Chapter 684 - 27: Unmatched

But what they faced was Su Zhou, drawing his blade from his Personal Space in a single, backhanded slash.

Instantly, the silver stars filling the sky turned to ash and fell. They were the ’little Shapeless,’ each one charred black and mostly reduced to cinders, yet still squirming relentlessly.

He stomped, crushing a squirming little Shapeless to dust. Su Zhou scanned his surroundings with a cold gaze, but he still couldn’t see any sign of the Deep Space Caller.

But its Soul Communication came from all directions, darting left and right.

"Su Zhou?"

"The youngest and most powerful Cultivator of the New Era on Earth."

"You gained everyone’s attention so easily. I really envy you. But I can sense your heart. You’re just like me—a Madman who couldn’t care less about the opinions of ordinary people. We’re so similar. And yet, you chose to side with the authorities. How strange."

"I was originally thinking about finding a chance to devour you and take your identity. That way, I could enjoy the attention and praise of countless people."

"I never expected that someone like you, with so many fans and followers, would actually come to this desolate Moon. Haha! Here, I’ll eat you, kill the others, and then the Deep Space Caller can die. I will become you!"

The Deep Space Caller’s Soul Communication was erratic. At one moment, its Source was two hundred meters underground to the left; the next, it was on the surface three kilometers ahead. Its words carried a strange power that could bewitch the mind and disrupt one’s thoughts.

But Su Zhou paid it no mind. Since the enemy’s location couldn’t be determined, he would just destroy everything. He gripped the Divine Blade and strode forward. In an instant, Su Zhou had obliterated more than eight of the Deep Space Caller’s Soul Communication Sources. Terrifying heat radiated outward, turning the ground into a Molten Rock Pool.

It was clear that a Shapeless of varying size was lurking at the location of each Source. It was these Shapeless that were emitting the Soul Communication to interfere with Su Zhou.

"You can’t kill me. I have an Immortal Body."

But even after so many Shapeless had been killed, the Deep Space Caller’s voice continued to echo. Its tone held a trace of lingering fear and greed. "I thought dealing with an ordinary Commander Tier wouldn’t take much effort. I never imagined you were a ’Monster’ too... How strange. Why do you obey the authorities? You clearly have enough power to overthrow the entire world!"

"But soon, that power will be mine! My little darlings will..."

Su Zhou had already unilaterally blocked the Deep Space Caller’s Soul Communication, though of course, it didn’t know that. The young man’s body had already split into dozens of afterimages as he unleashed over a hundred slashes in a single instant, striking every spot underground where he sensed a Spiritual Power reaction.

For a moment, it was as if a series of explosions had gone off simultaneously across a three-kilometer radius. Countless tons of Moon Rock were pulverized by the immense force, kicking up clouds of dust. Within this area, a hole was torn in the Moon’s crust, and over a hundred Indeterminate Walkers of various sizes were annihilated by Su Zhou.

But the Deep Space Caller was still not dead. Although Su Zhou couldn’t hear what it was saying, he knew it was still yapping on, which made him frown.

CRACK— Without a word, Su Zhou landed. With a backhand motion, he plunged the Blade of Annihilation into the ground. Golden-red patterns began to spread out in all directions with the blade as their center. The next moment, the ground started to crack. Gusts of turbulent, golden magma and hot wind erupted from the fissures, sweeping across an area several kilometers wide. In this zone, rock melted and lava boiled. The scorching wind stirred up by the superheated rock gas even created a fragmented howling in the vacuum of space.

As Su Zhou continuously poured in his Spiritual Power, an area the size of a small town was completely transformed into a Molten Rock Pool by the power of the Blade of Annihilation. Even the Deep Space Caller was forced into silence for a moment.

But after a moment, its voice came again from the distance. "It’s useless, Su Zhou! You can’t kill me this way. Your power is indeed great, but it’s all a wasted effort!"

Knowing his opponent wasn’t finished, Su Zhou’s brow furrowed. He pulled the Blade of Annihilation from the molten ground, twirled it in a flourish, and sheathed it at his waist.

’The Deep Space Caller was on the Moon long before we were. It only started making a big scene recently. There’s no way for me to know just how many clones it has.’

As he thought this, Su Zhou was also very clear on its objective. ’It wants to use this method to drain my power. Of course, that’s pointless. With my recovery rate, I could keep up a fight of this intensity for months.’

By now, Su Zhou had already analyzed the Deep Space Caller’s Cultivation Method. It had completely abandoned its human form, opting for a type of brain Cultivation Technique that Yara had once told him about.

Namely, a decentralized Cultivation Technique.

A Transcendent who chooses this brain Cultivation Method turns their entire body into a cognitive organ. There is no distinction between a main body and a clone—all of it is the main body, and all of it is a clone. As long as a large enough piece of the body survives to ensure the integrity of its consciousness, such a Transcendent can be said to possess an Immortal Body.

Of course, this Cultivation Method also has a major flaw. As its physical body is destroyed, its Intelligence and processing speed will decline noticeably... But the Deep Space Caller had clearly stopped being human long ago. As for how large its body was, Su Zhou figured he could use those mountain-sized Shapeless as a reference.

While he was thinking, the surrounding ground continued to vibrate. One by one, silver Shapeless crawled out from fissures in the surface and attempted to combine into the form of the Deep Space Caller. Su Zhou’s figure moved again, transforming into a streak of light and instantly slaughtering all the Shapeless that were surging from underground.

However, after a short while of killing, Su Zhou stopped.

And for the first time, the Deep Space Caller heard Su Zhou respond to its verbal harassment.

"All the Shapeless in this area, including this humanoid form of yours, are just clones controlled by your main body, aren’t they? If they were your main body, after I’ve killed so many, your consciousness should at least be a little unstable by now."

Although it was just a guess, his tone was completely certain. Su Zhou sneered. "I’ve been sensing you for a while now and haven’t detected much of a Curse. I originally thought it was because you’d scattered your body, but now I see that was just a feint."

’It figured it out?’

The Deep Space Caller didn’t reply, a little surprised. It had thought that by feigning weakness—maintaining a level where Su Zhou could easily destroy its forms but not eliminate it completely—and constantly provoking him, Su Zhou would overlook the details and continue to waste time here.

According to the Deep Space Caller’s intelligence network, Su Zhou was just a lucky young man with astonishing Talent. He was argumentative, foul-mouthed, and would even squabble with lowly mortals. His mentality was extremely unhealthy, and he was very easy to provoke—the spitting image of an ordinary person who had suddenly acquired power. He was even a bit arrogant, vain, and violent.

Although it suspected those were all just an act—that beneath Su Zhou’s seemingly normal nature lurked a true Monster, no different from itself—the Deep Space Caller still hadn’t expected him to see through its stalling tactics in less than two minutes.

Su Zhou didn’t know the Deep Space Caller’s true thoughts. If he had, he wouldn’t have been angry.

His usual behavior was half his true nature, which he was too lazy to hide, and half a deliberate act. Su Zhou knew very well that for a powerful being like himself to get along with companions he had far surpassed, he had to display certain behaviors and traits they could accept.

For the people he cared about, Su Zhou was willing to compromise, to show a personality that others could easily understand and approach. If he were serious, cold, mysterious, and inscrutable, then aside from a few true, close friends, everyone else would only fear him.

That was all unnecessary. Besides, it also served to mislead others in their profiling and assessment of his personality.

"Killing you has been so satisfying that I almost forgot my purpose for coming to the Moon."

Sheathing his Divine Blade, Su Zhou looked toward the distant Spiritual Power Beacon and shook his head. He took off directly, becoming a cyan-and-purple ball of light that trailed a long ribbon of luminescence behind him. He left behind only a cold message: "I’ll deal with the alien spaceship first. Then I’ll come back to deal with you, you shapeshifter."

"Decisive enough."

Watching Su Zhou’s retreating figure, the Deep Space Caller narrowed its eyes. Its previously frivolous and provocative demeanor vanished, replaced by a grave expression. "But the spaceship... that’s where the real line of defense is."