Chapter 2313. Universe

King Elbas experienced countless emotions while inspecting the bright circle. He felt unable to speak as curiosity, admiration, respect, and pure amazement ran through his mind and forced him to stay still.

The bright circle was far from complicated, at least when it came to its core. Its nature was extremely simple to deduce for an inscription master who knew what Heaven and Earth had created in the sky. Still, that didn't make the item less astonishing.

Divine Architect had created a telescope that could gaze at the Immortal Lands when she was only a heroic cultivator. Now, she stood at the peak of the cultivation journey, and she had spent most of her life submerged in Heaven and Earth's wealth. Her evolution felt unavoidable.

The bright circle replicated the telescope's ability while adding a portal to its functions. The item created a connection with the depths of the universe to bring superior energy into the higher plane.

King Elbas could sense an energy that couldn't belong to the ninth rank crossing the edges of the higher plane to enter the final battlefield. Deep meanings that only the universe could hide seeped through the blinding portal and leaked part of their power into their surroundings.

Heaven and Earth had created an area that allowed their assets to gaze at the paths beyond the ninth rank. However, Divine Architect had gone past that. She had built something that could bring that superior energy within her reach.

Of course, Divine Architect had clear limits that King Elbas had called out as soon as he understood the nature of the technique. She couldn't possibly hope to control that superior energy. She couldn't even pick the meanings that entered the higher plane.

That gave birth to uneven and messy energy. Multiple natures and waves filled the power seeping through the portals, and some of them were weak enough for King Elbas' mind. He could finally study something and discover far more details.

"That's not even an attack," King Elbas stated.

"Energy is energy," Divine Architect contradicted. "If it kills, it's an attack."

King Elbas understood that Divine Architect wasn't holding anything back. She wouldn't explain the theory behind her technique, but she wouldn't hide what it caused.

Divine Architect's offensive became clear in King Elbas' mind. She was merely summoning the universe's energy to unleash it on King Elbas.

That simple approach didn't take anything away from Divine Architect's fantastic performance. King Elbas actually had to admit that she couldn't do anything else with that energy. That was the maximum expression of Divine Architect's power, and no rank 9 expert could hope to fight her.

"Don't give up already," Divine Architect ordered as the circle spun even faster and started to enforce some order on the superior force. "It would be a waste if I destroyed everything about you."

The portal wasn't trying to affect the superior force. Divine Architect was simply creating a momentum that the deeper meanings could follow. That was the only available path to bend the universe's power to her will.

The item's spinning motion reached the critical point when the colorless force in its insides flowed toward its center. King Elbas watched all of that happen in slow motion due to his incredible concentration, but his instincts eventually snapped him out of his stunned state.

A violent reaction happened when the superior force gathered at the center of the portal. The different types of energy that made that power couldn't coexist, so their clash generated a colorless explosion.

Divine Architect had already pointed the portal toward King Elbas, so most of the energy generated during the explosion flew in his direction. Some flares escaped in the void, but an impressive ray still approached King Elbas at high speed.

Dodging the attack was simply impossible. The lack of harmony in the colorless ray lowered its overall power, but it didn't make it fall in the ninth rank.

King Elbas was against a proper river that carried rank 10 energy. His death seemed unavoidable, but he wasn't a regular expert. Desperation tried to take control of his mind, but that feeling couldn't find a place among his countless plans.

The colorless ray enveloped King Elbas and continued to fly through the higher plane. However, its innate instability made it split into multiple waves of energy that dispersed into the void.

That behavior was predictable. That energy was too deep for the higher plane, so it flew toward a space-time array that could contain it after losing the momentum created by the blinding portal.

"Impressive," Divine Architect commented before a burst of golden energy expanded from King Elbas' spot.

The golden halo dimmed in the next seconds and revealed King Elbas' maimed figure. He had entered the fake quasi-rank 10 state again and had even donned his incredible items, but all of them had suffered severe damage.

The robe had almost disappeared. Golden flames had replaced its edges, but smoke came out of them due to the damage suffered by the final energy.

The spear was also broken. Its tip had disappeared, leaving only a shaft that released dark smoke. A few flames tried to come out of that maimed spot, but they appeared unable to express their power.

A deep crack ran through the crown, and half of it fell from King Elbas' head before shattering into golden dust. King Elbas couldn't recover that energy since the attack had removed any connection with his power.

The hydra's nine heads had come out of King Elbas' back, but the attack had turned them into severed necks. Pillars of dense dark smoke left the many injuries on their surface, and life abandoned them in the seconds after the clash.

King Elbas' main figure was mostly intact, but his surfaces flickered, revealing the severe injuries hidden underneath. He was only pretending to be okay, and Divine Architect saw right through that. Yet, she didn't care enough to address the matter.

"You are such a waste," Divine Architect sighed. "You probably are the only expert in your organization with the knowledge to block my attack."

"You underestimate my organization too much," King Elbas snorted before coughing and spitting golden lumps of flames.

"No one else could have exploited the strands of weaker energy to destabilize my attack," Divine Architect doubled down on her previous statement. "Still, the effort left you barely able to stand. The next blow will kill you."

Divine Architect ignored King Elbas and began to add energy to her portal. She needed to fuel the ability again, and the price was exorbitant. Yet, she didn't lack resources nor minded that expense.

King Elbas felt incredibly weak. The last attack had forced him to use the fake quasi-rank 10 state way too soon. His world was suffering greatly, and that sacrifice wasn't paying off.

"This is so annoying," King Elbas cursed.

"Are you having regrets now?" Divine Architect wondered while her attention remained on the spinning item. "That's quite unbecoming. I guess even you can't remain cool in the face of death".

"Heaven and Earth will know all our trump cards," King Elbas cursed again. "So annoying."

"Please," Divine Architect commented. "I know the limits of your final energy now. I'm also aware of every existing inscription field. You don't have anything left."

"You lack flexibility," King Elbas coughed. "Your flaw prevents you from considering the existence of miracles."