Space-Time Against Strength, the Battle for First Place

As Shichen's words fell, the azure light around him surged.

The River of Time roared forth beneath his feet. Standing upon its surface, hair flying, he seemed to merge with the entire river.

Pangu was not afraid. Instead, he grinned.

"Good! Only this is worthy of being my opponent!"

He raised the Pangu Axe, and the Law of Strength condensed into tangible radiance along its blade. One glance at that light was enough to make one feel as though their true spirit would be crushed.

Shichen struck first.

The Time Roulette emerged behind him. Its pointer began ticking backward, and an invisible force of time silently eroded toward Pangu.

Once entangled by that power of time, one would be dragged into Time Turbulence and directly regressed to their weakest state.

"You think you can trap me with time?"

Pangu snorted. The Creation Jade Butterfly above his head suddenly lit up. The jade butterfly spun, scattering a gentle white glow that enveloped him.

The moment those powers of time touched the white light, they seemed to strike an invisible wall, shattering and dissipating one after another.

"The Creation Jade Butterfly?" Shichen gritted his teeth. "Damn it."

"There's more than that!"

Pangu roared, gripping his axe with both hands as the Law of Strength condensed upon the blade to its utmost limit. He took a single step, and all of Hundun trembled. Then he brought down his axe.

That strike held no fancy technique, only pure strength.

Where the axe-light passed, the space of Hundun was torn open by an enormous rift. Golden flames burned along its edges—the manifestation of the Law of Strength. The power of this strike was enough to split heaven and earth.

Shichen neither dodged nor evaded. With a wave of his hand, the River of Time flowed upstream.

"I am time. Time, reverse!"

The river surged backward, crashing toward the axe-light. Washed by the River of Time, the axe-light actually began to dim, as though its strength were being drained away.

Yet Pangu's Law of Strength was too tyrannical. Even weakened by the Law of Time, the axe-light still slashed before Shichen.

Shichen shifted slightly. The axe-light skimmed past his shoulder and cleaved a rift hundreds of millions of light-years long through the Hundun space behind him.

"You dodged quickly enough." Pangu grinned and swung another axe strike.

This time, Shichen did not passively defend.

Standing atop the River of Time, he flickered unpredictably through time and space—left, right, forward, back—impossible to grasp.

Pangu's axe-lights missed again and again, hacking into Hundun space and leaving behind shocking rifts.

"Will you only dodge?" Pangu was growing impatient.

"What's the rush?" Shichen's voice came from every direction. "Let me show you the true power of the Law of Time."

He suddenly stopped and formed seals with both hands.

"Eternal Time Imprisonment!"

As his words fell, the flow of time around Pangu abruptly descended into chaos.

At times it was swift as lightning, at times slow as a snail's crawl, and at times it even began to flow backward. Pangu felt his body turn light one moment and heavy the next, his movements becoming utterly uncoordinated.

"What the hell is this?" Pangu frowned.

"Time Turbulence," Shichen said coolly. "Here, you cannot even control your own movements. How do you intend to fight?"

Pangu fell silent for a moment, then suddenly laughed.

"You think this can trap me?"

He closed his eyes, the Law of Strength circulating wildly within him.

"Dao of Strength, break!"

Pangu's eyes snapped open, and he swung his axe.

This strike was not aimed at Shichen, but at the Time Turbulence around him. The pure Law of Strength erupted, forcibly shaking the chaotic flow of time back to normal.

A flicker of surprise crossed Shichen's eyes.

"You can even forcibly break Time Turbulence?"

"There's nothing one axe can't solve." Pangu rested the axe on his shoulder and grinned. "And if there is, then use two axes."

Shichen smiled as well.

"Interesting. Then try this."

He raised a hand, and the River of Time abruptly contracted, condensing into a slender azure blade of light. The glow of the Law of Time flowed across the blade, radiating a heart-palpitating aura.

"Blade of Time."

Shichen waved his hand, and the light blade shot forth.

Where it passed, Hundun space silently split apart. In the regions swept by its edge, time accelerated to an extreme; in the blink of an eye, they underwent the vicissitudes of tens of thousands of Hundun epochs.

Pangu's expression tightened slightly. Gripping his axe in both hands, he condensed the Law of Strength into a golden radiance along its blade.

"Slash of Force!"

The axe-light and the light blade collided with a thunderous crash.

At that moment, the entire world of Hundun fell silent.

Then, a terrifying storm of energy erupted. The origin energy of Hundun went berserk, like a boulder thrown into a lake, setting off monstrous waves that reached the heavens.

The space of the Hundun world began to shake violently before rupturing in vast sheets, exposing the pitch-black void behind it. The Law of Time fell into disorder, and the boundaries between past, present, and future became blurred beyond recognition.

The stars that had only recently been born due to the emergence of the Star Demon God shattered within the turbulent currents of time and space, turning into countless fragments that drifted through Hundun.

"Fuck!"

The Star Demon God had only just recovered from the frustration of having his Dao body shattered, and at the sight, he nearly jumped up.

The Demon Gods watching from all directions changed color as well, hurriedly activating their own laws to shield the Domains of Dao around them.

"These two have gone mad!"

"Stop fighting! You two, stop fighting!"

"It's only a ranking! Are you trying to destroy the whole world of Hundun?"

The Karma Demon God hid behind the Fate Demon God and looked toward the battlefield.

"Fate the Third, who do you think will win?"

The Fate Demon God shot him a glare. "Can you stop calling me Fate the Third?"

"Okay, Fate the Fourth. So who will win?"

"...Get lost."

At the center of the battlefield, Pangu and Shichen stood facing one another.

The space around them had already shattered completely, and time was in utter chaos. Yet neither retreated. Instead, the fighting spirit in their eyes only grew fiercer.

"Hahaha! That was satisfying!" Pangu laughed loudly. "As expected of you, Shichen! Let's decide victory and defeat with one strike!"

A smile curved at Shichen's lips. "Just as I wish."

Both men closed their eyes at once, and the aura of their Daos began to rise madly.

Around Pangu, the Law of Strength condensed into tangible golden radiance. It grew brighter and more resplendent, like a golden sun. He gripped his axe in both hands, and the light on its blade was so dazzling that none could keep their eyes open.

Around Shichen, the River of Time rushed on without end. Waves crashed, each one containing the power of the Law of Time. Standing upon the river's surface, he formed seals with both hands.

Pangu threw back his head and roared, his voice shaking Hundun. "One Force Breaks Ten Thousand Daos!"

Gripping his axe with both hands, he hacked forward with all his strength.

That strike contained every ounce of his power. Wherever its axe-light passed, Hundun space was utterly annihilated, even the origin energy of Hundun evaporating completely. It was pure power—power sufficient to destroy everything.

At the same time, Shichen also attacked.

"Time carries space, and space likewise carries time—Space-Time Slash!"

The River of Time surged forth, and a thread of silver-white radiance emerged upon its surface. It was the power of the Law of Space—weak, yet undeniably real.

Over countless Hundun epochs, Shichen had often sought Yang Mei to discuss the Dao and study the Law of Space. Though he had not fully mastered it, he had comprehended a trace of the Law of Space's true essence. At this moment, he fused that trace into the Law of Time.

The River of Time churned, and a wave rose up, carrying that thread of the Law of Space as it transformed into a blade of interwoven azure and white light.

The light blade slashed forth. Wherever it passed, time and space twisted simultaneously.

In the distance, beneath the Willow Tree.

Yang Mei's hand holding the wine cup paused slightly. Surprise flashed through his eyes, and then he shook his head with a laugh.

"Shichen, you bastard." He shook his head, chuckling softly. "I knew you did not come by so often merely to visit."

The two supreme attacks collided with a thunderous explosion.

At that moment, the entire world of Hundun was drowned in blinding light.

All the Demon Gods instinctively shut their eyes. Only a few managed to keep them wide open, trying to see the situation within the battlefield clearly.

The light persisted for a long time.

When it finally faded, all the Demon Gods held their breath and looked toward the center of the battlefield.

The first Demon God was finally about to be revealed.