The moment the tile fragment struck the centipede’s head, the creature did not even understand what had happened.

Its enormous body, which had just emerged victorious from a massacre involving hundreds of mutated insects, suddenly convulsed violently.

Its metallic black shell trembled.

Its countless legs spasmed.

The monster writhed across the ground in agony.

A deep screech erupted from its mouth.

The sound was sharp enough to make ordinary people cover their ears.

Yet Clayne merely narrowed his eyes.

"Tough bastard."

He had expected the first strike to kill it instantly.

After all, even without empowering the projectile through the Tiny World, his current strength was no longer comparable to before.

Ordinary zombies had their heads blown apart effortlessly.

Even the strange climbing undead from before could not withstand several attacks.

Yet this centipede had survived.

Not only survived.

It was still struggling.

Immediately, Clayne flicked another fragment.

Then another.

Then another.

The projectiles streaked through the air one after another.

Small explosions erupted around the creature’s head.

Chunks of shell flew everywhere.

Dark blood splattered across the ground.

The centipede desperately tried retreating.

Unfortunately for it, the moment Clayne decided something should die, escaping was almost impossible.

More fragments flew.

More impacts landed.

Finally, after enduring several direct hits, the creature’s head exploded.

Its massive body twitched violently.

Then slowly became still.

Silence returned.

Clayne immediately noticed something strange.

There was a faint yellow-green glow inside the remains.

His eyes narrowed.

"What is that?"

Curiosity immediately rose.

Without hesitation, he climbed onto the window frame.

Then he stretched his body outward.

His feet remained inside while his upper body leaned outside.

Unfortunately...

CRACK!

The concrete beneath him gave way.

The frame shattered.

Clayne immediately lost balance.

For a split second he thought he was about to fall.

Then—

BOOM!

He landed on the ground.

The impact cracked the pavement.

Dust exploded outward.

Small fragments of concrete scattered in every direction.

Clayne froze.

Then looked down.

Then looked at himself.

Then looked at the crater.

"What?"

He blinked several times.

Nothing hurt.

Not even a little.

His legs felt perfectly fine.

His bones felt perfectly fine.

His body felt perfectly fine.

It was as though he had merely jumped from a small chair.

Meanwhile, Clayne’s mind immediately began racing.

A crazy idea appeared.

Without hesitation, he walked toward the building.

Then crouched slightly.

Then jumped.

WHOOSH!

His body shot upward.

His hands grabbed the second-floor window frame effortlessly.

Then he climbed.

Then jumped again.

Then climbed again.

Like some strange mixture of a monkey and a martial arts movie protagonist.

Within moments he had already reached the third floor.

Then the fourth.

Then he climbed down.

Then climbed up again.

Then climbed down again.

Then climbed up once more.

The more he tested it, the more shocked he became.

"Oh shit!"

"This is real!"

"Holy shit!"

"I can actually do this!"

Clayne laughed loudly.

For several minutes, he continued climbing.

Jumping.

Testing.

Experimenting.

Eventually, he finally calmed down.

Cultivators truly were ridiculous.

No wonder the disciples inside the Tiny World could fly around on swords.

Compared to them, he was still only at the beginning.

His excitement slowly settled.

Then his attention returned toward the corpse.

The yellow-green glow still remained.

Carefully approaching, Clayne wrapped several layers of cloth around his hand.

He had learned enough from the apocalypse already.

Blindly touching strange things was a good way to die.

The last thing he wanted was some weird infection.

Or parasite.

Or radioactive mutation.

Or whatever nonsense this apocalypse could produce.

Carefully, he picked it up.

It was a crystal.

Slightly larger than the undead crystals he had seen before.

The color was different.

The texture was different.

Even the energy inside felt different.

"This isn’t an undead crystal..."

Clayne muttered.

The crystal seemed more alive somehow.

As if it had been condensed from evolution itself.

After storing it carefully, he glanced toward the endless insect hordes outside the formation.

Immediately, his good mood lessened.

The situation was still bad.

Very bad.

The food supplies would not last forever.

Many resources had already been ruined during the heavenly tribulations inside the Tiny World.

Several things he had experimented on had simply been burned into nothing.

Which meant he could not endlessly rely on random luck.

Sooner or later he would need more supplies.

More food.

More resources.

More information.

For now, however, he pushed those thoughts aside.

Using the wall, he effortlessly climbed back toward the fourth floor.

His movements had become incredibly smooth.

Soon he returned inside.

Then his gaze landed on the Tiny World.

Immediately, curiosity rose.

What were those little cultivators doing now?

...

Meanwhile, inside the Tiny World, the atmosphere had become tense.

Extremely tense.

Far beyond anything the ordinary disciples of the Silent Sword Sect could imagine.

Throughout the cultivation world, numerous major powers had begun paying attention to the forbidden Silent River Hill.

The mysterious deity had appeared multiple times.

Countless experts had died.

Heavenly treasures had emerged.

Entire armies had vanished.

Nobody could ignore such a phenomenon.

Within a floating conference platform suspended above the clouds, representatives from numerous major powers had gathered.

Soul Transformation cultivators.

Peak Nascent Soul cultivators.

Ancient elders.

Sect masters.

Patriarchs.

Every single individual possessed enough strength to dominate entire regions.

Yet even they looked cautious.

At the center stood representatives from the two strongest factions.

The Heaven Cleaving Sect. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

And the Nether Corpse Sect.

The atmosphere was heavy.

A skeletal elder from the Nether Corpse Sect slowly opened his eyes.

His pupils glowed with eerie green flames.

"The forbidden region should be destroyed."

His voice echoed throughout the gathering.

Immediately, numerous cultivators turned toward him.

The elder continued.

"We have already lost countless experts."

"We have already lost countless disciples."

"We know that thing exists."

"We know that thing can kill us."

"And yet we continue allowing it to remain there."

His expression darkened.

"What if it escapes?"

"What if one day it truly descends into our cultivation world?"

The surrounding cultivators immediately became uneasy.

Because everyone had thought about the same possibility.

The giant.

The terrifying faceless giant.

The being that could erase armies with a single movement.

If such an existence entered the cultivation world...

What would happen?

Several sects might disappear overnight.

Several continents might become wastelands.

The thought alone made many experts shudder.

Meanwhile, a white-robed Soul Transformation elder from the Heaven Cleaving Sect shook his head.

"You are too impatient."

The skeletal elder frowned.

The Heaven Cleaving Sect elder continued calmly.

"Have you forgotten something?"

"The giant has appeared many times."

"It has destroyed many things."

"It has taken many treasures."

"But have you ever seen it leave Silent River Hill?"

The gathering became silent.

The elder slowly stroked his beard.

"Furthermore..."

"The giant cannot completely destroy Nascent Souls."

This statement immediately attracted attention.

Several cultivators nodded.

Because it was true.

Many Nascent Soul cultivators had died physically.

Yet their Nascent Souls remained.

The giant possessed overwhelming destructive power.

But its methods seemed strangely incomplete.

The elder narrowed his eyes.

"If we destroy the forbidden region recklessly..."

"And if that action somehow releases the giant..."

"Then who will bear responsibility?"

Nobody answered.

Because nobody wanted that responsibility.

The skeletal elder fell silent.

Even he could not guarantee anything.

The discussion continued.

Arguments erupted.

Plans were proposed.

Warnings were exchanged.

Yet none of them noticed something.

Above them.

Far above them.

Beyond the clouds.

Beyond the sky.

Beyond their understanding.

An enormous shadow briefly appeared.

Everyone immediately sensed something.

Their expressions changed.

Yet nobody dared approach the boundary.

Nobody dared look directly upward.

Because they remembered.

Every cultivator who had drawn too much attention before...

Had disappeared.

Meanwhile, beyond that boundary, Clayne simply stared into the Tiny World with curiosity.

Completely unaware that countless powerful cultivators were discussing him.

Completely unaware that entire sects now feared him.

Completely unaware that experts across the cultivation world had begun calling him...

The Deity of Silent River Hill.