Battle in the Time-Space Arena

Herk was no fool. He could understand the problem here.

For now, he could still keep up with the team, but if he did not change, he would sooner or later be eliminated.

Zhou Zheng spoke with Herk for a while, and before long, the latter hurriedly left Black Wind Divine Mountain.

Seeing Herk leave, Zhou Zheng did not dwell on it any further.

Zhou Zheng was not a nanny. Whether Herk could keep up with the team depended on himself. Zhou Zheng had no intention of worrying about it.

"I'm more or less familiar with the Micro-particle True Meaning. Time to check that place out!"

As Zhou Zheng focused his consciousness on the Temporal Temple mark on his left wrist, he directly selected the "Time-Space Arena."

Buzz!

As a ripple of space-time appeared, Zhou Zheng suddenly vanished from where he stood.

Inside the familiar tavern, Overlord Blade Master was speaking with a lifeform that looked like crystal. Suddenly, the two turned and saw Zhou Zheng, who had just been teleported in.

"Yo, Lightning Swordsman. Long time no see!" Overlord Blade Master greeted him.

"Long time no see!"

Zhou Zheng returned the greeting, while secretly wondering, Does Overlord Blade Master actually live here? Why do I see him every time I come?

Overlord Blade Master invited Zhou Zheng to sit down and smiled. "Come, let me introduce you. This is Crystal Prince. Like you, he became a Silver Token Divine Envoy not long ago!"

"Crystal Prince, this is Lightning Swordsman, a newcomer who just became a Silver Token Divine Envoy!" Overlord Blade Master said to the crystal-like lifeform.

"Pleased to meet you." Zhou Zheng nodded to the lifeform.

"Hello!" Crystal Prince replied before immediately asking, "What is your rank?"

"6345," Zhou Zheng said.

After mastering the complete Micro-particle True Meaning, his ranking in the Time-Space Arena had automatically changed. He had jumped from over nine thousandth place to 6345th, a considerable increase.

"Damn, you jumped over three thousand places in one go?" Overlord Blade Master looked at Zhou Zheng in surprise.

"I made a small breakthrough."

Zhou Zheng smiled, then said, "Which of you is closer to my ranking? Let's spar."

"Crystal Prince, you do it. The opponents you challenged have basically not responded, and you've already waited here for over a day. There may not be any result even if you keep waiting. Lightning Swordsman is about right!" Overlord Blade Master looked at Crystal Prince, who nodded slightly.

"I'm ranked 4982. What do you think?" Crystal Prince looked at Zhou Zheng.

"4982 works!" Zhou Zheng agreed.

According to what Overlord Blade Master had said before, sparring was only effective when the gap between two people's rankings was within a thousand places. Any larger, and it was basically a waste of time.

However, Crystal Prince's ranking was not that much more than a thousand places above his. It would not hurt to try.

Zhou Zheng and Crystal Prince simultaneously submitted applications to Subconscious No. 008, which managed this place on behalf of the Temporal Temple Artifact Spirit. Before long, a force of space-time swept them away, and they vanished from the spot.

Whoosh!

Zhou Zheng's vision blurred. When it cleared, he found himself on a desolate stretch of land.

Crystal Prince stood roughly ten miles away from him.

Buzz!

An invisible ripple descended, and Zhou Zheng quickly understood the rules of this place.

Here, only one's own strength could be used. All external forces were prohibited. Furthermore, there was no need to worry about killing the other party. If a battle reached the point of life and death, the Temporal Temple Artifact Spirit would intervene immediately.

So far, not a single Silver Token Divine Envoy who had sparred here had accidentally been killed by another.

"So that's how it is!"

Zhou Zheng nodded slightly and looked toward Crystal Prince in the distance. The latter happened to look back at him.

Both seemed to understand the other's intentions. In an instant, they moved at the same time.

The other party was, after all, a Silver Token Divine Envoy ranked far above him. Zhou Zheng did not hesitate at all. With a thought, his Micro-particle Domain instantly took shape.

At the same time, he raised his hand, and the flow of time over a wide area directly slowed.

Invisible micro-particles frantically battered Crystal Prince's crystal-like body. Through his senses, Zhou Zheng found the other party's body structure extremely peculiar. Though he had never experienced it firsthand, he could guess that its hardness had to be terrifying.

However, the Micro-particle True Meaning specialized in countering this sort of body. Zhou Zheng's Micro-particle Domain destroyed things at the micro-particle level. Mere toughness was useless.

Yet before Zhou Zheng's confidence could last long, his expression changed slightly.

Under the destructive power of the Micro-particle Domain, Crystal Prince did not even furrow his brow. He charged forward, forcibly enduring the domain's attacks.

In truth, Crystal Prince was equally shocked.

Micro-particle True Meaning, Time Deceleration True Meaning. Two Second-grade True Meanings?

Crystal Prince was momentarily stunned. How could someone who had mastered two Second-grade True Meanings be ranked in the six-thousands?

Hmm? The Time Deceleration is a bit weak. It seems to be a Proto True Meaning. Crystal Prince immediately realized.

Neither of these two True Meanings is suited for dealing with domains! Crystal Prince had extensive combat experience. The instant this thought crossed his mind, his mind shifted.

In an instant, a force of death and desolation suddenly descended around Zhou Zheng and began rapidly eroding his body.

Whoosh!

The defense of the Black Fiend Dao Wind Robe around Zhou Zheng instantly shattered, followed by a defensive barrier of Micro-particle True Meaning formed over his body.

True Meaning was the manifestation of the mysteries of the rules of heaven and earth. Unlike the mysteries of the Myriad Realms, True Meaning could be directly used for attack and defense.

A True Meaning defense formed from the Second-grade Micro-particle True Meaning should not have been weak, yet it was now being rapidly eroded.

The reason was simple: this domain was extremely powerful.

"What a powerful Death Domain!"

Zhou Zheng's heart grew grave. Death True Meaning was only a Third-grade True Meaning, yet the Death Domain released by Crystal Prince was absurdly strong. Even if normal Death True Meaning reached the Third-tier, it likely would not possess such intensity.

Without a doubt, the Second-grade True Meaning Crystal Prince had mastered must contain Death True Meaning!

It was common for high-grade True Meanings to contain lower-grade True Meanings. If Crystal Prince's Second-grade True Meaning contained Death True Meaning, then even if his Second-grade True Meaning was only at the First-tier, the Death Domain he released should still have the strength of the Third-tier.

Zhou Zheng's Micro-particle True Meaning also contained the Third-grade Particle True Meaning. Now that Zhou Zheng had mastered Micro-particle True Meaning, if he used the methods of Particle True Meaning again, he could casually unleash power equivalent to Particle True Meaning at the Third-tier.

The only explanation was that Second-grade True Meanings were indeed far more powerful than Third-grade True Meanings!

My True Meaning defense can probably last ten breaths. Once those ten breaths pass, if my physical body directly faces this Death Domain, I probably won't last even a single exchange! Zhou Zheng pondered. In this situation, he had two choices. The first was to use the Time Deceleration True Meaning to keep his distance and rapidly leave the range of the Death Domain.

Then he could wear the other party down from afar.

The second was to charge in directly and try to defeat the other party within ten breaths.

The choice was not difficult. After thinking for a moment, Zhou Zheng prepared to charge in.

The reason was simple. In a true life-or-death battle, Zhou Zheng definitely would not choose this. After all, he only had one life. Betting it would be too unwise.

But this was merely a spar in the Time-Space Arena. With the Temporal Temple backing them up, what was there to fear?

With a thought from Zhou Zheng, the effect of Time Acceleration appeared around him.

Whoosh!

Zhou Zheng's speed surged again as he suddenly charged toward Crystal Prince.

"So fast!"

Crystal Prince was slightly startled. He extended his hands, and a crystal staff immediately appeared in his grasp.

Whoosh!

In the blink of an eye, Zhou Zheng had already arrived before Crystal Prince. At the same time, the longsword on his back had left its sheath.

The longsword was like light and lightning. Countless sword shadows struck at Crystal Prince in an instant.

Affected by Time Deceleration, the other party's speed had become incomparably slow. However, he was not overly flustered. As his staff spun, black and white light wound around it while he did his utmost to block Zhou Zheng's sword.

For the first fifty moves, Crystal Prince blocked them all with exquisite technique. But afterward, he began to struggle. There was no other reason—Zhou Zheng was indeed far faster than Crystal Prince, and Zhou Zheng's swordsmanship was not weak either.

Slash! Slash! Slash!

Zhou Zheng's sword struck Crystal Prince's body again and again, but gradually, Zhou Zheng became somewhat bewildered.

The power of his sword was already formidable. Leaving aside wounds that severed Crystal Prince's arms and legs, at times Zhou Zheng could even blast half of Crystal Prince's body into powder.

Moreover, all the damage Zhou Zheng caused was at the micro-particle level. Logically, it should have been difficult to recover from.

Yet even so, the other party did not blink. No matter how severe the injury, it recovered in an instant.

This Immortal Body was countless times stronger than Shockwave's Immortal Body. The two could not even be compared.

It's definitely Life-and-Death True Meaning, and it has most likely reached the Second-tier! This thought flashed through Zhou Zheng's mind.

Life-and-Death True Meaning was a highly balanced Second-grade True Meaning, possessing both attack and defense.

But balance also meant being inferior to extreme True Meanings in certain aspects. Although the Micro-particle True Meaning was not entirely extreme, it belonged to the relatively extreme type. If the other party only possessed First-tier Life-and-Death True Meaning, it would have been impossible for him to endure Zhou Zheng's assault so easily.

Crystal Prince's current performance could only mean that his Life-and-Death True Meaning had reached the Second-tier.

In just over ten breaths, Zhou Zheng had landed more than a hundred sword strikes on Crystal Prince, yet the latter's aura had changed only slightly.

At this moment, however, Zhou Zheng's True Meaning defense could no longer hold on.

Whoosh!

The defense formed by the Micro-particle True Meaning was pierced by the terrifying force of death, and countless death energies surged toward Zhou Zheng's fragile body.

Zhou Zheng's Battle Qi had only broken through to the Saint Level, while his physical body remained at the early Flying Heaven level. If that force of death eroded him, he would likely be finished in an instant.

Fortunately, at the critical moment, a vast space-time ripple descended, and both men's movements immediately stopped.

A message also appeared in the hearts of Crystal Prince and Zhou Zheng at the same time.

Crystal Prince, victory!

A moment later—

Zhou Zheng and Crystal Prince appeared simultaneously in the same tavern as before.

Overlord Blade Master, who was drinking, looked at the two in surprise.

"So soon?" Overlord Blade Master asked.

"I was countered by Crystal Prince's Death Domain!" Zhou Zheng said helplessly. This kind of domain-type ability that could not be dodged and could only be endured truly countered him.

At the same time, it made Zhou Zheng recognize his own weakness. His physical body was simply too weak!

"Lightning Swordsman, you're very strong. If your weakness were not so glaring, your ranking would rise by at least another one or two thousand places!" Crystal Prince said. Then he looked at Overlord Blade Master and added, "Overlord Blade Master, Lightning Swordsman may become the kind of opponent you like in the future!"

"Oh?"

Overlord Blade Master's eyes lit up slightly as he instantly looked at Zhou Zheng.

"It's too early to say that!" Zhou Zheng shook his head slightly. The weakness of his physical body would not be easy to resolve. Who would not want an Immortal Body?

Unfortunately, not to mention an unbelievably powerful Immortal Body like Crystal Prince's, even an Immortal Body like Shockwave's would be extremely difficult for Zhou Zheng to achieve.

After becoming a Silver Token Divine Envoy, I gained one opportunity to choose a top-grade divine Secret Manual. Once I return, I'll see whether there's any solution! This thought crossed Zhou Zheng's mind.

In Zhou Zheng's view, the purpose of the Time-Space Arena was to allow Silver Token Divine Envoys to accumulate experience fighting experts of the same level and to discover their own weaknesses.

Both were wielders of Second-grade True Meanings. If one was countered and instantly defeated, that was not strange at all. Therefore, understanding one's own weaknesses was very important.

At the same time, developing one's True Meaning to higher levels meant having fewer and fewer weaknesses. Once one truly became flawless, a Transcendental would be very close to a First-grade True Meaning.