Chapter 394: Ten Seconds of Energy

The High Priest finally seized this opportunity to activate his Devouring superpower, as if seeing the dawn of victory. 

For Jiang Li, daily activities were cultivation itself. After reaching the Mahayana Stage, he grew stronger every second without pause.

But now, Jiang Li had stopped growing stronger.

One second, two seconds, three seconds…

Time ticked by as Jiang Li realized with shock that after being hit by the High Priest’s Devouring superpower, his continuous growth had halted!

For ten full seconds, he didn’t get stronger at all!

While Jiang Li was merely shocked, the High Priest was terrified.

Previously when using this power, absorbing others’ energy had been like sipping water through a straw – effortless and complete.

But absorbing from Jiang Li was like trying to drink from concrete through that same straw – even with his brain starving for oxygen, he only managed to inhale a few scattered dust particles.

What terrified him more was that while others’ energy resembled a cup of water, Jiang Li’s energy was an unfathomable abyss deeper than any ocean.

After recovering from multiple personality disorder, the High Priest had developed depression, thalassophobia, and other mental conditions.

Absorbing Jiang Li’s energy nearly triggered his deep-sea phobia!

This created a bizarre equilibrium – Jiang Li kept generating power while the High Priest absorbed exactly that new growth, making it seem Jiang Li had stopped progressing.

Unable to fully devour Jiang Li, after ten seconds the High Priest reached his limit and stopped.

He rejoiced internally – these ten seconds’ worth could elevate all his superpowers by another tier, reaching the seventh level!

But soon the High Priest realized his greed – he couldn’t possibly contain this energy!

His body turned crimson, swelling uncontrollably as chaotic forces rampaged through him. Even using all his healing powers couldn’t stop this torment – it felt like being eternally crushed by a truck, revived, then crushed again.

The overwhelming energy erupted from the High Priest’s mouth.

He originally intended to attack Jiang Li with it, but the energy surged out uncontrollably, forcing him to tilt his head back helplessly.

A vibrant azure beam shot skyward, brighter than the midday sun itself.

Just as sunlight obscures the stars, this energy outshone the sun, dimming its radiance.

The entire Vegu Continent witnessed this phenomenon, with countless people gazing upward in awe, taking photos. Astronomers wanted to gouge their eyes out rather than acknowledge this physics-defying spectacle.

This would overturn all of astronomy!

Normally when superpowers were exposed, the director’s first instinct was damage control. This time, his first reaction was “Holy shit!”

Concealing this was impossible.

First, the phenomenon was too blatant – anyone with eyes could see it.

Second, even if they claimed it was superpower-related, the public would never believe it.

“The High Priest is this powerful?!” The director shuddered, assuming this was the High Priest’s ultimate technique.

The horror continued as the blue beam pierced the atmosphere without weakening, detonating any star it touched.

Astronomers wanted to bang their heads to forget this sight.

How could they explain this? A linear black hole?

The unluckiest was a graduate student whose thesis on a particular planet’s orbit – after a year of observations and data collection, right before his defense – now had no planet to study.

After exhausting the ten-second energy reserve, the beam shrank from a line to a segment, continuing along its trajectory until colliding with the dimensional barriers near Vegu Continent.

Breaking through, it persisted briefly in the void storm before dissipating.

Astronomers recorded this first-ever observation of their universe’s boundary, though it contradicted existing theories, leaving them scratching their heads for new explanations.

Bai Hongtu realized he needed to revise his plans to defeat Jiang Li.

Against such absurd attacks, even Mind Reading would be useless: “Could I even break Jiang Li’s defenses?”

The High Priest looked at Jiang Li with pure terror instead of fighting spirit.

What kind of being could possess such vast energy?

Even one-tenth of that power would be horrifying enough.

“M-monster…” The High Priest trembled uncontrollably.

He finally understood – just as he’d been toying with the director, this Jiang Li had been toying with him.

Against such an entity, only one method remained.

“Banishment to Alternate Space!”

Using this power for the first time, he had no idea if it would work.

Jiang Li felt everything slow down and immediately recognized the phenomenon.

Someone was employing the Dao of Time to access the River of Time.

Banishment wasn’t spatial – it was temporal.

“But where’s the entrance?” Releasing his spiritual sense, Jiang Li searched eagerly – entering the River of Time would be worth the trip.

Finally he detected a needle-sized breach nearby.

The High Priest, unfamiliar with this power’s mechanics and unable to see the temporal rift, simply poured all his energy into making Jiang Li disappear.

With his full power, the High Priest expanded the breach to fist-size.

Normally, banishing ordinary people required minimal energy to create massive rifts with strong suction. But this was Jiang Li.

“This opening seems small.” Jiang Li hesitated, then experimentally stretched the rift with one hand.

“It actually works!” Delighted, he forcefully widened the gap to human height and stepped through.

As Jiang Li entered the River of Time, the rift sealed behind him.

“Hahaha!” The High Priest laughed maniacally. No matter how powerful, Jiang Li was now banished – without his permission, escape was impossible.

During this process, only Jiang Li retained awareness. Others merely saw the High Priest activate his power before Jiang Li vanished.

“Damn, that was temporal manipulation!” Though Bai Hongtu missed the details, he recognized the signature from witnessing Great Zhou’s imperial family use time powers before.

“Jiang Li you bastard! You didn’t take me along for this fun!”

At least Jiang Li had visited the River of Time before – Bai Hongtu had never been.

Furious, Bai Hongtu demanded the High Priest banish him too.

“Rescue him? Don’t dream! I expended all my energy and sacrificed this power forever to trap him! No one can reopen that space now!”

The High Priest collapsed, laughing hysterically until his last breath.

Banishing Jiang Li had cost more than energy – it consumed his very life force.