Forge a path to success.

Chapter 415 Falsehoods, Obsessions, Shattered True Feelings
“I don’t understand what you mean,” it said calmly. “I’m not lying. The end of the world is approaching.”

"I believe that's what the old man told you, but do you believe it yourself?" Chu Hengkong retorted. "Where are the righteous allies in this apocalyptic scenario? Were all the righteous gods and destiny masters dead before the end of the world?"

"They are powerless—"

"I just saw Lord Canxin chasing after your old man and hacking at him, but I never felt he was this incompetent," Chu Hengkong sneered. "To presume the fate of other supreme beings based on the prophecy of one supreme being is like the Creator talking about the fish in his own tank!"

Wang Quan spread his hands and smiled, saying, "It's hard to persuade a suicidal ghost with kind words, and even the greatest compassion won't save someone who is cutting themselves off."

"Then let's see if the Great Compassionate One is willing to save me," Chu Hengkong suddenly said.

He raised his monstrous wrist, and the chains on the silver prosthetic body disintegrated, revealing nested, insect-shell-like structures that had been sealed with steel, exposing filthy flesh and blood. Wang Quan's expression changed: "You—"

"Protector of the primordial dream, guardian of the cradle of oblivion, generous and benevolent benefactor!" Chu Hengkong shouted to the sky, "If you are truly benevolent, answer my question: Is the future of this world already predetermined?"

His body also contains the flesh and blood of the Fallen, one of the foundations upon which the Wrathful Arm took shape, a "gift" bestowed by the Benevolent Elder in the desolate wilderness. Even among the Fallen, this is the highest level of catalyst, and he too can pray to the Elder if he so desires.

—You already have the answer, so why ask me?

The old man's laughter rang out, tinged with a hint of mockery. Chu Hengkong stared at Wang Quan, adopting the same tone he had used earlier: "Some people are used to distorting the truth and confusing the public. They lie so much that they even believe their own lies. Unless you ask them to speak up, they will never be willing to wake up."

Wang Quan suddenly interrupted, "Old man, please don't interfere in our affairs."

"Child, I cannot do that. But since someone has sincerely asked me for something, I will surely respond."

—The destiny foreshadowed by the totem was indeed the future I and Black Moon divined. Its contents were absolutely true, every word accurate. However…

The old man's voice sounded meaningful.

If there truly were a predetermined fate, the cradle would already be a dead star in deep space. In my view, there has never been anything "predestined" in this world!
It laughed and left, leaving no sound in the space that had passed. Wang Quan stood expressionless against the old courtyard wall like a forgotten doll. Chu Hengkong tapped the hilt of the murder weapon, his eyes filled with reminiscence.

“When I first arrived in the Shrouding Realm, the funeral procession said that Huilong City was doomed. When I went to Jinye City, the cultivators told me that I was destined to die. Later, when I arrived in the Despair Wilderness, the people who were destined to die had slaughtered each other in the past, and even the cultivators themselves did not know how to measure it. Now in the Jingsha City-State, the funeral procession has come again, but the city-state has not yet died.”

“It’s all destined, it’s all destined…” he chuckled. “From the moment I entered the Realm of Submersion until now, every single battle I’ve fought has been predestined! If prophecies were truly so believable, the Realm of Submersion would have long been a funeral procession, and you, a skeptic of fate, wouldn’t be the one to tell me about doomsday scenarios!”

Ultimately, the Dark Kingdom is a fallen one.

The Black Moon they worship is the first abyss of immortality, and its essence is a deformed life form that transcends the end. Its existence is the opposite of the ultimate fate.

Would such a fallen believe in the end of the world? How could they? In their eyes, the world is eternal; once they return to their cradle, nothing can harm them, regardless of a raging flood. The fallen have no fear of the future; what they truly believe in is a supreme, omnipotent God.

It's just another psychological tactic.

Revealing part of the truth to shake the enemy's will is nothing more than a lie, a common tactic of the fallen, designed to demoralize the fighting spirit!

"—If you think that way, you're wrong."

Wang Quan said calmly.

"Unlike those fallen souls you know, I'm, in a way, an oddball. I don't believe in miracles, I don't believe in forever, and I don't believe this terrible world can have any future."

"The old man's words gave you a lot of hope, didn't they? However, he only spoke of a very small probability, and he didn't deny his own prediction either!"

"The process may change, and the efforts of some people may delay or change something, but from a general perspective, the tide of fate will continue to roll forward, unaffected by these random and accidental events."

It conjured a model of the Earth, tossed up a glittering fireball, and sent it slowly hurtling towards the planet.

"To give you an example you can understand, it's like the sun is broken and about to hit the Earth. There are 70 billion people on Earth, and anything can happen before the sun hits, even an old man can't possibly foresee all the possibilities..."

"But can these random factors allow Earth to survive?"

It let go, watching the sun set and the planet they knew so well turn to ashes.

"No way."

"No matter how hard you struggle, you can't do it."

"Effort, luck, miracles, willpower—if you combine them and magnify them a million times, the setting sun will still reach its predetermined end. I haven't mentioned those vague probabilities because I truly don't want to see you struggling in despair!"

He spoke earnestly and patiently.

Like a compassionate and melancholic prophet.

However, the more this happened, the more impatient Chu Hengkong became.

He was still lying, still spouting nonsense. Even now, this scoundrel still refused to tell the truth. He sighed heavily, then roared, "What's it to you?!"

Wang Quan looked bewildered: "You..."

"So what if the world of the Submerged Realm is going to end?" Chu Hengkong sneered. "It's just another boring world after death, where strangers enjoy the tragedy of their own making. You have no responsibility or meaning in it. Even if the Submerged Realm is smashed to pieces on the ground, what does it have to do with your Dark Kingdom!"

Wang Quan leaned against the wall, feigning distress: "I also love a segment of the world's population, and it's for them that I—"

"So who do you care about?" Chu Hengkong interrupted forcefully.

Wang Quan remained silent, so Chu Hengkong pressed him, "Didn't you say before that you loved the city-state? Who in the city-state do you like? What aspects of this place do you think are worth your efforts to protect?"

"Do you support 'sole love'? Then why don't you just help Parriman to the end? You support 'unity'? Then why do you keep stirring up trouble within the city-state?"

Chu Hengkong spoke rapidly and aggressively. The usually eloquent Wang Quan remained silent, staring at him with empty eyes. The more Wang Quan did this, the angrier Chu Hengkong became; at this moment, anger trumped hatred.

His voice gradually rose: "I can't say it, can I? I can't even come up with a lie. Without relevant experience, I can't imagine anything believable, so I just use the ambiguous term 'love' to fool them!"

"Then let me speak for you, you don't care at all."

"If you don't care about city-states, don't care about the Submerged Realm, then of course you don't care about the apocalypse. In the end, if you don't care about anything on Earth, why would you care about life in the Submerged Realm!"

Wang Quan seemed enraged as well, clenching his fists: "How could you forget even this? I love humanity. I learned 'love' after the death of the king who raised me!"

"You don't love humans at all!"

Chu Hengkong roared at it.

Exposing the biggest lie that has been hidden until now.

Ultimately, the fallen are just that—the fallen.

These twisted beings, born of the Black Moon, are bound only to their own kind in terms of affection. Even if they occasionally regard other races as important, they cannot fundamentally change their nature. Yet, the monarchy truly acts for the sake of all living beings on Earth, restraining desires and impulses, and wholeheartedly implementing its plan to save the world, just as it once promised.

There is only one simple reason to explain all of this.

It lied to itself too. "—You've simply given yourself a new definition. You've defined those indifferent, indiscriminate feelings as 'love'!"

A sound like shattering glass rang out. A crack appeared on the delicate face of the white-haired boy. The crack tore his composed smile diagonally, like a piece of porcelain that had been shattered and pieced back together long ago, finally revealing its true form under the erosion of time.

It covered its face, trying to mend the cracks and recreate a smile. But no matter how much divine power it poured in, its wounds remained unhealed. Black blood continued to gush from the wounds, soaking its pristine white clothes. Cracks spread with its movements, covering its neck and the back of its hands like a spiderweb.

"Stop talking," Wang Quan said in a low voice. "That's enough."

Chu Hengkong pointed around, towards the courtyard he remembered so well: "Escape back to the past, hide in the happiness of memories—it sounds like the typical mindset of a fallen person. But do you really believe in this? Do you really think the past was beautiful?"

"I'm afraid not. Dark Power, you know better than anyone that the past was never this wonderful. Your memories are filled with endless expectations and pain. You can't find much happiness in your childhood; your childhood is filled with accumulating regrets and mistakes!"

Wang Quan tried harder to piece the face back together, but the shattered face eventually fell off, leaving only black blood churning inside the empty skull. Its voice, its voice emanating from the blood, was filled with pain: "Shut up. Please. Don't say anything more."

Chu Hengkong angrily said, "How could someone like you want to go back to the past! And how could you care about the future of the Chen Dong Realm!"

"You've been plotting within the city-state all this time for the sake of this mutually destructive situation. Your true purpose is to complete the task given to you by the Black Moon, to help it devour the city-state and fulfill its wish. In that case, it will reward your expectations and descend upon Earth to 'save' humanity according to your wishes."

"—In this way, you will finally be able to complete the final 'task' that you were given!"

The expression on Wang Quan's face shifted constantly. From anger to blankness, from bitterness to indifference. Countless emotions flickered in his broken eyes, like a gifted actor mimicking the appearances of all living beings.

Chu Hengkong rushed forward and punched the cracked humanoid figure. The disguise shattered completely, and foul blood gushed out like a decapitation!
Skin, hair, muscles, bones—all the components that make up a "human" simultaneously shattered and faded into fragments, leaving only an endless flow of black blood surging from the heart. Yet the human form remained, like another person hidden inside the suit, standing in the center of that black blood flow.

The black blood split to both sides, revealing bloodless lips.

"Yes, I hate this world."

"From the moment I was born, I thought you humans were utterly disgustingly ugly."

It emitted a dry, faint, decaying sound.

"Foolish creatures, meaningless bodily activity, a fragile and ugly society. Ignorant fools eke out a living under protection. Decaying old people indulge in delusions of salvation. Blood-sucking parasites kill each other under the guise of justice."

There's absolutely no logic to it. I don't know why such a life form exists. Just looking at it makes me want to vomit. Even using it as a toy is disgusting. It's utterly disgusting!

The black blood stopped flowing, clinging to the skin and becoming part of the black combat suit. Beneath the blood, pale, almost sickly skin and pure white hair were revealed.

“I was originally a perfect and happy being, but because of you, I have become a contradictory and incompetent inferior being. Without the blessings of the gods, without the illumination of the moonlight, I left my warm homeland and came to this suffocating and ugly world.”

"Every day, every minute, every second, I want to personally slaughter all of you meaningless, vile lives! And then die together with this disgusting world!"

"But I must protect humanity!"

Crimson tears streamed from her eyes.

It roars at the last remaining members of its kind.

"Because I made a promise, I promised him! Because someone loves me! And I bear his love on my shoulders!"

"I must realize his dream; that is the meaning of my existence!!"

The illusion of the past collapsed with her cry, revealing the true nature of the world beneath the sea.

There was nothing. No sky, no earth, no life, only an endless expanse of monotonous pure white. Everything in the past was an illusion; only now was the true state of Wang Quan's heart revealed.

She stood on the pure white horizon, casting aside all pretense to reveal her true face. It was still the face Chu Hengkong knew, only much older than when they first met. She was the white-haired girl he had first encountered, with crimson eyes and fair skin, like a fragile doll thrown into the human world.

She was no longer the Dark Moon Goddess; she was the Blood Alliance's No. 1, the world's most recognized strongest assassin, and the Dark King who disregarded all living beings. But now, she was no longer indifferent; a fiery emotion surged in her eyes, carrying a deep-seated hatred and pain.

"I will do anything to realize my purpose."

"Even if it means killing you, Chu Hengkong!"

Chu Hengkong smiled.

A smile as joyful as if they were reunited after a long separation.

“Very good. This is the true Dark Kingdom.”

"This is my true friend!"

He raised the Divine Slash, pointing it at the center of Wang Quan's brow: "What's the point of a drawn-out fight! My opponent is the Blood Alliance's No. 1, the Dark King who will stop at nothing to kill me!"

He brandished his sword and roared, "You want to live your life the way you want, don't you? Then give it your all! Kill me!"

Wang Quan wiped away her tears and raised her hand in a half-open grip. Crimson blood flowed from her body, forming an ancient, Western-style longsword. She gripped the sword and assumed a stance, her last tear falling onto the blade, transforming into a pale, burning flame.

"Then die, you sacrificial serpent!"

She unleashed a blazing sword, its tip aimed straight for Chu Hengkong's elbow, the hand holding the knife. Chu Hengkong parried with his own sword, but Wang Quan changed his attack mid-strike, the sword's momentum leaping back and shooting towards his head in a bizarre manner.

Chu Hengkong unfurled his bone wings, using them as a shield to block the attack, while his divine slash aimed for Wang Quan's chest. Wang Quan parried the blow with her fist, then withdrew her sword without hesitation. An opening appeared beside her, but Chu Hengkong couldn't pursue, for he suddenly felt extremely weak. White flames burned along his bone wings toward his head, the flames seemingly alive, climbing up his bones and piercing his eyes.

Pseudo-Secret Technique: White Flame.

For 2000 years, the Blood Alliance has made various efforts to revive martial arts techniques, and the so-called "pseudo-secret transmission" is the crystallization of such delusions passed down through generations. It is completely different from the real Dragon Township Fist, and is a deformed martial art constructed by ignorant people based on wishful thinking.

However, Wang Quan transformed this illusory art into reality, and the life force from the Dark Moon filled the last gap in the imagined technology. Her white flames were the complete opposite of the Burning Night, engulfing the enemy's spirit, skills, and even consciousness itself, using the enemy's life to generate the calamity fire that would annihilate the enemy.

She raised her longsword high, white flames coiling around its blade like dragons. As the blade slashed down, a dragon's roar resounded, and the white flames, following the strike, transformed into a raging storm that scorched the heavens and earth!

Chu Hengkong was still entangled by Bai Yan, and although he saw Yan Feng approaching, he did not draw his sword. He raised his calamity wrist and shot out a crimson ray. The fire of ambition was released at his will, forming a blood-red beast head that burned everything around him.

"The Secret Art of Canxin's Anti-Soul!"

The secret technique activated, and the assassin's body was covered in a fiery aura. The ferocity and killing intent transformed him into a demonic Asura emerging from hell. The blood-red beast head lunged at Yan Feng, tearing and swallowing Bai Yan without regard for its own safety, devouring the enemy's power with a near-identical mindset.

Crimson and white flames clashed high in the sky, while black and white assassins raced across the ground. Long blades slashed towards heads, swords thrust towards hearts, they exchanged punches and dodges, twisting and flying into the sky only to plummet back down.

With comparable speed, almost identical strength, and even similar skills, the two clashing were like reflections of each other in a mirror, yet appeared so different. The white-haired, red-eyed woman remained expressionless, her attention entirely focused on her enemy, while the black-haired, red-eyed man laughed wildly, his spirit surging with the intensity of the battle.

"With such skill, how can you possibly surpass me!"

Logically speaking, such a battle should never have happened. Wang Quan is the divine child of Dark Moon. Even without divine blessing, she has the strength to fight the Captain-Commander. Her strength, endurance, and reaction speed far surpass Chu Hengkong's. Now, abandoning lies and fighting with all his might, he should have been able to finish the battle in just a few seconds.

However, the Soul-Returning Technique bridged the gap between them. Their powers devoured each other during the battle. Since they were both kindling, there was no question of burning out before they died. The weaker party thus became unreasonably aggressive, unleashing a barrage of attacks with increasingly refined skills.

He was an unreasonable man by nature, born powerful without any lineage, recklessly venturing into the world and destroying all common sense. Now that the royal power is at its peak, he has no more reservations; his spirit will only grow stronger with each battle!
(End of this chapter)