225: Chapter 225 During a Leader's Inspection, Lying Down is Prohibited!

A chilling Killing Intent, like a physical cold wave, swept across the entire shattered Star Domain.

The Golden-Armored Divine General who stepped out from behind the Southern Heaven Gate possessed an aura as deep as an abyss and as vast as a sea. Just by standing there, he made Zhao Wuyou and the others feel an unprecedented pressure.

An Immortal Lord.

This was a chasm that could no longer be easily bridged by Battle Intent and Bloodline alone.

“Those who trespass into the Immortal Court shall die!”

The divine general's voice carried no emotion, sounding like an eternal, unchanging rule of steel echoing within everyone's Divine Soul.

“Interesting.”

Far from being afraid, a raging Battle Intent ignited within Zhao Wuyou's golden pupils.

He gripped the dragon emperor halberd tightly, his entire skeleton letting out an overburdened explosion of pops—it was excitement, it was desire.

“Revered Master, can your Disciple dismantle this gatekeeper?”

Lei Jingtian had the most explosive temper, and arcs of electricity were already dancing around his body.

Chu Xuanjin, however, acted as if he hadn't heard. He leisurely pulled a grandmaster's chair from his Storage Ring, placed it right there in the Void Realm, and lay down comfortably.

He crossed his legs and gestured with his chin toward the murderous divine general.

“It's just a gatekeeping Puppet. Warm yourselves up.”

“Don't break it. That set of armor looks quite valuable.”

As soon as these words were spoken, the originally heavy atmosphere instantly shifted.

Wang Duojin's eyes lit up with a 'shing,' and his fingers flew across his gold abacus.

“Immortal Lord-grade battle armor! And it's Immortal Court issue! Revered Master, if we took this to auction, it would fetch at least this much!”

He held up eight fingers, his face full of greed.

“Roar!”

The Golden-Armored Divine General seemed enraged by this dismissive attitude.

He wasted no more words, raising his square heaven halberd and delivering a simple, direct downward slash.

There were no earth-shattering Law fluctuations, nor was there a world-destroying torrent of energy.

Merely from the motion of this slash, the space in front of him was neatly torn open like a scroll, leaving a massive rift.

A sharp edge condensed purely from 'power' and 'rules' crossed through space, instantly appearing before the group.

“Good timing!”

Zhao Wuyou let out a long howl, advancing instead of retreating.

“Dragon God Transformation!”

The hundred-zhang phantom of the Dragon God reappeared. He poured all his strength into the dragon emperor halberd and smashed it fiercely against that sharp edge.

“Nine Heavens Response·Divine Thunder Break!”

Lei Jingtian struck at the same time, followed closely by a world-ending divine bolt several times thicker than before.

The two Disciples, known for their overbearing offensive styles, used their full strength from the very first moment.

However.

A horrifying scene unfolded.

The moment that seemingly ordinary halberd light made contact with the dragon emperor halberd, Zhao Wuyou's strength—which was enough to shatter stars—seemed to vanish like a clay ox entering the sea, instantly disintegrating.

The dragon emperor halberd let out a mournful cry and was forcibly sent flying.

Zhao Wuyou's body shook violently as he was blasted back ten thousand zhang, his arm gripping the long halberd dripping with blood.

The divine thunder that followed didn't even manage to make a splash before it was sliced down the middle by the halberd light and dissipated into nothingness.

One strike.

With just one strike.

He had severely wounded Zhao Wuyou at Golden Immortal Perfection and neutralized the full-strength attack of Lei Jingtian in the True Immortal Realm.

“Ants.”

Cold words spat from the Golden-Armored Divine General's mouth as he raised the square heaven halberd again.

“What a tough tortoise shell!”

Wang Duojin's expression changed, his playful grin vanishing.

“Heaven and Earth Infinite, Stars as the Board, Lock!”

He threw the heaven and earth array diagram into the high sky. Starlight transformed into chains, attempting to bind the divine general.

But as soon as those chains came within three feet of the divine general, they were ground to dust by an invisible force field.

“Word Spirit: Sluggishness.”

Bai Jinnian held the spring and autumn brush and wrote an ancient character for 'Slow' in the void.

Golden light fell upon the divine general, causing a microscopic pause in his motion of raising the halberd.

It worked!

But the effect was negligible!

“Ten Thousand Demons Soul Devour!”

Ye Wushang's figure appeared behind the divine general, his pitch-black demonic weapon silently stabbing towards the back of the neck.

Clang!

A crisp sound rang out.

That demonic weapon, capable of devouring the Divine Soul of a Golden Immortal, failed to even pierce the divine general's armor, leaving only a shallow white mark.

Without even turning his head, the divine general threw a backhanded elbow strike.

Bang!

Ye Wushang felt as if he had been struck by lightning. He was sent flying backward, a trace of black blood leaking from the corner of his mouth.

Too strong.

Whether it was strength, defense, or Laws, it was an absolute crushing defeat across the board.

This was simply not a battle between equals.

“Green Satchel Spring Return!”

Gongsun Yan waved her jade-like hand, and a rich life force transformed into green light, falling upon Zhao Wuyou and Ye Wushang to rapidly heal their injuries.

But her beautiful face was solemn.

If this continued, it would only be a matter of time before their spiritual energy was exhausted.

“Hahaha! Exhilarating!”

Zhao Wuyou wiped the blood from his mouth, his Battle Intent increasing rather than diminishing.

“Again!”

He charged forward once more, engaging the divine general in combat.

But on the field, it was a completely one-sided suppression.

Every full-strength attack from Zhao Wuyou was effortlessly neutralized by the opponent, while every casual counter-attack from the other side made his Qi and blood churn.

“Nanxi, do you see it?”

In the void, Chu Xuanjin's voice rang out leisurely, but he was speaking to the at-a-loss Shen Nanxi beside him.

Shen Nanxi stared blankly at the battlefield and nodded.

He saw the strength of his Senior Brothers and Sisters, and he also saw the invincibility of that Golden-Armored Divine General.

“Then do you see why he is so strong?”

Chu Xuanjin asked again.

Shen Nanxi was taken aback and looked closely.

Although he did not have the Heavenly Dao Dharma Eye, his Innate Talisman Source Body allowed him to see the 'textures' beneath the surface of the world.

In his vision, the 'lines' on his Senior Brothers and Sisters were complex and powerful, interwoven into various magnificent patterns.

But on that Golden-Armored Divine General, the lines were very simple.

There was only one.

A thick, straight, and indisputable golden line extending from the Southern Heaven Gate and running through his entire body.

On that line, several words were inscribed—[Trespassers shall die].

“It's... it's that line.”

Shen Nanxi murmured.

“All of his power comes from the 'rule' bestowed upon him by that line.”

“Smart,”

Chu Xuanjin praised.

“Then think about it. Since it's a rule, can it be changed?”

“Since it's a line, if it's broken, can it be reconnected? If it's crooked, can it be straightened?”

These words were like a sudden enlightenment.

Shen Nanxi's whole body shook.

That's right!

Revered Master taught him to draw Repair Talismans because he wanted him to learn how to define all things.

Since all things can be defined, why not rules?

He looked at the divine general who was almost crushing Zhao Wuyou, then looked at the distant, orderly army of Profound Immortals radiating an aura of death.

Fighting force with force was an inferior strategy.

The only way to break the deadlock was to change the rules of the game from the source!

“Revered Master, your Disciple understands!”

An unprecedented light erupted from Shen Nanxi's eyes.

He no longer hesitated and picked up the spirit fox brush that had been soaked in Chaos Origin Blood.

“Junior Brother, what are you doing?”

Wang Duojin noticed his actions and hurriedly shouted.

“Don't use a Cleaning Talisman! If you clean this big guy away, that suit of armor on him will disappear too!”

That was an Immortal Lord-grade treasure!

“Don't worry, Senior Brother.”

Shen Nanxi took a deep breath, his gaze incredibly focused.

“This time, I'm not doing cleaning.”

“I'm doing maintenance.”

He didn't dip the brush in cinnabar. Instead, imitating Yue Qinghan's previous manner, he bit the tip of his tongue and used his own essence blood as ink.

His will was more concentrated than ever before.

The target was not the divine general, not his armor, and not his weapon.

It was that golden line of Law that defined his existence!

“Repair.”

Shen Nanxi set his brush down.

The tip of the brush did not stroke across talisman paper, but across the void of this world.

An extremely profound, yet slightly infantile golden rune appeared out of thin air.

His will was clearly imprinted upon the rune.

【Definition Correction: Change 'Die' to 'Punish'.】

Buzz!

The moment the rune was completed, it didn't fly toward the divine general. Instead, it merged directly into the Laws of this world and vanished.

After drawing this stroke, Shen Nanxi seemed to have all his strength drained. He staggered, his face turning deathly pale.

But his eyes were fixed intently on the battlefield.

In the center of the battlefield.

The Golden-Armored Divine General was about to completely suppress Zhao Wuyou with a halberd strike.

Suddenly.

His high-raised square heaven halberd froze right there in mid-air.

The chilling Killing Intent on his body receded like a tide.

“Huh?”

Zhao Wuyou was stunned. Seizing the opportunity, he delivered a reverse spear strike, smashing it hard against the divine general's chest.

Clang!

The divine general was knocked back half a step, but he still didn't fight back.

“...Core Law conflict...”

“Instruction correction in progress...”

“Correction complete.”

The Golden-Armored Divine General slowly lowered his halberd and turned around mechanically to face Chu Xuanjin and the Disciples.

The Profound Immortal Army behind him also put away their weapons in unison.

“Intruders detected.”

The divine general's voice was still cold.

“Initiating... Punishment Protocol.”

“Punishment Content: Clean up the three thousand li of ruins outside the Southern Heaven Gate. Time limit: One hour.”

“Those who fail to complete it will be sentenced to... ten thousand years of solitary confinement.”

As the voice fell.

The entire field fell into a dead silence.

The gold abacus in Wang Duojin's hand fell to the ground with a 'clack.'

The thunder that Lei Jingtian had just accumulated was stuck in his hands; he couldn't decide whether to strike or withdraw it.

Zhao Wuyou, who had been fighting the divine general with great excitement, was even more dumbfounded.

Cleaning duty?

The Golden-Armored Divine General waved his square heaven halberd.

Qiang qiang qiang!

The Profound Immortal Army behind him pulled out... shimmering brooms, rags, and buckets from their storage spaces in perfect unison.

The leading divine general even personally picked up a massive golden broom. He pointed at a shattered meteorite not far away and commanded Zhao Wuyou.

“You, start sweeping from there.”

“You, go wipe that stone monument over there.”

“And you...”

He pointed at Chu Xuanjin, who was lying on the grandmaster's chair he had pulled out from who-knows-where.

“Leadership inspection, slacking forbidden.”

Chu Xuanjin: “...”

--- Happy New Year, brothers! I wish you all good health and wealth every day!