361: hunting time

Filiche and Maurice's guess was correct; Lin Tianwei's recent move was indeed not a Teleportation, but an illusion caused by extreme Speed.

After activating his Talent: Time Acceleration (Transcendent) and Talent: Speed Burst (King) to their limits, Lin Tianwei's speed would surpass the perception of most Cosmic Beasts.

This would create the illusion that Lin Tianwei had instantly appeared in another location.

However, while they were right about the truth of the pseudo-Teleportation, they were wrong about something else: Lin Tianwei's current state was not as dire as it appeared.

Although bursting his speed to such an extent was extremely physical strength-consuming for Lin Tianwei.

But Lin Tianwei's Talent levels were relatively high, so he couldn't be judged by common sense; each pseudo-Teleportation only consumed less than one-thousandth of his energy.

This meant that Lin Tianwei could Teleport at least a thousand times.

In such a Space Lockdown area, as long as the timing was right and he possessed enough attack power to break through defenses, each strike would cause at least one Cosmic Beast to be severely injured.

His seemingly exhausted appearance was merely Lin Tianwei's disguise.

If he displayed too much power, wouldn't he scare away these prey in front of him?

They all possessed Cosmic Level Nine strength, and if they scattered and fled, Lin Tianwei might not be able to catch them all.

At least half of the prey would escape his hunting range.

What's more, showcasing his powerful abilities was also Lin Tianwei's second test of them.

If he didn't appear strong, they wouldn't reveal their true strength, preventing Lin Tianwei from knowing their true capabilities.

Thinking of this, Lin Tianwei felt he was having a particularly difficult time.

To hunt more prey, he had to display his strength within a reasonable range, disguising himself as an excellent prey.

Only then could he successfully hunt all of them without letting any Cosmic Beast escape.

As expected, Lin Tianwei's tactics were very effective, forcing the enemies to switch from mage mode to warrior mode.

They furiously charged at him, ready for a hearty melee battle.

The first Cosmic Beast to reach Lin Tianwei was Maurice.

Taking advantage of Lin Tianwei's 'exhaustion and depleted trump cards,' he was the first to rush in, hoping to pick up a freebie.

The reason he asked Filiche to lift the lockdown was actually due to his own selfish motives, as he was a powerful Space-type Cosmic Beast.

Fighting in the harsh environment of a locked-down space somewhat restricted his strength.

Of course, besides his Space Talent, Maurice also possessed other powerful Talents.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have dared to be the first to charge at Lin Tianwei.

After all, Lin Tianwei had already demonstrated the ability to instantly kill Cosmic Beasts of the same level.

Especially that immense Star Power, like a bug, fiercely corroded the target's body.

Slightly weaker Cosmic Beasts simply couldn't resist it.

Like a cornered beast fighting back, the seemingly exhausted Lin Tianwei was actually the most dangerous; a slight carelessness could lead to being counter-killed.

Maurice dared not be careless in the slightest; his inner world erupted directly, all his planets rotating at high speed, releasing vast Star Power.

The brilliant Star Power began to gather on Maurice's claws, coloring them a dangerous bright silver, and he attacked Lin Tianwei with unstoppable force.

Good, here they come! Finally, some impatient prey are delivering themselves to my doorstep.

Releasing Star Power, Lin Tianwei's claws also glowed with the silver light representing Star Power.

Thanks to the powerful Talent: Star, Lin Tianwei didn't need to squeeze the potential of his inner world to obtain a large amount of Star Power.

With just a thought, he gathered Star Power far more powerful than Maurice's.

Both were extremely fast, and soon their claws collided, emitting a dull thud.

Evenly matched.

This collision was surprisingly evenly matched; Lin Tianwei, with a much smaller physique than Maurice, withstood Maurice's attack.

Even with renewed effort, Maurice couldn't advance further.

Lin Tianwei stood like an indestructible iron tower, squarely blocking his path.

Without hesitation, Maurice directly kicked out his right leg.

These Cosmic Beasts, through long evolution, had long transformed every part of their bodies into weapons.

Maurice's leg was covered in sharp thorns; if struck, Lin Tianwei would inevitably be pierced with several holes.

Of course, this was assuming Maurice could actually kick Lin Tianwei.

Lin Tianwei's body seemed less Flexible, limited by its structure, making it difficult to perform large-range movements.

However, these were all illusions.

Under the blessing of Talent: Flexible Limbs (Transcendent) and Talent: Transformation (Transcendent), every part of Lin Tianwei's body was incredibly Flexible.

He could perform many incredible movements without affecting his strength or combat power in the slightest.

Lin Tianwei's body twisted into a strange arc, easily dodging Maurice's attack.

Not only that, his right leg kicked out at an extremely fast speed towards Maurice's abdomen.

Maurice's entire body was covered in dense thorns, looking somewhat similar to the former Marcelo.

However, it was clear that he did not possess a Transcendent-level Talent like Steel Thorns.

So these seemingly ferocious thorns were just for show, only capable of bullying weaker Cosmic Beasts, and utterly incapable of stopping Lin Tianwei's attack.

As expected, Lin Tianwei's right leg kicked Maurice's abdomen almost without hindrance.

The thorns it contacted instantly shattered, having no effect whatsoever.

The terrifying force, and the Star Power that penetrated his body, immediately made Maurice's face contort.

He instinctively tried to counterattack with his left claw, only to find that Lin Tianwei seemed to have known he would attack, and directly blocked his strike.

Not only that, as if fearing he would escape, he tightly gripped Maurice's left claw, and his right leg kicked out again, hitting Maurice's abdomen hard.

Can't win, can't win in a melee!

This was an all-around crushing defeat in physical strength, Talent, and Star Power; he simply couldn't win.

After just two or three exchanges, Maurice came to this conclusion with horror.

This unknown Cosmic Beast in front of him was like a ruthless killing machine, possessing terrifying combat experience and instincts, with an unbelievably strong grasp of combat timing.

Let alone himself, whose strength was far inferior, even an opponent of equal strength might not be able to defeat him in a melee.

Most importantly, the opponent was not as battered as they had imagined; his strength and speed were still terrifyingly powerful, as if he hadn't expended much physical energy at all.

Was it bravado, another trump card, or was this whole thing a deception? Maurice began to brainstorm.

However, he quickly abandoned such pointless thoughts; his goal of getting close to the opponent had been achieved, and now it was time for him to unleash his power.

No matter why the opponent still maintained such strong combat power, since he was foolish enough to engage in close combat with him, his defeat was already sealed.

As a Space-type Cosmic Beast, Maurice engaging in close combat with Lin Tianwei was not foolishness, but rather to unleash his Space-type Talent: Space Compression (Transcendent).

Although most Space-type Talents were already ineffective due to the Space Lockdown.

But the Space Compression Talent was different.

This Space-type Talent, which did not involve displacement, would only be greatly suppressed, but not completely unusable.

And now, although Maurice was severely injured, he had gained the opportunity to use the Space Compression Talent.

The silver light representing Space Energy rose from Maurice's body, and Lin Tianwei immediately felt the space around him change.

It seemed to have changed, and yet it seemed to have not changed at all.

However, he soon discovered something was wrong; the already very large Maurice now appeared even larger, at least ten times his original size.

Could it be that Maurice possessed a multiplication-type Talent?

No, it wasn't.

It wasn't that Maurice had grown larger, but that his own body had shrunk.

Strictly speaking, it wasn't that his own body had shrunk, but that the entire space he was in had shrunk.

Relatively speaking, it created the illusion that Maurice's body had grown larger.

This was the power of the Space Compression Talent, capable of compressing all existing things within an entire space.

It seemed like only a change in size, but it could put affected things at a disadvantage.

Just like Lin Tianwei now.

Due to the influence of the Space Compression Talent, his physical size had not actually changed.

But relative to other Cosmic Beasts, he had shrunk by a full ten times.

This made Lin Tianwei, who already had no advantage in size, even more disadvantaged.

In the eyes of other Cosmic Beasts, he even looked like an ant, an ant that could be easily swatted.

In fact, Maurice thought so too; facing Lin Tianwei, who seemed like an ant, he unhesitatingly extended his claw again.

Like swatting a fly, he fiercely swatted at Lin Tianwei.

Facing Maurice's attack, Lin Tianwei only found the opponent ridiculous.

Did he not know what it meant to be small yet powerful, to break the whole with a point?

Facing Maurice's seemingly world-destroying palm, Lin Tianwei was not afraid in the slightest; he transformed into a sharp arrow and shot towards Maurice's claw.

Buzz~

That was the roar produced by intense vibration of an object.

Lin Tianwei was not easily swatted away by Maurice like a fly; instead, he passed through Maurice's claw without hindrance, leaving a seemingly small penetrating wound on him.

Under the dual compression of size and power, Lin Tianwei's strength became even more irresistible.

Of course, this form was not without its drawbacks; at the very least, Lin Tianwei's attack range had also become significantly smaller.

To tear these massive Cosmic Beasts into pieces, Lin Tianwei would need to expend more effort.

Talent: Power of Destruction (Transcendent)!

Fortunately, Lin Tianwei had just acquired a powerful Talent; his attack was not purely physical, nor purely Star Power based.

Instead, it was a terrifying attack imbued with the Power of Destruction.

As for the power of the Power of Destruction, Felix, whose body had been half incinerated, surely had the most to say.

At this moment, her expression had become numb, staring blankly at the battlefield where the fight was erupting.

She had tried, she had struggled, but she couldn't extinguish this Power of Destruction, which clung to her like maggots.

Just when a Cosmic Beast finally noticed Felix in crisis and tried to rescue her from her predicament,

They found that they simply didn't have the strength to remove this Power of Destruction.

Instead, they almost accidentally got Infected by the Power of Destruction, falling into the same plight as Felix.

For a time, all Cosmic Beasts changed their expressions at the mention of Felix, not daring to approach her.

They could only watch helplessly as Felix was continuously corroded by the Power of Destruction, eventually transforming completely into nourishment for the Power of Destruction's growth.

Felix finally understood why Zahary was usually so arrogant yet no one dared to touch him.

Nothing else, but because Zahary indeed had the capital to be arrogant.

This terrifying Power of Destruction was Zahary's greatest reliance for his arrogance.

Had he not encountered Lin Tianwei, Zahary would definitely have continued to dominate the Extremely Cold Universe, and there was even a slight possibility of advancing to World Lord Level.

Alas, there are no 'ifs' in the universe.

Zahary made the worst decision of his life: attempting to hunt Lin Tianwei.

In the end, he not only died and his path vanished, but even his most powerful Talent became Lin Tianwei's possession.

Although Lin Tianwei was compressed, the Power of Destruction he possessed was not diminished in the slightest.

The moment he pierced Maurice, a trace of almost imperceptible Power of Destruction, under Lin Tianwei's control, attached itself to Maurice's wound.

Black flames reignited, using Maurice's flesh as energy, and began to burn continuously.

Pain, heart-wrenching pain.

Looking at his right claw, which was Infected by the Power of Destruction, Maurice's face instantly changed drastically; he mustered all his strength, trying to escape Lin Tianwei's position.

But he didn't expect that the compressed Lin Tianwei's speed was not inferior to his at all; in just a moment, he caught up to Maurice and attacked his left claw.

Black flames reignited, only this time it was Maurice's left claw burning.

Although it was just a spark, it had the potential to start a prairie fire, quickly spreading towards Maurice's body.

Lin Tianwei wanted to continue the pursuit, but found that the other Cosmic Beasts had also caught up at this time, launching an attack on him.

He could only temporarily let go of Maurice and go deal with the other Cosmic Beasts.

Maurice never expected that even compressed tenfold, Lin Tianwei was still so difficult to deal with.

Feeling the pain of his claws being corroded by the Power of Destruction, Maurice couldn't help but curse loudly, saying:

"Zahary, you idiot, even dead you can't rest in peace."

"This damn Power of Destruction not only failed to burn this Cosmic Beast, but it's been harming our own people."

"He truly deserved to die."

Felix's tragic state was still vivid in his memory; before the Power of Destruction could spread throughout his body, Maurice resolutely severed his own claws.

Although severing his claws would severely weaken Maurice, compared to having the Power of Destruction spread throughout his body and being incinerated to ash, this was actually the most correct choice.

This powerful Cosmic Beast, having only just come into contact with Lin Tianwei, was already forced to sever his own claws, which was truly pitiful. (End of Chapter)