Chapter 1378: Collision

His thoughts became clearer with each moment of contemplation.

While he had already reached the ninth-tier realm, it was still a crude stage, having been developed for less than a century. It remained incomplete and immature. As a pioneer, he had been fumbling his way forward, making numerous mistakes and taking many detours. Now, however, he felt that all the previously perplexing questions about the realm had been resolved.

His understanding of the realm continually deepened, as a torrent of information surged within him, decompressed by quantum fluctuations. He no longer concealed his aura.

“What are you… what are you doing?”

The entire research institute watched in horror as Rogers slowly floated into the sky.

“Ridiculous fungi.”

Kubbertros clapped his hands softly. All living beings within the institute crumbled into countless fragmented structures, merging together and settling like fine dust, resembling grey ash from burning incense on the ground.

“Ah!!!”

“Rogers is killing people! He’s killing people!”

Countless people erupted in terrified shouts.

Kubbertros remained calm. “My own martial art, the Orbiting Void Bow, potentially reaches the tenth tier, but it hasn’t been fully developed yet. However, the opponent’s martial art has already been refined to a crude tenth-tier prototype. I could try practicing it, this ‘Alchemy’ discipline.”

“To know oneself and one’s enemy,” he mused, “what should I try to practice then?”

Kubbertros narrowed his eyes, suddenly recalling the words spoken at his birth:

“I hope my child becomes the strongest captain of the Free Nation in the universe, a symbol of freedom, holding a shield made of the universe’s hardest Vibranium, protecting our home.”

“Then I’ll play the part of that superhero captain.”

A smile touched his lips. “Alchemy… shattering quanta, re-molding.”

He pressed his hand firmly against the ground. With a whoosh, the earth instantly shattered. Like molten lava flowing in reverse, countless particles of soil and rock were extracted, breaking down into their most fundamental states, gradually coalescing into a perfect round shield with red and white stripes.

“This martial art is incredibly difficult, simply unbelievable!”

“It requires extremely subtle control; it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it the most difficult martial art in history… Even using my true form’s immense soul will for forced calculations, I only barely managed to reshape some of the matter.”

With a snap, his clothes instantly transformed into the iconic superhero attire. Holding the shield, he chuckled, “The texture is good; it can indeed be called Vibranium.”

“This shield can indeed be called the hardest substance.”

He smiled, no longer concealing himself. After acquiring the opponent’s martial arts philosophy and infiltrating their upper echelons to steal secrets, he had no reason to hide anymore. He didn’t suspect the other party of holding back, because there wasn’t much they could hide anyway.

“This is the tragedy of an immature martial art: it needs countless individuals to refine it simultaneously, drawing parallels and expanding its scope.”

“This is why incomplete martial arts are so easily copied. They can’t stop my infiltration; as long as they want to refine their martial art, they’ll need a lot of manpower…”

“And while we can infiltrate them, they cannot infiltrate our world… They can’t change their size that much… So, ultimately, the fungi are destined for destruction.”

As he spoke, he continued to approach the capital of the Norman Empire.

“What is that?”

“A martial artist?”

“Isn’t flying forbidden?”

Countless people looked up at the sky.

“That outfit—is it Captain, from the Marvel superheroes? And that shield, rumored to be forged from the hardest Vibranium?”

“Hey! You strong one up there, that’s just a comic book! Don’t you know? It’s a comic! I can’t believe even someone as powerful as you would be so silly, playing dress-up!”

Someone on the ground whistled. Kubbertros’s gaze sharpened. An unimaginably high-frequency molecular vibration emanated, and the person instantly disintegrated into dust under trillions of vibrations. Blood splattered across the faces of all passersby on the street. All passersby froze for a few seconds, then suddenly let out terrified screams as if the world were ending.

Ah!!!

Accompanied by screams, one after another, ninth-tier enlightenment geniuses emerged, confronting Kubbertros. Numerous attacks—fists, kicks, energy waves—were continuously launched, yet they vanished into the round shield.

“What kind of weapon is that?”

“Our physical bodies are supposed to be the strongest weapons, nothing should be able to withstand them. What in the world is that?”

Bang! Bang!

Before they could even think further, they were instantly blasted away by a powerful punch.

“Send your strongest men to meet me, those Four Quantum Grandmasters. I greatly admire and respect such talents,” he said with a smile.

“You’re asking for death!”

Countless powerful individuals were utterly enraged. The entire royal capital instantly erupted, its vast land, comparable to an entire continent’s capital, exploding in chaos. News reports proliferated. Word spread throughout the entire Federation, and numerous martial artists rushed to the scene.

Kubbertros, however, was in no hurry; he thoroughly enjoyed the process. “Too fragile, simply too fragile…”

“You are too weak.”

He was waiting for the true powerhouses to arrive. Soon, half a day later, the Four Grandmasters he awaited did not appear. Instead, two mysterious Saints descended.

Kuang Tu’s expression was calm as he chuckled, “This one is likely a chaotic being from outside. It seems it has been lurking among us, even playing the role of a superhero captain.”

Kuang Tu was actually somewhat surprised. For such a being not to rely on its immense size to flatten the area, but instead to infiltrate and learn—that was indeed insidious.

Renal mused, “The two of us originally came to find Wang Renming to spar with him on his Alchemy, but we never expected to encounter something like this.”

They had only come by chance, yet they stumbled upon a disaster unfolding here. However, they found it quite intriguing. So-called martial arts and martial disciplines can only be perfected through sparring and combat. These top powerhouses had almost all sparred with each other at least once, and it had begun to feel somewhat dull.

“That unknown individual speaks with quite the arrogance, and you must be Renal, correct?” Kubbertros looked at the two, his gaze finally resting on the tall man. “Once called the strongest man on the surface?”

“Are you also cultivating ‘Alchemy’ now, following the path of the Omnipotent Lord?”

Renal chuckled, shaking his head with a smile. “Why would I cultivate their martial art? While I must admit that the martial art they developed is quite astonishing, I believe my own future is just as promising.”

Kubbertros scoffed in disbelief. “You mean you’ve perfected your ‘Burning River Energy’ concept? That’s ridiculous! Your martial art philosophy is clearly far less powerful than theirs; it’s simply incomparable. They are on the path to becoming ‘Lords,’ and their philosophy is undoubtedly one of the most powerful and mysterious top-tier martial arts of all time. How could there be so many top-tier martial arts concepts like that?”

He refused to believe there could be a concept comparable to such an astonishing one.

“Who knows?” Renal slowly stepped forward.