Chapter 506: A Refined Blade

Even the will of the world, which was desperately trying to mitigate the effect of the confrontation, was unable to do anything against the two combatants. Just the aftershock of the collision was too much for it to handle.

The monarch of stars was astounded. He had almost never had to burn his blood ever since ascending to the ranks of a sura monarch. That Zhang Lie had forced him to do so was shocking enough; not only that, Zhang Lie was actually able to fight him on equal footing even afterwards.

"[Blades, Reverberate]!" A blood dragon revolved around Zhang Lie. Energy poured out of him in waves, honing the edge of his blade. The pulses of energy struck the realm like a tsunami, devouring everything within.

A dragon of blood rushed out of the tide accompanied by a series of dark, black waves. This was a combination attack involving [The Boundless Blade] and the post-peak-grade blades he had received from the golden rocs he had killed.

The rampaging dragon of blood snuffed out the sea of flames by brute force, overwhelming the monarch of stars and destroying his body once again.

Although the monarch of stars immediately crushed the testicles installed on his body, he quickly found that Zhang Lie's blows had changed from before. The rampaging dragon of blood was assaulting his body with a frightening aura of destruction, one that the monarch of stars had to combat with his regeneration.

His face turned ugly, his gaze sharp. Was his opponent truly a human?! When had humans become so strong? Weren't they as easy to breed as cattle?

He could hardly believe that he was on the losing end despite the compass he had created with such effort and sacrifice.

He didn't expect to be able to stand up to an asura, but he did expect to be the strongest below that level. And yet, the first lab rat he found, a human called Zhang Lie, had almost overwhelmed him and caused him to lose his life more than once!

The monarch of stars had initially hoped that his test subject would be strong enough to withstand a few hits from his compass, but only when the battle started in earnest did he realize how frighteningly strong Zhang Lie was.

If he had enough time, he would be able to recover from his injuries; clearly, Zhang Lie had no intention of giving him that opportunity.

"[Second Form: Piercing the Soul]!" He infused spiritual energy into his blade, and the blade gleamed more and more brightly as he charged up his technique.

The silvery-white glow was so radiant it outshone the sun.

The bestial souls trapped within the monarch of stars' body began to tremble, and he too resonated with their fear. Time flowed at an accelerated pace and the monarch of stars sharply retreated.

Recognizing that Zhang Lie was too strong a foe, the monarch of stars sought to escape. Despite his compass, he was no match for Zhang Lie; continued confrontation would bring him no benefit.

Zhang Lie had a devastating attack, one that could wipe out a whole swathe of the souls he had spent so long collecting. The monarch of stars knew that, the moment he ran out of these souls, he himself would be killed by that brilliant white light.

He intended for Zhang Lie to be his lab rat, but it appeared as though he would be Zhang Lie's lab rat instead. His opponent seemed to be the one testing attacks on him!

Upon coming to that realization, the monarch of stars couldn't help but laugh. The compass he had spent years planning for was nothing more than a joke to Zhang Lie, and the mysterious moonlight wyrm that Zhang Lie had summoned was the compass' natural enemy.

Now that he understood Zhang Lie's strength, he deeply regretted provoking Renhuang once and again, or even sending his seven godsons against Renhuang. He had been far too incautious. These past few years, his strength had increased without any setbacks whatsoever. After growing prideful, a monster like Zhang Lie had appeared to end him.

Without a peak-grade moonlight wyrm like Whitey, this might have been a long, exhausting battle for Zhang Lie—but unfortunately for the monarch of stars, Whitey existed.

"Don't try to run!"

Zhang Lie chased after the monarch of stars with a gleaming blade, but he wasn't able to make any progress. If he chose to run at full speed under the effects of local time contraction, Zhang Lie wouldn't be able to catch up to him.

.

The monarch of stars' time-manipulation ability had surprisingly few repercussions.

Manipulating time and space always came at a cost.

The monarch of stars' ability was to locally contract time around him, so that he moved at up to ten times the rate that everyone else did. The drawback was that his body would age at the same pace.

When he had first started learning the technique, the monarch of stars had barely been able to contract time by a factor of two. That he was now able to do so by a factor of ten demonstrated how much effort he had gone through to refine this technique.

𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

The more powerful such time-manipulation techniques were, the larger the drawback.

Suiyue's ridiculous ability to reverse time naturally came at a commensurate cost.

Of course, part of the reason for his downfall was that he had yet to master his ability before facing the members of Team Zenith. If he had had enough time to grow, he might have been able to use his technique at the same level as the monarch of stars. At that point, he would have become an even more frightening enemy to defeat.

Zhang Lie cursed himself. At this rate, the monarch of stars was going to get away! The distance between the two combatants grew larger and larger.

The monarch of stars waved his blade. The cordon that the will of the world had set up was pitted and marred after the confrontation, despite its best efforts at repairing it. The monarch cut a hole in the cordon and flew out.

Zhang Lie followed after him. The monarch of stars was heading directly toward Renhuang's forces. Guessing his objective, Zhang Lie's eyes glinted.

The monarch of stars was clearly trying to use Renhuang's forces as a shield against Zhang Lie, or as batteries with which to recharge himself. He couldn't let the sura monarch succeed.

"[Rune: Resonate]!" The four tablets began to resonate as one, sending ripples that melded with the sky and forming an absolute domain over all things within—right in front of the monarch of stars' path.

The monarch of stars had been delayed enough by tearing apart the will of the world's cordon that Zhang Lie was able to use his signature technique. As the two combatants escaped from the dome, Renhuang's forces jumped up in shock.

Lianna's eyebrows had almost reached her hairline. "Is Zhang Lie chasing after the monarch of stars? Surely my eyes are mistaken!"

That was the monarch of stars himself! Not only was he a sura monarch, he was the strongest of all sura monarchs, and the sura closest to reaching the realm of an asura.

Sun Mengmeng's eyes likewise widened, but for a different reason. She called out behind her, "Run! The monarch of stars is going to hold us hostage against our captain!"

"[Second Form: Piercing the Soul]!" Zhang Lie infused spiritual energy into his blade, and the blade gleamed more and more brightly as he charged up his technique.

"[Blade of the Heavens: the Sea Swells]!" Energy poured out of him in waves, honing the edge of his blade. The pulses of energy struck the realm like a tsunami, devouring everything within.

"[Blades, Extinguish]!" Spiritual energy condensed into shining waves.

Like a tsunami, the waves rushed toward the monarch of stars, whose eyes widened at the sight. The half-spiritual attack would be a strong counter against him, and he would surely lose half his life if he were to take the attack head-on.

Despite stepping into Zhang Lie's runic domain, the monarch of stars was able to preserve a relatively normal speed. Just as he was about to escape from the domain—

"[Heaven's Judgment]! [Tiger's Howl, Dragon's Bellow]!"

"[The Boundless Blade: Shark Horde]!"

"[Golden Divide]!"

"[Dance of the Incandescent Wyrm]!"

"[Avatar of the Fae: Earthbound Prison]!"

"[Netherworld's Torrential Flame]!"

"[Fists of the Silent Sea: Sun and Moon]!"

A howling tiger and keening dragon materialized from wind and thunder. Hundreds of blue sharks charged forward.

Golden blades filled the air, accompanied by serpents of bright, white light.

The earth tremored as countless roots speared out of the ground and crept toward the sky. Hundreds of arrows formed a waterfall of fire. A white moon and black sun appeared over the ground in a yin-yang configuration.

Rather than retreat like the rest of the forces, the members of Team Zenith and Hong Xi, almost as one, chose to make a final stand.

They might be weak compared to the monarch of stars, weak as fireflies compared to the radiant moon, but their defense caused the sura monarch to stall for one crucial moment.

That moment decided his fate.

Damned humans!?The monarch of stars cursed the hunters in his mind. Under ordinary circumstances, he would knock them all dead, but he knew very well that he wouldn't be able to tarry.

How could these ants have been the ones to decide his fate?!

Perhaps this was karmic retribution.

The members of Team Zenith had slowed him down for barely half a second, but that was enough for the silvery-white waves to overwhelm him.

At that very moment, the monarch of stars received a crippling injury to his body and soul alike.

The waves swept over him, leaving him bruised and battered, his myriad bestial souls swept clean from his body. He lay like a rag flung carelessly on the ground, his soul so weak it could be snuffed out at any moment.

To be frank, Zhang Lie was quite shocked that the monarch of stars had survived despite the incredible shock he must have received upon having the souls wiped from his body all at once...