Chapter 436 - 435: Lord Rank (part 3)

Chapter 436: Chapter 435: Lord Rank (part 3)

His eyes shone with unmistakable excitement.

The Lord remained silent.

Its emotionless golden eyes never left Alix.

Then, the two figures vanished simultaneously.

BOOM!

The space between them exploded.

Another collision.

Then another.

The entire underground chamber shook as the two exchanged blows at speeds invisible to the naked eye.

Every clash of fists produced a shockwave powerful enough to collapse enormous sections of the palace.

The obsidian pillars that had endured countless ages shattered one after another.

Entire cliffs were ripped from the cavern walls.

Mountains of stone fell from the ceiling before being pulverized into dust by the violent currents of mana.

The battlefield expanded with every exchange.

From the throne room, to the surrounding halls, then through countless underground passages.

The ancient palace continued collapsing around them.

The Lord’s combat style was incredibly straightforward.

Every movement embodied overwhelming force.

Every punch carried the authority of the Law of Strength.

It neither relied on elaborate techniques nor deceptive feints.

It simply overwhelmed everything before it.

Its fists alone could crush mountains.

Every strike compressed the surrounding space through sheer physical might.

Alix, on the other hand, was the complete opposite.

His fighting style constantly evolved.

One moment he was manipulating torrents of flame.

The next, violent hurricanes engulfed the battlefield.

Lightning descended from above.

Stone walls erupted from below.

Countless elemental techniques flowed together seamlessly.

His mastery over the basic elements had long surpassed perfection.

To ordinary person, mastering two elements was already considered extraordinary.

Mastering several was nearly impossible.

Yet Alix possessed thousands.

Every element.

Every variation.

Every possible application.

They existed within his memories.

Not because of talent alone. But because he had once stood at the pinnacle.

The battle gradually became more intense.

Hours seemed to pass within moments.

Neither side managed to gain a decisive advantage.

The Lord’s naturally terrifying physique allowed it to endure countless attacks.

Meanwhile, Alix’s refined techniques continuously neutralized the crushing pressure created by the Law of Strength.

Both understood something.

Continuing like this, would decide nothing.

The Lord slowly stopped attacking.

Its enormous body remained motionless.

The surrounding air abruptly became silent.

The violent mana filling the battlefield suddenly settled.

Seeing this, the smile on Alix’s face slowly disappeared.

His eyes narrowed.

"So..."

"You’re finally serious."

The Lord slowly raised its right arm.

Unlike before... This time, the surrounding Laws themselves began responding.

The Law of Strength no longer remained invisible.

Faint golden lines appeared throughout the chamber.

They intertwined around the Lord’s body like ancient chains connecting heaven and earth.

The pressure increased dramatically.

Not twice.

Not ten times.

But by an absurd amount.

The entire underground world groaned.

The colossal pillars supporting the cavern bent under the immense weight.

The polished floor collapsed layer after layer.

Even the surrounding mana became completely motionless.

As though it had been crushed into submission.

Alix’s expression became solemn.

He immediately understood.

Tier 7 Skills.

Unlike ordinary techniques...

They directly utilized the user’s comprehension of Law.

Every Tier 7 expert regarded such techniques as their greatest trump cards.

They would never use them lightly.

Not because they lacked the strength.

But because every activation consumed an enormous amount of energy and placed tremendous strain upon their understanding of Law.

A single authentic Tier 7 Skill could erase an entire city from existence.

It wasn’t merely destructive.

It rewrote reality through Law.

The Lord slowly clenched its fist.

The countless golden Law threads converged toward it.

Then, it threw a simple punch.

There was no dazzling light.

No spectacular explosion.

Only a fist.

Yet everything in front of it, collapsed.

The air vanished.

Mana ceased to exist.

Space folded inward as though an invisible mountain had descended upon the world.

The crushing force swept forward in absolute silence.

Everywhere it passed, The black stone floor compressed into something harder than diamond before shattering into microscopic fragments.

The remaining pillars instantly flattened.

Not broken.

Flattened.

Reduced to thin layers no thicker than paper.

Even the enormous throne behind the Lord collapsed beneath the terrifying pressure.

The attack advanced relentlessly toward Alix.

[Tier 7 Skill—World-Crushing Fist.]

The attack hadn’t even reached him...

Yet the skin on Alix’s face already felt the overwhelming pressure.

His silver gauntlets groaned.

The ground beneath his feet sank hundreds of meters.

He took a deep breath.

Instead of retreating...

He smiled.

"Now that’s more like it."

He slowly raised both hands.

Mana surged through every meridian in his body.

Thousands of techniques flashed through his mind.

He immediately discarded most of them.

Then, he selected several.

Not to use individually.

But together.

"I can’t block a Tier 7 Skill with one Tier 6 skill."

His eyes flashed brilliantly.

Streams of crimson fire erupted around his body.

Violent emerald winds followed immediately afterward.

Golden lightning danced across his gauntlets.

Countless streams of earth essence rose from beneath the shattered battlefield.

The four elemental powers rapidly merged instead of clashing.

Ordinary cultivators would have lost control instantly.

Different elemental techniques naturally repelled one another.

Attempting to fuse them usually ended in self-destruction.

For Alix, it was merely another calculation.

His former Tier 10 experience guided every movement with absolute precision.

The flames became the core.

The wind compressed the flames to countless times their original density.

Lightning stabilized the violently rotating mana.

Finally, earth condensed around the outer layer, preventing the entire structure from collapsing.

Four complete Tier 6 techniques, perfectly fused into one.

The surrounding mana screamed.

The fusion generated power far beyond what any individual Tier 6 technique should have possessed.

Even the Lord’s expression changed slightly.

For the first time, its calm eyes revealed unmistakable surprise.

Alix extended one gauntleted hand.

Before him floated a sphere no larger than a human head.

Inside, crimson flames spun like miniature suns.

Golden lightning continuously flashed between them.

Violent winds compressed everything toward the center.

Layers of crystalline earth revolved around the outside like planetary rings.

The terrifying energy remained perfectly stable.

Not because the elements agreed with one another...

But because Alix forcibly made them coexist through flawless control.

"This..."

he murmured.

"...is the advantage of experience."

He thrust both hands forward.

[Fusion Tier 6 Technique—Fourfold Elemental Aegis.]

The condensed sphere expanded into an immense rotating barrier of intertwined fire, wind, lightning, and earth.

The moment the Lord’s World-Crushing Fist collided with it.

The entire underground world fell silent.

For the briefest instant, everything froze.

Then—

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!

A cataclysmic explosion erupted.

The shockwave tore through the colossal chamber, vaporizing what remained of the throne room and sending fractures racing across the cavern for countless kilometers.

Entire mountain-sized sections of the ceiling collapsed.

Rivers of molten stone burst from newly formed fissures.

The ancient demonic palace, which had endured for untold ages, was finally unable to withstand the battle.

It began collapsing in earnest.

At the center of the devastation...

One figure stood behind the battered elemental barrier.

The barrier was covered in cracks.

Its flames flickered.

Its lightning dimmed.

Its winds had nearly dispersed.

The earthen shell had shattered in countless places.

Yet, it had endured.

Alix lowered his hands, breathing slightly heavier than before.

The battered elemental barrier slowly crumbled into countless motes of light before disappearing into the surrounding mana.

The Lord stood several kilometers away.

For the first time since the battle had begun...

Its breathing had become noticeably heavier.

A shallow crack had appeared across its crimson armor, while one of its obsidian horns now bore a jagged fracture.

Neither side spoke.

They simply stared at one another across the devastated battlefield.

The once-majestic underground palace no longer existed.

The colossal throne had been reduced to rubble.

The endless pillars supporting the chamber had almost completely collapsed.

Magma flowed through enormous fissures stretching beyond the horizon, while chunks of the ceiling continuously fell into the abyss below.

This battlefield had long surpassed the scale of a duel.

It resembled the aftermath of two natural disasters colliding.

Then, the battle resumed.

Boom!

The two disappeared simultaneously.

The next instant, deafening explosions erupted throughout the underground world.

Every collision of fists generated violent shockwaves capable of leveling mountain ranges.

Flames erupted across one side of the battlefield.

Hurricanes swallowed another.

The battle continued relentlessly.

Minutes...

Then hours...

Neither combatant showed the slightest intention of retreating.

Until, the Lord suddenly leaped backward.

It landed atop a fractured cliff overlooking the ruined battlefield.

Its golden eyes quietly observed Alix.

Then, It slowly raised both hands.

The atmosphere changed.