White-haired with black eyes, a stern expression, and clad in a grey suit, this was the strongest being in the ninth game world.
He was also the man who had conquered the entire world and established its unique system of transcendence.
This was Chen Luo's first formal meeting with Long Jiu.
At this moment, Long Jiu was devoid of the arrogance he had declared to the world in his youth as seen in video recordings, nor the fervor he displayed when promoting evolution in his middle age on the promotional screens of New City.
He appeared surprisingly ordinary, like any middle-aged man one might encounter.
But,
"Long Jiu!!!"
With a roar, Chen Luo's figure flashed, leaping to the highest point outside the cube. Gazing at Long Jiu, who was within arm's reach, Chen Luo's eyes were almost overflowing with rage!
The long corridor flashed through his mind, the lifeless bodies, the grotesquely deformed corpses.
Fire burned within Chen Luo's heart!
"Die!!!"
In a fraction of a millisecond, Chen Luo's fists condensed power far exceeding his previous attacks!
Under the immense pressure of his aura, the River of Void within a radius of ten thousand zhang seemed to descend slightly!
His fist traced a pitch-black trajectory!
This was space being annihilated into nothingness by the might of his punch!
"Domain Skill! Great Desolation Starfall!!"
This punch, imbued with Chen Luo's myriad strengths, reached a peak in both power and speed!
A single strike was enough to shatter stars!
Yet, in Long Jiu's eyes, Chen Luo's punch was not insurmountable!
A flicker of faint light flashed in the eyes of this seemingly ordinary middle-aged man!
"Sorry! I cannot die yet!!" Long Jiu, standing tall outside the cube, turned abruptly.
Facing an attack far surpassing that of an Apostle, he showed no intention of fleeing! Instead, he met it head-on!
His originally ordinary human body transformed abruptly!
His flesh and suit dissolved into flowing metallic liquid, and in an instant, a exquisitely bright white battle armor, the size of a normal person, appeared before Chen Luo!
At first glance, this battle armor resembled Long Jiu's cybernetic, mechanized form.
Behind him, three continuously rotating mechanical rings quietly floated.
At this moment, Long Jiu, transformed into battle armor, was the most diminutive battle armor Chen Luo had ever seen. However, from him, Chen Luo perceived a sense of familiarity, a divine aura!
This battle armor, like a divine incarnation, neither dodged nor evaded. The golden and silver radiance around it transformed into countless circuit diagrams.
As the circuit diagrams flashed wildly, terrifying power also condensed onto the battle armor's fist!
"Soul Skill! Genesis!!!"
Fist against fist!
Human body against battle armor!
Pitch-black void against golden and silver radiance!
At this moment, they collided without reservation!
BOOM!!!!!!!
An indescribably terrifying explosion detonated within the River of Void!
The impact! Endless shockwaves even caused the River of Void to form a massive indentation! Beyond that indentation, a void of absolute emptiness could be vaguely seen!
No further words were needed; from the moment they met, both knew that after this battle, only one would return alive!
The fist of flesh and the fist of silver-white metal pressed against each other with all their might! The two figures hung suspended above the indentation in the River of Void!
Terrifying shockwaves radiated outwards from their collision, layer by layer!
The cube, and indeed the entire ninth game world, was being pushed back and compressed by this impact!
Since arriving in the game world, Chen Luo, who had been suppressed, now felt as if he were expelling all the pent-up frustration from his heart, shouting madly:
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!"
In the previously evenly matched collision, a golden-red hue erupted from the void-blackness representing Chen Luo!
The balance was broken! The seemingly fragile fist of flesh, inch by inch, pushed against the cracking battle armor arm, gradually pressing towards Long Jiu!
In Chen Luo's eyes, the light grew increasingly intense!
The power of his vital energy and starlight surged within his body at an unprecedented frequency!
"Break!!!"
CRACK!!
The miraculous battle armor arm, amidst Chen Luo's furious roar, completely shattered into countless fragments. Chen Luo's momentum did not diminish, his powerful fist hurtling towards the battle armor's head!
At the critical moment, Long Jiu's remaining arm hastily blocked the attack!
But it was useless!
CRACK!!!
The arm shattered even faster than the previous one. As the arm exploded, Chen Luo's fist landed squarely on Long Jiu's head!
"Die!!!"
BOOM!!!
With a deafening roar, the battle armor's head was blown apart! The terrifying impact sent the remaining battle armor fragments flying like cannonballs.
CRASH!
The flying remnants struck the outer wall of the cube, causing massive, spiderweb-like cracks to spread from the point of impact!
Chen Luo had no intention of wasting time. His figure flashed again, and he was already beside the fragments embedded in the cube!
His golden-red fist was raised high once more, and in the next moment, Chen Luo was about to grind these remnants to dust!
But!
In a moment of transition, as if appearing from nothingness, a silver-white fist met Chen Luo's attack head-on once more!
The battle armor remnants, having lost both arms and its head, had somehow completely recovered!
No, it had become even stronger!
CRUNCH! The silver-white fist, after this instant collision with Chen Luo, instead sent Chen Luo flying!
The corner of the silver-white battle armor cracked slightly, revealing sharp teeth like those of a beast, but these teeth gleamed with the cold light unique to metal!
BOOM! The massive cube trembled violently, and in the next moment, the silver-white battle armor pursued the repelled Chen Luo!
In an instant! A terrifying battle of the highest caliber unfolded on the River of Void!
Every second saw millions of collisions!
The continuous shockwaves caused the section of the River of Void to vibrate!
And beyond the ninth world, far away, the milky-white barrier of the Great Source began to shake from the residual impact of the battle!
"Hahaha! Outsider! Behold! This glorious evolution!!"
Chen Luo shattered the silver-white arm with another punch, but before his fist could strike the battle armor's body, the shattered silver-white fist had already completed its repair and reinforcement!
A stronger iron fist directly met Chen Luo's punch!
SCREECH!
The metal fist finally triumphed over the fist of flesh for the first time!
A large gash appeared on the edge of Chen Luo's fist!
Drops of golden-red blood, shimmering with an immortal hue, slowly dripped from the wound.
Each drop of blood, upon falling into the River of Void, caused a significant ripple!
The battle armor stood tall above the River of Void, looking down upon its injured opponent with the stance of a victor:
"Outsider! I have ascended to godhood! How dare you oppose me?!"
Chen Luo flicked his wounded arm, and the power of his vital energy instantly healed the wound. He frowned, looking at his enemy, whose demeanor had drastically changed in the sky:
"God?"