Chapter 592: Fighting Rose Again

Chapter 592: Facing Rose Again

More than twenty days after leaving Mapleleaf City,

Li Wei returned once more to its gates.

Fortunately, during this time, the dark races from the Underworld had not launched a full-scale assault on the city.

For now, both sides remained locked in fierce combat over the Dragonfall Slope.

In their bid to establish a foothold there and open a bridgehead, the Underworld forces continued sending reinforcements through teleportation arrays.

The battle had already raged for nearly a month.

Unless some unforeseen change occurred, the stalemate would persist indefinitely, with neither side gaining clear victory—

until such time as the assembled armies of Mapleleaf could no longer withstand the relentless onslaught of the Underworld’s dark legions.

Though previously devastated by Li Wei's hand, the Underworld still possessed few troops to spare.

Yet they were, after all, adversaries of an entire world.

The Northern Mystery Kingdom struggled greatly in this war.

Orren led the charge at the frontlines while Otz scoured the rear for reinforcements.

Seeing that matters had yet to spiral beyond control,

Li Wei brought Gusewei back with him to the Mage Tower.

After all, her mere presence on the battlefield had been enough; others knew she, a legendary mage, stood beside them.

Unless the Underworld produced a powerhouse of similar caliber,

there was no need for Gusewei herself to intervene.

“I’ll be entering seclusion for a while,” Li Wei told her. “Don’t let anyone disturb me unless it’s urgent.”

Gusewei nodded gently. “Understood.”

She asked curiously, “Where did you go?”

“I went looking for Saint Xi,” he replied. “He remains within Haeyuan City in the Endless Sea, undergoing inheritance trials and has not awakened yet—I came back first.”

He said nothing of the Godspawn.

Better not to burden her with worry.

“I see,” she said softly. “Go ahead and enter seclusion. I’ll keep watch over things here. Nothing will happen.”

Li Wei nodded gratefully before turning away.

He secluded himself on the seventh floor of the Mage Tower, meditating deeply upon the Laws.

For the foreseeable future, he wouldn't leave Mapleleaf again—not until he dealt another crushing blow to those dark denizens below. Only then could he rest easy.

Already, Li Wei had gained partial insights into both the Primary Natural Law and the Primary Law of Strength.

All that remained was to deepen his understanding of these cosmic principles so as to perfect the two forms of law-based power.

Of the two, the Law of Strength bore fewer gaps.

Thus, Li Wei chose to focus first on refining it—an endeavor requiring immense time.

To save precious moments, he utilized the sixty-fourfold temporal acceleration offered by the Dream World.

Before achieving complete comprehension, each attempt yielded only fleeting fragments of inspiration.

Only when those sparks were seized and fully grasped could they transform into true insight into the Laws themselves—a process demanding vast stretches of time.

In what seemed like the blink of an eye, ten days passed in the real world since Li Wei’s return.

But inside the Dream World, six hundred and forty days had elapsed.

His grasp of the Law of Strength showed modest progress:

[Primary Law of Strength (Incomplete)] 3120 / 10000

At this pace—and without the Dream World’s accelerated flow—

it would take Li Wei roughly fifteen years to fully comprehend even this incomplete version of the Law.

That was already considered fast.

Without the Proficiency Panel, the journey would have taken far longer.

Many half-gods who reached the pinnacle of mortal cultivation spent centuries, even lifetimes, contemplating the cosmic laws—

often reaping little reward.

Worse still, some who finally achieved full mastery discovered their chosen path led nowhere.

A cruel fate indeed.

Not every aspect of the cosmic laws could coalesce into a divine core.

Most major domains had long been claimed by the gods themselves.

Those authorities were never shared with latecomers.

New aspirants had to seek out lesser-known or unclaimed aspects of the Laws if they wished to forge their own divine cores and ascend to godhood.

During meditation, faint inklings often surfaced.

Those stubborn enough to push forward did so either because they had no other choice…

or because they intended to settle for lower-tier manifestations beneath the grander dominions.

The Beast God’s domain—the Law of Strength—was among the most common paths.

When his divine core shattered, the gods devoured its fragments.

They acquired authority over the Law of Strength—but due to the fractured nature of the original core, their hold on it remained imperfect.

Unless someone could master the complete Law of Strength,

they could never reclaim all scattered pieces nor wrest control from the hands of others.

This meant Li Wei might one day form a divine core wielding the Law of Strength—but only an incomplete one.

And precisely because the authority was fragmented,

and further portions lay scattered among various deities,

strengthening this particular domain proved far more arduous than pursuing untouched ones.

It was akin to forcing the gods to regurgitate what they had already swallowed.

No longer merely snatching food from a bowl—it demanded beating them until they spat it back up.

Needless to say, the gods would never allow such a thing willingly.

If Li Wei desired full mastery over the Law of Strength,

he would practically need to openly challenge and declare war against the pantheon itself.

Having learned from the Sacred Dragon King that the gods may already be suppressing native divinities of the Celestial Vault World,

whether he formally declared war mattered little anymore.

The gods had long since become their enemies.

Fortunately, the gods still commanded a vast following in the Celestial World, still revered by its creatures as true deities.

All living beings within the Celestial World were blinded by the gods.

Utterly unaware of the gods’ true intentions.

In Levi’s speculation—

The gods’ extermination of the native divine beings of the Celestial World could only mean one thing at best: that they sought to seize complete dominion over the laws governing this world.

They would not allow any indigenous gods to wield authority over the Celestial World’s fundamental principles.

Their purpose was simply to claim the Celestial World for themselves.

To rule it entirely.

If that were indeed the case, then for the common folk, there would be little immediate impact.

Only those among the Celestial World’s inhabitants who had the potential to ascend to godhood would suffer.

For if the gods ruled the Celestial World, no new gods could ever rise again from within.

That was the most optimistic assumption.

Levi harbored even darker suspicions in his heart.

Suspicions so dire he dared not even voice them to the Sacred Dragon King.

If things truly unfolded as he feared, then when the Goddess of Magic perished, it would mark the end of the Celestial World itself.

During his spare moments contemplating the elementary laws of power, Levi pondered the motives behind the gods’ annihilation of the native divinities.

Suddenly, he sensed someone calling out to him from beyond.

He quickly exited the dream realm.

With the gaze of his Divine Power Eye piercing through all barriers, he beheld a scene tens of thousands of meters away.

The secret realm of Fallen Dragon Slope had fully opened, and countless soldiers of dark races poured forth in swarms.

On the side of Mapleleaf City, the human armies were retreating in disarray, abandoning armor and weapons.

The cause of this catastrophe was a figure standing tall in the sky.

The moment their eyes met, she spotted him.

Roswitha, clad in a violet-black queen’s robe, locked eyes with Levi and pinpointed his location.

The corners of her purple lips curved upward into a smile. “Finally found you.”

Upon seeing Roswitha, Levi was startled.

First came disbelief.

She actually dared to venture into the Underworld.

But soon, he realized something.

The Roswitha before him was not her true form.

Nor was it a body forged from divine essence.

Rather, she had chosen a mortal vessel—a divine inheritor—through whom her power descended, allowing her to act with minimal restraint from the laws of the Material Plane.

Had she not been searching for Levi from the start, she would have already annihilated the human army before her.

Aside from a single legendary mage who posed a negligible threat, the rest were mere insects in her eyes, unworthy of notice.

Levi teleported, appearing directly before Roswitha.

Buzz!

Both figures vanished in an instant.

Roswitha glanced around and her expression turned knowing.

Levi had transported them both to the Astral Plane to prevent collateral damage to Mapleleaf City.

Roswitha offered no resistance.

Last time, during their battle, the shockwaves alone had gravely wounded the entire dark race army, enraging her immensely.

It had severely delayed her invasion of the Material Plane.

Thus, when Levi took her away this time, she did not resist.

She looked at Levi and said, “Human, I didn’t expect you to dare face me alone again.”

Levi chuckled lightly. “Last time, I didn’t come out worse for wear.”

A flicker of anger appeared in Roswitha’s eyes. The corner of her mouth curled. “This time, it might not be so easy.”

Buzz!

The laws of heaven and earth trembled.

In an instant, Levi felt as though the entire Astral Plane had transformed into a colossal web.

And Roswitha was the deadly predator lurking within.

Zzzzt!

Levi felt his divine power rapidly draining.

Looking down, he saw several black marks appearing on his body.

Like scars left behind after being tightly bound by something.

“Poison?”

This time, her divine web carried venom—poison potent enough to harm even a divine body.

It must have been a toxin operating on the level of law itself.

Levi could already sense the sluggish flow of his divine energy.

“What a troublesome thing.”

Fortunately, he had learned from the Sacred Dragon King how to harness the power of divine shard fragments.

Roswitha seemed wary of the technique Levi had used last time—the Divine Sun.

She kept her distance, hoping to kill him with the poison woven into her web.

The Divine Sun couldn’t destroy her law-based web—but it could obliterate her descended avatar.

If that avatar were destroyed, she would lose.

It was the same situation as before.

Her true self wasn’t present. If her divine projection were shattered by the sun’s radiance, Roswitha would be defeated once more.

The web of laws thus crumbled without even being attacked.

Hunting prey, watching them struggle within the web of laws until their strength was exhausted and they awaited death.

This was Rose's greatest expertise.

Only this time, the prey had revealed some unexpected means.

A golden beam of tremendous destructive power shot from Li Wei's hand, tearing apart the surrounding web of laws.

Immediately following, another dragon-light of destruction was fired at Rose.

Rose hastily erected several layers of law-webs before her to block the attack.

She stared at what Li Wei held in his hand. Though she couldn't see it clearly, that fluctuation... there was no mistaking it—it was definitely the power of law!

Rose's heart wavered between gloom and light.

How could this human demigod have grasped the power of law so quickly?

Wait? Something wasn't right. That aura of law power didn't emanate from the human demigod himself.

It came from what he held in his hand.

What did he have?

While dodging Li Wei's attacks, Rose launched her own assaults, all while observing what he carried.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Dragon-lights of destruction scattered chaotically through the Astral Realm.

Rose evaded one beam of destructive light, but behind her, an asteroid with a diameter of a hundred kilometers was struck and instantly exploded into countless tiny fragments.

At last, she saw clearly what Li Wei held in his hand.

A trace of joy appeared in Rose's eyes. "A fragment of a divine core!"

"You're truly fortunate! To actually obtain a shard of a divine core containing complete law power."

"Just a fragment can possess an entire law—this divine core must have come from a high god."

Unconsciously, Rose licked her lips, revealing a look of yearning.

If she could devour a divine core fragment left by a high god, her strength would increase dramatically.

Then those gods of the Underworld would be no match for her.

She could hunt other gods of the Underworld to grow stronger still.

Or perhaps, completely dominate the entire Underworld.

"Human, give me the divine core fragment in your hand, and I'll abandon my invasion of the main plane," Rose called out loudly.

Li Wei sneered coldly. "Have you lost your mind?"

He ignored Rose, pouring more divine power into the divine core fragment.

Consuming ten streams of divine power.

The divine core fragment blazed with astonishing radiance.

Roar!

A golden dragon emerged from the divine core fragment, charging toward Rose to rend her apart.

Seeing the golden dragon, Rose's expression turned to shock.

"This is..."

She seemed to recall something.

In the Underworld, Rose had also heard of the Dragon God's fall.

Never would she have expected that a fragment of the Dragon God's divine core would fall into human hands.

The Dragon God was undoubtedly a high god of the Celestial World.

Infinitely more powerful than herself, a lesser deity.

Boom!

Rose's figure was swallowed by the golden dragon, vanishing within the Astral Realm.

Her final voice drifted to Li Wei's ears.

"Human, you've truly angered me."

The voice gradually faded, eventually disappearing entirely.

Li Wei gripped the Dragon God's divine core fragment, his expression slightly grave.

What worried him wasn't Rose, but the gods.

The gods watched over the Celestial World.

His use of the Dragon God's divine core fragment in the Astral Realm might also draw the gods' attention.

After waiting for a moment, nothing happened.

Li Wei carefully stored away the Dragon God's divine core fragment and teleported back to Maple Leaf City.

Returning to Maple Leaf City,

he saw the dark race army retreating.

Having been defeated by Li Wei, without divine backing,

the dark race army was utterly insignificant before him.

Besides retreat, they had no other choice.

Li Wei gazed at the massive spatial rift above Dragonfall Slope.

It seemed as though a figure on the other side was also watching this way.

Rose's true body lay on the other side.

However, she dared not cross over.

Nor did Li Wei dare to go there.

Wielding the Dragon God's divine core fragment to fight Rose's avatar was manageable.

But to truly engage Rose's main body in combat—he might not necessarily win.

Primarily because the method of using the power within the divine core fragment was too singular.

The power within the Dragon God's divine core fragment focused entirely on destructive force, possessing not the slightest defensive capability.

Li Wei had no means whatsoever to withstand Rose's attacks, naturally he wouldn't risk venturing into the Underworld.

Both sides remained vigilant across the spatial rift until the dark race army completely withdrew.

(End of Chapter)