Chapter 42: Earth, Fire, Water, Wind
"Time-Space Chaos!"
Even the calm and composed Overlord of Destruction, Utreid, changed expression upon seeing this. "How does he know that move? Ove swore by the name of the Supreme Being, he couldn't have broken that oath."
"Utreid! What's going on?" A crisp voice rang in his mind—it was the voice of the Overlord of Death. As time passed, with the speed at which the Overlords exchanged information, more and more of them were arriving in the spatial turbulence. At this moment, over forty Overlords were watching the battle!
"I don't know either." The Overlord of Destruction was too shocked to figure out the reason.
"You said Ove couldn't have taught it to a second person. What about you? Have you taught it to anyone else?" the Overlord of Death asked urgently.
"How could I have taught it to anyone else?" the Overlord of Destruction replied hastily via telepathy.
"Then there are only two possibilities. One is that Augusta figured it out himself," the Overlord of Death said.
"Impossible! How long has he had the Four Divine Beasts' blood essence? I only figured it out because I had reached Grand Perfection in the Laws of Destruction and had thoroughly studied the soul, and also because of luck. Augusta hasn't even reached Grand Perfection. Even if you gave him a trillion years, he couldn't even scratch the surface!" the Overlord of Destruction stated with absolute certainty.
"Then there's only the second possibility, even though I find it hard to believe." The Overlord of Death's voice carried a hint of shock and anger.
The Overlord of Destruction's expression changed. "You mean... this Augusta is..."
"We'll know soon enough. But for now, Linley is in danger." The Overlord of Death transmitted with some concern.
"Even if we wanted to save him, it's too late." The Overlord of Destruction frowned. "The move Augusta is using... perhaps because of the small amount of Four Divine Beasts' blood essence, it's not as powerful as when I use it. But still, it's not something Linley can withstand. After all, Linley doesn't have a soul-defending Overgod artifact."
Linley was indeed in a crisis.
Over forty Overlords were scattered throughout the spatial turbulence, observing with their divine senses. They couldn't help but think...
Could Linley, this super-strong expert who had risen in just ten thousand years and surpassed the Law Overlords, become a shooting star, releasing a brilliant light before falling here?
When the phantom images of the Four Divine Beasts appeared, a strange, formless energy spread across a region of ten million miles. Within that ten-million-mile area of spatial turbulence, everything instantly froze. The constantly splitting and vanishing spatial rifts solidified and stopped. Over ninety percent of that formless energy was focused entirely on Linley.
"Space binding and distortion! Time flow alteration!"
Facing this move, Linley felt a sense of familiarity.
"This..."
Linley stared intently at the phantom images of the Four Divine Beasts surrounding Augusta in the distance. Each phantom image produced a unique energy, and they combined to form this move. These four strange energies could actually stir the heavens and earth, affecting space and time.
"This... isn't this..." Linley's eyes went wide.
At this moment, time seemed to stand still!
Even the transparent stream of light shooting from Augusta's mouth in the distance seemed to move very, very slowly.
"Yes! That's it!"
For so many years, Linley had been pursuing the perfect fusion of the four different Law insights. But even though he had reached a bottleneck, the final step of perfectly merging these four disparate insights remained elusive. He couldn't break through that threshold. But now, feeling the perfect combination of these four special energies and their effect on the heavens and earth...
It was like a sculptor who had been painstakingly pursuing his craft suddenly seeing the work of a master sculptor and having an instant epiphany.
That was Linley's state right now. Harmony, encompassing all things.
The Black Tortoise was of the earth attribute. Earth was heavy and solid.
The White Tiger was of the wind attribute. Wind was formless and invisible, gathering and dispersing unpredictably.
The Vermilion Bird was of the fire attribute. Fire was blazing and wild, raging and unpredictable.
The Azure Dragon was of the water attribute. Water was gentle yet could penetrate all things.
The four attributes of earth, fire, water, and wind, when perfectly combined, could affect space and time. This was the truth that the Overlord of Destruction, Utreid, had comprehended from the Four Divine Beasts' innate divine ability. He had created the "Time-Space Chaos" move.
Linley had seen this move before, during the battle between Utreid and the four Law Overlords. At that time, Linley was still far from the final stage of fusing the four Laws, so he didn't feel much. A breakthrough might not come for ten thousand years, or it might come in just a few days. It required an opportunity, a sudden flash of inspiration. Last time, Linley was just a spectator, so the feeling wasn't deep. Plus, he hadn't reached the final stage of fusing the four Laws, so he had no real sensation.
But now, facing this "Time-Space Chaos" head-on, Linley, who had already reached the final bottleneck, was like a thick accumulation ready for a thin release...
Everything was prepared, just waiting for that moment of opportunity. And at this moment, Linley suddenly understood.
It clicked!
Everything became clear!
Though it takes time to describe, this flash of inspiration, this sudden enlightenment, happened in an instant.
"Heh heh, die." Augusta sneered as he watched, the transparent stream of light already reaching Linley.
"Boom—"
The heavens and earth shook violently. The Laws of the Universe descended!
Linley smiled at the transparent stream of light and gently blew out a breath. A transparent sword shadow shot from his mouth, colliding with the transparent stream of light. In an instant, the stream of light was dispersed. The transparent sword shadow also became tiny and thin, flying a short distance before dissipating into the world.
Augusta's eyes were filled with shock. "No... impossible!"
"Swish."
Two transparent sword shadows shot from Linley's eyes. Soul attacks were incredibly fast, and Augusta had no time to dodge. The two sword shadows sank into his body.
But Augusta was completely unharmed.
"His soul defense is this strong?" Linley couldn't help but marvel. At the same time, he glanced around. The four elements were swirling around him. The Laws of the Universe had descended and were transforming his soul. "If I hadn't personally experienced this 'Time-Space Chaos' move, I don't know how many years or months it would have taken me to break through."
This breakthrough was even harder than reaching Grand Perfection.
Perfectly fusing the four different Laws of earth, fire, water, and wind was incredibly difficult.
But Linley had succeeded.
"With Grand Perfection, you get a reward of Will power. My fusion of the four Laws is more difficult, and the attack amplification is ten times stronger than Grand Perfection. I should get more Will power, right?" Linley clearly sensed that each of his souls was gradually improving.
Because Linley's soul was mutated, this breakthrough caused all his souls to undergo a transformation.
"Hmm?" Linley was startled.
"This..." Linley's eyes held a hint of ecstasy. "It's twice the Will power of Grand Perfection!"
Although he had expected the granted Will power to surpass that of Grand Perfection, it actually exceeded it by double, which surprised Linley.
When his soul had mutated before, he had also received a Will power reward, but it wasn't even double.
Every additional portion of Will power multiplied one's strength tenfold.
Linley's insights had increased tenfold from the bottleneck to the completion of the fusion. With two additional portions of Will power, his strength had suddenly increased a thousandfold compared to before! Remember, Linley, who had been at the bottleneck before, was already ten times stronger than the Light Overlord, Augusta.
They weren't on the same level. The difference of several levels was a chasm between heaven and earth.
"Linley actually blocked it? And broke it so easily?" The Overlord of Destruction, the Overlord of Death, and the others watching were completely stunned.
"The Laws of the Universe just descended," the Overlord of Death suddenly said.
"You mean..." The Overlord of Destruction was shocked.
"Linley must have made a major breakthrough. Otherwise, the Laws of the Universe wouldn't have descended. And his strength couldn't have jumped so much. I have a feeling... the current Linley is probably not weaker than us!" the Overlord of Death transmitted in a low voice.
Indeed, in terms of Will power, with his four-soul mutation, three Overgod-level divine sparks, and the two additional portions of Will power from the perfect fusion of the four Laws, Linley's Will power was now ten times higher than that of an ordinary Law Overlord. He had caught up to those Grand Perfection Rule Overlords.
Plus, his Law insights were ten times stronger than Grand Perfection.
Furthermore, his fused Overgod power was a hundred times stronger than ordinary Overgod power.
His only weakness was that the Overgod artifact wasn't compatible with his attributes, so he couldn't fully utilize its power.
But even so, Linley's strength was now enough to face any of the four Rule Overlords without fear.
"You... how?" Augusta looked at Linley in disbelief.
A thousandfold increase in strength in one go filled Linley with confidence. He wasn't even afraid of facing the Overlord of Fate, Ove. Linley smiled at Augusta. "I'm curious. Your 'Time-Space Chaos' is so weak. Much weaker than I imagined!"
The combined innate divine ability of the Four Divine Beasts had an amplification far exceeding ten thousand times. After all, a Demigod could kill an Overlord, which shows the amplification.
The Overlord of Destruction had also said that the "Time-Space Chaos" he created was far weaker than the Four Divine Beasts' move, but it still amplified by over a thousand times.
But Augusta...
Linley felt that the amplification of his soul attack was definitely less than a hundred times.
"Whoosh!" Augusta's figure flickered as he tried to flee.
"Swish."
Linley's figure flickered, and he was already in front of Augusta. He casually swung his dragon tail, which lashed out like a steel whip, striking Augusta's body hard. Augusta was sent spinning and tumbling through the air, blood splattering everywhere.
Augusta's body flashed with light, and the flesh wound healed instantly.
"Your... your speed?" Augusta was completely stunned.
The Linley now and the Linley before were on completely different levels.
"I told you, you can't escape." Linley chuckled. "You haven't answered yet. Why is your 'Time-Space Chaos' so weak?"
Having witnessed Linley's speed, Augusta had lost all thought of escape. He sneered, "Weak? The strength of this move depends on the amount of Four Divine Beasts' blood essence. The blood essence Utreid used was far more than mine. Of course, his is much stronger."
Linley nodded with a smile. "Alright, that's enough. If I don't act soon, Ove will be here."
Augusta's expression changed.
"Linley." The Overlord of Fate, Ove, who was rushing through the spatial turbulence, transmitted urgently, "You just want your mother to be free, right? I can do that. I'll have Augusta sever the soul connection with that Angel Rebirth Pool."
"Ove, I feel you're nervous," Linley transmitted back. "In my impression, or rather... in the eyes of all the Overlords, you, the Overlord of Fate, spend your days in the Ogu Garden in the Celestial Realm, studying hard and ignoring worldly affairs. Nothing seems to affect you. But now, you're nervous."
"Of course. He is my good friend," Ove replied. "Linley, I hope you don't do anything foolish."
"Just a good friend?" Linley transmitted with a smile.
The Overlord of Fate was momentarily stunned.
"Seeing Augusta use 'Time-Space Chaos,' I guessed it. Because you are bound by the oath to the Supreme Being, you couldn't teach the secret of 'Time-Space Chaos' to a second person. But there is one exception—if you and Augusta are the same person. You know the secret, and he knows it too." Linley sighed. "Actually, if I hadn't gone to recruit an Overlord emissary and learned about the Brad clan, I wouldn't have figured it out so quickly. The first time I fought Augusta, I found his strength was ten times greater than I expected. I suspected... he might have an Overlord-level doppelganger. But I never thought, and never dared to think, that you and he are the same person!"
The Overlord of Fate was silent for a moment, then said in a low voice, "You've guessed everything. You should know what to do. I don't want... you and me to become enemies."
"Yes, I know what I need to do."
Linley smiled and flipped his hand. The Life Overgod Sword in his hand traced a dreamlike arc. A dark green light, as thick as a finger, flashed and vanished. A straight, finger-thick spatial rift appeared in the surrounding space, without even causing a ripple in space.
The energy was condensed to its peak.
The ultimate sword technique—Sword Intent!
"Pfft." A hole appeared in Augusta's forehead. His mouth opened slightly, but he could no longer make a sound.