212: Chapter 212 The physics engine here has completely broken down.

"You've countered summons, you've countered lightning..."

Chen Xi held the card between two fingers and suddenly raised it high, his gaze turning as cold as a deity's at that moment:

"But can you counter... [Rules]?!"

"Domain Expansion—!"

"[Miracle: Absolute Zero]!!!"

Crack!

Chen Xi crushed the card in his hand.

Buzz—!!!

An indescribable storm of extreme cold, centered on Chen Xi, instantly swept through the entire volcanic basin!

This wasn't ordinary ice magic; it was the power of a domain that forcibly tampered with the physical laws of this space!

"Crack, crack, crack—"

The ear-piercing sound of freezing rang out frantically.

The dark red lava that had been boiling and churning just a second ago was instantly frozen into hard black ice the moment the blue light swept over it!

The moisture in the air condensed instantly, turning into a sky full of falling ice crystals.

"This... how is this possible?!"

Huangfu Ao and the others, who were in the middle of a charge, instantly felt a bone-chilling cold seep into their marrow. Their priceless, top-tier equipment let out strained cracking sounds under the crushing pressure of the "Absolute Zero" rule.

"Crack!"

The [Insulating Holy Shield], specifically designed to attract lightning, was made of materials that only protected against electricity and not extreme cold. Under the terrifying temperature difference, it was frozen into brittle ice and then shattered into a pile of shards on the ground!

"Xiao Xiao, it's your turn to perform."

Chen Xi spoke indifferently.

"Understood!"

A cold smile curled on Su Xiaoxiao's lips. Lightning was countered? It didn't matter; she practiced the [Ice Thunder Battle Method]!

Since lightning was useless, she would use ice! With the enhancement of the [Absolute Zero] domain, the power of her ice magic had increased more than tenfold!

"[Extreme Cold Ice Burst]!"

Su Xiaoxiao tapped her staff, and countless ice spikes harder than steel materialized out of thin air. Like a Gatling gun, they pinned all of the Huangji Battle Team's lieutenants to the ground, eliminating them instantly!

In the entire crater, only Huangfu Ao remained, standing alone and trembling, his eyebrows covered in frost.

"No... I don't believe it! How could I lose to a country bumpkin like you!"

Huangfu Ao roared in despair, raising the Holy Flame Greatsword in his hand—which was frozen nearly to the point of being extinguished—and hacked toward Chen Xi recklessly.

That was his strongest strike at Level 45!

However.

Facing this menacing sword strike, Chen Xi didn't even make a move to dodge.

He simply reached out a fair and slender right hand calmly.

"Your understanding of power is too shallow."

Under the terrifying enhancement of the [Myriad Rivers Return to the Sea]'s all-member SS-rank attributes, Chen Xi's base strength had already surpassed a staggering, astronomical figure.

"Bang!"

Chen Xi's five fingers, like iron pincers, gripped the descending Holy Flame Greatsword with unerring precision!

The sharp blade struck his palm, yet it didn't even break the skin, only producing an ear-piercing sound of grinding metal.

"What?!" Huangfu Ao's eyes nearly bulged out of his head. He tried his best to press the blade down, only to find the sword seemingly welded into the opponent's hand.

"Too weak."

Chen Xi's wrist suddenly flicked.

"Crack!"

That top-tier greatsword worth tens of millions was actually snapped into two pieces by Chen Xi with one hand!

Immediately after, under Huangfu Ao's terrified gaze.

Chen Xi's right fist, accompanied by the sonic boom of tearing through the air, slammed hard into the chest of the Paladin plate armor that Huangfu Ao was so proud of.

"Boom—!!!"

100% Pain Feedback activated!

"Aaaaaah—!!!"

Huangfu Ao let out a shrill, pig-slaughtering scream. Like being hit head-on by a high-speed train, a terrifying fist print instantly caved into the plate armor on his chest.

He spat out a mouthful of blood, his body flying backward over a hundred meters and slamming hard into the frozen lava wall, before instantly turning into a beam of white light as the system forcibly kicked him out of the virtual battlefield.

[System Notification: All members of the Huangji Battle Team have fallen; they have been eliminated!]

[Congratulations to the Nirvana Battle Team for winning the overall championship of this National Prodigy Ranking Tournament!!]

Along with the system-wide announcement, the hundred thousand spectators in the entire "Starry Sky" Arena fell into a deathly silence, followed by a burst of feverish cheers loud enough to shake the heavens!

In the VIP seats, the Head of the Huangfu Family dropped his teacup with a "clatter," shattering it on the floor, his face as pale as death.

Standing in the center of the frozen crater, Chen Xi slowly withdrew his fist and looked calmly toward the sky.

He knew that winning the championship was only the first step.

The gates of the [Tower of Heaven], which held the ultimate secrets of this world, had already opened to him.

The very center of the Imperial Capital.

Even in this bustling city with highly advanced technology and magic and lined with skyscrapers, the building known as the [Tower of Heaven] remained the absolute overlord.

Its entire body possessed an unknown silver-gray metallic luster, without any windows or gaps, standing abruptly between heaven and earth. The tower was surrounded by a visible spatial distortion field, making it impossible for any flying equipment to approach.

At this moment, in front of the Tower of Heaven's massive bronze-colored base gate.

Chen Xi held the "Star Key" he had just received at the awards ceremony from the High Council, followed by Su Xiaoxiao, Li Murou, and Ye Fei.

"Captain Chen, the aura inside... is very strange."

The [Myriad Spirit Divine Seal] between Ye Fei's eyebrows throbbed faintly. Ever since approaching this tower, she had felt an inexplicable palpitation, as if some indescribable ancient will slept within.

"Shen Ye said in his message that this tower might not have been built by humans at all."

Chen Xi looked up at the tower reaching into the clouds, his gaze deep:

"Whether there's a god or a ghost inside, we have to go in and take a look. Everyone, stay alert; the rules inside might be completely different from the outside world."

Chen Xi inserted the Star Key into the groove in the center of the gate.

"Buzz—"

Accompanied by a dull roar that seemed to come from ancient times, the bronze giant door, several meters thick, slowly slid open to both sides. A stale, dry, cold wind smelling of metallic rust blew out from inside the tower.

"Let's go."

The four of them stepped over the threshold without hesitation.

As the giant door behind them slammed shut, their vision instantly fell into darkness, followed by rows of cold blue lights lighting up one by one overhead.

However, when they saw the scene on the first floor clearly, everyone gasped.

"This... what kind of ghostly place is this?!"

Li Murou rubbed her eyes, thinking she was hallucinating.

This wasn't a normal tower interior at all; it was like a painting scrambled and reorganized by a mad artist!

Space was arbitrarily folded and twisted here.

A wide stone path was weirdly twisted into a spiral shape in mid-air, then extended straight onto the "ceiling."

And several clear streams didn't flow downward under the influence of gravity; instead, they gushed upward from the ground like fountains, finally merging into a lake suspended in mid-air.

Here, the sense of direction lost all meaning. Up, down, left, right, front, and back were crushed together, making one dizzy with just a single glance.

"Gravity inversion, spatial folding... the physics engine here has completely broken down."