Through the prompt of the Book of Covenants, Lin Luo learned the information about the two individuals before him: the woman, Tang Jing, was a LV3 Walker, her Heart Codex being the Book of Seduction, her ability Illusion, and she was at the peak of the Spirit Rank. The man, Li Chen, was also a LV3 Walker, his Heart Codex being the Book of Strength, his ability Supernatural Strength, and he too was at the peak of the Spirit Rank.

It was strange why two peak Spirit Rank Walkers would suddenly appear. Wasn't the war in this first phase supposed to be "Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea" (a small handful of experts)? Why had it suddenly become "Ten Perfect Ones"? How should these two extra arrivals be counted? Were they intruders or biological splittings? Lin Luo was deeply puzzled.

Two peak Spirit Rank experts—never mind how sweetly they called each other "sister" and "brother," when it came to fighting, they could unhesitatingly take your life, wouldn't you say, dear?

Of course, Lin Luo felt somewhat lucky this time. Although their appearance was incredibly ill-timed, it was fortunate that he had sensed them first and managed to drive all sixteen girls into the game space, thus eliminating the danger of hostages during the impending fight.

Peak Spirit Rank wasn't achieved for nothing. The gap between them and the high-level Spirit Rank wasn't just a small tier difference. To draw an analogy, it was like the difference between a Railgun and Mental Control. Both were powerful at the same level, but no matter how skilled the Queen’s control was, she couldn't influence the tsundere Elder Sister, whereas if Elder Sister unleashed a tsundere blast, the Queen would be gone... assuming, of course, that Elder Sister was sufficiently ruthless.

Take these two intruders, for example. If one of them managed to severely wound himself while tying Lin Luo down, allowing the other to gain experience points, perhaps no one except Evangeline, who believed in the "Brother Jesus" concept, could withstand it. Even the S A B E Rs’ EX-rank Noble Phantasms… whether they would work was one question; you still needed time to invoke them.

And the twelve Floating Cities plus one Sky City—these were all created by the rules of the world. Under Lin Luo’s consciousness, they possessed a defensive capability far surpassing the rules of creation he himself possessed, impossible even for peak Spirit Rank experts to destroy. They were the world's ultimate defense.

“Did we arrive late?” Tang Jing smiled charmingly, displaying her seductive allure to the fullest. “Indeed. Forcibly traversing the world severely depleted our strength, forcing us to sleep to recover. As a result, you managed to seize this world during that time. However... couldn’t we just take it back once we’ve recovered?”

The woman spoke with casual self-assurance, as if this world were nothing more than a dish on her plate.

Well, this woman was a woman of a Dragon Emperor protagonist... Lin Luo felt pressure +1.

“To steal a world from the hands of the World King—isn't your confidence a bit excessive?”

“It’s your confidence that’s excessive, daring to face the two of us alone after locking away all your Contracted ones... hehe.” Tang Jing smiled slightly, displaying no open hostility, yet radiating considerable killing intent. “Do you truly believe that becoming the World King makes you invincible in this world?”

This woman talks too much nonsense. Her name should be changed to White Bone Spirit.

“If you’re going to fight, hurry up. I’m supposed to have dinner soon... Oh, wait, it’s noon now... We eat dinner at six back home, so we have three hours to play,” Lin Luo glanced down at the fireproof, waterproof, diamond-encrusted watch on his wrist, frowning in displeasure.

“You…” The woman’s face instantly turned ashen with anger, rendering her speechless. The man beside her, however, was direct and decisive, mimicking the tone of Big Brother One Egg: “You are courting death!”

This guy was naturally built like a lumbering brute, like a great ape released from the zoo. With that roar, which sounded like thunder and rushed like a galloping steed, he charged toward Lin Luo like a war chariot, launching a punch.

Boom!

As the punch landed, a deep, thunderous sound resonated through the air, instantly passing through Lin Luo’s body.

“Afterimage?” Li Chen was just about to laugh triumphantly but suddenly sensed something was wrong, as his fist met no solid resistance.

In a flash, the “body” he had just punched through dissipated like smoke, and simultaneously, a danger alarm shrieked behind him.

Li Chen instantaneously retreated to the side with a speed almost rivaling teleportation. Then he saw a plume of black flame shoot past his flank. The faint destructive power leaking from that black flame made his heart clench.

“Be careful, this guy has instant movement abilities. Don't compete with him on mobility, and absolutely do not let that black flame touch you—it’s extremely dangerous.” In that mere instant, Li Chen had discerned some of Lin Luo’s abilities and warned Tang Jing, even as he attacked once more.

Even possessing Creation and Destruction, Lin Luo did not choose to meet this brute head-on. It wasn't fear; pitting Destruction against Brute Strength might not necessarily result in a loss. But strength was clearly not his advantage, so why engage in a head-on clash where the opponent excelled?

When he clearly held the advantage in speed and unpredictability, was there any reason to fight him squarely? Only an idiot would do that.

Therefore, facing Li Chen’s relentlessly fierce attacks, Lin Luo evaded them all using instantaneous movement, retaliating with the Destruction Black Flame at phantom-like speeds.

During the exchange between the two men, Tang Jing remained inactive. Lin Luo knew she was observing his abilities. Even in a two-on-one scenario against opponents of the same rank, they clearly dared not be careless. Just like now, facing this muscular man who looked like a brawler despite his somewhat effeminate name, Lin Luo’s strikes appeared lethal, but both sides held back trump cards.

There are always those who explode and fight desperately from the very beginning, but clearly, neither Lin Luo nor the two before him belonged to that type of warrior. This wasn't street fighting. In battles between rule-level experts, discovering the secret to the opponent's abilities was the key to victory.

Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated—this maxim remained eternally true.

“Speed-type plus lethal-type? This is a bit troublesome,” Tang Jing observed for about two minutes. She had a decent grasp of Lin Luo’s capabilities, but despite calling it troublesome, her expression remained quite relaxed. Two against one, they still held a clear advantage.

While evading the opponent’s attacks, Lin Luo was also meticulously observing the enemy’s abilities. Supernatural Strength didn't just refer to raw power. Similar to Evangeline, every punch Li Chen threw contained power that vibrated space itself—a sign of integrating rules into his being, making it quite difficult to counter.

Fortunately, Lin Luo possessed the Creation Domain. After becoming the World King and gaining the ability to reshape the world, Lin Luo’s Life Rule barely needed analysis; it immediately maxed out at one hundred percent. Moreover, after his 'first experience' with Mikoto yesterday, moving away from the path of a traditional mage, his strength actually climbed another step, breaking past the bottleneck of high-level Spirit Rank and stepping into the peak of the Spirit Rank.

If high-level Spirit Rank meant mastery over rule power, then peak Spirit Rank meant the further refinement of that control, merging the rule into the self to reach a state where the physical body is the rule... However, what Lin Luo couldn't quite comprehend was that Evangeline clearly had already reached this state, so why was she still classified as high-level Spirit Rank?

“Damned fellow, stop scurrying around like a rat!” Li Chen roared in anger. Lin Luo’s speed was the fastest and most bizarre he had ever encountered. Li Chen’s attacks could lock down space, restricting the opponent’s movement, yet Lin Luo seemed completely unaffected, as if he had manufactured a new space within the sealed area, allowing him to move freely. This frustrated Li Chen immensely.

Attacks that couldn't connect were useless, no matter how strong they were.

“Do you think I’m an idiot, standing here to let you hit me?” Lin Luo sneered, his body flickering slightly. The afterimage was instantly shattered, and his true form appeared behind Li Chen, unleashing the Destruction Black Flame again.

If Lin Luo's teleportation frustrated Li Chen, then this black flame was what he guarded against most vigilantly. He could clearly feel the destructive power contained within that black flame; even an expert of his caliber would be in grave danger if hit squarely.

“Hah!”

With a great shout, Li Chen turned and threw a punch. Centered on his fist, space violently convulsed, and the black flame was smashed into dust after less than a second of stalemate... Ten percent of the Destruction power was insufficient, after all.

But that one second was ample time for Lin Luo. He instantly teleported behind his opponent again, unleashing three surges of the Black Flame, aiming them directly at the areas Li Chen was least prepared to defend. Although he didn't intend to use his full strength yet, if an opportunity arose to kill the enemy, he wouldn't pass it up.

However, he was disappointed. Although Li Chen looked like a crude brute, his mind was incredibly sharp. He stomped the ground violently, and the intense spatial fluctuation instantly shattered the black flames. Furthermore, as the ripple spread, it directly sealed the space around Lin Luo.

This guy’s strength increased... Lin Luo immediately became cautious. The surrounding spatial fluctuations were extremely powerful. If he charged directly, his body would undoubtedly be instantly pulverized. At this point, escaping required only space-jumping abilities or forcibly leveling out the vibrating space.

Lin Luo’s Creation Domain was capable of doing both.

Activating his rule power at one hundred percent, Lin Luo forcefully broke the seal and rapidly escaped. But just then, he felt a massive sense of danger in his heart. Instinctively, he wanted to teleport, but it was too late.

“Stone Foot.”

Bang! Accompanied by a sharp pain erupting in his shoulder, Lin Luo saw the triumphant smile of the other enemy—Tang Jing.

This woman had finally made her move... Lin Luo’s expression shifted slightly. Before being ganged up on, he endured the intense pain and instantly moved three hundred meters away.

At that moment, he clearly saw the injury: the entire left half of his shoulder had turned into fragmented rock.

Damn it—one used vibrating power, the other used petrification. Were they cosplaying Whitebeard and Empress Boa Hancock? But their cosplay was lacking; one lacked Haki, and the other lacked bust size.

Lin Luo didn't know how to process this. He used a small fraction of his life force to instantly repair the injury. By the time he did, the two cosplaying figures were attacking him again.

Two against one was indeed a bit troublesome... Lin Luo gritted his teeth, instantly teleported to the main hall entrance, pushed the door open, and rushed inside quickly.

“Trying to run? No way!” Li Chen roared and immediately followed.

“Wait, be careful of traps…” Tang Jing hurriedly called out to stop him, but it was too late. As she spoke, Li Chen had already charged in.

“Damn this reckless fool! This is his turf!” Tang Jing stamped her foot furiously. After a moment of hesitation, she followed, realizing that if Li Chen was defeated, she would be even more isolated and unable to cope.

PS: Lately, my state has been strange, sometimes present, sometimes absent. I wrote fifteen thousand words yesterday, but today I struggle to write three thousand. One day I surge, the next I deflate; it’s maddening. V