Chapter 788 - 788: 737 Terminus IV

"You've unlocked the secret within your body!!?" Ditpar's voice sounded simultaneously, laced with disbelief and shock.

"How's my acting? Does it look real?" Long laughed.

He stood before the White Tower, with the others lying on the ground, unable to move.

To resist the explosion of half his body just now, La and the others exerted every ounce of their strength. With their meager abilities further depleted, they were powerless to struggle, only able to watch wide-eyed at the sudden turn of events.

"Secret lock? That thing was unlocked many years ago. The computational peak of the Spirit Eye Race is indeed impressive and hard to crack." Long's expression returned to calmness, a stark contrast to his previous exaggeration.

"But who made me idle without tasks every day? I let most of my body's mental processes focus on it for three hundred years. This secret lock held me for three hundred years, a fitting use."

At that moment, rain poured down, Long held the key in hand, with no more obstacles around.

The purple light on his body was gradually suppressed by the golden light, getting darker and smaller.

"Your performance entertained me greatly." Long smiled contentedly and stepped towards the White Tower.

"Thank you for your contributions; I am truly happy."

He raised the key, hanging it before him.

"Now….. it's time to say goodbye."

Swoosh.

In an instant, his palm left a trail as he pressed the key onto the White Tower.

Click.

A crisp sound echoed.

The White Tower finally activated, glowing with brilliant purple light.

The purple beam condensed for a second, then shot upwards, piercing the sky and breaking through the clouds straight towards the White Pupil.

The dark clouds were pierced, revealing dazzling beams of sunlight.

A purple cylindrical beam surged upwards, shooting towards the sky, like a straight pathway piercing the celestial veil.

Countless intricate glyphs and circuits slowly emerged, rotating around the beam.

In the air, noise spread like countless birds squawking.

"Homeland... my homeland...!" Long's brow had a vertical eye that slowly shed a drop of golden tear.

He watched the purple beam with anticipation, stepping towards it.

Pop.

His body was fully immersed in the light, beginning to teleport.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds...

No movement at all.

The emotion and smile on Long's face froze immediately.

He quickly surveyed his surroundings to determine what went wrong. Despite the distinct resplendence of the purple light around him, he couldn't sense any energy radiation.

"What... is this!!?"

"This is divine retribution." Ditpar's weak voice echoed again.

Suddenly, everything around Long plunged into darkness.

All light, all people, the activated White Tower, the long-range passage, everything vanished completely at that moment.

He still stood before the White Tower, which hadn't been activated, and Ditpar remained standing in the back, motionless, his body gradually becoming translucent.

"Illusion!!?" Long instantly realized. An illusion that even he couldn't discern!?

"Who!!?" Shaken to the core, he raised his hand, checking to see the key had vanished.

"Key! My key!!?"

The dream he pursued for hundreds of thousands of years was right in front of him, within reach, but... just a little! Just a little!!

"Here." Suddenly a familiar voice came from behind.

Long followed the voice, his brow's vertical eye abruptly narrowed.

He saw the key, lightly grasped in a fair hand.

And that hand's owner...

"The key is with me." The person's eyes were pitch black, hair as long as waist, a robust frame draped in a heavy blood-red cloak, a corner of which fluttered in the wind.

The rain dared not approach his body, only thrummed around him, singing its accompaniment.

"Two hundred years no see." Zhang Rongfang lifted the key, his lips slightly curled.

"Long...."

"You've grown weaker...."

Before his voice finished, his figure vanished from where he stood.

The wind aided him, the rain concealed him, the earth protected him.

For an instant, time seemed frozen at that moment.

Long swiftly raised his hand, swung his sword.

Golden sword scars immediately enveloped the surrounding space in full three hundred sixty degrees.

The Atomic Sequence Sword spurred three sudden bursts.

Brilliant golden sword scars wrapped him into a golden sphere, everything touching the golden light was instantly decomposed into atomic particles, incapable of forming even basic structures.

"Sword Three, Space Roar!!"

Long roared. Upon seeing the Blood King, he understood his true nemesis had finally appeared.

Two hundred years ago, the Blood King couldn't be killed; now, two hundred years later, his growth remains a mystery.

The illusion just experienced already made Long genuinely feel fear and trouble.

If that illusion really was the Blood King....

Bang!!

A thunderous explosion suddenly erupted.

The sky abruptly darkened, fierce winds rose, tearing the clouds into a massive hole.

A blood-red arm at least dozens of kilometers long descended from heaven, engulfed in flames, crashed heavily.

The arm's impact location precisely targeted Long's position.

Without straying, hitting dead center.

At the instant of impact, the arm transformed from palm to finger.

The fingertip lightly pressed the impending golden sword scar sphere.

In an abrupt moment, everything paused, time and space seemingly congealed, finger and gold sphere both ceased movement simultaneously.

A moment later.

Click, a crisp sound as if resonating from the soul.

Followed by a thunderous roar, completely bursting.

Before the golden light exploded, it was pierced by the fingertip, dimmed, and dispersed.

Long didn't even grunt before being pressed and dissolved by the immense finger.

The others present didn't even feel the residual waves before everything was over.

"Blood King... when did he!?" Ounan's chest was full of blood as he slowly sat up from the ground.

These emotions fluctuated too much. Earlier, he thought it was all over, but then an original consciousness emerged, and the Secret Keeper brought people to save the day.

The original consciousness couldn't be suppressed, thinking it was over, but it was all an illusion?

And now...

"This time, it surely can't be an illusion... right!?" He gritted his teeth, enduring the injuries, staring wide-eyed at the scene before him.

"It's not an illusion....." La slowly floated up, watching the scene before them in shock. "It's the Entering the Microcosm Martial Arts Realm!"

"After two hundred years, the Blood King has reached the same level as Long!!"

Entering the Microcosm was a term that circulated when the Blood King and Long had their showdown.

Despite countless people trying to explore the Entering the Microcosm Realm, no one had truly stepped into it.

Some indeed came close, touching the Entering the Microcosm Realm, but Long's power wasn't solely due to Entering the Microcosm.

At this moment, the Three Evil Kings were the first to recover from their shock.

"The Blood King and Long's power is too high; we can't stay in place. Their battle extends too widely; we must relocate immediately! Otherwise, we'll all die!"

"At this point, if the Blood King loses, we'll die anyway. I don't want to leave; I'll stay here to see the final outcome!" Ming said through gritted teeth, his whole body mostly destroyed in the earlier explosion, leaving only a sparse few remaining within him.

"Same here, even if I die, I want to understand why!" Ladi Lan looked calm, showing no intention to leave.

On the other side, the Secret Keeper's group surrounded the reappeared Di Pa, watching everything before them.

"Master, who will win between Long and the Blood King? Can you tell?" Sol asked in a deep voice.

The gigantic arm descending from the sky was impressive, yet Long had abilities that were absolutely terrifying and untouchable.

They didn't believe that just this one moment would completely kill Long.

Di Pa gazed at the front of the white tower, at the place where the giant hand pressed down. That was the location where Long was.

"I cannot predict."

He replied softly.

"But if there's anyone in this world who can truly defeat Long, there is only one person."

He paused, his gaze shifting to Zhang Rongfang.

"And that is him!"

At this moment, the giant hand slowly faded away, dissipating as if it were all an illusion.

Where Long was, countless fine golden particles began to reconvene.

These particles gathered very slowly, very slowly. It took several seconds for them to gradually form the outline of Long's original body.

"Entering the Microcosm.... you've finally reached this step...." He raised his head to look at Zhang Rongfang.

The earlier strike had indeed inflicted upon him considerable damage. And quite an unexpected one.

"Yes." Zhang Rongfang nodded, "Although it's just a recent entry, it's enough to deal with you."

"Enough?" Long laughed again. "At the mere molecular level of Entering the Microcosm, who do you think you are?? The grand elder of old!? Had I not been caught off guard, you wouldn't even be able to touch me!!"

"Is that so?"

Zhang Rongfang's figure suddenly vanished, his voice hanging in the air as his palm had already grabbed Long's shoulder.

The twelve Immortal Techniques' lotus platform suddenly unfolded.

The surrounding space instantly stagnated, the mind illusion affecting the soul was relaunched, a spiritual magic Zhang Rongfang acquired by amalgamating powers from the Heart Demon, demon lords, etc.

From the previous battle, he discovered Long's weak point was his consciousness, spirit, and soul.

The Ghost Palace in those years could somewhat affect him, and now he condensed numerous mental abilities to create illusionary techniques sufficient to completely overwhelm the opponent.

The earlier attempt had indeed proved extremely effective.

The ground rumbled, the entire land swiftly turning dark red.

A crack opened beneath Zhang Rongfang and Long, and from within, a black-red lotus platform burst forth.

At the center of the lotus platform, a blood-red maw full of sharp teeth opened wide.

Poof!!

In an instant, the maw devoured Long whole.

And at this moment, Long was still trapped in the illusion, unable to break free.

Crunch.

Flesh and bone were chewed and ground, everything quietening completely.

Long's figure vanished entirely, no trace left behind.

"Won... won?! Just like that?!" La looked around, somewhat incredulous.

Long, who had troubled them for hundreds of years, was resolved this simply??

"He's been thoroughly chewed up! Dead beyond dead! It's over.... it's all over!" Fen exclaimed.

"Indeed.... it should all be over now...." Just as her voice fell.

Long's voice once again echoed around them like thunder.

"At this stage, flesh is no longer important."

Countless golden dots began to reassemble before Zhang Rongfang, forming the semi-transparent figure of Long.

"Blood King." A golden vertical pupil split open on his forehead, fixing on Zhang Rongfang.

"Your realm is clearly far inferior to mine, yet your power is too abundant, too strong. To fight me to this level, even I did not anticipate at first."

"Existing purely as a soul in reality?" Zhang Rongfang's expression gradually turned solemn.

Even with his massive spiritual power at this moment, he couldn't condense a physical entity in reality.

Yet the opponent could do it.

Vaguely, he felt that the current Long was even more formidable than when he had a physical body before.

"A physical body is a shackle. I have one sword, a Heart Sword, capable of severing all things, severing the source of all hearts."

A peculiar gray sword formed once more in Long's hand.

Countless golden lights rapidly converged on the blade, glowing brightly.

At that moment, Long's lips moved slightly as if he were saying something. But except for Zhang Rongfang, no one could hear the content of his words.

With just a short sentence, in a fleeting instant, Zhang Rongfang's previously solemn face suddenly showed a moment of daze, distracted for an instant.

"Atomic Sword Ten." Long raised the longsword high. "No one can stop my will to return."

His vertical pupil remained fixed on Zhang Rongfang, seizing this moment.

"Infinite.... Golden Seal!!"

Boom!!

In an instant, his entire body shattered, transforming into countless golden light points and golden particles.

All the particles rapidly decomposed and fragmented into molecules and atoms, with each atom's surface manifesting Long's golden visage.

They scattered and shot forth, resembling countless longswords, drawing numerous golden threads that surrounded Zhang Rongfang, quickly forming a massive golden mark.

It looked like a golden, rectangular seal descending from the sky, right onto Zhang Rongfang's position.

The imprint formed a huge pattern resembling the character 'Gold' ('金').