No words could describe the splendor and magnificence of this arrow. It was like the most dazzling aurora, casually sweeping across the cosmos. Carrying a trail of light that embodied all the world's beauty, it tore through layer upon layer of the void, racing forward. But halfway through its flight... All that beauty shattered abruptly.
A bolt of black lightning shoots forth from the arrow's tip. Then a second. A third… a fourth… a fifth… a sixth… Countless bolts of black lightning erupted from the arrow's tip. A thick aura of destruction enveloped the entire arrow.
The pure white flame burning along the shaft swiftly turned pitch black. The arrow's transformation in that instant felt as though all the beauty of the first half had merely been a prelude to the cruelty of the second. In the blink of an eye, the Star Sea Aurora—which just a second ago had embodied all the world's beauty—became a black meteor bearing endless suffering, annihilation, and calamity. Carrying surging flames of destructive magic, it streaked through the sky with a thunderous roar.
In a daze, Dilius and all the onlookers seemed to see an incredibly dazzling starfield—countless planets and star rivers—which, after the arrow's passage, suddenly began to blaze fiercely. One by one, the planets were engulfed by the black flames. Withered, shattered, and destroyed—until they were utterly extinguished.
"Legend has it that in ancient times, there were gods who roamed the cosmos. They took pleasure in hunting stars. Out of boredom, one of them once used his divine bow to extinguish the suns of an entire galaxy, plunging it into absolute silence and pitch-black darkness... This arrow of mine seems to be reenacting that very legend." Lu Sheng murmured softly.
It was a myth passed down through the cosmos, unearthed from some fragment of inherited memory he couldn't quite place. Yet it aligned remarkably well with the intent behind the lethal arrow technique he had just created. After firing that arrow, Sheng never once looked in the direction of Dilius again.
Instead, he turned his thoughts to another matter—one far more important to him at that moment—namely, coming up with a name that would match the awesomeness of this ultimate archery technique!
Sheng ran his hand lightly over his smooth chin, deep in thought. Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck him. He clapped his hands lightly, smiling to himself.
"I've got it. The name of this move shall be Fallen RealmArrow."
Fallen Realm Arrow. With a single arrow shot, it could cause an entire starry sky, an entire galaxy, to plunge into a bottomless abyss of darkness. Paired with the tyrannical Law of Destruction, it was a perfect fit.
The more Sheng pondered it, the more he liked the name! He couldn't help but feel a touch of pride. He had always enjoyed coming up with names. It was one of his greatest hobbies.
Having finished all this, Sheng finally found a moment to spare and glanced over at Dilius' situation. Poor Dilius was now completely engulfed by the endless aftershocks of energy. The battle space where Sheng and Dilius were situated had begun to collapse and disintegrate the very moment his arrow was released. As the power erupted and the aura of destruction surged forth, the space had already started to crumble. And Dilius happened to be right at the epicenter of that destruction.
Sheng could hear Dilius' furious and frenzied voice. Of course, he could also clearly sense the other's life force rapidly slipping away. He wasn't worried that Dilius would die just like that. After all, he did possess the Blood of a Sovereign… so this thought had barely risen in Sheng's mind.
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Between the two of them, within this torn up space, near the only thing that could currently be considered intact—the golden gateway leading to the next stage, also known as the crossroads of King Coronation Path—a golden beam of light suddenly shot out. It instantly plunged into the center of the battle's residual energy waves. Immediately afterward, Dilius was swept away by that light.
It was precisely because of the arrival of that golden light that this space—which had been teetering on the brink of collapse, in tatters, and seemed as though it would crumble to pieces at any moment— became incredibly stable again after just a few breaths. It continued to heal and repair itself and the residual energy ripples and the lingering aura of the Law of Destruction seemed to be swiftly smoothed away by an invisible giant hand.
Sheng could see Dilius' pale face within the golden light. Purple blood was trickling from the third eye between his eyebrows and his lips curled slightly. He had always disliked Dilius' arrogant demeanor and attitude. Especially the way he looked down on others with that extra eye on his forehead. That was why, with that arrow just now, he had deliberately aimed for his third eye.
At that moment, Dilius clearly realized he had escaped danger. His remaining two eyes fixed intently on Sheng, filled with a hatred and murderous intent so intense it seemed almost impossible to dispel.
He told Sheng, "I will return. The humiliation of having one of my eyes pierced—I will wash it away with my own hands. The next time you see me, I'll make you understand just how terrifying a Sovereign-level Blood truly is! What you've seen so far is merely a version of me that is still far from fully developed."
As soon as Dilius finished speaking, he was enveloped in golden light and swiftly vanished from the space. Sheng paid no heed to his words. He had never cared about the threats of a defeated foe. No one who had been defeated by him even once would ever have the chance to stand before him again.
The gains from this battle were, however, quite substantial for Sheng. At the very moment his intuition was most active, he had, by sheer coincidence, grasped the power of the Law of Destruction through Dilius.
Everyone was curious. Why was he able to grasp the power of the Law of Destruction so effortlessly the very first moment he sensed its presence? This went beyond the scope of natural talent. It defied certain common sense and laws of the universe.
However, Sheng himself understood the reason all too well—in that single instant, countless memories and fragments flashed through his mind. They flashed by at lightning speed, like a revolving lantern. Each image was different. The only thing they had in common was this: they were all gray. This gray had accompanied Sheng for a long time.
It had brought him much pain, yet it was also the driving force that had sustained him all the way to this point. He had seen far too much gray. Too much, far too much. Sheng murmured softly to himself.
"Why? Why was I able to grasp the Law of Destruction so effortlessly? Why? Because I once witnessed it with my own eyes… the destruction and death of an entire cosmos."
Alas, no one could hear this sigh.
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At the Galaxy Summit, amidst the starry sky encircled by a cluster of palaces, a massive projection radiated Sheng's towering, handsome figure.
The vast void was deathly silent. No one spoke. Everyone's faces, everyone's eyes were filled with profound shock.
Dilius had failed. And not just any failure, he had nearly died! Had he not been rescued, this bearer of the Sovereign-level Blood—a figure who appears only once every hundred thousand years in the Celestial Serpent galaxy, and the destined future ruler of the galaxy—might have met his end today.
Sovereign-level…
These two words echoed endlessly in the minds of countless onlookers. Before today, those words represented something unattainable and insurmountable among peers. Those words were like an ironclad wall!
Yet, today. That ironclad wall was brutally shattered. If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, how could they possibly believe it… That even within the Sovereign-level realm, defeat was possible. And such a decisive, utter defeat. From start to finish, he remained completely overwhelmed.
Was Dilius weak? Not in the least. In fact, he is terrifyingly strong—so strong it was despair-inducing. In the same selection trials, he cleared the first seven stages. His pace was exactly twice as fast as that of an average Monarch-level genius. In fact, those three Monarch-level Blood geniuses hadn't even emerged from the fourth stage yet; it was likely they had been stopped there.
For Dilius, who possessed the qualifications to embark on the King Coronation Path, his formidable strength is beyond doubt. But who could have imagined that there actually exists in this world a monster even more monstrous and terrifying than him.
Lu Sheng.
Dilius was a vast, boundless sea of stars, and Sheng was the sky-piercing blade that cuts through that sea.
Dilius was a colossal mountain that none of his peers could climb and today, before the eyes of them all, Sheng personally shattered that majestic mountain, piece by piece.
Every single person present was a witness. Those with keen intuition could faintly sense, at this very moment, the nascent aura of a legend.
"Galaxy Lord." Someone spoke, murmuring. "Just like the Galaxy Lord back then."
No one refuted it.
-
At the same time, on planet Celestial Serpent's Heart, the onlookers standing outside the selection chamber were now also enveloped by immense shock and disbelief. One could even say that the entire Celestial Serpent's Heart was shrouded in an inexplicable, stagnant aura.
In everyone's eyes, only two words remained—Lu Sheng!
That name was seared into the deepest recesses of their souls like a red-hot branding iron. From this day forward, there was no way they could ever forget it.
The Battle for the King's Title.
Dilius, possessor of a Sovereign-level Blood, versus the unknown dark horse, Lu Sheng.
Before this battle began, even those closest to Sheng—Haiji Dao and Zi Yanxin—would not have believed Sheng could defeat Dilius. Their greatest hope, in truth, was likely that Sheng might manage a draw against Dilius, or perhaps lose with a bit of dignity. But no one could have imagined that he would actually win, and win so decisively!
He nearly killed Dilius. A name whose fame resonated throughout most of the Celestial Serpent galaxy's Hunting Bow. With his own hands, he ended his nearly 20-year-old saga.
Haiji Dao stood shoulder to shoulder with Pablo. Neither of them spoke; they simply stood side by side, their expressions dazed. Haiji Dao looked somewhat stunned. He wasn't even sure if the scene before him was real. As a level 13 martial arts master, he felt at that moment as if he had fallen victim to the Lord of Oblivion's illusions.
Pablo, standing beside him, was not much better off. His mouth hung slightly open in disbelief—he could hardly believe that such a legendary figure could one day be so close to him.
Fortunately, Zoe was not present. He wondered if she had witnessed the course of this battle. Given Pablo's understanding of his daughter, he could only imagine how overwhelmed Zoe would be if she found out.
Haiji Dao's thoughts at that moment were far simpler. He simply wanted to relay this news back as quickly as possible. To inform Chief Star Elder Mokodo. Haiji Dao couldn't quite imagine what kind of reaction the Chef Star Elder—a woman renowned for her composure and calm—would display upon hearing this news.
As for the Star Spirit Flower side, Elder Shadostar stood on the spacecraft like a statue, staring blankly ahead. He himself didn't know what kind of reaction he should be having inside. He had been trying to undermine Sheng's authority in order to refute Zi Yanxin's decision, thereby asserting his own authority as a family elder.
However, with the situation having reached this point, his pathetic sense of pride suddenly became insignificant in the face of the entire Star Spirit Flower family's interests. Perhaps he should be happy, he thought blankly to himself.
Yanxin, however, was in a completely different state of mind. If, back when Sheng had advanced to level 13 and faced off against Dilius, she had felt as though she'd been struck on the head by the jackpot of an interstellar lottery, then now, the size of that jackpot had once again skyrocketed—a hundredfold, perhaps even ten thousandfold!
It had completely knocked her off her feet, leaving her dazed and bewildered. For a moment, she couldn't accept it—that such immense good fortune would one day fall upon her. After all, wasn't she the very person who believed least in fate?
-
The battle space, which had been reduced to ruins by Sheng and Dilius earlier, had now been restored to its original state. The golden gateway leading down the path behind her still stood there quietly. Sheng started slowly walking toward it.
"I suppose I'm now qualified to embark on the King Coronation Path," Sheng said.
"Yes." A voice quickly responded. This time, the voice was also tinged with a hint of unmasked tremor.
"Alright." he replied.
He then strode purposefully toward the portal. In truth, his battle with Dilius was nothing more than a warm-up for him. From start to finish, he had relied solely on the archery techniques he had only recently begun to develop. As for the techniques he had kept hidden as his trump cards, he hadn't deployed a single one so far.
He had barely even reached the First Realm of the Path of Extreme Yang.
Dilius was an excellent appetizer. Sheng's fighting spirit was now fully ignited. For him, compared to the rewards awaiting him after embarking on the King Coronation Path, what he now craved even more intensely were the various challenges and battles he would face once he set foot on that path.
He yearned for a battle that would leave him utterly exhausted. Preferably, one that would drive him to the brink of despair, pushing him to the edge of death. He needed pressure [to progress], it had been a long time since he'd felt that kind of pressure.
"I hope this so-called King Coronation Path doesn't let me down," Lu Sheng murmured to himself as he stepped through the golden gateway.
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Translation notes by dhoo
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Fallen Realm Arrow - NEW technique name
墮域之矢
Lol. "The more Sheng pondered it, the more he liked the name! He couldn't help but feel a touch of pride. He had always enjoyed coming up with names. It was one of his greatest hobbies."
I wonder if the original author intended this webnovel to be a parody. I think they did, and it's a good one. Or rather, it's a nice webnovel, always oscillating between light parody and epic serious martial Sci-Fi.
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King Coronation Path
I like this new translation I came up with. Short and efficient. It was about time. This phrase (封王之路) appears 12 times, between chapters #640 and #646.