262: Chapter 263 This is outrageous! You call that a straight punch?

There was no earth-shattering explosion.

There was no thunderous roar of space tearing apart as Laws collided.

There was not even the slightest sound.

In Instructor Su Qing's sensory world, which was on the verge of being completely stripped away and plunged into eternal silence, time seemed to be infinitely stretched.

She "saw" it.

On one side was the ultimate sword strike that burned life, Soul, and Sword Dao, prying open the underlying void rules of the world— "Return to Nothingness."

That was the end of everything, the absolute "Nothingness" that devoured light, sound, matter, and concepts.

On the other side was Lin Qi's simple, unadorned straight punch, devoid of any technique whatsoever.

Yet, in Instructor Su Qing's "vision," this very punch bloomed with something diametrically opposed to "Return to Nothingness."

It was not light.

It was not energy.

It was "Existence."

It was "Existence" itself.

If Sword Saint Ye Qingtian's "Return to Nothingness" was absolute zero, a black hole capable of devouring everything...

...then this punch from Lin Qi was "One."

It was the singularity before the Big Bang of the Universe, the first cause of all things, the purest, most primordial, and most unreasonable "I am here."

Then, the two collided.

There was no annihilation as imagined.

The void of "Return to Nothingness," capable of devouring everything, did not swallow Lin Qi's fist the moment it made contact.

Instead, it seemed... to be filled.

An empty cup was poured with water.

A blank canvas was painted with color.

Lin Qi's fist, that pure concept of "Existence," forced its way into the Domain of "Nothingness" in an extremely barbaric manner and expanded wildly.

"Nothingness," because of the intervention of "Existence," was no longer pure "Nothingness."

The Law was forcibly overwritten by a more fundamental logic.

"Pfft—"

In the real world, a muffled sound of flesh tearing broke the silence.

Instructor Su Qing's stripped-away five senses instantly returned to her body.

Blinding light, the sound of moving air, the drum-like pounding of her heart, and the thick, inescapable scent of blood all flooded back at once.

She opened her eyes abruptly.

The scene before her was something she would never forget for the rest of her life.

In the center of the secret chamber.

Sword Saint Ye Qingtian, this Federation Sword Saint, still maintained his sword-wielding posture.

But he could no longer be called a human.

His skin was withered like dried orange peel, his hair had long since turned to ash, and his aura of life was so weak it could extinguish at any moment.

The most terrifying thing was his right arm, which held the broken sword.

Starting from the palm, the entire arm seemed to have been erased from this world by an eraser; it had vanished into thin air, leaving not even a shred of flesh.

That was the backlash of the "Return to Nothingness" Law he had activated himself.

When his "Nothingness" was forcibly filled and burst by Lin Qi's "Existence," the uncontrollable Law devoured him, the caster, first.

Lin Qi stood opposite him, less than half a meter away.

His right fist was still suspended in mid-air; there was not even a scratch on his knuckles.

It was just that his complexion looked a bit pale, his chest heaved slightly, and his breathing was heavier than usual.

Clearly, pushing his Physical Body to that extreme was equally taxing for him.

"Cough... cough, cough..."

Sword Saint Ye Qingtian coughed violently. With every cough, black blood clots gushed from his mouth—the residue of his burned-out vitality.

His turbid eyes stared fixedly at Lin Qi. There was no Battle Intent, no unwillingness left; only a sense of bewilderment and shock, as if he had witnessed a miracle.

"My 'Return to Nothingness'... My 'Nothingness'..."

His voice was as hoarse as two pieces of sandpaper rubbing together.

"Was... filled?"

He could not understand.

He had burned everything to exchange for a strike that pried the ultimate Law of the Universe, yet the opponent hadn't even used a Law. With just that simple punch, he had broken his "Dao"?

This was no longer a suppression at the level of Martial Skill or power.

This was the subversion of "Reason."

"Your 'Dao' is not wrong."

Lin Qi withdrew his fist and looked at the swaying Sword Saint Ye Qingtian. His tone was calm, as if stating a fact.

"All things return to nothingness; this is the end, the result."

"But..."

He paused, raised his fist, opened his fingers, and slowly clenched them again.

"Before reaching the end, all things must first 'exist'."

"This is the process, the prerequisite."

"You use the result to negate the process, which is wrong in itself."

"My punch had no bells and whistles; it was just to tell you a very simple truth."

Lin Qi's gaze fell upon Sword Saint Ye Qingtian's empty right shoulder.

"I am still standing here."

"I am Existence."

A simple sentence, yet it struck Sword Saint Ye Qingtian and Instructor Su Qing in the distance like a heavy hammer.

Was it arrogant?

It was too arrogant!

Yet, he had the qualifications to say it.

With the most unadorned punch, he had forcibly taken a Law-based killing move unleashed by a Peak fourth-turn powerhouse who had burned his life, and remained unscathed.

What kind of concept was this?

This meant that in this digitized Universe, he had used a completely different, even considered "primitive and backward" way to reach a place closer to "Truth" than anyone else.

"Existence... So that's it..."

Sword Saint Ye Qingtian muttered to himself, as if he had lost his mind, or perhaps achieved enlightenment.

The bewilderment on his face slowly faded, replaced by a bitter, relieved smile.

"I spent my whole life practicing the sword, comprehending Laws, and pursuing that supreme 'Reason'..."

"In the end, it was not as good as your simple punch."

"Haha... Hahahaha!"

He laughed, his laughter filled with self-mockery and sorrow. His body could no longer support him, and he fell straight backward.

Instructor Su Qing's expression changed, and she instinctively moved to rush forward.

But Lin Qi was faster than her.

He took a step and instantly appeared behind Sword Saint Ye Qingtian, reaching out to support his falling body.

The feeling upon contact was light, like a piece of dead wood; it had almost no weight, and the aura of life was rapidly fading.

"Teacher!"

Instructor Su Qing finally ran over. Seeing Sword Saint Ye Qingtian's miserable state, her eyes instantly turned red.

"I... am convinced of my defeat..."

Sword Saint Ye Qingtian leaned on Lin Qi, gasping for breath, but his gaze turned to the silver cube floating in the center of the secret chamber.

"Take... the thing."

"My Dao... cannot be traversed; perhaps... yours... is the right one..."

His voice grew lower and lower, and the light in his eyes rapidly dimmed.

"Instructor Su Qing... do not make things difficult for him... this is... a matter... between Martial Artists..."

After saying the last sentence, his head tilted, and he completely lost all signs of life.

"Teacher!"

Instructor Su Qing let out a cry of grief, and tears could no longer be held back, streaming from her eyes.

She looked up abruptly at Lin Qi, her eyes incredibly complex.

There was shock, fear, but more than that, a kind of... reliance? That she herself couldn't explain.

She knew that her teacher had died for the sake of the Dao, and it had nothing to do with Lin Qi.

In fact, Lin Qi had even taken that fatal sword strike, giving her teacher his final dignity as a Martial Artist.

But he was her mentor after all.

Lin Qi did not look at her but looked down at Sword Saint Ye Qingtian, who had lost consciousness in his arms, his brows slightly knitted.

"Dead?"

He snorted.

"Without my nod, even the King of Hell cannot take him away."

As he spoke, the hand supporting Sword Saint Ye Qingtian suddenly formed a sword finger. At a speed invisible to the naked eye, he rapidly tapped several major acupuncture points on his chest and abdomen.

With every tap, a stream of pure, concentrated True Qi was transferred into Sword Saint Ye Qingtian's body.

But this time, the True Qi was not for healing; it was like precise scalpels, forcibly locking down the collapsing internal organs and the Soul that was about to leave his body.

"You..."

Instructor Su Qing was stunned, not understanding what he was doing.

"He burned his Origin of life; it is already beyond the scope of this world's medical system to save."

Lin Qi explained without looking up, his hands not stopping.

"I cannot kill him, nor can I bring him back to life."

"But I can make him 'not die' for now."

Using the purest internal art technique, he used his own True Qi as a "lock" to forcibly maintain Sword Saint Ye Qingtian in a state of "suspended animation."

There was no vitality, but life was not extinguished.

It was like a computer that had been unplugged but still had a sliver of power in its battery; it was shut down, but the data remained.

After doing all this, Lin Qi's complexion turned a few shades paler.

He let go, and Sword Saint Ye Qingtian's body slid softly to the ground, but the aura of life that had been rapidly fading had actually stabilized.

Instructor Su Qing was completely dumbfounded.

Using human power to defy the Law of life and death?

Although it was not resurrection, this method of forcibly "extending life" had completely exceeded her cognition.

How many more secrets did this youth hide?

Lin Qi ignored her shock, stood up, clapped his hands, and his gaze finally fell on the silver cube floating in mid-air.

"Alright, the bystanders have been dealt with."

"Now, it is time for business."

He walked step by step toward the final "Dimensional Reduction Strike Component."