Clash

Yu Xian still had a task, which was to head back and alert the others. Upon returning to the Aska, he had Muse notify everyone at once. Moments later, the group gathered on the deck. Once brought up to speed, each departed the Aska in their designated direction as coordinated by Yu Xian and Zhougelasi, searching for the killer who might still be lingering nearby. Meanwhile, Zhougelasi enhanced his intuition and traversed the Tree Universe at incredible speed. Suddenly, he jerked to a stop, his gaze fixing upon a world not far off. That world resembled a shattered eggshell, everything within the cosmos drifting out from the fissures. Zhougelasi frowned and slowly descended to the world's edge. His consciousness swept across the entire realm in an instant, and in the end, he sighed. The killer had already destroyed this world; not a single living creature remained—even bacteria had been wiped out completely. That murderer was almost certainly someone fallen to demons. Even if an ordinary Mighty One harbored monstrous bloodlust, they wouldn't go out of their way to slaughter every last microbe, much less exterminate them so thoroughly. Or rather, so uniformly. With the strength the killer had displayed so far, destroying the entire cosmos in a single strike would have been effortless. There was no need to slaughter like this—it was a waste of time and energy. "Pitiful. Tragic..." Zhougelasi felt a twinge of pity for the killer. After all, he had fallen to demons once himself; he knew all too well this was not something the person wanted to do, but rather an act driven by forces beyond their control. Fortunately, Zhougelasi had sensed his own abnormal state in time and held out until Yu Xian arrived. The killer, however, hadn't held on long enough, ultimately unleashing boundless slaughter and karmic sin. Zhougelasi did not linger in that world. Moving immediately, he pressed onward in the direction his intuition indicated. The sooner he found the culprit, the sooner he could stop him. Over the course of his journey, he passed several more worlds, all of them devastated just like the ones before. He accelerated continuously, pushing faster and faster. Finally, before a shattered world, he caught sight of the demon-fallen. The figure had just emerged from the ruin, cloaked in a crimson aura, bearing a twisted face that sent a chill down the spine. "Gesi!" Zhougelasi exclaimed in disbelief upon recognizing him. He knew Gesi, and he knew Gesi was a hero among the Mighty Ones. The man was openhearted and bold, clear-cut in his loves and hatreds. Though fiery-tempered at times and reckless in combat, at his core, he was a genuinely good person. "Heheheh..." Gesi naturally noticed Zhougelasi as well. He opened his mouth, letting out a low, guttural laugh as the crimson glow in his eyes flared brighter and brighter. The next instant, he appeared right before Zhougelasi and drove a fist toward the bridge of his nose. Yet Zhougelasi caught him by the hand in a flash and hurled him away with a flick of his wrist. Gesi's rule power was magic; in certain worlds, he could be called a God of Magic. Yet he was hardly a frail mage. He was a melee combat mage who channeled his magic entirely into reinforcing his physical form. While his body's durability couldn't rival Zhougelasi's, it was by no means lacking. That was precisely why Zhougelasi didn't dare hold onto Gesi for too long—Gesi was fully capable of severing his fingers to break free. "I'd hoped to resolve this on my own, but it looks like I need to call for backup." Zhougelasi had actually cheated a bit. His intuition had been enhanced, making it far stronger than Yu Xian's or Zhang Shou's. When picking directions earlier, he had deliberately chosen the path where his intuition suggested the killer would be. His original intention was to subdue the culprit himself so the others wouldn't have to take risks. He simply hadn't expected the killer to be Gesi. He certainly possessed the power to beat Gesi to death, but taking him alive was another matter entirely. His only choice was to signal for help and gather everyone to restrain Gesi together. Clenching his fist, he threw a punch straight behind him. His knuckles erupted with brilliant radiance, and under the effect of his enhanced power of time, countless beams of light instantly shot toward where Yu Xian and the others were. Just as he called for reinforcement, Gesi reappeared right before him and lashed out with a kick aimed squarely at his chest. Zhougelasi managed only to raise a palm in defense. In the next moment, his palm buckled inward under the impact, and a colossal surge of magic blasted through his entire body, sending him flying backward. "We're not done yet!" Gesi roared in a cracked, manic voice. Then he darted toward Zhougelasi, his body instantly swelling until he was roughly the giant's size, and drove a fist into Zhougelasi's abdomen. Magic was inherently an idealistic, mind-driven power. Though fallen to demons, Gesi was by no means an idiot. He knew full well that his small frame made it difficult to deal substantial damage to Zhougelasi, so he used magic to expand his physique. In truth, Zhougelasi had been holding back out of concern as well: when Gesi was small, he feared accidentally killing him. Now that Gesi had grown larger on his own accord, things became much simpler. As Gesi's fist barreled in, Zhougelasi seized Gesi's wrist directly, yanked him forward, and as Gesi lost his balance and stumbled, kicked him hard in the abdomen, sending him rocketing away. Meanwhile, upon receiving the signal, Yu Xian and the others rushed toward Zhougelasi's location. Yu Xian was the fastest. His sensory power extended forward continuously, his body flickering in rapid flashes—wherever his senses reached, he could teleport instantly. Just as Zhougelasi kicked Gesi flying, Yu Xian materialized nearby, catching the scene right in time. No guessing was needed to know that was the killer. Drawing his Golden-Hooped Rod, he flashed behind the culprit and brought the staff down hard against Gesi's back, batting him straight back toward Zhougelasi. It was worth noting that the Golden-Hooped Rod in Yu Xian's hands originated from Sun Shenhou of the Death Calamity Sea. Fused with numerous Sea-Calming Divine Needles, it was already an exceptional weapon in its own right. Yet its ability to withstand the power of Mighty Ones now was primarily because Yu Xian had infused the rod with the power of Grand Dao Myriad Phenomena. Seeing Gesi battered back toward him, Zhougelasi was not about to let the opportunity slip. He hammered another punch into Gesi's abdomen, causing Gesi to spew a mouthful of blood and fly backward once more. "Nice timing!" Yu Xian shouted, staff in hand, and swung another strike right at him. This time, however, Gesi was prepared. His body contorted into a maneuver hardly possible for an ordinary human. Twisting his limbs backward, he caught hold of Yu Xian's Golden-Hooped Rod and yanked with ferocious force, attempting to wrest it away. It was worth noting that because Gesi had grown in size, when Yu Xian wielded the Golden-Hooped Rod, the end he held remained standard size, but from the midpoint to the other end, it had lengthened and expanded. Its shape roughly resembled a baseball bat, allowing Gesi's enlarged palms to grip the far end perfectly. The trouble was, trying to snatch a weapon from Yu Xian's grasp was nothing short of a fool's dream. Instantly, the power of Grand Dao Myriad Phenomena formed countless golden blades that erupted from the rod's surface, spinning violently as they slashed at the hands gripping it. Formidable though Gesi's defenses were, the power of Grand Dao Myriad Phenomena was the power of rules and order—its attributes were absolute. In barely a second, Gesi felt a sharp, searing pain. He released his grip immediately, only to see several bloody lacerations etched into his palms. "Hmph, trying to steal the Golden-Hooped Rod from this Great Sage Salty Fish? You're still a bit green!" Yu Xian grinned smugly as he gripped the Golden-Hooped Rod and looked at Gesi, the golden hoop atop his head gleaming all the brighter. Meanwhile, the others arrived in succession, encircling Gesi on all sides.