51: Follow me, I will lead you through the sky

Above the ruins of Long Qingtian’s mansion in Kunlun City.

Lin Tian’s foot gently pressed down on Long Qingtian’s chest, which was filled with pride and glory from countless bloody battles.

The soul-crushing words, filled with endless cruelty and indifference— “In the face of absolute talent, your efforts are meaningless”— echoed repeatedly like the most malicious curse in his Sea of Consciousness, which was already on the verge of collapse.

Long Qingtian, this “struggler” who had carved his way out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, and who was revered as a spiritual idol by countless collateral Family members, had his lifelong beliefs and pride, the very foundation of his existence, completely… shattered, pulverized, and ground into the humblest dust at this moment.

With his last breath, filled with endless desolation and sorrow, he completely… fell unconscious.

Lin Tian looked at the “loser” at his feet, who had completely lost the will to resist, his eyes indifferent, and slowly raised his hand.

He beckoned, and the S-grade Lightning Element battle-halberd, which had fallen into the nearby ruins and was still flickering with purple-green lightning, let out an unwilling wail, broke free from its original owner’s perception, transformed into a stream of light, and was effortlessly drawn into Lin Tian’s hand.

“From now on, it no longer belongs to you.”

Lin Tian murmured in a flat tone, as if declaring ownership.

This was not merely stripping him of a weapon; it was fundamentally stripping Long Qingtian of his very essence as a top-tier “Lightning Element” powerhouse!

Having done all this, the killing intent in Lin Tian’s eyes began to rise slowly and undisguisedly.

He knew very well that for a strong individual like Long Qingtian, who was arrogant and firm in his beliefs, once a mortal enmity was formed, there would be no possibility of reconciliation. Today, although he had utterly defeated him both physically and mentally, no one could guarantee that in the future, he would not “break through and rise again” from some desperate situation, becoming an even greater threat to him.

To cut the grass, one must remove the roots.

Eliminating future troubles forever was the supreme Dao.

He slowly raised his foot, and beneath it, terrifying power began to gather, enough to utterly annihilate this mansion along with the ground below, preparing to deliver the final… end to this former number one heir.

However, just as he was about to land his foot—

Long Qingtian, who had fallen unconscious, his long eyelashes suddenly trembled slightly.

He woke up.

Or rather, he was forcefully… startled awake by Lin Tian’s undisguised, bone-chilling killing intent!

He opened his eyes, which had lost all their luster and were filled with a desolate gray, feeling the aura of death above his head, capable of completely erasing him from this world. His already shattered martial Dao heart, at this moment, surprisingly surged with the most primitive, life-instinctive… fear!

He did not want to die!

He still had… unfulfilled obsessions!

Lin Tian looked at the faint spark of survival rekindled in his eyes, and the curve of his lips took on a cold, devilish hint of amusement.

He slowly spoke, his voice flat, yet every word was a stab to the heart.

“If I kill you, I will still be the Long Family’s only Alpha Heir.”

“Your death will not be any loss to the entire Family. In fact, it will even bring genuine… joy to those who covet your ‘number one’ position.”

“So, tell me, do you still have any… value in living?”

How cruel these words were!

They completely denied all of Long Qingtian’s value, all his pride, all his meaning of existence, reducing him to an “expendable,” utterly humble state!

Long Qingtian lay amidst the cold ruins, listening to these words, and endless despair filled his desolate eyes.

He knew that what the other person said… was the truth.

After witnessing Lin Tian’s overwhelming, unreasonable, and terrifying talent and strength, he knew that he, to the Family, was no longer… indispensable.

The shadow of death, like the deepest darkness, completely enveloped him.

Just as his last spark of survival was about to be swallowed by this endless darkness—

Lin Tian suddenly withdrew all his killing intent.

In a tone that seemed to grant a favor, filled with “benevolence,” he slowly pointed out another, the only… path to survival for him.

“Of course.”

“You can also choose another path.”

He paused, looking at Long Qingtian’s eyes, which had rekindled a glimmer of hope, and enunciated, word by word, the condition that was both humiliating and tempting.

“—Sign this ‘Divine Soul Imprint’ contract.”

“Become my… first battle general.”

“Follow me.”

“Fight… for me.”

Long Qingtian, after a brief, intense internal struggle, finally, slowly, closed his eyes.

He chose… to submit.

Seeing this, Lin Tian nodded with satisfaction. He flicked his finger, and a golden imprint, condensed from his essence blood and Divine Soul power, filled with an overbearing aura, instantly merged into Long Qingtian’s brow, which had already given up all resistance.

From this moment on, the life and death of this former top Prodigy of the Long Family rested solely on Lin Tian’s whim.

After planting the Divine Soul Imprint and completely controlling the other party’s life and death, Lin Tian slowly moved his foot from his chest.

He looked at his former opponent, who was struggling to get up from the ground and knelt on one knee before him with a complex expression, and asked a question he had always been curious about.

“I am very curious.”

“With your talent and strength, both within the Family and in the outside world, you could obtain everything you desire.”

“What exactly made you strive so desperately? Even to the point of… challenging me?”

Long Qingtian fell silent.

He looked up at Lin Tian, and a trace of reminiscence, a trace of pain, and… a trace of the deepest obsession, buried deep in his heart and never spoken to anyone, flashed in his complex eyes.

After a long while.

He slowly narrated his own story, full of sadness and regret, in a hoarse, weary voice.

His biological younger sister, Long Wan’er.

A girl with S-grade spatial talent, as lovely and kind as an elf.

Ten years ago, in a top-secret experiment on “subspace exploration” led by the Family’s highest research institute, due to a sudden spatial storm, she was unfortunately… swept into an unknown subspace, designated “Abyss,” which was listed as a top-level taboo by the Federation and had completely lost contact.

Her fate was unknown.

And he, Long Qingtian, cultivated so frantically, desperately, and climbed so fiercely… all for the day when he would possess enough power to break through that indestructible spatial barrier, personally enter that forbidden “Abyss,” and bring back his only relative, lost in unknown time and space!

After hearing this story, Lin Tian fell silent.

He looked at the man before him, covered in blood and with a sorrowful expression, and for the first time, a genuine, heartfelt understanding and… emotion appeared in his indifferent eyes.

It turned out that beneath this hard armor, filled with pride and glory, lay such a soft heart, full of familial affection and obsession.

He slowly walked forward.

He re-threw the S-grade Lightning Element battle-halberd, which he had just taken from Long Qingtian and which symbolized all his glory, back… in front of him.

In Long Qingtian’s bewildered and perplexed gaze, Lin Tian, in an unprecedented, solemn, and domineering tone, gave him a promise that he could not refuse no matter what.

“Very good.”

“From today onwards, your obsession is also my goal.”

He paused, looking at Long Qingtian, and in his deep eyes, billions of stars seemed to burn!

“—Follow me.”

“In the future, I will take you…”

“To punch through that so-called ‘Abyss’!”

Long Qingtian trembled violently upon hearing this!

He looked at the young man who made this shocking promise to him, at his eyes filled with endless confidence and domineering aura, and his heart, which had been cold and dead due to failure, at this moment, once again… began to beat violently!

He slowly lowered his proud head.

This time, it was no longer because of coercion, no longer because of fear.

But rather, from the bottom of his heart… admiration!

“Long Qingtian…”

“Is willing to… die for the Alpha Heir!”

An ultimate duel triggered by internal conflict, at this moment, concluded in the most perfect and unexpected way.

Lin Tian not only defeated his opponent with absolute strength.

He also completely… conquered hearts with his extraordinary vision and wisdom!