novelraw Chapter 1088: How Could There Be a Path to Immortality in This World? (96) — Assimilation with Fury
Chapter 1088: How Could There Be a Path to Immortality in This World? (96) — Assimilation with Fury
The shadow of the Zhanlu Sword danced across the square outside Penglai Palace, precisely cutting down the incoming barrage of light beams. Da Zhe swiftly turned around.
“Miss You Ye, what’s going on with the Boss?”
Though Da Zhe hadn’t been with the Boss for long, he had never seen him abruptly walk away like that—and even Miss Maid seemed momentarily at a loss.
“Ensure the guests’ safety and continue fulfilling the contract,” Miss Maid quickly instructed.
When the Boss declared he was taking a break, the responsibility of managing the club had temporarily shifted to Miss Maid.
This "break" required the Boss Luo Qiu to constantly expend large amounts of life force—in exchange for the power to avoid being triggered into deals by customer presence.
In return… he could act freely, and do what he truly wanted.
“Master will likely return soon. We must complete this contract before he does.”
Having said that, Miss Maid leapt off Penglai Palace. Daoist Baijie, after blocking a cannon blast from the Leixia Ship, had already been knocked down and wounded—not fatally. The contract was only to evacuate, not ensure zero injury.
Seeing Miss Maid take action personally, Da Zhe—who had already used two Heavenly Swords inside the Penglai Vault—could only force himself to stay alert, despite being on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion.The first person Da Zhe went for was Wang Hu—despite the intense attacks, Wang Hu had lost all reason and was relentlessly chasing Gongsun Wuwei and Gong Fanxin.
Da Zhe glanced over, clearly seeing Wang Hu’s frenzied state, and sighed.
“I told you to leave first… sigh.”
Shaking his head, Da Zhe launched himself forward.
At that moment, Gong Fanxin, already overwhelmed trying to dodge Huang Baifu, was struck by one of the Leixia Ship’s light cannons.
The explosion erupted in front of her. She couldn’t fully defend and only managed to reduce the damage.
She lost balance and was blown out of the sky. She quickly steadied herself—landing safely wasn’t the issue.
But then—she crashed into something surprisingly soft, followed by a gentle support.
“Are you okay?”
Gong Fanxin froze. The mysterious young man who had arrived with Daoist Baijie was holding her with one arm and deflecting another cannon blast with the other.
Light flickered across his sharp features. Gong Fanxin’s heart suddenly raced, shy and flustered for reasons she couldn’t explain.
“Good.” The young man—Da Zhe—nodded, then let her go and dashed toward Wang Hu, charging through the oncoming light blasts.
“Not bad at all…” Gong Fanxin muttered, watching Da Zhe’s back disappear into the chaos.
...
The Leixia Ship’s cannon barrage engulfed most of the Penglai Treasure Vault, thunder echoing across the land. Even the ground seemed to quake.
But inside the Leixia Ship, it was strangely silent—so quiet that even soft footsteps could be heard.
Long Xiruo heard those steps. Head bowed, she slowly looked up as the sound drew closer—Su Zijun had already seen who was approaching.
Long Xiruo’s vision was partially obscured by loose strands of hair, but she noticed Su Zijun’s grim expression—until her bindings suddenly melted, and she broke free with a smug look.
“You…” Long Xiruo landed shakily on the ground.
Standing on the metallic bridge was none other than the club’s Boss. Long Xiruo felt like she’d been running into Luo Qiu more frequently lately.
“We meet again, Miss Long.” Luo Qiu nodded in greeting.
Long Xiruo froze. It was indeed the Boss from that place… but something was different this time.
He no longer radiated that gentle, springlike warmth.
She suddenly had a strange sense of déjà vu—the man before her now was much more like the one she met the very first time.
Before she could think further, Su Zijun, Kui Qianyi, and others all broke free of their restraints.
Su Zijun rotated her wrist, frowning, and strode up to Luo Qiu. Her face was darker than storm clouds.
“I have a business deal for you—will you take it?” she said, raising her head.
“I want to buy a head. Name your price!”
The wealthy and willful royal princess once again showed what it meant to act without restraint—but this time, Luo Qiu simply shook his head.
“I’m sorry, Miss Zijun. For now, I can’t make any deals with you.”
“What?” Su Zijun was stunned.
“Then why are you even here?”
“I think…” Luo Qiu looked at the massive spherical structure ahead, hesitating, “I might be here for something personal.”
Following his gaze, the others looked at the enormous sphere too—Count Drekeya hadn’t emerged since entering, though several screams had echoed out from within.
“What do you mean?” Long Xiruo frowned.
Luo Qiu said nothing more. He took a step forward—and in that step, appeared directly in front of the sphere.
“Inside there is an invader from beyond the world. It intends to bring ruin to everything!” Long Xiruo’s face turned pale.
She remembered what the invader once said—through the Book of Alaya, it could rewrite the world’s history and make itself a god worshipped by all.
She knew the club’s rules—though she didn’t know its true depth, she suddenly understood why Count Drekeya wanted to rewrite history.
A sacrifice—!
She didn’t know the invader’s full intent—but if it used all life in the world as bargaining chips…
“If the world’s going to end, what can you do about it?” Luo Qiu looked back at her.
“At least I won’t sit and do nothing!” Long Xiruo shouted,
“Just because fate says death, I should accept it? Bullshit!!”
“I thought so too.” Luo Qiu smiled faintly.
“I really do like your honesty, Miss Long. I hope you’ll keep it. This place is too dangerous. Let me send you out.”
Before anyone could respond, the scene around them abruptly changed. The next moment, they were already outside the Leixia Ship, standing on the square in front of Penglai Palace.
All of them—Long Xiruo, Su Zijun, Kui Qianyi, even the newly awakened Xiao Shengmo—felt a sense of confusion.
As if all their efforts had been so easily dismissed—no matter how hard they tried, it all felt pointless in the end.
“Bastard!!” Long Xiruo roared toward the sky.
...
Curiously, despite the massive rotating power of the pillar, it made little sound.
Luo Qiu stepped forward. The spherical control room split open—clearly its entrance.
Inside, there were no regular lights… only the glow of countless floating screens illuminating everything.
There, he saw a girl—Gaia.
Luo Qiu instinctively knew this Gaia was unlike any other combat-type.
Aside from her, there was no one else. Luo Qiu frowned—he sensed that someone had already left before his arrival.
Most likely, Cicero’s student.
Count Drekeya was not here. Luo Qiu wasn’t particularly disappointed. He simply walked toward the closed-eyed girl before him.
The girl stared at Luo Qiu with hollow eyes—void of focus, void of emotion.
“What… are you looking at?”
Standing before her, Luo Qiu suddenly felt dazed. He closed his eyes, and vague, fragmented images began surfacing in his mind.
But they flashed by too quickly—so fast he couldn’t grasp them. That, to Luo Qiu—the Boss of the club—was utterly inconceivable.
Then it came—
A strange emotion surged like a volcanic eruption, violently shattering his emotional restraints.
Anger.
Unprecedented anger.
It didn’t feel like his own, and yet it burst forth from the deepest part of his soul.
Luo Qiu felt like a bystander, observing this eruption, trying to make sense of it—
But the fury was too abrupt, too intense.
He didn’t even want to rationally analyze it.
As if… as if he chose to be devoured by it.
At that moment, a spear of lightning silently struck—thrust from the girl's hand.
It pierced straight through Luo Qiu’s chest.
His eyes snapped open. The chaotic noise in his mind was instantly cleared away.
The girl's arm trembled as she held the lightning spear.
Her face remained expressionless, eyes still hollow—but tears streamed down her cheeks.
A golden emblem slowly emerged on her forehead.
Thunder exploded from Luo Qiu’s chest.
Within the control room, a burst of lightning shattered everything—Luo Qiu’s body disintegrated completely in that flash.
The girl’s arm dropped; the spear fell. Tears fell like rain, but her eyes remained lifeless, soulless.
...
Thin wisps of black mist floated through the air…
And soon, Count Drekeya’s form condensed from the mist.
Staring intently at where Luo Qiu’s body had vanished, Drekeya’s eyes gleamed with madness.
“The legends were true… The Royal Power really can kill the Root’s orthodox proxy! Hahaha… HAHAHAHAHA!! HA—HA—HA!!”
His crazed laughter filled every corner of the control room. Even as his own body teetered on the verge of collapse, Drekeya’s joy was overwhelming.
Glaring at the spot where Luo Qiu had vanished, he sneered viciously.
“I don’t know why you resembled him… but there’s no way he could return! He was erased long ago—wiped out to kill the Root itself! And you… what a waste! You became the orthodox proxy and didn’t even bother increasing your synchronization with the Root? Only one year as a proxy? What a joke!”
Then Drekeya turned to look at Prototype Gaia—
Her expression was blank, but tears streamed down her face. That irritated him for some reason.
“You monster, what right do you have to cry!!”
He stormed over to Gaia, raised his hand—
That hollow, tear-stained gaze made him want to destroy her.
But the moment his hand was about to strike her cheek… it vanished into nothing.
His arm turned to mist—
Then, to black particles—and scattered into the air.
Drekeya’s pupils contracted.
He sensed it—something… behind him.
He spun around instantly.
In the air, specks of light began to gather—
And gradually, a figure emerged clearly from the glow.
Luo Qiu.
He appeared once more in the control room—eyes slowly opening, as if just waking up.
Drekeya froze.
He shook his head in disbelief, lips trembling.
“No… no… that earlier one—was it just an illusion?!”
“No,” Luo Qiu replied calmly, eyes fixed on Drekeya.
“My body really was destroyed—completely, perhaps down to the atomic level. That power was indeed impressive.”
“IMPOSSIBLE!!” Drekeya screamed.
“You’re lying!! If you were destroyed like that, there’s NO WAY you could revive!! Even as the Root’s orthodox proxy, it's IMPOSSIBLE!!”
“I don’t know what you’ve understood—or misunderstood—about me, or the shop behind me.” Luo Qiu remained calm.
“But from the moment I took over, it was clearly written… I do not die.”
“GAIA!!” Drekeya screamed hysterically.
“If you won’t die, then I’ll kill you a thousand, ten thousand—A MILLION TIMES!!”
As Drekeya shrieked, the girl slowly raised her lightning spear again—but this time with excruciating slowness. Her arm seemed to resist… and at last, a trace of struggle surfaced on her numb face.
“Gaia!! Gaia!!! How dare you defy my com—” His voice abruptly stopped.
The black double-snake ring shattered instantly and fell from her hair.
At that moment, strange whispers echoed through the control room, murmuring from every direction.
“I think… for the first time in my life, I truly want to kill someone.”
A cold voice echoed through the room.
Luo Qiu stepped toward Count Drekeya—his hollow gaze chilling enough to remind Drekeya of Gaia’s expression.
Cold. Emotionless. Like looking at a dead object.
Drekeya stumbled back in terror. He wanted to flee—to escape this place entirely.
But his body… couldn’t move.
He tried to summon the power in his white-bone hand—
Only to watch, in horror, as that very hand crumbled… and fell apart piece by piece.
Then, behind Luo Qiu, something appeared.
A massive door.
Drekeya immediately collapsed to his knees.
The door creaked open slightly—
And the whispers intensified, booming like thunder!
In an instant, black threads shot out from the door’s crack—
They wrapped around Luo Qiu, freezing him in place.
He tried to lift his arms but found his body bound tight by those threads.
“Don’t stop me…” Luo Qiu said coldly.
“If you still want me to remain the Boss… then shut up.”
The whispers raged on.
The black threads didn’t loosen.
“I said—RETREAT!!”
At that moment, anger completely fused with Luo Qiu.
The deafening whispers faded—as if unwillingly retreating.
The black threads snapped off one by one.
The door closed slowly… then vanished.
Count Drekeya muttered in disbelief:
“You actually… silenced the Root Gate…”
(End of Chapter)