Chapter 399 – I Can't Do It

“Bzzzt!”

A buzzing sound, like a vibration penetrating straight to the marrow, emerged within the small resting room.

The very air seemed to tremble, as if gravity had suddenly multiplied several times over, pressing down until it was hard to breathe.

At this moment, driven by fury, Su Ming unleashed his power completely for the first time.

Whether it was the demonic nature of being a Hunter or the spiritual nature of being a Sorcerer, Su Ming—who had previously only ever unleashed one of these powers at a time, and even then with some restraint—now recklessly revealed everything he had for the first time.

Moreover, faintly enchanting patterns surfaced on Su Ming’s forehead, while shimmering, azure cracks flickered intermittently across his body. For a brief moment, even his pupils turned as cold and eerie as a Fiend’s. Layered atop his extraordinary demonic and spiritual natures, the resulting effect was far from simply additive.

At the very least, Old Qin, a Seven-Star Professional, sensed a trace of threat from Su Ming in this moment.

What did that signify?

It signified that Su Ming, right now, possessed the strength to pose a threat to him, a Seven-Star Sorcerer.

This caused Old Qin’s tightly furrowed brows to twitch sharply, and his gaze grew even more solemn.

As for Qin Qing beside him, she was barely holding on, nearly buckling under the pressure.

“This… is his true strength…!?”

Qin Qing struggled to maintain her footing, watching Su Ming as he erupted with an astonishing Aura, her heart filled with shock and disbelief.

There was no helping it.

“He’s only eighteen years old!”

At the age of eighteen, he already had the power to threaten a Seven-Star Professional?

Qin Qing finally gained the most direct understanding of Su Ming’s talent and potential.

Of course, Old Qin felt the same.

Perhaps, at present, Su Ming only had the capability to threaten him, not to defeat him.

But for an eighteen-year-old to already possess strength that could threaten a Seven-Star Professional—such talent, such potential, was truly terrifying.

If an older Professional were to release their Aura so boldly in front of Old Qin, he might regard them seriously, but he would never feel this solemn.

Only Su Ming was different.

What Su Ming displayed was not just his current strength, but also his potential.

Confronting a Prodigy of such boundless potential head-on, Old Qin believed, no one would find it easy.

Like Li Wu, after witnessing Su Ming’s strength and potential, his first thought was that no matter what, they couldn’t let Su Ming go; they had to kill him.

Faced with such a Prodigy, if he stood opposed to them, there was no question—he must be eliminated immediately, never allowed to grow.

Unfortunately, Old Qin couldn’t do that.

The reason was simple: he truly lacked the confidence to keep Su Ming here.

With Su Ming’s strength, while he might not be able to defeat Old Qin, it wouldn’t be easy for Old Qin to detain him either.

And if Su Ming were to escape, the Qin Family would face trouble in the future.

Moreover, behind Su Ming stood a supreme human powerhouse, an existence unrivaled in the world.

This made Old Qin, though somewhat humiliated and annoyed by Su Ming’s disrespect, unable to directly oppose him.

However, Su Ming certainly didn’t see it that way.

“Let’s go outside,” Su Ming said coldly. “Let me experience just how strong a true Seven-Star Professional really is.”After speaking, Su Ming flashed out of the lounge in an instant.

The pressure in the lounge immediately diminished, but the heavy atmosphere lingering in the air refused to dissipate.

“Great-grandfather!”

Qin Qing only felt the weight on her shoulders lighten. After taking a deep, relieved breath, she hurriedly turned her gaze to Old Qin.

Old Qin remained silent for a moment before finally speaking.

“Very well. Let me personally meet this Prodigy who has shaken all of Tianfeng City—and who may even shake all of humanity.”

Old Qin then turned around, circular arrays materializing around his body, causing him to vanish like a shower of starlight.

“Great-grandfather!”

Qin Qing tried to call out to stop him, but Old Qin had already disappeared, leaving her stunned for a long while.

After a moment, Qin Qing gritted her teeth and chased after him.

Simultaneously, several figures hidden in the shadows also vanished from the lounge.

……

Dragonheart District, a remote area.

This seemed to be a zone undergoing redevelopment and reconstruction. Not a single building stood in sight, nor was there any trace of human activity—only uneven, excavated land, messy and scarred, with steel bars and water pipes scattered everywhere.

The development area was quite expansive, clearly intended for large-scale reconstruction. It was spacious enough not just for building complexes, but even for constructing palace clusters.

This area had previously been a residential zone for commoners, but since last year, it had been acquired and demolished, leaving the vicinity largely deserted at night.

Thanks to this, it had become a rare and ideal battleground, allowing people to engage in combat with relative abandon.

After leaving Wanbao Auction House, Su Ming moved like lightning, arriving at this location and landing at the very center of the development area.

Clang!

Almost at the same time, a shower of starlight shimmered in front of Su Ming, gradually coalescing into a human form.

Before long, Old Qin emerged from the starlight.

Around his body, eight circular arrays still pulsed, revealing to Su Ming just how high-sequence a Spirit Art this ancestor of the Qin Family had employed.

Su Ming also recognized the origin of this Spirit Art.

“Special-class Spirit Art, ranked seventy-seventh in the sequence—【Dawn Star Orbit】.”

All Spirit Arts are broadly categorized based on their function, effect, and purpose into types such as Offensive, Defensive, Restraint, Support, and even Seal classes.

As the names suggest, Offensive Spirit Arts are used for attack, Defensive Spirit Arts for defense, and so on.

However, among Spirit Arts, there are also some Spell Formulas with ambiguous roles, making them difficult to classify clearly.

Such Spirit Arts are exceedingly rare, numbering only a handful.

Thus, people have simply separated these few Spell Formulas into their own category, collectively designating them as Special-class.

And 【Dawn Star Orbit】 is one such Spirit Art.

It possesses neither offensive nor defensive effects, cannot restrain enemies, nor assist allies. It can only be applied to the caster themselves, temporarily transforming the caster’s body into a light-like substance, freeing them from the limitations of the human form and enabling actions beyond ordinary human capability.

For instance, it allows for near-instantaneous movement at speeds akin to light.For instance, it can liberate the human form, causing all attacks to miss the caster and placing them in a semi-invincible state.

Beyond that, it can accomplish various other feats, depending entirely on the caster’s adaptability and application.

For this reason, this spell formula is regarded by industry insiders as the most flexible and versatile Spirit Art, earning it evaluations such as “highest versatility,” “greatest unpredictability,” “most unscrupulous,” and “most troublesome.”

If not for the fact that the longer this spell is used, the greater the Spirit Power consumption—so much so that even an Upper-Rank Sorcerer cannot sustain it for extended periods—its sequence ranking might have surpassed Su Ming’s 【Eighty-Eighth Form: Fate Heaven Earth Shift】.

Even so, this spell is considered the most desired Spirit Art among all sorcerers, bar none.

Especially its activation and release speeds, which are astonishingly fast.

Generally, the higher the sequence ranking of a Spirit Art, the longer it takes to construct its spell formula.

For an Advanced Spirit Art like the seventy-seventh in sequence ranking, one would expect its release and activation speeds to be relatively slow.

However, 【Dawn Star Orbit】 defies this principle. With sufficient mastery, its release and activation speeds, while not matching instant-cast forms like 【Flying Arrow】, far outpace those of Intermediate Spirit Arts.

Under such conditions, any sorcerer who masters this Spirit Art—provided their Spirit Sense is not too weak to constantly monitor enemy movements and detect incoming attacks—can instantly activate 【Dawn Star Orbit】’s spell formula. This transforms them into photonic matter, rendering them incorporeal, immune to attacks, and capable of moving at astounding speeds to evade any targeting or encirclement. It is rightly hailed as the ultimate survival tool for sorcerers.

Unfortunately, the learning difficulty of this Spirit Art is also significantly higher than that of ordinary Advanced Spirit Arts, resulting in Upper-Rank Sorcerers capable of mastering it being as rare as phoenix feathers.

Su Ming had never encountered anyone who had learned this spell formula, and he himself coveted it intensely.

If asked which spellbook he most desired to unbox from a package, Su Ming would unequivocally answer: 【Dawn Star Orbit】.

Thus, witnessing Old Qin employ this spell, Su Ming felt both shock and surprise, tinged with a sense of gravity.

A sorcerer who has mastered 【Dawn Star Orbit】 is no easy opponent.

As Su Ming pondered this, Old Qin spoke up.

“Young friend Su Ming, shall we make a pact?” Old Qin suddenly proposed.

“What?” Su Ming regarded him expressionlessly.

“Simple.” Old Qin smiled faintly. “If this old man can gain a slight upper hand today, you will support my Qin Family’s plan and refrain from obstruction. How about it?”

“Impossible.” Su Ming replied without hesitation. “Regardless of victory or defeat, I could never agree to a plan with such an exorbitant mortality rate.”

Old Qin’s expression stiffened, his smile fading.

“…So, no matter what, you insist on obstructing my Qin Family?” Old Qin’s tone finally turned somewhat unpleasant.

He had exhausted diplomatic language, repeatedly made concessions—an unprecedented gesture from him.

After all, he was the pinnacle of the Qin Family, the father of its current ruler.

And the Qin Family was the Royal Family, the true administrators of Tianfeng City.A being like him was no different from the ancient Grand Emperor, whether in Tianfeng City or across the entire continent.

Such a figure as Old Qin, in the human world, truly needed to defer to no one except a Guardian Deity, having genuinely reached the pinnacle of power where only one stood above him while tens of thousands lay beneath.

For someone as noble and mighty as him to repeatedly yield and offer earnest persuasion to a junior was truly an unprecedented first.

Not just for a junior—across the entire world, no one except the Guardian Deity warranted such treatment from him.

If Su Ming weren’t both the next Guardian Deity and a Dual Professional who offered immense aid to the Qin Family’s Dual Professional lineage plan, Old Qin would never have been so accommodating.

Yet, Su Ming remained this unyielding, which was truly somewhat ungrateful.

Of course, in Su Ming’s eyes, Qin Yue was also excessively self-important.

What kind of delusion made him think he could arbitrarily decide An Zijin’s future?

Perhaps, in his view, An Zijin was merely the fruit of the Qin Family’s millennium of effort and countless sacrifices—just a tool to achieve their goal, not a person with her own will.

In his eyes, since An Zijin was a member of the Qin Family, it was only natural she should dedicate herself to the family’s future.

But Su Ming refused to let him have his way.

“The sole purpose of today’s battle is to make you understand that this world isn’t yours to command, nor is it the Qin Family’s to dictate.”

Su Ming’s voice spread slowly.

“I care not for any plans, nor for how much you’ve sacrificed for them.”

“Whether it’s for your own sake or for all of humanity.”

“But attempting to use someone important to me as a sacrifice or an experiment is absolutely unacceptable.”

With a flip of his hand, a scorching alchemical saber materialized in Su Ming’s grasp.

“I don’t understand grand principles, and they hold no use for me.”

“To stand by and watch Little Jin risk almost certain death?”

“I cannot do it.”

As he spoke these words, Su Ming recalled the night he decided to leave Longyao City and graduate from the Demon Hunter Academy.

That night, driven by intoxication, he poured out everything to that overly adorable girl next door—the memory vivid as if it were yesterday.

Only now did Su Ming suddenly realize that his feelings for that neighbor girl, who had always been so fond of him, might have changed.

Perhaps, that very night, An Zijin’s significance to him had transformed, no longer just that of a beloved younger sister.

Especially since she had left Longyao City and come to Tianfeng City for his sake.

Therefore, he must bring her back to his side.

“Come.”

Su Ming raised Flaming Tusk, pointing it at Old Qin.

Hearing this, Old Qin gazed deeply at Su Ming, seeing the overflowing Battle Intent and determination in his eyes.

That alone made Old Qin realize that this astonishing super genius would never compromise on this matter.

“What a pity.”

Old Qin genuinely felt regret.

Regret that this person couldn’t contribute to the Qin Family’s long-cherished plan, and regret that the Qin Family couldn’t possess such a super genius.He genuinely wanted to accept Su Ming, to have this exceptionally talented Dual Professional join hands with the culmination of their Family’s efforts over so many years, together forging a new Qin Family.

However, judging by Su Ming’s attitude, it was clear this was no longer possible.

Yet, the Qin Family’s efforts over all these years absolutely could not go to waste.

Unwilling to compromise?

The same could be said for their Qin Family.

Since that was the case…

“I can only make you retreat in the face of difficulties.”

The eight circular arrays on Old Qin’s body lit up one by one.

Astonishing spiritual essence and immense Spirit Power surged forth simultaneously, throwing the very atmosphere into chaos.

The two representative figures of the old and new eras thus released their own Battle Intent and aura.

Then, with a deafening roar, they collided.

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(End of Chapter)