Heroes Return

"That's way too brutal." Xiao Zhan stared at Dong Yang in shock. He had to admit that seeing Dong Yang subdue hundreds of ability users in less than a minute, Xiao Zhan instinctively wanted to tell the others present to run away.

However, there were two people who were even faster than him. These two people were Long Shao and Bai Hao, both of whom were S-level ancient martial arts practitioners. Their full speed almost broke the speed of sound, and in less than a second, the two of them appeared next to Dong Yang.

In Long Shao's view, this was the perfect opportunity to kill Dong Yang. He had just completed his evolution and subdued a large number of enemies, so he was relaxed. Dong Yang, on the other hand, probably hadn't yet adapted to the change, since suddenly gaining power usually requires time to adjust. Therefore, Long Shao planned to use this opportunity to kill him.

In fact, Long Shao and Dong Yang did not have much of a grudge, but even so, Dong Yang had to die.

Other families would not allow an outlier to disrupt the current balance of power, and the Dragon family is no exception.

However, when Long Shao and Bai Hao appeared beside Dong Yang, Dong Yang didn't even bother to glance at them.

Nevertheless, Long Shao and Bai Hao, two S-level powerhouses, were shocked to find that they had lost control of their bodies and, like the elites of the Ouyang family, unconsciously knelt down.

Dongyang didn't look at anyone present, but instead raised his hands and said, "This feeling is just too good. Is this the power of a god?"

"What is he going to do?" the bespectacled man asked Dong Xiaoye beside him.

"I don't know, but it definitely won't be anything good," Dong Xiaoye replied.

"Worship," Dongyang said slowly, "Worship your new gods."

As soon as he finished speaking, a powerful mental force swept across the entire world, and in that instant, everyone's eyes lost focus. All living beings in the world knelt down in the direction of Dongyang, whether they were ordinary people or superpowered individuals, even SS-level superheroes lost themselves at that moment and knelt down in Dongyang's direction.

It wasn't just humans who knelt in worship, but every living being, whether it was an animal in a zoo or an insect under a street lamp, all of them knelt down to the winter sun at this moment.

"Let all life in the world witness the birth of me, this god," Dongyang muttered to himself, then burst into wild laughter: "Hahahaha!! I finally see it! I finally see everything in this world, all the secrets of the world are within my grasp, I know the memories of every life, even the dead and those hidden in the legends of the world are kneeling before me, their memories, their secrets are clearly imprinted in my mind."

Dongyang laughed even more maniacally: "And you guys too, I've finally found you."

Dongyang's voice seemed to travel across the entire world, across time and space. Although the voice was not loud, it easily reached every mysterious corner of the world, and in an instant even the stars began to tremble.

"I finally know the origin of the disaster and the truth of the world." Dongyang looked up at the ever-shifting stars. In this moment, he had fulfilled his lifelong wish; he knew almost everything in the world.

Even the alien creatures hidden inside the moon, which once plunged all of humanity into crisis, are kneeling in worship at this moment.

He could kill any life in the world if he wanted to, with just a thought.

“I now know everything about this world,” Dongyang said, “but I still can’t understand you, ‘Zero’.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Jie appeared before Dong Yang.

"I never imagined you were Zero." Dongyang looked at Lin Jie and said, "I never imagined that just a few days ago I was challenging the strongest person in the world."

"You've gone completely bald," Lin Jie said, looking at Dong Yang's head, which was completely bald, even his eyebrows were gone. "What did you do to them?"

“It’s nothing,” Dongyang said. “They are just worshipping the gods of this world.”

"You controlled them?" Lin Jie looked at the crowd whose eyes had completely lost focus and said, "Your domineering aura is really strong this time, but it looks more like a wide-ranging cerebral palsy halo."

"You'll soon kneel down just like them!" Dongyang said to Lin Jie, and then a powerful mental pressure swept over Lin Jie. If the mental pressure Dongyang released last time was equivalent to a drop of seawater, then the mental pressure now was the entire ocean.

"You are not a god." Lin Jie remained unmoved despite facing such powerful mental pressure: "You are not worthy of being called a god at all."

“I can already be called a god,” Dongyang said. “I can clearly see the memories of any life in this world, and I can change their thoughts whenever I want. I can easily control every life, including those guys on the moon. I can kill any life with just a thought. I have already mastered the life and death of all life in the world.”

“You have indeed become stronger, but you are still not a god,” Lin Jie said. “And you are not omniscient either; you are not as powerful as you imagine.”

“You’re right.” Dongyang looked at Lin Jie, who remained unmoved even under his powerful shield, and said, “As expected of the world’s first recognized SS-class hero, my mental power can’t even enter your brain. In that case, I’m not an omniscient and omnipotent god, because I know nothing about you, and I can’t read your thoughts.”

As Dongyang spoke, he waved his hand at Lin Jie, and an invisible force swept towards Lin Jie: "Since that's the case, as long as you die, I will be an omniscient being."

Lin Jie now held a black longsword in his hand, its blade emitting an eerie red light. He slashed the longsword straight down at the powerful spiritual force.

The two powerful forces collided without an explosion or a sound, as if they had canceled each other out.

The next moment, the ruins and ground beneath their feet shot into the sky. It was as if the world had been turned upside down, with all the rubble flying upwards.

Among the stars high in the sky, Dongyang floated quietly in the starry sky, while Lin Jie, holding a long sword, also floated in the starry sky opposite him.

Dongyang looked at the man in front of him and said, "I never thought I would have to kill you. As the man I admired the most in the past, I originally planned to let you play a key role in my new era."

"Like controlling other people, you're just a key puppet in your puppet show?" Lin Jie looked at Dong Yang and said, "Just how strong is your desire for control? Even if you kill me, you won't become a god."

"No, you are the only life I cannot control." Dongyang looked at Lin Jie with a hint of madness: "As long as I kill you, there will be no life in this world that I cannot control, and no thing that I cannot know."

"Is that really the case?" Lin Jie said dismissively, "There are some things you'll never know, like the endings of novels I've read before, because the authors abandoned them."

"Go to hell." Dongyang, however, wasn't listening to Lin Jie.

As he spoke, a massive mental energy hand, as large as a giant city, formed from his powerful mental energy, reached out to grab Lin Jie.

Faced with the massive mental attack, a red light flashed in Lin Jie's eyes, and the longsword in his hand pointed at the giant palm.

"It's been a long time since I used this move," Lin Jie muttered to himself, then the longsword in his hand shone brightly red: "Zero Style - Judgment"

A powerful sword light slashed towards the giant hand. Wherever the sword light passed, the stars dimmed, space was obliterated, and light vanished.

The world turned pitch black, making one feel as if they had lost all sense of space and distance. Only a single red light pierced through the darkness.

The red light disappeared, and everything returned to calm.

"You actually possess such immense power!" Dongyang exclaimed in shock. "But you'll still die!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a gigantic mental energy hand formed in the void once more, followed by arms, a body, and a head. A colossal mental energy giant, whose fist could strike a city, appeared in the void, wielding a weapon imbued with mysterious power.

"One move—sanction"

Facing this giant whose shape was indistinguishable even within a fifty-kilometer radius, Lin Jie calmly swung his longsword, without any red light, sword aura, or burst of energy. It was as if he were simply practicing swordplay.

However, this sword strike severed both of the giant's arms, but the giant's hands still held weapons and slashed down at Lin Jie.

Lin simply thrust his seemingly insignificant sword tip towards the giant sword, and without a sound, the giant's weapon vanished silently into the void.

"Go to hell!" Dongyang roared at Lin Jie.

The giant's arms grew back, and not only that, hundreds of arms grew from his back.

Countless powerful blows aimed at Lin Jie were about to strike, ready to destroy the world once again.

"In these five years, you're the first person who can fight me to this extent." Lin Jie looked at the heavy fist that resembled countless giant meteorites and said, "It's been five years. I wonder if you've gotten rusty."

As he spoke, Lin Jie put his hands together and placed them on the black longsword in his hands.

"Second Style - Redemption"

As Lin Jie unleashed his sword strike, the stars vanished, the colossal spiritual giant disappeared, and even Lin Jie vanished in Dong Yang's eyes. The boundaries between heaven and earth disappeared, leaving only a black longsword in the world.

……

The world returned to normal, and Dongyang opened his eyes in the darkness, finding himself lying on a pile of ruins. His body was unharmed, but he could clearly feel his life slipping away. He looked with difficulty at the man standing beside him.

"I lost." Dongyang: "I never thought that even I, who am above SS level, could not defeat you. You must be a human hero who has never been defeated. How can you be so strong?"

"Actually, I don't think I'm very strong," Lin Jie said.

Upon hearing his reply, Dongyang was furious: "Are you mocking me? Laughing at me for acting like an idiot in front of you, making such an ignorant move? You really are a bastard!! Is this how you always mock stupid people for showing off their ignorance and clumsiness in front of you? Letting them think they've succeeded, only to have their success utterly destroyed in an instant?"

As he spoke, Dongyang coughed up a mouthful of blood.

“I’m not mocking you,” Lin Jie said. “Sometimes I even envy your intellect. If I had a mind that could see through any scheme, I could stop it before it happens.”

"That sounds nice, but you already have the strength to thwart all schemes," Dongyang said.

"But the tragedy still happened." Lin Jie looked at the surrounding ruins and said, "This is a densely populated area. There must be many people buried underneath."

"..." Dongyang did not speak.

Lin Jie looked at Dong Yang and said, "I'm very strong, but I didn't have the chance to save those people."

"..." Upon hearing Lin Jie's words, Dong Yang laughed: "Hahaha! You're right, I'm not a god at all. Even someone stronger than me like you isn't a god, so how could I possibly be a god... Hahaha."

"Do you finally understand?" Lin Jie asked, looking at Dong Yang.

"When death is imminent, do you still not understand?" Dongyang said calmly, "As expected, I can't become a god. But in the end, I want to know why you became so strong."

"Do you really want to know?" Lin Jie asked Dong Yang.

"What do you mean?" Dongyang asked Lin Jie.

“You’ll see for yourself when you come and see for yourself,” Lin Jie said. “Aren’t you able to read other people’s minds?”

"You're willing to let me see your secret?" Dongyang looked at Lin Jie in surprise: "That's right, I'm going to die anyway."

His mental energy then entered Lin Jie's brain.

Just five seconds later, Dongyang coughed up another mouthful of blood.

"What exactly is that power? Just looking at the memories in your mind felt like my chest was being pierced through," Dongyang asked, clutching his chest.

"The Immortal Slaughtering Sword Formation," Lin Jie said calmly. "I was once pierced through the chest by a sword."

"You actually survived." As he spoke, Dongyang's body began to gradually turn into specks of light: "And on your arm?"

"The alien bombardment seems to be some kind of mathematical weapon," Lin Jie replied.

"On your back?"

"It was an attack by the Angel of the End."

"These wounds on my body..."

"Created by the gods of another world."

Where is the head?

“The impact of the World Serpent,” Lin Jie replied.

"After going through so much, you're still alive." Dongyang looked at Lin Jie in disbelief.

“That’s why I became stronger,” Lin Jie replied. “I became stronger through constant struggle. Although I only fought for five years, I experienced more brutal battles than anyone else, many of which are unknown to others.”

"Finally, I saw some special images, zero."

"I'm sorry, I don't want to talk about this," Lin Jie said. "Also, I'm no longer a hero, so please stop calling me Zero."

"Then why did you register as a hero?"

"Who knows?" Lin Jie shook his head and said, "I can't say for sure myself."

Only a head remained of Dongyang: "You are too strong, but also very naive..."

After saying that, the winter sun disappeared into the air.

“Actually, you’re quite naive too,” Lin Jie said to the air. “By the way, my sword strike is called Redemption.”

……