On the arena platform, Ling Yi and Cao Mengde stood facing each other.
The Qi flames around Ling Yi changed color with each breath, looking fairly stable.
Cao Mengde, however, was drenched in sweat and covered in wounds, breathing rapidly.
"I concede!" Twentyfold Kaio-ken put too much strain on him. He could not maintain it for long, and in less than a minute, he had been forced out of the Kaio-ken state.
Conceding was part of the strategy Lin Feng and the others had devised. They would wear down Ling Yi's strength with a revolving-door battle, conceding once they had achieved their aim.
After saying that, Cao Mengde jumped straight off the platform. Tony Stark took the stage immediately after him.
Tony wasted no words. He opened with Destructo Disc, sending six circular discs whistling toward Ling Yi in succession, giving him no chance to catch his breath.
Ling Yi turned sideways to dodge the first Destructo Disc, then the second, the third...
After Ling Yi dodged all the Destructo Discs, he heard cries of surprise from the audience.
Seeming to realize something, Ling Yi whipped his head around and saw that the Destructo Discs he had dodged had not vanished. Instead, they traced an arc through the air and slashed toward him again.
Ling Yi "paled in shock" and, "too late" to dodge, immediately took a defensive stance.
Boom, boom, boom...
The six Destructo Discs slammed into Ling Yi, producing violent explosions.
"This is a revolving-door battle. It's rather unfair," Hela said beside Odin, frowning.
"Their tactics are correct. Against someone this powerful, they have to use every means available. Otherwise, all that awaits them is defeat," Odin said.
"A clash of ideals?" On the other side, Thanos seemed to have noticed something.
"The Time-Space Administration Bureau, overseeing trillions upon trillions of worlds?" Nick Fury frowned, committing this information to memory.
On the platform, the dust cleared. Ling Yi did not seem to have suffered any injuries, but the cold, murderous look in his eyes told Tony Stark that he was "angry."
"Destructo Disc. Very good. As expected of Tony Stark." Ling Yi walked toward Tony, step by step. With each step, his Qi flames grew stronger, white, blue, and red intertwining in a display brimming with special effects.
Tony swallowed. The same terrifying pressure Cao Mengde had felt rose within him, and he began frantically unleashing Destructo Discs almost on instinct. This was the only move he had learned, and he had been practicing it all along.
He felt that mastering this move alone would be enough.
Indeed, that opening move had given him the upper hand, but Tony had never imagined that Ling Yi could withstand his attack head-on with his own defenses and remain completely unscathed.
In an instant, the pressure on Tony surged. Watching Ling Yi approach, he could only unleash Destructo Discs madly to ease the fear within him.
Ling Yi did not dodge at all, allowing the Destructo Discs to strike him. Yet as his Qi flames grew stronger, the damage the discs inflicted dwindled, until finally they were extinguished by his Qi flames before they could even touch him.
Tony instinctively retreated, attacked, retreated, attacked, then flew into the air and continued attacking.
Ling Yi simply watched Tony with cold eyes, neither dodging nor preparing to rush forward and attack, as though telling Tony that he was nothing but an ant in his eyes.
Tony's fear turned to anger, and, just like Mengde, he unleashed Kaio-ken.
"Your energy can't be endless. Take my extra-large Destructo Disc!" Tony raised both hands, and an enormous Destructo Disc over ten meters in diameter, mingled with red and white, instantly formed.
"Die!" Tony swung both hands down fiercely.
The Destructo Disc spun madly, flying toward Ling Yi with a hum as it sliced through the air.
Ling Yi raised his right hand and made a grasping motion in the air. The extra-large Destructo Disc actually stopped about half a meter away from him.
"Impossible!" Tony could not believe it.
"Of everyone here, you disappoint me the most. Do you think you're saving this world? No, you're destroying it."
As Ling Yi spoke, he swept his gaze over Lin Feng and the others. "All of you have been deceived by an evil consciousness. There's no such thing as a free lunch. Do you think that evil consciousness created a chat group like this without wanting something?"
"I've already sensed its existence, sensed its malice. A bunch of fools who refuse to see reason."
Ling Yi spoke with righteous conviction, but in truth, he was merely trying to provoke that unknown consciousness into continuing to stir up trouble.
Ling Yi already had a conjecture: the progress of his law analysis was increasing precisely because of that unknown consciousness's peculiar existence.
Tony and the others had already been tainted by the unknown consciousness. They simply did not know it themselves.
What Ling Yi said was not exactly a lie. How could a self-aware system possibly allow mortals to control it?
Take Ling Yi's system, for instance. He could use it without worry because he knew his system had no consciousness. It was simply a cheat.
If Ling Yi's system had possessed consciousness, it would never have allowed him to wield laws, powers of rules that touched upon the essence of worlds.
As for what the system itself actually was, perhaps it was some powerful magical treasure, perhaps the system itself was the product of some kind of fundamental rule, or perhaps... he was the protagonist of some novel, and the author had arranged this cheat for him.
Just like Deadpool, who broke the fourth wall. That guy knew he was a character in a movie and often broke the fourth wall to chat with the audience...
Even if Ling Yi really was the protagonist of some novel, what did it matter? After all, a protagonist was itself an imagined existence of the author's. Or rather, the protagonist was the author.
Never assume that the author controlled the protagonist. In reality, that was not the case. The protagonist and author coexisted. Although the author created the protagonist, the two influenced each other.
Back to the matter at hand...
Ling Yi's words had clearly had an enormous impact on Tony, Lin Feng, and the others.
Even the group owner, Lin Feng, had a drastic change of expression. They were not stupid, and naturally understood that what Ling Yi said could very well be true.
Acknowledging it was one thing, but at this point, the battle still had to continue.
Because Lin Feng and the others could not lose. The price of defeat was being erased by Ling Yi.
As they were now, Lin Feng and the others had no choice.
"If we concede, will you let us go?" Tony had already felt Ling Yi's power. He genuinely did not want to fight anymore.
Ling Yi exerted a little force, crushing the super Destructo Disc, and shook his head. "The timeline must be corrected."
Correct the timeline? Wouldn't that still mean they were finished?
"Then... let's fight." Tony wasted no more words and charged straight at Ling Yi. The battle began again.
Tony was soon defeated, followed by Xiao Huohuo, Sasuke, and the others...
The audience watched with cries of delight. Battles on this level were far too many tiers above them, but it had to be said that the feeling of every punch striking flesh made them cast aside their restraint and involuntarily cheer for the warriors on the platform.
"There's only one person left. That monster of an old man looks incredibly strong at a glance. I wonder if he can beat that young man," Hawkeye Barton said excitedly behind Nick Fury.
"He was the one who fought this young man named Ling Yi until both were badly injured earlier, wasn't he? I'd say the outcome really is hard to predict this time," Coulson said as well.
"To witness a battle on this level, I could die without regrets."
"Something feels off," Black Widow suddenly said.
They all looked at her, and Black Widow continued, "I feel like this Ling Yi is plotting something. It definitely isn't as simple as correcting the timeline, whatever he says."
Nick Fury nodded. He felt the same way, but even if they knew what someone that powerful was plotting, there was nothing they could do.
It was not just Black Widow and the others who had noticed. Odin and the others could naturally tell as well that Ling Yi's motives were not straightforward.
But what did that matter? These were all big shots, and they were merely watching the show.
As the group owner, Lin Feng, fell in defeat as well, the final showdown at last arrived.
"Wuhahaha, young Ling Yi, this time it's a fight to the death. Please show me your true strength." Whitebeard's enormous body leaped onto the platform, and he spoke to Ling Yi with a hearty laugh.
Ling Yi glanced at the system interface.
Host: Ling Yi Laws controlled: 23,154 (law of space, law of time, law of wind, law of water, law of thunder, law of souls, law of life... law of darkness... law of light... law of samsara, law of destruction...) Law analysis: The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber (65%), Resident Evil (100%), The Myth (12%), Train to Busan (100%), Myriad Worlds Chat Group (35%). Points: 21 million. Plot progress: The Smiling, Proud Wanderer (35%), Xia Luo's Special Troubles (50%), Seven Dragon Balls Z (29%), Avengers 1 (51%), The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber (98%), Resident Evil (100%), The Myth (85%), Train to Busan (100%), Myriad Worlds Chat Group (45%). (Other details omitted...)
His law analysis progress had reached (35%), and the number of laws he controlled had also reached more than twenty thousand.
Carefully sensing these brand-new laws, Ling Yi could not help but marvel.
The more laws he mastered, the more reverence he felt toward heaven and earth.
For instance, the law of soul essence was one of the essential laws of the soul, the law of the energy through which souls existed. This law gave Ling Yi a clearer understanding of souls.
As he was now, Ling Yi could create souls out of thin air and freely alter their forms and strength.
There were more than twenty thousand laws on the microscopic level like this law of soul essence.
The most obvious changes had taken place in the Ling Realm.
In the present Ling Realm, beyond the native living beings that had already been born, countless entirely new forms of life had appeared, such as silicon-based life, elemental life, spirit entities...
This would make the Ling Realm's future life more diverse. As the number of laws he controlled increased, the Ling Realm would surely possess infinite possibilities, its future limitless.