Tower Defense: Public Enemy

Chapter 577 The Great Unification (Part 1)

The ascended celestial being looked disheveled.

It's clear that a major battle has just taken place.

However, neither Lei Chi nor Yu Baichen responded to her call with any indifference.

Lei Chi bowed to the Ascending Heavenly Venerable, his expression calm and composed.

He already knew that the Heavenly Mystery Tomb was a trap, as the Myriad Manifestations Giant Serpent had warned him. Now it seems that the Ascending Venerable has truly encountered danger, and he must understand the meaning of "trap" even more.

Yu Baichen seemed to have some expectation. He put his hands behind his back, stared at the Ascending Great Venerable, and said, "This fellow Daoist is seriously injured. Don't worry. I have some healing items here that are quite effective. Fellow Daoist can recover here first."

The Ascending Heavenly Venerable frowned and glanced at Yu Baichen, then looked at Lei Chi again and said, "The Black Coffin Emperor uses this great tomb as a hunting ground, waiting for the appearance of Heavenly Monarch level experts! The Locking God Coffin, [Imagination], and [Heavenly Wrath] were all deliberately released by her to lure powerful experts here, and you and I are her hunting targets."

As he spoke, the Ascended Venerable waved his intact right arm, and a screen of light appeared, within which a woman with black hair and a black dress was revealed.

Lei Chi's eyes lit up. He had seen this woman's figure on the lid of the God-Locking Coffin before.

"The Black Coffin Emperor?"

Lei Chi narrowed his eyes slightly.

The Ascended Great Venerable said, "She's about to catch up! The road behind us is blocked; we need to find a way to leave as soon as possible."

Yu Baichen asked, "What is a Heavenly Monarch level expert?"

"This is..." The Ascended Great Venerable looked at Yu Baichen again.

Yu Baichen's demeanor was calm and composed. Although he had the air of a master, his power was hidden and he did not appear to be a master.

Even the Supreme Being of Ascension probably couldn't discern Yu Baichen's true nature, hence the question.

Lei Chi said, "Senior Yu is a saint of the Divine Realm, whose achievements are astounding and whose combat power is unparalleled. Great Venerable, you can rest assured that Senior Yu is completely trustworthy."

"Is that so?"

The Ascending Heaven Grand Venerable nodded to Yu Baichen, but his brows were furrowed, suggesting he still didn't quite trust Yu Baichen. After a moment's thought, he said, "In our records of ascending to heaven, the so-called Heavenly Lord is both a realm of strength and a title. A Heavenly Lord is below the Heavenly Dao, usually someone who lost in the competition for the Heavenly Dao. Their strength is inferior to the Heavenly Dao, but only slightly inferior. They can be understood as quasi-Heavenly Dao powerhouses! My strength is slightly close to the Heavenly Lord realm. You, Great Unification, don't be modest. I can sense that your strength is extremely strong, probably no less than mine, and you can be considered a Heavenly Lord! That Black Coffin Emperor, at her peak, might have been comparable to the Heavenly Dao. I just fought with her and found that she was severely injured, but her strength is still at the peak of the Heavenly Lord realm. She is powerful. Even if you and I join forces, plus this Sage Fellow Daoist, I'm afraid we won't be able to withstand her."

After a brief pause, the Ascending Grand Venerable took a deep breath and continued, "You two should not harbor any illusions. The Black Coffin Emperor is an enemy, not a friend. She seems to possess a secret technique that allows her to devour Heavenly Monarchs and plunder their laws to repair herself. Therefore, in her eyes, we are nothing more than a potent tonic!"

"That's how it is!"

Lei Chi spoke up, pointing to the cross-shaped spacetime rift in the sky, and said, "If you wish to leave, senior, you can do so through the cross-shaped spacetime rift."

"Huh? What do you mean?" The Ascended Grand Venerable looked puzzled. "Aren't you leaving?"

Lei Chi shook his head repeatedly

"To be honest, I'd really like to meet the Black Coffin Emperor..."

For Lei Chi, the Black Coffin Emperor was nothing short of a cosmic wonder, and if given the chance to observe it, he certainly wouldn't want to miss it.

At this moment, Yu Baichen tossed a golden apple to the Ascending Heaven Grand Venerable, saying, "Fellow Daoist, this fruit can help you recover from your injuries and allow your severed arm to regenerate. Please feel free to use it. I also very much wish to meet the Black Coffin Emperor."

At that moment, a cracking sound was heard, and spiderweb-like cracks suddenly appeared in the void not far behind the Ascended Great Venerable.

"Oh no, she's already caught up!"

The Ascending Venerable was greatly alarmed. Without saying anything more, he took a step and stepped into the void, arriving in front of the Thunder Pool.

"Hurry up!"

She kept urging him on.

She didn't even glance at the golden fruit Yu Baichen offered, showing no concern whatsoever.

Lei Chi couldn't help but shake his head, thinking to himself that the Ascending Heavenly Venerable had missed a great treasure. That golden thing must indeed be an extremely precious item.

Yu Baichen was somewhat embarrassed. He reached out and grabbed the golden fruit, then put it away and never mentioned giving it to Yu Baichen again.

At that moment, a deafening boom erupted, like a thunderclap.

A dark hole was punched into the void, about ten feet high, from which a petite figure slowly emerged.

The figure had black hair, wore a black dress, and looked like a young girl. She was only about 1.4 meters tall, but she was carrying a black coffin on her back.

Her identity is self-evident.

Behind it, two more "Lion Dogs" slowly emerged.

Those two "lion dogs" were definitely not golden retrievers. Although their heads looked similar to those of golden retrievers, they were much larger and more robust. They had no fur, but instead had rough scales. Their claws were huge and terrifying, like scythes, gleaming coldly. Sharp bone spurs also grew on their knees, wrists, and spines. Overall, they looked quite like ferocious beasts.

The Black Coffin Emperor stood still, her eyes gleaming. Her expression was icy as she silently surveyed Lei Chi and Yu Baichen. The two ferocious beasts also stopped, baring their teeth and looking extremely menacing.

A golden light, about a foot long, shone from Lei Chi's eyes. He observed the Black Coffin Emperor, whose pioneering light brain was rapidly exploring and generating a report.

"Ding, suspected Black Coffin Emperor detected. Energy fluctuations detected. Combat power assessed at 999 billion. Currently observing..."

"Ding! Unknown life form detected. Energy fluctuations detected. Its combat power is estimated at 300 billion! Its life dimension is abnormal. Attempting to analyze its life structure..."

"Ding, unable to conduct in-depth analysis. Based on partial analysis results, the target is a mutated golden lion dog, or has undergone life editing..."

"One Great Emperor, two powerful mutated lion dogs—this lineup is indeed quite formidable!"

Lei Chi murmured softly.

"interesting!"

Yu Baichen stepped forward and asked, "Are you the Black Coffin Emperor?"

The Black Coffin Emperor did not answer, but slowly raised his arm and pointed to the Ascending Venerable with his almost sickly pale fingers.

"You can't escape!"

She then pointed to the Thunder Pool and said, "Divine creature, you are very good! The Coffin of Gods and the Wrath of Heaven are inside you? Release them to see me."

Before Lei Chi and the Ascending Heaven Grand Venerable could answer, Yu Baichen stepped forward and preemptively said, "You seem to be ignoring me, so... if that's the case, could you perhaps take me a little more seriously?"

As he spoke, Yu Baichen's body trembled, and a strange, pale golden flame suddenly appeared on his body and quickly covered his entire body, causing his aura to rise sharply.

Click, click, click...

Numerous spacetime rifts appeared outside Yu Baichen's body.

It was as if this space could not bear his weight and shattered automatically.

The Ascending Venerable's expression changed, and the Black Coffin Emperor finally looked at Yu Baichen seriously, his face becoming solemn.

"Who are you?"

She asked the question.

"A mere warrior!" Yu Baichen's aura continued to rise. "I have come to the Starfield to avenge my unjustly killed disciple and to meet all the experts in the Starfield. You are an expert among experts, and I would like to ask you for your guidance. Is that possible?"

The Black Coffin Emperor remained silent for about ten breaths before slowly saying, "You have the potential to be an emperor, so leave. I won't stop you! I'm giving you a friendly warning: if you stay here too long, once that old codger, the Eternal Emperor, awakens, you won't be able to leave even if you want to."

Yu Baichen laughed loudly, his fighting spirit soaring. He stopped talking and strode towards the Black Coffin Emperor, looking as if he was ready to fight him.

"Arrogant!"

The Black Coffin Emperor gave a light snort, and the two lion dogs behind her seemed to receive a command, roaring at the sky before pouncing directly on Yu Baichen.

At that moment, Lei Chi moved. He took a step forward and disappeared into the space. The next moment, he reappeared and stood in front of a mutated lion dog.

He stepped forward slightly with his right foot, and the unified divine nature within his body erupted. His microcosm was activated, and then a black sphere suddenly appeared out of thin air, about ten feet in front of Lei Chi.

The sphere was initially very small, but in the blink of an eye, it expanded to about ten feet in diameter. Suddenly, a powerful suction force burst forth from it, pulling the mutated lion dog inside.

This situation resembles being devoured!

"Universal unification is a cage!"

Lei Chi gave a soft shout, then reached out and grabbed at the air. The black ball that had swallowed the mutated lion dog immediately shrank and fell into Lei Chi's palm.

Rumble rumble rumble...

Bolts of lightning erupted from the palm of the Thunder Pool, seemingly bombarding the black sphere.

Lei Chi slowly bent his fingers, and the black ball in his palm shrank accordingly. Finally, Lei Chi clenched his hand into a fist, and the black ball in his palm turned into nothingness.

It was as if the black ball was crushed under the force of Lei Chi's palm.

This is a technique that Lei Chi just developed.

The black sphere from earlier was a sixteen-dimensional spatial cage he had woven.

After gaining insights into the mysteries of the heart of the universe, Lei Chi added devouring power to it, making the spatial cage resemble a black hole with a powerful suction force, capable of actively trapping targets.

This already largely aligns with Lei Chi's original vision of a spatial cage.

He believed that once an ordinary being was trapped in the sixteen-dimensional space cage he had woven, it would be unable to escape.

Lei Chi then grasped the black sphere cage in his palm, seemingly about to crush and destroy it, but in reality, he was continuing to weave the spatial cage, making it more solid and stable.

Ultimately, the black sphere cage disappeared, but it didn't truly disappear; rather, it was absorbed into Lei Chi's inner universe.

He named this method "Great Unification," meaning that he, as a divine power of unification, was now complete and reliable.

As for the spirit that created the universe, it was demoted by Lei Chi to "Great Unification Part Two" or "Great Unification Part Three" because that method was not yet complete and still had flaws.

The cosmic spirits that Lei Chi currently possesses, while described as creations, are actually closer to being tamed.

In his imagination, only when he could truly create the spirit of the universe from nothing could this method be considered complete.

Lei Chi already had a direction for this. He knew that he still needed to broaden the dimensions of life and imagination. When he could freely edit life forms, the spirit that created the universe could be named "Great Unification Part Two" or "Great Unification Part Three".

While Lei Chi was using his methods to trap and seal the mutated lion dog with a combat power of 300 billion, the Ascended Grand Venerable gritted his teeth and stepped forward.

She used her extreme cold power to freeze the void, blocking the second mutated lion dog.

However, the process did not seem as easy as that of Lei Chi. It took the Great Venerable of Ascension six attempts to freeze one of the lion dog's legs, and twenty attempts to freeze it into an ice sculpture, rendering it unable to move.

Meanwhile, Yu Baichen was already engaged in battle with the Black Coffin Emperor.

Although the Black Coffin Emperor is small in stature, her combat power is as high as 999 billion. Her fighting methods are amazing. She can condense spacetime rifts into swords at will and then control them remotely, as if they were flying swords.

However, the sword formed from the rift in spacetime is far more powerful than any ordinary flying sword; in fact, the difference is like heaven and earth.

A single sword strike can be a journey through time and space, an attack across dimensions.

How can an ordinary person block or defend against it?

Yu Baichen was no longer fighting like an ordinary person; in addition to flames burning on his body, shimmering patterns also appeared.

Above the left shoulder is the sun, above the right shoulder is the moon, below the left foot is the dragon, and below the right foot is the snake.

They truly embody the spirit of carrying the sun and moon on their shoulders and treading on dragons and snakes!

When illuminated by the sun and moon, it seemed to be able to break through all laws; dragons and snakes flew beneath its feet, its form mysterious and unpredictable.

Yu Baichen's aura was overwhelming, and his fighting spirit condensed into a tangible flame. That flame alone could melt the sword of the spacetime rift.

He fought against the Black Coffin Emperor. The battlefield was constantly changing. The Black Coffin Emperor was good at long-range attacks, while Yu Baichen was good at close combat.

Ordinary spectators would likely only see flashes of light and clashes of colors, unable to discern the details of their battle.

After trapping the dog that had turned into a lion, Lei Chi watched the battle from the sidelines.

For Lei Chi, watching the battle like this was a form of cultivation.

His unified divine operation, everything he saw and heard, could be summarized as the laws governing the universe, and was ultimately used to expand his own dimensions.

However, while he could observe a great deal of cosmic secrets from the methods of the Black Coffin Emperor, he could not understand Yu Baichen's methods and therefore could not obtain the cosmic secrets.

"What kind of cultivation method does Senior Yu practice? Mental state? Intent? Fighting spirit?"

Lei Chi was very puzzled. He was now a divine being without a soul, and it was very difficult for him to understand and study things like state of mind, intent, fighting spirit, and sword intent. This was like a blind spot in his knowledge.

Of course, if one really wants to study it, there are ways to find a solution.

He is the unifier of all things, possessing an inner universe. Compared to the beings within his inner universe, he is the undisputed creator. Therefore, although Lei Chi cannot actively control the power of his mind, intent, fighting spirit, and sword intent, he can directly borrow it through the cultivation of the spirit within his inner universe.

This is equivalent to having the cosmic spirit within one's body cultivate for oneself, and it is also a method for Lei Chi to expand his own dimensions without observation.

(End of this chapter)