# 2002
Chapter 1986: Beyond the Mortal World
"Key to the Gate!!"
Lin Qiye gritted his teeth and roared!
Lin Qiye stared into those needle-like pupils, feeling like he had forgotten something, but at least he still remembered the Key to the Gate as his enemy, and his mission to stop Him at all costs.
Even though there was no one beside him, he still unhesitatingly drew his blade and slashed toward the Key to the Gate's neck!
No...
Was he always alone?
This thought flashed through Lin Qiye's mind, and his head began to ache faintly... But before his blade could touch the Key to the Gate's body, the flow of time around him accelerated once more!
He had already overdrawn all his life force, and now he was at the end of his rope. The Key to the Gate accelerating the time flow was directly pushing him toward the abyss of death.
Lin Qiye could clearly feel his divine power draining away, the transformation magic forcibly dissolving as he reverted from the youthful Commander Lin to an elderly man with white hair... Even the Straight Blade in his hand seemed impossible to grip any longer.
"Lin Qiye, we shall meet again." The Key to the Gate's eyes that saw through everything gazed at Lin Qiye, a faint smile appearing on His face,
"...I will be waiting for you on Earth."
BANG--!!
A burst of crimson exploded from Lin Qiye's chest as his aged form rapidly dismembered in midair! Under the accelerated time, the Key to the Gate had cleared the eight figures in merely half a second from an external perspective!
To those watching from outside, the dissolution of the Night Watch squad, Nyx's severe injury, and Lin Qiye's death all occurred simultaneously! By the time the others grasped what had happened, the Key to the Gate had already vanished from sight...
...
Above the Sword Scar Abyss!
A figure in black stood motionless in the void. The Black Goat's fragmented body squirmed like a larva, stumbling toward the distance.
Zhou Ping did not pursue. To his sword, distance and space held no meaning. His right hand formed a blade gesture, and an annihilation-level invisible sword seemed to hang suspended in the heavens!
In that instant, all color drained from heaven and earth.
Death's threat seized the Black Goat's heart, and just as the despair in its crimson eyes reached its peak, a figure drifted silently between it and Zhou Ping.
The robed Key to the Gate stood like an insurmountable barrier before that celestial blade. Those needle-like pupils fixed on the distant Zhou Ping with a complicated expression.
"So, you intend to block my sword for Him?" Zhou Ping asked calmly.
"Your sword—I cannot block it."
The Key to the Gate sighed. "This vessel hasn't fully recovered. In every future I've witnessed, your sword has pierced through me to kill Nicholas... There were times I desperately tried to block, and the outcome was Nicholas and I dying together... Your final strike is indeed formidable."
Zhou Ping was somewhat surprised by the Key to the Gate's candid admission.
He asked, "Since that's the case, why do you still stand here?"
"Nicholas is important. I cannot abandon Him to die before me... But I cannot block your sword, so the only solution is to persuade you not to strike." The Key to the Gate replied unhurriedly,
"The Ancestral God is dead, Lin Qiye is dead, Nyx is severely wounded... Now, your final sword is the only existence that poses a threat to us.
Even if you strike and kill Nicholas, Great Xia will have nothing left to threaten us... And I will become invincible."
"You and yours?" Zhou Ping raised an eyebrow. "The millions of Black Goat spawn have already been purged, all four remaining Cthulhu Faction deities are dead, and Chaos has been erased... As long as we kill the Black Goat, you'll be alone. Where does your 'us' come from?"
"Even if it's just me alone... What do you have to kill me with? Those few Chief Gods? I only need to create another world-ending grey mist, and the entire Great Xia will become a dead realm."
"No. Even if I die, Great Xia will still have someone who can kill you."
"Who?"
"Lin Qiye."
As he spoke the name "Lin Qiye," an unprecedented confidence and conviction flickered in Zhou Ping's eyes.
The Key to the Gate frowned.
"Him? His true body has been completely lost in the depths of the cosmos... Even if he could return, his true form is merely Human Apex level. What could he possibly use to kill me?"
"I don't know how he would kill you. But I believe he can definitely do it."
"You trust him that much?"
"Of course. He is my student."
The Key to the Gate fell silent.
Zhou Ping did not bother speaking further with the Key to the Gate. He formed a blade gesture with his hand, stepped on the void, and walked forward...
Countless sword intents churned around him. A heaven-shaking killing intent formed an invisible sword, pointing straight at the Key to the Gate's brow. As he advanced slowly, the Key to the Gate's brow actually began to seep a trace of blood!
The black robes fluttered in the wind. Zhou Ping's gaze seemed to look past the Key to the Gate directly ahead, fixing on the struggling flesh that crawled desperately in the distance... That was his true target.
"Move aside, if you don't want to die." Zhou Ping said淡淡的。
The Key to the Gate's brow furrowed tightly. A trickle of crimson blood rolled down from between its brows, like a startling sword scar... His eyes flickered with contemplation. After a long moment, He slowly lifted His foot...
He retreated.
He stepped out of the path of that sword intent, exposing the Black Goat's body once more to Zhou Ping's line of sight.
Seeing this, everyone at the war fortress couldn't help but draw a sharp breath!
Great Xia's sword immortal, without even drawing his blade, had forced a pillar god to step aside!
What kind of momentum was this?!
For the Key to the Gate, this was a helpless act, but also the wisest choice... He could not block Zhou Ping's final sword. Since that was the case, the best approach was to use the Black Goat's life to exhaust this strike... For the Cthulhu Faction, this was the optimal solution.
And for Zhou Ping, he could not risk using this strike to kill the Key to the Gate. After all, the other party had stated itself that across countless futures, it was only "sometimes" successfully killed. What if this strike was made, yet failed to kill the opponent? Everything would be wasted... Moreover, he didn't trust a word the Key to the Gate said. Perhaps He said all this just to lure Zhou Ping into expending this strike on himself?
In short, Zhou Ping trusted no one—only Lin Qiye.
Lin Qiye told him to kill the Black Goat, so he would kill the Black Goat!
In the suffocating silence, the black robes and black garments brushed past each other. Zhou Ping faced the direction of the Black Goat's escape, his sword finger slowly raised... and pointed through the air.
"This sword... transcends the mortal world."