57: Swift Annihilation, Lin Feng's Warning

Just as the confident, calculating smile on Mo Qiu's face had yet to fade, and the moment his trusted crew member's finger was about to touch the activation rune of the communication array—

Time seemed to have been pressed on a pause button.

The expressions of all the crew members inside the starship froze on their faces: terror, obedience, numbness... Mo Qiu's look of being in total control also stiffened, and even the cruel curve at the corner of his mouth was clearly visible.

In the Void Realm, the young Cultivator who had been thrown away also maintained an expression of extreme horror, frozen in place.

It was not true spacetime stasis, but under the interference of an incomprehensible power, their thoughts, perceptions, and even their very existence were forcibly "fixed."

The next instant.

There was no light, no sound, no energy fluctuation.

That sturdy starship, along with all the crew, cargo, and arrays inside, as well as the abandoned young Cultivator in the Void Realm, were like being gently erased by the most skilled artist with an eraser, from the molecular, atomic, and even more fundamental levels, silently and thoroughly...

Annihilated.

Leaving no traces, no wreckage, no energy dissipation, as if they had never existed in this Void Realm and had never met Liu Qingtian.

Meanwhile, in dozens of different corners of the Myriad Heavens and Myriad Realms.

Some Cultivators, Families, and small Sects who had Bloodline connections with Mo Qiu or were involved in the interests of the Star Falcon Merchant Guild... no matter where they were, whether they were in secluded Cultivation, fighting others, or enjoying luxury... all met the same fate at the same time.

Silently and thoroughly annihilated.

Even the records of their existence and their Karma connections with others were forcibly erased and corrected by an incredibly overbearing power.

It was as if some insignificant small branches and leaves on a large tree were quietly plucked away by an invisible hand, without disturbing the entire tree in the slightest.

After doing all this, in that dimensional space made of data streams, Lin Feng lazily snapped his fingers, as if he had just swatted a buzzing fly.

"Done. Garbage cleanup complete." He pushed up his non-existent glasses and said to the system kitten beside him, "In the future, for such small troubles where the potential risk exceeds the threshold, preprocess them directly without waiting for my instructions. Old Liu is too good at causing trouble and too easily soft-hearted; we have to clean up after him."

"Meow~ Understood, Boss! Risk management program optimized!" The system kitten operated quickly.

...

Liu Qingtian, who was immersed in studying the core of the Thousand Illusions Jellyfish, had his tree body shudder violently!

An indescribable palpitation and chill, seemingly originating from the depths of his Soul, swept over him, making him stop his movements involuntarily. He vaguely felt that some major Karma related to him had been forcibly severed, but he could not grasp it clearly.

Just as he was filled with doubt and uncertainty, the Void Realm in front of him rippled like a water surface.

Countless blue data streams converged, quickly outlining Lin Feng's familiar figure. But this time, his expression was no longer the usual profiteer-like grin, but carried a rare expression mixed with helplessness, mockery, and a hint of seriousness.

"Old Liu, oh Old Liu..." As soon as Lin Feng appeared, he shook his head and spoke in a tone that was almost a sigh.

Liu Qingtian's tree eyes narrowed slightly: "Lin Feng? Why are you here?" The ominous premonition in his heart grew stronger and stronger.

Lin Feng did not answer directly but flicked his finger. A light screen unfolded in the Void Realm, beginning to clearly replay everything that had just happened inside the starship—from Mo Qiu changing his face, to coercing the young Cultivator, to explaining the vicious plan of the "three-step preparation," to throwing the young Cultivator out of the cabin door, and then to ordering the notification of the Nihility Cult and the hidden Families...

The images were clear, the sound was vivid, and even the subtle expressions on everyone's faces and the calculations in their eyes were revealed in perfect detail.

Liu Qingtian watched quietly, his tree body in dead silence, only thousands of willow branches moving without wind, showing the stormy seas rising within his tree soul.

When he saw the smug smile of Mo Qiu's "three-step preparation, standing in an invincible position," an irrepressible anger mixed with a deep sense of absurdity and chill instantly swept through Liu Qingtian's tree soul.

Saving a life, only to be schemed against! The other party even regarded this betrayal as a matter-of-course survival wisdom!

Is this... the human heart?

The playback ended, and the light screen dissipated.

Lin Feng looked at the silent Liu Qingtian, his tone carrying a sharp mockery: "See that? My Lord Liu? This is the 'good person' you kindly saved. How is it? How does it feel? Have you experienced the brilliance and warmth of human nature again?"

He paced to the front of Liu Qingtian's massive tree body, looked up at him, his eyes sharp: "Let me think, how many times is this? Since your Rebirth, how many times have you been backstabbed because of a moment of soft-heartedness, or, shall we say... foolish kindness?"

"In the Borderland, those Yao Beasts and Cultivators who coveted your true form? That Fellow Villager who you saved but wanted to chop you down? In the Cangmu World, that seemingly pure and kind but actually used as bait elf Sela, and that glib-tongued Zhao Tiezhu? Plus this incident today... Old Liu, that you are still alive, I truly think it's a miracle."

Lin Feng's words were like cold knives, stabbing into Liu Qingtian's heart one by one.

"Do you think that just because you have lived another life and possess power, you are rightfully supposed to play the role of a savior or a kind old grandpa? Do you think that because you come from a peaceful era, you are more noble and more trustworthy than these 'natives'? Wake up! My Fellow Villager!"

His voice suddenly raised: "The so-called morality and kindness of our era, when placed before the cruel Law of the Myriad Heavens and Myriad Realms where the weak are prey to the strong, are worth nothing! They will even become your greatest weakness, your most fatal poison!"

"This isn't called a pure heart; this is called stupid! Stupid and unaware! It's a disease, and it needs to be treated!" Lin Feng rebuked mercilessly, "If I hadn't happened to monitor the energy fluctuations and helped you deal with the aftermath, you would have already been targeted by those lunatics from the Nihility Cult! By then, it wouldn't be some Wutian Realm or Kaishan Realm Cultivators coming, but Profound Void Realm, Star Shattering, or even stronger old monsters! What would you use to block them? Borrowing the power of the burying netherworld again? Then letting the debt snowball and crush you to death?"

Liu Qingtian's tree body trembled; every word of Lin Feng was like a heavy hammer striking his tree soul. He could not refute it. Recalling everything since his Rebirth, he had indeed repeatedly placed himself in danger due to the inertial thinking brought from his past life and the occasional pangs of compassion.

"I..." Liu Qingtian's thought carried a hint of dryness.

"Don't 'I' me anymore." Lin Feng interrupted him, his tone slightly softened but still serious, "Old Liu, for the sake of us both being Fellow Villagers, I'll remind you one last time. Put away your inappropriate innocence and kindness. In these Myriad Heavens and Myriad Realms, trust is a luxury, and mercy is the path to death. Your road is destined to be filled with thorns and betrayal; what you can rely on is only your own strength and absolutely calm judgment."

He paused, stared at Liu Qingtian's massive tree eyes, and said word by word: "If the same situation happens again, and your stupid soft-heartedness brings about trouble that cannot be handled, then..."

Lin Feng's voice became cold and decisive: "Our deal ends here. I will not provide any more information, nor will I help you clean up your mess again. Whether you live or die, you carry it yourself."

After finishing, he did not wait for Liu Qingtian to respond; his figure suddenly turned into countless data streams and dissipated into the Void Realm, leaving only one final, meaningful sentence echoing in Liu Qingtian's tree soul:

"Think it over carefully. If you want to survive, if you want to truly control your own destiny, you must first... be ruthless to yourself."

The Void Realm returned to dead silence once again.

Liu Qingtian's massive tree body stood motionless for a long time, as if it had turned into a statue.

Lin Feng's words were like the cruelest mirror, reflecting the weakness he had always been unwilling to face, or rather, the one he was still subconsciously avoiding.

Innocence? Stupidity? A pure heart?

Perhaps all of them.

The brand brought from his past life was not so easy to erase. Even after experiencing life and death, even after experiencing betrayal, there seemed to always remain a ridiculous obsession in his bones, an attempt to maintain the bottom line of being a "human."

But this world clearly did not need this kind of obsession.

Mo Qiu's calculating face, Lin Feng's cold words, the past experiences of being betrayed again and again... flashed through his tree soul like a revolving lantern.

An indescribable gloom and unwillingness accumulated in his heart.

Does one really have to become a cold-blooded, ruthless existence that only knows how to calculate benefits to survive?

Silence.

A long silence.

I don't know how long it had been, but Liu Qingtian's thousands of drooping willow branches slowly lifted.

In his massive tree eyes, the trace of gentleness and hesitation that had originally been there gradually faded, replaced by a deep coldness, like ten-thousand-year-old ice.

He looked in the direction where Lin Feng had disappeared, and then at the Void Realm where the starship had once existed; the waves churning in his tree soul slowly calmed down, finally turning into a cold, dead silence.

"You are right."

Liu Qingtian's thought no longer had the slightest fluctuation, terrifyingly calm.

"I was wrong."

"From now on, kindness is kindness, and hatred is hatred."

"Those who block my Dao path, kill."

"Those who betray my trust, kill."

"Regardless of good or evil, only discuss benefits."

As his voice fell, the aura around him seemed to undergo a subtle change, becoming more restrained and more dangerous.

That Demon Willow, which had originally still carried a trace of vitality, now seemed to have truly become an ancient Demon Wood, rooted in the Void Realm, coldly overlooking the Reincarnation of all living beings.

He no longer hesitated; his massive tree body turned and flew firmly in the direction guided by the star key.

Only this time, in the depths of his gaze, the last trace of warmth belonging to a "human" was completely annihilated.

The Void Hunter was only truly born from this moment on.