Chapter 897: Pre-battle Mobilization

The bodies of the five people involuntarily lifted into the air, flying rapidly toward the black vortex.

Wherever the suction force passed, space was torn into black cracks.

Watching themselves get closer and closer to the abyss, with the remaining Law Origin within their bodies being frantically extracted, their hearts were filled with despair.

They were going to die.

This time, they were truly going to fall completely.

Just as the five flew halfway, with less than ten meters remaining from the vortex, a sudden change occurred.

A brief trace of trance suddenly appeared in Mr. Duan's eyes.

The colors of the entire world faded into grayish-white in that instant.

The flying gravel and fierce wind in mid-air, and even the black devouring vortex, fell into absolute stillness at this moment.

Time was forcibly interfered with.

This trance lasted for less than zero point one seconds.

Mr. Duan came back to his senses, the grayish-white faded, and the colors recovered.

The devouring suction was still operating, but before him was empty space.

Those five people who were about to be sucked into the vortex had long since disappeared.

Mr. Duan's eyebrows slightly raised, and he dispersed the vortex in his hand.

Turning his head to look, those five severely injured people had already appeared high in the air, steadily landing beside Ming Ze.

Silver brilliance radiated around Ming Ze, which was the manifestation of the Law of Time operating to its absolute limit.

Mr. Duan was somewhat surprised.

The opponent had actually forcefully rescued people right out of his hands.

Mr. Duan slowly put away his smile:

"Ming Ze, it seems your time control ability has improved once again."

High above in the air.

The fierce wind swept across the broken ruins of The Eighth World.

Ming Ze hovered in mid-air, his chest rising and falling violently as he panted heavily.

The silver Law of Time brilliance around his body had dimmed to the extreme, and it could extinguish at any moment.

Cold sweat slid down his cheeks, dripping into the abyss below.

Forcibly snatching people away in front of Mr. Duan, an existence who touched the threshold of a Transcendent, consumed a tremendous amount of energy for Ming Ze.

The Law of Time was inherently one of the most tyrannical underlying rules in the Universe, not to mention that what he interfered with was Mr. Duan's Karma.

Having escaped death by the skin of her teeth, Hong Lian's scarlet battle armor was shattered into pieces.

Enduring the excruciating pain of her Origin being torn apart, she stared closely at the tottering Ming Ze ahead.

"Ming Ze… How are you?" Hong Lian's voice carried a rare tremor, her eyes filled with worry.

She knew Ming Ze's personality all too well; if it weren't for reaching his limit, he would never reveal such a weak posture.

Ming Ze did not look back, only slightly raising his exhausted and spasming right hand, waving it with his back to the crowd to signal that he could still hold on.

At this moment, a slight energy fluctuation came from the dead silence of the ruins below.

Holding a black cane, Mr. Duan stepped on the void in mid-air and slowly rose into the sky.

His movements were calm, and the corners of his clothes were not blown up by the fierce wind in the slightest.

In the blink of an eye, Mr. Duan reached the same altitude as Ming Ze and the others.

A suffocating pressure heavily pressed upon everyone's hearts.

Mr. Duan quietly gazed at the pale-faced Ming Ze.

"I almost forgot."

"What you have mastered is, after all, the power of time capable of changing the past and deducing the future."

His hands, wearing snow-white gloves, gently stroked the top of the cane, his gaze revealing inquiry.

"I want to ask you."

"In the future you saw, is there any possibility of your victory?"

As his voice fell, the surrounding air seemed to freeze.

Leize, Fentian, Yan Sui, Bo Ning, Qi Xing, and Hong Lian—everyone's gazes were locked tightly onto Ming Ze.

They held their breath.

They urgently wanted to hear even a one-in-ten-thousand chance of hope from Ming Ze's mouth.

However, facing Mr. Duan's interrogation and the expectant gazes of his comrades, Ming Ze did not hesitate and calmly shook his head.

"Teacher."

"Your future is unpredictable and unobservable."

"You have already jumped out of the underlying logic of this Universe; the long river of time is completely a void of mist upon you."

"All I can do is change the past."

"Just now, in order to save them…"

"I tried time backtracking more than 1,500 times before I finally succeeded once."

As soon as these words were spoken, the entire audience fell into dead silence.

"What?!"

Leize suddenly widened his eyes.

"O—Over 1,500 times?!"

Bo Ning at the side drew a sharp breath, his scalp tingling.

As an expert most proficient in Mental Energy and data analysis, Bo Ning knew all too well what this meant.

The rule backlash of a brief time backtracking was enough to grind an SSS-Rank Expert into nothingness.

Yet Ming Ze had forcibly reversed time more than 1,500 times in that very instant!

Qi Xing opened his mouth wide, blankly looking at Ming Ze's thin back.

"You lunatic…" Qi Xing muttered to himself.

He finally understood why Ming Ze said there was a 99% failure rate.

In that past instant, Ming Ze had already witnessed them being obliterated by Mr. Duan more than 1,500 times with his own eyes.

Every single backtracking meant watching his comrades die miserably and enduring the agonizing pain of his Soul being torn apart.

No wonder he looked so exhausted.

Looking at the shocked expressions of the crowd, there was no mockery on Mr. Duan's face; instead, a trace of appreciation revealed itself.

He nodded slightly, his tone sincere:

"Ming Ze, you are the most satisfactory student I have ever taught."

"I have said these words before, and now, it remains the same."

Mr. Duan gently spun the cane in his hand.

"Being able to rescue people right out of my hands, you are already worthy of being proud of this."

A fatal trap set by a Transcendent.

Ming Ze being able to achieve this was enough to prove that his attainment in the Law of Time had reached the Peak of the current world.

Mr. Duan changed the subject, his tone turning cold once again.

"What do you plan to do next?"

"Some endings, once determined, are of no avail no matter how many times you change the past."

"The chasm of strength cannot be bridged simply by backtracking time."

Ming Ze did not retort, silently nodding.

"Teacher, I understand."

"But all of us were brought up by you."

Looking straight at Mr. Duan, Ming Ze said word by word, "We have never voluntarily conceded defeat."

Even if the winning rate was zero, the warriors of The Eighth World would never stretch out their necks to be slaughtered.

"Please give us a little time."

Ming Ze bowed slightly, his tone calm.

"I will hold a pre-battle mobilization meeting for them."

Looking at the student he had personally trained right before him, Mr. Duan did not get angry nor did he make a move.

He slightly raised his right hand and waved it, signaling them to do as they pleased.

For a Transcendent who controlled absolute power, he had sufficient patience.

After obtaining permission, Ming Ze turned around and looked at Leize, Fentian, Yan Sui, Bo Ning, Qi Xing, and Hong Lian behind him.

These six top experts were covered in blood at this moment, their auras listless, but their gazes remained burning hot.

"Everyone."

Ming Ze's gaze swept across every familiar face, his voice not loud.

"Do you still remember the words I instructed you with?"

Looking at Ming Ze, the crowd did not hesitate in the slightest and heavily nodded. For this battle, they had long been prepared to be smashed to pieces.

Looking at the resolute expressions of his comrades, Ming Ze raised his trembling hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead. On his customarily stern face, a rare smile appeared.

"If there is still a new world in the future."

Ming Ze looked at them and softly said.

"I hope everyone will meet again in the new world."

Hearing these words, Hong Lian's tears burst from her eyes, sliding down her face covered in blood and filth. She stared intently at Ming Ze's pale face.

"If we reach the new world, I will definitely remember you."

Hong Lian's voice carried a thick nasal tone, yet it was exceptionally domineering. "At that time, you must not forget me!"

At this final moment, she finally cast aside her disguise.

However, facing Hong Lian's entrustment, Ming Ze was slightly stunned, and then honestly shook his head.

"That's hard to say."