Just before the red sword blade sliced through, Bai Zhongqi narrowly managed to send Xu Lanzhou back to the Third Universe. In the next second, this space, cleaved freshly from the Third Universe, completely fell into the Void.
The beings most panicked and despairing on the scene must have been the Spiral Mosquito people. They originally harbored a dream of conquering the Snow Dragon Galaxy, but then they unexpectedly encountered their sworn enemies, the Iridium Star people. Subsequently, the Iridium Star people continuously devoured their planets with strange methods, and in the final decisive battle, something so irregular occurred—the entire space containing the planet was excised like a tumor during surgery.
What was worse, this space had already become extremely unstable, with the Void constantly invading and erasing the existence of the original matter.
The Void was an enemy people couldn't resist, regardless of how the struggling Spiral Mosquito warships tried to bombard the Void with firepower, the Void eventually swallowed everything.
At that moment, Bai Zhongqi sized up the individual before him. He was holding a giant sword at least two meters long, radiating red light, and had ancient, mysterious runes on its blade. But this person didn't look like any kind of villain, he was from the Primate Clan, or at least he seemed to be. He had a pair of emerald green eyes and appeared very tranquil.
The sword-wielding young man was dressed in a dark red double-breasted hooded coat, standing unprotected in the cosmic space.
Undoubtedly, he was a Star Warrior, and at least a high-level Star Warrior.
Bai Zhongqi asked, "Who are you?"
The sword-wielding young man was silent for two seconds, then the serene look on his face, suffused with a hint of smugness, didn't seem to make him unlikeable at all.
"Are you trying to stall for time to see if I am afraid of the Void?"
Bai Zhongqi raised his eyebrows and asked, "Aren't you afraid? You're not from the Elder Race."
When the young man heard the words 'Elder Race', anger seemed to rise within him. His giant sword pointing at Bai Zhongqi, he said, "Cursed breed, don't try to exonerate yourself with your own fabricated terms, you are the sinners who disrupt the universal balance and hinder worldly peace, and you should be completely erased."
Bai Zhongqi looked at him, a bit surprised, "You know about the Elder Race, but you're not afraid, and it seems like you have a deep grudge against them. I'm really curious about who you are now."
The young man's emerald eyes suddenly radiated a holy light, leaning on his giant sword, his face lifting slightly as if he were basking in an invisible Holy Light.
"Listen well, sinner. I am Yongxi, a believer of the Universe's true god and a Pilgrim, dedicated to guarding the true order and balance of countless universes, and also the executioner who will eliminate you sinners," he said.
Bai Zhongqi felt that there was quite a lot of information in this statement. Knowing this guy was dangerous, he couldn't help but ask, "A Pilgrim? What is that? The things you are talking about seem a bit grand, doesn't the universe run in its own way? What capacity do we beings have to understand that level?"
"Impudence! The greatness of the Pilgrims is not for you to defile," he retorted.
Yongxi felt he had already wasted too much time talking with this target. He was here to kill, not to chitchat.
As they spoke, the space of material existence was becoming smaller and smaller, with the Void about to devour everything. Bai Zhongqi still didn't see any signs of fear or urgency on Yongxi's face. His expression grew slightly stern as he wondered, "Could these Pilgrims also survive in the Void?"
Yongxi revealed a mild smile, like a scheming child, "The lid of the fish tank has been closed, sinner, and this fish tank is your grave, little fish."
When the last bit of material space had vanished, Bai Zhongqi didn't see the all-encompassing void he had expected. Instead, he felt himself suddenly pulled by a force, thrust directly into a new material world.
The moment he entered this material world, his face drastically changed.
"Where is this? This is not a real world!"
He stood in space, looking at a blue planet nearly identical to Earth, his birthplace. However, the world that encompassed this "Earth" and "Moon" seemed like a canvas, so illusory it was terrifying.
Bai Zhongqi didn't need to try it himself to feel that if one left Earth and continued onward, the navigator would find that the celestial bodies' redshift wouldn't proportionally correlate with distance, but instead would show extremely disordered patterns. This was simply because, apart from a few celestial bodies, the entire "universe" was not a real universe at all. The specks of light were painted on the canvas, false images, and this world held only one "Earth" that harbored true life.
Here, Bai Zhongqi couldn't open a wormhole or cross dimensions into the void. His greatest reliance as a member of the Elder Race, as well as his last means of escaping danger, was rendered useless in this false world.
Bai Zhongqi's expression was stern, his eyes fixated on Yongxi as he asked, "Was the Spiral Mosquito a trap set by one of your Pilgrims for me?"
"Exactly, that's right. It was my senior brother who took the fleeing Spiral Mosquito from your First Universe and my master who devised this trap to kill you," Yongxi replied with great pride. He had always been dissatisfied with the rampant sins, and recently, the Pilgrims had begun to take the initiative, frequently employing similar tactics to assassinate the sinful, with remarkable results.
Bai Zhongqi, quick-witted, asked, "The Elders of our race who died under unclear circumstances before, it was all your doing, right?"
"Wow, you're also not dumb."
Yongxi felt like he might have said too much, he raised his red giant sword and said, "Now, please go die, sinner."
Although he wasn't as strong as some of his fellow disciples, Yongxi was still formidable. He knew that most sinners were overly cautious, afraid of death, and not skilled in combat, so if a Pilgrim engaged them in close combat, the sinner was undoubtedly doomed.
Bai Zhongqi watched as the huge red sword slashed towards him, and he quickly gauged Yongxi's strength. This young man was a High-Level Star Warrior, but the giant sword in his hands was exceedingly dangerous, equating to a Star Warrior master wielding it.
Bai Zhongqi immediately used Instant Flash, but to his surprise, the red giant sword's light followed, flying over as he flashed.
Bai Zhongqi violently activated his Insect Emperor's Hand, a pale blue light burst forth, forming a light shield that blocked the fierce strike of the red giant sword.
This strike was tremendously powerful and carried a terror beyond ordinary technology.
Yongxi was even more surprised than Bai Zhongqi; this sword strike was comparable to the Ship-Slicing Saber's heavy blow, yet Bai Zhongqi had blocked it with just a bit of effort.
Yongxi calmed down, his expression losing its previous calm and gentleness.
The sinner before him seemed much stronger than the typical run-of-the-mill sinners.
"No wonder he's the number one target. If not eliminated, he would indeed pose a great threat to the Pilgrims in the future."