"Stop right there, it's not over yet!" Tiran picked up the sword that had fallen when Xingjian had sent him flying with a Tiger Shape Exploding Fist, trembling hands barely managing to stand upright again. On the other side, Xiang Ling, who had just taken a hit from the Creation God's Blessing, was covered in blood but still firmly held onto his long halberd, facing off against the Holy Spirit.

Even though the constraints of the rules were broken, Xiang Ling was still at the Holy Rank, able to utilize the unique "Dao" to confront the Holy Spirit with its sacred attributes.

The long halberd danced with unmatched vigor, forcing even the Holy Spirit, wielding the Angel Holy Sword, to step back. However, the gap between the two was too significant, especially since the Holy Spirit could continuously remove abnormalities and restore its own condition by employing the rarely seen Angel-specific rule called [Purity].

While Xingjian had regained control of The Realm of Stars, he seemed uninterested in interrupting the battle of Holy Rank against Holy Rank.

Thus, unfortunately, the princess received Xingjian's full attention.

"Your Highness, please rest for a moment."

After the effect of 【Burning Bridges】 faded, Xingjian was unrestrained. Mastering The Realm of Stars at the Holy Rank level made her a god in this miniature world.

Under the pressure of several times the force of gravity, Tiran almost stumbled and knelt, but managed to stay upright by propping herself up with the sword. However, it seemed that this was all she could do. Facing several times the force of gravity just with her physical strength had pushed her to the limit. Her body felt as if it were buried deep in the rocky ground, with no room for even the slightest exertion. Her muscles and nerves became numb from continuous effort, holding on only by sheer determination.

"Your Highness Tiran, please stop resisting. You have no chance of winning. Continuing like this will only harm yourself."

Xingjian's expression showed a slight change as she softly advised.

I don't want to make any more mistakes, to hurt more people. Please... let me end Xingjian's legacy in this generation.

"Tch..."

Under the heavy pressure, Tiran felt like even her voice did not belong to her. She could only make a very low, almost inaudible sound. Despite her neck bones creaking under the strain, she stubbornly lifted her head, staring at Xingjian with a disdainful look in her eyes.

"Don't give me that... if you've already made a choice, then give me a straight path to the end! Don't act all hesitant as if you've done something wrong, there's nothing wrong with standing up for yourself and those you care about from your own perspective… If you're going to be the villain, don't think about whitewashing it!"

"… ?"

Xingjian hesitated for a moment, momentarily slow in mastering the suppression of gravity.

And that moment of hesitation was the opportunity Tiran had been waiting for.

The strengthened engraving of concentration could only support one attack, this was her only chance.

"Smash·Waludo!"

Under Tiran's collar, the engraving on her back instantly turned red, every pore pumping out blood, staining her clothes crimson. A massive output of spiritual power made Tiran's perception of the rules exceptionally keen in that moment, allowing her to coordinate two basic rules, [Time] and [Space], that she had struggled to control simultaneously before.

Pause time, lock in the action, and then infuse the rules of space into the sword to unleash this strike. There were no dazzling Chi radiance or explosive effects, only the dark cracks spreading from the edge of the sword, like lines cutting through a painting.

The world frozen after the stagnation of time was a bizarre experience for the wielder of the rules. Even though time no longer passed in that moment, the sensory perception of time's flow still lingered. Therefore, a long pause followed by a return to time would create a noticeable sense of displacement for the wielder.

However, Tiran was entirely focused at this moment, ignoring his breath, heartbeat, and the sound of the air being split beside his ears. Everything was disregarded except for the black lines extending from the sword's edge into his eyes.

In this infinitely prolonged moment, the sword extended slowly, pointing all the way towards Xingjian standing in the distance. Due to the time pause, Xingjian's movement and expression remained frozen in the moment she heard Tiran's last word. She might not have been aware of Tiran's sword strike or the approaching black line representing death nearing her neck.

And then, the strike arrived.

As if cutting off the head of a figure on a piece of paper with scissors, Xingjian's head and body indeed separated under the spread of the black line, simple as a child's game.

Time resumed its flow.

As the heavy pressure lifted, Tiran's body softened and he fell forward, supporting himself with his right hand as he half-knelt on the ground, looking up towards where Xingjian stood with a hint of expectation. "It's not that easy after all... Where's the protagonist halo you promised?"

Seeing Xingjian standing unharmed, the sense of powerlessness in Tiran's heart rose inevitably, like the rising tide of the sea. Killing an owner in The Realm was not as simple as it seemed. When all the rules within this realm were controlled by its master, even if one severed her head one second, she would be able to rewind to a time where it hadn't happened in the next. And he was unable to wield a second strike.

Saying it wasn't easy wasn't just a façade, it was truly not easy. Tiran chuckled, wiping the blood now covering his nostrils. His head was throbbing from the overload of extracting mental energy, and his body was ravaged by the burden brought by manipulating time and space simultaneously. Even though his vision was dark now and he couldn't see his body, it was likely a mess.

"A great strike," Xingjian's voice seemed close by, but Tiran had no strength left to lift his head and look at her.

"Is that sarcasm?"

"No, it's the truth. In that split second, I also observed the lines of cause and effect. If we weren't fighting in this inherent Realm, among the thousands if not millions of possibilities I saw, there were only a few that could have been efficiently dealt with."

Xingjian's tone was calm, reminiscent of their first encounter at Milt Academy.

"But it's meaningless, as I've lost anyway."

Tiran, whose vision remained impaired due to inadequate blood supply to the brain, simply closed his eyes.

"Right," Xingjian didn't deny it, with a future of zero resistance she observed in the lines of cause and effect. "Instead, thank you."

"Thank me?"

"I am indeed a selfish person, claiming to liberate Xingjian from the ancestral legacy, but it was more about self-indulgence... killing so many innocent people. But as you said, I have a clear conscience from my perspective. I won't let anyone stop what is currently happening. Since so many lives have been sacrificed, their deaths must have meaning. So, Your Highness Tiran, just wait peacefully for the birth of the new god. If there are any more actions, I will not show mercy."

After a brief moment of silence, Tiran lowered his head and chuckled quietly, while his body slowly regained its composure through trembling.

"I'm sorry, but I must refuse. You won't allow anyone to stop the birth of the new god, and I won't allow anyone to take Aya away from me either."

Smack.

However, just as Tiran delivered his cool line, he heard a dull thud at the back of his head. His vision went black—although it was already closed—and his consciousness drifted away with his sight.

Dammit, couldn't even be cool for three seconds, but I didn't even get to be cool for those three seconds!

"Let's just leave it at that."

Xingjian gently placed Tiran on the ground. With her pseudo-The Realm level strength in the Star Dragon Tower, there were a thousand ways to deal with Tiran, but there was no need to kill her, especially considering there were no conflicts between them apart from Yuan's plan.

Standing up, Xingjian turned his gaze towards the increasingly intense battle between the Holy Spirit and Xiang Ling.

The Law of the Angel leaned more towards battle assistance, while Xiang Ling's Dao specialized in countering various outward manifestations of the Law attacks. Hence, when the two clashed, the collision of Laws was not as intense as one might expect. It was more of a back-and-forth exchange of light cannons and swordplay. With the Holy Swords in hand, the Holy Spirit wielded the Holy Light Judgment in the left hand and the Sunfire in the right, along with the sporadic shots from the Angel's Arsenal, maintaining an even match with the severely injured Xiang Ling.

Xiang Ling seemed to be in the same line as the Swordsmen of Shenzhou, mastering the ability to shatter myriad laws with a single strike and overwhelming her opponents with sheer force. Despite her severe injuries, she continued to wield her halberd with an imposing aura, making it difficult for the Holy Spirit to gain the upper hand.

It seemed time was running out, and continuing the full-force battle between the two Holy Ranks might impact the future branches of the Star Dragon Tower's underground ritual. After some consideration, Xingjian decided to subdue Xiang Ling first.

"I'm sorry, Your Highness Xiang Ling."

However, just as Xingjian extended his hand towards Xiang Ling in a swift movement, an unexpected hand appeared from the side, grabbing her wrist.

"Calm down a bit, young lady. I think it's best for you not to disturb those two any further."

"What...?"

Xingjian turned in surprise and saw a young man dressed in Shenzhou attire, with a gentle and graceful demeanor that belied his outward appearance. Ignoring his appearance and judging only by his aura, he was anything but youthful; he exuded a sense of world-weariness that did not belong to the young or even to humans.

Despite Xingjian's own experience of over a century and his observations of fate and causality, this man made him feel like a child listening to a story told by a wise elder.

But what surprised and even frightened Xingjian more was that this man had quietly entered his The Realm and even approached him without a sound. When he tried to observe with the Eye of the Stars, he saw the same peculiar phenomenon of being detached from the lines of causality, just like with Yuan.

"It seems you are quite surprised by me?" The man smiled, "Perhaps you can't see the connection between me and the lines of causality? Of course, my detachment from the lines of causality is different from the one you don't understand. He avoids them due to his incompatibility with this world, while I still exist within the causal system of this world."

"You simply can't see it because 'you can't see it.' But don't underestimate yourself, after all, there are only a few in the whole world who can't observe the existence of the lines of causality, and I happen to be one of them."

Allow me to introduce myself. My Eastern name is Kongming.