What a marvelous feeling.

Overwhelming power brought with it overwhelmingly satisfying results.

Kanzaki Rei glanced at his right hand.

That hand gripped the battle spear, its tip hanging lightly and pointing toward the sea below.

His clash with those two monsters had taken only two moves from start to finish.

It could hardly even be called a battle.

It had been a completely one-sided slaughter.

Their senses had been unable to detect him, because the range of Kanzaki Rei’s Sea of Mana far exceeded the range of their perception. And Unsolvable Mystery provided the perfect concealment.

This world was vastly different from the cultivation novels of Earth.

Every powerhouse had weaknesses of their own.

It was extremely difficult to become a truly flawless all-around combatant.

If a mage were caught completely unprepared, even an Eighth-Tier mage could be assassinated by a Sixth-Tier assassin.

Warriors had short attack range. As long as your speed exceeded theirs and your attack range was greater, defeating them was easy.

The same principle applied not only to Class Holders, but to monsters as well.

Every one of them had weaknesses.

And monsters, in particular, often had weaknesses that were obvious at a glance.

Killing them became a simple matter.

Strike their weak points.

Prevent their regeneration.

Attack before they even realized they needed to defend.

That was all.

The overwhelming majority of monsters and humans did not possess the absurd regenerative ability that Kanzaki Rei had.

Humans and monsters alike—

If they were killed, they died.

"Really is effortless."

"So what level does my strength actually count as now?"

Killing Eighth-Tier monsters was now as easy as eating and drinking.

But if he were truly forced to face a Ninth-Tier Class Holder... or an actual god...

He still felt a trace of helplessness.

"Whatever. Next one."

Tap.

Kanzaki Rei took a single step.

And instantly appeared atop the head of a colossal black turtle that was opening its gigantic maw, preparing to swallow an entire continent whole.

Not every Eighth-Tier monster was humanoid.

The one before him stretched hundreds of millions of kilometers in length.

Simply by opening its mouth, it could devour a continent on the scale of Loren in one bite.

Kanzaki Rei hovered above its head.

The creature’s perception swept over him in an instant.

"Hu... man?"

Rumble!

It seemed to immediately sense the threat he posed.

Almost instantly, every plate on its shell snapped upright.

Each plate bore spiral-like patterns, and those patterns emitted beams directed at Kanzaki Rei.

Kanzaki Rei felt a slight tremor in his Sea of Consciousness.

But only a slight tremor.

In front of him, hundreds of Seventh-Tier mental defense spells had already appeared.

The translucent magical shields rippled softly, blocking all real damage.

For a monster that looked like a pure defensive specialist—

Its opening move was a mental attack.

A truly insidious tactic.

Unfortunately, Final Perception neutralized all surprise attacks.

At the very least, direct sneak attacks were completely ineffective against Kanzaki Rei.

And the moment he saw that attack—

Countless inspirations were born in his mind.

The scene before him seemed indescribably beautiful.

Where did that beauty come from?

Perhaps...

It was simply the beauty of approaching the Dao.

"Haha, excellent!"

A surge of exhilaration filled his heart.

Then Kanzaki Rei brought his palms together in a single clap.

"So that’s how it is..."

Whoosh!

At that same instant, the Kanzaki Rei within his Sea of Consciousness also opened his eyes.

Previously, when his physical body moved, he did not turn inward to observe his Sea of Consciousness.

And when he did observe his Sea of Consciousness, his physical body could only perform simple actions.

"Spirit and flesh as one. Spirit and flesh as one."

"It isn’t merely the union of body and soul—it’s the complete synchronization of mind and body!"

Kanzaki Rei raised one hand.

He looked downward.

And at that moment, the space in his eyes was no longer limited to the physical world.

He saw another, deeper layer of reality.

The space of the mind.

And space did not stop there...

Kick.

Pierce.

Cleave.

Descend.

All the secret warrior techniques he had learned resurfaced in his mind, each vastly enhancing the effects of every type of attack.

But that was still far from enough.

Now everything fused together.

Mountains were no longer mountains.

Water was no longer water.

And the monster below him was no longer merely a monster.

Another enlightenment.

Azure Dao — Second Form: Dissect All Things

His hand descended like a blade.

Boom!

The strike landed on the giant turtle’s head.

And within the Sea of Consciousness, a miniature figure appeared inside the turtle’s own Sea of Consciousness and delivered the exact same strike.

If a sufficiently powerful observer had been present—

They would have seen incomprehensible slashes descending upon the turtle across layer after layer of reality.

And then—

A fissured beam of light spread rapidly from the turtle’s head throughout its entire body.

It was not that matter first existed in the physical world and then projected different manifestations into different layers of reality.

Rather—

Those manifestations across countless layers of reality combined together to form the being that existed in the material world.

To attack only in the physical world was shallow.

True attack should shatter its shell.

Destroy its mind.

Pierce its spatial existence.

Disrupt its time.

Annihilate its mana.

Azure Dao — Second Form: Dissect All Things

This technique had evolved from Azure Sky Style — Second Form: Shatter.

Its armor-breaking effect was already supreme.

And after ascending into a Dao Technique—

It should be capable of piercing every defense in the world.

Crack.

The shell split apart.

Layer after layer.

The destructive ripple coursed through the giant turtle’s body without losing even the slightest amount of force.

With a single strike, its very thoughts were shattered.

It could not even summon the desire to retaliate.

Its shell simply began to disintegrate.

There were likely millions of weak points throughout its body.

But its size was simply too vast.

Even targeting those weak points might not have caused meaningful damage.

And in a prolonged battle, it would have regenerated.

A monster with such overwhelming defenses should never have been defeated so easily.

But Kanzaki Rei’s strike had pierced every single weak point simultaneously.

It shattered every vulnerable spot at once.

In just ten minutes, the colossal turtle completely disintegrated and sank beneath the sea.

Throughout those ten minutes, Kanzaki Rei held an entire continent aloft in one hand.

This was the very continent the turtle had nearly swallowed.

There were still living humans upon it.

When the turtle had fully fallen apart—

And all dust had settled—

Kanzaki Rei gently set the continent back onto the black sea.

"So this is... Manifestation of Myriad Daos."

From a single casual battle, his thoughts had traveled from the mind to the Sea of Consciousness, from the Sea of Consciousness to countless layers of space.

By linking all of those realizations together in an instant, his combat technique had effortlessly evolved into a Dao Technique.

With a single strike, he had slain a turtle monster that specialized in defense.

"And now... the next one."

Kanzaki Rei absorbed the insight for a moment, then turned around.

Tens of millions of kilometers away, two Eighth-Tier monsters had sensed the disturbance and were racing toward him at tremendous speed.

But before they could even approach—

A pair of pale human hands came to rest on both of their shoulders.

"Oh?"

"So concerned about your comrades?"

...

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