“Y-You guys! How come you’re here?” Anwen was astonished.

This demonkin’s reaction was peculiar, and his question was also quite odd. Even Qianye didn’t really know whether he should pay the fellow any attention or not. This was a traditional resource location for Imperials. What was he expecting if not humans? A demonkin like himself?

Anwen scratched his head in distress, thinking long and hard. Bai Kongzhao poked her head out from behind him. She had almost bumped into him because she hadn’t expected him to stop all of a sudden.

The girl’s confused eyes lit up upon seeing Qianye but soon became cautious after noticing Ji Tianqing and Li Kuanglan. Eventually, the brightness was covered back up by her usual vacant demeanor.

Anwen said after some thought, “Ah, I know! You were the ones who left that camp in the ten-times gravity region.”

Qianye, Ji Tianqing, and Li Kuanglan exchanged glances. Who would’ve thought Anwen had been tracing their footsteps? Appearing in the high-gravity region and escaping successfully meant that he possessed great combat strength despite his frail appearance.

Qianye stood calmly before Anwen, while Ji Tianqing and Li Kuanglan spread out to the flanks.

“Ha. Back then, I really didn’t expect a physically-weak human would appear in the region with ten-times gravity. Not only that, but you were also able to withstand the frigid night and escape the central region. Even if the humans had discovered the secret of the white fruit and wine, they would be corroded by the wine and turn into wild beasts after a couple of nights. Now, it looks like your group hasn’t been affected at all, what a miracle!”

Anwen talked to himself excitedly, staring at Qianye from head to toe, left to right, and then the other way around. All the while, he was muttering to himself, “Truth be told, the human race isn’t very good looking, but for someone like you to appear, it’s quite inconceivable. In fact, good looks aren't just about being aesthetically pleasant. It represents conformity with the rhythm of this world and being able to adapt to the environment. That is why those people would look stunning in the eyes of all creatures! That’s why looking good is a facet of one’s combat strength. The old men in our clan only know of scheming and fighting, they had never contemplated such worldly phenomena in depth… eh?”

Anwen found, to his shock, that Qianye’s group had taken up positions. He pointed at Qianye in disbelief, saying, “Are you guys going to attack?”

Qianye weighed East Peak in his hand. “What else?”

“We don’t have a reason to fight, do we?”

“We’re in the Great Maelstrom. You are a demonkin and we are human, is that not reason enough?”

Anwen sighed. “This kind of enmity is baseless. Sometimes, I really feel that you humans all have a victim complex. I personally feel that the hatred between our races isn’t unresolvable, in the short term at least.”

Qianye said calmly, “Daybreak and Evernight represent an inherent conflict in origin powers. There’s no avoiding this.”

Anwen snorted disdainfully. “Nonsense! That’s just a slogan an Imperial idiot started spouting, and a lot more idiots from our race supported it. Thus, a thousand years of fighting began. Do they have no brains? Can’t they stop to think if we can destroy daybreak or darkness origin power even if we kill off every member of the opposing faction?”

Qianye was stunned. The Law of Conservation of Origin Power was a common knowledge taught in advanced imperial syllabuses. When a person passed away, the origin power he had cultivated would dissipate and return to the void. Eventually, a new generation would be born, grow up, and cultivate, extracting daybreak origin power from the void to store in their bodies. During this entire cycle, the amount of origin power never increased or decreased.

However, this was merely a hypothesis that no one could prove. Additionally, it was said that this theory actually produced a fair amount of controversy and objection. Something of note was that Li Xitang was among the dissenters, but the marshal only expressed his objection, not the reason. Even so, his special status brought the hypothesis into the midst of new debates in recent years.

What was this Anwen trying to say by bringing this theory up? Qianye raised his hand, gesturing to the girls that there was no rush to attack.

Anwen became spirited after seeing that Qianye was listening intently. “Be it darkness origin power or daybreak, both of them should be constant. Yet, they are also changing at all times. The reason for this transformation is because we’re not alone in this great universe, and the world we live in is just a small corner. Who knows how many small worlds like ours exist in the depths of the void? Why would we fight between ourselves when we could be breaking down the ramparts of the void and heading out to explore the boundless realms. Now that’s a truly meaningful future!”

Hearing Anwen expounding on such great topics, Ji Tianqing snorted disdainfully. “Such grand aspirations, but you’re not even a duke! Let’s discuss this when you’re a prince. Besides, destroying your race is the most important matter at hand, exploring the boundless universe is too distant an endeavor. Just leave important missions like that to us, no need to trouble yourself.”

Anwen shook his head. “Fairly good looking, but so violent, pity, pity!”

Ji Tianqing was peeved. “The first part is quite reasonable, but the rest is nonsense! Of course, I have to be violent when dealing with your kind.”

Anwen didn’t hold back, either. “After a person is killed, his origin power will return to the void and then return in a different form. Even if you destroy the demonkin race, more dark races will appear as long as darkness origin power exists. The same goes for humans. How is that meaningful? A thousand years ago, humans were nothing but slaves, but now, they are a power occupying four continents. How can there be an empire today without the gradual increase in daybreak origin power?”

The theory was unprecedented and seemingly quite reasonable. Ji Tianqing didn’t quite know how to retort for the time being. However, she was never one to concede or be suppressed. “There’s no way to prove things, so you’re just saying whatever you want. But don’t even think about getting through this by tricking us. Let me ask you about what you said, how exactly do I look good? Can you see me clearly?”

She wasn’t using her original appearance in front of others. At this moment, her appearance rotated through thousands of versions, and even her stature would transform from time to time. This was her unique ability, and even Qianye was fooled several times back then.

But Anwen smiled proudly after an intent gaze. “What’s so difficult? Just wait a while.”

He whipped out his sword and started calculating on the ground, soon producing a long string of formulas.

Ji Tianqing and Li Kuanglan exchanged glances. How could they understand such complicated formulas? They didn’t know what Anwen was thinking, but they thought he was just making things unnecessarily complicated.

Qianye had grown up in the Yellow Springs and then joined the Red Scorpion. Most of his life was spent learning how to kill and not be killed, so he knew even less about these things. Let alone him, even those instructors at Yellow Springs wouldn’t be able to figure out what formula this was.

Anwen calculated swiftly, each number appearing from his sword tip like flowing water and making Qianye dizzy. Bai Kongzhao was the only one unaffected by this display because she didn’t care at all about what Anwen was doing. She merely stared at Qianye, and no one knew what she was thinking.

The girl didn’t disguise her intent, but Qianye kept his attention on her at all times.

Bai Kongzhao would always go for the vitals at the most opportune moment. There was no rhythm to her movements, and no one could tell what exactly she was thinking. Having known her for so many years, Qianye suspected whether she possessed the ability, “Ignore Defense”. That was a terrifying power that would allow the user to break through higher-ranking defenses. He couldn’t afford to be careless and give her an opportunity to exploit.

Anwen didn’t make everyone wait too long. The countless numbers transformed into a simple formula within minutes, which he glanced at as he laughed proudly. He then arrived in front of a rock and began carving the outline of a person with his blade.

A shake of his wrist sent sword radiance raining upon the rock, sending pieces of it flying everywhere as the sculpture of a young girl appeared before the crowd.

The human girl was covering her mouth with her hands, her eyes wide in astonishment. She wasn’t an especially stunning beauty at a glance, but she looked better the longer one admired her. Her gentle demeanor exuded a sense of comfort and flawlessness.

The statue was extremely vivid and especially lifelike in her expression. It made people want to know just what she had seen.

As for her clothes and the hem of her skirt, everything was completed in just a few strokes. And that was enough.

This sculpture was the work of a master, no more, no less.

Ji Tianqing finally couldn’t hold back her astonishment. Qianye and Li Kuanglan were also stunned speechless as they gazed at the sculpture.

The statue was definitely a depiction of Ji Tianqing in her original appearance. Qianye and Li Kuanglan knew her true appearance, so they could easily recognize her. Anwen, on the other hand, had never seen Ji Tianqing before. “How could he carve out her appearance with just a pile of goddamned formulas and numbers?”

Anwen chuckled. “It’s not too hard. If it wasn’t for this young lady cycling through her appearance several times, I wouldn’t have found the rhythm so easily. One has to know that everything has a scheme to it and that her original appearance is constant. It’s fine even if she doesn’t reveal even a small bit of her appearance. I can find the constant between countless variables. That is my specialty and a necessary skill for exploring the realm we live in.”

Qianye didn’t understand the logic, but that didn’t really hinder him from adding Anwen to his list of most dangerous enemies. Perhaps it was because he didn’t understand that he attached more importance to this enemy. Anwen seemed somewhat deranged, but he couldn’t quite hide his genius from leaking out. This filled Qianye with a sense of danger that wasn’t weaker than any other enemy.