# 1870
Chapter 1863: Now, You Are Not
After much deliberation, 22号 finally steeled his resolve, grabbed the end of the 【Royal Scepter】, and pulled it out of his own body with all his might!
Fine, he'd take the gamble!
How could one obtain power without taking any risks?
The 【Royal Scepter】 was now firmly in 22号's grip. A gruesome bloody gash ran through his chest, but as the bloated skin continued to writhe, more and more flesh filled in, restoring the wound.
22号 took a deep breath with the bloodied scepter in hand and extended it toward the starlight tendril…
Whoosh—!!
Just as the starlight tendril was about to take the scepter, a gray figure darted past 22号 like lightning. The next moment, his palm was empty.
22号 froze.
Instinctively, he turned his head to see a large gray rat叼着【Royal Scepter】, staring at him quietly from a distance.
As lightning flickered, the gray rat gradually stood upright, transforming into a cloaked figure. Dense arcs of electricity crackled around it, and in those blood-red pupils, the character "壹" was clearly visible.
Yu Yi!
Seeing this, 22号's pupils constricted sharply!
"Give me back the scepter!!" he roared, his bloated form stomping hard against the ground as he charged toward Yu Yi like a beast with uncoordinated limbs.
At the same time, Yu Yi's aura shifted rapidly. The "壹" in his original eyes gradually faded, and the gray robe was dyed jet black. As a scar emerged on his temple, An Qingyu's soul had been transferred across the distance.
An Qingyu held the 【Royal Scepter】 in one hand. A faint mist rose from beneath his robes, and within the ethereal haze, those gray eyes were cold and mysterious.
A blur crossed the earth, and 22号's狰狞 face was already flashing before him. A fist covered in scars and stitching threads whistled through the air, roaring toward An Qingyu's face!
The wind lifted his black robes. An Qingyu narrowed his eyes slightly, gently tilting his head to dodge the blow. The fierce拳风 ruffled his hair.
The next moment, his fingertip precisely struck 22号's chest!
Boom—!!
A cavernous hole exploded into existence, and 22号's bloated body was as if struck by a hammer, blasting out a mouthful of blood and tumbling to the ground like mud.
Blood quickly dyed the earth red. 22号 braced himself with both hands, grinding his teeth as he tried to rise. Flesh regenerated from the stitched torso, continuously filling the void in the central wound. His face was deathly pale.
"Who... who are you?!" 22号 stared fixedly at An Qingyu, his voice hoarse.
"Does it matter who I am?" An Qingyu replied calmly, "I thought reaching here wouldn't be difficult for you all. I didn't expect you to nearly wipe out in the depths of the maze... 【Divine Desire Paradise】 is indeed a bunch of rabble."
Upon hearing this, 22号 seemed to realize something, his eyes narrowing slightly:
"It was you?! You were the one who fed us the intelligence about the Gate of Truth? You deliberately lured us here??"
22号's mind raced. Looking at the 【Royal Scepter】 in An Qingyu's hand, everything seemed to crystallize. "So there never was any Gate of Truth with equivalent exchange? You lured us here just to snatch the 【Royal Scepter】 from me?!"
"You're overestimating yourself." An Qingyu's voice was utterly calm. "【Royal Scepter】—killing you would naturally give me access to it. As for exterminating 【Divine Desire Paradise】 entirely, that's hardly a difficult task for me."
An Qingyu's voice carried no emotion whatsoever, but to 22号, these words felt like a slap in the face.
The casual contempt revealed by his opponent ignited the fury that had been building up inside 22号. His body gradually straightened, and a pink divine aura rippled beneath his feet!
"If you were a Supreme God, I'd忍了... but you're merely a Chief God. What the hell are you acting high and mighty about?!"
22号 cursed. From the rib position of his bloated body, a pair of arms burst through! Four palms suddenly formed a bizarre seal, and countless pink illusory serpents, like intertwining jade fingers, erupted from beneath An Qingyu's feet!
These illusory serpents coiled around An Qingyu, constantly flicking red tongues. But what emerged wasn't the typical hissing of a serpent—it was a series of evocative moans.
An Qingyu stood in his black robes amid the countless illusory serpents, his expression unchanged as he walked outward.
The dense pink illusory serpents wound around his limbs, coiled to his ears, constantly licking his earlobes, as if an ocean of them had engulfed him!
Just as 22号 sneered, a crisp cracking sound echoed from within the sea of serpents!
Crack—!!
A flash of gray light pierced through the void. Tens of thousands of pink illusory serpents froze instantly, then shattered like glass, piece by piece!
All the moans transformed into mournful screams, lasting only a moment before vanishing completely. A black figure stepped across the void, arriving before 22号 in an instant.
22号's pupils dilated sharply. Just as his form was about to retreat, extreme cold froze half of his body, encasing him like half an ice coffin. No matter how hard he struggled, he couldn't move an inch.
"This is impossible... as long as one is human, they must have desires! Why weren't you affected?!" 22号 stared at those eyes like still water in An Qingyu's gaze. An inexplicable chill seeped from the bottom of his heart. "What kind of monster are you?!"
"Monster?" An Qingyu paused. "You're right... perhaps I can no longer be considered a complete 'human'."
He stood before the ice-sealed 22号, a jet-black surgical blade falling into his palm. Those eyes continuously examined 22号's body, as if analyzing something.
"Clumsy stitching technique... Is this how you invaded the body of the Goddess of Desire and obtained her power?"
Under An Qingyu's intense gaze, for some reason, the chill in 22号's heart grew increasingly intense.
His imposing aura vanished entirely. A trace of pleading entered his voice: "What do you want? You can't kill me... If you want to use the 【Royal Scepter】, I can help you! I'm the only one in this world who can wield it!"
"The only one who can wield it?"
An Qingyu's brow arched slightly. The next moment, the surgical blade in his hand precisely cut into a corner of 22号's heart, excising a wriggling fragment!
22号's agonized scream echoed to the heavens!
An Qingyu held the fragment in his palm, examining it carefully. Then, with a rub of his fingers, he reduced it to ashes... Immediately after, his palm emanated an identical aura to that piece of heart!
He placed his palm on the 【Royal Scepter】. A faint glow lit up from the scepter's tip.
"Now, you are not." he said calmly.