Chapter 1098: Facing

He took a deep breath and quietly, silently backed away.

Although he was a mere incomplete ninth-tier, he genuinely possessed the combat power of a weak tenth-tier. His immense size gave him the potential to fight at that level. However, he was only among the weakest of the weak tenth-tier (levels 1 to 3), and this was no longer something he could intervene in.

"The Court of Annihilation," he thought, "these incredibly powerful bloodlines must be extraordinary bloodlines that have evolved within the Court of Annihilation!"

Lius gasped in shock.

Nature, of course, also produces its share of divine miracles. The very birth of life is a miracle of extremely low probability. However, the probability of extraordinary bloodlines appearing is too low. Nature is chaotic and unregulated, so the advantages of directed evolution are unimaginable! Just like hybrid rice, naturally evolved rice yields are too low. Through human-directed evolution and selection, results far surpassing hundreds of thousands of years of wild rice appear almost instantly.

"Any highly knowledgeable and powerful being," he reasoned, "who can guide evolution from single-celled organisms in the ocean, according to cosmic laws and evolutionary principles, will inevitably produce lives that are truly extraordinary, even divine!"

Lius's pupils contracted, and intense fear overwhelmed him. "The dimension where such a civilization exists is unimaginable," he thought. "To master the very source of life... that truly is the center of the universe!"

Witnessing Emperor Qi's astonishing combat power, he began to shrink back, sensing that the situation was about to turn dire. His subtle movements, however, were already noticed by the players, many of whom scoffed.

"This big octopus's ancestor is a pathetic wretch, completely unlike the honest and simple big octopus," one scoffed. "He's probably already figured out where Emperor Qi is from, thanks to the information from the Court of Annihilation."

"Wait, he's trying to run! Why don't we discreetly contact him and recruit this bumpkin octopus into our Asura Path faction?"

They eyed the large octopus with great interest. Even though he's a bumpkin, his combat power is far greater than that of 'Cute Girl' and similar characters. While 'Cute Girl' appeared powerful, she wasn't truly fighting herself; she was merely a grotesque Incense Deity cloaked in her own human skin. Bringing this octopus into the Asura Path would significantly boost the players' strength, making him their true primary enforcer.

"Brothers, let's send someone to communicate with him discreetly," one suggested. "Tell him we can be merciful and bring him into the city."

"Greetings from the cosmos! Just disembarked, and now I'm looking to recruit a supreme being of the Cosmic Dao for a bit of fun."

The players, too, began to act with excitement, stealthily approaching the panic-stricken Lius of the Byrd Octopus clan.

High above the battlefield, on the command platform. The Stone Man Disc overlooked the entire battlefield, watching Emperor Qi, who had appeared out of thin air, and frowned slightly.

"A variable."

The Infant, who had initially despaired, suddenly let out a hearty, intrigued laugh, excitedly exclaiming with a wide grin, "A variable! Look, a variable has appeared!"

The Infant's eyes shone brightly as he commented, "Incredible! Simply incredible! Is this the power of Incense? Is this the power of thought? I think, therefore I am! This weak tenth-tier being, manifested through condensation, is only at level 34 on the Path to Tenth-tier, which is quite low among those beings. Yet, he can actually overcome the strong with the weak? He is a hybrid powerhouse forged from the thoughts of all beings! His bloodline, a convergence of the fears of countless sentient beings, is defying all norms!"

They also believed it to be a creature condensed from Incense, something that couldn't possibly exist in reality. Each of these bloodlines was stronger than those in their Abyssal Blue Divine Domain. How could they possibly exist in reality, and be so perfectly combined?

A ripple of emotion crossed the Stone Man Disc's face. "Level 34 on the Weak Tenth-tier Path is indeed quite low, yet the countless weak tenth-tiers present are utterly helpless against him."

This realm may not seem high, but if the players were present, they would undoubtedly be stunned. Weak tenth-tier 34—how many days has Emperor Qi even been alive? Only two or three hundred years. In other words, Emperor Qi integrated his four extraordinary bloodlines, sublimating them into the Fifth Grand Dao bloodline, and reached this level in such a short time. Give him a thousand years, and wouldn't he reach the level of 100 weak tenth-tiers? This is an unimaginable pace. Consider that among the weak tenth-tiers present, not one hadn't spent at least tens of thousands of years to reach their current level.

"A variable," the Infant chuckled.

The Stone Man Disc's expression remained calm. "The Incense Civilization's system indeed has a mysterious origin... The Night of Witches, with its terrifying entities born from the negative, dark emotions of all sentient beings, are assailing us one after another, which is truly horrifying... Yet, this particular being, despite his seemingly heaven-defying bloodline, can still be subdued."

"Oh?" the Infant responded.

"You underestimate the weak tenth-tiers of this era," the Stone Man Disc stated, gazing down. "He is merely a weak tenth-tier at level 34 on the Path to Tenth-tier. While his abilities are indeed extraordinary, the energy levels of his opponents surpass his by hundreds, even thousands of times. Absolute power can shatter any so-called defense."

Below.

Countless Tenth-tier Dao Achievers launched their full assault.

"We cannot allow him to rescue that Witch; if he acquires her malevolent, corrupting dark attributes, it would be disastrous," one entity stated grimly, observing the opposing Abyssal Blue Divine Domain. "The Night of Witches is upon us. We must first crush the calamity of the Night of Witches before resuming our struggle... otherwise, if we remain constrained and let it spread unchecked, our losses will be immense."

"Precisely," various entities affirmed.

The onslaught of this dark thought-catastrophe disrupted everyone's plans, forcing them to adapt. Perhaps, as the Bhikkhu had previously stated, the Night of Witches was indeed utterly terrifying, malevolent, and world-destroying. The ancient magical girl Incense system had indeed fallen this way... They had dismissed it then, but now they understood the profound dread this disaster instilled.

"Boom!"

The entities directly joined forces.

A powerful weak tenth-tier from the Abyssal Blue Divine Domain, a black-robed elder, stated, "His energy absorption immunity has an upper limit. If we can penetrate that limit in a single strike, that will suffice."

Another entity, as massive as a mountain and built like a perfectly sculpted, robust golden bronze statue, added, "His quantum evasion involves dispersing his body into countless particles to dodge attacks... However, I intuitively sense that he possesses a core body, and that is his vital point."

Emperor Qi smiled faintly, observing these entities with his hands clasped behind his back. Their insight was indeed profound. While their bloodlines weren't particularly strong, their natural aptitudes were considerably high. The Earth Mother Goddess's Dragon Vein Incense absorption naturally had its limits; this came as no surprise. As for the so-called quantum evasion, it was a refined cultivation method he developed by studying "Carefree Wandering" and integrating it into the Nine Revolutions Profound Technique. The core principle of quantum martial arts involved a main body and quantum duplicates. Typically, the main body would hide in the shadows while the quantum combat body engaged in battle, the latter possessing various mystical quantum physical properties.

Now, he had refined it: his quantum duplicate had transformed into an expanded exoskeleton, the "Pangu True Body," with his actual body hidden within it. The Pangu True Body, in turn, possessed the characteristics of a quantum combat body, specifically "Carefree Wandering," enabling quantum fission evasion.

"However, while the Pangu True Body can perform 'Carefree Wandering' because it is a quantum combat body... the small, true body within the Pangu True Body cannot evade, and that indeed is a vital weakness," Emperor Qi mused with a faint smile. He had originally intended to directly challenge figures like the Three Great Heavenly Venerables, but he hadn't anticipated that these entities would see through his defenses and discover a potential way to defeat his three perfectly heaven-defying, extraordinary bloodlines.