The library finally went quiet.
The fight had shaken glass, shredded shelves, and ripped half the third floor apart—but now, the only sound left was the faint, wet twitching of the Librarian's ruined corpse. Its black ichor seeped between the broken tiles like spilled ink.
Ye Qingyu didn't look at the corpse.
She wasn't even breathing properly.
Her eyes were fixed on the four shining Golden Pages floating in Su Chen's hand, each one carrying a holy glow that bent the dim light around them. The kind of treasure that could spark bloodshed on a global scale. The kind only one copy of which should logically exist.
"Th—That's… impossible," she whispered, voice trembling. "The system announcement said a single unique drop. One. How did you—"
She cut herself off when Su Chen walked past her.
He didn't answer immediately.
He didn't rush.
He didn't even look at the treasure.
His footsteps were slow, deliberate, heavy with a confidence she had never seen in any awakened human—not S-Rank generals, not elite hunters, not apocalypse warlords. Something was different about him. Something colder, deeper, darker.
The Lich Bloodline radiated from his body like a silent pressure. Every breath Ye Qingyu took felt thinner, tighter, as if she were standing before an ancient entity wearing a man's skin.
"Ye Qingyu," Su Chen said, voice calm in a way that felt like a warning. "Do you know why I let you watch?"
Her lips parted. "Because… I don't—"
"No," Su Chen cut her off gently. "It's because you're arrogant."
The words hit like a slap.
He circled her slowly, hands behind his back, expression unreadable.
"You have an S-Rank Talent," he continued. "You conjure walls of ice and call yourself Queen. You think that makes you exceptional in this new world."
He flicked a Golden Page to the floor in front of her.
Clink.
The soft metallic ring echoed through the ruined library.
Another page landed beside it.
Then another.
Then another.
Ye Qingyu flinched each time, as if the value alone hurt to look at.
"In this apocalypse," Su Chen said, "people kill for a single healing herb. They die for a C-Rank blueprint. They worship those who can drop a piece of equipment above Rare."
He raised his hand.
A dozen Golden Pages materialized around him, orbiting like a slow-burning constellation.
And then—gone. Stored away with a whisper.
"For me? Rarity isn't real," he said. "Scarcity is just a human illusion. If I want a million copies of a god-tier manual… I make a million."
Ye Qingyu felt her throat close.
This wasn't power.
This was dominance.
A quiet, absolute kind that didn't need to be shouted.
He tilted her chin up with a fingertip, forcing her to meet his eyes.
"You're not a Queen, Ye Qingyu. Not yet. But you have potential."
His voice softened—not kindly, but knowingly. "Follow me, and you'll rise higher than any S-Rank ever dreamed. Cross me…"
He smiled.
"…and I'll replace you with a version of you I copy myself."
Her last fragment of resistance—her pride, her S-Rank self-identity—cracked.
She lowered her gaze. Then her knee touched the ground.
"I… understand." Her voice shook. "I will follow."
The system chimed faintly.
[Ye Qingyu recruited.]
[Loyalty: 85 — Awe/Fear.]
Su Chen rested a hand on her shoulder.
"Good. Now hold still."
His fingertip touched her collarbone.
The cold struck instantly.
Her breath hitched as frost blossomed across her skin like a spirit awakening—only to be pulled away. Drawn into him. Merging.
He copied her Talent, her affinity, everything she was built around.
The temperature of the room dropped sharply.
Snowflakes spiraled from nowhere.
Su Chen inhaled once—and exhaled a cloud of white frost that spread across the floor in shimmering crystals.
[Frost Queen (S-Rank) acquired.]
[Skill Evolution detected.]
[New Skill: Breath of Ice — Glacial Style.]
His Nichirin Sword went from flowing blue waves to jagged white edges, the metal frosting over until it resembled a sword forged at the heart of an arctic storm.
"Water bends," he murmured, admiring the new blade. "Ice breaks."
He turned, picked up the original Golden Page, and handed it to her.
"Study it. Your defense is glass without a stronger foundation."
She clutched it like someone gripping salvation.
---
Back at the Black Behemoth
The university courtyard was quieter than usual.
Saya sat buried behind a mountain of books Su Chen had dumped into the truck. Her glasses slid down her nose, and she cursed every thirty seconds while scanning them into digital storage.
Saeko sat cross-legged under a tree, aura thick and murderous as her Blood Asura state simmered.
Shizuka was asleep in the shade, naturally.
When Su Chen returned with Ye Qingyu in tow, the air shifted.
"New recruit," he said simply. "Ice element. Try not to tick her off."
No one argued. Not after the library explosion.
He went to his private cabin—the only clean, organized space in the entire truck—and sat cross-legged. The original Golden Page lay across his palm.
[Indestructible Diamond Body — Stage 1: Iron Skin.]
[Requirements: Yang-infused medicinal baths + high-density Qi environment.]
His expression tightened.
"Medicinal baths? I have antibiotics, bandages, and half a pharmacy's worth of useless painkillers. No Spirit Herbs."
He rubbed his forehead.
"And Earth's Qi is garbage. Chaotic. Virus-infused."
That meant one thing:
He needed a world filled with pure cultivation resources.
He opened his Dimensional Travel list.
Martial World.
Doupo Cangqiong (Battle Through the Heavens).
Douluo Dalu.
He stared at the second option.
BTTH.
A world where medicinal herbs grew like weeds and Monster Cores replaced currency.
Perfect.
But first…
"Let's make a pit stop."
---
Demon Slayer World — Butterfly Mansion
He stepped into the quiet medicinal wing. The air smelled of flowers and poison.
Shinobu wasn't here. Good.
He walked straight to the shelves and touched the vial of concentrated Wisteria Poison.
[Copied.]
[Copied x500.]
Then he crouched beside the soil patch where the Wisteria grew.
Touch.
[Copied: Sun-Soaked Soil.]
"Enough."
And he disappeared.
---
Battle Through the Heavens — Magical Beast Mountain Range
The moment he arrived, he felt it.
Qi.
Thick. Dense. Heavy enough that every breath buzzed through his veins like warm electricity.
[Spirit Qi Density: 50x Earth.]
[Cultivation Speed: +500%.]
He inhaled deeply.
"So this is what a real cultivation world feels like."
The forest stretched endlessly—towering jade-green trees, glowing herbs, distant roars shaking the sky.
A shadow passed overhead.
An enormous lion with amethyst wings glided across the clouds, purple flames licking its mane.
Amethyst Winged Lion King.
Tier 6.
Equivalent to a Dou Emperor.
Su Chen instantly muted his aura.
"Yeah, let's not get curb-stomped today."
He went deeper into the outer perimeter.
A spicy, burning scent pulled at his senses—Yang energy.
Fire Spirit Fruit.
He climbed a cliff face with ease, found the glowing red herb pulsing in a crack—
—just as a crimson snake lunged at his throat.
He exhaled.
A wave of shimmering frost snapped the creature mid-air, turning it into an ice sculpture that shattered on the rocks.
He plucked the Fire Spirit Fruit.
[Copying…]
One became two.
Two became four.
Four became eight.
Eight became sixteen.
"Sixteen Fire Spirit Fruits," he said, sitting on the cliff edge. "Worth more than human lives on Earth."
He didn't meditate.
Didn't prepare.
Didn't hesitate.
He popped one into his mouth.
Energy erupted in his veins like liquid fire.
His body steamed.
Muscles tensed.
Skin reddened.
"Good… good… keep going."
He ate another.
Another.
Twenty.
Thirty.
Three days passed.
Fifty fruits later—
His skin cracked like a shell and flaked off, revealing metallic golden skin underneath.
[Iron Skin — Achieved.]
[Defense +50.]
[Immune to small-caliber bullets / Tier-1 attacks.]
He punched the cliff.
The rock exploded outward in a shower of rubble.
"Stage one complete."
He dusted off his hands.
"Now I need a Weapon Martial Spirit."
And deeper into the forest he went—expression calm, steps steady, aura sharp enough to cut air.
"Time to see what the Mercenary Groups here are carrying."