The Power of a God

A head of flaxen blond hair and a few days' worth of stubble gave him a strange, down-and-out air.

His eyes and expression were thick with unruliness, disdain, and arrogant contempt for everything.

Clyde Mardon.

The man who emerged from the dense fog made every cell in Lin Li's body erupt with furious agitation. The rage in his heart burst forth like a volcano, scorching his body with searing heat.

Barry was now his hope—his hope of returning home. Barry was the one upon whom he placed his expectations, his hopes, his future. To him, nothing was more important than Barry's safety. Nothing. He could disregard the lives of everyone in this world, but not Barry. Barry's justice, kindness, and innocence were what he could rely on and believe in. He had only just sworn to protect Barry properly, yet after being apart for such a short time, Barry had been seriously injured. It filled him with fury.

Barry was lying unconscious atop the front of the research vehicle, gravely injured, his life hanging in the balance. If Barry died now, Lin Li could not imagine how long he would have to remain in this world before finding a way home. He could not imagine the torment in his heart. His promise to protect Barry had not even been fulfilled...

Barry was his most promising path. In roughly half a year, Barry would be able to travel through time. And now, someone wanted to destroy him?

This was not merely harming Barry. It was destroying Lin Li's hope, Lin Li's promise, Lin Li's everything.

His anger surged through his blood like boiling water. Veins bulged across his face, each one twisting like dragons and glinting silver. His body trembled nonstop, enraged, explosive, burning hot.

Clyde Mardon stepped out of the dense fog, arrogantly and disdainfully looking down on Cisco and Lin Li.

Mortals.

Mortals.

Ordinary mortals.

"Tremble! Fear the power of a god!"

He sneered contemptuously. Lin Li's trembling pleased him, and the fear of others made him feel powerful, great, invincible. This godlike ability intoxicated him, ensnaring him like a drug that drove people mad.

He smiled cruelly and swung his right hand downward.

The white fog instantly gathered and condensed. The surrounding wind and air howled as they converged before him.

He condensed a white Pressure Blade nearly a meter long, compressing the dense fog within nearly ten meters around it.

As his right hand swung down, the white Pressure Blade shot forth, tearing through the airflow and slicing through the air as it cleaved toward the unconscious Barry.

He wanted to kill Barry. He would not allow another godlike ability to appear and diminish the majesty of a god.

"NO..."

Cisco screamed in terror. Barry had crashed into the front of the vehicle earlier, and Cisco had only just managed to steady himself without getting hurt.

The moment he looked up, he saw the Pressure Blade Clyde Mardon had condensed. His scalp went numb, and he screamed in utter panic.

Even though it was not primarily aimed at him, it still made him tremble with fear, so terrified that he could barely control himself.

The Pressure Blade had taken only an instant to form and launch, so fast that Cisco could not react. He could only stare with terrified eyes, expressing the horror of death.

Suddenly, a figure that was not particularly strong blocked Cisco's view.

It blocked that will-rending Pressure Blade.

Lin Li slid forward. The Pressure Blade, carrying tearing air with it, slashed sharply across his chest.

His body trembled and reddened. An invisible Bio-Field enveloped him, formed from the intense activity of his cells, creating a biological magnetic field that his will coordinated and unified into a Bio-Field of his own.

This was a Bio-Field he had developed to protect himself. A Bio-Field was a force field created when a living being coordinated and controlled itself. Every living creature possessed one. Once cells became powerful enough and could be controlled, they could be stimulated and coordinated to produce a force field with external effects. This field had many functions; resisting external forces was only one of them.

"Riiip..."

A sound like cloth being torn and teeth grinding rang out. The white Pressure Blade struck Lin Li's chest directly. His invisible Bio-Field vibrated at high frequency, producing a sound like tearing cloth and grinding teeth. His STAR Labs clothes were ripped into strips and scattered apart. The blade carved a blood-red wound diagonally across his chest, exposing clear muscle fibers, but no bone. He had not suffered the kind of injury Barry had, with his ribs cleaved apart.

The highly compressed air blade was incomparably sharp. It directly tore through Lin Li's Bio-Field and sliced open the muscles in his chest.

Lin Li's face twitched as he gritted his teeth. The pain made the veins on his face writhe like swimming dragons.

He had to block it. Cisco and Barry were behind him, and Barry could not suffer a second injury. His wounds were too severe. He could not take any more damage.

Clyde Mardon's pupils contracted. He had not expected Lin Li to step out and take the strike for Barry. He wanted to kill Barry. That godlike speed, that godlike power—only one person needed to possess it. Him. There was no need for anyone else to appear. A god had to stand alone, lofty and supreme.

He knew the power of his Pressure Blade. Barry's ribs had been cleaved apart by it.

Yet Lin Li had merely had his flesh split open. It had not even cut into his sternum or ribs. What an incredibly powerful body.

Another person with godlike power. Clyde Mardon's hatred flared, and killing intent suddenly rose within him. One god was enough. Everyone else could die. Only he could be a god.

He swung his right hand again, drawing the surrounding air empty and condensing another Pressure Blade. Without pausing, he flung it out once more.

Lin Li did not stand still. He raised his fist and punched toward the Pressure Blade, striking its center head-on and splitting it into two.

Lin Li tilted his head slightly, avoiding the upper half of the Pressure Blade. He blocked the lower half with his chest.

He could not move away. Barry and Cisco were behind him. He had to endure all the damage and ensure their safety.

"Riiip..."

It was still that sound of tearing cloth and grinding teeth. Lin Li's Bio-Field had just been shattered once, and though it condensed again, it was weaker than before. However, the Pressure Blade had also been split into two by Lin Li's punch and was less powerful than before. Even so, it still tore the flesh of his chest open.

The two highly compressed air blades carved a cross of torn flesh across Lin Li's chest, forming an X. Blood, red with flecks of silver light, flowed through that X, creating a grim, sci-fi sight.

After being flayed open twice in succession, Lin Li's rage rose again at the thought that Barry would certainly have been killed if he had not been there. He controlled the silver-specked red blood flowing from his chest and forced it back into his body. The pain drove him slightly mad.

Clyde Mardon showed a shocked expression. "What are you...?" He had not expected anyone to survive two of his Pressure Blades. How powerful was that body? He could even strike a Pressure Blade with his fist. What was going on? Even the blood flowing from his chest was abnormal—it could flow backward?

Lin Li did not answer. In the instant after Mardon launched his attack, he stepped forward, crushing the ground into a spiderweb-shaped crater as he threw a straight punch at Mardon.

The airflow tore apart around him, and the white fog churned chaotically.

His straight punch ripped through the air and blasted toward Mardon's chest.

When his fist was still about thirty centimeters from Mardon, Lin Li's movement became difficult and slow, as though he had been bound.

It felt as though he had reached the limit of a sprint, only for the wind to solidify around him and refuse to let him break through.

A field of air was blocking Lin Li's advance.

Clyde Mardon's eyes narrowed. Lin Li had moved so fast that he had almost failed to see him. Fortunately, he had already taken control of a massive amount of air here, restricting Lin Li's speed. Otherwise, that punch would definitely have sent him flying.

In truth, Mardon had underestimated Lin Li's punch. It would not have sent him flying. It would have killed him.

In terror, he hurriedly controlled countless layers of air to pack densely in front of himself and block Lin Li.

A fierce light flashed in Lin Li's eyes. He knew he could not hit Mardon. The air around them was too dense. Mardon had already created a natural advantage.

Lightning suddenly flickered around Lin Li's fist.

Mardon saw it, and his heart tightened.

Boom!

A flash of lightning erupted from Lin Li's fist, causing the surrounding air to react violently and explode.

The rolling white fog exploded outward, becoming even more terrifying.

Mardon was blasted straight into the white fog and vanished without a trace.

Lin Li was pushed back to Barry's side, facing the explosion's shockwave head-on.

Everything happened too quickly for anyone to react. Mardon disappeared into the dense fog, while Lin Li was blasted back to where he had started.

Mardon's voice came from within the dense fog.

"Within my domain, I am a god! I am God!"

He proclaimed himself a god, arrogant and contemptuous of all things. Ever since gaining his power, he had believed this world needed a god—needed him to be that god. Lin Li's rapid attack had not hurt him much; it had all been neutralized by the air under his control.

Clyde Mardon recovered from his fear. Lin Li had not injured him, and this power gave him boundless confidence—the confidence to destroy everything.

Lin Li did not answer. Silver light coursed through the tendons in his face. The bulging silver veins made him look savage, while his eyes shone entirely silver, with no pupils visible. He was terrifying in this state, like a demon bathed in lightning.

A voice like electromagnetic static, hoarse, deep, infinitely demonic and magnetic, rumbled from the depths of his throat into Cisco's ears.

"Watch Barry. Call Caitlin and tell her to come over. Be careful. Stay behind me."