With this punch delivered, the middle-aged man, who was still laughing and drinking, was instantly blasted away. He flew a dozen meters in mid-air before crashing into a stone pillar in the center of the town. With a resounding boom, the entire pillar shattered under the impact of his body, burying him beneath countless fragments of stone.

The surroundings immediately fell silent. Men mid-sip had ale dribbling from their mouths; servers halfway through pouring drinks spilled them onto the tables; even a young boy mid-tinkle... kept going.

However, after a brief moment of stunned silence, cries of astonishment erupted all around. The magical world and the mundane world are somewhat different; brawls between mages or warriors are common occurrences here, so the onlookers were hardly fazed. They glanced from the young man still standing in the street, his fist not yet retracted, to the middle-aged man utterly buried in rubble, seemingly anticipating what would happen next.

Crash!

Suddenly, a sound echoed from the pile of rubble. A hand reached out from beneath, and then, with a mighty thud, the tall, imposing, hulking uncle rose up from the debris. The crowd gasped, realizing that despite suffering such a blow, the man appeared entirely unharmed.

"As expected of a 'Wolf Mercenary Swordsman.' Though I didn't use my full strength in that last punch—it would have been fatal to a First-Class Warrior—you remain completely unscathed. You truly are a bug," the black-haired youth standing there sighed. This was naturally Lin Luo.

"Hmm?" The man, perhaps still groggy from the alcohol or stunned by the impact, tilted his head, resting a hand on his chin in confusion. "Who are you? You struck me? Have I disciplined someone in the past who has come back for revenge?"

"No, no." Lin Luo scratched his head, seemingly unsure how to explain. Finally, he spread his hands. "Well, I didn't actually intend to hit you. But the moment I saw you, for some inexplicable reason, I just felt like I had to... If you’re looking for a reason, I honestly don't have one. Just assume I picked a fight with you."

Hearing this, the surrounding crowd couldn't help but look awkward. Is anyone this unreasonable?

The uncle across from him also froze, but immediately burst into laughter. "Hahahaha! Interesting, very interesting! That's right, fighting needs no reason. A man just swings his fist and attacks!"

"I like you!" Saying this, he suddenly exerted force beneath his feet and charged forward. In an instant, he was before Lin Luo, unleashing a domineering punch that assaulted Lin Luo with an overwhelmingly heavy pressure.

Bang! Fists collided, meeting with a tremendous boom. The intense shockwave instantly blew nearby tables and chairs away, scattering liquor bottles everywhere. Even Lin Luo himself was thrown back by the impact, only managing to plant his feet after flying several meters, digging a two-meter-long gouge in the ground before finally stabilizing himself.

This guy!

Lin Luo was greatly astonished inwardly. He knew Lakhan was a 'bug,' but truly engaging with him revealed just how exaggerated this 'bug' status was. His own punch, although not at full power, utilized a portion of Regulated Force combined with innate divine strength, yet it was still inferior to the brute force of his opponent!

He swore that among everyone he had ever encountered, no one could match Lakhan in sheer physical resilience. Even Li Chen, who possessed the Book of Strength, was far inferior. Lakhan was truly unrivaled in this regard... Of course, great beings like Gui Qu Lai Xi were another matter, as Lin Luo still couldn't assign a definitive power level to Gui Qu Lai Xi.

Although Lakhan gained the upper hand in that exchange, he didn't follow up. Instead, he stood his ground, nodding with satisfaction. "Not bad. You are the only person in the last ten years who could take one of my punches without falling. Hah, this is getting interesting."

"Me too," Lin Luo nodded, stretching his slightly numb body and loosening his joints as he spoke. "Since I have the time now, let's have a proper spar. Perhaps someone from your magical world might even be of some use to me."

Lin Luo needed to analyze the other half of the world's rules. Honestly, using conventional methods, fully deciphering them in such a short time would likely be impossible. This place was different from the reality world; without the aid of the Book of Origin, his state was comparable to the Moon World. But he didn't want to wait that long, as the Creator was already making moves, and there was no telling when he might appear. Battling super-strong individuals among the native inhabitants of the magical world might actually force a breakthrough.

However, looking around, Lin Luo couldn't help but frown.

Although the buildings on this street were relatively spread out, and the main avenue was seven or eight meters wide, the onlookers were enthusiastically and boldly gathering at a distance. After all, they had witnessed countless fights between First-Class experts, and this street could comfortably accommodate a duel between two of them. But!

Lin Luo and Lakhan were far more than mere First-Class experts. If the two truly fought without restraint, not only this street but perhaps the entire city would be flattened.

Lin Luo had certainly killed many people up to this point, even slaughtering nearly a thousand in the Edilul Garden, earning him the title King of Slaughter. But those people deserved to die. He wasn't so insane as to disregard the lives of ordinary, uninvolved bystanders. If these spectators were ruined because of his fight with Lakhan, it would be a sin.

"This place isn't expansive enough for what we need. Let's change locations," Lin Luo said to the uncle opposite him, then shot abruptly towards the sky. He recalled there was an ancient ruin nearby; it would serve perfectly as a battlefield.

Moments later, Lin Luo found the ancient ruin. It was vast and the terrain quite open. He descended immediately, and just as his feet touched the ground, a boom sounded behind him as the certain 'bug man' also landed.

"This place allows us to fight with full power," Lin Luo turned around and said to the man before him with a smile.

"Not bad, not bad. So you know this place too," Lakhan laughed heartily, clearly feeling exhilarated at the moment.

Lin Luo felt the same. Fighting an opponent of Lakhan's caliber head-on using only Creation Rules and physical strength would be troublesome, as Lakhan's resilience had reached the point of shattering rules with pure force—the only person Lin Luo had seen achieve this so far. But precisely because of this, it was interesting. He needed to analyze world rules, and mastering their application was essential.

To be precise, Jack Lakhan was not a genius. He was merely an ordinary human who started as a weak slave and experienced countless life-and-death battles. It was through overcoming desperation and crisis time and again that he became the current Undying Man, the hero of a Thousand Blades.

In Lin Luo's view, fighting someone like this was far more beneficial than fighting geniuses. The experience accumulated from those countless mortal struggles was the most precious wealth such a person possessed—experience that Lin Luo acutely lacked.

Although both were prepared, neither made the first move. Lin Luo studied his opponent. Though Lakhan stood there looking ordinary, seemingly full of openings, Lin Luo knew that anyone who dared to attack rashly would be instantly crushed into a pancake.

An ultimate striver like Lakhan would never have any actual flaws. Even Lin Luo's very first punch hadn't gone unnoticed by him; it was simply ignored.

"What's wrong, brat? Aren't you going to attack? Are you waiting for this old man to charge you?" Lakhan spoke with immense authority, then pointed to himself. "If so, I won't be polite."

Lakhan was indeed not polite. Before he finished speaking, he drew a card from his person—the Contract Item Card. "Ad Adat!" Instantly, a hundred greatswords materialized behind him, several of which were impossibly huge. "The Hero with a Thousand Faces!"

"Let's test this first... Ultimate Skill—Shipbreaker Sword!" Lakhan laughed, leaping up, and from the pile, he drew an exceedingly exaggerated colossal sword, hurling it down fiercely.

Lin Luo instantly narrowed his eyes. The Lakhan before him was clearly more formidable than the version Alp copied during the Martial Arts Tournament. That was evident just from the oppressive atmosphere surrounding the descending greatsword—it was like a meteor crashing down... Then again, people constantly improve. Yesterday's self should always be surpassed by today's.

"Interesting," Lin Luo chuckled, extending his right hand backward. A long, white spear instantly appeared in his grip. Without waiting for the massive sword to land, he violently threw the spear upward.

Boom!

Although in terms of sheer size, the spear was far inferior to the greatsword, it did not yield an inch in the collision, completely blocking the giant blade... When the enemy is strong, I am stronger—this is the might of Regulated Force!

"Since you brought out your hero, I might as well play something interesting..." Ignoring the clash between the spear and sword in mid-air, Lin Luo looked up at his opponent above and spread both hands wide. "Apologies, Golden Flash, but I'll be the King of Heroes this time! Come forth, Gate of Babylon!"

Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish...

In an instant, hundreds of weapons appeared behind Lin Luo: spears, swords, sabers, axes—any cold weapon that had ever appeared in warfare could be found here, each radiating an incredibly powerful aura.

This was, of course, not the true Gate of Babylon, but Lin Luo had witnessed the real Gate of Babylon and contended against it; creating a similar projection was certainly achievable.

"Oh!" Even Lakhan became serious upon seeing the Gate of Babylon. Just from the radiating aura, he could sense that every single weapon was capable of contending with his Hero, and some were even ultimate weapons superior to his Hero.

At this moment, his body trembled—not from fear, but from excitement.

"Fascinating! Too fascinating! The Hero with a Thousand Faces... Unparalleled—Shipbreaker Sword!"

As if splitting heaven and earth, a hundred colossal swords plunged downward simultaneously.

"Gate of Babylon—Hero Cleaver!"

At the very same time, the hundreds of weapons behind Lin Luo pierced toward the sky with the momentum of piercing the sun and moon!