Fierce Battle

Everything happened too suddenly. Shockwave had reacted after lifting the wine jar, but when he unleashed his power to block the attack from behind, he discovered that it was too fast. He simply had no time to defend himself.

No, it would be more accurate to say that he was too slow now.

Buzz!

Rippling domains formed around Shockwave, but even the ripples spread at an agonizingly slow pace.

Splat!

The dagger struck Shockwave's head with perfect precision. Though it stalled for an instant, the dagger ultimately pierced through.

Boom!

Terrifying energy erupted from the dagger, instantly blasting Shockwave's head into fragments.

"Hmm?"

Zhou Zheng watched from afar, inwardly somewhat surprised. Was it over just like that?

For ordinary Transcendentals, losing an arm or a leg was nothing much, but if their heads were gone, they would undoubtedly die.

Although Zhou Zheng could imagine how powerful Time Deceleration combined with Shadow Space was, he had not expected Shockwave to be killed so directly.

However, this thought had barely lingered in Zhou Zheng's mind before he suddenly realized that something was wrong.

Shockwave's aura had not weakened in the slightest despite losing his head. The fluctuations around him instead continued erupting.

Fu Heng had clearly sensed that something was amiss as well. After his expression changed slightly, he entered Shadow Space without hesitation.

Boom!

The ripples that had just spread outward finally expanded completely, forming a terrifying domain around Shockwave.

However, this domain had always found it difficult to attack Fu Heng, who had mastered Shadow Space. Now, under the effects of Zhou Zheng's Time Deceleration, it was even less capable of doing so.

"Lord Shockwave!!"

Only now did the Native Transcendentals below react. Seeing Shockwave without a head, every one of them was dumbfounded.

But in the next moment, vast amounts of Particles and life force gathered where Shockwave's head had been. In the blink of an eye, Shockwave, who had just lost his head, returned to normal.

"Immortal Body!"

Seeing this, Zhou Zheng immediately understood.

To survive after losing one's head, it could only be an Immortal Body.

However, this talent was rather rare among both Demons and Native Transcendentals. Zhou Zheng had not expected Shockwave to possess an Immortal Body.

Earlier, Fu Heng had said that Shockwave might have been able to come into contact with the Heart of the World and wield a small portion of the power to control the world because of some special talent. Now, it seemed that guess had been wrong.

Although the Transcendentals nurtured by these worlds all possessed special talents, they could only possess one.

Since Shockwave's talent was an Immortal Body, there was no way he could also possess a talent that allowed him to come into contact with the Heart of the World.

"A member of the Yu Huang Clan?!"

Shockwave looked around with a gloomy expression. He had already handed over most of the Special Lifeform corpses, yet this man still refused to let it go and had come to ambush him.

Damn it!

"Protect yourselves!"

After saying that, Shockwave flew directly into the air.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

In an instant, Zhou Zheng sensed endless power of heaven and earth gathering.

When he had suddenly attacked and used Time Deceleration, Shockwave had evidently noticed him as well!

Unable to attack Fu Heng, who had hidden within Shadow Space, Shockwave could naturally only come after Zhou Zheng.

However, since Zhou Zheng had dared to come, he naturally had no reason to fear him.

Although an immense amount of power of heaven and earth was rapidly gathering, under Time Deceleration, it was still somewhat slow.

Wind Thunder flashed across Zhou Zheng's body, and in the blink of an eye, he darted beyond the range where the power of heaven and earth was gathering.

In the next moment, Zhou Zheng appeared before Shockwave.

Clang!

The longsword left its sheath. Lightning and radiance fused together, and time accelerated along the path of the blade, pushing its speed to the extreme.

Meanwhile, the effects of Time Deceleration around Shockwave continued.

Of course, the Time Deceleration around Shockwave was far weaker than the thirtyfold deceleration Zhou Zheng had used when launching his surprise attack. It was only around fifteen or sixteenfold now.

Normally, when Zhou Zheng used Time Deceleration and participated in battle himself, he could maintain a twentyfold deceleration.

But now, not only was he using Time Deceleration, he was also using Time Acceleration over a small area, which further weakened the effects of Time Deceleration.

Although Time Deceleration and Time Acceleration were both Mysteries of Time, their methods of execution were entirely different. Using them simultaneously caused far greater interference between them than with other methods.

Zhou Zheng estimated that unless he mastered the complete Mystery of Time, the deeper his comprehension of the two mysteries became, the greater their interference with one another would be.

However, although the two mysteries interfered with each other, Time Deceleration combined with Time Acceleration was truly terrifying.

If Zhou Zheng used only Time Deceleration, the relative speed between Shockwave and himself would be around twentyfold.

But now, Zhou Zheng slowed Shockwave by fifteen or sixteenfold through Time Deceleration while increasing his own speed by more than threefold through Time Acceleration.

In an instant, their relative speed reached a terrifying nearly fiftyfold difference.

Faced with such a horrifying gap in speed, Shockwave had just wanted to defend himself when he immediately realized that he had no time. Even dodging was extremely difficult.

In an instant, a vicious look appeared on Shockwave's face. He completely gave up defending and threw a punch directly at Zhou Zheng.

"Die!"

Shockwave's fist, standing a full nine zhang tall, could nearly cover Zhou Zheng's entire body. A massive amount of power of heaven and earth gathered within this punch, making its might utterly terrifying.

And that was not all. A Wave Domain erupted around Zhou Zheng, sealing off his escape routes.

Shockwave was determined to land this punch.

But Zhou Zheng's expression did not change.

His drawn sword pierced precisely through Shockwave's chest. The sword's power erupted, instantly leaving a gaping hole in his chest.

And just as Shockwave's fist descended, Zhou Zheng's figure moved directly against the spreading direction of the Wave Domain, retreating rapidly backward.

However, Zhou Zheng was not using his physical body to withstand the Wave Domain's power.

As he retreated, Zhou Zheng's thoughts stirred slightly, and azure, violet, and golden domains erupted from within him.

These were domains formed by the Nine Spirits Divine Light Domain. With the mysteries of wind, lightning, and light as their cores, Zhou Zheng had condensed one domain for each. Together, they formed three domains.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The three domains immediately offset part of the Wave Domain True Meaning's power. The remaining power struck Zhou Zheng, but the Black Fiend Dao Wind Robe on his body completely blocked it, unable to stir even the slightest disturbance.

"You can't hurt me!"

Shockwave roared and chased after Zhou Zheng, but the instant he caught up, his expression abruptly changed.

What had seemed to him like an ordinary sword wound now felt like an Abyssal beast, frantically devouring his life force.

The wound caused by this sword was not large, but the power contained within it inflicted damage on a micro-particle level.

Immortal Bodies also came in different grades.

The more perfect an Immortal Body was, the harder it was to kill.

If it were an Immortal Body formed from some kind of True Meaning, its resistance against such injuries might be stronger. But an Immortal Body formed solely through talent was far inferior.

Such injuries could only be filled with an immense amount of life force.