63: Kneel or die

As Lin Tian's declaration, imbued with the meaning of a "Judge," fell, the entire battlefield plunged into a strange, suffocating silence.

A chaotic battle, triggered by multiple factions and filled with betrayal, schemes, and bloodshed, was forcibly... terminated in the most dramatic and unforeseen manner.

Now, it was time for the victor's... clean-up.

Lin Tian's eyes, as deep as a sea of stars, slowly swept over Adam, the "Holy Mountain" ace who had long been terrified and was now looking at him with a mix of shock and uncertainty.

With a casual flick of his hand, he gestured towards the sturdy, hundred-meter-thick wall beside Adam, forged from an unknown Divine-Grade metal.

Swoosh!

A faint, yet seemingly capable of severing all Karma, jet-black Sword Qi from the God Slaying Sword Canon flashed past!

That sturdy wall, capable of withstanding a full-force attack from a Martial God Rank expert, was silently sliced open as if by a hot knife through butter, leaving a terrifying, mirror-smooth crack of immeasurable depth!

After doing all this, Lin Tian, with an impatient and indifferent tone, as if shooing away a fly, slowly uttered three words to Adam, who was already chilled to the bone by this display.

"Scram."

"Or, die."

Adam's handsome face, hidden beneath the Holy Light, instantly turned a liver-like color!

As the ultimate ace of the younger generation of the "Holy Mountain" organization, when had he ever suffered such a humiliating disgrace?!

But... he glanced at the terrifying Sword Qi mark of immeasurable depth, then at the god-like young man who couldn't even be bothered to look at him again, and finally, all his anger and unwillingness transformed into a deep-seated... fear from his Soul.

He knew he had no choice.

"We... go!"

He squeezed these words through gritted teeth, leading the Seraphim team members behind him, who were equally terrified, as they retreated in a near-fleeing, disheveled manner from what should have been their "victory stage."

"Peripheral clearing" complete.

Now, only the "star-crossed lovers" — Ye Fan and Qin Yubing — who had just been fighting side-by-side but were now plunged into immense cognitive confusion, remained within the gene bank.

Lin Tian slowly walked towards the mysterious young woman who still wore a tactical mask and exuded an aura that kept others at bay.

He could clearly feel an extremely ancient and pure Imperial Dao aura hidden within the young woman's body, an aura that shared the same origin as this War Emperor's Mausoleum and the War Emperor himself.

"Interesting."

In his heart, he already had some guesses about the young woman's identity.

He walked up to her and commanded in an irrefutable, aggressive tone:

"Take off your mask."

"I don't like talking to people who hide their faces."

Upon hearing this, Qin Yubing's delicate body trembled violently! She instinctively wanted to resist, but Lin Tian's gaze, filled with absolute oppressive power, was like two invisible primordial Divine-Grade mountains, pressing down firmly on her Divine Soul, making even moving a finger a luxury!

Immediately after, a fair, slender hand, perfect like a work of art, gently pinched her smooth, jade-like white chin, and with an almost humiliating gesture, forcibly lifted her face, making her unable to avoid meeting his eyes, as deep as a sea of stars.

However, Lin Tian did not continue to trouble her.

He merely looked at her deeply, as if to see through her very Soul. Then, he released her hand, as if he had just completed a trivial task of confirming a prey's identity.

He slowly turned around, his gaze falling upon the Son of Destiny, Ye Fan, who had been in a state of damaged Dao Heart and utter despondency from beginning to end.

He looked at him, a devilish smile, full of "sincerity" and "goodwill," appearing on his face.

With a tone full of "gratitude," he smiled and spoke the ultimate, Soul-crushing words to him, words capable of utterly destroying all the beliefs of a striver.

"Speaking of which, Ye Fan."

"I really should... thank you properly."

Upon hearing this, Ye Fan's already hollow eyes suddenly constricted!

"If it weren't for you, relying on your 'great Luck' that even I envy, blazing a trail and finding this deeply hidden secret gene bank for me..."

"If it weren't for you, taking the lead and consuming Adam's annoying subordinates for me..."

"How could I have so easily and effortlessly obtained this SSS-Rank ancestral dragon gene core, capable of changing the world's pattern?"

He paused, looking at Ye Fan's face, which was now completely twisted by extreme humiliation, his smile growing even brighter.

"All your efforts, all your fortuitous encounters, everything you pride yourself on..."

"From the very beginning, they were all just... paving the way for me."

Pfft—!!!

These words, like an invisible, Soul-slaying sword steeped in the world's most venomous poison, fiercely pierced Ye Fan's Martial Dao Heart, which was already on the verge of collapse!

He could no longer endure this sense of humiliation, enough to drive even Divine-Grade beings mad, and a mouthful of heart's blood mixed with fragments of his Soul, spurted out!

His eyes, which had been burning with unyielding flames, at this moment, completely... dimmed.

His Dao Heart, utterly... collapsed!

He fell unconscious, like a puppet drained of all spirit, Qi, and essence.

"Killing" and also "crushing the spirit"!

This was the most cruel and thorough... reckoning for a Son of Destiny!

Having done all this, Lin Tian finally, slowly, turned around.

His gaze once again fell upon Qin Yubing, whose pretty face was pale and delicate body swaying from the shock of the scene before her.

At this moment, Qin Yubing's heart was already in turmoil!

She finally understood how terribly wrong she had been!

The "victim" she had sympathized with turned out to be a despicable scoundrel who would take advantage of others to achieve his goals!

And the "great tyrant" she had opposed was a peerless overlord with wisdom as vast as the sea and methods reaching the heavens, manipulating everyone in the palm of his hand!

Just as her mind was in turmoil and she was plunged into immense cognitive confusion, she suddenly felt a terrifying killing intent, enough to make her Soul tremble, completely lock onto her!

She suddenly looked up and saw that Lin Tian's deep eyes had become icy cold, devoid of any emotion!

"Now, it's your turn."

"You saw what you shouldn't have seen."

"And you know... secrets you shouldn't know."

Upon hearing this, Qin Yubing's heart grew cold! She knew that the other party... had murderous intentions towards her!

She no longer hesitated!

She activated the noble and innate Phoenix Bloodline within her body! A golden Divine-Grade fire, capable of incinerating all things, erupted from her, attempting to... resist!

However, in the face of Lin Tian's Pangu Body's immense pressure, as vast as the primordial Universe, her pitiful resistance seemed so... pale and powerless.

Boom!!!

Lin Tian's eyes turned cold, and that terrifying pressure, like billions of stars, simultaneously, roared down!

All of Qin Yubing's resistance, all her Divine-Grade fire, were instantly... crushed before this absolute, unreasonable pressure!

She let out a painful groan, her delicate body went limp, and her knees, no longer able to support her, heavily knelt on the cold metal floor!

She was... suppressed on the spot!

Lin Tian slowly stepped forward, looking down from above at the mysterious young woman who, even while suppressed on the ground, still had clear, beautiful eyes filled with stubbornness and defiance.

He slowly extended two fingers.

One represented life.

One represented death.

He looked at her and, with an irrefutable, god-like tone, gave her... her final choice.

"—Kneel."

"Surrender to me."

"Or..."

He paused, his voice so cold it lacked any warmth.

"—Like him, become a... cripple who needs my permission even to breathe."