"suck--!"

The gasps of air rang out almost simultaneously.

Honglian stared at her intact arm, her eyes trembling: "What... what happened?! I clearly self-destructed!"

"My origin...my soul...have all returned?!"

Lei Ze looked down at his hands; cold sweat soaked his clothes, and a chill ran through him.

Yan Sui, Fentian, Qi Xing, and Bo Ning looked at each other in shock.

Self-destruction should have resulted in complete annihilation, both physically and mentally.

In front of this man, even the right to die has been taken away?

"See that, Mingze?"

Mr. Duan looked down at the seven resurrected people and said calmly, "This is the correct way to use the power of time. You, in the past, only grasped a little bit of it."

Mingze clenched his fists and remained silent.

Mr. Duan's smile vanished, his eyes turning cold: "Do you really think I'll let you self-destruct in front of me? Your energy will ultimately belong to me; this is a fate no one can escape!"

Upon hearing this, Honglian's eyes turned red with rage.

"So what?!"

Honglian roared furiously, veins bulging: "We'll just self-destruct again! We absolutely won't let you, you old dog, succeed!"

As she spoke, Honglian's blood and qi surged wildly, forcibly activating her source energy, preparing to self-destruct again.

Lei Ze and the others also made a resolute decision and prepared to follow suit.

However, before Honglian could unleash her magical power, Mr. Duan snorted coldly and pressed his right hand forward.

"Buzz!"

The space was deathly silent.

The next second, everyone froze, their breath caught in their throats.

Honglian's furious roar froze, Lei Ze's arm hovered, and the flames on Fentian's body stopped. Everyone seemed to be sealed in ice, unable to move an inch.

Time stands still.

"I'm sorry, I really don't have time to play with you guys this time."

Mr. Duan said calmly.

"Buzz—!"

Golden light emanated from his chest.

A phantom image of a sacred tree of origin appeared, radiating an oppressive aura.

Several beams of golden light shone from the sacred tree, instantly enveloping the seven SSS-level professionals, including Honglian.

The golden light devoured their physical bodies and essence, and the aura of the seven people rapidly declined.

Mr. Duan felt the energy emanating from the sacred tree, and a burning passion flashed in his eyes.

Once he absorbs all seven of them, his plan will be just one step away.

However, just as Mr. Duan was about to completely refine the seven people—

"Rip—! Boom!!"

In the sky, a bolt of purplish-black lightning tore through the void.

The lightning, imbued with the laws of destruction, roared as it struck Mr. Duan squarely.

"Bang!!"

A loud explosion occurred.

The aftershocks of the purple lightning spread, abruptly interrupting Mr. Duan's absorption.

The golden light that enveloped Honglian and the others shattered.

Mr. Duan's body trembled, the void beneath his feet shattered, and he was struck by the purple lightning, forcing him to take two steps back.

The phantom of the sacred tree on his chest flickered with light and nearly collapsed.

Mr. Duan steadied himself, his expression changing drastically.

"Why are there reinforcements?"

"Could it be the will of Heaven?"

Mr. Duan, his face grim, looked up in the direction where the lightning had struck.

In the void, a spatial rift slowly opened.

The next moment.

A young man dressed in dark gold battle armor stepped out from the crack.

The young man stood with one hand behind his back, smiling as he looked down at Mr. Duan.

"Mr. Duan, it's been a long time."

The young man's voice was calm and gentle, and it echoed throughout the ruins.

The moment Mr. Duan saw the young man, his face darkened completely.

His eyes flashed with a cold light.

"Zhou Huai?!"

Why are you here?!

Looking at Mr. Duan's surprised and uncertain face, Zhou Huai's smile became even more pronounced.

Are you trying to say that I should still be in the Free Federation?

"Still on the road searching for my mother?"

Mr. Duan narrowed his eyes slightly, and the black runes deep in his pupils flickered erratically.

Zhou Huai took a step forward, and the dark golden aura of law around him slowly rotated, dissolving the remaining high-dimensional pressure around him into nothingness.

He gazed at Mr. Duan and sighed softly:

"But I want to say that you spent too much time in this ruin. That's what gave me the opportunity."

"I not only rescued my mother..."

"I even had time to take a shower and change my clothes on the way here."

"Too much time has been wasted..."

Mr. Duan repeatedly muttered these words, his brows furrowed.

That usually refined face was now filled with absurdity and doubt.

Too much time wasted?

That's absolutely impossible!

Mr. Duan quickly mentally reconstructed the timeline of the entire battle.

From the moment he stepped into these ruins until now.

This series of battles appears to be long and complex.

But in terms of absolute time, from beginning to end, it takes at most two hours!

Just two hours!

The Free Federation is located far across the Atlantic Ocean, countless miles away from the ruins of this far northern land.

Two hours wouldn't have been enough for Zhou Huai to get here from the Free Federation, let alone rescue his mother.

That's completely impossible.

Wait a moment.

Mr. Duan suddenly thought of something.

He turned his head sharply and looked at Mingze lying in the ruins.

"It was you who did this."

"Did you accelerate the flow of time within the ruins?"

"It made me think that only a short time had passed in the ruins."

At this point, Mr. Duan's thoughts became clear instantly.

Yes, from the moment I stepped into the ruins.

Mingze had already begun to make his plans quietly.

Only two hours had passed inside the ruins.

But in the real world outside, several days, or even longer, have probably already passed!

"So from the beginning you were stalling for time, and the reinforcements you were waiting for were not Anubis at all."

"Or Zhou Huai?"

Anubis thought he was the one who had taken advantage of Mingze and the others.

In reality, even Anubis, the god of the underworld from the old era, was just a facade that Mingze used to attract attention.

Mingze's true trump card has never been Anubis.

It was Zhou Huai!

Hearing Mr. Duan's question.

Mingze looked at Mr. Duan and nodded slightly.

"That's right."

"Teacher, although I can't see your future, I can see my own."

"This is the only way I see to defeat you in the future."

Mingze's voice echoed between heaven and earth.

After listening to Mingze's answer.

Mr. Duan stood in the center of the ruins, falling into a brief silence.

Immediately afterwards.

Mr. Duan smiled.

"Ha ha......"

A low laugh escaped from deep within his throat.

Then, the laughter grew louder and louder.

"Hahaha! Hahahahahaha!"

Laughter echoed through the ruined space, shattering the surrounding void fragments.

The sound lingered for a long time before gradually subsiding.

That face returned to its calm and indifference.

But the eyes that were looking at Zhou Huai and Ming Ze were filled with a cold, icy light.

"But I don't understand, how did you two, who are complete strangers, get together?"

Zhou Huai, suspended high in the air, did not give a direct answer.

Zhou Huai looked down at the transcendent being who controlled everything, a slight smile playing on his lips.

Instead of answering, he asked a question:

"My clever uncle, do we really need to answer this question?"

These words were spoken.

The last trace of a cold smile on Mr. Duan's face vanished completely.

He slowly uttered two words.

"The Way of Heaven"