The Aftereffects

"Get going! We'll hold them off."

Guen was in high spirits. They had rescued all the human fighters trapped amid the sea beasts. Of course, some had been left behind forever, but more than a hundred had survived.

They knew this was a rare opportunity. After offering a few words of thanks, they hurried toward Dinghai City.

A few wounded men in the crowd gratefully bowed to Guen and Carl. When they turned around, they saw the bald man standing motionless with his eyes closed and a smile on his face. The wounded men grew anxious. Had something happened to their big brother?

They hurried over to tug at him, but the moment they touched him, a tremendous force flung them away.

The wounded men were stunned. If not for the gentleness of that force, it would have killed them in their injured state.

"Big brother?!"

The bald man suddenly opened his eyes, giving off a peculiar aura. His wounds healed at a visible speed. They didn't disappear completely, but every cut had scabbed over, and his vitality had risen to a whole new level. At the same time, his feet slowly lifted off the ground.

"Big brother!" Seeing this, the wounded men guessed what had happened. They were both shocked and overjoyed.

Hovering in midair, the bald man threw a punch. The force of the blow alone reduced a distant sea beast to fragments. He burst into laughter. "I never thought I'd turn misfortune into a blessing. I've finally reached the Super Tier!"

Suddenly, his heart stirred. He looked down at the bloody water and chunks of flesh on the ground, his eyes dimming. "Third Brother, Lao Wu, Lao Liu..."

But then his expression hardened, turning fierce and resolute. "Second Brother, you go on ahead. I'm going to make these beasts pay for Third Brother, Lao Wu, and Lao Liu!"

"All right, big brother! We'll wait for you in Dinghai City." The wounded men didn't hesitate. Now that their big brother had advanced to Super Tier Warrior, there was no need to worry about him. They, too, wanted him to kill more sea beasts and avenge them!

"Senior, let me lend you a hand." The bald man flew toward Guen and Carl.

Guen and Carl were at the very front, forcing back the sea beast horde as they tore through it. Seeing the bald man fly over, Carl frowned. "Go kill the stragglers. Don't let them catch up to the wounded."

The bald man flushed with indignation. "I'm grateful you saved my life, but you don't have to look down on me! I'm a Super Tier Warrior now, too. Whatever you can do, I can do."

Carl glanced at him, then looked into the distance. "Can you do this, too?"

Three enormous sea beasts floated in the air in the distance, flying toward them. The carnage here had clearly drawn the attention of these Planetary Level beasts.

The bald man paled, but quickly regained his composure. "We're all Super Tier. Of course I can."

Carl gave a cold laugh. Flame God Armor covered her arm. Before the bald man could react, she snatched his Diamond Level weapon and scraped it across the armor. It didn't leave so much as a mark.

The bald man's eyes nearly bulged out of his head. He knew better than anyone how sharp his Diamond Level weapon was. What's more, he hadn't even seen Carl move. His excitement was doused in an instant.

"You've only just entered this realm. You can't stand against these beasts yet. Do as I say. We'll handle things here," Carl ordered coldly.

This time, the bald man didn't argue. He obediently flew toward the rear, but couldn't help glancing at Guen. Even the formidable Carl seemed to take her lead. Just how strong was this young-looking Super Tier Warrior?

"Three Planetary Level sea beasts." Guen remained perfectly calm. The tallest of the three was only a little over thirty meters. Even facing all three, Guen wasn't worried.

"Die!"

Guen gave a low shout and flew toward the three sea beasts, with Carl close behind.

But the sea beast horde on the ground made no move to chase the wounded. Instead, it slowly surged in place, watching the sky.

"Shhh—shashasha—"

The three sea beasts were enraged.

These two humans dared to fly straight toward them as if they didn't exist. They also knew that sea beasts could fight at full strength in the sea, while humans lost fifty or sixty percent of their strength underwater.

That was why battles usually took place near the water's edge. Sea beasts could retain seventy or eighty percent of their strength there. Although humans could exert their full strength, the seawater made it difficult to pursue their enemies. Sea beasts that ventured inland were left with only thirty or forty percent of their strength, but they trusted in their tough vitality. Besides, there were three of them. If they held Guen and Carl in place while a large number of ordinary sea beasts joined in, even an average Planetary Level Fighter would have to beg for mercy.

Guen had pushed them over the edge.

Roaring, they flew toward her in a frenzy.

"You're asking for it!"

Guen drew a shallow breath. Flame God Armor covered her entire body, leaving only her eyes exposed. The Meteor Light Blade gave off a clear, vibrating ring as it became a streak of lightning. A massive blade flash lit up the sky.

Tanhuo!

It wasn't just a move, but a way of fighting.

Aside from levels like Planetary Level and Star Level, a Fighter's insight and technique could also be divided into four stages: ordinary, Conception, domain, and world.

Guen had been stuck at the ordinary stage before, but had now reached the Conception stage. If she could master the fifth form of Flame Slash, she would reach the pinnacle of the Conception stage. Then she might have a chance to comprehend domain—and achieve the terrifying feat of fighting a Star Level opponent as a Planetary Level warrior.

But Guen was only at the Conception stage for now. Every move she made carried the fierce quality of glowing charcoal, burning until it turned to ash. Just one slash made the three sea beasts shudder and want to flee.

"Shing!"

Two enormous sea beasts were sliced cleanly in half. The third fled in terror. It was a squid-like sea beast, its body patterned with pretty blue-white speckles. But now, a huge gash nearly split it in two, and blood poured from the wound, raining down across the sky.

Guen kept her eyes half-closed, contemplating the flaws in her strike.

Carl was astonished, but seeing Guen in this state, she didn't disturb her. Instead, she pursued the gravely wounded Squid Sea Beast.

The ordinary sea beasts below were terrified!

Two Planetary Level sea beasts had been killed with one strike, and another gravely wounded. How could they possibly stand a chance?

They wished they had legs. Pushing against the beasts behind them, they slowly retreated toward the sea.

Planetary Level sea beasts were kings of the ocean. Usually, if these beasts found the corpse of a dead Planetary Level sea beast, they would grab a bite or two. But now, even if a drop of blood splashed onto one of them, it wanted to bite off the part it had touched and leave it behind. Anything to avoid attracting the attention of the human fiend above.

Four enormous chunks of sea beast flesh lay abandoned at Guen's feet, as though bearing witness to the dreadful power of that strike.

After a long while, Guen finally opened her eyes, looking satisfied. The sea beasts' strength had been greatly diminished by venturing inland, but that was because the unfamiliar environment had restricted their fighting style. Their bodies were still just as powerful as ever, and their toughness and resilience hadn't changed. That was their advantage. So even with their strength reduced, the three beasts hadn't feared Guen and Carl.

Yet with a single slash, Guen had killed two and gravely wounded the third. Its power exceeded that of an ordinary Planetary Level Five or Six Fighter. Unless they had a Force Weapon, they wouldn't stand a chance against Guen. The sharpness of the Meteor Light Blade was enough to shatter all their defenses.

"But although my strength has improved tremendously, even without the Meteor Light Blade, I can fight at Planetary Level Five or Six. The drawback is severe, though." Guen looked at her hands. Tiny wounds were weeping beads of blood.

Her body was under too much strain!

An ordinary Planetary Level Fighter in the Aoyu Empire had a Force Multiplier of only about eight at Level One, and only ordinary-level insight. Their bodies could easily withstand the strain of a full-power burst—especially since they couldn't even bring their entire bodies into play.

At Apprentice Level, each increase in level roughly doubled one's strength.

Planetary Level was even more extreme. For most, strength tripled; at the limit, the difference could be five or six times. Guen was only Planetary Level Two, yet she could unleash force comparable to a Planetary Level Five or Six Fighter. Bridging such a huge gap in their base strength put tremendous strain on her body.

Why was the Planetary Level Force Multiplier capped at thirty?

The maximum Force Multiplier was one hundred. But beyond thirty, any lifeform's body would collapse under the strain. At Star Level, a person could withstand a Force Multiplier of at least eighty because their bodies were stronger. With a solid foundation, they didn't fear the strain of exerting force; they only feared being unable to produce that much power.

That was why the Planetary Level Force Multiplier was capped at thirty. Perhaps some beings in the universe could withstand a higher multiplier at Planetary Level, but most lifeforms had to follow this rule. Even members of the Manka Star People and the Sith Race, the universe's peak bloodlines, were no exception.

Yet Guen was only Planetary Level Two, with a Force Multiplier of twenty-five. Combined with her Conception, her attacks unleashed tremendous power. The sea beasts hadn't even managed to fight back, but she had still injured herself. If she fought for long and kept unleashing her full power, she might end up gravely wounding herself.

A short burst was something her Planetary Level body could recover from on its own.

"I have to hurry up and cultivate Star Body Forging. If my body isn't strong enough, I won't dare use my full strength. I'll only be able to unleash it briefly. It looks like I'll have to keep relying on the sharpness of the Meteor Light Blade. To rely on my own strength, my body will need to be at least as strong as a Planetary Level Seven's." Guen understood this. She slowly descended to the ground and began collecting materials from the two sea beasts.

These were Planetary Level sea beasts, worth tens of thousands of gold coins in the Empire. But their greater value lay in trading them to the Goddess Temple for contribution points.