Chapter 1 The Su Lun's Confusion

Su Lun knew that Mirror Teacher would arrive at Cursed Valley soon, so naturally, he wasn't in a hurry to leave.

But right now, while he still remembered the bizarre situation that puzzled him, he asked Mirror Teacher directly.

"Shijie, I'm encountering a problem that's confusing me..."

Su Lun explained what he had encountered and the words recorded in his notes.

After listening, a response came from the other end of the communicator, "You mean to say that you saw some 'special existence,' but you forget Him?"

Su Lun: "Yes."

Mirror Teacher: "From your description, it sounds a bit like the ability to control time. There's a god-tier talent related to time, [s-005-Time Messenger]. You saw that sculpture with the '✹' symbol in the basement of Stormwind Manor, a very powerful Great Alchemist who once appeared in the Dawn Era. I'm reminded of some secrets my father once mentioned... Hmm... hard to say. That 'existence' is either beyond your comprehension, or He doesn't want you to remember Him. This situation usually involves some high-level cause and effect..."

Su Lun was a bit bewildered. He felt uneasy not understanding it clearly.

He pressed, "Ah? Then what is it exactly?"

Mirror Teacher obviously knew something, but she didn't explain it, responding, "You don't need to ask too much; even if you do, you'll still forget. If He doesn't want you to be aware of His existence, there's no need to delve into it. When the time comes, you might remember it yourself. But it shouldn't be a bad thing."

"I see..."

Su Lun felt relieved upon hearing this.

His Shijie was one of the most erudite people in this group.

If she said so, then the problem was naturally not significant.

Even if there really was a problem, it would be futile to think about it further.

After all, logically speaking, if Su Lun had stayed in that "time anomaly" for more than a day, his lifespan should have decreased by more than a decade.

But it didn't seem to be the case.

Although there was no lifespan value on the data panel, he analyzed some data on metabolism and judged that his body shouldn't have changed that much.

Su Lun guessed that it was probably related to that "existence" Mirror Teacher mentioned.

But without a threat, the truth of the matter wasn't so urgent to know.

.......

The battle in the Hall of Valor was becoming more and more intense. In this closed underground space, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that mountains were collapsing and the earth was splitting.

Su Lun and Yuta didn't dare to approach at all.

Even the Black Crow, who went to watch the battle, was killed several times by the aftershocks of the fight.

As the Royal Legion Commander, Barrett's strength was indeed astonishing.

Although Su Lun had met him before, they were always on the run, and that guy hadn't even displayed ten percent of his strength.

Now, he was truly seeing the "Imperial Beast" flex his muscles.

Su Lun saw various top-notch fighting techniques on Barrett.

No wonder he was the Royal Legion Commander. The solid foundation of every punch and kick was something Su Lun had never seen anyone else compare to.

At this moment, Barrett was obviously at full power.

This guy's second-stage talent, [Ape], and his job and a series of alchemical implants were all in the direction of strength growth. His strength had reached a level that low-level professionals found unbelievable.

He didn't need armor at all; his steel-forged muscles were the best defense!

His body surface and fists were surrounded by a layer of milky-white aura. Every punch caused the space to distort, giving people a domineering and unparalleled feeling.

But technique was one thing; what Su Lun couldn't understand even more was his aura that seemed to be able to split mountains and shatter ground, a hazy feeling.

"Is that the 'qi' that Shijie said needs to be nurtured?"

Su Lun thought to himself, looking thoughtful.

Fifth-tier professionals weren't too few in this world, but those who could advance to the sixth tier were as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.

This was because this tier had a very high "threshold."

Su Lun had the [Death Harvester] talent. After killing a few more fifth-tier professionals and stripping their Law insights, he could almost advance to the fifth tier without any threshold.

But to advance to the sixth tier, no matter how powerful the Dark Spirit power or how perfect the Law, it was impossible to advance without one condition.

That was "qi."

Su Lun still remembered what Mirror Teacher said: Without nurturing the will, it's like a person without bones; even with a body full of techniques, one's achievements will ultimately be limited.

The reason why sixth-tier professionals were so ridiculously strong was directly related to this threshold.

Seeing the "resolute qi" on Barrett's body, Su Lun narrowed his eyes, vaguely feeling that he had realized something.

.......

The pace of the battle was fast.

Waves of violent surges exploded in the air.

Barrett's moves were wide open, and he could shatter boulders weighing several tons with one punch.

Although Su Lun couldn't quite understand those moves that contained sixth-tier Laws, he couldn't understand the other one at all.

Yeger, covered in red lines, had too bizarre methods. Even if his limbs were blown apart, he could instantly recover with the help of those red lines.

The spells that guy used weren't alchemical, but divine.

Su Lun was completely confused.

Yuta, who was sensing with her eyes closed, perceived the root cause and suddenly opened her eyes, saying, "That guy is borrowing the power of an evil god, drawing vitality from the surroundings to replenish himself, thereby achieving an immortal body."

"Immortal body?"

Su Lun frowned upon hearing this.

Looking at it this way, Barrett would inevitably be defeated if they continued to drag on.

Obviously, Barrett, a veteran who had been through many battles, also realized this.

He knew that he had to make a quick decision.

Even an immortal body had a critical point; once that point was broken, it would be impossible to recover.

Barrett, such an experienced veteran, understood this.

At this moment, the stalemated situation suddenly changed.

Su Lun's eyes reflected the battle scene in the Hall of Valor. He saw something and muttered, "Is he going to risk his life..."

Barrett finally completed his qi accumulation!

"Flesh Alchemy - Open!"

He roared, his voice like a bell, echoing in the tunnel.

After this roar, his aura suddenly soared several levels, and steaming white gas rose from his body.

Barrett didn't stop. His hands quickly formed a warlock seal, and his whole person's aura suddenly became murderous. He solidified the warlock seal with both hands, raised it forward, and roared again, "Profound Meaning of Strength - Ten Directions Savage Beast Imprisonment!"

As soon as this secret technique came out, a fierce aura enveloped the entire arena.

Ten savage apes of white gas suddenly condensed in the space of the Hall of Valor.

The ten apes joined hands to form hammers, forming a combined attack that surrounded Yeger on the spot.

Although the movements weren't fast, the oppressive force of that Law of Strength seemed to have solidified the space, suppressing everything so that it couldn't move.

Even the Black Crow, who was watching the battle from far outside the force field, was almost crushed.

Seeing this scene, Su Lun saw some of the roots and thought, "A secret technique for a short burst of qi? For this kind of pure strength-based profession, body strength might be more suitable for the [Hormone Overdrive] technique."

His own body strength could only unlock three stages of Hormone Overdrive before facing life-threatening danger. He estimated that this guy's giant body could at least open to six stages. That kind of battle power increase might be even more exaggerated than it was now.

.......

Barrett's aura was raised to the extreme, and Yeger finally changed color.

How could one underestimate this desperate blow?

This kind of Law-level pressure, using strength to overcome all techniques, didn't allow for any other response.

He could only withstand it head-on!

But this guy's Law of Strength was so exaggerated. After accumulating power for so long, even a true seventh-tier professional would have difficulty breaking free, let alone someone who barely had seventh-tier combat power by borrowing external force?

Seeing that he couldn't move, Yeger's face was distorted by the force. But he didn't panic much; instead, his eyes showed a hint of ferocity.

He seemed to have given up resisting, chanting the revered name of an evil god, "Great Lord of Calamity, your devout believer needs you to grant strength..."

The incantation was still being chanted when the savage ape's fist suddenly fell.

"Boom!"

The ten savage apes slammed the ground, and a violent tremor that seemed like an earthquake shook the entire space.

The exaggerated force compressed the space, emitting an explosive sound like thunder.

Barrett's eyes were bloodshot, and the muscles on his body turned from black to pink due to the high temperature, emitting wisps of smoke.

The giant ape he had transformed into hammered down with both hands alternately, and the space being compressed under his fists visibly twisted.

At the same time, the ten savage apes condensed from fighting qi also hammered the space.

I use divine power to shake mountains!

The savage apes hammered with the same rhythm, one hammer, one hammer, one hammer...

The movement was like a landslide.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

The huge underground space trembled violently.

Large amounts of rock fell rapidly, but what was surprising was that when they fell into the force field surrounded by the ten savage apes, they instantly turned into powder.

Su Lun, who was watching the battle, realized that the seemingly invisible air pressure had such terrifying tearing force!

Although Barrett hadn't yet condensed his own domain, this force field also opened Su Lun's eyes.

On the other hand, in the center of that force field, Yeger's elemental barrier had been hammered to collapse, and his windbreaker had also been reduced to powder. This guy's skin had also been torn to shreds, revealing that his body was like a human anatomy chart, with black and red muscle fibers visible. But the strange thing was that these muscle fibers seemed to have come to life, completely turning into wriggling red worms.

With each hammer blow from the giant ape, large patches of Yeger's body would explode into blood mist, and his limbs would explode into minced meat, splattering everywhere.

But in a blink of an eye, the red line worms would restore him to his original state.

The air was filled with a disgusting and bloody stench.

But for a time, he didn't die!

Using a big move naturally came with a price.

Since his opponent hadn't died yet, Barrett was obviously under tremendous pressure. With each hammer blow, scarlet blood would overflow from his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose, and his aura would weaken.

In this moment of stalemate, Yeger probably couldn't withstand the continuous hammering either. The red worms on his body searched for hosts everywhere, invading the ground and spreading into the roots of the trees in the crevices of the rock walls.

If this continued, it was really hard to say who would last until the end.

The most likely outcome was a lose-lose situation.

Su Lun hoped that this would be the best outcome.

But looking at Yeger, even while being beaten, he was still constantly chanting incantations, and he knew that the situation might change.

Sure enough!

The situation, which was originally fifty-fifty, suddenly changed.

......

Alchemists relied on their own hard power, having as much as they had, and at most relying on alchemical curse objects.

But those heretical believers had some special existences behind them, so their combat power couldn't be accurately estimated.

Especially those first-stage believers who could receive responses from the gods.

Sure enough!

Just as Yeger uttered the last incantation from his mouth, a ferocious smile suddenly appeared on his face, which was gushing blood from his mouth and nose, "Hahahaha..."

That rampant smile echoed around, and even Su Lun and Yuta, who were hiding in the tunnel, could hear it clearly.

The laughter gradually subsided.

An indescribable terrifying will suddenly descended here.

Yeger, who had been like a small boat that could capsize at any time in the hammer blow like a tsunami, suddenly changed his aura with the blessing of a mysterious will, and he sneered, "Tsk tsk... Barrett, is this all you've got?"

His voice sounded like it came from the mouth of a hell demon, making people shudder.

At the same time, the Black Crow also "cawed."

Su Lun knew that the warning of impending death had arrived.

He closed his right eye and only used his left eye.

Su Lun knew very well that some existences were not to be looked at directly!

Others might not know what that mysterious will was, and might only feel fear from their instincts.

But Su Lun had experienced such a scene before.

"Damn it, that deep-sea giant is a god-tier..."

Su Lun's face turned ugly.

He had encountered it once in the Dawn City ruins.

But at that time, the Fallen Angel had been schemed against by Sir Isaac for thousands of years, and with Mirror Teacher's various preparations, it didn't cause any trouble.

Now, with this wild god, Su Lun felt a headache.

Although it was only a will descending, it might not have much strength.

But Su Lun knew that this was no longer something he could interfere with.

Seeing this situation, Su Lun's first reaction was to take Yuta away with him.

Unexpectedly, Yuta also sensed the existence of that mysterious will, but she spoke first, her expression extremely serious, "Not good! That guy seems to be absorbing the power of the seal. I must stop Him!"

Before Su Lun could react, Yuta turned to look at him, her eyes filled with tenderness and complex emotions of farewell, "Mr. Su Lun, leave here quickly. I must stop Him!"

Ultimately, she could only choose one of the two.

Without waiting for Su Lun to answer, the red totem on her face suddenly shone brightly, and the colorful light of the Magical Cauldron next to her was dazzling.

Looking again, she had turned into a stream of light and disappeared into the tunnel.

.......

Su Lun looked at Yuta's departing back, his eyes filled with solemnity.

He knew that he couldn't persuade her, so he didn't say anything.

This was the mission of the Dalu Clan druids, and its priority was higher than their own lives. Yuta's belief was very firm, and she would definitely go no matter what.

Su Lun respected her choice.

However, he was also genuinely worried.

Although Su Lun didn't know what Yuta's combat power was now with the holy artifact.

But he knew one thing very clearly: even with external force, if the main body's combat power wasn't strong enough, trying to use too high-level power would come at a very high price.

He had seen in the Dawn Ruins that the Fallen Angel used too much power beyond Raphael's main body, and the price was overdrafting his life.

"If it's just the will descending, then the problem doesn't seem too big..."

Although Su Lun was cautious, he wasn't afraid of death.

After all, he had experienced death twice, and death wasn't so scary in his eyes.

He thought about that Divine Slaughtering Battle in the Dawn City ruins.

At that time, that god-tier had come in person, possessing a second-tier, and the combat power he displayed wasn't too exaggerated.

Now, only a will had come and blessed a sixth-tier person.

Probably... seventh-tier combat power?

If the abilities countered each other, perhaps there would be some opportunities.

Su Lun instantly analyzed a lot of useful information.

Thinking about it, he picked up the communicator and told Mirror Teacher about the situation here, "Shijie, the situation is not good. It seems that a god-tier will has descended..."

After speaking, Mirror Teacher's calm response came from the other side, "Yes, I know."

Su Lun hung up the communicator, took a deep breath, and unhesitatingly drilled into the tunnel towards the Hall of Valor.

.......

When Su Lun arrived, Yuta was already fighting fiercely with Yeger, who was covered in tentacles.

Barrett didn't know when he had lost an arm.

Having returned to his human form, he was covered in blood and slammed heavily into the distance, stuck in the stone wall, his life or death unknown.

Just as Su Lun arrived, he happened to see several soldiers holding the [Nergal's Death Banner] sneaking in from the tunnel in the distance, taking the opportunity to rescue Barrett.

Yeger was currently fighting Yuta fiercely and didn't seem interested in the lives or deaths of a few ants.

As long as they didn't stop him from breaking the seal, everything else seemed unimportant.

Moreover, he was entangled by Yuta, who had suddenly appeared in front of him, and couldn't get away at all.

Yuta was surrounded by a colorful elemental glow, and the holy artifact Magical Cauldron floated around her, providing her with a continuous source of magic power. With a wave of her hand, the wind and clouds surged, and the dazzling spells shone brightly.

On the opposite side, Yeger was full of black and red death qi, and more and more red threads were drawing vitality from the surroundings. The line worms gathered into various forms of tentacles, and wherever they passed, the red and black qi corroded all life.

In the huge Hall of Valor, the red and black calamity qi and the colorful natural forces were fighting against each other.

Neither of them used alchemical spells, and both of them used powers that didn't belong to them, so Su Lun was confused. But he truly felt the exaggerated elemental fluctuations.

"If this continues, Yuta will be in danger..."

Su Lun frowned as he watched.

Looking at the situation, even if Yuta could hold on now, the longer it dragged on, the more Yuta's body would be overdrawn.

Su Lun felt that he should do something.

Whether it worked or not, he always had to try.

However, after observing for a moment, he also discovered that it wasn't completely without a chance.

One good news was that the purpose of the tentacle monster that Yeger had turned into was to break the seal. He used countless red lines to draw vitality, but he also fixed himself there.

With the Black Scythe, perhaps there would be a chance to strike a blow.

Su Lun had been controlling his thoughts and never really thought about killing that guy. Because he knew that even if he had the thought of doing something, enemies of that level would feel it in the dark.

Having the shared vision of the Black Crow would also confuse the opponent's perception of hostility.

Therefore, there was only a moment to strike!

The moment Su Lun had the thought of killing, he didn't hesitate at all. He controlled the zombie next to him and calculated the distance, slashing a knife through the air towards the tentacle monster on the south side of the Hall of Valor.

At the same time, Yeger obviously noticed it immediately. His gaze flashed like lightning towards the tunnel where Su Lun was hiding.

Unfortunately, in order to draw life force, the extension of countless tentacles made his body too large, and his movement and dodging became extremely clumsy.

In addition, Su Lun's decisiveness also gave him a chance to hit this knife.

With a "whoosh," the space crack accurately hit the tentacle monster's torso.

Su Lun's heart trembled, "Hit!"

The space crack directly split Yeger's still humanoid main body in half.

With this kind of injury, a normal person would definitely die on the spot.

But after that knife, countless tentacles connected the two halves of the body.

A mocking smile also appeared on Yeger's face.

He raised his hand, and a flame spear shot towards Su Lun from afar.

The speed of the fire spear was extremely fast, and it pierced the body of "Su Lun" thousands of meters away almost the moment the spear was thrown.

.......

With a "bang," Su Lun's shadow turned into a wooden stake.

This was clearly a manifestation of using [Puppet Substitute].

Looking again, "Su Lun" had already appeared in the Hall of Valor again, making an attacking move.

Yeger didn't hold back and threw another flame spear.

"Su Lun" was pierced again.

However, the figure dissipated.

This time, it was a phantom projection created by [Robert's Monocle].

Then, seven or eight "Su Luns" appeared in various corners.

Yuta also showed a hint of anxiety on her pretty face when she saw Su Lun appear.

Naturally, she couldn't watch Yeger kill Su Lun. Even when he was distracted, several wooden spears pierced over.

The wooden spears and tentacles fought again...

.......

Deep in the tunnel, Su Lun, wearing a monocle, analyzed through the Black Crow's vision, "Immune to physical damage..."

Fortunately, Yuta was dragging the enemy, and he could also make some attempts.

This series of attempts also confirmed that the Black Scythe couldn't kill that immortal Yeger.

That kind of bizarre continuation ability required cutting dozens of knives at the same time to divide that guy into small enough pieces that couldn't be connected, otherwise, he couldn't be killed.

But obviously, Su Lun couldn't do it.

However, the previous probing wasn't completely useless.

"The puppet wasn't discovered in advance, which means that guy can't sense the existence of the threads. The puppet has a lot of controllable space..."

Su Lun's brain was like a high-speed operating computer, quickly analyzing.

Most of his combat power was on the puppet.

But the puppet wasn't completely without flaws.

The source of the threads was on him, so as long as he could sense the existence of the threads, he could lock onto her main body.

Conversely, as long as he couldn't lock onto the existence of his main body, the chances of survival would be very high.

"Moreover, that guy can't distinguish the illusions created by the monocle. If I'm careful, I might be able to find an opportunity..."

Su Lun's thoughts spread out in an instant, analyzing various response plans.

Of course, the biggest advantage was that after a personal test, he determined that the main body of that "heretic" should be very far away, and the projected will could only display seventh-tier strength at most.

With Yuta holding him back, he couldn't spare too much thought to deal with him.

"There's only one last method to try."

Su Lun thought of something, and a fierce light flashed in his eyes.

The tier gap was too large. He found that the Black Scythe couldn't kill that guy, so he thought of the last method.

That was fire coverage.

Time was running out. Without any hesitation, Su Lun took out the Mechanical Armor from the empty storage space.

The Mechanical Armor was controlled by the zombie but didn't have its own will. That Yeger couldn't sense the existence of the threads. In theory, if he was careful, he could catch the enemy off guard.

.......

In the Hall of Valor, the confrontation continued.

Even with the holy artifact continuously supplying magic power, Yuta was gradually falling behind.

Having come into contact with too much power beyond his main body for the first time, she wasn't proficient in using it, and the burden was getting heavier and heavier. She was relying on a fearless will to persevere.

Su Lun quietly touched it with a mecha controller.

The Black Scythe wasn't completely useless. At least when that knife cut, it destroyed the integrity of that guy's body-protecting domain.

The gap in recovery was the opportunity Su Lun was looking for!

Just after the mecha quietly arrived at the designated position, he used the same trick again. The Black Scythe slashed out, and the mecha's six-barreled Vulcan cannons instantly spewed out long fire snakes. It was the special light of various alchemical bullets leaving the chamber.

He had never been willing to use such an extravagant method of fighting before. The ammunition consumption of tens of millions of Lisos per minute was simply not worth using against ordinary enemies. But now, it was just right.

Just as a knife of space cracks cut to the moment you were storing power, the domain integrity was cut open, and the alchemical bullet came one after another like a tide.

The bullets smashed many red threads, looking like a ground of rotten watermelons, the scene was extremely bloody.

Unfortunately, the recovery ability of the blood line worms was too strong.

That mysterious will also had means that Su Lun couldn't understand.

A moment later, Yeger's body was restored to its original state, and the domain was opened again.

The domain that could corrupt all things was shielded in front of him, and even when the bullet hit, it was completely corroded a few meters away from the body surface.

Su Lun sighed slightly when he saw this, "It still doesn't work..."

He could only do so much.

Before he could feel much emotion, he suddenly felt alert and retreated violently.

"Discovered!"

Su Lun didn't hesitate and scurried towards the tunnel behind him.

Just as he was fleeing, countless dense red threads suddenly appeared on the surrounding rock walls.

He realized that Yeger had unknowingly spread the blood line worms to the depths of the tunnel.

That guy couldn't sense Su Lun's position in other ways, so he used this stupidest method.

In an instant, the blood line worms in the tunnel gathered into tentacles and grabbed towards Su Lun.

The tentacles were extremely tough, and it took a lot of energy to cut them off.

After cutting off one stubble, there were countless more.

Su Lun looked solemn and didn't dare to entangle with those threads. He teleported continuously and was almost pulled by those red tentacles several times.

But because he had observed the retreat route in advance, he also avoided the tentacles' encirclement without danger.

After escaping for about a kilometer or two, the red tentacles were no longer so dense.

This had exceeded Yeger's attack range.

Su Lun also stopped.

He was temporarily unharmed.

But looking at the dense tentacle wall in front of him, it also meant that he was completely isolated, and he couldn't get in even if he wanted to.

Yuta inside could only face the enemy alone.

Although he had done everything he could, Su Lun's face wasn't good.

"It will take at least several hours for Mirror Teacher to rush over, and I'm afraid I won't be able to hold on until then. Or should I use explosives to blow up the area here? No, the guy has an immortal body, and the effect of explosives is limited..."

He frowned, considering whether other methods could help, but he was at a loss.

Suddenly, a flash of light and shadow in front of him, and he saw a person wearing a gold-patterned cloak appeared in front of him?

That kind of appearance was very special and very familiar.

Like a flash of mirror light, the person was there.

"Shijie?"

Su Lun thought he was hallucinating and blinked.

But no matter how he tried, he was in the real world.

Looking at the cold and proud pretty face revealed by the opened cloak, who else could it be but Mirror Teacher?