Chapter 468 - 306: Steamroll
By now, Pato’s jaw had dropped so far it formed an "O" big enough to fit an asteroid.
"The... the 6th Layer... one minute and fifteen seconds... H-How in the world did he do it?" another veteran member asked, his voice dry and hoarse.
Keynes stared blankly at the point of light that had appeared on the 7th Layer, the focus completely gone from his eyes.
All the color drained from his flawless face, which was usually wreathed in Holy Radiance, leaving behind nothing but a vacant daze.
He couldn’t even pass the 5th Layer; despite giving it his all, he had only lasted five minutes.
And yet this peer, whose true identity was still unknown, had cleared the 6th Layer in one minute and fifteen seconds!
The combat prowess he had always been so proud of seemed utterly insignificant before this person.
At this moment, as he looked at the dot of light that had already ascended to the 7th Layer on the light screen, not a single trace of competitive spirit remained in his eyes.
When the gap between them had been small, he might have felt the urge to catch up.
But now... he had lost all hope.
’The... the 7th Layer...’ thought Lorne Meck, who was also inside the tower and had only just broken into the 3rd Layer.
Staring at the point of light that had lit up on the 7th Layer, he rubbed his eyes hard to make sure he wasn’t seeing things.
This result completely upended his understanding of the Heaven-Reaching Tower’s difficulty.
’This can no longer be described as genius,’ he thought. ’This is a monster!’
For the first time, an intense flicker of emotion appeared on Instructor Blood Blade’s face.
His sharp gaze seemed as if it could pierce the tower walls to see everything that was happening inside.
"The 7th Layer..." Blood Blade’s deep voice slowly rang out, breaking the silence.
Those words struck everyone’s hearts like a heavy hammer.
How many years had it been? How many years had it been since a cadet from Training Camp No. 7, under the jurisdiction of the Moro Middle-Tier Empire, had set foot on the 7th Layer?
The last one, it seemed, was some prodigy from a thousand years ago. It was said he later became a core member within the Source Net... and was now one of its high-ranking executives.
Right now, everyone’s eyes were glued to the dot of light in the 7th Layer’s area.
It was no longer bursting forward and sprinting relentlessly as before. Instead, it was moving upward within the 7th Layer’s region, steadily and resolutely.
Its speed wasn’t fast, even seeming somewhat "slow," but each step was taken with unshakable stability.
Amidst this heavy anticipation, time ticked by, second by second.
One minute... Three minutes...
The dot of light had already reached the middle section of the 7th Layer. Its glow remained stable, showing no signs of dimming.
"He’s actually... lasted this long on the 7th Layer?"
"It’s still rising! He really has a chance..."
The low murmurs of discussion, filled with disbelief, started up again.
Suddenly!
On the light screen, the dot that had been steadily rising began to flicker violently!
...
「A few minutes earlier.」
When Li Wen’s figure passed through the spatial rift of the 6th Layer and stepped onto the 7th Layer.
Everything around him suddenly froze.
Before him was no longer a concrete battle scene, but a chaotic void.
There was no light, no sound.
Even the concepts of time and space became blurred, as if he had returned to the primordial chaos before the birth of the universe.
Absolute nothingness and silence enveloped him, with only his own heartbeat and consciousness serving as clear anchors.
Until he saw a pair of eyes.
Those eyes opened in the chaos, like the first ray of light at the creation of the world, instantly dispelling the nothingness.
They were deep, frigid, and contained an indescribable rhythm of the Law.
Only when those eyes opened did light enter this space.
It was not a light that illuminated all things, but a pure manifestation of presence and Law.
Soon, the owner of those eyes appeared before Li Wen.
It was a human male, with a tall and slender build, a chillingly cold face, and eyes like ancient ice, devoid of any emotion.
The most eye-catching feature was an incredibly intricate and abstruse silver sigil on his forehead.
However, the sigil’s light was currently rather faint, like a star coated in dust.
He held a long, narrow, straight blade, its body shimmering with a hazy gray halo.
The aura emanating from the man clearly marked his realm—Mid-stage Saint Realm!
But this aura was so condensed and pure that it was far beyond what an ordinary Saint Realm expert could compare to.
"Fight." With no other words, the cold-faced man spat out the single, icy word.
The instant the word left his lips, the blade in his hand had already slashed out soundlessly.
This slash was the epitome of speed, but not in a physical sense.
It directly skipped across the distance of space, the blade’s light appearing before Li Wen’s eyes in the same instant it was unleashed!
Where the blade’s light passed, it left not afterimages but a trail of spatial rifts that continuously annihilated and reformed themselves.
This was a preliminary application of Space Law, elevating the slash’s speed and destructive power to an inconceivable level.
Li Wen’s pupils contracted. His long blade was instantly unsheathed, its body vibrating with a low hum.
He dared not be careless, and he too integrated his own sliver of insight into space.
A flowing streak of dark gold light met the attack.
CLANG—!
When the blades’ lights collided, there was no deafening explosion. Instead, there was an extremely suppressed, piercing shriek, as if space itself was being torn apart.
An invisible shockwave radiated out from the point of impact.
The surrounding chaotic energies were instantly pushed aside, forming a temporary vacuum.
Li Wen felt an irresistible, immense force and a bizarre, shearing vibrational power strike him at the same time.
His body was sent flying backward involuntarily. His blade arm grew sore and numb, and the vital energy and blood within him churned.
The cold-faced man didn’t pause for a moment. He took a step, his figure seeming to merge into the folds of space.
He instantly reappeared on Li Wen’s backward trajectory and slashed down again.
This time, the blade’s light carried a viscous, sluggish sensation. The flow of time subtly slowed within the area covered by the light.
’[Absolute Focus]—activate!’
Li Wen’s thoughts raced as the immense processing power granted by his Lv. 20 Absolute Focus instantly analyzed his opponent’s attack patterns and Law fluctuations.
His body twisted at an impossible angle, narrowly avoiding the blade’s light.
At the same time, he swung his blade backhanded, its tip condensing a point of dark light as it slashed toward the man.
This was a preliminary combination of Severing Sky Blade Intent and spatial compression.
SHIIIIING!
The cold-faced man twisted his wrist slightly. The blade’s light followed Li Wen like a shadow, its hazy gray blade energy clinging to his protective aura and cutting into it like a maggot boring into bone.
After only a few exchanges, Li Wen found himself at a complete disadvantage.
He was completely outmatched in blade mastery; his opponent’s technique, which contained the embryonic form of a Law, utterly suppressed him.
Furthermore, the Primordial Power unique to the Saint Realm was several times stronger than the True Aura in his body.
Facing the cold-faced man’s attacks, he felt as if he were caught in a giant net woven from spatial cuts and temporal stagnation.
Every block and dodge was a struggle, and his Magical Robe was sliced by the stray blade energy, leaving several fine tears.
If not for the fact that his physical body had already reached the Saint Realm and he had the protection of his Magical Robe, he would have likely already been injured.
Seeing an incomparably sharp slash about to tear through his defenses and go for his head, Li Wen finally gave up the idea of winning with blade techniques alone.
’Power of the Primordial Spirit, fuse!’
Within his sea of consciousness, the power of his Primordial Spirit, as vast as a Star Sea, erupted.
It was no longer confined to the spiritual plane but surged like a golden tide, pouring into every cell of his body.
His bones emitted a low thunderous rumble, his muscle fibers instantly tensed and strengthened, his blood flowed like rushing magma, and a faint golden light even began to shine from his skin.
Strength, speed, reflexes, defense, Law Perception Power... every aspect of his being was instantly and massively boosted by the nourishment of his Primordial Spirit’s origin.
His combat power, originally at the Early-stage Saint Realm, suddenly skyrocketed under the amplification of his Primordial Spirit, his aura surging to a level infinitely close to the Late-stage Saint Realm!
"Break!"
With his power massively increased, Li Wen let out a low roar and unleashed a ferocious slash, his long blade imbued with overwhelming power and a more condensed Spatial Blade Intent!
This was no longer a dance of techniques, but a direct shattering of skill with brute force!
CLANG!!!
This time, the collision shook the very void!
The hazy gray blade light was forcibly torn apart and disintegrated by the torrent of dark gold!
For the first time, the cold-faced man was knocked back a step. In his perpetually icy eyes, an extremely subtle flicker seemed to appear.
Li Wen pressed his advantage, his blade strikes coming like one raging wave after another.
Each slash fused the power of his Primordial Spirit, a perfect union of strength, speed, and skill that instantly turned the tide of battle.
Just thirty seconds later, a brilliant slash broke through the man’s defenses and precisely swept across his neck.
The cold-faced man’s figure froze, then dissolved into motes of light.
"Congratulations, you have successfully cleared the first section of the 7th Layer." An icy, mechanical voice sounded in Li Wen’s mind.
Before Li Wen could even catch his breath, countless motes of light appeared out of thin air in the chaotic void where the man had just disappeared, rapidly coalescing.
The cold-faced man’s figure reappeared, completely unharmed.
The only difference was the silver sigil on his forehead, which had previously been faint.
Its color had now become much deeper, like a true star branded onto his skin, and it radiated even more powerful Law fluctuations.
And the aura he exuded also climbed sharply, shockingly reaching the Late-stage Saint Realm!
"Fight!"
The resurrected man’s voice was still icy, but the pressure he exuded was several times stronger.
He took a step forward, his long blade transforming into a gray ribbon of energy that tore through the chaos.
Wherever the blade’s light passed, space shattered like fragile glass.
It formed a continuously expanding spatial rift that slashed straight toward Li Wen.
The terrifying power of the Late-stage Saint Realm erupted in full!
Li Wen’s pupils shrank. Faced with an attack powerful enough to severely injure or even kill an ordinary Late-stage Saint Realm expert,
He didn’t hesitate for a second, once again merging the surging power of his Primordial Spirit with his physical body!
BOOM!
Golden light once again burst from his body. Li Wen’s physical body and Primordial Spirit resonated, and his aura surged once more.
However, it was still some distance away from the Late-stage Saint Realm.
He swung his long blade, its light as concentrated as a Star River, and met the attack head-on!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!!
The showdown between Late-stage Saint Realm experts had truly begun!
The chaotic void of the 7th Layer became a terrifying battlefield.
Blade lights crisscrossed, each collision like crashing stars that set off destructive ripples of energy, throwing the chaotic currents into turmoil.
Space was repeatedly torn, twisted, repaired, and then shattered once more.
The flow of time in this area also became chaotic, at times as fast as lightning, at others as slow as a snail.
...