"Boom"
The body of an eleventh-level martial artist suddenly exploded. Its martial soul had barely escaped the shattered remains when Sarl snatched it into his palm.
"Hm?"
Sarl clutched the terrified martial soul and turned his gaze to the side.
He saw the white-gold light continuing its rampage, weaving freely among the beasts, leaving trails of shattered flesh and blood in its wake.
His expression instantly turned cold. Ignoring the soul's desperate pleas, he crushed it in his hand, reducing it to a scattering of light particles.
Without another word, Sarl lunged for his next target.
Now the human martial artists on the battlefield finally understood Sarl's intent.
Unable to harm Lu Sheng, he turned his fury upon them instead.
"Run!"
Someone shouted, and the remaining less than forty human martial artists scattered in flight. But this battlefield was teeming with beasts, leaving them little room to hide.
One by one, they were caught and brutally slaughtered by Sarl.
"Damn it."
The round-faced fat man among the guides wore a grim expression. His worst fears had finally come true. Not a single human martial artist could stand against Sarl, whose body contained five galactic laws.
Just as none of the beast side could defeat the unexpectedly powerful Lu Sheng.
The situation on the field had now completely transformed into a hunting ground for the two strongest, first-tier combatants. Apart from Sarl and Lu Sheng, everyone else could only become their prey.
But… If this situation continued, the ultimate losers would inevitably be them—the human martial artists. For the human warriors were vastly outnumbered by the beast side.
Though Lu Sheng was formidable, he seemed no match for Sarl—otherwise, he wouldn't have kept avoiding combat.
Sarl would eliminate all human warriors then he would concentrate his forces to besiege Lu Sheng… The expressions of the one or two guides darkened.
"This won't do. We must devise a plan swiftly..."
"Boom!"
The round-faced fat man drew a deep breath, sweeping his long sword to unleash a crescent-shaped blade light that repelled several encircling beasts. He spoke urgently.
Beside him, the cold-eyed middle-aged man also unleashed his full power. The two relied on each other, defending a small area in front and behind them.
Both possessed formidable strength and worked with seamless coordination. Together, they could even temporarily withstand Sarl's assaults.
Sarl clearly understood this, showing no urgency to target them. Instead, he prowled the battlefield, systematically hunting down the other human warriors from strongest to weakest.
Thus, the pressure they currently faced wasn't overwhelming.
"If the two of us, plus him..."
The cold-eyed middle-aged man watched the elusive white-gold figure darting about, his eyes flickering. "Even if we can't defeat Sarl, we might still hold out until Lord Haiji Dao arrives."
"That's my thought too."
The round-faced fat man nodded. Three streams of galactic law swirled around him, his power seemingly surpassing the stern middle-aged man's.
"But how do we get him to cooperate?"
A hint of helplessness flashed across the stern middle-aged man's face. "We don't even know his name."
"It matters not."
The round-faced man narrowed his eyes slightly and murmured, "Provided he's not utterly foolish, he'll inevitably grasp this point. We merely need to... coordinate with him at the opportune moment."
The stern-faced middle-aged man's eyes brightened, and he slowly nodded.
"Huff, huff—"
Saya's chest heaved like a bellows as he gasped for breath.
The instant Sarl had struck, he'd nearly believed his end had come.
Thankfully, thankfully—Sarl's target hadn't been him, but an unlucky Level 11 martial artist positioned close by.
Yet Saya's relief was short-lived. A bone-chilling intent to kill locked onto him.
"Swish—"
Saya darted his eyes left and right, finally confirming it.
This time, Sarl had truly set his sights on him.
"Run! Run!"
Instinct drove Saya to retreat frantically.
He and Sarl had unfinished business.
But he had to admit, whether it was the old Sarl or the current one, fear dominated his feelings toward him and he wasn't even sure if he existed in his eyes at all.
Because... he simply didn't have the qualifications to be his opponent.
After frantically retreating for a while, he suddenly realized in an instant… he hadn't moved from his spot at all!
From the moment Sarl's aura locked onto him, he'd become like an insect trapped in resinous mud—utterly immobilized.
Saya watched helplessly as Sarl approached step by step, his gaze as cold as if observing an ant he could crush with a flick of his finger.
He slowly raised one hand. The shadow of death swiftly engulfed Saya's heart.
"Save..."
Saya cast a hopeful gaze toward a distant, white-gold beam of light. If Lu Sheng intervened to save him, he might not die. Only Lu Sheng could save him. Only Lu Sheng. That was his only hope for survival.
Saya prayed frantically in his heart. The next second, a miracle seemed to unfold.
"Star Rock, Barrier!"
Accompanied by a muffled voice, an intense light burst before Saya's eyes.
A figure appeared, blocking the path before him.
"Lu Sheng?!"
Before the astonishment could fully bloom in Saya's eyes, the blinding light shattered violently. Along with it, the imposing figure behind the radiance crumbled.
"BOOM!"
Something slammed into Saya with tremendous force, sending him flying backward under the terrifying impact.
Only after the momentum subsided did he realize he was clutching a pile of shattered stones.
Amidst the broken debris, a sturdy, honest face was barely discernible. Saya froze in place for several seconds then hot tears streamed down his cheeks as a heart-wrenching cry erupted from his throat.
"Tang Dun!"
As the cry echoed, a certain platinum-hued beam in the arena seemed to falter momentarily.
"How touching..."
Sarl, who had effortlessly shattered Tang Dun's strongest Level 12 defensive technique with a single strike, remained expressionless. His form flickered as he swiftly closed the distance.
Having absorbed five Law Galaxies, he held an overwhelming advantage over Tang Dun, who had barely grasped a single one. His original target had been an 11th-level opponent, but a 12th-level had suddenly stepped in to block his blade.
Though unexpected, it merely served as a minor diversion in Sarl's tedious slaughter.
"Fucking hell! Kill me then! You were going to kill me, weren't you? You can't even kill the right target? You're such a fucking useless piece of shit! Useless Sarl, idiot, moron."
Saya's eyes blazed red as he unleashed an unprecedented surge of potential, his mouth spewing a torrent of abuse at Sarl.
He hadn't known Tang Dun long, never expecting the man to suddenly step in and take the blow for him.
Precisely because of this, Saya's heart ached as if it were bleeding. No one had ever gone this far for him. The rescue he'd hoped for from Lu Sheng never came.
Compared to Tang Dun's self-sacrifice, Lu Sheng's actions were hardly unusual.
"You're asking for death!"
Saya's trash talk finally carried some weight. A flash of murderous intent flickered in Sarl's eyes as immense power surged from his body, hurtling toward Saya.
He'd made up his mind—this insignificant insect wouldn't die easily.
Just then, Sarl's peripheral vision caught a fleeting glimpse of faint white-gold light. Instantly, ecstasy flooded his face.
The force surging toward Saya instantly multiplied several times over. It reached its peak in an instant. Five brilliant silver bands erupted from Sarl's body, claw-like in form, radiating an indescribably terrifying aura.
Under this overwhelming pressure, the very void of the battlefield warped, as if countless vortex storms were forming within it.
Sarl's fiery orange hair flared wildly. His aura completely enveloped the area centered on Saya, his terrifying assault seemingly poised to crush him utterly into dust.
Sarl roared with laughter.
"I thought...
...there really wasn't a single person among these fools you cared about?"
"Die!"