Lightning Escape

"Fortunately, I'm incredibly good at seizing the right moment," Little Sapling said smugly, swaying one slender branch. "Whether I'd been a fraction faster or slower, that passage would only have infused me with energy once. I managed to snag this little bit only because I hit the exact right moment..."

"This... little... bit?" Bai Muye was stunned. He couldn't help but tease, "Are you sure you understand what 'little' means?"

"Ah, let's not talk about that," Xiao Si said, changing the subject. "Now that the energy's completely gone, when are you going out to fight?"

"No rush," Bai Muye said, shaking his head. "I've only just become a Domain Lord. I'll cultivate for a while first, then I still have to practice the secret technique on that Heavenly Punishment Divine Envoy Inheritance Crystal..."

"There's one more thing." He checked his military merit. "If I'm going to act alone, I'm missing the most important thing—a detector!"

He'd killed so many Domain Lords before, but none of the spoils he'd collected included even a low-end detector.

He shook his head and sighed. "This much military merit isn't enough to buy even one part of a detector..."

"Hey!" Little Sapling swayed its branches. "You've got me. Didn't I say I could help you detect things?"

"Give me a break. With your detection range, by the time you spot an enemy, they'll practically be right in front of us..."

"You're underestimating me!" Xiao Si said indignantly. "I used to be a seed, but now I've grown into a little sapling!"

"How far can you detect now?"

"Ten light-seconds!" Afraid he'd think that was too short a range, Xiao Si quickly added, "I used up all my energy growing, so my roots haven't spread very far yet. The range will increase soon."

"What can you detect? Some detectors are so advanced that they can completely block scans from low-end detectors..."

"Not even a detector can escape my notice. Don't worry. Nothing within ten light-seconds can escape my gaze!"

Xiao Si spoke with such conviction that it was clearly absolutely confident. Bai Muye nodded. Ten light-seconds was three million kilometers. That range would at least give him some time to react, so enemies wouldn't suddenly appear right in front of him without his knowing.

"But there's still another problem. Detection is taken care of, but what about blocking scans? I don't have a detector, and on the Outer Battlefield, even the lowest-end detectors can pick me up..."

"I can't help with that. But every team on the Outer Battlefield is bound to have a detector. Since you don't have one, just go steal one..."

"As long as you make it through your first battle, there'll definitely be a detector among the spoils. Even the lowest-end ones have at least a little scanning-blocking capability, right?"

"That's true." Bai Muye nodded. With Xiao Si able to detect activity within three million kilometers, he wouldn't have to worry about enemies sneaking up on him.

"And the more souls I devour, the faster I'll grow. In the future, the range my roots can cover will be beyond your imagination..." Xiao Si chattered on.

"Fine. There are still more than forty years left in the century-long vacation. They say the Domain Lord stage is the fastest period for cultivation and the best time to comprehend laws. I'll use this time to cultivate first, then practice the Divine Envoy Inheritance. The required interval has already passed, so I can start now... Once the century-long vacation is over, we'll set out."

Bai Muye made the final decision.

Now that he'd broken through to the Domain Lord stage, he could continue cultivating the Hunyuan Body Refining Technique. But Xiao Si had no energy reserves at all right now, and practicing without any preparation would be too risky. It would be safest to wait until he'd gathered enough energy to be sure.

After that, he transferred everything in his storage space into his Internal World, including all the spaceships, weapons, and other spoils. Most important of all was the Divine Envoy Inheritance Crystal.

He channeled World Force into the Inheritance Crystal, and in an instant, the entire Internal World was bathed in dazzling, multicolored light.

The inheritance interval of 10,081 eras had now passed. Sensing the World Force, mysterious characters appeared on the crystal.

Heavenly Punishment Divine Envoy Inheritance Secret Technique—Lightning Escape!

Although Bai Muye didn't recognize the characters, he could easily understand what they meant. Once he'd read them all, he had memorized the entire secret technique.

As the name suggested, Lightning Escape was a movement technique. It emphasized not only speed, but also quick, agile movements over short distances. According to the secret technique, once he mastered it, his movement skills would be no less impressive than Teleportation.

Teleportation could only be comprehended after reaching an extremely high level in the Space Law. But Teleportation moved someone instantly from one coordinate in space to another.

Lightning Escape was different from Teleportation. It was a technique for flying at high speed.

The rule governing speed in the universe was that once a person exceeded the speed of light, they would travel through the universe and enter the Dark Universe. Therefore, the maximum speed of anything, including energy attacks, had to stay a fraction below the speed of light. That way, an attack wouldn't enter the Dark Universe, while still reaching its target as quickly as possible.

Whether they were martial artists or Psychics, even Immortal Gods, who stood high above the rest, needed time to accelerate to the speed of light when they unleashed their full speed. Though they could travel through the universe with their physical bodies, they couldn't reach the speed of light in an instant.

Once Lightning Escape was mastered, it allowed the practitioner to instantly burst into motion at the speed of light. The most incredible part of the technique was that it could—eliminate inertia!

Even an Immortal, after reaching top speed, had to overcome their own inertia to turn or change direction. This inevitably slowed them down.

It was like a spaceship: to stop or turn around, it had to apply thrust in the opposite direction.

At the highest levels of combat, both sides moved at tremendous speed. The only exception was if one side had a Domain Type treasure that could greatly restrict the other's speed.

After practicing Lightning Escape, one could not only instantly burst forward at the speed of lightning, but also change direction at will without being held back by inertia.

At the Immortal stage, this ability was a tremendous advantage. One could fight when they wanted and leave when they wanted. If they truly mastered it, escaping unscathed from an ordinary Venerable wasn't impossible.

Of course, that was only possible after mastering the technique. But even practicing just part of it would greatly improve one's speed and make one's movements far more unpredictable. Such elusive movement would leave enemies struggling to defend against attacks from every direction.

After mastering Lightning Escape, the final part of the technique described an offensive move. It condensed the practitioner's World Force or Divine Power into a blade of energy, then sent it into the enemy's body at incredible speed, where it unleashed terrifying power.

This move was named Heavenly Punishment.

"Lightning Escape combines the Lightning Law with the Time Law." Bai Muye looked at the characters describing the technique, wondering, "I wonder how far I'll be able to advance with my current understanding of these two laws..."

After confirming that he'd memorized everything, he dispersed the World Force inside the Inheritance Crystal.

He sat cross-legged and sent most of his consciousness into the Origin Land of the Universe through the resonance of World Force.

When most of Bai Muye's consciousness entered the mysterious, vast Origin Land of the Universe, he instantly felt his perception of all the laws grow incomparably clearer.

"It's wonderful..."

The original fluctuations of the Ten Great Laws—metal, wood, water, fire, earth, wind, lightning, light, time, and space—were all countless times clearer than before.

He made a quick comparison. Sure enough, his perception of the Lightning Law was still the clearest, while his perception of the other laws was slightly weaker.

Leaving part of his consciousness in his body, he began practicing Lightning Escape.

In the Training Room, it was as if a bolt of lightning were dancing, now twisting and turning like a dragon, now moving in an utterly unpredictable way...