Chapter 514: Surprise and Mutual Barrage

The moment he saw the black-robed figure, Gao Jie Ming's spirit snapped taut like a drawn bowstring.

All distractions, doubts, and the urge to clean up fleeing enemies were forcibly suppressed; his eyes held only that target radiating a massive Level Six aura.

The life-or-death duel with the 【Hand of Annihilation】, which had nearly shattered his soul, had long etched his vigilance toward Level Six sorcerers into his marrow.

Facing this unknown foe, Gao Jie Ming had no leisure to test or probe.

In an instant of thought, the twelve Fire Float Cannons moved at his will.

Two of them subtly adjusted their angles; their dark gold "continuous irradiation" beams sliced through the last few enemy sorcerers trying to flee into the distance.

Screams cut off abruptly; a few wisps of quickly dissipating blue smoke drifted in the air.

The remaining ten cannons blazed with suddenly intensified light.

Ten beams of Fire Divine Light converged precisely in midair after leaving their barrels.

Gao Jie Ming's immense spiritual force forcibly guided and constrained these ten destructive energy streams, compressing and fusing them again over an extremely short distance!

Hum!!!

Space groaned under unbearable strain.

A hyper-condensed beam, no thicker than a thumb, deep as a condensed dark sun, its edges swirling with blinding white-hot patterns, suddenly formed!

Where it passed, light was swallowed; space itself twisted subtly inward, collapsing toward the beam's core.

Silent, yet carrying an irrevocable will to pierce through all things, it shot toward the chest vital point of the black-robed figure a hundred li away!

In the instant the beam fired, Gao Jie Ming's pupils locked onto the target, ready to observe any response.

Yet…

He felt his vision briefly "frame-skipped."

One moment, the black-robed figure stood suspended in midair, his dark red gaze fixed on him.

The next, his right arm blurred slightly—his palm had already lifted, held flat before his chest.

And that beam, forged from the full power of ten float cannons, capable of instantly shattering a normal Level Six defense, vanished without a sound… right before the raised palm.

Like a shot into an absolute void, not even a trace of energy leakage remained—it simply vanished into thin air.

Gao Jie Ming's heart clenched; a chill shot up his spine to his scalp.

But the key issue wasn't how the attack was neutralized—it was why.

Why had this enemy raised his hand?

Why was his palm positioned exactly where the beam's path lay?

Could it be… he… reacts to light?!

The shock of this thought struck Gao Jie Ming harder than the mere neutralization of his attack.

Light speed is the ultimate limit of information transfer in the conventional material plane.

A light-speed attack across a hundred kilometers takes only 0.0003 seconds!

To "react" to a light-speed attack means the opponent's perception, thought, and motion have touched—or even surpassed—the boundary of some physical law!

No ordinary Level Six sorcerer could achieve this!

But Gao Jie Ming forcibly suppressed his shock; his combat instincts and analytical habits surged into high gear.

Quickly, his rapid mind caught a critical detail: the two beams he'd sent to clear the minions, the enemy had not intercepted.

Given the enemy's terrifying apparent ability to react to light speed, annihilating those two beams would have been effortless.

Unless… he was so cruel he watched his allies die?

But the ambushers' expressions of relief upon seeing him arrive were genuine.

A commander so cruel as to disregard his subordinates' lives would not inspire such "savior has arrived" hope in his troops at a crisis.

So more likely—the enemy cannot truly react to full-spectrum light speed!

His ability may be limited to a certain range around his body, using some unknown method to respond to "light-speed attacks entering that zone."

"Is it localized time flow alteration? Pre-set spatial curvature traps? Or ultra-high-level predictive perception…?"

In a flash, Gao Jie Ming's mind raced through several hypotheses, none fully confirmed.

He needed more data—he knew he must immediately conduct further probes.

But the enemy would not grant him time for calm analysis.

In this very "instant" as Gao Jie Ming's thoughts raced, the enemy's counterattack came like a shadow.

The black-robed sorcerer simply raised his other hand, pointing his index finger vaguely toward Gao Jie Ming's position.

Instantly, surging fire elements were summoned, forming an ocean of flame in the sky.

As the sorcerer's finger moved, the fiery sea crashed down upon Gao Jie Ming like a tidal wave.

Yet though the scale was immense, in Gao Jie Ming's perception, the energy intensity… was not high.

At least, far weaker than the 【Hand of Annihilation】's palm imprint, layered with multiple annihilation forces.

This attack, though visually overwhelming, was fundamentally nothing more than ordinary elemental manipulation—only its area was exaggerated.

The 【Void Return Armor】 should easily block it.

Gao Jie Ming instinctively judged.

He felt the 【Void Return Armor】's field operating steadily, preparing to absorb and convert this "low-intensity" energy impact.

But the instant the flames touched the invisible field of the 【Void Return Armor】, every hair on Gao Jie Ming's body stood on end!

His instinct for lethal danger—forged through countless life-and-death trials—burned like a red-hot iron into the depths of his soul!

"Wrong!"

He had no time to think why—it was pure instinct that moved his body.

Inside his dantian, a specially crafted artifact, sealed with the complete 【Void Return Armor】 activation runes, activated instantly!

A second, entirely new 【Void Return Armor】 field unfolded almost simultaneously, zero distance within the first field!

At the exact moment the new field began to expand…

Crack!

A faint, chilling sound—like shattering glass—clearly echoed into Gao Jie Ming's soul.

He watched in horror as the first 【Void Return Armor】 field, which should have stood firm and effortlessly absorbed this "low-intensity" attack, exploded into countless pale golden specks and vanished completely!

The 【Void Return Armor】 shattered without warning, without reason!

Immediately after, the following surge of energy projectiles slammed into the newly deployed second field, producing a muffled, drumlike explosion.

The invisible field didn't ripple violently—it merely showed faint, chaotic ripples before easily absorbing and converting all remaining energy.

Gao Jie Ming's heart pounded in his chest; his back instantly soaked in cold sweat.

How is this possible?!

The enemy's attack energy intensity was far below the 【Void Return Armor】's tested limits.

Compared to the 【Hand of Annihilation】's assault, this attack was practically "insignificant."

Yet precisely this "weak" attack had, in a way he couldn't comprehend, shattered the 【Void Return Armor】 outright!

The shattering felt neither like overload nor erosion—it was more like a "rule-level" negation!

As if the enemy's fingertip didn't just project energy, but also carried a unique "armor-piercing" property, specifically designed to bypass energy absorption/conversion fields, ignoring strength thresholds entirely!

Had his body's survival instinct not triggered the second layer of 【Void Return Armor】, he would have taken the full force of the subsequent elemental barrage!

At his current physical strength, he would have died instantly!

This enemy… is more dangerous than the 【Hand of Annihilation】!

Gao Jie Ming's internal alarm surged to maximum level.

A hundred li away, in the void, the black-robed Level Six sorcerer's dark red eyes beneath his hood flickered faintly, emitting a barely audible "hmm."

His attack, though not at full power, carried a law-like characteristic sufficient to shatter the defenses of most Level Six sorcerers—and even penetrate many Level Seven defenses.

Yet this Level Five brat… actually blocked it?

Though his defense method seemed slightly clever, many Level Six sorcerers couldn't even block this seemingly ordinary strike—even with clever tricks.

Gao Jie Ming's response finally made the sorcerer take him seriously; he quickly sifted through his memories for relevant data.

"This spiritual force aura and elemental fluctuation… resemble the residues left by Karong and Elise."

The black-robed sorcerer's expression grew heavier.

So it was this seemingly Level Five, yet bizarrely skilled brat who eliminated the madman 【Hand of Annihilation】.

To have killed 【Hand of Annihilation】—he clearly has unique abilities.

Both sides, in this first exchange of offense and defense, sensed the other's difficulty and depth.

Brief shock and assessment were completed nearly simultaneously in their high-speed thoughts.

The next instant, both their eyes flashed with cold light—no more restraint!

Hum!!!

Behind Gao Jie Ming, the twelve Fire Float Cannons emitted a high-pitched resonance!

Their barrel runes blazed fully; no longer seeking extreme convergence, they fired dark gold beams of Li Huo Mie Jue Light at maximum frequency—floodlike, relentless!

These beams no longer maintained "continuous irradiation"; instead, they rained down in rapid point-fire patterns, covering every possible angle around the black-robed sorcerer—head, limbs, torso, even the vast space above, below, and to his sides!

Gao Jie Ming wanted to test whether the enemy's apparent "light-speed reaction" covered his entire body—or was limited to a specific zone or posture!

Simultaneously, the rune arrays engraved on his legs ignited—【Grand Void Step】 activated!

His physical form dematerialized, resonating at high frequency with surrounding energy.

He became a faint golden afterimage, impossible to track, retreating wildly along irregular, jagged trajectories, desperately increasing distance from the black-robed sorcerer!

Facing an enemy who might "react to light speed" and whose attacks carried a bizarre "armor-piercing" trait, close combat was absolute folly.

Maintaining distance, using ranged firepower and mobility to maneuver—this was the wise choice.

Inside his inner dantian, the specially crafted "Gui Xu Armor Activation Talisman" was activated at a steady rhythm, already prepared in advance.

As one invisible field fluctuated under assault, another immediately formed within or outside the previous one, like wrapping his body in layer upon layer of "eggshells."

Though he could not comprehend the principle behind the opponent's "Law-Breaking" trait, Gao Jie Ming was certain of one thing: the Gui Xu Armor itself could withstand that strange power!

As long as he kept refreshing it, he could maintain an effective defense!

The cost was merely the rapid depletion of his inner dantian's reserves.

But Gao Jie Ming had prepared extensively before the war began, precisely to guard against this very scenario!

Against Gao Jie Ming's sudden outburst of firepower and high-speed maneuvering, the corner of the black-robed sorcerer's mouth beneath his hood seemed to curl into a cold arc.

He did not choose to close in for melee.

Facing the lightning-fast barrage of Li Huo Divine Light projectiles from all directions, his response grew remarkably "casual."

He remained rooted in place, his hands moving slowly before him like plucking strings on a lute, tracing peculiar paths.

Each movement caused a stream of dark-golden light to vanish silently against an invisible barrier before him, as if swallowed by an endless black hole.

His motions were fluid and precise, as if foreseeing every beam's trajectory, yet carried a strange harmony that was not "reaction," but "synchronization."

Simultaneously, his counterattacks never ceased.

His ten fingers danced like playing an invisible piano; each light tap unleashed tens of thousands of energy projectiles!

Having discovered the boy's method of resisting his Law-based power, he chose energy projectiles—simple to release, yet extremely high in firing frequency.

At the level of a Level Six Sorcerer, each casting could unleash tens of millions of energy projectiles.

Under his deliberate control, some projectiles no longer pursued maximum speed; each volley was divided into dozens of waves, forming a dense, continuous torrent of fire resembling a metal storm.

It engulfed the sky and earth, sweeping toward the erratic, flickering afterimages of Gao Jie Ming's desperate escape!

Each wave easily shattered the Gui Xu Armor, and the next wave followed immediately, forcing Gao Jie Ming to continuously drain his reserves to maintain the fragile "eggshell defense!"

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!

Dark-golden Li Huo Divine Light and dark-gray projectile barrages clashed, annihilated, and interwove furiously above the gray-white desert.

One side delivered precise, light-speed pinpoint strikes; the other unleashed an oceanic torrent of energy.

Gao Jie Ming's figure flickered like a phantom through the gaps in the barrage, his floating cannons firing at full capacity.

At this point, the Li Huo Annihilation Divine Light was no longer solely an offensive tool.

Under Gao Jie Ming's control, each Li Huo Annihilation Divine Light beam grew immensely thick, erasing every energy projectile along its path and carving clean, empty trails through the air.

The black-robed sorcerer stood firm as a rock; with each motion of his hands, he effortlessly dissolved every beam that pierced through the barrage, while drowning Gao Jie Ming's space in an almost endless rain of energy projectiles, plowing it over and over again!

For a moment, the earth groaned, and space trembled.

In the instant they met, both sides unleashed an unimaginably fierce exchange of attacks!

(End of Chapter)