today."
Wei Qing, however, didn't show the grimness they expected. His tone was almost light.
"Heavily prepared? You sealed the whole place for me, woke up the Sky-Shielder Array, even drew the Marshal herself…"
He smiled.
"I'm honored."
"And this is still Luofu territory, isn't it? I lived here for three hundred years. I have feelings for this place."
He tilted his head.
"Do you really want to fight me here?"
"Feelings?" Teng Xiao barked a harsh laugh. "You—feelings?"
"You three-surname turncoat, you still know what feelings are?"
Again with that title…
Wei Qing was genuinely tired of hearing it.
Once upon a time, he'd been a proud, bright-eyed youth.
Now everyone was lining up to spit the same insult at him.
"A three-surname turncoat?" Wei Qing chuckled, fingertips rubbing the warm surface of the Stellaron. "Master, that's a bit much. I was the Luofu's general. I shed blood and earned merit for the Xianzhou. Our paths diverged, but do you really have to be that sharp with your tongue?"
"Sharp?" Teng Xiao's fury flared, fire rising around him. "You defected. You joined Destruction. And then you entangled yourself with Abundance—and Finality. If that isn't three-surnamed treachery, what is?"
Back then, Teng Xiao had treated him like a son.
He'd believed Wei Qing was the Luofu's future.
And what did he get in return?
On the most important day of all, this wretch defected in front of everyone.
Teng Xiao hated himself—hated that he hadn't seen it sooner.
But words were worthless now.
Only one outcome could wash the shame from the Luofu.
Wei Qing's flippancy dimmed, a complicated flicker passing through his eyes—gone almost as soon as it appeared.
He didn't answer Teng Xiao.
He looked instead at Marshal Hua.
"Marshal Hua," he said, voice measured, "the Luofu was once my home. I don't want to turn it into scorched earth."
"But I must take the Stellaron."
"If you insist on blocking me…" His tone cooled. "Then I don't mind letting you witness what true Destruction looks like."
Before the last word fell, his aura surged again—far more terrifying than before.
Dark-gold patterns crawled beneath his skin like living runes.
Destruction's authority thickened into something nearly tangible.
Behind him, a vast silhouette began to form—massive, indistinct, and yet unmistakably familiar.
It was the Shenjun.
The power that the Luofu's generals had inherited across generations—an emblem of the Hunt's blessing, the authority to protect the Xianzhou.
And now it stood behind a traitor.
Behind an Emanator of Destruction.
The irony was so sharp it hurt.
"Shenjun…" Jing Yuan's voice came out dry.
That was the legacy of the Luofu's generals.
And yet it was now reflected in the shadow of the man they hunted.
Once, Jing Yuan had dreamed that Wei Qing would become the Luofu's general—and that he, Jing Yuan, would stand at his side as his right hand.
Time passed.
Everything changed.
Jing Yuan forced the thought down, staring at Wei Qing with renewed heaviness.
Above them, the Luofu's sky darkened as if the day itself was being extinguished.
The pressure was so crushing that everyone present—everyone except Hua—felt a mountain settle onto their chests. Breathing became labor.
Their assumptions shattered.
In their minds, the Marshal had always been invincible—top tier even among Emanators.
Yet what Wei Qing was showing now… exceeded what they'd prepared for.
"…Sigh."
Hua's quiet exhale carried the weight of a thousand stones.
She looked at the towering, contradictory shadow behind Wei Qing—Destruction and the Hunt intertwined in the same monstrous outline—and her eyes turned complicated.
"Wei Qing," she said, "you still walked to this point."
"Nanak's gift. Yaoshi's generosity. Lan's sanction…"
"And even Finality."
"To gather four Paths within one body… and to reach such a level in three of them… the universe is vast, yet you truly are one of a kind."
Wei Qing met her gaze and let a faint smile rise.
"You flatter me, Marshal."
Then a pressureless force rippled outward.
Color drained from the world.
Sound vanished.
Everything stopped.
For Wei Qing, the sensation was unmistakable.
Time had been halted—
But this time, he hadn't used The World.
Which meant—
This was Hua's method.
That alone wasn't surprising anymore. If she could act inside his time-stop, possessing her own time-stop ability was only natural.
What confused Wei Qing was the logic.
If they were mutually immune to each other's time-stop, what did she gain by activating it?
He was alone—fine.
But Hua had allies. Freezing time would bind her own side as well.
Unless…
Was she about to speak to him privately?
In stopped time, Hua's eyes remained locked on him—steady, sharp, and unreadable.
And then she took a single step forward.
"Tell me," her voice sounded in a world without sound, cutting straight into his awareness, "how many times are you planning to make the Luofu pay before you finally leave?"
Wei Qing's gaze narrowed slightly.
So that was it.
Not an attack.
Not a finishing move.
A conversation—inside the dead stillness of time.
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 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 150)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter190)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter105)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter225)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 195
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 170
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass Volume2/5
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 225
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 210
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 154
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player Volume4/30
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 115
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 67
Uma Musume: From Beginner 130
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 85
Uma Musume: I Want All 105
I Can Copy Unique Skills 100
Summoning an Evil God, but the 70
Supernatural Multiverse 90
My Harem Is Indescribable 85
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 90
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 68
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 100
Still playing traditional Honk 69
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 75
What Should I Do After Switchi - Volume2/3
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 60
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 55
Transmigrated as Sukuna 71
Checking In in Demon Slayer 75
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 80
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 66
My Best Friend Into a Slime? 58
A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel 65
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero? 63
Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 59
Why did they assign me to Uma 55
MYGO Beauties 56
DanMachi: Emiya the Giant Hero 45
The Gacha Merchant Who Started 49
Honkai's Otherworld? Wait—Who Are You People?! 36
Emiya Shirou, Determined to Slay Every Curse and Evil Spirit 35
The Uma Musume Who Became 30
I'm Definitely Not the King of 35
After Maxing Out Every Class 35
My patreon : patreon.com/queen_sin
My patreon : patreon.com/queen_sin