The air at the peak of the tower felt as though it had been replaced by molten lead. Every passing second was a heavy, suffocating weight that threatened to crush the lungs.
Duke Mordent's shadowed eyes remained fixed on Gu Hanzhou, his right index finger hovering like a guillotine blade over the detonation button. In his mind, this trapped beast had finally bowed its proud head. As long as he secured that one-third of the Origin Royal Blood, he could transcend the limitations of his decaying mortal shell and step into the eternal realm of his dreams.
"Kneel. Swear your soul to the Order, and offer up your blood," Mordent commanded, his voice trembling with a twisted, manic excitement.
Gu Hanzhou's legs shook slightly, as if he were truly about to buckle under the sheer atmospheric pressure of a "Blood-Settlement" expert. But behind him, tucked in the shadow of the stone pillar, Su Qingyue's violet eyes were undergoing a terrifying transformation.
Deep within her pupils, thousands of microscopic violet capillaries wove themselves into a complex, shifting geometric pattern—the forbidden ocular technique of the Primal Blood: [The Eye of True Vision].
This technique didn't just drain energy; it burned her very life essence. But in this critical moment, the Duke's formidable "Blood-Settlement" body—a fortress of grey energy—was stripped bare in her sight. To her, he was no longer a man, but a map of pulsating meridians and mechanical flaws.
"Gu Hanzhou... three inches below his left ribs!"
Su Qingyue's voice was a needle of sound, transmitted directly into Gu Hanzhou's mind via a Primal Blood frequency. "That is the node for his 'Sin-Washing' circulation pump! His body should have rotted away thirty years ago; he is only alive because of that micro-mechanical heart and a constant flow of chemical stabilizers!"
"That is the vent for all his energy, and the weakest point in his 'Dead-Zone' domain rules. You have only one chance. Smash it, and his neural reflexes will be paralyzed for exactly 0.5 seconds!"
Gu Hanzhou's eyelids lowered, hiding the sudden, lethal spark of gold that ignited in his gaze.
Three meters.
This was the red line of death Mordent had drawn, but it was also the exact distance Gu Hanzhou had been measuring for his final kill-strike.
"What are you waiting for?" Mordent sensed a shift in the atmosphere. His patience snapped, and his finger began to press down with savage intent. "KNEEL!"
"What I was waiting for..." Gu Hanzhou's voice was no longer a rasp. It was as heavy and decisive as a hammer hitting an anvil. "...was the moment you showed your flaw."
[Ancient Court Technique · Phantom Glimmer]!
Gu Hanzhou did not draw his blade. The motion of unsheathing was too large, too telegraphed—it would give Mordent the millisecond he needed to click the button.
Instead, he transformed into a streak of dark-gold lightning. He didn't lunge in a straight line; guided by the fragmented "Spatial Trace" he had carved on his hilt, his body performed a minute, physics-defying horizontal shift in mid-air.
"You dare!" Mordent roared, his thumb slamming down on the trigger.
But in that heartbeat, Su Qingyue moved.
She overthrew every ounce of her remaining Primal Blood, her slender hands slamming together in a prayer-like gesture. In the void between them, a bolt of violet blood-energy pierced through the lingering green mist, striking with surgical precision into Mordent's left ribs.
Pfft—!
The blood-bolt lacked raw destructive power, but its purity acted like a block of ice thrown into boiling oil. It caused a violent rejection reaction within the Duke's stabilized chemical systems.
Mordent's body seized up. The neural signal intended for his thumb was intercepted and shattered by the sudden systemic shock.
0.5 seconds.
To an ordinary man, it was a blink. For Gu Hanzhou, it was an eternity to bridge the gap between life and death.
Gu Hanzhou materialized in front of Mordent. He didn't go for the remote—instead, his left hand clamped onto Mordent's wrist like an iron vice. He drove his thumb into the Duke's pressure point, systematically crushing the bones of his hand, joint by joint.
CRACK!
"ARGH—!!"
Mordent let out a piercing shriek of agony. The remote slipped from his shattered fingers, falling straight into Gu Hanzhou's waiting right hand.
"You... you mongrel..."
Mordent's eyes were bloodshot with rage. He frantically channeled his grey "Blood-Settlement" energy, manifesting it into hundreds of obsidian spikes that erupted from his pores. He intended to turn the youth in front of him into a pincushion at point-blank range.
There was no room to dodge such a localized explosion of power.
"Since you want it so badly, take it all."
Gu Hanzhou didn't retreat. Instead, he opened his arms, allowing the grey spikes to pierce through his shoulders and chest. At the same moment, the dark-gold Order-Rune on his chest flared with a blinding intensity, looking like a miniature sun rising from the depths of the earth.
[Dark Order · Reverse Surge]!
Gu Hanzhou didn't just endure the Duke's power—he hijacked it. He allowed his Royal Blood to surge into Mordent's wounds, flowing upstream against the Duke's own circulation.
Royal Blood against ordinary Order Blood was not a battle; it was a decree. It was the natural dominance of a King over a peasant.
Mordent felt a tyrannical, arrogant, and utterly destructive energy flood his veins. His withered body, held together by chemicals and sheer willpower, could not contain the high-spec energy of the Ancient Court. His skin began to peel and crack like ancient porcelain.
"No... my power... my legacy..."
Black blood leaked from Mordent's eyes. He looked into Gu Hanzhou's golden pupils and saw more than a boy—he saw a terrifying, nameless shadow of an Emperor who had looked down upon the world three thousand years ago.
Gu Hanzhou delivered a brutal kick to the Duke's chest, sending him skidding across the floor to the edge of the shattered window.
He looked down at the remote, his fingers moving with lightning speed. Under Su Qingyue's telepathic guidance, he punched in the green "Deactivate" sequence.
Beep—
Beside the stone pillar, the purple glow on Gu Qingshan's spine flickered twice before dying out completely. The Biological Lock that had tormented him for three years dissolved into a foul-smelling slurry of slag and melted plastic.
Gu Hanzhou spat out a mouthful of blood, his golden aura dimming rapidly as he entered a state of near-total collapse.
Yet, he forced himself to stay upright. He walked, step by staggering step, toward Mordent, who was curled in the corner like a defeated cur.
"Duke Mordent. The trade is over."
Gu Hanzhou's hand gripped the hilt of [Black Order]. The sound of the blade slowly sliding from its sheath was the only noise in the deathly silent room—a cold, metallic rasp that signaled the end.
"Now... let's talk about my personal debts."