Confrontation and the truth deep in the black hole

Chapter 38: Confrontation and Truth in the Depths of the Black Hole

Once the giant figure fully revealed itself, it let out a deafening roar. The sound was like rolling thunder, echoing continuously within the dark space of the black hole, making everyone's ears buzz as if they would be shattered by the roar. Ye Qiu, however, remained completely unmoved. An unruly smile curled at the corners of his mouth, as if declaring to the terrifying monster before him that all its intimidation was futile.

"Hmph, with a look like yours, you want to scare me? It's utterly ridiculous!" As Ye Qiu spoke, he rested the chaos sovereign scepter on his shoulder. His casual posture made it seem as if he weren't facing a powerful monster, but an insignificant ant. As his words fell, the System's notification chimed in his mind: [Detected host continuing to show off, prestige value +800!] Ye Qiu was secretly delighted. His strength increased along with his prestige value, filling him with even more confidence for this battle.

Although Ares felt fear in his heart, seeing Ye Qiu so calm gave him courage. He gripped his giant axe tightly with both hands and roared, "Boss, no matter what this thing is, let's go together and hack it down!" His voice carried a hint of a tremor, but it was also saturated with firm determination.

Su Yao and Li Yue also quickly adjusted their states. Su Yao's hands rapidly formed Seals, and ice-blue light gathered in her palms. The surrounding temperature plummeted, and even the thick black mist seemed to freeze and solidify slightly. Li Yue closed her eyes and muttered incantations, controlling more vines to erupt from the ground. These vines were like lurking hunters in the darkness, ready to strike at any moment.

Ling Yue stood beside Ye Qiu, the staff in her hand flashing with light. The purple glow intertwined with the golden radiance emanating from Ye Qiu. She frowned slightly and said softly, "This monster's power is very eerie; we must be careful." Her voice was gentle yet filled with concern. Ye Qiu turned to look at her, the corners of his mouth turning up in a confident smile. "Don't worry, with me here, it won't be able to pull any tricks." That smile was like Nuan Yang, easing the worry in Ling Yue's heart. She couldn't help but blush slightly, lowering her head and feeling secretly shy about her concern just now.

The monster seemed enraged by Ye Qiu's provocation. It swung its massive arm, smashing down toward the group. The arm was like a giant stone pillar, accompanied by the whistling sound of wind. Wherever it passed, space itself seemed to be torn apart. Seeing this, Ye Qiu remained unhurried and activated the show-off system's acceleration skill. His entire being instantly transformed into a golden afterimage, moving so fast that his actions were almost invisible.

"You want to hit me? You're not qualified!" Ye Qiu mocked while weaving through the gaps in the monster's attacks. The chaos sovereign scepter in his hand occasionally swung out waves of golden energy, each leaving a deep mark on the monster. The black flames on the monster's body flickered due to these attacks, as if they might be extinguished at any moment.

[Detected host continuing high-intensity show-off, prestige value +1200!] The System's voice came again. Ye Qiu felt his power steadily increasing. An excited light sparkled in his eyes; to him, this battle was no longer just a challenge, but a stage to display his strength.

During the battle, the coordination between Ye Qiu and Ling Yue became increasingly seamless. Once, when the monster's attack was about to hit Ling Yue, Ye Qiu acted swiftly, instantly appearing before her to block the fatal blow with the chaos sovereign scepter. Ling Yue looked up at him, her eyes full of gratitude and admiration. Their gazes met in the air, and for that moment, time seemed to stand still, the clamor of battle fading away. Ye Qiu was momentarily stunned as a different kind of emotion welled up in his heart. He softly said to Ling Yue, "It's okay, I'm here." Ling Yue's cheeks flushed crimson as she nodded gently, ripples of emotion stirring in her heart. In the ensuing battle, Ling Yue subconsciously focused on Ye Qiu's safety. Whenever Ye Qiu was in danger, she would unhesitatingly cast magic to bail him out. Ye Qiu would also use the gaps in combat to give Ling Yue encouragement and support with his eyes. Though they didn't speak, their hearts were in sync.

After the battle ended, the group took a temporary rest in the palace. Ye Qiu and Ling Yue sat in a corner of the palace, where surrounding runes emitted a soft light, creating a quiet atmosphere for them. Ling Yue gently toyed with her long purple hair, hesitated for a moment, and then spoke. "Ye Qiu, from the moment I first saw you, I felt you were different from others. Your confidence and strength make me admire you." Ye Qiu looked at her with a smile in his eyes. "Actually, I'm quite curious about you too. You've been tracking the Mysterious Organization for so long; you must have gone through a lot." Ling Yue sighed softly and began to tell her past. Her Family had once suffered a heavy blow because of the Mysterious Organization, which was what set her on the path of revenge. Ye Qiu listened quietly, occasionally interjecting a few words to express his understanding and support. The more they talked, the more absorbed they became, and unknowingly, the distance between them closed a bit more.

As the battle continued, Ye Qiu discovered that although the monster possessed great strength, its movements were somewhat sluggish. His heart stirred, and he had an idea. "Everyone listen, this monster is slow. Let's use our speed advantage and take turns attacking its legs to make it lose its footing!" Ye Qiu shouted loudly, his voice carrying clearly to everyone's ears in the darkness.

Hearing this, everyone immediately took action. Ares was the first to charge forward. Encouraged by Ye Qiu, his speed also seemed to have increased significantly. The giant axe in his hand carried the force of a thousand tons as it hacked toward the monster's leg. The monster sensed the danger and tried to lift its leg to dodge, but it was a step too late. It was struck by Ares's giant axe and let out a roar of pain.

Su Yao and Li Yue launched their attacks simultaneously. Su Yao's ice magic condensed a thick layer of ice on the monster's leg, making its movements even more sluggish. Li Yue's vines tightly entwined around the monster's leg, attempting to pin it down. Ling Yue was not to be outdone either, firing beams of purple magic toward the monster's leg. Every beam that hit caused the monster's leg to tremble.

Ye Qiu, meanwhile, constantly searched for the monster's flaws. His eyes were as sharp as a hawk's, not missing a single detail. Suddenly, he discovered a black core at the monster's chest. The frequency of that core's pulse seemed related to the monster's attack rhythm.

"So your weakness is here!" Ye Qiu was overjoyed. He concentrated his mind and poured Chaos Power into the chaos sovereign scepter. The golden light on the scepter instantly became even more dazzling, almost illuminating the entire dark space.

"System, activate the Ultimate Strike!" Ye Qiu roared in his mind.

[Detected host activating Ultimate Strike. Consuming 8000 prestige value. Attack power increased by 300%!] The System's voice rang out. Ye Qiu felt his body fill with endless power, as if he could shatter the entire world with a single punch.

He leaped high into the air, the chaos sovereign scepter in his hand carrying a streak of golden light like a meteor as it shot toward the monster's chest. The monster seemed to sense the fatal danger and frantically waved its arms in an attempt to block Ye Qiu's attack, but it was all in vain.

The golden light instantly struck the monster's chest. With an earth-shaking boom, the monster's body began to rapidly collapse, and black flames and smoke filled the entire space. Under everyone's watch, the monster turned into a pile of black ash and dissipated into the darkness.

"Congratulations to the host for successfully defeating the mysterious monster. Gained 15,000 prestige value! Obtained mysterious reward: Eye of Insight!" The System's voice echoed in Ye Qiu's mind. Ye Qiu felt a mysterious power flood into his body, and a strange light flashed in his eyes, as if he could see through all falsehoods.

"Eye of Insight? What is this?" Ye Qiu asked in his mind.

"The Eye of Insight allows the host to see through all illusions and disguises, and can analyze the weaknesses and abilities of enemies. It is an extremely powerful treasure," the System explained.

Ye Qiu was overjoyed. He knew this reward would make him even more formidable in future battles. He turned around excitedly, instinctively searching for Ling Yue's gaze, wanting to share the good news with her immediately. Ling Yue was looking at him with a face full of smiles, her eyes brimming with admiration. They looked at each other and smiled, as if the surrounding air were filled with a sweet atmosphere.

In the subsequent exploration, whenever they encountered a problem, Ye Qiu and Ling Yue would huddle together to discuss it. Once, they encountered a complex magic mechanism in the palace that no one else could figure out. Ye Qiu and Ling Yue stood side-by-side before the mechanism. Ye Qiu carefully observed its structure while Ling Yue drew upon her magical knowledge to find a way to crack it. As they discussed and experimented, Ye Qiu's hand inadvertently brushed against Ling Yue's. Both were momentarily startled, but then Ling Yue smiled softly and did not pull away. At that moment, a unique sense of ambiguity filled the air. After some effort, they finally found the method to crack the mechanism and successfully passed through.

Just as he was preparing to share the good news with everyone, the black mist in the black hole suddenly began to dissipate rapidly, and a massive palace appeared before them.

The palace walls were carved with ancient runes and patterns. These runes and patterns emitted a mysterious light, as if telling an ancient and mysterious story. Ye Qiu led the group into the palace and found a giant crystal ball placed in the center, flickering with an eerie light.

Ye Qiu stepped forward to observe the crystal ball closely and discovered that it seemed to hide a great secret. Just as he was about to reach out and touch it, a beam of light suddenly shot out from the crystal ball, enveloping him within it.

Enveloped by the light, images surfaced in Ye Qiu's mind: the origins of the Mysterious Organization, their plan to awaken an ancient evil power, and the true face of that ancient evil power—it turned out that this ancient evil power was a sealed Chaos Demon God that had once nearly destroyed the entire continent. Furthermore, the leader of the Mysterious Organization was actually a descendant of the Chaos Demon God, and they intended to use the Demon God's power to rule the entire world.

"So that's how it is. No wonder this Mysterious Organization has such grand ambitions," Ye Qiu thought to himself. He shared this information with the others, and everyone was shocked.

"What should we do now?" Ares asked.

Ye Qiu looked at the crystal ball, a flash of determination in his eyes. "We must completely destroy this Mysterious Organization. We cannot let their conspiracy succeed. Moreover, we must find a way to Seal the Chaos Demon God to prevent it from waking up again."

Everyone nodded in agreement. They knew this battle was far from over; the real challenge had only just begun. And Ye Qiu would lead them to continue this journey full of the unknown and danger, engaging in a thrilling contest against the forces of evil for the sake of the continent's peace and tranquility... And during this long adventure, the affection quietly growing between Ye Qiu and Ling Yue would also become a warm bond on their path forward.