Grey considered it carefully.

Should he take the risk and use the Nexus Ruination Art to end this quickly?

Probably not.

Although he had already grasped the fundamental workings of the Law of Entropy, there were still far too many unknown variables involved. Nexus Ruination was not a simple burst technique. Once activated, it pushed all of his cores to their absolute limits, forcing them into an overdraw state.

Relying on energy potions to compensate was not an option.

Potions were designed to replenish energy within safe thresholds, not to overwrite a cultivator's internal regulation. After repeated consumption within a short period of time, the body would instinctively reject further absorption. It was a built-in safeguard present in all energy restoration potions.

Without this safeguard, foreign medicinal energy would clash violently with one's internal energy. The body would begin treating the potion as a hostile substance. Not only would it trigger internal backlash after excessive consumption, but repeated abuse would also cause long-term resistance, permanently reducing the potion's effectiveness.

That was not a risk he could afford.

He needed to see her limits first.

Only then would he decisively end the battle using the Nexus Ruination Art. And if he used it, it would be under one condition only.

He had to land a critical hit.

The Abyssal Mistress was the most dangerous and unpredictable opponent Grey had encountered so far. She had already calculated and reacted to his use of time stop, despite not knowing what it actually was.

If she had known it was time stop, the Law of Entropy would have reacted automatically.

She would have already issued intent to place the time frame itself into disorder, forcibly ejecting him from the frozen state.

Practically speaking, the Law of Entropy was terrifyingly powerful.

In theory, it could even disrupt the flow of time itself.

But at such a low level of comprehension, that aspect had no practical application yet.

That said, Grey still had options.

He could still rely on the Law of Gravity and the Law of Life, along with the techniques derived from them. Those alone might already be enough.

His regenerative capabilities had fully kicked in.

The wounds inflicted earlier had already sealed themselves, scales regrowing as flesh and bone stabilized beneath them. He had placed a life cycle imprint on his own body. It accelerated regeneration by reinforcing the natural rhythm of destruction and rebirth.

With his comprehension of the Law of Life at minor succession, the energy cost for healing was minimal.

And most importantly, there was one thing Grey had clearly noticed.

Nexus Overclock at two hundred percent no longer gave him a splitting headache.

Previously, he could only maintain one hundred twenty to one hundred fifty percent before his body began to overload. Anything beyond that would cause severe strain, nerve backlash, and internal instability.

But now, two hundred percent felt stable.

He could operate at full capability without his body overclocking itself into collapse.

Grey quickly identified the reason.

It was the Law of Life.

The life cycle imprint had fundamentally changed how his body functioned. It accelerated cell production, reinforced tissue performance, and continuously repaired micro level damage before it could accumulate.

Once he engraved the life cycle imprint onto himself, his body became capable of sustaining two hundred percent output.

The jump in capability was absurd.

At that level, even without activating Nexus Ruination, he should be able to fight a first level Third Rank cultivator head on using nothing but his base strength.

That realization was where his confidence came from.

Of course, fighting and killing were two different matters.

As for the bald donkey, he was already finished.

His energy reserves were completely exhausted. At this point, he was desperately absorbing ambient cosmic energy just to remain alive, slowly repairing his shattered body and barely stabilizing his core.

Grey only needed an opening.

If he could destroy the donkey's core and end his life first, dealing with the Abyssal Mistress afterward would become far more manageable.

After all, Grey had never truly killed a Third Rank cultivator before.

But once he did, hesitation would no longer exist.

The Abyssal Mistress moved again.

All of this had occurred in less than a second.

"You healed yourself again?" she inquired coldly as she thrust her spear straight forward.

"I did," Grey replied calmly.

Nexus Overclock activated.

Circuit-like patterns of intent flashed across his human body as his strength surged explosively, amplifying several fold in an instant.

CLANK!

Sword and spear collided with immense momentum, shockwaves rippling outward as both of them were forced to take a step back.

But the Abyssal Mistress recovered almost instantly.

Her posture stabilized, the spear in her hands already shifting into its next killing angle as abyssal pressure surged once more.

BOOOOM!

She thrust her spear forward.

KRRRMMMM!

Disorder and abyssal energy erupted outward, tearing through space as it rushed straight toward Grey.

Grey smirked at the sight.

She was not attacking at close range.

Perfect.

This was his chance.

His chance to slip away and finish the bald donkey once and for all.

WHRRRMMM!

Time stopped.

The world froze instantly.

Grey's figure flickered.

FZZZT!

In the next instant, he appeared right beside the bald donkey.

The bald donkey stood suspended in the air, his expression grim and ghastly as he desperately absorbed ambient cosmic energy. His body was riddled with instability, cultivation fluctuating wildly.

Frozen.

Completely helpless.

Grey's halo flickered violently above his head as Nexus energy surged outward.

VMMMMMMM!

Without hesitation, he thrust his palm straight toward the area where the elixir field resided.

Everything erupted at once.

Nexus energy.

Gravitational force.

Sword intent.

Sword energy.

Heavenly tribulation.

Great Heavenly Fire.

All of it was compressed and unleashed simultaneously through Grey's palm. For a split second, he forcefully overclocked himself to four hundred percent.

A splitting headache slammed into his mind.

His body shook violently as the strain tore through his fields.

But just to be safe, he wanted to use 400%.

And then, time resumed.

WHRRRMMM! BOOOOM!

"What?!" the bald donkey screamed in disbelief.

In the next instant, his entire body was vaporized.

FWSSSH!

Flesh, bones, meridians, everything vanished as if wiped away, leaving behind only a single object floating in the air.

A golden core.

THUUM!

Two intricate patterns ran across its surface, glowing faintly.

"No!"

The bald donkey's scream rang out from within the core itself.

The core pulsed violently.

THUUM! THUUM!

A blueprint of a human body appeared around it, formed entirely of condensed energy. The core had been pushed to its absolute limit.

All Third Rank cultivators possessed a final safeguard.

Or rather, their cores did.

When on the verge of collapse, the core would forcibly draw in ambient energy at an extreme rate to reconstruct the body. The price was severe. It would permanently tear holes in one's foundation, damage that could take years to repair.

But it was better than death.

Or so it should have been.

The blueprint trembled.

KZZT!

For a brief instant, purple lightning coursed across the pristine golden surface of the core.

Then it cracked.

CRACK!

A shrill, agonized wail echoed across the land, shaking the world itself. Ambient energy across the battlefield surged chaotically as if mourning the collapse.

The Abyssal Mistress had only just turned around.

Her eyes widened as she finally understood what had happened.

"Junior! You dare?!"

Her rage erupted instantly.

BOOM!

She stepped forward.

Chaotic lotuses glitched into existence around her and Grey, flickering in and out as they rapidly formed a circular formation.

KRRZZT! KRRZZT!

"Abyssal Killing Lotus Technique!"

Her voice rang out as the lotuses shot forward simultaneously, each one carrying terrifying law fluctuations. Their momentum tore through air as they rushed straight toward Grey.

SHRRRAASH!

But it was already far too late.

Even if he were injured.

The bald donkey's fate was sealed.

BOOOOM!

The crack in the core had no time to heal.

A far more violent fluctuation erupted from within, and the golden core shattered completely.

KRRRSSH!

A final, agonized scream rang out before abruptly vanishing.

In the next instant, a massive explosion erupted.

DOOOOOM!

A mushroom cloud rose into the sky, energy surging both upward and downward, swallowing the battlefield and obscuring everything in its path.

The bald donkey was dead.

But the battle was far from over.

Grey turned toward the incoming lotuses.

He could feel the densely packed power inside each one. They had been heavily amplified by law force, most likely a three star combat technique.

Without hesitation, he activated time stop again.

WHRRRMMM!

But this time, something was wrong.

The instant time stop activated, Grey felt it.

KRRRSSH!

Red corruption spread across the world.

The frozen stillness shattered as time forcefully returned to its natural flow.

KRRRNNG!

Before he could react, every single lotus collided with his body at once.

BOOOOM! BOOOOM! BOOOOM!

The impact detonated violently, swallowing Grey in a storm of abyssal destruction.

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