# Chapter 2546: Clash of Ideals! With My Blade… Shattered Dreams
Watching Innocent struggling to crawl under his feet…
Jiangnan felt as if he were seeing himself from the past, crushed under the weight of the Bose Race, ruthlessly trampled beneath their feet, desperately trying to get up from the muddy abyss.
But now the roles had been reversed!
Now Jiangnan was the one stepping on the Bose Race.
The once weak ant had grown strong enough to make the almighty deity struggle at his feet!
Perhaps Jiangnan should have taken the opportunity to kill Innocent.
But in the end, Jiangnan stopped in his tracks, merely watching quietly from the side.
Giving him a chance to go all out.
Maybe this decision was willful, but Jiangnan wanted to do it.
Because he also wanted to see if his resolve toward his ideals was truly as firm as a rock, unbreakable.
Wang Youzhi, eating melons on the side, watched the scene with a twitching mouth.
Damn! Did Big Brother D pick up the wrong script?
He was holding the villain's script, right? Normally, the one lying on the ground beaten unable to stand, then burning everything, hot-blooded limitless, evolving to defeat the enemy—that was the correct hot-blooded youth plot, wasn't it?
But the result was that Innocent was the one beaten to the ground. Jiangnan dominated the entire time, suppressing Innocent with overwhelming advantage and hacking away at him.
This was completely reversed, damn it!
Somehow, he had become so strong that he was like the big villain of the plot, wasn't he?
As expected, Innocent managed to overcome the effect of the fatal slash through sheer tenacious conviction, toughing it out.
Gripping the Holy Judgment Blade, flames seemed to burn in his eyes.
"You'll regret this!"
Jiangnan leaned forward slightly, squinting. "Once chosen, no regrets!"
*Boom!*
Ten-colored raging flames erupted from Innocent's body. All his Bose particles became restless, emitting a deep blue glow.
"Those who cannot give up everything can achieve nothing!"
"This battle! I stake my dignity, pride, conviction—everything I have!"
"Super-Bose Critical State • Extreme Activation!"
*Boom!*
A ferocious aura burst from Innocent's body. Under extreme activation, his broken horn regrew in an extremely short time!
The power within him grew stronger and stronger!
He had begun burning his life source, potential, everything to trade for power. He would not admit defeat until the very end.
Innocent absorbed both the Dark Source Orb and the Stardust Orb simultaneously, reactivating his four-dimensional body.
"Kill! Kill! Kill!"
He instantly appeared in front of Jiangnan, unleashing a high-dimensional slash that struck down. The blade edge was coated not only with gravitational force but also with a layer of azure radiance.
That was the power generated when Bose particles entered a supercritical state, enough to reduce everything to nothingness.
Jiangnan raised his blade to meet it. But at that moment, another Innocent figure suddenly appeared behind Jiangnan, also swinging his blade!
Two Innocents!
Jiangnan reached out and formed another 2D blade. Both Innocents' attacks landed on Jiangnan's blade at the same time.
*Boom!*
A giant 2D flower bloomed. The critical-state Bose particles even affected Jiangnan through his 2D armor at a distance.
Erasing large patches of Jiangnan's flesh.
Jiangnan retreated sharply, but Innocent's gaze followed instantly.
The moment Jiangnan appeared, in an extremely short time, a third Innocent abruptly materialized, already halfway through a slashing motion. His blade struck Jiangnan's abdomen heavily.
The high-dimensional slash was blocked by the 2D armor, but the azure light eerily penetrated through, leaving Jiangnan's abdomen a bloody mess.
Even though it was repaired by the baleful energy in an instant, Jiangnan couldn't help coughing up blood.
It was a variant of the instant slash—instant body slash?
Innocent no longer slashed from the present to the past with his blade; he now slashed his entire self toward the past.
Compared to the instant slash, this was more flexible and offered more variations.
Innocent gritted his teeth. This was effective!
Jiangnan was not a god, not invincible. Even if instant body slash could catch up, it came at a considerable cost.
But Innocent didn't care. He only wanted to win!
However, Jiangnan wiped the blood from his lips and laughed wildly. "Haha! Now this is interesting! Let me see where your limits truly lie! How tough your resolve really is!"
"Come!"
Innocent burned himself madly. "As you wish! Fight!"
At this moment, the intensity of the battle reached its absolute peak.
Two or three Innocents appeared simultaneously, surrounding Jiangnan and striking. Jiangnan couldn't even tell which one was the real Innocent!
But Jiangnan didn't care. He'd just cut down all of them!
At this moment, many men and women in the Bose support group couldn't help but cry.
Innocent had used forbidden techniques, even using instant body slash—a technique no one had mastered in years.
Regardless of victory or defeat, after this battle, Innocent would be crippled.
He had staked everything on this fight!
"Brothers and sisters! Open your eyes wide and remember this day forever! This is Lord Innocent's final battle at his extreme peak! Let us all witness it!"
"Lord Innocent! You must win! Defeat that Jiangnan—you are the strongest!"
"Write a myth! No matter what, the starry sky will remember you!"
At that moment, the Bose side's morale was shocking. Tears rained down as they wildly cheered for Innocent.
Obviously, his persistence in not giving up moved them.
On the other hand, Yang Jian, Qin Shou, and the others stood on the deck, awkwardly scratching their heads, feeling a bit embarrassed.
What's going on? Doesn't something feel off? Is it reversed?
But Jiangnan was far from as relaxed as he appeared on the surface.
Innocent's instant body slash was troublesome. Jiangnan barely managed to block it, but the azure light could penetrate armor. Even after being weakened layer by layer by the 2D armor and gravity armor, it still damaged Jiangnan. Now Jiangnan was also covered in wounds.
However, Innocent fought more and more fiercely because he knew this state wouldn't last long.
He could only erupt with extreme intensity, trying to take Jiangnan down in one wave.
The two clashed again and again. Innocent roared, "Jiangnan! Why! Why are you always standing in my way? Ever since you entered the starry sky, what have you brought to this Thousand Stars Era?"
"Only destruction and death! The Thousand Stars Era doesn't need someone like you! You are a destroyer of order and law!"
"With you here, this starry sky can never be world without guilt! I will cut you down and return peace to the Thousand Stars Era!"
But at this moment, Jiangnan's eyes also blazed with fury as he clashed violently with Innocent.
"Do you think I wanted this? Was it my choice? Who forced me? Do you know what I lost and what I paid, rising from an ant to a pawn, and then climbing step by step to where I am today?"
"Every life has the right to live! Your ideal is a world without guilt, using everything to defend the iron laws of the Thousand Stars Era!"
"But have you ever considered that the law itself is wrong? You're only protecting the false prosperity of the Thousand Stars Era!"
Innocent glared. "Bullshit! Without the starry sky laws, the Thousand Stars Era would be in constant war, conflicts rising endlessly. Life's best skill is destroying itself!"
"The peace of this Thousand Stars Era was brought by my Bose Race! Without the Bose Race's suppression, what chaos and disorder would there be?"
"I am willing to become the iron law of the starry sky, vowing to protect the Thousand Stars grand age! You must die!"
Jiangnan was so angry he laughed. "Grand age? You call this the Thousand Stars Era a grand age? Standing high up, have you ever seen the misery of the slave races?"
"How many races are enslaved? There are only ten thousand positions in the Starry Sky Sequence. How many races are there in this vast starry sky? Do you know?"
"The prosperity of the Thousand Stars Era is built on the bones of countless slave races! Those corners where even light cannot reach! Yet your eyes only see the light!"
Innocent gritted his teeth. "You resent the slave system because of the Star Ruins Development Plan, thinking it stifles life's potential?"
"Do you realize that humans are just an accident? Most slave races are weak. Without the protection of the slave system, big fish would eat small fish—the slave races would have died out long ago!"
"This is also a form of protection. At least they're still alive!"
Jiangnan's eyes were bloodshot. "Damn it! As the rulers of the starry sky, is this how you do things? Would they die out? Because from the very beginning, you never gave them any living space! You never gave them a way out!"
"Are the weak supposed to die?"
"You call that living? Where did Yakeli come from? You're just talking theory! Have you ever seen the true face of this world, the truth of this era with your own eyes? Huh?"
Innocent was momentarily stunned, then bit his lower lip.
He... had never gone to see for himself...
He had never been interested in the affairs of slave races. His eyes were only on the heights, higher heights...
"And you? The Thousand Stars Great Calamity! The Northern Crown Great Calamity! How many innocent people died by your hands? Because of you?"
"Is this how you resist this era? What did those innocent people do wrong?"
"This era may have its flaws, but existence is reasonable! Aren't you wrong?"
Jiangnan's forehead veins bulged, his voice hoarse.
"Did I have a choice? If I didn't act, I would die!"
"I never said I was right! And I'm not afraid of making mistakes!"
"You and I are both wrong, and neither of us is wrong! Without experiencing someone else's suffering, don't tell them to be kind. There is never true empathy in this world!"
"You have your dream! I have mine! Victor becomes king, loser becomes bandit! The winner moves forward! That's how everything works!"
It all came down to their different positions, different ideals, different beliefs!
This was a clash of ideals—no right or wrong, only victory and defeat.
The victor shatters the loser's dream and moves forward.
The loser loses everything, becoming a stepping stone for the winner.
Innocent squinted. "Then I will shatter your dream and persistence, and carry my conviction through to the end!"
"The iron law of this era will be defended by me!"
At this moment, Innocent burned everything he had without regard for consequences!
He only cared about this moment, this second, this instant!
To defeat the man before him and move forward!
A dazzling azure light bloomed from Innocent's body.
The Holy Judgment Blade in his hand turned completely blue, shining like a blue giant star.
Meanwhile, Jiangnan's eyes blazed with intensity. He had no blade in hand, but he made a drawing motion.
"Come! Let me see the weight of your conviction!"
Innocent roared, "Innocent Heaven's Punishment!"
The azure blade light slashed toward Jiangnan explosively.
And Jiangnan charged forward wildly, his will burning, recalling the past that had brought him step by step to today. He carried countless hopes and dreams on his shoulders.
And also Jiangnan's own dream!
To cut through this era shrouded in gloom, letting light pour across the brilliant starry sky.
Infinite will gathered in his hand, forming a blade of flowing radiance and color.
If dreams could be given a color, then the color of this blade was the color of dreams!
At this moment, Jiangnan slowly closed his eyes.
Go and slash!
With the weight of my dream!
"Void Severing • One Slash Shattered Dreams!"
In an instant, the two brushed past each other.
In the void, an azure edge and a blade light of flowing radiance intertwined.
One slash exchanged—the world seemed to fall silent at that moment...
Jiangnan slowly straightened his body. The 2D armor and gravity armor on him abruptly vanished.
Blood burst from every part of his body, instantly dyeing him into a bloody gourd, drenched in crimson.
But Jiangnan opened his eyes, looked up at the starry sky, and smiled brilliantly. Even stained with blood, that smiling face still seemed as bright as sunshine, warm as spring.
"Did you feel it? The weight of my dream!"
"It seems... mine is a bit firmer."
Behind him, Innocent, back turned to Jiangnan, abruptly withdrew from his four-dimensional body state.
Holding the Holy Judgment Blade with both hands.
The next moment, under Innocent's incredulous gaze, his blade... shattered!
Shattered into a thousand pieces, scattering everywhere.
Just like his conviction, dream, pride, dignity...
All broken into fragments!
Everything was shattered by Jiangnan's dream-shattering slash!
Innocent's eyes went completely hollow, as if all his strength had been drained.
He fell powerlessly to his knees, his life source declining to the extreme, his whole body aging, wrinkles even appearing on his face.
Bose particles continuously dissipated from his body, as if he would turn into smoke and drift away.
"I... lost..."