Chapter 25

Not knowing how much time had passed, Ye Cang awoke again from his unconscious state.

"Ugh… my head hurts."

Ye Cang looked around and found that besides himself, there wasn't another soul in Star Mother's space domain.

"Continuing to fight like this will only lead to defeat. After all, the difference in strength is too obvious. If I can't enter the second stage of Zero Domain, defeating Rao will truly be nothing more than a pipe dream..."

As he thought, Ye Cang's consciousness seemed to enter a trance.

Within his wandering consciousness, everything was boundless and ethereal. Countless stars dotted the expanse like flickering candles, spread throughout the universe. Though not as bright as the moonlight, they possessed a clear beauty. Though not as warm as the sunlight, they radiated a gentle brilliance.

Ye Cang wondered, "Where is this? How did I get here?"

As the thought flickered, the countless stars in the sky suddenly shifted!

Countless starlight shards, like a torrential storm, poured into Ye Cang's body.

Before long, the trance faded, and consciousness gradually returned.

Ye Cang opened his eyes, and an indescribable, earth-shattering divine power filled his entire being.

Accompanied by the surge of power, Ye Cang roared!

"Domain Read!"

*pu…*

Within the space, everything was silent. Nothing and no one had changed in the slightest.

"It didn't succeed? Could it be that I still haven't grasped the second stage of Zero Domain? Oh! That's right, I'm in my normal state right now."

"Perhaps, I can only transform into the second stage after entering the first stage."

"Hyperdimensional Zero Domain - Star Scar!"

After entering the first stage, Ye Cang unleashed his transformation again, "Hyperdimensional Domain - Domain Read!"

*Whoosh!*

Instantly, starlight points slowly rising around Ye Cang surged and enveloped him like a storm.

A few seconds later, the starlight surrounding Ye Cang completely dissipated.

He had succeeded! Ye Cang had successfully entered the second stage of Zero Domain.

Ye Cang's hair had now turned silver-white, and his body slowly emanated a silver-white mist.

Just then, Star Mother suddenly appeared, exclaiming joyfully, "Ye Cang! You've succeeded! You've succeeded!"

On the opposite side of Ye Cang, Rao appeared once more.

Ye Cang stared at the simulated Rao, took two steps forward, and said, "Although I still don't know what unique ability the second stage of Zero Domain has given me, this time, no matter what, I, Ye Cang, will defeat you! Rao!"

*Swoosh!* The wind swept by!

Ye Cang once again unleashed one of his ultimate techniques, Reverse Scale.

A super high-level reverse spinning kick aimed at Rao's head, kicking out with all his might!

Rao still wore an expression that said, 'I am invincible, do as you please.'

Just as Rao clenched his fist, about to strike,

Rao's entire body instantly faded into a grayscale painting.

The grayscale Rao was motionless at this moment, as if he had been frozen in time.

*Bang!*

Ye Cang's Reverse Scale kick finally landed perfectly on the simulated Rao during his third challenge!

Ye Cang was also bewildered. He didn't know why Rao's entire body would fade into a grayscale picture the moment he was about to clench his fist and counterattack.

Driven by surging battle intent, Ye Cang used the inertial force of his spinning reverse kick to deliver a turning back kick.

*Bang!*

Rao was hit again, his body immediately sent flying five or six meters away.

Just as Rao landed after being knocked back, the Rao who resembled a grayscale painting, returned to his original color.

Star Mother exclaimed, "It's Time Freeze! Ye Cang, your exclusive ability in the second stage is Time Freeze. You can put your opponent into their own Time Freeze state at any time, any moment."

"Rao's entire body fading into grayscale just now was the result of the Time Freeze effect."

Ye Cang's battle intent soared, and he attacked Rao once more.

However, this time, Ye Cang's second stage Domain Read power didn't activate, and he didn't freeze Rao in time.

*Bang!*

Rao's right hook exploded into Ye Cang's abdomen.

Ye Cang suffered a heavy blow to the abdomen, and immediately curled up his legs, his body floated into the air, his hands tightly clutching his abdomen as he knelt on the ground.

Before Ye Cang could recover his battle stance, Rao grabbed Ye Cang's head again, and just as a haymaker was about to smash into Ye Cang's face,

Suddenly! Rao's body faded once more into a grayscale painting.

Ye Cang scrambled backward, quickly putting a safe distance between himself and Rao. He thought, "Rao has once again been frozen by my second stage Domain Read power."

"If that's the case, then Time Freeze must have a period of time-lapse. That is to say, after each use of Time Freeze, my second stage Domain Read power will enter a brief cooldown period. During this period, the Domain Read power cannot be activated again to freeze time."

The grayscale Rao reverted back after a total of three seconds.

Ye Cang thought, "Time Freeze can freeze an opponent for about three seconds. During this time, the opponent's body will fade into grayscale. After the three seconds of frozen time, the opponent will return to their previous state."

"So, the ability to control time has already been discovered by me. Next, I need to figure out how long the cooldown time for Domain Read's Time Freeze is."

Ye Cang was very cautious, waiting for 10 seconds. He once again used his consciousness to activate Time Freeze on Rao.

This time, the Domain Read power successfully activated Time Freeze. After the three seconds of frozen time, Ye Cang waited eight seconds, then activated Time Freeze again, and the simulated Rao was once again frozen in time.

The simulated Rao thought, "Damn it! This old man is too miserable. I'm just a supporting character in a simulation, did you have to play with me like this! Sigh! Being a supporting character isn't easy these days..."

The final result was that Ye Cang's second stage, which was Domain Read, controlled the opponent's time for three seconds after activating Time Freeze, and the skill cooldown time was also three seconds.

In other words, whenever Ye Cang activates Domain Read, the opponent will be frozen in time.

After the frozen control time ends, Ye Cang needs to wait three seconds before he can activate it again.

After figuring this out, Ye Cang said, "Star Mother, now I can leave here."

Star Mother calmly asked, "Weren't you going to leave only after defeating Rao?"

Ye Cang smiled, then his gaze sharpened again. He said, "I'm not interested in the simulated Rao. The person I want to defeat is the real Rao!"

Star Mother waved her hand... and Ye Cang appeared outside the Gold Light Mercenary Group's base.

Walking into the base, he found it empty.

Ye Cang thought, "They probably all went to participate in the King of Fighters tournament. Oh well, I'll take a shower first, cool off, and then have a good night's sleep."

The mortal realm… nightfall…

People are always weary… and starlight always has a place to return.