The aftereffects of the energy quickly dissipated, revealing a desolate, ravaged expanse before everyone's eyes. Amidst this desolation, Dilius stood silently, as if he had buried a God.
Yet on his face, within his three eyes streaming with pure blackness, an inexplicable tremor and something unimaginable now filled his gaze. He stared fixedly ahead. There stood Lu Sheng. Exactly where he had been, utterly calm. As if he had never moved a single step from the very beginning. And on his body, there wasn't even the slightest trace of injury.
Everyone's expressions turned to shock upon seeing Sheng's condition. After all, that was the power of the Supreme Law of Destruction. Even if it were just a sliver of the True Meaning of the Law of Destruction that had been unleashed from Dilius' hands, it was far beyond what a level 13 martial artist could possibly withstand.
Even if someone could, surviving another strike was absolutely impossible! Yet here was Sheng, standing perfectly fine, without even the slightest disturbance in his aura.
Could he have dodged it?
Impossible! The crowd quickly dismissed that thought.
If Sheng had dodged it, then right now, he and Dilius shouldn't be standing within the Selection Space. They should be at the Galaxy Summit. The relatively fragile Selection Space could never have withstood such a terrifying attack imbued with the Law of Destruction.
Since he didn't evade it, how exactly did Sheng block Dilius' spear thrust?
Countless questions arose in everyone's minds, just as they did in Dilius' own.
After a brief moment of shock, Dilius' expression quickly hardened. A thick aura of savagery began to emanate from him. His three eyes, radiating destruction, fixed intently on Sheng. A cold smile curled his lips as he spoke: "Let's see how you block this one. Hmph!"
As he spoke, a blazing storm and thunder gathered in his hand, coalescing once more into the shape of a black war spear. Then, black lightning coiled around it—the embodiment of the True Meaning of the Law of Destruction.
Just as with his previous strike, he wasted no words this time. Locking his divine soul onto Sheng, he hurled the Spear of Destruction in his hand with all his might. The onlookers, witnessing this, immediately widened their eyes, staring intently at the battlefield, not daring to blink. Their spiritual senses locked onto the void, fearing they might miss even the slightest detail.
"I didn't dodge it."
Facing the Spear of Destruction once more, Sheng spoke calmly. This time, everyone finally saw the movement with which he had blocked it. He raised his hand, still in the posture of drawing a bow. Pure white, intense sunlight rapidly gathered at his fingertips, condensing into a long arrow. Just as Dilius' attack was about to strike, he casually released his grip. The arrow instantly transformed into a streak of light, shooting forward. And the direction the arrow was aimed at was precisely the trajectory of the black war spear.
Dilius remained expressionless; he did not care that Sheng was using a trick to intercept his Destruction Spear. No one understood the terror of the power of the Law of Destruction better than he did. It was simply not something that could be intercepted by ordinary means. He had tried countless times—any object or force that stood in the way of the power of the Law of Destruction would disintegrate and vanish as swiftly as grains of sand on a beach.
This overconfident, pure-white arrow was about to be completely shattered into dust the moment it collided with the black Spear of Destruction. Logically, the previous attack should have ended the same way. Yet Dilius couldn't fathom why Sheng had emerged unscathed. Perhaps he had resorted to some special life-saving measure.
Such a technique could certainly not be repeated multiple times in quick succession, Dilius mused to himself.
Just as Dilius was pondering this, in the void, the arrow and the war spear were about to collide.
And it was at this very moment that Dilius, along with all the senior students at the Galaxy Summit, witnessed a scene they would never forget for the rest of their lives.
Just as the pure white arrow was about to touch the War Spear of Destruction, the originally pure-white shaft suddenly trembled slightly. Then, from the tip of the white arrow, a series of fine, black flashes of lightning suddenly erupted. These black lightning bolts coiled around and enveloped the entire shaft, slamming violently into the black battle spear.
With a precise impact, both exploded. A thick aura of destruction spread out. The aftershocks of the second explosion sent a gale-force wind whipping through Dilius' deep purple hair.
Dilius himself stood frozen in place. He had clearly fallen into a state of severe daze.
The onlookers were not faring much better than he was. They exchanged bewildered glances, and some couldn't help but rub their eyes. In disbelief, unable to comprehend. After a while, the long-silent crowd finally broke the silence as someone cautiously spoke up.
"Was that… the aura of the Law of Destruction?"
Those words shattered the calm completely. The next second, a fierce, chaotic chorus of murmurs erupted. Everyone's faces betrayed expressions of disbelief and bewilderment. The arrow shot by Sheng had actually unleashed the True Meaning of the Law of Destruction!
How could this be???
How did he do it???!
In an instant, a profound sense of absurdity welled up in everyone's hearts.
When did this Supreme Law Power of Destruction become such commonplace things? For both combatants in the same battle to possess it simultaneously—this was simply too outrageous. They couldn't comprehend it, and neither could Dilius.
For a moment, Dilius temporarily pushed this battle to the back of his mind. His three eyes fixed intently on Sheng, who stood before him with a calm and composed expression. Filled with confusion, he blurted out abruptly, "How could you possibly have grasped the essence of Destruction? How did you do it?"
At that moment, everyone's gaze turned sharply toward Sheng.
He remained calm, looked at Dilius and said casually, "Didn't I just learn it from you?"
Sheng's words left Dilius and the onlookers all speechless. There were no fools present; within just a few breaths, everyone immediately grasped the meaning behind his words. Then, one by one, their eyes widened, their faces nearly overflowing with disbelief and astonishment. A series of gasps echoed across the arena.
As everyone knew, the Law of Destruction could not be mastered by human effort alone. It could only be approached through reverse deduction and simulation. Simulating a sliver of the True Meaning of the Law of Destruction and making it one's own.
But reverse-engineering and simulation... though it sounds simple enough, when it comes to actually simulating and deriving patterns... it was an unsolvable conundrum.
The only reason Dilius was able to deduce this sliver of the True Meaning of the Law of Destruction was because of his Sovereign-level Blood. It was something his Blood had bestowed upon him from birth—a gift bestowed by the gods. His Sovereign-level Extraordinary Physique was like an incredibly precise and complex machine. The formulas for how to use Storms and Thunder and deduce the power of the Law of Destruction were imprinted within it.
Dilius did not need to understand how to deduce or transform it, because this was an innate ability he was born with. He simply needed to rely on his instincts to act. In other words, it was impossible for anyone else to deduce the True Meaning of the Law of Destruction unless they, like Dilius, possessed a Sovereign-level Extraordinary Physique.
But now, Sheng has defied this common sense. He had merely witnessed Dilius' move once. Yet from that single technique, he grasped the True Meaning of the power of the Law of Destruction. And he actually succeeded in testing it—he truly did it. He truly mastered the immense power of this universe.
Everyone who thought of this was on the verge of losing their minds. It was completely unacceptable. If what Sheng said was true, then compared to him, they all looked as stupid as a starry-eyed piglet!
"Impossible! This is absolutely impossible!"
Dilius was equally unable to accept it. He glared at Sheng with fury.
"Do you take me for a fool? You have other tricks up your sleeve, don't you? Destruction—the Power of Destruction belongs only to me, Dilius, and I alone am worthy of it!"
Dilius had always been quick-tempered. Under the influence of the True Meaning of the Law of Destruction, he had become even more irascible, like an uncontrollable bolt of lightning. He began to shimmer. Countless tiny black bolts of lightning and whirlwinds surged forth from every part of his body. He looked more and more like a demon god of destruction.
This time, he summoned a battle spear in each hand, both radiating a thick aura of destruction. The spears tore through the void, tracing two brutal arcs. He charged toward Sheng at breakneck speed, his killing intent surging.
He seemed determined to cut Sheng down without hesitation, yet Sheng showed not the slightest sign of tension or fear in response to his actions. He watched quietly as Dilius charged toward him. He smiled faintly, then shook his head.
He sighed softly, "I told you the truth, but you refused to believe me. Since you won't believe me, then I'll… let you see it properly one more time."
As he spoke, Sheng stretched out his arms. His entire body seemed to be holding an invisible, massive bow. A vast amount of Extreme Yang energy gathered at his hands and arms. It quietly coalesced between his fingers.
This was undoubtedly the most beautiful, the most exquisite, and the largest arrow Sheng had ever formed. Golden patterns covered the arrow, and pure white flames burned quietly along its shaft.
The moment the arrow appeared, its tip was aimed directly at Dilius, who was racing forward and immediately sensed a grave danger. An unprecedented, overwhelming sense of crisis—even the shadow of death—silently enveloped his heart. His expression changed drastically, and he instinctively tried to dodge to the side.
But Sheng gave him not the slightest chance to evade. His eyes, pure white with flickering black glints, calmly locked onto Dilius' figure. In a fraction of a second… he gently released his grip.
"This time,"
After firing that arrow, Lu Sheng watched Dilius in the distance, his expression contorting with panic. It was as if he were speaking directly to him, murmuring softly.
"You'd better look closely. Because… You won't have a second life to see it again."
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Translation notes by dhoo
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True Meaning of the Law of Destruction
True Meaning was introduced in chapter #643. It sounds like martial mumbo jumbo to me, like a coquetry, a literary ornament. If you see a deep Meaning behind it, enlighten me! But this phrase apparently won't be used again later. Well, it was used 11 times in chapters #643-#645, so at least I kept it coherent by always translating it the same way.