Volume Three: The Academy Runs Completely Amok-Jili (I)

How miserable.

These are Xiao Wu's thoughts.

But this "truly tragic" situation does not refer to humans, or even organic matter.

Boom!!!

The countless metal spikes that had once dominated the battlefield were now frantically trying to dodge, their majesty as Divine Item of heaven and earth completely gone.

Boom!!!!

Another loud bang, and the heavy punch smashed down, creating a huge crater hundreds of meters deep in the ground, even turning up the metal branches that had corroded into the ground.

Xiao Wu, hiding beneath a pile of rusted, self-destructing metal at the edge of the battlefield, could only watch helplessly as everything unfolded.

Just a few minutes ago, the Boundary Breaking Armor was indeed rampaging across this land, occupying everything in its path, both solid and liquid, displaying its formidable power.

Until that well-dressed man in his thirties or forties suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

"Is that guy... really No Supernatural Ability?"

Xiao Wu carefully compared the descriptions of the high-ranking officials' appearances in Ling Ye's notes, and realized that the man who had beaten the Boundary Breaking Armor so badly with his bare hands should indeed be called "Gustav".

However, the annotation for "superpowers" in the notebook clearly states the three large characters "No Supernatural Ability".

"Is Ling Ye crazy or am I blind...? No Supernatural Ability or anything... but this guy looks like he's a super-powerful Physical Enhancement System!"

Enraged, the Boundary Breaking Armor coalesced its countless metal spikes into one, which then split into thousands of tentacles that lunged at Gustav. Gustav's figure blurred, and hundreds of afterimages immediately separated from his body. The tentacles were snapped in half at the waist, and the metal mass was shattered by a flurry of punches. Kicks, punches, stomps, kicks, and chops rained down on the Boundary Breaking Armor, leaving it utterly defenseless.

"Okay, continue reducing its size steadily until the Main Core is exposed..."

Boom! Boom! Boom! Three consecutive punches, relying solely on wind pressure, turned the newly emerged metal behemoth into iron filings, and the earth groaned in agony. Gustav seized an opening, his hands flashing down like lightning, pulling out one of the newly exposed Sub Core and crushing it with a brutal crushing motion!

The metal withered immediately amidst wails, its area shrinking once more, while Gustav remained expressionless, beginning his advance towards the Main Core.

Watching the other person get further and further away, Xiao Wu a sigh of relief. Her legs had mostly recovered now, and she had to leave immediately; this place was far too dangerous.

Moreover, her keen intuition as Oni told her that an even greater disaster was about to occur here...

"This way, Xiao Wu!"

"Thanks--Eh, Givinia?"

Every time Givinia's projection appeared in front of her, it startled her; this woman was truly elusive.

"Hurry up and follow me, I'll show you the way—wait, wait, wait, wait!?"

"What's wrong?"

"You, your hair..."

"What's wrong?"

"... white."

"... Why?"

Xiao Wu hurriedly lifted a lock of hair and held it in front of her eyes. Indeed, her originally jet-black hair had turned completely white, just like when she had become a demon.

"Could this be... a side effect of becoming 100% demonic?"

"100% ghost transformation!?"

Givinia was terrified.

As knowledgeable as she was, she naturally knew what 100% demonization meant, but Xiao Wu didn't seem to have completely lost her mind at all.

"There are many reasons! Anyway, let's get out of here first!"

"Drink!"

Like an air-to-ground missile, the defenses that the Boundary Breaking Armor had just assembled crumbled instantly. But as soon as the old defenses collapsed, new ones grew back, and the speed of recovery was truly astonishing.

"Has it already invaded the spiritual veins...?"

As a place blessed with exceptional natural beauty, the Central United Academy naturally has more than one spiritual vein flowing beneath it, just like the Crystal Island in the center of the Northern Boundary. The World Crystal Tree merely absorbs spiritual veins as nutrients to sustain its life, while the Boundary Breaking Armor does not "absorb" but rather engages in the most savage plunder, which is why it can grow so quickly. Of the three spiritual veins flowing beneath the League of Scholars, one has already dried up, and the other two have been tightly gripped by all-pervasive metal branches.

"It's more complicated than I expected."

Countless afterimages fell like meteors, knocking the Boundary Breaking Armor down to the ground, unable to get up. But it was useless; unless the Main Core was controlled, it would plunder the spiritual veins' nutrients and regenerate indefinitely.

The key question is—where is the Main Core?

Only if Gustav can pinpoint the exact location of the Main Core can he break through the defenses and seize it with a powerful strike. However, finding a core the size of a fist in this ever-regenerating sea of metal is extremely difficult.

The regeneration of the Boundary Breaking Armor must be suppressed first.

"... There's no other way, let's sever the spiritual veins."

He said something extraordinary with a calm expression.

Speaking of which, where exactly did the Leader go? What if the World Will discovers him...?

Gustav had no idea that the master he served was only a kilometer or two away from him.

The seabed where the Boundary Breaking Armor was previously sealed.

The freedom-loving Boundary Breaking Armor completely moved its body out of the seabed after its protective layer shattered; it had long been fed up with the dark and foodless ocean floor. Therefore, only the eroded, riddled-with-holes rock layers remained, with no trace of the metal spikes.

Jili performed here.

He had one hand in his pocket, while the other hand would occasionally fiddle with his hair or touch the nail polish on his fingernails, looking completely relaxed.

Passing through the now-empty underwater research institute, they continued downwards, careful not to get their clothes wet... After a while, Jili at the lowest level, the central location of the sealing device that Fiaz had created with the Water Heart as its core.

The device had already been destroyed in the impact and was now just a pile of scrap metal. Jili frowned and pried open the twisted metal cover, suppressing his displeasure as he rummaged through it with his hands, carefully avoiding hurting his nails.

"Why do I have to do this dirty work? It's so annoying... By the way, where did that thing go... Ah!"

I touched something cool.

When I took it out, it was a small, light blue gemstone. At first glance, it looked like a child's plastic gemstone toy, and upon closer inspection, I couldn't see anything special about it.

The Water Heart symbolizes flow and inclusiveness, and its ability is to create water infinitely.

And that was it.

Although it is said to "create unlimited water", the speed at which it produces water is really slow, at most on par with a factory's drainage outlet. It is impossible to create an ocean or trigger a tsunami in an instant. Unless given to someone with water control abilities, it is completely unusable for attack or defense.

Compared to other Divine Item of heaven and earth, it was utterly pathetic.

But its true value is understood by only three people on this planet.

Fiaz can barely be considered one, Jili can also be considered one.

"Unless the World Crossing Gate is built, it's useless to me... No, even if it's built, it won't be of much use..."

In any case, now that I've found it, there's no reason not to accept it. I've achieved my goal for this trip to the Central United Academy.

"Go back to sleep -- huh?"

Jili frowned. He had just felt an extremely hot aura, which was very clear even in the cold seabed.

"This is... Karmic Fire!? So it was here too?"

Evelynths opened her eyes.

They witnessed the fiery spectacle of Hellfire.

The outer layer was a sea of crimson fire, while the center was a pure white flame.

There is no solid rock, and no liquid magma.

There was only flame, flame, flame.

Ah, so it's finally come to this?

Sorry...

I'm sorry, Sister Sakura Dance...

I really, really can't hold back anymore...

"--Done, that's it!"

Everything solid within a thousand-foot radius crumbled into sand and dust. Beaches, coconut groves, buildings, animals, and humans all vanished, leaving only a large sand pit, like a festering sore on the earth.

"However, it took my direct attack head-on and still hasn't completely disintegrated. I really have to admire your technological prowess..."

Huang Huo appeared in the center of the large sand pit, lifting up the corpse that had mostly crumbled into sand...

At that moment, he realized something was wrong.

The "Fiaz" in front of me felt cold and stiff to the touch; beneath its damaged skin, instead of flesh and blood, were exposed electrical wires.

This is a robot.

"That's... the Crimson Lotus Karmic Fire!?"

Gustav, who was about to unleash a devastating attack on the spiritual vein, shuddered and looked into the distance. Hundreds of kilometers away, the sky suddenly turned crimson, and a vermilion fireball rose slowly, clearly visible even from a hundred miles away! Like a second sun! Where the fireball rose, hundreds of acres of land were transformed into a barren desert, the deep underground rocks turned into magma, and scorching air swept outwards. Had the eruption not occurred in an uncultivated area, it would have already caused hundreds of thousands of deaths and injuries!

"How so..."

With the Boundary Breaking Armor, Water Heart, Crimson Lotus Karmic Fire, plus the Nether Radiance Lamp carried by the Leader, half of the eight existing divine Divine Item have gathered here! Even Gustav is starting to have a headache. He doesn't know if the matters with Huang Huo and Yu He have been resolved yet, otherwise he would have to deal with two Divine Item at the same time! Fortunately, the Truth Incantation is in the West Saint Continent, otherwise, if another one or the Rakshasa True Word were to appear, even he would have to retreat temporarily.

Just as they were pondering these random thoughts, the enormous fireball a hundred miles away suddenly twisted and deformed, transforming into a gigantic fire phoenix that flew towards them, leaving scorched earth in its wake. Such power was tens of thousands of times stronger than that of a real demonic phoenix!

"I almost forgot, Divine Item in their awakened state are attracted to each other... Tsk!"

Just then--

A crimson beam of light hurtled toward Gustav, but he slammed in with a punch, blasting the beam apart.

"Oh, you blocked it? That's impressive!"

It was Fiaz! He still had that somewhat comical mechanical wing on his back, with large component boxes floating around him, and he was completely unharmed!

"Fiaz!? Why are you still alive? Huang Huo fail?"

"'Fiaz'? Are you calling me? Or—him?"

A streak of light pierced through the air—it was the second Fiaz!

"... two?"

Moreover, with each whooshing sound, the number of Fiaz gathered here increased to several hundred!

Meanwhile, the main body in the center looked at Gustav triumphantly and loudly announced, "Did you think I didn't make any preparations after being chased by that so-called Void Realm last time? Of course not! What's gathered here is the culmination of my technology, my loyal clones!"

"A clone?" Gustav scoffed. "No matter how many scum pieces you gather, they're still scum. Besides, these toys of yours can only feed the Boundary Breaking Armor!"

"Hey, Boundary Breaking Armor? No, no, no~ My long-term efforts have finally paid off. After countless failures, I finally succeeded in writing the 'Do not harm Fiaz' command into its Main Core! Now it won't harm me; it's my ally! Not to mention—"

The fiery phoenix in the sky finally approached. After arriving, it stopped in the air and faced off against the Boundary Breaking Armor on the ground, seemingly communicating in a way that others could not understand.

Then,

Countless metallic spikes and crimson flames were simultaneously aimed at Gustav.

"Hahahaha!!! It seems they've decided to join forces against you, the most powerful one! You're probably the first person in the world to force two Divine Item to join forces, hahahahahahahahaha!!!"

Fiaz laughed wildly; he certainly had reason to be smug. Gustav was now surrounded by the Boundary Breaking Armor, the Crimson Lotus Karmic Fire, and his mechanical army; it was obvious who had the upper hand.

"Cut..."

Gustav cracked his knuckles, unleashing a murderous aura so intense it seemed to materialize, causing the air to tremble.

"Since we've come this far, let me teach you a lesson—sometimes, increasing the quantity doesn't change anything!"

"Then let me see your full power! Hahahaha!!!"

At a time when tensions were running high on all sides --

"What's going on? It's so noisy..."

A slightly high-pitched voice suddenly rang out.

Although the sound wasn't loud, it attracted everyone's attention.

A stunningly beautiful creature with long, light golden-gray hair and dressed in light gray clothes slowly appeared.

"Gustav, what are you doing! Haven't you resolved this by now?"

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Leader: Get out of the way, I'm about to show off!