"You speak so eloquently; I am almost moved by you, but—"

Qin Le Yin dodged the radiance of the Formless Divine Spear, and like a phantom, clung closely to Le Yu, unleashing a barrage of attacks like a violent storm.

"—I refuse!"

Le Yu, even as he retreated and defended, was battered by these relentless attacks until he was severely injured. Suddenly, he spat a mouthful of blood foam at Qin Le Yin's face, forcing him to evade and break his rhythm, regaining the initiative: "Why!?"

"Because I don't want to be friends with you."

"But weren't we on good terms before?!"

"Yes, we were on good terms before, which is why I don't want to keep being friends with you." Qin Le Yin said, delivering powerful blows, "Our paths differ, and the stronger the feelings, the more they become hindrances in future battles."

"Now our relationship is just right; you are about to die at my hands, and I will feel a bit of sadness, but it will become the power for me to move forward."

Le Yu almost always took the beating hesitantly, barely dissolving Qin Le Yin's offensive, unable to find an opportunity for a counterattack: "What do you mean by different paths? Didn't I want to join the Radiant Four Guards before? This is a misunderstanding, I actually want to work with you guys, why didn't you say something earlier—"

"I have said it before."

"You didn't!"

"How do you think I would talk to you?" Qin Le Yin laughed, suddenly retreating and leaping over walls like a sprite, his speed so fast that Le Yu almost couldn't keep up, as the walls crumbled under his steps, raising clouds of dust.

Le Yu suddenly felt a murderous intent from behind, firing an Ardent Bite Light Burst backwards, but was directly punched away by the prepared Qin Le Yin, embedding himself in the wall!

"Did you think I would produce a secret plan of the Radiant Four Guards on a dark, windy night and discuss it with you?" Qin Le Yin sighed, "I hoped more than anyone that you would become my companion. I have probed you many times, but my good intentions were ultimately misplaced."

Le Yu dusted himself off, spitting out blood foam, and asked, "How did you probe me?"

"After the Silver Blood meeting, didn't I have a few chats with you?" Qin Le Yin said, "When you wanted to raise military funds and take over factories and shops, didn't I discuss it with you?"

"But weren't you on my side at the time?"

"Precisely because I was on your side then, I could thoroughly understand your thoughts." Qin Le Yin calmly stated, "You sincerely and steadfastly think about the workers' interests."

"If you were for your own wealth and power, for gaining authority, for desire, then we could have talked; the Radiant Four Guards never rejects ambitious people."

"But you act for political paths."

"Desire can coexist."

"Paths cannot differ."

Le Yu chuckled: "You might have misjudged me; I'm actually a very selfish person, your test isn't very accurate..."

"Is that so?" Qin Le Yin tilted his head: "I remember on the first night of our patrol duty, I told you that the Radiant Four Guards have deployments all over Radiance, and Yanjing is of utmost importance."

"Yet you, not once, asked me to let the Radiant Four Guards give you some political convenience. Not even once."

"I just don't want to owe anyone—"

"You just don't want to associate with the shadow of the Imperial Court, which you perceive as an enemy." Qin Le Yin shook his head, "I paraded right in front of you several times, almost pointing out that you could apply for an official position with us, didn't you realize even being a 'Governor of Xuanzhu County' is more intimidating to various parties in Xuanzhu than your role as 'President of the Silver Blood Association'?"

"But you didn't; you didn't even take credit for yourself, instead maintaining the 'purity' of this movement by letting them self-organize."

"Which is why I found an opportunity to complete my own plan."

"And thoroughly realized that you are not the 'wise person' the Radiant Four Guards need."

Le Yu was silent for a moment: "So no matter what I say now, you won't believe it?"

"Silence is the answer, neglect is the answer, not taking initiative is the answer." Qin Le Yin shook his head, "I understood long ago."

"Then let's continue."

Le Yu assumed the starting stance of the Biting Battle Technique, calmly said: "I won't stand by waiting for death, and you are not willing to give up, so let's determine both rank and survival!"

"Determine rank?"

Qin Le Yin smiled and shook his head, looking at the distant glow of fire, softly said: "It seems the time left for me isn't much either…"

"After dealing with you, I still need to regroup with my subordinates and leave Xuanzhu County before dawn. I can't waste too much time on you."

Le Yu gestured for him to come: "That won't be up to you."

"Indeed." Qin Le Yin sighed:

"I originally thought, given your injuries, letting you sit and rest for a while would cause you to collapse on your own."

"Many can flee even while severely injured, sustained by that last breath of resolve."

"I didn't expect you not only to recover but also endure such a beating—I at least fractured one of your arm bones just now, and definitely injured your internal organs."

"Yet I've been talking to you for almost a minute, and you still haven't fallen."

"It seems your physique is also extraordinary."

"Also?" Le Yu slightly raised an eyebrow, knowing full well what was going on with himself—'Ice Blood Physique' was basically adding a health bar mode, as long as he wasn't beaten into a pulp or killed, he could almost continue fighting normally.

Qin Le Yin was very strong, but not strong enough to crush Le Yu; Rong Yao would realize that the Black Sun Association was up to something, and White Night's support should be on the way.

As long as he kept stalling, time would eventually be on Le Yu's side.

"I've heard about people like you before, but this is the first time I've seen one, quite the eye-opener." Qin Le Yin spread his hands, "Since that's the case, I can only use my trump card, fortunately, I've prepared in advance."

"What trump card makes you so confident?" White Night's lips curled: "Could it possibly kill me in one strike?"

Le Yin reached out and unclasped his necklace: "Do you know how many types of Divine Weapons there are?"

"Ultimate Divine Weapon, Beyond Fantasy, Conquer the Abyss." White Night stared at the necklace in Le Yin's hand: "Is your trump card a Divine Weapon?"

Le Yin smiled, not answering directly: "Aside from the Extreme Divine Weapon, the Absolute Divine Weapon and Illusion Divine Weapon are both made using meteorite radiant stones, with the Absolute Divine Weapon consuming almost the majority of the stone, while the Illusion Divine Weapon was made using only scraps, supplemented by meteor radiant mineral."

"So, how big do you think the legendary meteorite that allows human creation of Divine Weapons is?"

White Night paused, not understanding why Le Yin asked such a question, but he needed time to recover from his injuries, so he replied perfunctorily: "As big as a small mountain?"

"Wrong." Le Yin shook his head: "Only the size of a small drum, and very light, at least in records, it says a normal man could lift the meteorite."

White Night blinked.

Isn't that way too small and light?

How could it be used to forge Divine Weapons?

"In the records of Glory's Four Guardians' heritage, it's said that the meteorite's appearance was quite peculiar, 'like countless black circles stacked together,' and it emphasized that the meteorite's roundness and beauty were absolutely not naturally formed."

For a moment, White Night forgot that he wanted to escape: "Are you suggesting... that this meteorite is man-made?"

"The truth was buried in time long ago." Le Yin shrugged helplessly: "It happened over two thousand years ago, no one knows the real story, and what I want to say isn't about that."

"It's said that during the Grand Ancestor's time, the forging technique was very poor, so the Absolute Divine Weapon was made with quite a rough method, though one might call it naturally complete, it was because of good material."

"By the time of Tenzong in the making of the Illusion Divine Weapon, there was very little meteorite left, so Tenzong hired the best forge smiths in all of Glory, had them exchange experiences for ten years, and even had a competition to select the top eight craftsmen to create the Illusion Divine Weapon."

"And among those eight craftsmen, one was a land immortal at that time—meaning a martial artist at the peak of perfection."

"In fact, the Grand Ancestor had no choice but to reforge the suspected man-made meteorite, because from the descriptions, it was clear that besides looking good, that piece of meteorite was almost useless. They couldn't get any result after ten years of study, so they just melted it down."

White Night understood: "Only martial artists at the level of land immortals can activate the true power of the meteorite?"

"That's about right." Le Yin nodded: "When crafting the Illusion Divine Weapon, that land immortal suddenly had an enlightenment, sensing some information from the meteorite fragments. After the recompletion, he only had time to leave the Illusion Divine Weapon's name and effect before disappearing into a rainbow."

"And because of this, the Illusion Divine Weapon he forged became the most unique among the twenty-four Divine Weapons, whether compared to the infinitely powerful Absolute Divine Weapon or the skillfully crafted Extreme Divine Weapon, it was no less, even faintly superior."

White Night looked at the necklace in Le Yin's hand: "The necklace in your hand, is the Illusion Divine Weapon you've been boasting about for so long?"

"This is a replica of the Illusion Divine Weapon."

White Night was stunned.

This time he was truly surprised.

Even Divine Weapons can be pirated?

It's known that Yin Yin Yin spent years on edge to copy the Soul Purification Demon Sword, and it ended up benefiting White Night.

If he knew that Divine Weapons could be pirated, he'd be furious enough to break his coffin lid.

"This is its first trait, it can distribute its power to other vessels, though this greatly reduces the effect, it significantly enhances usability."

Le Yin said: "Didn't I tell you before, that the Glory Four Guardians rarely recruit new members, only when a veteran dies do they bring in a new one? This is the reason."

White Night instantly understood: "…Every member of the Glory Four Guardians has a replica of the Illusion Divine Weapon?"

Le Yin nodded: "And its second trait is that it can elevate the holder's abilities by one level."

Elevate by one level? White Night was taken aback: "What do you mean?"

"Just raising by one level." Le Yin said: "For example, after holding this Illusion Divine Weapon, your governance ability will improve by one level, your arithmetic ability will improve by one level, and your farming ability will also improve... However, these abilities that can't be quantified by standard, even if the level improves, others might not notice, right?"

"Then, in Glory, what abilities have clear classification standards?"

White Night fully understood the use of this Illusion Divine Weapon: "Entrance to Mastery, Integration and Mastery, Peak of Perfection."

"Correct, martial artists at the Entrance to Mastery level will rise to Integration and Mastery; those at Integration and Mastery will rise to Peak of Perfection; and as for those at Peak of Perfection..."

Le Yin shrugged: "I don't know what would happen, the documents don't specify."

White Night calmly asked: "But replicas are surely not as powerful as the originals, right?"

Le Yin nodded: "Of course, replicas are much weaker than the originals, but they're definitely not bad—they greatly enhance the holder's comprehension, no matter what the holder learns, they can progress rapidly, and draw inferences from one instance."

"However, replicas have a limit, once you reach a certain limit, the comprehension they offer loses effect, and the comprehension limit of Combat Technique is Integration and Mastery realm."

"Besides, it can also be used as a one-time consumable. After ten minutes of Spirit activation, it will shatter, and the holder can enjoy the original effect for ten minutes."

"So, once it breaks, I have ten minutes to experience the power of a Peak of Perfection martial artist."

Le Yin raised the necklace: "From when I started talking to you until now, exactly ten minutes have passed."

"Then."

"Shatter, Illusion Divine Weapon·Heart of Nesser!"

Only a slight cracking sound was heard, then the necklace dropped to the ground with a thud.

Le Yin bathed in the moonlight, glanced at White Night.

White Night's world, thus, turned dim and lightless.