Chapter 149: The Power of Time

Once again, Lu Sheng drew out the White Flame Spear. Having reached the pinnacle of the seventh rank, naturally he wanted to test just how many times he could accelerate his speed to the maximum.

This time, he approached a massive boulder, refraining from striking the ground as before. Leaving the earth riddled with cracks was unsightly, and if the entire continent were scarred like that, walking would become troublesome.

He first tried a single acceleration to gauge the energy consumption, so he would have a clear idea. After several enhancements to reach the seventh rank, his strength had grown vastly compared to before. Even without acceleration to boost his attack power, he was now stronger than when he previously used acceleration.

With a swift draw of the spear, he unleashed a strike at single acceleration speed. The sound of the air being broken echoed sharply. Within seconds, the enormous boulder, tens of meters wide before Lu Sheng, was shattered to dust.

Boom!

The boulder exploded, scattering tiny stones in all directions. Despite their size, these stones flew with tremendous force, like small bombs, striking the surrounding ground with thunderous claps. Anyone below the sixth rank struck by these stones would not survive unscathed.

Lu Sheng watched the display of power with quiet admiration. At the moment of the strike, he could clearly feel the immense strength contained within. It was far stronger than his sixth-rank self—there was no comparison.

After the attack, Lu Sheng assessed the energy used. Roughly one-fiftieth of his energy had been consumed. By this logic, he could theoretically unleash fiftyfold acceleration. Though he thought so, something felt off. There had to be factors he had overlooked.

After some consideration, he decided to test double acceleration, to see if the energy consumption would increase proportionally. He found another large rock and struck it with double acceleration.

Boom!

The loud blast left no trace of the boulder—just a pile of rubble strewn across the ground. This experiment clarified what he had missed: energy consumption was not a simple linear equation. Using double acceleration consumed much more energy than twice that of single acceleration—nearly triple, in fact.

Thus, Lu Sheng realized he would need multiple trials to determine the maximum acceleration multiplier he could sustain.

He spent the next hour testing various acceleration levels. Most of the time was spent restoring his internal energy. He found that with single or double acceleration, he could sustain a prolonged battle. The highest acceleration he could wield was tenfold, but using tenfold acceleration once nearly drained his entire energy reserve. It was a trump card, not to be used lightly. Any attack with tenfold acceleration that failed to kill the enemy would likely result in his own death.

Having understood his combat capabilities, Lu Sheng mounted the White Flame Blue-scale Bird and headed toward the burial mound. From high above, the earth below was turned over, with countless shattered stones raining down. No part of the ground remained intact. Previously, there had been a small hillside here, but now it was completely leveled.

From the traces at the scene, it was clear this had been violently flattened by someone. As the person involved, Lu Sheng had already left.

...

On the blackened earth, Lu Sheng reappeared. Before him, gray mist swirled around the burial mound, lifeless and forbidding, a clear warning to keep away.

Flying straight toward the summit where the Corpse King resided, Lu Sheng ignored the lesser zombies below. Once the Corpse King was dealt with, the minions would naturally fall.

As Lu Sheng approached, the burial mound came alive with human presence. The buried zombies awoke one by one, emerging from their graves and roaring in his direction.

The Corpse King stirred as well, watching Lu Sheng quietly from the mountaintop.

“Human, what is your purpose in coming here?” the Corpse King asked, his tone unfriendly. After last being outpaced by Lu Sheng, he knew he couldn’t defeat him with his current strength. He could win in a direct fight, but if Lu Sheng fled, there was nothing he could do.

Hence, he refrained from attacking immediately, instead wishing to see what Lu Sheng intended.

Lu Sheng leapt from the White Flame Blue-scale Bird, drew his spear, and said coldly, “What else but to take your life?”

The Corpse King laughed strangely, as if hearing a joke. “Ha ha, what nonsense are you speaking?”

He looked at Lu Sheng icily. “Don’t think you can be so arrogant just because you escaped me before. Space abilities are indeed powerful, but not invincible. If we were on the same level, I wouldn’t dare be so reckless. But you’re only sixth rank.”

From previous encounters, the Corpse King had sensed Lu Sheng as a sixth-rank being.

“Previously, I was indeed sixth rank,” Lu Sheng said before launching his spear forward with single acceleration.

The Corpse King was about to mock him, “You were sixth this morning; are you saying you’ve changed now?”

But before he could speak, he felt the attack’s immense power. Lu Sheng now radiated the aura of a perfected seventh rank.

The Corpse King’s eyes widened in disbelief. Could he have truly advanced a whole stage in just a few hours?

The spear was nearly at his forehead. He had no time to think and raised his hand to block the thrust.

Upon contact, he felt an irresistible force surge through his arm, sending him flying backward, crashing onto his own grave.

The Corpse King rose, stunned, and sensed the lingering laws in the space around him, exclaiming, “Time law... power law!”

“Royal bloodline!” he murmured.

Lu Sheng caught the muttering and was intrigued by the mention of “royal bloodline.” He resolved to question the Corpse King further once he was subdued.

Feeling satisfied at having knocked the Corpse King back, Lu Sheng realized he now held the upper hand. Previously, the Corpse King had beaten him mercilessly; now, the tables had turned.

Single acceleration wasn’t enough to breach the Corpse King’s defense, so Lu Sheng switched to fivefold acceleration, determined to finish the fight swiftly and avoid unforeseen complications.

The Corpse King saw the spear thrust again and grew anxious. Though the spear seemed ordinary, a careful sensing revealed it was enveloped in the Time Law.

The attack was close-range; there was no time to dodge—only to brace and endure. Knowing Lu Sheng was only seventh rank, the Corpse King felt somewhat reassured. After all, he was eighth rank, and there was no need to fear excessively. Even supreme laws required a strong foundation to wield.

Suddenly, gray aura representing death surged from the Corpse King's body, especially thick around his arms where it coiled densely.

Avoiding vital points, the Corpse King swung a palm forward to block the spear.

Upon contact, an overwhelming force surged into his arm.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

With explosive sounds, the Corpse King’s left arm shattered into segments, finally exploding completely.

He stared at his empty left shoulder in disbelief. In just a few hours, how had this young man become so powerful?

“This is impossible!” Despite knowing it was true, the Corpse King could hardly accept it. The boy he had beaten so badly just this morning had now blown off his entire arm.

What could be more astonishing than that?

Lu Sheng paid no heed to the Corpse King's thoughts and pressed the attack, driving his spear toward the Corpse King's head with fivefold acceleration.

Though energy consumption was high, he could still unleash six or seven such attacks, enough to kill the Corpse King.

Teleporing right in front of the Corpse King, he left no room to evade; the undead king could only brace himself.

He dodged as best he could, avoiding vital points, but ultimately had to face the strike head-on.

Raising his withered right arm, enveloped in endless gray aura, he lifted the spear upward while his body ducked down.

This time, he managed to block the thrust. Using sheer arm strength, he forced the spear upward just enough to evade the fatal blow.

However, the moment the spear touched his arm, it broke at the forearm, leaving the lower part dangling uselessly.

The Corpse King shivered at the sight of his ruined limb.

Before he could dwell on it further, a figure appeared before him, thrusting a spear fiercely into his forehead.

Pfft!

The spear plunged deep, ending the Corpse King's life.

Lu Sheng withdrew his spear. The Corpse King's withered body showed no blood.

Thud!

The corpse fell heavily to the ground, its weight far greater than that of a normal man.

From start to finish, Lu Sheng had launched only three spear thrusts to defeat the Corpse King.

He then summoned his own troops along with the Corpse King’s remains.

The Corpse King looked at his own corpse with a complex expression—primarily relief but also confusion, as if uncertain of his current state.

“Go, eliminate all the zombies on the burial mound,” Lu Sheng ordered.

He only summoned his seventh-rank monsters and the Corpse King; these were sufficient to wipe out all the zombies on the mound.

In truth, even the Corpse King alone could have done it, but Lu Sheng wished to finish quickly.

As his minions moved, the zombies on the burial mound were massacred.

Though some seventh-rank zombies resisted, their efforts were futile against an eighth-rank Corpse King.

Being on his own side, the Corpse King knew the zombies’ weaknesses. A single punch or palm strike could instantly eradicate a seventh-rank zombie.

There were ten seventh-rank zombies in total; in no time, the Corpse King dispatched them and then turned to the remaining zombies.

Within half an hour, the entire burial mound was cleared.

Lu Sheng summoned the Corpse King before him and asked, “Corpse King, I have two questions. As far as I know, the strongest on this burial mound before were seventh rank, and there were only about ten sixth ranks. Also, what does ‘royal bloodline’ mean?”

The Corpse King replied expressionlessly, “My lord, I was originally seventh rank, but two days ago, a beam of light descended—a force perfectly aligned with our zombies' essence—striking this burial mound. As a result, the zombies’ strength here increased significantly.”

“Royal bloodline denotes monster races of red quality. Such monsters have at least three laws within them, and one is always among the top ten supreme laws.”

“Is there a hierarchy within these laws?” Lu Sheng knew his own laws differed from ordinary ones. Since the Corpse King spoke of royal bloodline, perhaps he knew about the laws too.

“There is. Based on the size of a person’s body parts: finger-thick laws are low-level; forearm-thick laws are mid-level; laws as thick as a normal limb are high-level. As for supreme laws, they no longer exist as pillars but as rivers of law, flowing endlessly in the law space, representing an inexhaustible source of power.”

Having clarified this, Lu Sheng accepted the Corpse King back. It seemed his own law level was still mid-level quality.

This was somewhat akin to a quality division among laws—within the same tier, higher quality meant greater strength.

It seemed that if he could improve the quality of his Space-Time Ant further, his law quality might rise as well. He wondered if the next maturation of the Bloodthirsty Mosquito could raise it.

For now, the monster dens within Zone 13 were cleared. No monsters above seventh rank remained, so he need not intervene further. Even if there were, his current subordinates could handle them.

Lu Sheng decided to return and release some of his monsters again. He now had nearly four hundred sixth-rank monsters on him, more than those he had already dispatched. Some were personally slain by him; others by his sixth-rank teams.

He sent out twenty more sixth-rank teams to hunt freely, though this time without the Bloodthirsty Mosquito accompanying them.

Returning to camp, he glanced at his five hundred million points. With the Bloodthirsty Mosquito and sixth-rank subordinates forming teams, his points accrued faster.

He summoned Lei Yan and Li Kuang again and exchanged five hundred million points for five thousand fifth-rank spirit fruits—two thousand given to Lei Yan, three thousand to Li Kuang—to cultivate their troops. These were his core forces; other allied factions were merely auxiliary, reliant on Lu Sheng’s strength for protection and obliged to follow his orders.

But the relationship was fragile; without Lu Sheng’s oversight, tensions could arise unless he fully commanded their loyalty during this period.

With this influx of resources, Lu Sheng believed the original members in the gathering place would see their strength rise.

He had long instructed Li Kuang to cultivate Shi Jiu and others as core troops before issuing formal orders.

Next, Lu Sheng planned to find the eleven newcomers who had recently joined him and settle them in.

Just as he was about to leave, there was a knock at his door.

Knock, knock, knock.

Lu Sheng opened it to see Wang Xian standing there.

“Miss Wang Xian, is there something you need?” Lu Sheng was surprised at her sudden visit.

“Why, can’t I come see you if I have nothing to do?” Wang Xian teased, noticing Lu Sheng lingering in the doorway. “Not welcoming me? Won’t even let me in?”

Realizing his awkwardness, Lu Sheng stepped aside. “Of course not. I was about to head out. Come in, please.”

He made way, and they both sat in the hall chairs.

Wang Xian got straight to the point. “Since you’re busy, I’ll be direct. I’ve developed the blue-quality tenfold breeding card you requested, though the success rate is low. It requires a large amount of materials to refine.”

She pulled a blue-quality tenfold breeding card onto the table.

Lu Sheng’s eyes brightened. “Excellent! Miss Wang, this is very important to me. Don’t worry about materials—if you lack anything, go directly to Li Kuang and the others. I’ll notify them beforehand.”

He handed her twenty fifth-rank spirit fruits, advising her to use them to train and improve her strength, making card production easier.

He couldn’t just accept her hard work without showing gratitude.

Wang Xian smiled without pretense. “Thank you very much, Lord Lu.”

After pocketing the spirit fruits, she bid farewell and left. Lu Sheng had said he was busy, so she naturally didn’t linger.

Lu Sheng examined the tenfold breeding card carefully. It was indeed blue quality, which pleased him. Time was his most precious resource now, and the card would surely speed his progress.

He then went out, greeted Li Kuang, and instructed him to cooperate fully with Wang Xian—whatever she needed, procure it; if it was impossible, report back to him.

Afterward, he sought out the eleven newcomers who had arrived at noon.

Though they had left earlier than Lu Sheng, they lacked a mount like the White Flame Blue-scale Bird.

Meanwhile, Xiong Dabiao was uneasy. So many sixth-rank warriors had suddenly appeared, threatening him greatly. If not for Zhang Tiandao’s presence, he would have felt panic despite knowing they wouldn’t attack him.

Now that Lu Sheng had returned and was coming over, Xiong Dabiao felt much more secure and eagerly awaited him at the door.

From afar, he spotted Lu Sheng’s figure and hurried to greet him.

Before Lu Sheng reached the spot, Xiong Dabiao came bounding up.

“Boss, you’re finally back! Without you, I just felt uneasy.”

Lu Sheng chuckled lightly. “Why so nervous? Afraid they’ll beat you up?”

Xiong Dabiao scratched his head awkwardly. “Honestly, I am.”

Lu Sheng spoke while walking, “That’s because your strength isn’t enough. Work on improving it, and you’ll feel more confident.”

Xiong Dabiao mumbled softly, “I’d like to get stronger quickly, but there’s not a single sixth-rank monster nearby. I can’t improve like this.”

Lu Sheng fell silent, shooting Xiong Dabiao a stern glare.

The eleven sixth-rank newcomers were settled in a small room. They whispered quietly until Lu Sheng entered, when they fell silent.

“Lord Lu Sheng!”

Their greeting was loud and sincere, born of genuine respect. Lu Sheng’s power had conquered them.

He nodded, gesturing for them to sit, then took the front seat, pulling Xiong Dabiao up beside him.

“Greetings. This camp is the first wave of our Annihilation Alliance. I am its founding leader. This faction has just been formed; its foundation is still in its infancy.”

“Next to me is our vice leader, Xiong Dabiao, whom you all know. We have another vice leader absent today, whom Xiong will introduce when he arrives.”

“In simple terms, we are newly established—a blank slate with much to build. Now that you understand the situation, whether you choose to stay or leave, I won’t stop you.”

Lu Sheng observed their expressions, curious about their thoughts.

To his surprise, all spoke at once: “Lord Lu Sheng, no need to consider. We came for you. As long as you are here, we’re willing to join.”

Strictly speaking, they had been saved by Lu Sheng and knew his strength well. They had long decided to pledge allegiance to him.

A newly formed faction was perfect for them to make their mark.

Lu Sheng blinked, looking at the silent ones. “Do you feel the same?”

He quickly received their reply: “Yes, Lord Lu Sheng. We made up our minds on the way here.”

He nodded. “Good. Xiong Dabiao, arrange accommodations for them. They’re one of us now.”

“Also, the Annihilation Alliance isn’t officially founded yet. Once everyone arrives tomorrow, we will formally establish it.”

“Xiong Dabiao, notify the rest to come quickly—by tomorrow morning at the latest.”

Xiong Dabiao agreed readily.

Lu Sheng nodded and left, returning to his room to ponder the plans for tomorrow.

Although he preferred a hands-off approach, some matters could not be neglected.

He had to build the general framework. Then Xiong Dabiao and others could just fill it with people.

The trouble was temporary, not permanent.

With so many troops from different factions merging, he needed to consider whether to integrate them closely or manage them differently.

Integration would be difficult and ineffective unless their leaders were removed.

With leaders intact, forced division would likely provoke rebellion.

Years of management meant even a temporary split would see followers rushing back at their original leader’s command.

Such superficial division was not what Lu Sheng wanted.

He needed another method to manage them effectively.