Qin Yun’s eyes narrowed as he watched an angry Liao Cheng rush toward him, a whirling vortex spinning within the crux of his hand. At least, that was what he expected. Yet, his opponent’s expression seemed to only exude indifference instead of frustration.

Using only the briefest moment before the collision, Qin Yun eyed the swirling mass of energy, attempting to uncover its mysteries. Yet, even for him, it proved much too esoteric to uncover at a glance.

The black mass spun, making the world shift alongside it. Light curved around the edge of this vortex, forming a glowing disc that seemed to rip into the very fabric of reality. Qin Yun had no doubts that not even his body, refined through years of gruelling repetition, could overcome this maelstrom of destructive intent.

As such, he made no attempt to block. He rose from his chair, flinging it backward out of the way, before twisting his body to the side just enough to avoid the incoming vortex.

Qin Yun had calculated Liao Cheng's palm's trajectory, choosing to evade with the slightest of margins. Yet, this decision proved to be erroneous. Liao Cheng poured even more of his Qi into this attack, materializing a slight ethereal white lotus above his head. The lotus only flashed into existence briefly, yet Qin Yun saw it in all its glory.

His easy-going attitude crumbled at that sight, and a slight feeling of dread took hold of him. While he still felt confident he could come out on top in this conflict, he would no longer make the mistake of underestimating his opponent.

The vortex in Liao Cheng's hand grew larger as he poured in more Qi. Unable to retreat further in time, the disc of light at the edge of the vortex scrapped against the guard uniform Qin Yun wore. Unlike the metallic armours of the Ma clan, the Sun clan uniforms were made of fabric, resembling modern military uniforms. Still, they possessed just as many defensive properties as they were artifacts in their own right. In fact, their grades were a step higher.

Even then, Qin Yun's uniform couldn't withstand the incoming vortex scrapping against it. The black vortex shredded the fabric on Qin Yun's chest as if it were a mortal vestment before those fragments were engulfed into the vortex’s core.

From this sight alone, Qin Yun could infer the mechanisms behind this vortex. At first, judging by its colour, he had hypothesized this was some kind of space attribute ability. After all, the man had teleported in from far away. It wasn’t all that unexpected. Yet, the white lotus he saw briefly spoke otherwise. Qin Yun couldn’t help but feel something was wrong.

It wasn’t until he felt the pull of this vortex on his skin that he realized the dangers he was now in. This was more than just a miniature black hole, ripping apart anything in its path. This was an insatiable gaping maw, wishing to extract all forms of matter and energy for its own consumption. This was the void itself.

Qin Yun frowned at this realization. This would prove more difficult than he first anticipated. Furthermore, Liao Cheng's talent was more overbearing than he had thought. The sight of that white lotus spoke volumes of his origins.

“Are you truly trying to kill me?" Qin Yun asked; his earlier nonchalance was all but gone. "What would you have done if I couldn't dodge that strike?"

Liao Cheng scoffed, yet his indifferent expression didn’t waver.

"It would only mean you weren't worthy enough to negotiate with me."

"Do we really need to settle this using violence? Can't we just talk it out?" Qin Yun said as he dodged a second blow aimed straight at his head. There were no doubts anymore; if Qin Yun had failed to dodge, that strike would have killed him.

“Talk is cheap,” Liao Cheng sneered. “Anyone can spew pretty words others wish to hear, yet so few can back them up with something tangible."

Qin Yun’s eyes widened slightly, yet his feet didn't stop moving. He ran in a circle around the room as Liao Cheng chased. While he considered breaking out of there and gaining distance, it would be ill-advised in his current situation. After all, he was deep into enemy territory with no backup.

"Must you thrust your trust issues on me?" Qin Yun said helplessly as he ducked under another strike aimed at his face. "Why can’t you be reasonable?”

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While he could still evade Liao Cheng, his room to maneuver was slowly shrinking. Besides, the last thing he wanted was to cause a commotion and for people to rush over here. He could only keep dodging and wait for the perfect moment to strike back. He would only have a single attempt at this.

“You talk about reason?” Liao Cheng said as his strikes grew closer to Qin Yun with every passing moment. “Give me one reason I shouldn’t kill you right now and get the answers I seek from your corpse.”

“How would you explain this to your fiance's father if the clan knew about this situation? I assume you don't want to attract attention to your more covert operations. Let's just stop this," Qin Yun sighed.

But then, Qin Yun felt the black vortex scrap the side of his chest, just under his arm. The already damaged fabric ripped before being disintegrated by the revolving disc of light as it tumbled into the vortex’s core.

Qin Yun winced in pain as the vortex dug slightly into his skin, ripping his sturdy muscles apart and drawing blood. An overbearing scent of iron permeated the room, drowning its occupants’ senses. The atmosphere was filled with intent of slaughter as Qin Yun’s blood dripped onto the wooden floor, penetrating the material, leaving behind its colour and stains that would tell stories of the struggle happening within.

While Qin Yun struggled for his life, Sun Yu watched all this disinterestedly. Unless Liao Cheng required her input, she would remain seated and slowly sip on her tea.

Qin Yun felt a burning feeling in his chest as he felt his blood slowly pour out of his wounds. Then came a cold sensation around his injury that crept up to his arms, filling it with an all-encompassing numbness. His only remaining arm dropped to the side of his body. His dodging maneuver made the limb fling into the air uncontrollably.

Fortunately, the sensation soon returned to this limb, starting from the shoulder down to the fingers. It felt like millions of ants crawling under his skin, nibbling at his nerves. The limb that had been drained white from the loss of blood was now returning to its usual pink complexion. Furthermore, the exposed skin of his injury could be seen to be slowly healing.

Yet, Qin Yun couldn’t help but frown at how slow it all was. Ever since he had used up all his remaining Innate Qi, he had been unable to maintain the swirling vortex of energy within his core. As such, his miraculous regeneration had slowed down considerably. All he could rely on was his natural fortitude.

Qin Yun was now slightly angered. He had tried to be reasonable, yet his opponent insisted on escalating this. Although he knew that Liao Cheng still went easy on him, as he, too, didn't wish for outside interference, Qin Yun had had enough of being thrown around, only able to dodge.

He stopped backing away, choosing to stand his ground. His expression grew stern as he braced his legs, digging his feet into the wooden floor before clenching his fist. While he could have laced this strike with intent, Qin Yun only relied on pure physical strength. After all, trump cards weren't meant to be used at the start.

As the dark vortex grew closer, Qin Yun unleashed his strike, aiming straight at the centre of this mysterious light disc. The air in front of his fist collapsed as his fist pierced through, producing a loud explosion that propelled most of the furniture outward from the blast.

A slight smile crept on Qin Yun’s lips as he noticed runes light up around the room, creating a bubble, isolating them from the outside world. However, as Qin Yun’s strike met the incoming vortex, a secondary explosion occurred, propelling even more waves of wind, overwhelming what the runes could withstand. They pulsed with energy, attempting to quell this tempest, yet it seemed futile.

As the two entities collided, a hurricane formed in the middle of the room. The vortex tried its best to swallow the impact, yet it couldn't do much against the pure force ramming into it. After all, this vortex's primary function was to swallow Qi. As Qin Yun didn't use any, it could only show a fraction of its true power.

Still, the vortex could disperse most of the impact when the light disc sought to encroach on Qin Yun's flesh, rendering it apart. Knowing this, Qin Yun quickly retracted his fist merely an instant before it was ripped apart by the light. Still, Qin Yun wouldn't stop there. He had been slightly agitated by Liao Cheng's belligerent attitude and sought some payback.

Just as Liao Cheng was reeling from the earlier clash, feeling the reverberation of this impact in his bones, Qin Yun clenched his fist once more, this time pouring even more of his strength into it. His muscles bulged slightly as they contracted, storing even more force. Then, they recoiled like springs, driving his fist forward, ripping through the atmosphere.

Space was slightly distorted as the mass of flesh ripped through it at an insane speed. Liao Cheng's eyes widened as he desperately poured much more Qi into the vortex, prompting it to grow twice its original size. Even then, it was barely enough to stop the impact from ripping through the vortex.

However, this time, Qin Yun didn't draw his arm back. In fact, he pushed further on the ground, driving himself forward. Runes of light appeared on the floor, pulsing with energy as they resisted the force of Qin Yun's feet digging into it. Nevertheless, all it achieved was to drive further force behind Qin Yun’s blow.

His fist dug deep into the vortex’s dark core as the ring of light ripped into his flesh, carving deep groves into his skin. Blood flew everywhere around the room as a thin red mist hung slightly in the air before dropping to the floor.

Yet, Qin Yun’s expression was serene even as pain assaulted his nerves. There was no contorted grimace, only his clear gaze fixed on his opponent, making his resolve clear. After all, this was only an arm, not even the first one he had lost this week.

Liao Cheng was slightly unnerved by this display of indifference to bodily harm. While limbs could be regrown without much difficulty, the pain was real. Not many could endure the agony of a limb being ripped apart by this vortex without showing any signs on their faces.

As such, Liao Cheng's determination faltered, and this was enough to ensure which one would emerge victorious in this clash. Still, Liao Cheng quickly weighed his options and chose the best course of action to offer the minimum repercussions.

He jumped backwards, lessening the opposition he offered to Qin Yun's strike. As such, Qin Yun's fist dove further in. Liao Cheng retracted the power he had imbued into the vortex while extracting his hand from it.

The vortex hovered in place momentarily before vanishing. Still, it remained for just enough time to reach Qin Yun's shoulder. The lingering power ripped the remainder of Qin Yun's sleeve before leaving lacerations up his upper arm. Yet, Qin Yun never stopped. His fist was still on a collision course with Liao Cheng.

Knowing this, Liao Cheng only had a single moment to enact his contingency plan. As the first reached for his core, Liao Cheng dug an item out of his clothes and brought it to meet the incoming fist. It was a small sphere with clouds spinning around its surface. Qin Yun's eyes widened at the sight, yet he didn't stop his strike.

Finally, the two collided.