Beyond the golden gateway, what appeared before Lu Sheng was once again a vast, unadorned space. It seemed to stretch endlessly. Just as before.
Sheng extended his spiritual sense outward. He quickly detected a figure standing quietly within the space. His eyes flickered slightly as he hurried toward that person. It seemed as though they had been waiting there specifically for him all along.
As Sheng approached, the figure slowly turned to face him. It was a woman. As he drew closer and got a clear look at her, Sheng paused in surprise. Standing before him was a tall, slender woman with black hair. She wore a set of rather old-fashioned light armor, with two slender swords sheathed at her waist. Wearing old-style light armor instead of combat gear, and keeping her weapons outside her storage items—these two points were quite at odds with the current habits of martial artists in the universe.
The woman was exceptionally beautiful, with delicate features and piercing eyes. However, her demeanor was somewhat cold. The moment her gaze fell upon Sheng, an incredibly powerful aura surged toward him with blinding speed.
'She's strong!'
Sheng felt the pressure emanating from this aura and exhaled softly. His expression grew slightly more serious. He sensed an immense pressure radiating from the woman before him—a pressure even Dilius had never exerted upon him.
'Level 14? No.'
Sheng shook his head. He had encountered level 14 powerhouses before. The woman before him did indeed give him the impression of a level 14 powerhouse. But compared to the level 14 powerhouse he had encountered in the past—Mokodo, the Chief Star Elder of the "Hundred Great" Star Region's Interdimensional Battlefield—the sense of level 14 power from the woman before him was undoubtedly weaker.
'Perhaps she is a quasi-level 14 powerhouse, with one foot already in that realm.'
Sheng speculated inwardly.
'So, is she the opponent I need to defeat in this round?'
Sheng asked himself softly. The fighting spirit within him began to stir slightly. This was an opponent whose strength was perfectly suited to him. Infinitely close to Level 14, yet not quite there—just right for testing his current capabilities. He even began to look forward to the battle that was about to unfold.
"Hello, Lu Sheng."
The woman looked at him as he walked toward her and took the initiative to greet him. He stopped in his tracks, nodded at her, but said nothing.
"My name is Ripple Swift."
Her gaze toward him held a hint of admiration as she continued on her own.
"None of us ever expected you to defeat Dilius. I originally thought I was standing here waiting for him—I never imagined it would be you."
"There are still many things in this world that will surprise you. You'll see more of them in the future."
Ripple Swift's lips curled slightly into a smile. She didn't respond to Sheng's words but changed the subject instead, her tone turning somewhat cold.
"Don't think that just because you've defeated Dilius, everything is settled. After all, Dilius possesses a Sovereign-level Blood, and the greatest advantage of a Sovereign-level Blood doesn't lie in the present. Sooner or later, he will grow into a level 15 Galaxy Lord. He is also the successor the current Galaxy Lord designated long ago. You've offended him. You even nearly killed him. You should know better than I do just how unforgiving Dilius is. Do you think that when he eventually succeeds as Galaxy Lord, you'll be able to withstand his wrath?"
Sheng frowned at her words and replied with a cold laugh.
"What do you mean by that? According to you, when faced with Dilius' provocation, during our last battle, I should have just stood there obediently and let him beat me half to death—that would have been the best choice?"
"No."
She shook her head.
"I'm not saying defeating him was a bad thing. I just want to remind you." Her gaze fixed intently on the road, her tone serious. "You've made the greatest enemy of your life. Now is not—far from that—the time for you to be proud or let your guard down. If you can't reach level 15 in this lifetime, then all the glory and splendor you possess now will be nothing more than a fleeting moment... in your heart."
Sheng couldn't take it anymore. This woman in front of him, named Ripple Swift—he had no idea what she was thinking; her way of thinking seemed a bit different from most people's. Right off the bat, she was giving him a whole bunch of unsolicited advice, lecturing him with the air of a senior. The slight bit of goodwill he'd just begun to feel toward her crumbled instantly, leaving not a trace behind.
Telling him to hurry up and reach level 15? Sheng almost laughed at the very thought. He wanted to get there as soon as possible, too. But was this something he could just speed up at will?
Besides, this woman wasn't even level 14 herself, was she? Of course, he didn't voice these thoughts. He simply stood there listening, his expression growing noticeably colder.
The woman seemed to sense the subtle shift in his attitude. She fell silent for a moment, then spoke again after a brief pause, though her tone was much softer this time.
"I'm not very good at communicating with people. Perhaps my way of speaking made you feel a little uncomfortable. If so, I apologize."
Her behavior took Sheng by surprise once again—she actually apologized to him. Now he found himself even more baffled by the woman standing before him.
"...Actually, I just..."
The woman paused for a moment before continuing, " "I saw certain traits in you that are similar to my own, so… I couldn't help but want to say a few more words to you."
"Similar traits?"
Sheng blinked and instinctively touched his cheek. Was she referring to the fact that they were both incredibly good-looking?
The woman hesitated for a moment before saying calmly, "I… do not possess any Extraordinary Physique. I don't even have an Immortal-level Blood."
"What?!"
Sheng looked at the woman in front of him with some surprise.
No Extraordinary Physique whatsoever? Not even Immortal-level? He was genuinely taken aback now. After all, this woman's strength was currently infinitely close to that of a level 14 powerhouse. If it were truly as she claimed—that she possessed no Extraordinary Physique of any rank— it would mean she had cultivated her way to this level entirely from the status of an ordinary mortal.
In a Celestial-Throne academy where Monarchs were a dime a dozen and Immortals were treated worse than dogs, there actually existed the most ordinary of mortals. This was likely even rarer than the Sovereign-level Blood of Dilius.
Crucially, this ordinary person has single-handedly surpassed a host of Immortal and Monarch-level beings, reaching a level where she is qualified to serve as a gatekeeper for Sheng's Battle for the King's Title.
Sheng could scarcely imagine how much blood and sweat the woman before him had poured into this journey, or what trials she had endured to ultimately achieve the extraordinary with a mortal body. It was at that very moment that he suddenly began to grasp the warning she had given him earlier.
"She urged me so earnestly to be wary of Dilius, to never let my guard down or grow arrogant. I suppose she must have faced similar acts of retaliation countless times along her journey."
With that in mind, Sheng said earnestly to the woman, "Thank you. I'll take your advice to heart."
"Good."
Seeing that Sheng seemed to have grasped her good intentions, a faint smile of satisfaction appeared on her face. She nodded, her facial muscles briefly relaxing. But in the very next second, they swiftly hardened into a cold, sharp expression. In the blink of an eye, she had switched from one state to another.
'Valkyrie!'
When Sheng saw Ripple Swift draw the twin swords from her waist and stand before him in a graceful yet sharp posture, this word involuntarily popped into his mind.
"When you're ready, you may attack me at any time," Ripple Swift told Sheng in a cold, detached tone. "By the way, there's one thing I must warn you about beforehand. Don't count on me going easy on you just because you're weaker, a junior, or because I have a favorable impression of you. On the contrary, since you defeated Dilius and I've seen your true strength, I will be even more cautious and give it my all. So, if you don't want to get beaten to a pulp…"
Ripple Swift crossed her two slender swords, tapped the air in front of Sheng lightly, and said coldly, "Then give it your all. At the very least, you'll have to try harder than you did when you fought Dilius."
"Uh…"
Sheng listened to her words, his expression momentarily taken aback. Then, a brilliant smile gradually spread across his handsome face.
"You really are… an interesting and adorable senior."
He smiled at the woman. His gaze was intense, yet icy. It was as if he were a glacier with scalding magma flowing beneath its icy surface. Within his body, over 367 million Extreme Yang Immortal Cells awoke one by one. Roaring, howling, and yearning.
He whispered softly to her, "Alright." And then Pure white light instantly filled the entire battlefield.
-
In the Galaxy Summit.
"So it's actually Dame Ripple Swift who's in charge of guarding the first gate of the Sealed Kingdom. What a pity."
Someone saw the woman's figure appear on the projection, sighed, shook their head, and wore an expression of regret.
"If it were any other senior brother or sister, Sheng might still have a glimmer of hope. But with Dame Ripple Swift... there's absolutely no chance at all. You must know that Ripple Swift is renowned as the number one martial artist below level 14. In fact, it's said that when she unleashes her full power, she can even briefly hold her own against a true level 14 martial artist."
"Do you think Senior Ripple Swift might secretly go easy on Sheng, considering his heroic feat of defeating Dilius?"
Someone asked.
Immediately, someone else objected.
"Others might. But Dame Ripple Swift absolutely would not. She treats every battle, no matter how big or small, with the utmost seriousness. Asking her to go easy on someone would be the greatest insult to her martial arts. It would be more painful than killing her."
Someone couldn't help but sigh.
"Then Lu Sheng's chances of becoming a King are practically nonexistent—almost zero."
Those nearby nodded in agreement. Clearly, the name Ripple Swift carried immense weight at the Galaxy Summit.
Even after witnessing Sheng defeat Dilius and display superhuman strength, everyone still unanimously believed that Sheng had absolutely no chance of defeating Ripple Swift. Some elders had even begun placing bets.
"How many moves do you think Sheng can last against Dame Ripple Swift? Will he even make it past a hundred moves?"
"A hundred moves is too many. Fifty moves would be more than enough."
"Maybe it won't even take fifty moves; the battle might be over in ten. Don't forget, Dame Ripple Swift once killed a powerhouse at the Law Fifth Tier—Fusion—in just three moves. Facing Dame Ripple Swift, almost everyone is destined to be defeated within ten moves."
"That's true. However, since Sheng has just grasped the power of the Law of Destruction, there's a real possibility he might last more than ten moves. We'll have to wait and see."
-
In the King's Battle Arena.
At this moment, Sheng had fully entered the First Realm of Extreme Yang. He began with his signature move from recent times: his ultimate archery technique.
Annihilation: Billion Sun Arrow!
After his battle with Dilius, this technique had approached perfection. In Sheng's hands, vast amounts of Extreme Yang energy coalesced into an Annihilation Arrow wrapped in golden runes and ablaze with white flames, shot toward Ripple Swift.
It embodied the Extreme Yang Law—representing all light, all heat, and all positive energy—and harmonized perfectly with his archery. Together, they unleashed an unimaginably terrifying offensive power. And Sheng's mastery of the Laws, having reached the Domination tier, elevated the potency of this killing move to an even higher level. It was a move capable of forcing Dilius to play his ultimate trump card.
But in the face of Ripple Swift, Sheng's Annihilation Arrows seemed clumsy, almost like a child's plaything. The two slender swords in her hands, with light and deft movements, danced before her, creating one sword flourish after another. Stirring the void.
The Annihlation Arrows that Sheng fired—once they entered the hundred-meter radius around Ripple Swift—would come to an immediate halt, no matter how fast they were traveling, only to have their trajectories effortlessly disrupted by her slender swords. In the end, every single one of them passed her by, vanishing into the void.
Sheng furrowed his brow; he sensed that this martial artist before him was no ordinary opponent. Her swordsmanship seemed extraordinarily masterful. So incredible that it could even interfere with the power of the Laws of the universe.
She had barely utilized any of the Laws' power at all; relying solely on her slender swords and her own energy, she was able to alter the trajectory of the universe's energy flow. She had established a presence before him that was like an invisible force field. Any attack that entered that field would be at her mercy, reduced to a mere plaything.
'Seventh-Realm Sword Art!'
The term suddenly popped into Sheng's mind. It nearly startled him. Sixth-Realm martial arts represents level 13's absolute mastery of the Rules. That is to say, reaching this stage involves domination and fusion [with the Rules, and cultivation of the Laws]. But he knew nothing of Seventh-Realm martial arts; he hadn't yet received the teachings regarding this realm.
Sheng understood clearly that the gap between the Realms of martial arts grows increasingly exaggerated and immense the further one progresses. If Sixth Realm martial arts were already so close to the very essence of cosmic Laws, he simply couldn't imagine the power the Seventh Realm must possess.
"It looks like I'm in for a tough fight today."
Lu Sheng's eyes burned with intensity as he stared at his opponent before him, sticking out his tongue to lightly lick his lips. He couldn't help but feel a growing sense of excitement welling up inside him.
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Translation notes by dhoo
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Sir Fei Lian aka Dame Ripple Swift, Winged Wave - NEW character
Ripple is a new powerhouse character, level 13, introduced in this chapter, #647.
飛瀲, fēi liàn: 飛 winged, swiftly, to fly 瀲 wave/ripple, full of water, overflow
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Law Fifth Tier—Fusion
See chapter #642. The five Law mastery tiers are: Activation 調用, Control 掌控, Weapon Materialization 凝兵, Domination 統御, Fusion 融合.
Ripple Swift even overwhelms fellow level 13 opponents who are at the peak of level 13, at the fifth and last tier of law mastery.