Survival for All: I can deconstruct projections and synthesize everything.

The night sky over the Dark Sun Forest is always shrouded in a dark red, but tonight, that dark red has been tinged with a touch of silver-gray.

The Shadowmoon Wolf King hovered a thousand meters in the air, its silver-gray fur shimmering with a metallic sheen under the regular halo of light.

Its eyes, the left one silvery-white like a full moon, and the right one jet black like a new moon, were now coldly scanning the forest below.

Of the seventeen patrol teams, thirteen have lost contact.

Three hunting teams, one of which was completely wiped out.

In just one day, it lost nearly half of the forces it had deployed in the eastern region.

And all of this was done by that human named Lin Xiao.

There was no anger in the wolf king's eyes, only a cold killing intent and a trace of... fear.

Just a day earlier, this human was fleeing in a sorry state while being pursued by it, and only managed to escape thanks to the protection of the Storm Dragon.

A day later, however, he was able to turn the tables and hunt down his own elite troops, and his methods were unpredictable and varied, with each one different from the last.

This rate of growth has exceeded the scope of being exceptionally gifted.

"As expected... I should have offered you up to the mist as well!"

The wolf king muttered to himself, his voice rippling across the realm of rules.

It stopped waiting and slowly descended, finally landing on the opposite cliff where Lin Xiao and Nelly were, facing them across the hundred-foot abyss.

"In just one day, they wiped out almost all of my elite troops!"

The Wolf King's voice entered Lin Xiao's consciousness directly, eerily calm: "Lin Xiao, I admit I underestimated you, but the game ends here."

Lin Xiao stood on the edge of the cliff, her robes fluttering in the night wind.

He stared directly at the wolf king, his seven-colored pupils showing no fear, only calm analysis.

"Your Excellency Wolf King, if I were you, I should consider retreating now."

His voice, too, was transmitted through the rules: "You hunted Nelly because of the opportunity to break through to the eighth rank promised by the Mist World. But have you ever considered why the Mist World wouldn't take it itself, but instead had to use your hand?"

The wolf king's pupils contracted slightly.

Lin Xiao continued, "Because the trace of the mist's essence on Nelly's body is poison to the mist world itself."

"She is an awakened will, the embodiment of rebellion. The Misty World dares not directly devour her, fearing that it will be corrupted by her will, which is why it sought you out."

The information Lin Xiao revealed was seven parts true and three parts false, but it was enough to fool the Wolf King.

Even planting a seed of doubt in the wolf king would be acceptable.

The wolf king fell silent.

It had actually had its suspicions for a long time.

The promise made by the Mist Messenger was too good to be true; as long as Nelly was captured, he would give her something to help her break through to the eighth rank.

However, the other party refused to reveal the specifics of how to operate, only repeatedly emphasizing that once captured, they should hand it over to us.

Now, after hearing Lin Xiao's explanation, many of the doubts have come together.

"even so……"

The wolf king spoke slowly, and a crescent-shaped black light began to flow in his right eye.

"The opportunity to break through to the eighth rank is right in front of me, so naturally I can't give it up."

Its aura began to rise, and the pressure of the seventh rank enveloped the cliff as if it were a tangible force.

The surrounding rules began to distort, the shadows wriggled like living things, and moonlight condensed into countless sharp blades around them.

Perhaps it is because the space in the Dark Sun Forest is relatively solid that it can withstand the unrestrained aura of a seventh-tier being.

Otherwise, the Wolf King would already be in the void.

"Lin Xiao, I'm giving you one last chance. Hand over Nelly, and I'll allow you to leave Dark Sun Forest. Otherwise... this place will be your final resting place."

Lin Xiao smiled.

He took a step forward, and a seven-colored halo spread from his feet, blocking the wolf king's oppressive aura three zhang away.

"I'll give you one last piece of advice: leave now, and you'll still have time to preserve the Shadowmoon Domain. If you remain stubborn... after today, one of the nine rulers will likely be gone."

Before he could finish speaking, the wolf king moved.

Without warning or warning, its figure vanished from its spot and reappeared in front of Lin Xiao, its right claw slamming down with a silver-black light that seemed to tear apart the rules!

This claw, seemingly simple, actually contained the dual rules of shadow erosion and moon cutting, leaving five fine black cracks in the space it passed through.

If it were the previous Lin Xiao, he would have had no choice but to either withstand the attack or dodge it.

"Perfect timing, this should also count as my first time fighting against a seventh-tier opponent!"

But now, Lin Xiao muttered to himself.

Then Lin Xiao raised his right hand, his five fingers spread wide.

In front of the palm, the rules begin to evolve on their own.

The seven basic rule fragments naturally combine to form an ever-changing composite shield. The surface of the shield is covered with runes of the five elements: metal, wood, water, fire, earth, wind, and thunder, which interact with each other in an endless cycle.

The wolf king's claws slammed into the shield.

The anticipated breakage did not occur.

The shield begins to evolve rapidly upon contact: metal generates water, water generates wood, wood generates fire... Each attribute transformation perfectly offsets a portion of the claw strike's power while channeling the remaining energy into the cycle, nourishing the shield itself.

Three breaths later, the force of the claw strike was completely neutralized.

The shield was completely intact, without even a crack.

The wolf king's pupils suddenly contracted.

Although it didn't use its full strength in that claw strike, it still had 70% of its power, enough to seriously injure any sixth-tier opponent. Yet Lin Xiao took it so lightly!

No, it wasn't just that... After deflecting the attack, the shield actually became more solid, and it even subtly suppressed the surrounding shadow rules.

"Rule evolution? It seems you've already touched the threshold of the seventh order."

The wolf king's voice remained calm, but his heart had already become wary. "This child must not be allowed to live!"

"Almost there."

Lin Xiao withdrew his right hand, and the shield naturally dissipated.

"But that's enough to withstand you as you are now."

This is not arrogance.

Through the exchange just now, Lin Xiao has figured out the Wolf King's bottom line. Its speed rule is at its peak, and its attacks are accompanied by shadow erosion and moonlight cutting. However, its rule changes are relatively simple and it lacks the means to deal with complex rule evolution.

What the world excels at is creating complex evolutions.

The wolf king was clearly aware of this as well.

It stopped probing and vanished again, this time transforming into twelve afterimages that attacked simultaneously from different directions!

Every afterimage is real, and every attack contains deadly intent.

This is the Wolf King's signature move, the Twelve Kills Under the Moon, which he once used to severely injure two seventh-tier warriors from other territories outside the Dark Sun Forest.

Lin Xiao remained still.

He closed his eyes, and the Omniscient Rules were operating at full power, constructing the complete trajectory of twelve attacks in his consciousness.

At the same time, the "All Things Return to Flow" rule began to autonomously evolve response plans.

The next instant, twelve seven-colored streams of light lit up Lin Xiao's body at the same time.

Each streak of light precisely met a wolf king's afterimage, colliding, annihilating, and regenerating in mid-air... evolving into twelve completely different rules of confrontation.

The first streak of light evolved into a mirror space, reflecting the attack of the afterimage back.

The second stream of light created a spatial rift, cutting the afterimage's body into several segments.

The third stream of light evolved into a rule-stripping process, forcibly extracting the shadow attributes from the afterimage...

In just three breaths, all twelve afterimages were shattered.

The wolf king's true form re-condensed ten zhang away, with a small wound on its right forepaw.

It stared intently at Lin Xiao, its eyes revealing a serious expression for the first time.

This human... is no longer prey that it can manipulate at will.

Although he has not yet broken through to the seventh rank, his control and evolution of the rules have reached an unbelievable level.

If the fight continues, even if we win, we will inevitably pay a heavy price.

Just as the Wolf King hesitated about whether to use its trump card, a message of will from the distant void suddenly entered its consciousness.

That was an urgent message from the Mist Messenger:

"Wolf King, retreat immediately. Dark Sun has awakened and is intercepting our reinforcements. The plan has changed; abandon the objective for now."

The wolf king's body stiffened.

Dark Sun... Has that eighth-tier controller, who has been asleep for millions of years, awakened?

He had long since stopped paying attention to what was happening in the Dark Sun Forest, so why did he wake up now?

No, we can't keep the territory!

It looked up at the night sky.

Deep within the dark red sky, a pitch-black sun had appeared out of nowhere.

The sun had no light; instead, it devoured all the light around it, like a void in the universe.

But from the perspective of the rules, that black sun exuded a suffocating and terrifying pressure.

That's the power of an eighth-tier expert, and one of the best among them.

The dark sun has truly awakened.

Moreover, its current location is precisely at the boundary between the Dark Sun Forest and the outer void.

Judging from the rule disturbances sensed by the wolf king, at least three eighth-tier beings were blocked outside and unable to enter the forest.

The wolf king's heart sank to the bottom.

Once that Dark Sun breaks free, I'll probably be his next target!

It finally realized that it had been drawn into a game far beyond its imagination.

Lin Xiao and Nelly are not just two fugitives; they are pawns, bait, and the focus of a power struggle among various forces.

If this continues, it will likely become the first casualty in this game.

"withdraw."

The wolf king turned around decisively, transforming into a streak of silver-gray light that shot westward, without even leaving behind any harsh words.

The Dark Sun Forest returned to silence, with only the rustling of the night wind through the ancient trees.

Nelly emerged from her hiding place, approached Lin Xiao, and let out a long sigh of relief: "Is it over?"

"It's temporarily over."

Lin Xiao looked westward, towards the direction of the Shadow Moon Domain.

"Although the Wolf King has retreated, the Misty World will not give up easily. Dark Sun can hold it off for a while, but not forever."

He turned to Nelly: "We must leave Darksun Forest as soon as possible and return to the Eternal Alliance. Only there will we have enough strength to deal with the upcoming storm."

Nelly nodded, as if she had returned to the ruins, when she didn't have to think about anything and relied entirely on Lin Xiao to handle everything.

"Let's go."

Lin Xiao pulled Nelly up, and the two transformed into streaks of light, speeding towards the barrier surrounding the Dark Sun Forest.

In the night sky, the sun that had already disappeared slowly opened one eye in the depths of a dimension unnoticed by anyone.

Those eyes were like abysses, reflecting the departing figures of Lin Xiao and Nelly, as well as the three eighth-level figures blocked by them outside the forest.

An even bigger storm is brewing.

Lin Xiao's seventh-order gate will also be completely opened in the storm.