Facing the Mist Lord's question, Feng Qi felt awkward.
There was no good way to answer this.
Of course, he had no misunderstanding about the Mist Lord's strength. His reasoning was simple—he just wanted to have his brother take a hit for him.
At that moment, a loud explosion echoed in the distance.
Feng Qi immediately turned his head, eyes locking onto the bottomless pit—
A familiar figure leaped out from its depths.
Suction Cup burst forth, her entire body wreathed in jade-colored lightning arcs, violently shattering the black mist that bound her.
She threw a punch straight at Little Black.
Seeing that Suction Cup was unharmed, Feng Qi let out a deep breath of relief.
The moment her fist struck, the scarlet glow in her eyes intensified.
Little Black casually raised a hand, effortlessly blocking Suction Cup's attack—
Not a single shockwave was released from the impact.
The scene was eerily calm.
The black mist swirled, absorbing all the force of the punch like a bottomless abyss—not a single ounce of energy escaped.
Then, with a simple tap of its fingers—
Little Black sent Suction Cup floating into the air and suspended her before it.
Raising a single finger, it gently flicked her forehead—
A crack appeared on Suction Cup's brow, and her expression twisted in immense pain.
Despite this—
Suction Cup clenched her fists, her gaze filled with burning fury as she stared down Little Black.
In her small, childish voice, she gritted her teeth and roared:
"Protect… Ah Qi!"
Her rage surged.
The scarlet rune crystal embedded in her body flared, unleashing brilliant light akin to a sun, and—
A towering, indistinct figure began to descend above her.
An unimaginable pressure spread across the battlefield.
Suction Cup's body trembled violently—but instead of collapsing, she moved forward.
Bit by bit, she broke free from the mist's grip.
The scarlet glow in her eyes grew blinding, her form blurring as she left behind two streaks of crimson light with each movement.
At the same time—
Little Black lifted its head.
It gazed at the enormous shadowy figure looming over Suction Cup.
As their eyes met—
Mysterious divine runes began manifesting all over Little Black's body.
The runes shimmered erratically, seemingly trying to resist the crushing spiritual oppression of the entity above Suction Cup.
Then—
Something unexpected happened.
The divine runes covering Little Black's body began to pulse at an increasingly rapid rate.
Each second, countless strange symbols appeared and vanished, as if they were attempting to analyze the existence of the shadowy figure.
And within that ceaseless shifting of runes—
A sound began to emerge.
A chorus of whispers flooded the air—
It was as if countless voices from ancient history had been awakened, telling a story long buried in the origins of time.
Feng Qi could barely make sense of it.
Every whisper seemed to tell a completely different tale.
All of them merged into a grand, ancient hymn, woven from the echoes of a forgotten era.
For a moment—
It was as if he could see fleeting visions—but none of them made sense.
Even the Mist Lord, standing beside him, fell into a dazed trance, his expression distant as if he was being dragged into the weight of history itself.
No one knew how much time passed.
Then—
The divine runes on Little Black's body suddenly froze.
With a slow movement, Little Black raised its right hand.
Placing its palm gently on Suction Cup's forehead, it ignored the crushing pressure from the shadow above her and attempted to strike her down again.
But—
Suction Cup broke free at the last second.
She threw a punch.
Her fist, crackling with jade-colored lightning, collided with Little Black's hand—
And then—
Nothing happened.
No explosion.
No shockwave.
The moment her attack landed, it was as if all the force had been instantly erased from existence.
A terrifying realization settled in.
Suction Cup had no way of harming Little Black.
But she refused to back down.
She swung her left fist—
Then another.
Then another.
In a matter of moments—
The sky was filled with thousands of her strikes, raining down like a storm of unstoppable force.
Yet—
Nothing worked.
Little Black's physical form remained unshaken.
Each strike merely created rippling distortions, like waves on the surface of a bottomless void.
Then—
Little Black raised its hand again.
A ripple of energy spread out from its palm.
Suction Cup's scarlet eyes dimmed—
Her body was instantly sent flying, crashing into the ground and skidding back in a long, deep trench of dust and rubble.
Seeing her struggle, Feng Qi clenched his fists.
He wanted to rush forward.
But he held himself back.
Because he knew—
He was powerless here.
This was a battle he couldn't interfere with.
If he got involved, he would be killed in an instant.
[Brother, stop watching. Little Black is getting serious now. Suction Cup still can't push it to its limits. You need to use this chance to leave—explore more of the future world, hunt more domain creatures, and grow stronger.]
Hearing the narrator's warning—
Feng Qi made up his mind.
He was ready to turn and flee.
But—
Just as he took a step, he looked back.
He saw Suction Cup struggling to stand up.
He felt a deep ache in his heart.
At that moment—
She turned toward him.
Her face was still covered in dirt and injuries—
But—
She smiled.
With a bright, childish grin, she wiped the dust from her face, lifted a cheerful hand, and shouted:
"Ah Qi… Suction Cup is not hurt at all!"
Hearing those words, Feng Qi felt a sharp pain in his heart.
He knew for certain that Suction Cup was already injured. Even the scarlet rune crystal embedded in her body had started to crack.
Suction Cup was only saying this to keep him from worrying.
"(▽`) Ah Qi, you go first! Suction Cup will catch up soon!"
Her voice rang out again from the distance.
Feng Qi looked up—
She was waving at him, signaling for him to leave first.
"Damn it!"
His fists clenched, the soul fire in his skull burned wildly.
[Calm down, it's time to go. This is Suction Cup's fate. If you want to change her destiny, then become stronger.]
Feng Qi knew the narrator was right.
This was Wei Wei's predetermined fate for Suction Cup. The moment she was born, her end was already decided.
The Crimson Research Institute's original goal in cloning Mu Qing was to create a super soldier.
It was an essential part of their salvation project.
They had sent countless bio-enhanced warriors into the domain world, hoping to sever the connection between the human world and the domain world—
To ensure humanity's survival.
But none of those warriors ever returned.
They vanished without a trace.
The Super Soldier Project aimed to create a warrior as powerful as Mu Qing, someone who could walk the same path of salvation in the domain world.
From the moment Suction Cup was created, she was burdened with the mission of saving humanity—she was the Crimson Research Institute's chosen hope.
But everything changed after she encountered Feng Qi.
The Crimson Research Institute realized that all their efforts were meaningless.
They gradually understood that the plan to deploy soldiers into the domain world and cut off spatial nodes was completely impossible.
If it could be done, the Warriors of the Heavens would have done it long ago.
From then on—
The Crimson Research Institute placed all their hopes on Feng Qi.
They were determined to follow him through every sacrifice line, to walk through hell with him, until they reached the ideal future.
And so—
The project to create a savior warrior was abandoned.
Instead, Suction Cup was redefined.
She was no longer meant to be a savior.
She was meant to be his support, a super soldier made for Feng Qi.
Especially in this war timeline.
The moment Suction Cup was cloned, she was fated to face Little Black in a battle to the death.
This was the mission implanted in her mind.
Protect Ah Qi.
These four words weighed heavily.
Fifteen hundred years of slumber—only to wake up and face an enemy she could never defeat.
And if the ideal future was truly achieved, she would have no reason to exist.
Her entire existence was based on Mu Qing's death.
If the future was perfect—if Mu Qing never died—then Suction Cup would never have been created.
At this moment—
Feng Qi felt deep sorrow for her.
No matter the outcome, whether the future was saved or doomed, Suction Cup was destined to be a tragedy.
Just then—
The narrator's voice rang in his mind.
[Don't worry, brother. I believe that the future you will definitely be strong enough to recreate a perfect Suction Cup. Even without the Scarlet Rune Crystal, you could use other energy cores—maybe even replicate the Scarlet Rune Crystal itself. But for you to reach that level, you have an incredibly long way to go. Maybe even further than the peak that Old Mist mentioned.]
Hearing this—
The gloom in Feng Qi's heart began to fade.
Aside from his own growth, he also thought of the Miracle Items—artifacts with incredible abilities.
Maybe there was one among them that could do what the narrator described—to create a perfect Suction Cup.
With this thought, his desire to keep watching the battle disappeared.
Right now, Suction Cup was just like all the companions from previous sacrifice lines.
She was sacrificing herself so that he could move forward.
The best way he could repay her—
Was to make sure her sacrifice wasn't in vain.
"Old Mist, we're leaving."
Without looking back, Feng Qi turned and walked away.
The Mist Lord followed, his voice filled with curiosity.
"What about that little one named Suction Cup? Are you really abandoning her?"
Feng Qi shook his head.
"No. She will return to me."
Just not in this future timeline.
He finished the thought in his mind.
The Mist Lord looked even more confused but did not press further.
Instead—
He asked another question.
"And that black mist creature? What exactly is it? No matter how many times it was struck, it didn't take any damage."
"It's called Little Black." Feng Qi replied. "I don't know its true origins, but right now, it's hunting me."
"Why is it hunting you? What exactly did you do?"
"I stole the offering in front of its ancestor's tombstone!" Feng Qi snapped, then broke into a run.
Hearing this—
The Mist Lord froze in shock.
His face was filled with disbelief—as if his mind was struggling to comprehend the sheer absurdity of that answer.
Half an hour later, Feng Qi and the Mist Lord arrived at the outskirts of the ruined city.
This area had been completely overtaken by lush vegetation. The remains of buildings could occasionally be seen, half-buried in the soil.
The thought of Suction Cup made Feng Qi's heart ache.
He had no idea how long she could hold out.
All he could do was use the time she was buying him to grow stronger.
As he traveled, the layers of negative emotions continued to weigh on him.
This caused his inner hostility to build up, making him desperate for an outlet.
After traveling a little further, a group of domain creatures appeared in their sight.
They resembled tyrannosaurs from a sci-fi movie, standing on two massive hind legs, with small scythe-like forelimbs that gleamed under the blood moon.
There were more than ten of them, half-hidden within the twisted vegetation, their glowing green eyes locked onto them, as if assessing whether they could be prey.
Suddenly—
The leading creature leaped out of the underbrush, letting out a hoarse roar as it lunged forward in a feigned attack.
But after taking a few aggressive steps, it noticed that neither Feng Qi nor the Mist Lord reacted.
Without hesitation, it leapt backward, retreating swiftly.
Clearly—
The attack was just a test, meant to gauge their reaction and determine their strength.
"Pretty smart," the Mist Lord muttered.
A bloodthirsty grin appeared on his normally lazy face.
"Too bad, you're about to become my meal."
The Mist Lord had a simple way of judging an enemy's strength.
He was born with an extremely keen sense for blood energy.
To him, the strength of a creature's blood energy was as visible as a battle power value.
This method was useless against elemental lifeforms—
But against blood-based creatures, it was infallible.
After scanning his prey, the Mist Lord remained completely calm.
Just as he was about to dissolve into mist and strike—
Feng Qi raised a hand, stopping him.
Then, he stepped forward himself.
"I'll handle this."
At this moment—
Feng Qi's pent-up emotions had reached their limit.
He needed to vent.
Seeing the soul fire in Feng Qi's skull blazing, the Mist Lord said nothing.
He simply watched as Feng Qi approached the creatures.
At this point—
Feng Qi had completely exhausted his blood energy.
He could no longer assume his Blood Source Form.
But even so, he had complete confidence in his strength.
He wasn't a match for the powerhouses standing at the peak of the future world—
Nor could he compete with the terrifying creatures of the domain races.
But—
Against these weaker domain creatures in the ruins of the city, he felt no pressure at all.
As he closed in on the leading domain creature, his pace suddenly accelerated.
His right arm swung like a battle blade, slicing through the air with a sharp whoosh.
The sudden burst of speed caught the creature off guard.
Its body sprang backward like a coiled spring—
But Feng Qi was faster.
His razor-sharp bone fingers pierced through its chest, sending a spray of blood into the air.
Seeing their leader wounded, the other domain creatures rushed out of the undergrowth, launching a coordinated attack.
They closed in rapidly, jaws wide open, revealing rows of serrated teeth, as they lunged to tear him apart.
But—
Feng Qi did not retreat.
His right arm tore deeper through flesh, piercing past ribs and into the still-beating heart.
Without hesitation—
He crushed it.
As a cloud of blood mist erupted from the dying creature, it was instantly absorbed by Feng Qi's bones.
His shrunken heart, drained of blood energy, slowly pulsed to life, beginning to beat once more.
Meanwhile—
The attacking domain creatures sank their fangs into his shoulders, arms, and legs.
But—
Even at full force, their bite strength couldn't even scratch him.
Feng Qi's bone density and hardness far surpassed the strength of their teeth.
Their fangs only left faint scratches on his skeletal frame.
But no real damage.
Then—
Feng Qi attacked.
In his Bone Man Form, every part of his body was a lethal weapon.
Every strike carried an innate sharpness.
In an instant—
Eight creatures fell.
The remaining domain beasts tried to flee—
But they couldn't escape Feng Qi's pursuit.
One by one—
They collapsed into pools of blood.
By the time the battle ended, Feng Qi's depleted blood energy had been fully replenished.
Just as he was about to open his status panel to check his newly acquired abilities—
A cloud of gray mist drifted over from the distance.
The mist condensed in front of him, forming the shape of the Mist Lord.
With a helpless expression, the Mist Lord sighed.
"I believe now that you're my brother. But—"
"Your ability to absorb blood energy is clearly even stronger than mine."
"I've been following you this whole time, but thanks to you sucking up every last drop from these creatures, I haven't absorbed a single trace of blood energy along the way."
Just as Feng Qi was about to respond—
The narrator's voice suddenly echoed in his mind.
[Maybe even Old Mist's waste contains some traces of blood energy, but your special physique absorbs blood energy so thoroughly that even his leftovers wouldn't have a single drop left.]
Feng Qi: …