Quiliana finally broke free of the binding force of "Deceit," but she was already too late to stop Chen Rui as he charged toward the three statues. Strangely, there was no panic on her face—only a faint, inscrutable smile.
Burning with all his strength, Chen Rui charged at the statues still projecting pillars of light. Yet the instant he entered the structures housing the three statues, he was astonished to find himself slowing down, as though he had fallen into an ocean of mud.
Everything slowed down, including his burning soul and life force. This was no simple shift in time, but an overwhelming power that fused rules of time, space, destruction, creation, and more—utterly irresistible.
After his vision twisted, the scene before him changed. The statues and buildings vanished, replaced by an endless void.
Faintly visible overhead was a colossal diamond shape. Along its edges spread boundless blood-red stars, radiating outward in every direction. At the exact center of the diamond burned two enormous masses of light, exuding the auras of destruction and creation, clearly the source of all radiance. The stars gathered into three constellation-like patterns, vaguely forming human faces, positioned on three sides and facing one another from afar.
These three "faces" seemed impossibly distant, yet also close enough to touch, emanating an eerie aura. Chen Rui felt his mind sway, and the sensation of "sinking" within him grew stronger and stronger. The road ahead seemed endless, with neither beginning nor end. His soul, body, and power were continuously breaking apart and dissipating, while his consciousness gradually blurred.
Chen Rui abruptly snapped awake. Brilliant light burst from his hands as countless purple star motes whirled around him like cyclones, sending fierce storms surging in every direction. This was the Extreme Star Storm fused with Lalalia's power of