Chapter 238: Law Counter-Devouring

How... how are we supposed to fight this?

A Shadow Guard's voice had completely changed, filled with the dazed bewilderment of reality being crushed.

Their attacks became the enemy's supplies. Their spells became the enemy's meals. They gave their all, only to end up filling the enemy's 'perpetual motion machine' with even more fuel.

This isn't a battle anymore—it's just rushing to feed the enemy.

Stay calm!

The leading Shadow Guard captain bellowed, but the tremor in his voice betrayed the turmoil inside. He forced himself to turn his stiff neck, locking his gaze on the boy seated cross-legged at the heart of the grand array—Wang Zhize.

His array... there must be a flaw! Tampering with the laws like this must consume an enormous amount! He's only at Foundation Establishment—he can't hold out much longer!

Those words were like a shot of adrenaline, rekindling a sliver of hope in the remaining three Shadow Guards—or rather, a desperate struggle.

Exactly! The captain's right! He's just gritting his teeth!

We can't keep using that scattered-energy 'Disrupting God Curse' attack—it's just feeding his little brother!

We need a more concentrated, pure attack—something that can't be 'digested'!

Attack with 'concepts'! Erase him directly at the level of the laws!

A flicker of resolve crossed the four Shadow Guards' eyes. They held nothing back, each producing an unassuming magic artifact.

One was a rust-covered iron nail, one a withered yellow leaf, one a cracked turtle shell, and the last a desiccated finger bone.

These weren't weapons for smashing people; they were markers bearing the 'concepts' they cultivated.

'Law... Severance!' the Shadow Guard captain hoarsely roared.

The four activated their artifacts simultaneously, with no earth-shattering light or world-destroying energy surge.

Only an invisible, eerie ripple spread instantly, enveloping the entire grand array.

This wasn't an energy attack, nor even a soul attack.

It was a deeper-level logic strike.

Their goal was to temporarily 'sever' Wang Zhize's connection to the laws of this space.

It was like unplugging a computer's network cable, leaving this 'hacker' unable to control the 'network'.

If they could interrupt him even for a moment, they'd have a chance to blast that fragile boy to dust with pure physical force.

Li Hu's heart clenched in the distance. Though he didn't understand what kind of attack this was, the innate sense of 'wrongness' made his hairs stand on end.

'Be careful!' he couldn't help shouting.

Wang Zhize, eyes closed as he maintained the grand array, shuddered violently, his face turning deathly pale.

He felt it.

Something like a cold pair of scissors was forcibly snipping his ties to the countless law-threads around him. The array's light began to flicker wildly, the black-gold runes wavering as if they might go out at any moment.

'Brother!' Wang Zhitao, who had just caught his breath, struggled to rise.

'Don't move!' Wang Zhize's voice squeezed out from between his teeth, tinged with blood, 'Hold steady... I can... handle it!'

'Hahaha! It's working! He can't hold on much longer!' a Shadow Guard shouted in ecstasy.

'Prepare! God-Severing Spur!' the captain ordered.

In an instant, four black spikes of pure killing intent and destructive law coalesced in their hands, ready to pin Wang Zhize down the moment the array shattered.

But just as they thought victory was theirs, a sudden change occurred.

The ecstatic Shadow Guard, about to aim his God-Severing Spur at Wang Zhize, found his arm... refusing to obey.

No, more accurately, he had forgotten how to 'aim'.

The concept of 'aiming' had suddenly become vague and alien in his mind. He could see Wang Zhize and knew he wanted to attack him, but he simply couldn't perform the seemingly obvious act of pointing his weapon at the target.

'What... what's wrong with my hand?' he cried in terror, watching his arm as the deadly God-Severing Spur jerked wildly in his grasp, unable to point at the target.

'Idiot! What are you doing?!' another Shadow Guard snapped, simultaneously activating his artifact—the rusted iron nail.

'Suppress!'

He tried to use the concept of 'suppression' to disturb Wang Zhize's mind.

The iron nail shot out on command, but instead of flying toward Wang Zhize, it paused strangely in midair... and then dropped straight down.

'Clang.'

A clear ringing sound rang out, especially jarring on the silent battlefield.

That Shadow Guard went dumb.

He stared at the iron nail fallen at his feet, his mind blank.

How could it have fallen?

A magic artifact... shouldn't it be able to fly?

Why won't my magic artifact fly?

'No... it's not the artifact!' the third Shadow Guard shrieked as if seeing a ghost. He was about to unleash an escape technique to aid the attack, but found his internal energy frozen solid—no matter how he formed seals or chanted, he couldn't draw the slightest bit.

'Casting spells' had vanished from his world.

'Backlash! It's law backlash!'

The Shadow Guard captain finally realized, his voice filled with unprecedented fear.

It wasn't Wang Zhize stubbornly resisting; rather, that grand array—the terrifying formation driven by the boy's will—did not collapse when attacked, but instead, like an angered beehive, 'twisted' their assault!

It didn't directly rebound energy; instead, it tampered with the underlying 'concepts' their attacks relied upon!

You want to 'aim'? Fine, I'll make you forget how.

You want to 'fly'? Fine, I'll make your artifact obey the most basic gravity.

You want to 'cast spells'? Fine, I'll temporarily sever your link to your energy.

This frightened them more than a direct hit ever could! It's a dimensionality-reduction strike at the cognitive level!

'This... this fucking...' Li Hu in the distance stared dumbfounded, rubbing his eyes, unsure if he was dreaming.

He pointed at those Shadow Guards standing there like idiots and asked Zhang Mei beside him: "Am I not mistaken? One's hand is shaking, one dropped his magic treasure, and another... is standing there dazed?"

Zhang Mei also looked dazed, subconsciously nodding.

"My heavens..." Li Hu muttered, "This kid... Zhize this kid... he's not defending, he's setting the 'game rules' for these bastards!"

"Pff—"

At the center of the great formation, Wang Zhize spat out a mouthful of blood, his body swayed, but the light in his eyes grew brighter and brighter.

He succeeded.

Although it was only a preliminary interference, although he paid a considerable price, he truly managed to pry open the core law of this trap zone!

"Brother!" Wang Zhitao shouted anxiously.

"Give me your power..." Wang Zhize growled.

Wang Zhitao hesitated not at all, again activating Devouring Origin Tyrant Body, sending over the pure energy transformed from having just devoured the Chaos God Curse, holding nothing back.

Receiving this surge of power, the tottering great formation instantly stabilized, and light burst forth!

And those four Shadow Guards fell completely into chaos.

"My sword! Why is my sword cutting my shield!"

"Don't come over! Damn it, why is my protective spell attacking myself!"

"Save me! My body... I can't feel my golden core!"

Their conceptual attacks were twisted and counter-devoured by the great formation, turning back on themselves. Some forgot how to defend and were injured by their own magic treasures; some cast spells whose targets shifted from Wang Zhize to their own companions; the worst one, under the formation's law interference, even temporarily "forgot" he was a golden core cultivator, his cultivation unable to be mobilized, and was blown away vomiting blood by the chaotic backlash of his companions' spells.

The battlefield became a ridiculous and terrifying farce.

"Stop! Everyone stop!" the Shadow Guard Captain let out a desperate howl.

He finally understood.

This youth was neither defending nor counterattacking.

He was "defining"!

He was turning this chaotic, disordered, trap-filled interdimensional space into his own domain! Anyone else still in this space must obey the rules he set!

And he was the god of this place!

"The source... he is the source!" the Shadow Guard Captain's blood-red eyes locked onto Wang Zhize; that gaze was no longer looking at a bug that could be crushed at will, but at a terrifying existence capable of overturning everything.

He no longer paid attention to the giant beast Wang Shan regaining its strength, nor to Wang Zhitao who could devour all things.

He pointed at the youth sitting cross-legged on the ground, face pale, lips bloody, and with all his strength issued the most hysterical command:

"Give up everything! Spare no expense! Kill him! Now! Immediately!!"