Li Yilin's expression changed drastically. He raised the Divine Battle Blade to shield himself, released his Thunder Domain, and simultaneously activated the Thunder Dragon Bloodline within him...
The meteorite fell. Invisible shock waves collided with one another, erupting into an even stronger shock wave. At the center of it all, Li Yilin felt his blood and qi churning inside him. A sweet, metallic taste surged up his throat, and he spat out a mouthful of blood as he was sent flying straight toward a meteorite nearby.
He had even calculated the direction Li Yilin would be sent flying.
Li Yilin smiled bitterly. He could feel that dozens of bones in his body had cracked from the impact. Fortunately, his internal organs were unharmed, so he could still fight.
Unwilling to give in, he raised his head and looked at Bertin in the distance.
The gap between a Domain Lord and a World Lord really wasn't something that could be bridged easily!
If not for his Thunder Dragon Bloodline, and if not for his fivefold Gene Level, which had increased his physical strength and defense by five times, that blow would have reduced him to fragments and a cloud of bloody mist.
"Boom!" In the silent starry sky, even collisions made no sound.
The meteorite, over a hundred thousand kilometers in diameter, barely touched Li Yilin before the immense impact crushed into him, and it exploded instantly.
Before the dust could rise, a wave of scorching heat spread...
Bertin stood in the void. Within a radius of five thousand kilometers around him, flames blazed out of nowhere. Meteorites melted and dripped away. From afar, it looked like a waterfall of fire suspended in the void, beautiful and dangerous!
Below, Li Yilin remained in his flying posture, not a trace of tension on his face as his mind raced, searching for any possible way to escape.
What could let him fight above his level, knock back his enemy, or even kill him?
The Fire God Source Crystal?
That was the first thing Li Yilin thought of.
He had one Fire God Source Crystal on him, purchased from a Flame Immortal Deity with the help of some favors and a large sum of money.
The principle behind the Fire God Source Crystal was to compress a vast amount of Flame Immortal Divine Power into a single crystal. When detonated, the Flame Immortal Divine Power it released would have an effect similar to a Flame Immortal Deity self-destructing.
The principle seemed simple, but the technology needed to achieve it was extremely advanced. Even though the Fire God Source Crystal he had was the lowest grade, its explosive force could still rival that of an ordinary Flame Immortal Deity self-destructing.
As a single-use item, even the lowest-grade Fire God Source Crystal cost between one and one and a half million Hunyuan Units—and that was assuming you had a way to buy one.
"Li Yilin, you have to die today!" Bertin's gaze was cold. He raised his right hand and spread his fingers, about to press down.
I refuse!
Li Yilin's eyes burned with fury. There was resentment, grief... and an intense fighting spirit!
You want me dead? Then I'll defy you!
Whoosh!
He stamped his foot down hard. Violent Thunder and Lightning burst around him, and amid its frenzied flashes, he shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow.
In that moment, his speed was nearly on par with a World Lord's. A closer look would have revealed a strange ripple in the void wherever he passed. That was...
A ripple of a higher-level law.
The Time Law!
At the brink of life and death, had he actually touched the barrier of the Time Law?
Bertin was shocked, then immediately overcome with jealousy. The intense jealousy turned his eyes bloodshot.
Why?
He was a World Lord who had cultivated for hundreds of thousands of years and still hadn't touched a Higher Law, yet a mere Domain Lord had managed it?
And because of him, no less.
Li Yilin knew nothing of Bertin's jealousy. He unleashed his full strength, driving his speed higher as he charged without a care, abandoning all defense just to get close to him.
The sight of him charging toward certain death put Bertin in a good mood, but also stirred a faint unease in him.
Why would a Giant Axe Warrior make what looked like a suicidal move?
Uneasy, Bertin immediately dropped his contempt and projected his Internal World.
The vast World Force twisted and altered the space within hundreds of kilometers around them.
Li Yilin's vision blurred. The scenery before him changed completely.
The starry sky vanished. The planet disappeared, and even the deep black backdrop faded away.
An endless sea of flames appeared all around him, burning fiercely. Even the void itself twisted, making it impossible to tell sky from ground.
These flames were unlike ordinary fire. They were even hotter, as though they could burn the soul. But that wasn't what made Li Yilin most nervous. He felt a terrifying pressure, as if shackles had been locked around him.
He tried to release his domain, but nothing happened.
This was the World Lord's greatest advantage in suppressing a Domain Lord—the Internal World.
"Even a World Lord is using his Internal World against a mere Domain Lord like me." Li Yilin took a deep breath. His resolve to face death cooled in an instant. Looking up at Bertin's Flame Phantom in the void, he sneered. "You're so useless, it's astonishing!"
He had recognized him. This was the same World Lord who had tried to assassinate him on Mulan Planet last time, cautious enough not to even approach in person.
The man had crossed an entire Universe Country to assassinate him. Li Yilin had no idea when he'd made such a powerful enemy.
"Li Yilin, you've holed up on Mulan Planet for thirty thousand years and fought a thousand life-and-death battles. You should know that enemies don't care about so-called dignity among the strong." Bertin sneered. His Flame Phantom, nearly a hundred meters tall, spoke with a voice so grand that it made even the void tremble.
"The strong prey on the weak. It's the Law of the Jungle that the universe enacts at every moment.
"Only if you survive can you talk about being 'useful.'
"How you survive doesn't matter!"
He had made it this far by being cautious and meticulous. He wasn't going to let some offhand remark make him lower his guard.
"Hmph!"
His attempt had failed, and Li Yilin's expression darkened. He said no more, raised the Divine Battle Blade, and swung it down hard.
Whoosh!
A dazzling blade light flared. The void seemed to split apart. An obscure ripple of law followed its path, shattering the void; even time fell out of order for an instant.
Li Yilin keenly sensed the change, and his eyes lit up at once.
Time falling out of order?
No, it wasn't out of order. It had accelerated.
So that was how it worked!
From the very beginning, he had been thinking about time in the wrong way...
Time was everywhere, like a spring. Its starting point was fixed; what he had to do was hold the endpoint in place, compress it, or stretch it, making time slow down, speed up, or even stop.
But if he wanted time to flow backward, and time's beginning was fixed, how could he make that happen?
Following the strange quality of that last strike, his thoughts branched out. A flash of insight appeared, and his mind raced as countless ideas whipped up a storm inside his head.
His breathing grew ragged. The feeling of being shut out from his thoughts, unable to make sense of them, left him scratching his head in frustration.
The ripple of law around him grew more and more apparent. Even the surrounding flames were affected.
"You deserve to die!" Bertin couldn't hold back after seeing this. His Flame Phantom raised its hand, and the surrounding flames seemed to have found their master, rushing toward it in unison.
The flames gathered, forming dozens of Fire Arrows in midair. Flames became their feathers, and a ripple of law flashed past before they descended...
Whoosh! Whoosh, whoosh!
The Fire Arrows struck the blade shadow and, in the span of a breath, dispersed the strike Li Yilin had unleashed with nearly all his strength. The three remaining arrows didn't stop; they continued toward him below.
The intense threat of death enveloped him. Every muscle in Li Yilin's body tensed instinctively, and his hand swung the War Blade toward the Fire Arrows without thinking.
Faster!
Faster!
Faster still...
Fixing his gaze on the descending Fire Arrows, Li Yilin had only one thought: faster.
He had to swing his blade faster.
"Clang!"
The blade collided with a Fire Arrow.
"Pff!" Li Yilin's body shuddered. His already gravely wounded body suffered another devastating blow, and blood spurted from his mouth. Before it could hit the ground, the scorching flames in the air evaporated it completely. The faint metallic tang left behind vanished as a whirlwind of fire swept past.
"Hahaha!" He threw his head back and laughed. Even in such a desperate situation, nothing could stop the joy and exhilaration welling inside him.
Because he had taken his first step into the Time Law!
"So what if you've taken your first step into the law? I will never give you another chance to live." Watching Li Yilin take that first step into the Time Law had filled Bertin with fury. World Force erupted.
Under the pressure of the World Force, the influence of the Time Law had yet to fade when Li Yilin suddenly discovered that the one percent of Thunder Dragon Bloodline within him seemed to have awakened. A low, rumbling roar of the Thunder Dragon exploded deep in his soul, and its fierce battle intent dispelled the trace of fear in his heart.
Purple blood flowed through his body. The Thunder Dragon Bloodline hidden deep in his heart awakened, and purple blood coursed along his veins to his limbs. Wherever it passed, purple Thunder and Lightning flashed.
From the outside, a brilliant purple light suddenly shone from Li Yilin's chest. It spread across his body at a visible speed, and in the blink of an eye, countless purple bolts of Thunder and Lightning engulfed his sturdy frame.
"Fight!" Accompanied by a faint rumble of thunder, Li Yilin abruptly raised his head. Brilliant purple light burst from his eyes.
The blade of the Divine Battle Blade clenched in his hand trembled, as though it too was eager for the blood-soaked battle to come.
Whoosh!
Li Yilin swung his blade at high speed.
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