Chapter 1445: The Times Have Changed

Zhizhu completely immersed himself in the void, leaping through the turbulent currents within it, constantly drawing closer to the nine universes whose precise locations remained unknown.

Swish.

The tearing spatial turbulence made it difficult for him to pinpoint his location.

His mastery over dimensional power had, surprisingly, become negligible under the singularity's interference, making it almost impossible to discern the faint, winding paths within the labyrinth.

"As expected, I cannot proceed without paying a price. Then I will try this move."

With a wave of his hand.

His entire being collapsed into two dimensions, then into a one-dimensional line, and the next second, he astonishingly transformed into zero dimensions—a form infinitely approaching a singularity.

Everyone revealed looks of shock.

This was, astonishingly, a method to collapse oneself into a singularity not through the martial arts system of the new era, but through the bloodline system of the old!

They had initially believed this path and realm were exclusive to beings of the new era. Could the old era also ascend to the Eleventh Order?

Indeed, this ancient mastermind had already prepared everything, having familiarized himself with the Eleventh Order power of singularities in advance and even deduced his own method for a perfect breakthrough.

If not for the current turn of events, he would still be lying dormant in the darkness, quietly awaiting the final moment to become the universe's first Eleventh Order being!

"Is this so strange?" he asked, his expression stern. "This is how I transform into a singularity. As Ren Jiu said, I am inherently skilled at creating miracles. They use the 'Hand of God' through martial arts without bloodlines; this is my own bloodline method that I developed: Dimensional Reduction to Unity!"

Swish.

As he transformed into a point infinitely close to zero dimensions, faint, thread-like lines of jumping matter began to appear before him. The world became clear, and he could see the paths within the labyrinth.

However, the overwhelming pressure of spatial distortion relentlessly squeezed him; blood gushed from his entire body, pushing his bloodline to its absolute limit.

Ugh... Aaargh!!

He roared lowly, immense pain tearing through every cell, but this was nothing. The surroundings transformed into countless tunnels of multicolored light and shadow, through which he rapidly traversed.

"Approaching!"

Behind him, Ren Jiu completely collapsed, no longer able to sustain himself.

Crack!

Time began to flow backward again, and everything was returning to normal.

"Collapsed? It doesn't matter," he muttered. "Because I've succeeded; I've made it in time!" None of this mattered anymore. He had traversed the labyrinth, finally reaching its deepest core, and there, he saw the most vulnerable spot.

"Emperor! Lord!!!!"

Zhizhu shrieked, enunciating each word. The entire singularity rapidly transformed into strands of surging, platinum-gold electromagnetic waves, making extremely winding and agile leaps.

"Kill!!"

His eyes sharp, he entered one of the universes. Victory was in sight as he growled, "You who obstructed my dream of traversing 14 billion years—you must die!"

Time slowly flowed backward.

Emperor Lord slowly opened his eyes, his gaze filled with indifference.

Crack.

At the last possible second, that universe shifted to the side, evading the fatal blow.

However, the immense tearing energy still destroyed a portion of that universe's structure, leaving it fragmented and broken.

Meanwhile, all the Saints of the Myriad Heavens and Worlds within the nine bloodline universes watched this scene in shock:

"What happened?"

"In the blink of an eye, how did it suddenly appear before our universe?"

"This is impossible!"

"It's time; they traveled through time."

Voices of panic and alarm echoed like a tumultuous tide throughout the universe, creating a vast, noisy cacophony.

"They can actually do that? Any faster, and it would be like the Eight Revolutions Profound Art."

Emperor Lord stood his ground, a hint of surprise on his face as he felt an anomaly within his abdominal cavity. He said, astonished, "To arrive here within 1.6 x 10^35 seconds—it's hard to imagine what terrifying speed of time flow was surpassed. And to cross that labyrinth in such a short time—that's a second unimaginable speed. You are unexpectedly strong."

"Perhaps you truly might create a miracle."

Emperor Lord's expression became calm. From within his abdominal cavity, flesh slowly rose, and a miniature Emperor Lord emerged, looking at the monster before him. "You actually managed to penetrate my core nexus. There, my power is restricted, preventing full operation. My strength is less than one-tenth of its full extent."

"With one-tenth of your power, and having to protect your weak point, bound hand and foot, you plan to deal with me?" Zhizhu's expression was cold. "I am the strongest assassin, the Lord of the Immortal Realm, far surpassing those Immortal Saints. This time, it's your turn to be at a disadvantage."

Swish.

Zhizhu vanished from his spot.

The surrounding space subtly warped.

The universe is normally three-dimensional, but having attained the Dao of the universe's dimensions, he himself was not bound by rules. He could freely jump between various dimensional controls, much like different radio frequencies, making it impossible to detect him.

Only at the instant he struck would traces of him appear.

This was also why Ren Jiu, in the past, was assassinated and secretly replaced.

This was also one of the strongest rules in the universe.

The surroundings were silent.

Emperor Lord stood quietly in place, while the nine distant universes slowly revolved, like planets orbiting a sun.

Crack!!

The next second, a sound like shattering glass.

Pfft!

A sharp blade, imbued with the Law of Death, pierced into one of the bloodline universes.

This was the Law of Death, the power of the Five Declines of Heaven and Man—one of the strongest laws among the three major laws, causing instantaneous death upon contact. The laws he possessed could be considered the strongest destructive means in the history of the universe.

Yet, it merely rippled through the universe, like a knife cutting through water, causing no damage at all.

"It... it actually dodged it!?" Zhizhu stared at the universe, dumbfounded. That was a powerful destructive technique, and it... it actually blocked it directly!?

Was this truly only one-tenth of his power, yet so terrifying?

"This bloodline universe, did you turn into a singularity?" Zhizhu's pupils dilated as he quickly realized this.

"Isn't that perfectly normal?"

Emperor Lord said calmly, "Alchemy can change any matter in the universe. With high proficiency, one can naturally transform anything touched into a singularity..."

"Moreover, I control this universe myself; I am the Heavenly Dao of the universe. What's strange about a part of my body temporarily transforming into a singularity to dodge an attack?"

"You think you possess the strongest rules, but in reality, before a singularity, they are all false paths. As long as I'm prepared, it's hard for you to launch a sneak attack."

"But I am not truly an Eleventh Order being; I can only momentarily transform into a singularity shield to resist," Emperor Lord said. "Even if time slowed down on me, I could easily resolve it. But Ren Jiu was very clever; he accelerated himself, applying the effect to himself, making it very difficult for me to resist. But that's gone now, isn't it?"

Zhizhu was slightly dazed, his face utterly grim.

Even mastering a part of Eleventh Order power meant becoming a different kind of dimensional being, rendering most of his bloodline techniques, which relied on hidden rules, useless.

What he could still use were enhancement-type rules applied to himself.

But the strongest rule applied to him was time, and now that was gone. Even if he applied other enhancement methods to strengthen his body, could he possibly compare to the opponent's energy level?

An ant, even with a dozen stacked enhancement states, could never compare to a dragon. With pure power suppression, he was effectively useless.

"My lord, times have changed."

From nearby, the soft laughter of the Zerg Matriarchs was heard.

"All your old methods are useless. You can only defeat the opponent using a singularity, so we must now rely on newly researched methods. Let us handle it instead."

After the Zerg Matriarch spoke, her entire being radiated terrifying power, and she chuckled, "That terrifying accelerated time wasn't just for you to get here and kill. It was time for us to evolve. You used your talent to lead the way here; your miracle is complete. The rest, hand it over to us for the relay. That will be enough."

Zhizhu stood dumbfounded.

The Zerg Matriarch pushed him aside, taking control of the body, and said with vibrant fighting spirit, "Still haven't realized? You were just the one to lead the way."