CRASH!

Emperor Ming groaned, half-submerged in the river, golden blood pouring from his mouth. His ribs poking through torn skin, his face a mask of pulp.

Then…. SCRAAAATCH.

A noise like steel being cut, he turned.

The river ahead was blinding white. To his side, black as tar. Karma reversed? Impossible.

He glanced up at the vast deity above, galaxies for veins, voids for eyes, hands spilling rivers of light and shadow. The answer had to be her.

But Wang Xiaos voice dragged his gaze back.

The sword wasnt slicing water. It was splitting the river itself. Every draw shrieked metal on metal as he walked closer.

Tell me, Wang Xiao said, eyes cold, do you know what the true success of a civilization is?

The Emperors breath shivered. He didnt care. Panic broke through the pain, his eyes darted to the deitys endless orbs, and he screamed:

Stop this! STOP! He looked past Wang Xiao to the colossal orbs above, screaming. If this man lives, if you let him walk free, his presence will unbalance everything! He wont merely topple a universe or two, hell tear the architecture of all things! The scales, our law, will never hold again!

The void gave no reply, the vast eyes above only absorbed.

SHRRK-!

Wang Xiao drove the blade straight down into Mings blood-soaked skull. Golden ichor hissed, bubbling across the steel, but still, the Emperor twitched, still staring.

Through cracked teeth, his mouth worked. Th-this is not… your weapon… You are a disgrace to it…

He hissed, choking on his own blood.

Wang Xiao leaned close, lips curling. Of course it isnt mine. His voice was calm, and amused. Do you think that matters?

He twisted the blade. Emperor Ming screamed, golden blood fountaining.

I dont need it to be mine. I only need it to work.

Instead of unleashing full destructive surge of the sword, an explosion that would draw the Hands attention, Wang Xiao chose precision.

His strikes became methodical, surgical.

SLASH! One arm severed.

SLASH! The other.

CRUNCH! A leg, then the next, hacked away, his divine frame reduced to trembling stumps.

Emperor Ming shrieked, body collapsing into the river, golden ichor spreading like oil across the surface.

But Wang Xiao wasnt finished.

The blade carved downward again, this time not through flesh, but through the very soul.

AAHHHH! Emperor Mings scream rattled the river as fragments of his essence splintered apart, cut into jagged shards.

Wang Xiaos eyes narrowed. Once the soul fragment is severed in true sense… its nothing more than scraps.

Piece by piece, he consumed him. Each hacked portion dissolved into dark light, sucked into Wang Xiaos frame, devoured whole.

It was just like Yang Yuhuan. Only cleaner, only easier.

He licked the golden blood from his lip and smiled. …Another meal.

Wang Xiaos fingers tightened around the shattered skull, ready to crush it like rotten fruit, to devour the last flicker of Mings soul. But then-

The fragment twitched, the battered soul, cracked and leaking, flared weakly in rebellion.

I… I… am the Karmic… King…

Hm? Wang Xiao frowned. Karmic King? Emperor of the Nether River? Make up your mind.

The ruined skull twitched, only its pupils moving, rolling upward toward the colossal deity above. Its voice shook like gravel.

You… despise… our kind…

Of course I do. Wang Xiao shrugged, blood dripping down his forearms. You Executioners are slaves in crown. Nothing more.

The broken mouth bled laughter, bubbling ichor spilling. You… know what is similar… in Karma of… yours… and the being that used this sword last…?

Wang Xiaos expression froze. The last wielder? Aegis. The thought alone soured his gut.

The skulls pupils flicked back down to him. Neither of you… were meant to awaken it…

It hacked a cough, blood splashing across Wang Xiaos hands.

What? Wang Xiaos frown deepened. Not meant? He thought, any Transcendent can wield it. Aurora was just too weak.

The skull wheezed, trembling, voice breaking into a hiss. You… and he… both… merely-!

BOOM!

The skull detonated mid-sentence.

Chunks of golden flesh burst like shrapnel, spraying across the river. The blast rocked Wang Xiaos frame, coating him in molten blood, enough to choke.

He blinked, caught off guard for the first time. …You did that?

He turned sharply toward the figure in the sky. The deity stood, her vast form still and unmoving. Slowly, her impossible head shifted, galaxies rippling in strands of hair, she shook it once.

No…

A cold ripple crawled down Wang Xiaos spine.

Something else had interfered.

He ignored it, jaw tightening, and lunged into the storm of fragments. Grabbing the escaping shards of soul, he forced them back into the swords edge.

SLASH!

The river screamed as the blade split the soul again, slicing its essence thinner and weaker. He dragged the pieces into himself, swallowing the fragments one by one, until the Emperor was nothing but echoes.

But as he stood there, dripping golden blood, Wang Xiaos body began to glow. Strange, alien patterns crawled under his skin, radiant and foreign.

His lips curved, but his eyes narrowed.

…What the hell was that explosion? He muttered, wiping golden blood from his chin.

Behind him, the colossal, universe-sized entity began to shrink. Galaxies collapsed inward, rivers of light folded into strands, until what remained was no more than a womans frame.

Black hair, smooth and flowing, sapphire eyes, cold and steady, the flawless features of a woman he knew too well.

Xue Hanqin.

Yet even in her human form, she was different. A robe of pale blue light covered her, glowing with a strange, ancient authority. The aura around her shimmered brightly, and heavy, like reality itself bowed at her step.

When Wang Xiaos earlier question echoed back… What is the success of civilization?

The answer was already etched into the sight before him.

It was ability… Ability to forge strategic, mutually beneficial relationships.

A lone man could not kill a bear. Ten could.

A lone tiger could not kill an elephant. Ten could.

Humans survived where beasts perished, because humans worked together.

Civilization thrived, not by claw or fang, but by these relationships.

He had asked her to stop hiding.

To reveal herself.

And she had…

Xue Hanqin seized control of the reincarnation cycle itself, plucking karma from countless souls like threads.

During the battle, she redistributed it, pouring virtue into Wang Xiao to lighten him, while casting rot and hatred into Emperor Ming to break him.

Splash!

Her smooth bare feet tapped against the river as she walked to his side. Her gaze swept the broken sky, searching. Where is that Hand? It shouldve appeared again.

Her eyes flicked to his back in suspicion.

Wang Xiao arched a brow. What, were you hoping it would? You wanted me to die with it?

Xue Hanqin pursed her lips, unbothered by the accusation. Obviously. If the Hand exists… Id like to see it with my own eyes.

Wang Xiao shook his head, amused. I can control this sword. Aegis couldnt. Instead of blowing the soul apart in one burst, I cut piece by piece, weakening him. No explosion, no collapse. No reason for the Hand to bother.

Xue Hanqin narrowed her bright eyes. And how are you so certain?

Wang Xiao turned, meeting her gaze directly. His voice dropped, deliberatly. Executioners dont exist for morality. They exist for maintenance. The balance they preach, it isnt about justice. Its fuel. Stability is what feeds him… And when the fuel shakes, he sends these dogs to tighten the leash.

He lowered his eyes to the blade in his grip. As for how I can control it…

He smiled and said nothing. He remembered Yanyans sacrifice, her soul absorbed into him, a dark energy flowing like reins into his hand. That had given him leverage over the blades wrath, as it was made up of some kind of Dark Energy as well.

He had already tested the process on Yang Yuhuan, so he was certain it would work.

Xue Hanqin waved a delicate hand, her tone dismissive. Hmph. Keep your little secrets. Im not interested.

She stopped when he suddenly thrust the sword toward her.

Her brows lifted. Are you stupid? This weapon can kill you. Why would you give it up? She chuckled softly, mocking.

Look down, Wang Xiao said.

She frowned, and then blinked.

The blade was fading. Its brilliance bled away. Its edge dulled, its glow died, until only a rusty, broken sword remained in her hands…