The Lord of Time raised a hand and placed it on his chest, smoothing over the stab wound. He brushed the bloodstains from his clothes. "The years are long, endless. I have long forgotten how to fight. Now is good. Let me recall the glorious times of the past."
He Li flicked the knife in his hand and couldn't help but sneer. "Old man, if you want to fight, then fight. Why the grand pronouncements now? It's disgusting."
"If we had lived in peace, this confrontation would not have happened today. You have sent Time Envoys to suppress me with Time Edicts multiple times. Do you really think I am easy to bully?"
He Li harbored resentment in his heart. The Time Envoys had troubled him repeatedly. If it weren't for Cheng Xilin saving him, he would have died long ago.
Suddenly,
He Li's heart trembled. Yes, it was Cheng Xilin who saved him when the Time Envoys came after him with the Time Edicts. He owed him more than just his life.
In a flash,
He Li understood. His gaze involuntarily drifted to the weakly breathing Cheng Xilin. Had he foreseen this day long ago? Had he seen through He Li's intention to kill him, and that was why he had saved him multiple times? Was it so that He Li would show him mercy today?
No!
That's not right.
He wanted to use him. Before He Li could truly show his value, Cheng Xilin wouldn't let him die.
For a moment, chaotic thoughts filled He Li's mind.
The Lord of Time on the other side paid no heed to He Li's taunts. He spread his arms in an embrace and slowly floated up. In an instant, the entire still Time River began to flow.
The temporal nodes around the stars flowed like river water.
Strangely, the Time River flowed in opposite directions on the Lord of Time's left and right. That is, some flowed towards the past, and some flowed towards the future.
Time always moves forward. Reversing time is the privilege of the law's owner.
At this moment, the Lord of Time was truly a god who controlled the universe and the supreme law.
He looked down at He Li and chuckled to himself. He was the king who controlled the supreme laws of the universe. He Li was merely a rebel who had stolen the power of the law, an anomaly outside the laws.
The temporal nodes in the Time River were like blades, flowing and intersecting, shattering He Li's divine power, directly entangling and gradually wearing away He Li's entangled law power.
He Li no longer waited. He lightly wiped the gleaming blade, leaped towards the Lord of Time, his figure flickering in the intersecting Time River, as if traversing time and space. Stepping over countless temporal nodes, he, powered by the supreme law of time, arrived before the Lord of Time and swung his blade towards the Lord of Time's neck.
The Lord of Time coldly extended his right hand, catching the incoming blade. He opened his left hand, fingers spread, and pressed it towards He Li's chest.
He Li's expression suddenly froze. Then, he looked at the Lord of Time with disbelief as a long-lost heartbeat echoed from his chest.
Thump-thump! Thump-thump...
Ever since his heart was shattered by Se Suojiang, he had no heart. In subsequent battles, enemies had repeatedly thrust weapons into his chest, but to no avail.
But,
Now,
His heart had returned, a strong, powerful heartbeat, and his blood flowed faster and hotter.
"Rewind!"
"Spatio-temporal interception."
The Lord of Time's voice rang out. He looked at He Li mockingly, as if to say, your weakness has returned.
He Li hurriedly retreated, leaning back and submerging himself in the turbulent Time River. He reappeared a hundred zhang away, still touching his chest in disbelief.
His heart, it had truly returned.
Before, he had considered restoring his heart with divine power, but after much deliberation, he had given up. Now, his heart had been returned to him by the enemy in this crucial battle.
He Li looked at the Lord of Time, his gaze sinister. It was clear that the Lord of Time had used the law of time to return to the past and intercept a moment before his first battle with Se Suojiang, before his heart was shattered, and applied it to him now.
He Li finally understood. After so many years, when he fought Se Suojiang and his heart was shattered, it wasn't He Junbao who saved his life. It was that before his heart was shattered, he had already lost his heart.
The heart that Se Suojiang shattered was the future He Li's heart, after it had been intercepted.
This old bastard had actually used his identity as the Lord of Time to deceive time.
"You dare to disregard the rules of time and use temporal differences to deceive the law of time!" He Li exclaimed in shock.
"The rules of time?" The Lord of Time tilted his head slightly, his ancient eyes gazing at the churning Time River. "I am time itself. He Li, do you think this is a battle of time laws? You are wrong. I am merely eliminating anomalies. You are an anomaly outside the laws of time, and Cheng Xilin is a threat to the laws of time.
You are the ones who truly deceive the laws of time."
He Li took a deep breath, creating multi-layered star god power barriers within his chest to protect his heart. Then, he attacked directly. He moved with extreme speed towards the Lord of Time, a streak of snow-white blade light soaring into the sky. He Li drew his blade and swung it forward, cleaving through the starry river towards the Lord of Time.
Their battle had transcended the universe itself. Every action they took had an immeasurably severe impact on the cosmic space.
They fought within the Time River, their feet treading on temporal nodes of the past, present, and future, confronting each other with a posture that surpassed the realm of God Kings.
After shattering countless of He Li's attacks, the Lord of Time pressed down with his hand, forming a colossal palm that rose from below, grasping He Li within its confines.
A bloody torrent split the giant hand in two, towering over the Lord of Time, like a waterfall of blood cascading from the heavens.
He Li stood at the apex of the bloody waterfall, holding his long saber in his right hand, his left hand gripping a blood-red saber, resting it on his shoulder. Behind him, a golden cauldron emanated divine power ripples, and beneath his feet was a golden bell.
At this moment, He Li's aura was majestic, radiating a profound and vast star god power. With every breath, the stars vibrated, and billions of white light-emitting timelines descended from behind him.
Divinity and beastliness appeared on either side of his body. After a moment's pause, they transformed into phantoms and merged into He Li's body.
Humanity, divinity, and beastliness, all three natures had broken through, achieving supreme godhood, and then merged once more.
He Li's eyes seemed to contain the entire universe, countless stars streaking past. The law of time became increasingly refined. With all three natures achieving supreme godhood, he had also completely absorbed the star god power that Cheng Xilin had cultivated over nineteen epochs.
Just then,
He Li slashed down with his saber, severing a strand of invisible temporal law before him. He looked at the Lord of Time and sneered, "Do you still intend to use methods like time reversal against me?"
"To control two or three tenths of the law of time makes one a Time Envoy. To control five or six tenths makes one a deviant, who must be eliminated."
"I now fully control the law of time. I am the Lord of Time."
He Li pointed the tip of his saber at the Lord of Time and declared loudly, "Now! You are the deviant of the law of time!"