"No, I actually don't want to laugh at all."
Outside the door, a hoarse voice sounded. "Even if they split all the money and ran away, I wouldn't care. After all, I never expected this rabble to be of any use... Besides, the ones at the door are from the Astronomical Society, right?"
That voice continued, "If I'm not mistaken, it should be the Beheading King of Jinling, correct?"
"..."
As Huai Shi turned around, he saw a figure suddenly appear in the empty corridor.
He stood before a shattered window, in the dying light, his form elusive, like a soap bubble.
The middle-aged man had slightly long hair and a beard that looked like it hadn't been shaved in a while. His expression was stern, yet unexpectedly, showed no anger or annoyance. He was just calm, even when surrounded.
Ding NanKe stared at him, then nodded in acknowledgment. "I've heard much about you, Prince of Paradise... Or should I address you as Your Highness?"
"Hmm? Are you one of my fans too?"
Huai Shi tilted his head, puzzled. "You see your lair being taken down and you're not even angry?"
"Would you be angry over an umbrella that broke after ten years of use?"
Ding NanKe smiled mockingly. "It has fulfilled its purpose, so there's nothing regrettable about its damage or destruction. I can always get a new one."
"If possible, I'd really like to give a thumbs-up for your magnanimity."
Huai Shi's eyebrows rose slowly. "However, finding out that someone considers the Astronomical Society as harmless as rain... I can't help but get a bit fired up."
As he spoke, he hoisted The Hammer of Sorrow in his hand again and asked seriously, "Since you ran away and then came back, I assume you're prepared to be hammered to death by me, right?"
"Ah, of course—"
Ding NanKe grinned mockingly.
Three folding knives slid from his sleeve, deftly caught in one hand. As his fingers flicked, the interweaving blades agilely unfolded at his fingertips.
Black, red, white.
The three folding knives looked like three iron butterflies.
"They told me you were strong—"
He paused, then said earnestly, "I don't quite believe it."
"You must be one of those haters who barely watched my live streams, right?"
Huai Shi sighed. "Too bad. You should have watched them."
Without any shame or modesty, he said seriously, "Once you've watched them, you'll realize..."
"—I really am very strong."
PFFT.
Ding NanKe was amused by Huai Shi's words, unsure whether to call the young man arrogant. However, he was well aware of Huai Shi's battle record. He hadn't underestimated him in the slightest.
Just as Ding NanKe opened his mouth to speak—
Huai Shi stomped his foot.
Yu Step!
More precisely, it was a special application—Shattered Steps! He used multiple short-distance steps to boost his speed and agility to their limits. He moved as if taking light, rapid steps, yet each one increased his speed further. Where he passed, his relentless strides scraped a deep trench into the cement floor. Numerous overlapping footprints, deeply wedged into the ground, formed a slightly curved trajectory extending forward.
With countless whirls in an instant, Huai Shi twisted his arm, unleashing the torrent of firelight from The Hammer of Sorrow as he smashed it down towards Ding NanKe!
The ephemeral figure shattered.
The second floor's floorboards suddenly shook. No, the entire building trembled under the sudden impact.
Countless fragments of the floor broke apart and plummeted downward.
Even the load-bearing walls began to crack.
In midair, Huai Shi saw Ding NanKe's figure reemerge before his eyes like a nightmare.
Impossibly fast, nearly exceeding the limits of Huai Shi's vision.
And when Huai Shi saw those blood-red pupils and the sharp canine teeth revealed at the corners of his mouth, he had an epiphany—a Vampire.
However, there were no traces of the disciplines.
Not a Vampire of the Rome Genealogy. It seemed he must be from the American Genealogy instead.
It was not Gabriel's Path of Light but rather the lineage of the Green Crown Dragon that emerged after Van Essen abandoned the disciplines and faith to embrace the miracles of the Abyss.
This was damn familiar...
Huai Shi grinned. Without even needing to think, The Hammer of Sorrow in his hand instantly vanished. His other hand, as if by instinct, drew the Sword of Virtue from the saddlebag behind him, raising it to block.
Anticipation!
The next instant, two flashes of the folding knives whooshed over the spine of the sword.
In midair, Ding NanKe defied gravity, ricocheting between the walls. In just over a second, he launched six attacks.
If not for the assistance of the Mirror of Nothingness, Huai Shi would have hardly been able to block such a ferocious frequency of attacks.
Of the three insights he had gained—the true essence of nothingness, the phantom of yesterday, and the link with the soul—the link with the soul made his words more persuasive and enabled him to better empathize with and understand others' situations. The phantom of yesterday had the magical effect of reviewing the past and washing away gloom, compensating for the inherent flaws and weaknesses in Huai Shi's spirit and allowing him to transcend his past shadows. The effect of the true essence of nothingness was the simplest: keen hearing and eyesight.