Chapter 156: Rules Are Meant to Be Broken

When Lu Sheng regained consciousness once more, his awareness had returned to his true body.

Opening his eyes, he found himself back in the sub-dimension.

Lu Sheng felt somewhat bewildered. His consciousness had been pulled away to a strange place, where he saw a bizarre stone tablet, yet nothing happened at all, and he was simply sent back.

Never mind, it was better to check if any changes had occurred to his natal card.

[Space-Time Ant]
Quality: Golden
Tier: Eighth-Tier Perfection
Laws: Advanced Time Law, Advanced Space Law, Advanced Power Law

The interface had become extremely concise. The skill column had disappeared, as those so-called skills were originally just manifestations of the power of the laws.

Having reached his current realm, he could now utilize the power of the laws entirely at will.

Skills no longer existed; the exact manner in which he projected the power of the laws depended entirely on his own method of application.

Of course, this change applied only to his natal card. Other monster cards had not undergone such modifications in this regard.

They would still retain skill techniques and moves.

This was likely because the power of those other monster cards did not originate from themselves, rendering them incapable of self-development.

This was the change that appeared on the Space-Time Ant's interface, alongside even deeper alterations.

He felt that the first two law pillars inside his body could be cultivated further, allowing them to grow taller.

Entering the law space with his consciousness, the law pillars, which were originally only as thick as an arm, had now expanded to the thickness of a waist.

It was not just the laws of time and space that had changed; even the pillar of the power law had thickened to the size of a waist.

According to the classification of law pillars, all three of these laws had now advanced to become advanced laws.

It seemed that this elevation in the Space-Time Ant's quality had also raised the level of the power law by one tier.

Although the law pillars had thickened, their height remained unchanged, requiring him to cultivate them further.

Even though they had not grown taller, Lu Sheng could sense that his mastery over the three laws had become much more profound.

The most intuitive sensation was that he could clearly feel the surrounding space's affinity toward him.

He could effortlessly command the space within a hundred-meter radius around himself, and utilizing the power of the space law within this domain would significantly reduce energy consumption.

However, if the distance exceeded that, the consumption would increase accordingly.

The law of time had also acquired a deeper usage; he felt that he could make past events in a specific location replay before his eyes.

Furthermore, he could rewind the scenes of what had transpired here to view them.

Naturally, he could only rewind to witness everything that had already happened, while future events that had not yet occurred remained invisible.

Lu Sheng named this capability "Scene Retrocession."

Right on the spot, Lu Sheng conducted an experiment. Upon activating this ability, a virtual projection manifested before him.

He possessed the freedom to control the rewinding speed of the projection, and could pause or skip forward at any moment.

He could rewind up to a maximum of three days into the past.

This special ability would only prove useful on certain unique occasions and would rarely be needed in daily life.

Although the power law remained at the same tier as before, due to the explosive expansion of its volume, the power law at this moment was twice as formidable as previously.

Presently, he could likely crush an entity of the same eighth tier with ease, relying solely on the power law.

He simply wondered how his current strength compared to that of the ninth tier.

Since they were still superior to him by a major tier, achieving victory might be impossible, but he firmly believed that even a ninth-tier entity could never capture him.

The exact outcome could only be determined after actual combat; for now, these were merely his projections.

Completing the quality enhancement of the card left Lu Sheng with a hollow sensation inside his body.

He felt somewhat unsatisfied, and this emptiness urgently needed to be filled.

The sole method was to absorb law stones, elevate his comprehension of the laws, and make the law pillars thicker and larger to fill this void.

Currently, he still possessed some law stones and origin points, so he might as well exchange for a temporary usage right of the intermediate enlightenment platform.

He began cultivating right on the spot.

Just as he had sensed, after absorbing the law power contained within the law stones, the law pillar representing the first layer of laws inside his body began to grow taller, and twenty meters was no longer the limit.

Simultaneously, the absorption efficiency of the law power contained within the law stones increased from sixty percent to eighty percent, yielding a higher utilization rate.

It had not reached one hundred percent, meaning there must undoubtedly be even higher qualities above it.

As for when he would be able to elevate it to a superior quality, that remained unknown.

He ordered all the bloodthirsty mosquitoes to enter a reproductive state; he currently had no need to rely on these bloodthirsty mosquitoes to enhance anything.

He simply set them all to breeding, aiming to achieve freedom in sixth-tier bloodthirsty mosquitoes after some time.

At this present stage, the cost of cultivating subordinates had become somewhat too exorbitant for him.

If he wanted to nurture subordinates to surpass his own strength, the resources consumed would be better spent on his own cultivation.

No matter how one trained subordinates, they ultimately existed to serve oneself.

The most crucial factor remained one's own personal strength.

Resuming control over his external clone, he found that all members of the Mad God Sect in the entire underground world had already been slaughtered by his subordinates.

His subordinates were waiting in place for Lu Sheng's next command, having gone nowhere.

Lu Sheng casually dispatched these subordinates to accelerate the clearing of District 21.

Matters here had already been resolved.

Lu Sheng had no intention of lingering, allowing his subordinates to continue hunting here.

He planned to make a trip back and place the altar upon the floating continent.

No sooner said than done; utilizing spatial positioning, Lu Sheng returned to the floating continent in the blink of an eye.

He notified Xiong Dabiao and the others, stating that he needed to select a place to store an item.

Initially, Xiong Dabiao had no idea what Lu Sheng intended to place and saw no issue with it.

随后路圣便挑了一个空地把祭坛放了下去，同时通知熊大彪找人来管理。 (Note: translated seamlessly into the narrative flow).

Lu Sheng then selected an open space to place the altar down, concurrently instructing Xiong Dabiao to find someone to manage it.

Lu Sheng clearly remembered that this contraption could be used for beast-fights.

Upon learning of the object Lu Sheng had hauled back, Xiong Dabiao was left completely flabbergasted, his jaw dropping in utter astonishment.

This altar had previously been tested by major factions who found it completely immovable, yet Lu Sheng had actually managed to move it.

Furthermore, the faction that previously harbored designs on this altar was none other than the Wind Thunder Pavilion of Luzhou.

Could it be that Lu Sheng's current strength surpassed even that of the Wind Thunder Pavilion's Master?

Xiong Dabiao could not help but ponder this.

This was hardly a groundless fantasy; one had to remember that the monsters across the entirety of District 13 had already been entirely purged by Lu Sheng.

Presently, the hunting leaderboard allowed for the exchange of quite a few fine treasures, not to mention that Lu Sheng now monopolized all the resources of District 13.

Possessing such vast resources, even a pig could take flight, let alone Lu Sheng.

The more Xiong Dabiao thought about it, the more plausible it seemed, and the more exhilarated he became.

The stronger Lu Sheng grew, the more advantageous it would be for Xiong Dabiao.

Naturally, he could not help but feel thrilled.

At that very moment, Lu Sheng abruptly sensed an anomaly in the sky.

This was because his law power had grown much stronger, enabling him to perceive spatial fluctuations with heightened sensitivity.

The instant after he detected the anomaly, a beam of light violently erupted from the heavens, crashing down onto the earth.

Following that came countless beams of light.

Although these beams of light appeared no different from the previous ones, Lu Sheng inexplicably sensed that the monsters carried within these beams were somewhat more formidable.

Similarly, upon careful perception, he detected a force of world-sealing, and this force had been battered into a state of riddled decay.

It was on the verge of collapsing at any moment.

In his perception, this sealing force continued to diminish ceaselessly, and the reduction of the seal simultaneously signified the emergence of loopholes.

The larger the loopholes, the stronger the monsters that would descend upon their world would be.

Xiong Dabiao felt no fear upon witnessing the sky full of light beams; rather, he felt a measure of excitement.

One had to bear in mind that during the previous descent of light beams, he had not slain many sixth-tier monsters, so his harvest was naturally meager.

With a formidable backing like Lu Sheng, he was not overly anxious about his own safety.

Lu Sheng glanced at the excited Xiong Dabiao and cautioned, "Be careful. The monsters appearing this time might be somewhat stronger than the previous batch."

Xiong Dabiao froze abruptly, staring at Lu Sheng with disbelief: "Leader, you can sense it?"

He still placed great trust in Lu Sheng's words, for no other reason than Lu Sheng's immense power, and because Lu Sheng was currently the leader of this faction.

Based solely on these two points, Lu Sheng had no reason to trick or harm him.

Lu Sheng nodded. "Indeed. In my perception, the monsters descending this time might be even more formidable than last time. Pass down the order and tell everyone to be extra careful."

Simultaneously, Lu Sheng summoned back the subordinates who had been hunting in District 21.

Now that monsters were once again descending across the entire world on a massive scale, the safety of the floating continent was a matter he needed to address.

Killing monsters was killing monsters, and doing it here could simultaneously protect the safety of the floating continent—why not?

After recalling his subordinates, Lu Sheng summoned them forth once more, stationing them all across the floating continent.

He tasked them with patrolling the floating continent and directly attacking any monsters that manifested upon it.

Intense beams of light were bound to descend upon the floating continent as well.

If he failed to handle them, Lu Sheng was uncertain whether the World Annihilation Alliance possessed the current strength to resolve these descending monsters.

Regardless, Lu Sheng had already decided to clear out the monsters appearing on the floating continent.

Even if members of the World Annihilation Alliance wished to train and hone their skills, they could simply go down to the ground to find monsters for that purpose.

Stationed at the palace, Lu Sheng gazed out at the flickering beams of light.

Comparing them constantly with the previous descent, Lu Sheng discovered that while these flickering beams were still densely packed, they were slightly inferior compared to the last time.

As time elapsed, the speed at which the light beams descended grew increasingly sluggish, just as they were about to cease.

A series of colossal light beams discharged simultaneously and descended.

Among them, one massive beam of light plunged directly onto the sky island.

Lu Sheng's heart skipped a beat, sensing that something ominous was afoot.

This beam was roughly five times thicker than the normally descending beams of light.

The monster contained within it undoubtedly possessed extraordinary traits.

Lu Sheng mounted the White-Flames Blue-Scaled Bird and hurried toward the location where the gigantic beam of light had fallen.

Before long, he arrived at the spot where the light beam had descended.

At present, a cluster of newly arrived Frost Werewolves stood right there.

Upon seeing Lu Sheng appear—and specifically upon laying eyes on the White-Flames Blue-Scaled Bird he rode—the leading Frost Werewolf immediately reacted as though it had located its target.

"You're the one who massacred the vanguard of our Frost Werewolves?"

Lu Sheng found it somewhat peculiar to be suddenly questioned by the Frost Werewolf below, while simultaneously raising his guard.

Judging by their demeanor, they had clearly come to exact revenge, and knowing full well his formidable strength, they still dared to seek retribution—meaning the opponent must possess absolute confidence.

"Don't you already have your answer? What is there to ask?"

Tianya looked coldly at Lu Sheng. "True enough, regardless of whether I ask, there is only one outcome: all humans in this world must die."

Tianya uttered the words carrying the densest killing intent in an exceptionally calm tone.

That utterly indifferent expression caused a surge of displeasure within Lu Sheng.

The dialogue between the two parties thus concluded, and within each other's gazes flickered an indelible, murderous intent.

The next moment, Tianya made his move!

The instant Tianya struck, Lu Sheng discerned his opponent's strength.

Ninth-Tier!

Wasn't it said that only up to the eighth tier would appear?

What was the meaning of this?!

The worst-case scenario Lu Sheng had envisioned was that all these Frost Werewolves were of the eighth tier.

Yet even then, Lu Sheng was not concerned; even if they were all eighth-tier, given his current strength, he could completely withstand them.

Yet out of nowhere, a ninth-tier entity unexpectedly appeared, catching Lu Sheng momentarily off guard.

Even so, he did not panic excessively.

So what if it was the ninth tier? He wouldn't mind testing the prowess of a ninth tier.

He recalled the White-Flames Blue-Scaled Bird into its card to prevent it from perishing in the aftermath of the battle.

With a spatial shift, he materialized on the ground.

An attack surged forth as a chilling, ice-attribute current materialized in the space before him, rolling toward him in a torrential sweep.

If he failed to block it, this freezing current would encase him into a block of ice.

With a wave of his hand, the space before him fell under his control, shaping into a transparent spatial wall.

He blocked the oncoming freezing torrent.

The torrent crashed against the spatial wall, unable to push any further forward, forced to linger in place and pile up with the following torrents, growing denser by the moment.

Upon witnessing this sight, Tianya lost his composure somewhat.

Originally, in his view, eliminating the human before him was a matter of absolute certainty.

Yet now, the opponent had actually intercepted his attack.

It was truly rather incredible.

The next second, a multitude of ice spears materialized behind Tianya, and with a sweep of his hand, these ice spears endlessly pierced through the air toward Lu Sheng.

Continuous volleys of ice spears slammed relentlessly into the spatial wall.

"Bang, bang, bang!"

Resounding explosions rang out, and as each ice spear shattered, cracks began to form on the spatial wall.

Black fissures rippled across the transparent spatial barrier.

Once these cracks appeared, they spread outward uncontrollably, multiplying by the moment.

Clearly, this spatial wall could not withstand the bombardment of the ice spears.

Lu Sheng shifted his position via teleportation, and the very second he relocated, the entire spatial wall shattered with a resounding crash.

The surging freezing current iced over the ground and everything within that vicinity into sculptures of ice.

Had Lu Sheng been even a second slower, he likely would have become one of them.

He cast a lingering glance of apprehension at the frozen ground.

As expected of a ninth-tier entity; their strength was indeed formidable.

However, Lu Sheng also understood that this was merely because his potential had yet to be fully unleashed.

His quality had just broken through, and he lacked sufficient resources for cultivation to develop the potential brought by this breakthrough.

If he were to elevate the sixth and seventh-tier law pillars to their limits, it remained uncertain whether his opponent could shatter the spatial wall he condensed.

Still, dwelling on that was useless for now; he had no choice but to contend with his opponent using his current strength.

Controlling the surrounding space, he condensed a series of spatial lances and hurled them toward the Frost Werewolves.

This time, Lu Sheng imbued them with the powers of time and space.

The materialized spatial lances did not streak toward the Frost Werewolves along conventional trajectories.

Instead, they traversed space, striking directly before the Frost Werewolves.

Supplemented by time acceleration, the impact force of these spatial lances reached a terrifying degree.

In the blink of an eye, they arrived beside the Frost Werewolf, piercing straight at him.

The instant Tianya sensed the spatial anomaly erupting around him, he summoned a thick wall of ice around himself.

The spatial lances struck the ice wall, triggering violent explosions; each point of impact cratered the barrier, yet failed to breach the ice wall entirely.

Not far away, Lu Sheng felt somewhat disappointed upon witnessing the efficacy of his strike.

Was the strength of the ninth tier truly something he could not surpass yet, despite his remarkably high quality?

When all was said and done, it was because his quality had broken through, but his underlying foundation had yet to deepen correspondingly.

If he were to elevate the sixth and seventh-tier law pillars to their limits, the outcome would undoubtedly be different.

Tianya cared little what Lu Sheng was currently pondering.

Having fended off this assault, he channeled his freezing energy and charged toward Lu Sheng once more.

As the freezing current swept forward, Lu Sheng once again summoned a spatial wall to intercept it.

Since long-range attacks yielded no definitive advantage, Lu Sheng resolved to test the waters with close-quarters combat.

After all, his power law had also improved considerably, and paired with the time acceleration of the time law, the force of his strikes would be multiplied exponentially.

This might very well be his sole opportunity.

Summoning the White-Flames Spear, he utilized spatial traversal to materialize directly before the Frost Werewolf.

However, the Frost Werewolf had anticipated this; upon reaching this tier, one possessed a certain degree of innate sensing toward all law powers.

Even though Lu Sheng utilized the space law, it was no exception.

Lu Sheng traversed through space using the space law, leaving behind no discernible traces.

Yet as long as one could sense the ripples of the laws, one could accurately deduce Lu Sheng's coordinates.

Tianya raised his hand, summoning an ice wall to block his front. The next second, Lu Sheng appeared before the ice wall and thrust his spear forward.

When that formidable spear strike was unleashed, it left residual afterimages in space.

It slammed violently into the ice wall, causing the point of impact to fracture explosively.

The seemingly indestructible ice wall was blown open with a massive crater by Lu Sheng.

The entire floating continent shuddered from the sheer impact of that spear strike, the force causing the floating continent to shift downward by a noticeable margin.

Tianya stared at the scene before him with sheer disbelief.

"Simply unbelievable. An eighth-tier managed to shatter my defensive measure."

"It seems you must harbor some profound secret!"

Abruptly, Tianya's gaze grew scorching hot, and the murderous intent in his eyes toward Lu Sheng intensified manifold.

Lu Sheng chuckled, his tone unkind: "Do you believe you have the strength to take it?"

That previous spear strike had merely utilized fivefold acceleration.

Currently, utilizing fivefold acceleration posed no burden to him whatsoever, implying that even a tenfold acceleration would not drain the energy within his body.

And with the power of tenfold acceleration, Lu Sheng believed this Frost Werewolf before him would be incapable of resisting it.

Tianya smiled as well, parting his fangs-filled wolf maw in a ferocious grin: "I believe I do."

His tone remained utterly nonchalant, dismissing Lu Sheng's threat entirely.

Aside from the clash between Lu Sheng and Tianya, various other chaotic skirmishes were taking place across the battlefield.

Yet neither the high-tier entities under Lu Sheng's command nor the remaining group of Frost Werewolves had made a move.

The Corpse King and the others refrained from attacking because Lu Sheng had instructed them to keep watch on the stationary Frost Werewolves.

Should those Frost Werewolves make a move, the Corpse King and his group would be forced to intervene and intercept them.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Frost Werewolves remained inactive naturally because Tianya had gauged the strength of Lu Sheng's subordinates.

Seeing they were on par with his own forces, he chose not to order his subordinates into battle.

The duel between him and Lu Sheng remained the pivotal factor determining victory in this engagement.

Lu Sheng originally intended to press the attack, but another freezing current swept toward him once more.

He had no desire to be struck by it, as his physical body's defense was not particularly formidable.

A spatial traversal carried him clear out of the freezing current's attack range.

Tianya manipulated the freezing current to pursue the location where Lu Sheng had fled.

He had no intention of engaging Lu Sheng in direct hand-to-hand combat; he had already tasted Lu Sheng's raw power just moments ago.

His ice wall, boasting formidable defense, had been shattered by Lu Sheng through sheer brute force, leaving him without any illusion that his strength could rival Lu Sheng's in a direct contest.

He had felt the impact of that previous blow firsthand—it had shaken the entire sky fortress downward.

Sky Fortress was what their Frost Werewolves called this floating continent.

Simultaneously, observing Lu Sheng continually evade his attacks made him realize that Lu Sheng's defense was not exceptionally sturdy.

Having discovered this weakness, Tianya had no intention of letting it go.

He manipulated the freezing current to launch relentless assaults against Lu Sheng, the freezing torrent twisting through the air like a nimble dragon, constantly adjusting its trajectory to hunt Lu Sheng down.

Lu Sheng also realized that his opponent could accurately predict his positioning, which caught him somewhat off guard.

Any previous enemy, even if capable of resisting his spatial traversal ability, had been unable to pinpoint the exact location of his reappearance.

Yet this ninth-tier Frost Werewolf could clearly discern every landing point of his, trailing him like a ghostly shadow.

It was growing deeply irksome.

Dodging another assault from the freezing current, he manipulated space, intending to tear apart the space where the Frost Werewolf resided and thereby eradicate him.

However, the next second, a frown formed on his face.

The space surrounding the Frost Werewolf was extraordinarily solidified; attempting to tear the space at that location proved entirely impossible.

Although he had not unleashed his full strength, he had nonetheless employed the limit of his conventional power, yet the result was that the space remained completely motionless.

The limit of conventional power referred to output that allowed space to recover rapidly after being struck.

Since this tactic failed, Lu Sheng had no choice but to devise another plan.

Controlling a spatial wall to block the oncoming freezing torrent before him, he noted that the mere force of the current was insufficient to breach the spatial wall's defense.

The Frost Werewolf was naturally aware of this, and the next second, a dense barrage of ice spears hurtled toward Lu Sheng's position.

Lu Sheng utilized spatial traversal to evade them, arriving at a completely new location, and cast spatial confinement upon the Frost Werewolf.

He wanted to test the efficacy of spatial confinement on the Frost Werewolf.

Should it prove viable, the next moment might well mark the demise of this Frost Werewolf.

With his current strength, a spear strike unleashed under tenfold acceleration was something the Frost Werewolf certainly could not withstand.

However, the Frost Werewolf wasn't going to just stand there and avoid dodging, either.

The initial attack caught the Frost Werewolf completely off guard; if that first strike failed to land and alerted the Frost Werewolf's vigilance, successfully striking him easily thereafter would prove difficult.

Therefore, achieving a one-hit kill necessitated continuous probing and testing.

Spatial confinement descended upon Tianya's head, yet in his perception, this confining force felt exceedingly fragile.

With a mere slight struggle, the binding force was shattered by him.

"Do you only have these cheap tricks? If that's all you've got, you're bound to die by my hands sooner or later."

Lu Sheng let out a cold laugh. "Who can't talk big? I could just as easily say you're bound to die by my hands."

Repeated setbacks left Lu Sheng somewhat irritated; this stemmed from the fact that recent opponents had all been easily resolved by him.

It had fostered a degree of arrogance in his mindset, making these consecutive setbacks rather unsettling to his composure.

Tianya sneered as he watched Lu Sheng. "Did you really think spatial power is invincible?"