Luo Feng followed the voice and looked over, his gaze finally settling on a four-armed beast of the Alien Race.
He could not help feeling startled.
In all his time on the Origin Continent, this was the first member of the Alien Race whose strength he could not gauge. Luo Feng had more than the extraordinary ability of Formless and Faceless; his perception far surpassed that of others. As long as someone was below the Saint Realm, one glance was enough for him to see through their strength.
The alien before him was clearly above an Eternal True God.
"An expert of the Saint Realm." Luo Feng narrowed his eyes. He could sense the four-armed alien's hostility.
With countless eyes on him, Mad Demon teleported to City Lord Jing's side.
Teleportation!
Almost everyone who saw it understood: this four-armed alien was at least a Saint Realm expert. Most of those present had never seen anyone of the Saint Realm before. Their eyes filled with awe.
"A Saint Realm expert." The lord of Demonstone City, Zhan Tianxing, and the others looked on with longing.
Becoming an Eternal True God was one dividing line among the strong. Reaching the Saint Realm was another.
Eternal True Gods were numerous, but Saint Realm experts were far rarer. In the You Mountain Empire, every region had thousands upon thousands of Eternal True Gods, yet producing even one Saint Realm expert was considered fortunate.
Everyone who reached the Saint Realm was brought into You Mountain's Core Layer and accorded an exalted position.
"My lord." City Lord Jing greeted Mad Demon respectfully.
"Well done. The position of domain lord will soon be yours." Mad Demon made no effort to lower his voice. Luo Feng in the distance and nearly everyone watching heard him clearly.
"Thank you, my lord." City Lord Jing was overjoyed. With a Saint Realm expert saying so in public, the position was practically his.
City Lord Jing stole a glance at Luo Feng, disdain in his eyes. No matter how strong Galaxy was, he was still only an Eternal True God. A vast gulf separated him from the Saint Realm.
"You intend to attack me?" Luo Feng watched Mad Demon warily.
"What else? Why did you think City Lord Jing challenged you? To beat you? His only real purpose was to draw you out of the city so I could kill you!" Mad Demon grinned as he spoke.
Humm!
The surrounding space instantly sank into a boundless Chaos Domain. It covered a full ten light-years, and that was only because Mad Demon had deliberately kept it small.
The domain's powerful repulsion pushed every spectator outside it. Only Luo Feng's tiny figure remained, as though trapped in an endless swamp.
"Chaos Sea!"
Boom!
Luo Feng's divine power erupted into full combustion. One Thought Universe took shape, while the wings on his back burst with dazzling light. A Chaos Domain nearly ten light-years across formed around him: the Chaos Sea.
The Miniature Universe and Chaos Sea reinforced each other, straining to repel Mad Demon's Chaos Domain.
Even with both supporting him, Luo Feng was utterly outmatched. The Miniature Universe collapsed outright. Under the suppression of Mad Demon's Chaos Domain, he likely could not bring even ten percent of his strength to bear.
"That treasure of yours can control a Chaos Domain too. A First-Origin Saint Realm expert might not even match you. Unfortunately, you ran into me—a Four-Origin Saint Realm expert." Mad Demon was slightly surprised, but he still looked down on Luo Feng. He had not even used a tenth of his strength.
"Die!"
Mad Demon looked at Luo Feng, raised one arm, and pointed at him from afar.
The power of Laws interwove wildly at his hand as energy from the surrounding Chaos Domain gathered. An enormous finger of divine power, imbued with the complete Chaos Law, silently took shape. Countless secret patterns covered its surface, along with the fluctuations of several Origin Mysteries.
Whoosh!
The giant finger became a streak of light and shot straight at Luo Feng.
Bolstered by the Earth Origin, Wood Origin, and Time Origin, it gathered Chaos Power as it traveled, growing larger, denser, and stronger like a rolling snowball. The weight of the Earth Origin made it seem as massive as a star, radiating irresistible force.
More importantly, the fluctuations of the Time Origin Mystery on its surface accelerated it to an astonishing degree.
It crossed the thousand-odd kilometers in an instant.
It was so fast that Luo Feng had no time to react.
Boom!
The finger struck Luo Feng directly. His expression changed as he was hurled backward. The armor formed by the Chaos Golden Wings and his Blood God Armor weakened the blow twice over, yet nearly one percent of its force still slammed into his divine body. That force ate into him furiously, seeking to annihilate him completely.
After Luo Feng desperately dispersed the force of the blow, he was in poor shape. Even his divine body, twelve light-years in size, had lost nearly one ten-thousandth of its divine power.
It was only one ten-thousandth, but that was probably far more divine power than City Lord Jing possessed in total.
A Four-Origin Saint Realm expert was simply far, far stronger than he was. A single finger had suppressed him completely. What Luo Feng did not know was that Mad Demon had used less than a tenth of his strength.
Luo Feng was shaken, but Mad Demon was stunned too.
"His aura barely changed after taking that blow. He lost only about one ten-thousandth." Mad Demon was shocked, then broke into a delighted smile. "He must have a powerful defensive Supreme Treasure, at least a high-grade Saint-level treasure. Otherwise, there's no way a human body could take my attack unharmed, even though I was nowhere near full strength."
Mad Demon looked at Luo Feng's Blood-colored Armor. This deal was proving worthwhile.
If he captured Galaxy, he would get not only the treasures Galaxy carried, but another high-grade Saint-level Supreme Treasure as well. He might not find an opportunity this good even if he risked his life fighting in a deadly region.
"Excellent." Mad Demon grinned, his smile faintly savage.
He pointed from afar once more, and another enormous finger formed.
Boom!
The finger arrived in an instant. Though Luo Feng was prepared, it swallowed him completely. With his full effort focused on defense this time, the damage was reduced. He lost only one hundred-thousandth of his divine power.
"Again." Luo Feng grinned, wholly unafraid.
After refining the Time Heart, Luo Feng had become extraordinarily sensitive to the Time Law. He had clearly felt powerful Time Origin fluctuations in that finger. With the understanding of the Time Origin he had already accumulated, he sensed that this might be his chance to comprehend it further.
For now, he had no need to call on Morosa.
"Then I'll oblige you." Mad Demon smiled wickedly. "For an Eternal True God, you're quite impressive."
This time, he extended all four arms at once. Four enormous fingers of divine power formed in an instant and drove toward Luo Feng.
"Four?" Luo Feng's expression changed.
Enough of a difference in quantity could become a difference in kind. The power of those four fingers exceeded even the sum of their individual blows.
But Luo Feng had to be ruthless with himself. If he wanted to feel those Origin fluctuations, he had to meet the attack head-on. The Star Tower guarded his True God Heart. Even if he took the blow directly, he would at most lose some of his divine body; it could not do him too much harm.
Luo Feng first unleashed Water and Fire Scorch Heaven with the Blood Shadow Battle Saber, then instantly drew his wings together in front of him.
The Blood Shadow Battle Saber became a blade over ten thousand kilometers long. Its strike unquestionably carried Ninth-Order Eternal True God power. Water and Fire Scorch Heaven turned into a dragon of light that lunged at the four fingers, jaws open.
After launching the attack, Luo Feng kept his wings together to shield himself as best he could.
Still, he felt a flicker of fear. The Chaos Golden Wings had been damaged before. He did not know whether they could withstand this blow, and if they were damaged again, the price would be too high.
Boom!
The four fingers struck.
Against a Four-Origin Saint Realm expert's attack, Water and Fire Scorch Heaven offered little defense. The giant fingers slammed into the Chaos Golden Wings. Luo Feng could not withstand the violent impact, and it instantly engulfed his entire divine body once more.
By the time the glare faded, Luo Feng had been blasted hundreds of millions of kilometers away.
When Luo Feng recovered, his heart was still pounding. That single blow had cost him three-thousandths of his divine body. Without the Star Tower and the Blood God Armor, he probably would not even have qualified to fight.
"But I think I understand."
"Time... the Time Essence can actually be 'speed.' It's different from the time I thought I knew..." Battered though he was, Luo Feng's eyes lit up.
Yes. Just now, he had clearly sensed the four giant fingers accelerate to the extreme under the influence of the Time Origin. They had crossed tens of millions of kilometers as though space did not exist, much like teleportation.
Over the same distance, greater speed meant less time.
To an outside observer, changing the flow of time around an attack could also make it appear faster.
Before this, Luo Feng had never considered that changing time could change speed.
In a sense, speed was time.
Accelerating time meant, in one sense, making matter change faster. Time Deceleration made the rate of that change slower.
Time could make matter change faster or slower. That was another aspect of its essence.
The Light Law could produce greater speed, while the Time Law could not. But the Time Origin Mystery could.
Why were members of the Star Spirit Race who excelled at time so swift? Because they innately understood the Time Essence. By using the Time Origin Mystery, they could disregard space to a certain extent.
"I think I've got it." Luo Feng's eyes shone. "Mastery of spatial power lets you disregard space, but the Time Origin can do it too—by taking acceleration to its limit."
Luo Feng flicked his wings. Even under the suppression of Mad Demon's Chaos Domain, he moved a little faster than he normally could.
"This is one of the mysteries of the Time Origin." Luo Feng was delighted. He had this alien Saint Realm expert to thank for the insight.
Luo Feng's realization had taken only an instant. In the distance, Mad Demon was already charging at him again.
Even after taking all four fingers, Luo Feng's aura had not noticeably weakened. Mad Demon was astonished by his defensive armor, but also by something else: even a tenth of his strength was enough to rival a Second-Origin Saint Realm expert, yet he had failed to defeat an Eternal True God quickly. Worse, Luo Feng had made a breakthrough in the middle of their fight.
"Well, Galaxy, you've withstood a few of my moves. Now I'll show you what I can really do." Mad Demon grinned and pulled a scarlet blade from his spine. An overwhelming stench of blood quietly spread throughout the Chaos Domain...
A quick word about why there's only one chapter from Monday to Friday.
I'm just someone with a day job. I work during the week and can only write after I get off work.
I'm still fairly new to writing novels, too. I want to make this as good as I can, which takes time and slows down the updates.
Sometimes I get stuck while writing and have to keep checking my outline. I make occasional revisions as well.
I'll still write two chapters on weekends, though.
It's nice to know people enjoy it. I'll keep at it. I don't want to abandon the story, so I'll keep writing. That's all.