# 1709
Chapter 1709
Section 1702: Victory...
The last time [Emperor's Crimson Blood] was used, the fake's lifespan couldn't bear the consumption of such a state, causing it to vanish in an instant.
This time, Huo Qubing unleashed the full power of [Emperor's Crimson Blood] without any reservation. At the same time, this was a symbol of his absolute control over [Dominating Emperor]!
No longer was a human "using" a Forbidden Ruins, but rather transforming himself into one. In this moment, Huo Qubing was the true "Dominating Emperor."
Countless gaps burst open across the trunk of Ksud. Amid the flying debris, that blood-colored figure leapt up from the endless willow branches and roots, palm reaching toward the sky and grabbing at thin air. Three layers of thunderclouds simultaneously struck down lightning, weaving together onto the spear in his grip!
Deep blue, crimson blood, and brilliant gold—the three types of thunder surged across the spear's surface. The surging destructive force caused crack after crack to extend along the weapon's body. Mundane weapons simply couldn't contain such terrifying power and began letting out sharp wails.
Huo Qubing gripped this constantly trembling spear without any intention of letting go. The three types of thunder converged at the spear's tip into a dragon shadow. Amid the sharp wails, a furious dragon's roar echoed through heaven and earth.
The visible destructive force rippled outward from the sky. It seemed that sensing the danger, the pale face on Ksud's canopy twisted viciously. Wisps of black energy surged from within its body, gathering into a swirling sphere of shadow. In an instant, the wind and clouds changed color!
Sensing the energy building up between Huo Qubing and Ksud, Gongyang Wan's expression shifted. She turned into a blur of afterimages, fleeing rapidly away from the battlefield!
No joke—if she got caught up in that scale of power, even with ten lives she wouldn't have enough to die!
Huo Qubing glanced at the shadow sphere凝聚 on that pale face without any change in expression. He slowly raised the spear in his hand and thrust it with all his might. A thin streak of afterimage instantly pierced through heaven and earth!!
"ROAR—!!!"
The furious dragon's howl drowned out all thunderous rumbling. Within moments it spread across hundreds of miles. A three-colored thunder dragon dragged its shadow through the void, directly swallowing the massive willow tree's main body. At the same time, a column of shadow light overflowing with Cthulhu Faction energy pierced through the dragon's shadow, shooting straight up to the clouds!
A white-hot explosion silently engulfed heaven and earth, grinding the entire West City along with several miles of barren earth around it into ash. A moment later, deafening booms raged outward, stunning the civilians who had barely escaped the battle's range, sending them crashing to the ground. They painfully covered their ears as wisps of blood trickled from their orifices.
This terrifying explosion aftermath lasted over a dozen seconds. As rings of light gradually faded away, from within the endless dust, a blood-colored figure stumbled out.
"Cough cough cough cough..."
Huo Qubing held the broken spear in one hand, and in the other, he carried a mass of blood and flesh, like a heart, or perhaps an eye.
He stood weakly on the fragmented earth full of cracks, his body's crimson hue gradually fading. Blood couldn't be controlled as it seeped from the various wounds across his body. In moments it gathered into a pool beneath his feet.
Swirling psychedelic mist gradually covered the ruins ahead. A残破摩天柳树巨影，挣扎着从地面爬起，原本树干上的脓包已经尽数破裂，整个树冠部分都像是被撕裂一般，消失不见。
A shattered, skyscraping willow tree giant shadow struggled to rise from the ground. The pustules on the original trunk had all burst open. The entire canopy section seemed as if torn apart—gone.
But even so, that outline within the mist was still gradually restoring itself. A furious, shrill screech回荡在天空之下，断裂的漫天柳枝，再度向四面八方延伸！
A furious, shrill screech echoed beneath the sky. The countless broken willow branches extended once more in all directions!
Huo Qubing glanced at the willow heart he had personally cut off in his hand, then looked up at that gradually restoring willow body. His pale lips艰难地勾起一抹笑意：
His pale lips curved into a faint smile:
"本侯……赢了……"
"This Marquis... has won..."
The shrill willow tree screech sounded again!
Dozens of restored willow branches furiously rushed toward Huo Qubing, as if enraged.
Huo Qubing微微低头，望着那柄已经断裂的长枪，和自己支离破碎的身体，眼眸中浮现出深深的无奈与苦涩……
Huo Qubing lowered his gaze slightly, looking at the broken spear and his shattered body. His eyes reflected deep helplessness and bitterness...
He won, so what?
Without a Divine Law, he was still just a mortal. Even if he could defeat Ksud once, ten times, a hundred times, he fundamentally couldn't kill It. Humans，终究还是没法胜过神明。
Humans truly couldn't defeat the gods.
Huo Qubing抬起头，平静的望着那蜂拥而来的柳枝，尽量挺起胸板，让那有些佝偻的身躯，更加笔挺一些。
Huo Qubing raised his head, calmly gazing at the swarm of approaching willow branches. He straightened his chest as much as possible, making his somewhat hunched figure stand a bit more upright.
就在那些柳枝即将触碰到Huo Qubing身体的瞬间，一道红色身影从天空急速坠落，凌厉的风刃发出尖锐嗡鸣，眨眼间便将这些柳枝拦腰斩断！
Just as those willow branches were about to touch Huo Qubing's body, a red figure rapidly descended from the sky. Sharp wind blades emitted a sharp hum, and within a blink, all those willow branches were severed at their waists!
Huo Qubing微微一怔。
Huo Qubing was slightly stunned.
狂风的中央，那熟悉的红发少女陨石般落在地面，震起细密的碎石渣，Human Apex级别的气息抵达在Huo Qubing之前！
In the center of the gale, that familiar red-haired girl landed on the ground like a meteor, sending up fine碎石. The Human Apex-level aura arrived before Huo Qubing!
"赶上了……"Chloe看了眼地上那些被她斩落的柳枝碎片，长舒一口气，她回头望了一眼，"冠军侯，你一个人就能把那怪物揍成这样……我Chloe这次是心服口服了！"
"Just made it..." Chloe glanced at the willow branch fragments she had cut down, letting out a long breath. She glanced back over her shoulder. "Marquis! You alone could beat that monster into this state... This Chloe is thoroughly convinced this time!"
看到Chloe那张熟悉的面孔，Huo Qubing才回过神来，立刻问道：
Seeing Chloe's familiar face, Huo Qubing snapped back to his senses and quickly asked:
"你来了，那Lin Qiye呢？Queen Mother of the West来了吗？！"
"You're here, but what about Lin Qiye? Did the Queen Mother of the West come?!"
"Queen Mother of the West离得太远，我又没跟她在一起，自然是没那么快赶过来的……"
"The Queen Mother of the West was too far away, and I wasn't with her anyway, so naturally she couldn't arrive that quickly..."
听到这，Huo Qubing的脸上浮现出失望之色，Queen Mother of the West不在，就算有再多的Human Apex，也拿库苏恩没有办法。
Hearing this, disappointment appeared on Huo Qubing's face. Without the Queen Mother of the West, even with more Human Apexes, they had no way to deal with Ksud.
"不过，Lin Qiye已经出手了。"Chloe指了指库苏恩的方向。
"However, Lin Qiye has already made his move." Chloe pointed toward where Ksud was.
Huo Qubing转头看向那里，只见在那尚未修复的柳树树干之间，一道青衣身影闪烁而出，一手凌空托着什么，恐怖的精神力波动疯狂蔓延。
Huo Qubing turned to look. Between the not-yet-restored willow tree trunk, a figure in cyan robes flickered into view. One hand held something aloft, and terrifying spiritual power fluctuations spread wildly.
"他在做什么？"
"What's he doing?"
"封印库苏恩。"
"Sealing Ksud."
"封印？"
"Sealing?"
"我们没法杀了祂，就只能暂时将祂封印，这么一来，祂跟死了也没什么区别。"Chloe耸了耸肩，"还是多亏了Marquis你直接将祂打成重伤，否则想将其封印，难如登天……反正，Lin Qiye是这么说的。"
"We can't kill It, so we can only seal It temporarily. That way, It's no different from being dead." Chloe shrugged. "It's all thanks to you, Marquis, for heavily injuring It first. Otherwise, trying to seal it would be harder than climbing to heaven... That's what Lin Qiye said anyway."
"封印神明？真的能做到吗？"
"Seal a god? Can that really be done?"
"不知道，那就只能看他了。"
"Unknown. We'll just have to leave it to him."
On the other side.
Lin Qiye站在破碎的库苏恩本体之上，一只手掌按住身下的树干，无数根细密的因果丝线顺着树木的纹路，疯狂的钻入祂的体内。
Lin Qiye stood atop the shattered Ksud本体. One palm pressed against the trunk beneath him. Countless fine threads of karma followed the tree's veins, frantically drilling into Its body.
他身后的虚无中，【Causeless Cause】缓缓旋转，一股神秘玄妙的气息波动四下散开。
In the void behind him, [Causeless Cause] slowly rotated. A mysterious and profound aura spread outward in all directions.
失去了【既定之果】后，Lin Qiye对【Causeless Cause】的掌控反而更上一层，毕竟以他有限的精神力，想同时照顾两个能力太过勉强，全神贯注在其中一个身上，反而能发挥出更强大的力量。
After losing [Predetermined Fruit], Lin Qiye's control over [Causeless Cause] had actually risen to a higher level. After all, with his limited spiritual power, trying to manage two abilities simultaneously was too much. Devoting himself fully to one allowed him to unleash even greater power.
"我倒要看看，多少因果，才能封住你？"
"Let's see how much karma it takes to seal you?"