The existence of tribulation energy was deeply tied to him. The best the others could do was to cut off his existence out of the future Leylah’s mind. Due to the Sea of Data’s current chaos, Shi Tian failed to probe it. The farthest he saw was the future Leylah’s existence. His seventh-level divination arts and Venerated Dao failed to see through it.
Nevertheless, it did not prevent him from making any related guesses.
‘It’s not something my future self did. What was it…’
Bam-!
Shatter-!
He wasn’t given any time to react. The three eighth-grade Dao Talismans he used up trembled before blurring out to nothingness. Clear phantoms of blue-purple flowers emerged, covering their paper bodies before they dissipated. The half-refined eighth-grade talismans only exerted a fraction of their capabilities before they were turned to waste paper, all because of his insufficient strength!
Hum-!
The millstone’s image recovered during that short timespan. The blooming flowers were forcibly converted, grinded into nothingness. The Venerated Dao did not require spiritual qi to maintain. Only in its repair and summoning would it be spent. Its consumption was massive. At best, he could sustain its usage thrice.
Shi Tian already used up those two chances!
‘I need to buy time.’
He decisively threw out two eighth-grade artifacts—a ring and a stamp seal. All of them were refined by him in his spare time. The Small World accelerates this process dozens, if not hundreds of times. Although he hasn't completely controlled these Dao Treasures because of his low realm, making them self-destruct is still possible—without affecting his current state, atop that. Granted, he could escape safely.
Rustle-!
Another eighth-grade talisman appeared between his fingers. Shi Tian unhesitantly slapped it onto himself. The concept of distance no longer bore weight to his existence. At that exact moment, he moved at a nigh-infinite distance from the future Leylah. The state of infinity and non-infinity served as his shield to the upcoming attack.
Boom-!
In a blink, the two artifacts erupted in a glaring white light. No sounds of explosions came from them, merely waves of white rings of light spreading outwardly.
Shatter-!
The void was broken once again. They flew everywhere like broken shards of glass. The third-dimension shook immensely. The power of these artifacts bundled together leaked out beyond the higher dimensions.
As the center of this implosion, the future Leylah wasn’t able to come out unscathed. The unease in her heart grew along with apprehension. She didn't mind the injuries she had sustained, but another thing entirely.
‘Something bad is about to happen…’
The black robes she wore became disheveled. His snow-white skin suffered from the brunt of the attack, causing lines of wounds to appear. Her golden blood leaked to the empty void. Phantoms of flowers blooming and withering popped up everywhere. The chaotic Sea of Data was rattled with information related to the future Leylah’s Dao, causing another round of mutation.
Neither she nor Shi Tian had any luxury of paying attention to it. The former was befuddled by a misunderstanding. The latter was busy fighting for his life against her unwarranted and unjust maliciousness.
It took a small fraction of a second for a dragon’s roar to spread out. The future Leylah was startled by it, her multi-colored irises staring at it with disbelief. Spiritual qi surged from everywhere. Everything was absorbed by Shi Tian’s true body, showing a capacity unbecoming of an early Void Refinement Realm Star Lord. The fluctuations, status, and spiritual qi control he possessed jumped straight to the pinnacle of the Void Refinement Realm!
‘Ten Desolations Ruin Immortal Body.’ She thought of a name before denying it. ‘No, it’s incomplete.’
The Ten Desolations Ruin Immortal Body is an ultimate-grade Tao Body. It is a physique that leads straight to the Dao Integration Realm. Its main function is to summon the Ten Desolations—the apocalypses leading to the end of a world. They are calamities that thoroughly understand the essence of creation and infinity, allowing them to end a world completely.
The end of its path points to the Dao standing at the pinnacle of everything else. The very same Dao that required ten Daos to achieve the pinnacle of the Dao Integration Realm, as opposed to the six required by the unique Daos.
Its name was—
All Creation.
‘..!’
Buzz-!
The future Leylah’s thoughts turned sluggish. A sharp power emerged out of nowhere. Invisibly, it turned into a spike and pierced through her Tao Heart.
“Pfft..!”
The weakening of her physicality came first. Golden blood spilled out of her mouth, followed by her other orifices. Then came her status. It was maintained by her Dao all this time, preventing reality from rejecting her existence. The damage to her Tao Heart extended to it, causing her power to weaken by more than half.
Seeing his formidable foe cough up blood and enter a weakened state, Shi Tian was at a loss.
‘What did just…’
He used the Myriad Spontaneity to investigate her current state, only to be repulsed by a heart-shaking power. He couldn’t be any more familiar with it.
‘Tribulation energy..!’
His thoughts ran fast. He placed together the reason why the future Leylah was this strong—and the unknown reason why she lost her memories about him.
‘I am tied to her tribulation. Someone else sealed her memories of me. Now that the seal is becoming undone…’
He frowned as he thought of his previous divinations. All of them pointed to the Sea of Data as a fatal danger for him. Shi Tian had a feeling that tribulation energy is related to it.
‘This should be enough.’
Sensing his current state, he had more confidence in dealing with it. The faint purple scales disappeared gradually. The massive eastern dragon phantom merged together with Shi Tian. His appearance did not change, except for his golden irises that glowed with deterrence.
The Nine Dragons Primordial Universe Body allowed him to temporarily reach the pinnacle of Void Refinement Realm with no repercussions. Everything was borne by his high-level Tao Body. His spiritual qi reserves increased by a notch. He could now sustain his Venerated Daos several more times. Each one is comparable to an attack possessing the status of a Dao Integration Realm cultivator. While it falls short compared to the real thing, it is enough to deal with future projections.
Shi Tian’s status was also raised with this realm increase. He could better control All Creation, suffering less from its aftermath. His overall strength experienced a sharp increase.
‘Nine minutes.’
Unfortunately, it wouldn’t last long. Shi Tian has to settle everything by then. He couldn't activate this high-grade Tao Body again in a short interval. He would have to use the Nine Lives Burning Samsara Art to resolve this gap—that, or the power held by his other high-grade Tao Body.
‘If it comes to it…’
The memories of that self-destruction remained deeply etched in his mind. The clash of his Small Universe and World-Destroying Millstone produced the strongest power he had ever seen. Even an Aeon would have to be careful of it, lest they be turned to shreds.
It was a true Dao Integration Realm level power capable of matching Leylah's tribulation energy.
Swoosh-!
The World-Destroying Millstone faded into the void. It did not disappear completely, however, as it returned to Shi Tian’s true body. Its dissipated power turned into the Small World, enveloping the portion of Mars they stood on.
Before it was fully enclosed, he met Senadina’s worried look. That wasn’t the thing that made him pay attention to her, however.
‘Why is she looking like that?
Shi Tian peered through a bottomless abyss through her eyes.