Chapter 174: 173 Black Hole

This scenery, though it pains Wang Wu greatly, is still better than having nothing to see at all.

While Wang Wu was lying in the corona layer, taking a deep sleep, deep within the Milky Way, there was a place that no detector could locate… well, actually it could be found.

Heavenly Court, inside a certain palace.

"You actually made it easy for me to find."

The familiar voice reached Tianyou's ears, causing him to snap his eyes open.

Looking at the voice's owner, a massive figure that had appeared in the hall at an unknown time, Tianyou's eyes widened instantly.

"You, you…!?"

He stared blankly at the man before him; although they had only met once before, the other's impression was almost indelibly etched into his soul.

It wasn't his terrifying strength, but the overwhelming demonic flame emanating from his body.

"Damned wretch, damned wretch!!!!"

Tianyou looked at Qin Xiang before him, his eyes turning a scarlet hue, like the roaming demon gods in the Heavenly Court.

"You damned wretch, a beast‑like thing…"

He stared fixedly at Qin Xiang, the words from his mouth forced out one character at a time.

Given his level of power, even Wang Wu, the strongest in the Heavenly Origin Civilization, would be shattered to death by this unrivaled force the moment he uttered the first angry note.

Unfortunately, Qin Xiang is not the top strongman of the Heavenly Origin Civilization.

He is the sect master of the Extreme Heaven Vajra Sect, and not even a native of this universe.

"You… do you actually think—do you truly think that I, the humble monk, am scared of you!??!"

The sky‑splitting demonic flame burst from Tianyou's body, thrusting him into an extremely bizarre state.

In this state, his aura resembled the oddities of the True Realm.

"Give me…!!!"

Tianyou's words were cut off, as Qin Xiang had already lunged in front of him before he could react.

Then a punch thundered out.

There was no aftershock; the splendid hall did not collapse from the blow.

All that flew away was Tianyou, and a torrent of blue liquid spewing from his body.

It was blood—the blood of a true immortal.

"Stupid dog, Jie Jie."

When Tianyou was blasted away by Qin Xiang's punch, Qin Xiang's maniacal laugh rang in his ears:

"Fighting and you have to throw harsh words first—what comic is this from?"

"Just die!!!"

Immediately, Qin Xiang pressed his two fingers together, pointing a single finger at the Tianyou ahead.

"Boshun Heavenly Demon Finger!!!"

But this time, it missed.

Tianyou wasn't truly that weak; although he had been left in a sorry state by Qin Xiang earlier, if he truly went all out, it wouldn't be especially easy for Qin Xiang to deal with him.

Nevertheless, it wouldn't be that hard, just as Yin Shenli said, relying on Tianyou to achieve a breakthrough in cultivation has a low chance of success.

Qin Xiang could sense Tianyou's might; in terms of attack power, his stats absolutely possessed the ability to break Qin Xiang's defenses.

Thus, this is why Qin Xiang came to find him. As an opponent, this guy is clearly a perfect match.

Back on Earth, even as a big boss of the Demon Sect, he still had to obey Cloudlight City law.

The vast majority of the world's strongmen gather in the Nine Great Main Cities; finding a peer whose strength can match or even surpass Qin Xiang among them is not difficult.

The difficulty lies in getting them to agree to a life‑or‑death duel with you.

People of the Demon Sect act without restraint, which is how it should be. Yet, no matter how reckless they are, they still fall under Cloudlight City's jurisdiction.

As for those who ignore orders, only think of doing as they please or even seizing mountains as kings, their fate is simple.

Death.

Usually, Cloudlight City sends elite forces to eradicate the Demon Sect, leaving nothing behind.

Of course, this thorough eradication means capturing everyone for sentencing—death for the condemned, imprisonment for the rest—not outright annihilation on the spot.

Supernatural criminals are also valuable resources; unless the crime is especially severe, labor re‑education is a more cost‑effective option.

However, if that sect is strong enough—strong enough to resist a team led by the Cloudlight City Lord, who is not only the city's top master but also the world's number‑one master—

then the next wave awaiting them would be Cloudlight City's defense system.

Even the strongest New Human individuals cannot withstand the various weapons and gear from the old Human Empire era.

No matter how skilled, a kitchen knife is still feared. Martial arts are the foundation of New Human civilization, but in terms of destructive power, the terrifying weapons left from the past empire still dominate.

It's not that warriors are useless; their cost‑effectiveness is high and they are renewable, unlike the empire's armaments that diminish with use.

But when faced with problems that even warriors cannot solve, the only choice is to resort to heavy blows.

Even the world's top master is not feared; this is no ordinary sect, it must be crushed ruthlessly…

Um, nothing.

In short, the Extreme Heaven Vajra Sect, though the largest gold‑type sect and a famed wasteland demon sect,

overall, they still abide by law and order.

After all, times have changed; the era when sects ruled and trampled city laws is long gone… um, actually, that era never existed.

Except for a few theater versions.

As for what a "theater version" is, everyone only knows that such a thing exists, that the world sometimes shifts into a completely different timeline.

And that timeline is called the "Theater Version".

Everyone knows of its existence, yet never truly perceives it.

Even when the words "theatrical version" came out of their mouths, they knew what they were saying, yet they wouldn't consider anything more.

Of course, the current Qin Xiang is definitely not in the theatrical version, because he is not a particularly valuable character—just a background piece, appearing only a few times.

But such matters are unimportant; what theatrical version, what background piece, what protagonist or supporting role—none of these matter.

Because the present Qin Xiang is long gone from his own universe; now he is the protagonist here, and the opponent before him is the supporting character here.

"Can you actually block it?"

One strike was blocked, immediately followed by Qin Xiang's second strike.

Yet the dozens of attacks capable of destroying an entire star system were all deflected by Tianyou.

He didn't even dodge; he simply took the blows head‑on.

At this moment, although Tianyou's body trembled, the energy contained in Qin Xiang's attacks could almost each time shatter his defense.

If it weren't for the fact that he was about to finish refining this Dousuo Palace, and that the great array of the Dousuo Palace had mitigated most of Qin Xiang's damage…

He probably would have been reduced to ash the moment Qin Xiang landed his first strike.

Yet now, despite being in a terrible mess, a smile appeared on Tianyou's face—though the smile was full of malice, Tianyou continued:

"Just… just like that…"

"Hehe, hehehe…"

"A false immortal, but only a false immortal…"

"Hahaha, hahahaha…"

He stared fixedly at Qin Xiang, finally letting out a laugh that sounded like crying.

"You… haha, you cannot kill, cannot kill… me!!"

"You cannot kill me!!!"

"I am, I am this Dousuo Palace, the lord of the Heavenly Court's Dousuo Palace!!!" he roared, "I am one of the Three Pure Sovereign Gods, I am, I am Dao De, Dao De Heavenly Venerable! Taiching Dao De Heavenly Venerable!!!!"

"You cannot kill me!!!"

His voice grew louder and more frantic. Finally, in a voice already breaking, he charged at Qin Xiang.

In an instant, he became a streak of light, his speed even surpassing the limit Qin Xiang could reach.

At this point, Tianyou's speed had reached 0.9 times the speed of light, comparable to the speed after Yin Shenli opened Zhenwu.

However, this was still not his own power.

When speed was forcibly pushed to that level, Qin Xiang could see his body constantly disintegrating and fragmenting.

He was clearly intending to gamble with his life.

"Hehe, well done, well done!!"

Facing Tianyou's death‑defying strike, Qin Xiang also showed a blood‑thirsty grin, "Then come! Then fight!!!"

"Today, only one of us can survive and walk away!!!!"

With a similarly fierce shout, at that moment Zhenwu activated, Dou Shen erupted, and golden meridian patterns appeared over Qin Xiang's body—these were the veins within him.

At this moment, with the surge of power, the awakening of the "Dou Shen", at the cost of burning his life, Qin Xiang pushed his might to the limit.

0.88 times the speed of light, still unable to match Tianyou's 0.92 times the speed of light.

Yet his aura far exceeded Tianyou's.

In the main hall, light shining from hundreds of thousands of meters above became distorted; Qin Xiang himself seemed to become a black hole.

He no longer reflected light; even light could no longer reach him.

The two's might now approached the ultimate limit of what the physical universe can sustain. In a normal universe, no object can ever attain super‑luminal speed.

And the closer one gets to light speed, the more one's greatness is manifested.

Speed is power, speed is defense, speed… is everything.

When a supernova erupts, the brilliance it emits is the brightest in the universe.

And a black hole is the heaviest, deepest celestial body in the universe.

It can bend light, it can capture time.

And now, in this great hall, what is occurring is a collision between black holes.

Of course, none of this has anything to do with Wang Wu.

At this moment he is enjoying something that perhaps no one has ever even dreamed of.

Yin Shenli's thigh became Wang Wu's pillow; blood‑splattered Wang Wu lay comfortably on his master's thigh, his hand tightly gripping his master's small hand.

Though Yin Shenli is terrifying, it cannot be said that there are no disciples in the Shura Blood‑Slash and Yin Ji Shen Sect who have thoughts about her.

On the contrary, many disciples do have thoughts about her.

But having thoughts is just having thoughts; they cannot be anything else.

Because the master's terrifying level is enough to make them discard any thoughts when facing this woman.

As the saying goes, you cannot get a tiger cub without entering the tiger's den; if not…

Well, it can only be said that Wang Wu usually looks quite timid, but at times his courage is indeed great.

Although this has nothing to do with his courage, it can be said that his way of approaching Yin Shenli was correct, even if it was an entirely unintentional proper method.

As for what the correct method is? The answer is to deal with Yin Shenli using an ordinary person's mindset and reasoning.

The top fighters in the Assassin Brother world are mostly ordinary people, or rather, the "strong‑person temperament" and dignity exist among first‑rank warriors, and there are quite a few.

But above the first rank, in the "Fuyu Realm", among those called "Fuyu Martial Gods", the so‑called strong‑person temperament and dignity become rather rare.

Though the principle is unknown, in Qin Xiang's world, those who stand at the pinnacle of human martial paths almost all share this character.

Ordinary.

Simply put, it's an ordinary person who wields the power to destroy a galaxy. Of course, this is mixed with massive abstraction and extremely twisted reasoning.

In short, you must be a normal person, an ordinary person, but not too normal, not too ordinary.

Of course, there are also top‑tier serious traditional strongmen, but compared to the number of abstract top‑tier strongmen, there really aren't that many.

After all, it's a comedy comic; you can't demand too much.

If Wang Wu could have read a bit more comics back at his old home, or at least had a stronger impression of a certain comic.

When he knows Sha Shou Ge's name, and knows Sha Shou Ge Lao Ge's name, at that moment his super brain should be able to help him recall something.

But unfortunately, for some comics he only knows the title, knows the protagonist inside, but knows nothing else.

Of course, this sort of thing doesn't matter. Whether he knows or not won't affect anything.

Thus Wang Wu clutches his own hand and props his head on his own thigh. Yin Shenli at this moment hasn't even taken out her phone; she just keeps staring at Wang Wu's blood‑splattered face.

From time to time, the corner of her mouth lifts a bit, but it quickly smooths out and vanishes without a trace.

The two have known each other for a year or two, and for Yin Shenli to spend so much time on him for an entire year naturally shows that she is extremely satisfied with this disciple of hers.

"Hmm, Master, I'm here, don't be afraid, don't be afraid, Master…"

At this moment Wang Wu is dreaming; since he's using his master's thigh as a pillow, the dream naturally has… uh, nothing special.

"Don't be afraid, Master, ah, Master, don't—this place, this place isn't suitable, Master."

"Master, don't do that, don't do that."

Listening to Wang Wu's muttered dream talk, Yin Shenli rolls her eyes.

No longer focusing on her disciple, she turns her gaze to the starry sky outside. Her divine sense expands again, covering the entire galaxy.

At this time, Qin Xiang's battle with Tian You is still ongoing.

What Yin Shenli didn't expect was that Tian You, using some unknown method, managed to boost his power in a short time to surpass Qin Xiang.

"This is…"

Yin Shenli, watching the battle unfolding deep within a palace at the galaxy's core, says rather surprised:

"In this universe, there are actually such means?"

She says, her mouth corner lifts again, "It's rather interesting."

(End of chapter)