Chapter 1044 - Everyone Has Elders

Multiple elemental Jurisdiction energies poured from Di Bin’s body, blending into Chaos Energy that radiated outward with crushing pressure.

Han Wu could feel it. If he didn’t bring out his real trump cards, he would die under Di Bin’s next assault.

He activated the Minute Hand.

Time froze. Everything in range became locked in stasis for one minute, including Di Bin at the edge of the effect. Di Bin couldn’t move, but his consciousness kept working. As he fought against the interrupted flow of time with raw willpower, the timer began draining at an abnormal rate. One minute quickly shrank to thirty seconds.

If Han Wu did nothing, the timer would simply continue to drain abnormally fast.

“Omniversal!” Han Wu cried, invoking his genetic ability.

Omniversal layered onto the Minute Hand and stabilized the time flow, though it only bought him those thirty seconds back. There was no time for hesitation. He had to kill Di Bin.

Although he regarded it as wasteful, he unleashed the Skull Guillotine, which locked onto both Di Bin and Di Hong. The Destruction Clan’s pure bloodline had boosted its Deathblow debuff chance to 35%.

Despite the decently high chance of inflicting the debuff, luck wasn’t on his side this time. The 35% triggered only on Di Hong, the weaker target, annihilating him instantly in both body and soul. Di Bin, the real threat, was untouched.

There were twenty seconds left. Running was pointless. He couldn’t escape Di Bin’s range in twenty seconds. So, Han Wu charged forward instead with his Divine Authority greatsword in hand and hacked at Di Bin in a frenzy.

The sword’s 5% Deathblow chance was his only hope. Unfortunately, the actual trigger rate lowered when used against a higher-ranked life form. He struck Di Bin over a hundred times in twenty seconds, but not once did it trigger.

After lasting through the stasis, Di Bin’s Chaos Energy exploded outward and blasted Han Wu away.

Di Bin immediately checked on Di Hong. His son was beyond saving. The Skull Guillotine had severed his Life Energy and obliterated his soul. No resurrection technique in existence could bring him back.

“You killed my son! I’ll bury all of you alongside him!” Di Bin went berserk. All his restraint vanished, and he released all of his Chaos Energy.

Steely and the Origin of Mutation leaped in to buy Han Wu time. Steely’s Second Hand had a wide range, but its duration was short. Meanwhile, the Origin of Mutation’s Hour Hand lasted ‌longer, but its radius was too small. Neither could get close to Di Bin through his Chaos Energy.

Moreover, without Han Wu’s Omniversal to reinforce their time abilities, even a successful stasis wouldn’t hold at normal speed. The two of them failed.

The Great Dragons rallied behind Silver Dragon King Erebard as the latter unleashed its Chaos Jurisdiction embryo and tried to match Di Bin’s Chaos Energy head-on. But the gap was too wide. Even with the strength of the Great Dragons and the number advantage, they couldn’t neutralize his Chaos Energy.

Bow God Bart burned his own Life Energy to tear open a passage behind Di Bin. Dark Locust dove through and Self Detonated, but its dark-attribute explosion didn’t even scratch Di Bin. Mere Dark Energy without a jurisdiction couldn’t break through Chaos Energy woven from multiple Jurisdictions.

Every attempt failed. Han Wu was running out of options and hope.

Di Bin advanced on Han Wu, his Chaos Energy brushing aside every Subcosm attack in his path.

“Die!” he roared, reaching for Han Wu’s throat.

His fingers were inches from Han Wu’s neck when a lethal chill struck from behind. Di Bin dodged on pure instinct, barely avoiding a killing blow.

Then, two figures materialized behind Han Wu.

One radiated chilly death while the other radiated warmth. Han Wu spun around to see the Wisdom God King and the Death God King.

“Sir, how did you...” Han Wu stammered before realizing this was like the Wealth God King’s doing. Xu Hai and the Death God King wouldn’t have arrived so soon otherwise.

Han Wu’s assumption was correct. Zhao Zihong was a merchant who honored contracts and respected the rules. As a merchant, however, he couldn’t personally intervene against Di Bin without damaging the Wealth Faction’s interests.

When Di Bin appeared, Zhao Zihong dispatched the Commerce God King and Sun Qingnian to call for reinforcements, then open a priority passage to get them into the arena. This way, it looked like the Wisdom God King and the Death God King had acted on their own. Even if Di Bin complained later on, Zhao Zihong could deflect all responsibility.

“Relax. Your mentor and the Death God King have your back,” Xu Hai said, placing a hand on Han Wu’s shoulder.

Di Bin sensed both God Kings’ auras but felt no fear. Xu Hai’s pressure was Subcosm rank at best and was a minor threat. Only the Death God King radiated a pressure that matched his own.

If the Death God King intervened, killing Han Wu would come at a serious cost. It wasn’t something he wished to risk, but the fact of his son’s death was undeniable, and the situation was beyond negotiation. In his mind, Han Wu had to die to avenge his son.

“This boy killed my son. The blood debt demands blood. I advise you not to interfere, lest you damage the relationship between the Death Faction and the Chaos Clan,” Di Bin said. The implicit threat in his words was clear. If they protected Han Wu, the Chaos Clan would become their enemy.

The Death God King understood the stakes. The Death Faction was the Divine Civilization’s second-most powerful faction, but reclusive families had more power than most knew.

If the Divine Civilization was a tree, factions were the canopy and the reclusive families were the roots. Nobody knew how deep or how far those roots spread.

The Death God King knew he was only the strongest being on paper in the Divine Civilization. There were undoubtedly even more powerful beings hidden among the shadows of the reclusive families and clans.

Di Bin was one of them. His threat potentially carried enough weight to destroy the Death Faction entirely.

After mulling it over, the Death God King said, “I understand the pain of losing a son, and I respect the Chaos Clan’s strength.”

Di Bin smiled. Without the Death God King in his way, Han Wu was a dead man. Di Bin could simply kill anyone else who tried to interfere.

Then the Death God King’s tone shifted. “But everyone has elders, don’t they? Han Wu is my Holy Son. His life is mine to protect, and today I will protect him.”