Chapter 212: Saying the Darkest Words

【Inside the Quantum Space of Steam Furnace】

The aftershock of Hei Cang’s explosion had yet to fade when a battered figure tumbled out from the charred haze, staggering into the air. Bai Kong clutched his right shoulder—mangled, bleeding—but grinned wide, revealing jagged, blood-stained teeth. His arrogance burned just as fiercely as ever, untouched by the wounds tearing through his body.

“Tsk tsk… Not bad, Tian Dao Siming. That power really packs a punch. But—”

As he spoke, a surge of black energy enveloped his injured shoulder, rapidly knitting flesh and bone back together. Even in the midst of this healing, Bai Kong kept taunting Tian Dao with brazen mockery.

“. Is that all you’ve got? I’m starting to think you’re not so hot after all.”

Tian Dao simply glanced at him—calm, unshaken.

“If your strength is limited to nothing but empty words, then I might just have to retract my earlier assessment of you.”

“After all, right now, you’re no different from the vermin I’ve crushed before.”

“Pfft!” Bai Kong spat a mouthful of blood onto the ground. The black mist had already fully healed him—only his tattered sleeve remained flapping in the wind, a silent testament to his earlier humiliation.

He stared at Tian Dao, eyes blazing with venom. “Tian Dao Siming… I’ve heard that exact line from others before. And like the rest, they’re now just fertilizer in my body.”

His gaze remained defiant, wild—unyielding. As if he’d never learned, and never would learn, how to bow.

Just then, a flicker in the corner of his eye caught his attention. The tiny-eyed figure sneaking toward Steam Furnace. Bai Kong’s lips curled into a smirk.

“Since you want me to take this seriously… then I’ll give you what you asked for.”

He shook his newly regenerated arm, slowly shedding the cocky grin. His expression hardened, shifting into something cold, focused, and deadly serious.

“Besides… fighting in this weak vessel is starting to feel like a chore.”

Watching the screen, the Dimensional Audience couldn’t help but groan.

‘Bro, can we just shut up for a sec? I can already feel you’re about to get your ass kicked.’

‘Saying the meanest words, huh? Just wait for the worst punishment.’

‘For the love of all that’s holy, shut your mouth, Bai Kong! Your death flag’s sticking up like a power pole!’

‘Wait… this feels familiar. Where have I seen this before? Let me check… (joke.jpg).’

At that moment, Bai Kong’s left side was swallowed by thick, swirling black mist. From his skin, a skeletal-like armor began to sprout—crawling up his torso until it fully covered half his chest. On his forehead, a crooked, broken horn pierced through the flesh, gleaming with cold, unyielding light.

But what truly left the audience breathless wasn’t his grotesque transformation—rather, the colossal, shadowy silhouette that emerged behind him, vast enough to blot out the sky.

Though the apparition flashed by in an instant, the single, massive vertical pupil that passed across the screen sent a shiver through every viewer’s soul.

One eye that big… What kind of monster would the full form be? Could it be larger than a planet?

The camera cut to Tian Dao.

Faced with Bai Kong’s clear metamorphosis and surge in power, Tian Dao remained utterly unfazed—his expression as still as stone. He spoke, voice flat, yet carrying the weight of revelation.

“Half Stellar Remains Transformation? Now this is getting interesting.”

Though in Chen Kong’s Soul Space, Bai Kong and Tian Dao had once briefly clashed six years prior in a memory projection, that history meant nothing to the current Reality.

Because, according to the script from the Stellar Production Team, Tian Dao was truly encountering Bai Kong for the first time—witnessing his Half Stellar Remains Transformation for the first time.

This was the proper reaction—raw, unfiltered awe at the unknown.

Through the transformation, Bai Kong’s base Stellar Energy skyrocketed. His other stats surged in a violent explosion of power.

True, the gap between him and Tian Dao in the six core attributes remained significant—but it was no longer the chasm it once was.

No hesitation. No words.

Bai Kong clenched his left hand around the glowing Void Weaver, while his right hand gripped the Black Star blade, which hummed with restrained fury. He lunged forward—already in motion, already attacking.

He blurred through the air. Before he even landed, his left hand had already pulled the trigger.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three pale-white Void Pattern Bullets tore through the air, shattering the space with a shrill, warped scream, aiming straight for Tian Dao’s face.

But then—something strange happened.

Though Bai Kong fired three bullets, two of them vanished into thin air.

Tian Dao, for the first time in memory, drew his sword.

Clang!

The first bullet shattered against the Shattering Star, split in half by a single, precise strike.

Then, with a flick of his wrist, Tian Dao spun the blade in a fluid arc—sweeping it through empty space, as if he were cutting through nothing.

Clang!

Another metallic clash rang out—behind him.

There, suspended in the air, was the second bullet—its path masked by Void Pattern illusion. It was instantly cleaved apart, its Stellar Energy scattering into a shower of light, vanishing before everyone’s eyes.

And even as the blade fell, Tian Dao subtly tilted his head.

A silent gust of air whistled past his cheek—BOOM!—and detonated against the ground behind him.

That was the third bullet.

In the span of a heartbeat, Tian Dao’s entire sequence was flawless—effortless, almost graceful. As if the concept of invisibility, of erasing presence, was nothing more than a childish joke.

But Bai Kong never expected that little trick would land a hit.

While Tian Dao dealt with the bullets, Bai Kong closed the distance—now standing mere feet from him—launching a storm of relentless, brutal attacks.

“Not bad,” Tian Dao murmured, unfazed.

He didn’t move quickly. He didn’t swing often. But every time the Shattering Star rose, it struck with perfect precision—right at the weakest point on the Black Star’s blade.

As he parried each blow, he offered a quiet, almost admiring remark.

“Hiding the bullet’s trajectory with Void Pattern… Bai Kong, you’ve got far better control over Stellar Energy than that weakling Chen Kong ever did.”

Bai Kong didn’t respond. He didn’t even seem to hear.

His assault grew fiercer—his left hand firing volley after volley of pale-white Void Pattern Bullets, each one aimed at tearing through Tian Dao’s near-invisible Vector Barrier—Ten Thousand Phenomena Rejection.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end