# 27
**Chapter 27: A Single Glare**
Splash splash splash…
Rain poured in torrents.
Zhao Kongcheng gripped his Straight Blade. His dark-red cloak was soaked through, his entire body covered in blood—he looked a wreck.
But his eyes… they blazed like stars!
So… this is what a Forbidden Ruin feels like.
Hell yes!
Absolutely fucking fantastic!
Across from him, the Ghost-Face King stared in disbelief at its empty right arm. The pale ghost-mask of a face twisted in shock.
It couldn’t understand how the rat it had been toying with moments ago had suddenly unleashed such terrifying power.
But its IQ wasn’t up to the task—and besides, it no longer had the time.
Zhao Kongcheng moved.
Under the drug’s effect, every wound was forgotten; his body was back at peak condition. He shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow, straight at the Ghost-Face King!
“Roooaaar!!”
The monster’s eyes burned crimson. With its right arm gone, it had gone completely berserk.
Muscles bulged, its frame swelling a full size. Legs coiled, it leapt, sending up a wall of spray.
Mid-air, the two figures collided at terrifying speed!
Boom! Boom! Boom!!
Their movements were a blur. Black crescent blades of energy flew, carving savage gouges in the surrounding ground.
Before, Zhao Kongcheng’s blade couldn’t pierce the Ghost-Face King’s hide, and he’d been outclassed in both strength and speed—why he’d been beaten so badly.
Now, with [Annihilating Moon], his lethality had reached a monstrous level; every slash left a deep, bloody gash.
He still couldn’t match the creature’s raw power or speed, but with the damage gap closed, experience filled the rest.
Even with far inferior physique, he could hammer the thing into the dirt!
He hadn’t lied: give him a Forbidden Ruin and he could kill the Ghost-Face King eight hundred times over.
Given enough time, soloing it would be inevitable—except time was the one thing he didn’t have.
The drug burned through potential fast. Ten seconds had already passed since his Ruin awakened; the clock was almost up.
Fighting for his life, Zhao Kongcheng felt the strength ebbing, the hidden pain creeping back…
The black crescents he swung were shrinking!
Sensing the shift, the Ghost-Face King burned its own origin to press an even fiercer assault.
A few exchanges later it found an opening—one titanic fist smashed into Zhao Kongcheng’s chest!
Thud—!
The dull impact echoed. Zhao Kongcheng flew like a broken kite, crashing to the ground.
“Hiss… hurts like hell…”
Pain surged like a tide, flooding every nerve. Bloodshot eyes wide, he clenched his teeth.
Coughing blood, he slowly rose from the mud…
His gaze locked on the Ghost-Face King, the fire in his eyes still roaring.
It wasn’t dead yet…
He couldn’t fall!
He levered himself upright with the Straight Blade. Then—abrupt change!
Boom—!!
A thunderous roar sounded behind him; the sky above shuddered and split…
Zhao Kongcheng stared, stunned. Realization struck—he spun around!
Not far behind, the invisible canvas sealing the sky had torn open.
Through the gap, a boy with golden eyes walked calmly forward.
Zhao Kongcheng’s jaw dropped as if he’d seen a ghost.
“Y-you you you… how’d you get in?!”
Lin Qiye pushed rain-soaked hair from his forehead. His pupils blazed like sacred furnaces. He sighed.
“Gotta say, this [Borderless Domain] is tough. Lucky these eyes of mine can spot its weakest point—and lucky… it’s night.”
Zhao Kongcheng only half understood, but it still didn’t add up:
“You just reached the Lamp realm—how’re you this strong? And… you don’t even have a weapon—how’d you break the Domain?”
“You probably won’t believe me.” Lin Qiye spoke evenly. “I glared at it. It opened.”
Zhao Kongcheng: …
He wasn’t lying. Under night’s boost his eyes were far stronger—maybe not fivefold, but double.
Before [Starry Dancer], he’d used Seraphic authority to solo a ghost-face man; now, under night, that same authority cracked the Domain.
The mental cost was brutal—one glare had nearly drained him dry.
Lin Qiye glanced at the mangled Ghost-Face King, then at the crisscrossing blade scars, and gave Zhao Kongcheng a strange look. “Still claiming you don’t have a Forbidden Ruin? A human did this?”
Zhao Kongcheng couldn’t be bothered to explain—he was almost out of seconds.
“Less talk. Stand aside.”
“I can help fight.”
“I know. Step back first.” Zhao Kongcheng turned. “One cut. After this cut, you can jump in.”
“Kay.” Lin Qiye moved aside.
Zhao Kongcheng drew a deep breath, tightened his grip, eyes fixed on the monster.
“Kid.”
“Hm?”
“Watch this slash.”
“Why?”
“Because… it’s gonna look damn cool.”
“…”
Before Lin Qiye could roll his eyes, Zhao Kongcheng exploded off the ground, shooting forward!
The Ghost-Face King sensed the man was at his limit; instead of meeting him head-on, it braced to block.
Zhao Kongcheng’s eyes blazed like torches, brighter and brighter.
He tore through the rain, straight at the beast—
No fancy footwork.
Raise the blade.
Swing.
A titanic crescent tore the night apart, faster than eyes could track, slicing every raindrop in half along its path.
Too fast for even the Ghost-Face King to dodge—and too wounded to try.
So,
the black arc slid across the sky
and gently
severed the pale, ghost-faced head from its shoulders.