"It's good to know that my peers are as strong as me." Grey smiled brightly.

If there was one thing Grey lacked, it was fights, fights with people his age.

Because, as far as he could remember, almost all of the people he had fought and eliminated so far were crusty old men or talentless middle-aged uncles that loved acting like cringe lords.

But standing before him was a full-fledged dragon.

Its domineering presence and overwhelming figure alone were enough to make Grey's blood stir.

For the first time in a long while, he genuinely wanted to fight someone head-on.

More importantly, the dragon before him was of the same generation.

She was even four months younger than him.

In terms of cultivation and combat pressure, she stood squarely within his league.

This was exactly what he had been seeking.

What meaning was there in defeating old monsters who had lived for hundreds of years, their potential long exhausted, or middle-aged evolvers already bound by decline and stagnation?

There was no sense of competition in that.

Victory against such opponents only proved endurance, not supremacy.

That was why he had longed for the starry sky.

He wanted to meet powerful beings of his own age, geniuses who stood at the peak of their generation, and defeat them openly. Only then could he prove that the Nexus Evolutionary Path he had painstakingly forged was not an empty theory.

It was a path capable of crushing true geniuses!

"I hope you will give me a good fight." Grey smiled.

In response, the compressed Nexus Star within his elixir field began to stir.

He had no intention of relying on the power of his secret realm.

This battle would be fought using only his own strength.

He had something he needed to prove.

That even the so-called higher and superior races could never stand above him.

This path was forged by his own hands, tempered through his own effort, and validated only through combat.

And today, he would test it properly.

Nexus energy surged violently, tearing free from his body in an instant.

The moment it manifested, the oppressive cold of the Source Law of Frost collapsed, as if a lesser law had been forced to kneel before something far more absolute.

Sensing this, the True Dragon before him moved.

Its eyes coldly locked onto Grey as it shot towards him with immense speed.

Grey gave it a wide grin.

"Alissa, I'll show you the true extent of my powers."

Nexus Overclock surged with great momentum.

The next moment, his entire being was dyed in deep violet as silver lines spread from his hands, branching across his body like living circuits.

His Saint's Eye ignited, burning with the brilliance of a supernova on the verge of detonation. Fine luminous purple lines crept outward from the sclera, carving into his gaze and lending him an even more oppressive, domineering presence. It felt as though his eyes alone possessed the authority to bring an end to the world.

Above his head, space itself began to glitch.

Crackling heavenly tribulation power erupted from the distortion as his Saint's Halo fully manifested, rotating and shifting like a vast mechanical construct.

Grey formed his shapeless sword, the dark sword with purple rings trembling as the Nexus energy surged toward it.

Boom!

The entire realm fell silent for a moment.

Even the True Source Dragon temporarily stopped in its tracks upon seeing him.

Grey looked no less than a powerful god descended into the mortal world.

The sword, paired with his transformed body, the heavenly tribulation crackling across him, and the long halo, everything combined made him look otherworldly and domineering.

"Come at me." Grey's voice boomed, it no longer sounded ordinary, but had a glitchy distorted feeling to it.

VRRRRRAAAAAAAUM!

The Dragon roared in anger. It felt extreme dread and an oppressive force from Grey. How could it, a domineering dragon that could dominate all eras in the future, let this go?

Chillness surged and its scales began to twist and move as it flew towards Grey. The next moment, it was right beside him.

Bzzz!

Almost immediately, a powerful beam of energy erupted from the two blue horns of the Dragon. It was the combined force of the Source Law of Frost and True Source energy.

Seeing this, Grey stretched his left hand out.

"Nexus convergence."

Boom!

The world flashed black and white as the terrifying black hole-like ability descended. The beam of energy shot out by the dragon was directly absorbed. In the following instant, the black hole of pure Nexus energy condensed and collapsed.

The air twisted violently as the secret realm stirred uncontrollably. The True Dragon was forced to take a few steps back from the impact of the collapse.

However, it recovered just as quickly.

It rose even higher into the sky and waved its long wings. Immediately, myriad icicles as big as several trucks condensed around it.

Whoosh!

They shot towards Grey with immense momentum. The tips of each icicle were covered in True Source energy, and the icicles themselves were made out of the Source Law of Frost.

"It's been quite a while since I used Zenith Sword Art." Grey smiled.

His pupils ignited with a faint purple flame as Nexus energy surged violently through his body, flooding every nerve and channel at once. Sword intent erupted, dense and tyrannical, converging into the blade in his hand until the air around it warped.

Then, he took a step.

The world slowed.

Not because time had stopped, but because Grey's perception had exceeded it.

Nexus Overclock roared to life like crashing tides as sparks leapt across his nervous system, purple arcs flashing beneath his skin. His perception stretched infinitely outward, every icicle reflected crisply within his vision as if frozen in place.

Shnn!

The first icicle shattered.

A sharp, clean boom rang out as sword light sliced through it with surgical precision, fragments exploding outward before the sound could even finish forming. Grey was already moving, his body flickering through the air like a broken afterimage.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Each step forward was accompanied by a crisp detonation as another icicle was cleaved apart, sword light striking faster than thought itself. The blade never paused, never slowed, its path seamless as if the icicles had shattered themselves in fear.

The storm of frost collapsed inward, pulverized into glittering debris as he carved a straight path through it, every strike perfectly aligned, perfectly timed. The air screamed under the pressure of his movement, unable to keep up with the violence imposed upon it.

In a single breath, he was gone from the True Dragon's vision.

The shattered remnants of the icicles were still falling when Grey reappeared beside the True Dragon, sword already raised, Nexus energy surging off him in overwhelming waves. Purple light bled into the space around his body, his presence alone forcing the secret realm to tremble.

Zenith Sword Art – First Form.

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