Trapped Beast in a Cage

Countless blade shadows appeared, surging toward Bertin.

Li Yilin let out a low shout, "Thunder Dragon Step!"

Swish!

A flash of purple light flickered, and a purple phantom, nearly identical to him, appeared at his side. It took a step forward and vanished into the air, as if a gentle breeze had brushed past; its appearance felt like nothing more than an illusion.

Hidden deep within the flames, Bertin's eyes narrowed. He retreated dozens of miles without a moment's hesitation, while simultaneously, flames swept across the spot where he had just been standing...

"Ssh!" The phantom, having arrived at that exact location to launch an attack, was swallowed by the Fire Tornado.

Bertin felt no joy at this; instead, he was deeply shocked.

"His Time Law..." Seeing the phantom dissipate, Bertin roared in shock and fury, "How is this possible?"

Only a moment ago, it had been at the level of mere comprehension, so shallow that even utilizing it was a struggle.

Yet, that move just now—the law had actually reached the introductory stage!

It didn't look like he had just crossed the threshold; it was as fluid as if he had practiced it for hundreds, even thousands of years.

To be able to manifest a phantom while under the suppression of a World Force—something was wrong.

"Why?" Bertin hovered in the air, his face twisted in a grimace.

He felt no shame or humiliation that a World Lord was failing to take down a Domain Lord; what he felt was mostly jealousy toward the speed of Li Yilin's progress.

If—if only he had possessed this kind of talent back then, how could he still be a lowly World Lord today?

He raised his hand and touched the Flame Mark on his forehead, the proof that his Fire Law had been acknowledged.

He was the first disciple his teacher had taken in, the oldest among all the teacher's disciples. Before the teacher had any personal disciples, he had been the senior brother.

But after the teacher took on personal disciples, he remained a registered disciple, and he had to call the personal disciples "senior brother" in return... As the teacher took on more and more personal disciples, he, the so-called senior brother, began to be forgotten, and no one called him senior brother ever again.

It wasn't until his Fire Law was acknowledged!

He finally entered the teacher's sight once more, gaining true recognition and being promoted from a registered disciple to a personal disciple.

Yet, he wasn't happy at all.

Because he was the teacher's eighth personal disciple.

The oldest in age, yet the lowest in rank!

Every time the title "Eighth Junior Brother" was uttered by those who used to call him senior brother, it felt like a mockery of his incompetence.

It was as if his talent had been exhausted the moment he gained recognition for his law.

He hated geniuses; geniuses only served to highlight his own incompetence and his failures!

It wasn't fair!

Why?

We are all human, aren't we?

The more he thought about it, the more hideous his expression became. His crimson eyes looked as if they were bleeding, or as if he had been possessed by a demon.

"There is no 'why,' it's just that you are too stupid!" Li Yilin hovered in the air, facing the Flame Phantom from a distance. Thunder and lightning raged around him; although he couldn't expand his domain, it didn't hinder his movements.

"Your world is also too weak!" Li Yilin raised his hand, channeling the Thunder Dragon Bloodline within him.

A low dragon roar emanated from his body. Almost instantly, cracks appeared in the world that had been shrouding the entire airspace, revealing flaws and even allowing glimpses of the starry sky outside.

"Weak?" As if he had heard something laughable, Bertin burst into loud laughter. "A Domain Lord, mocking a World Lord."

"Kid, you are too arrogant!"

"Arrogant?" Li Yilin narrowed his eyes.

"If a genius isn't arrogant, who is?"

"You?" He tilted his head, as if asking a rhetorical question.

Bertin fell silent, though the restless flames surrounding him showed that his heart was far from as calm as he appeared on the surface.

"I understand now!" Li Yilin realized with a sudden flash of insight.

"You aren't a genius, so you are jealous of those who are!"

"Is this the reason you came to assassinate me?" Li Yilin seemed to be asking, but his eyes were full of certainty, and the faint smile on his face seemed to mock Bertin's incompetence.

Unfortunately, Bertin had long since lost the desire to communicate with him. All he wanted to do now was kill this guy who dared to despise him, burn his corpse into ashes, and turn him into cosmic dust.

"Die!"

He roared. The surrounding Fire Tornadoes collided and devoured one another. Soon, only three massive Fire Tornadoes remained, connecting heaven and earth like giant fire dragons. The sky-filling flames caused the void to twist and deform.

Although he hadn't comprehended a Higher Law, his advantage was still obvious when fueled by pure power and the simultaneous activation of his own world.

"Boom!"

Wherever the Fire Tornadoes passed, more and more flames were consumed. When they arrived before Li Yilin one after another, they were like three mountain peaks, blocking all his paths of retreat.

"Die!" Bertin roared in a frenzy.

Li Yilin's thunder phantom, even with 100% of his strength, dissipated like foam in the face of such a massive disparity in power.

Fortunately, Thunder Dragon Step is a secret technique for close-quarters combat that excels in speed, especially now that his Time Law has had a breakthrough, allowing him to use time to augment his body and move even faster.

Although the Fire Tornado is massive, its power is spread thin, and since its speed cannot match his, Li Yilin only needs to use Thunder Dragon Step repeatedly to dodge head-on collisions, allowing him to barely stabilize the situation.

While sustaining injuries is inevitable, Li Yilin has no shortage of anything except treasures.

His strength is low, so using treasures might be a bit wasteful, but under the threat of death, it is well worth it.

"Hiss!" As a blade shadow flashes by, Li Yilin is sent flying backward again. This time, he suddenly tosses out several cannonballs, which explode the moment they are swallowed by the Fire Tornado.

"Boom!"

The intense shockwave from the explosion causes the rotation speed of the Fire Tornado to falter for a split second; although it recovers quickly, Li Yilin still notices it.

He narrows his eyes, a plan immediately forming in his mind.

That's it—the power of the Fire Tornado lies in its speed; if the speed cannot keep up, no matter how great the power is, it cannot pose a threat to him.

Damn it, the suppression of the world is still too great.

Wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth and looking at the frenzied Bertin in mid-air, Li Yilin hardens his heart.

He cannot drag this out any longer!

Thinking of this, he doesn't hesitate to pull out all the cannonballs he has on him, tossing them out and detonating them the next time the Fire Tornado draws near.

"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"...

Explosions dozens, even hundreds of times more violent than before ring out, triggering a massive tidal wave of energy. Li Yilin, being too close to the blast, only has time to pull out a shield to block in front of him before he is sent flying by the violent impact, vomiting blood as he is thrown away.

His right hand, which was holding the shield, is blown to pieces and vanishes, and his chest caves in... Reduced to almost half a broken body, he slams heavily into the ground.

Another grievous injury.

"Hah!"

Li Yilin lies on the ground in a wretched state, one leg twisted at a bizarre angle, and a pale, broken bone even protrudes from the indentation in his chest...

Truly, one shouldn't get too cocky, or retribution will follow!

"Ah, ng..."

F*ck is a plant!

Li Yilin tilts his head back, teeth clenched, his whole body trembling from the pain. Veins bulge on his face as large beads of sweat form, only to be evaporated into steam by the scorching air.

With trembling hands, he pulls out the broken bone from his chest, endures the excruciating pain to set his broken leg, and pulls treasures from his ring, shoving them into his mouth without even looking at them.

Abundant energy repairs his body, only to collapse and then repair again in the blink of an eye. Blood flows from his wounds as if it were worthless; even in the scorching environment, it forms a puddle beneath him, and the air is thick with a nauseating, pungent scent of blood.

After the explosions, one Fire Tornado vanishes, and the remaining two are much smaller than before.

"Kid, to think you actually found the flaw." Bertin, who appeared before the Flame Phantom at some point, sneers as he looks down at the wretched Li Yilin. He does not believe that at this stage, there is any possibility of Li Yilin surviving.

Yet, even so, he keeps in mind the lingering sense of crisis he felt when he first dragged him into this world and chooses not to get close.

Countless Fire Arrows appear, and Bertin's voice grows increasingly high-pitched, "But you forgot, this is my world!

"The gap between a Domain Lord and a World-level expert cannot be bridged just because you are a genius.

"Go to your death obediently!" Bertin raises his hand, and the Flame Phantom follows suit, its index finger lightly tapping the void.

A mysterious Flame Mark spreads, forming a massive Fire Net in the sky in the blink of an eye.

The remaining two Fire Tornadoes and three newly formed ones connect to the Fire Net the moment it forms, acting like five pillars reaching to the heavens, continuously channeling World Force to maintain the net.

Looking from afar, it resembles a Flame Cage shrouding a space nearly a hundred miles in radius, and Li Yilin, lying wretchedly on the ground below, is nothing but a trapped beast in that cage!

"Go!"