Heaven-Shattering Collision

Rumble!!!

A terrifying shockwave spread from space to Earth. The sheer force of it even affected Earth’s orbit; both its revolution and rotation began to stagnate, and the Solar System’s orbital balance was shattered.

On Earth, tides surged. On the Sun, sunspots erupted, and solar winds swept forth wildly. Countless ultraviolet rays, electromagnetic waves, alpha rays, and gamma rays burst out in a frenzy. At this moment, the natural disasters Earth suffered surpassed all the disasters it had endured over the past century combined.

The orbits of the Moon, Mars, Venus, and Mercury were all affected, deviating from their original paths. The planets’ trajectories throughout the Solar System were severely disrupted.

In the void of space, Xiao Hen and Thanos, exposed to countless stellar and cosmic rays, remained completely unaffected. Both watched each other with solemn expressions, while everything around them seemed nonexistent.

"Not bad power!" Xiao Hen said.

"You too. But the Infinity Stones are not something you can lay your hands on!" Thanos said in a deep voice.

"The victor becomes king. You haven’t defeated me yet!" Xiao Hen said. "I’ve coveted the Infinity Gauntlet in your hand for a long time!" He stared at the Gauntlet on Thanos’s left hand. It was the Infinity Gauntlet, and two Stones had already been embedded in it: the Soul Stone and the Reality Stone.

So this is the power granted by the Infinity Stones? It really is formidable! From the power Thanos had displayed earlier, Xiao Hen could tell that his attacks beyond his own innate strength came from the Reality Stone and the Soul Stone. Under normal circumstances, using the power of the Infinity Stones was extremely difficult. Simply drawing out their power required immense mental effort, making it impossible to use them in battle against an expert like Xiao Hen. Yet the Infinity Gauntlet could accomplish it.

"You know nothing about the power of the Infinity Stones. Only I have the ability to possess them!" Thanos sneered coldly and clenched his fists. The two Stones on the Infinity Gauntlet on his left hand flickered faintly.

"The Infinity Stones are six singularities born when this universe came into being. They possess the universe’s fundamental power. My understanding of the Infinity Stones is no less than yours!" Xiao Hen said. That was how the films had explained the origins of the Infinity Stones, and according to his research, the powers held by the six Stones truly were the foundational elements of the universe: reality, soul, power, mind, space, and time.

"Heh!" Thanos chuckled darkly. "Looks like you’ve done quite a bit of research on the Infinity Stones!"

"But do you know what happened before this universe was born? Do you know Galactus of the Five Elders?" Thanos asked with a low laugh.

"Galactus?" Xiao Hen raised his brows. Before coming to the Marvel Universe, he had looked up information on Galactus. Galactus was the sole survivor of the previous universe before this one was born, the eldest of the Five Elders. Setting aside strength, his seniority alone made him the oldest. As for power, Infinity should have been the strongest.

"The origins of the Infinity Stones? Hehehe… You know nothing, yet you want to collect the Infinity Stones! How laughable!" Thanos sneered coldly. He said no more, clenched his left fist, and stomped his foot. He was already before Xiao Hen, punching down with such ferocity that heaven and earth trembled.

"This punch…"

Xiao Hen’s expression changed.

Before him was no longer Thanos, but the entire world. As Thanos’s fist came down, countless planets and meteorites appeared throughout the cosmic void, along with innumerable tailed meteors. There were even planets and stars gleaming with destructive light. All of them crashed toward Xiao Hen at once.

"This power… the Reality Stone… altering physical reality!"

Xiao Hen’s thoughts stirred, and he immediately understood how this attack had formed.

The Reality Stone could alter reality and reverse the process through which physical matter formed. It was essentially a gemstone-shaped mass-energy converter. As long as there was energy, it could convert matter without limit. If paired with the Power Stone, it could use infinite energy for mass-energy conversion, creating matter from nothing. Combined with the Mind Stone and Soul Stone, it could even create life. Add the Time Stone and Space Stone, and creating a universe would be no problem.

"The Infinity Stones, the foundation of the universe!"

Xiao Hen sighed, and the Divine Power within him finally ceased to conceal itself, erupting at full force.

Boom!!!

Endless light burst from Xiao Hen’s body. The limitless Divine Energy that erupted shattered every attack, while the frenzied shockwave destroyed everything in its path.

"Ugh…"

Thanos’s body was blasted backward, sent flying more than a hundred thousand kilometers away by the terrifying Divine Energy Impact.

"This power…" Thanos’s expression changed. All his attacks had failed, and the power his opponent displayed had exceeded his expectations. This guy had actually been concealing even greater strength.

"Perhaps my understanding of the Infinity Stones is not as deep as yours, but…" Xiao Hen’s appearance had changed. He became a perfect being like a Main God Avatar, rather than the form he had possessed in his mortal days. His long black hair was bound behind his head by a silver-white circlet. Purple patterns were imprinted on his white robe, shaped like a flower—the Emperor’s Flower from the legends of the Kroatia civilization. His bare feet were completely uncovered, and his entire being seemed incomparably sacred and lofty.

"You changed your appearance? The energy fluctuations around you have also grown much stronger… So you really were hiding your strength." Thanos’s eyes flickered, but his expression remained unchanged. He clenched both fists tightly as the two Stones on the Infinity Gauntlet flashed erratically.

"…but when it comes to wielding power, you are still far behind!" As Xiao Hen spoke, he threw a punch through the air. Invisible force traveled through space, causing the entire cosmic void to tremble. Then, that trembling power converged upon Thanos’s location and struck directly at the space he occupied.

"Defense!"

Thanos raised his hand to block. The space around him immediately transformed as countless types of the hardest metals, whether known or unknown in the universe, appeared to shield him from the terrifying blow.

Screech… Crack, crack, crack…

The sound of incomparably hard metal tearing rang out. The metal sphere surrounding Thanos, over a hundred kilometers in diameter, was ripped apart in an instant, revealing his figure within as ripples of space came crashing toward him.

"Break for me!"

Thanos roared furiously. The spatial ripples before him shattered like broken mirrors. Xiao Hen’s strike had failed.

"I’m far behind when it comes to wielding power?" Thanos snorted coldly, stepped forward, and pointed with his left hand.

"Soul Annihilation!"

The Soul Stone’s power activated. An entirely invisible force surged forth, and Xiao Hen felt his whole body tighten. Perhaps it was not a physical sensation, but discomfort originating from his soul. An invisible force had bound his soul, a force that acted only upon the soul itself. His soul was directly attacked, and even the Mind Stone’s protection had failed to take effect. The Mind Stone could only protect his mind and soul from contamination and control, while this attack from the soul level was even more powerful. It directly targeted the most core and most vulnerable level of a person, making it impossible to resist.

"A soul attack? The Soul Stone’s power?" Xiao Hen’s expression turned grave. This attack could be said to be the force most capable of threatening him. The Soul Stone’s power could even affect all living beings across the entire Marvel Universe, its range exceedingly vast. Humans and other living creatures had no way to make their defenses against the soul perfect; they could only passively endure this terrifying threat.

"But I am different!" Xiao Hen shouted coldly. "Divine Power!"

Countless strands of Divine Power within him were instantly consumed, producing a strange force that immediately protected his soul. Xiao Hen’s soul had always been incomparably powerful; even the Soul Stone could not instantly destroy it. Now, under the protection of Divine Power, even the Soul Stone could not annihilate it in an instant.

"Time!"

Xiao Hen’s eyes widened. Time and space froze. Everything in the cosmic void came to a halt. Earth stopped rotating and revolving. The Sun stopped radiating its own light and heat. Countless rays and particles in the void froze motionlessly along their paths. Everything stopped. This was not merely the power of the Main Godhead and Chrono-Spatial Divine Blood, but also the power of the Time Stone. Time had stopped, and everything within space had stopped with it.

"Everything should end now!"

Xiao Hen stepped before Thanos and looked at the Infinity Gauntlet on his hand, as well as the two Infinity Stones embedded within it. A smile appeared on his face as he reached out to claim the fruits of victory.