Looking up at the starry sky, which was constantly being devoured by the "sun," Ling's expression was grim.
A slight tearing pain emanated from his waist. With the dwindling number of stars, his recovery once again slowed.
Lin Feng launched another attack. Ling was injured, so of course, he had to press his advantage!
A heat ray erupted, incredibly fast.
At the same moment, Ling suddenly accelerated, bursting forth with a speed he hadn't shown before.
Huh? Why did he suddenly become so much faster?
Lin Feng halted the heat ray, preparing for close-quarters combat.
But then, quite suddenly, Ling burst into laughter.
*Pfft…*
For some reason, Ling suddenly started laughing.
Lin Feng, who had been about to charge, stopped dead and looked at Ling curiously.
Ling's laughter was incessant, filled with a sense of relief and a touch of helplessness.
As he laughed, he continued to shake his head.
Ling touched the wounded sides of his waist.
He hadn't experienced being suppressed like this for countless millennia.
The last time, he suspected, was when he had possessed this body.
As a system, he had no physical form.
And this current body was, naturally, acquired by possessing his host.
This host was the first ray of starlight born in the first universe.
This body could manipulate almost all the starlight in the universe.
With such a body, coupled with his own formidable system power and the system store, Ling could traverse myriad universes with absolute ease.
Ling had also believed countless times that he was the protagonist, blessed with an unparalleled protagonist's halo.
But Lin Feng standing here gave Ling a sense of unreality.
An ordinary human who had grown over several years had actually managed to injure him.
This… this was the true protagonist, wasn't it?
Was a system destined to be merely a cheat code for the protagonist, an auxiliary existence for the protagonist?
Ling felt indignant, amused, and like fate was playing a cruel trick, all while seething with anger.
With these thoughts, Ling's gaze turned icy cold once more.
He looked at Lin Feng. He had killed many world protagonists; now was not the time to reminisce about the past!
"I truly underestimated you, Lin Feng…"
Ling's voice gradually calmed, and a deep purple light seemed to flicker in his eyes.
"Hm?"
Lin Feng frowned, not responding.
He could feel Ling's aura constantly rising.
"From the very beginning, I underestimated you."
"After all these years, this old habit has surfaced again!"
Lin Feng's frown deepened. He couldn't comprehend what Ling was doing, but he continued to speak.
"If you're sick, get treated. Don't always be thinking about breaking through the fourth wall!"
"Wouldn't living a quiet life of retirement be more fulfilling?"
Lin Feng couldn't understand why some people insisted on disrupting this world, this universe.
Wouldn't it be better to simply find a planet like a backyard garden and live out the rest of their lives happily? Why pursue harmful power, where was the joy in that?
"You don't understand…"
Ling shook his head, then stopped looking at Lin Feng, turning his gaze to his own hands instead.
Lin Feng, possessing a physical existence, couldn't comprehend the joy Ling felt for the first time in having a body, the joy of breaking free from control and doing as one pleased.
"I don't understand why you're so fixated on the outside of the fourth wall."
"You wouldn't understand even if I explained, and I don't want to explain."
"I admit, underestimating you was my misjudgment."
"As a transmigrator, your growth is indeed commendable."
Ling muttered to himself.
Lin Feng was utterly perplexed.
Was he praising him?
I hit his waist, not his brain!
"What exactly do you want to say?"
Lin Feng became impatient.
What was with this sudden burst of sentimentality in the middle of a fight?
Ling raised his head, his eyes, from who knew when, had turned a bright purple.
Were they glowing?
"I want to say, I acknowledge your strength!"
"Now, let's have a proper fight!"
"A battle where one of us is bound to fall!"
Ling roared the last sentence, imbued with emotions that Lin Feng couldn't comprehend.
He raised his hand again.
"Stars, Infinite Overlay!"
His aura surged to the heavens, and countless points of starlight descended into the super-durable universe!
The sun that Lin Feng had created was instantly swallowed by the starlight.
The light emitted by the mere aggregation of starlight illuminated the entire battlefield in an instant, blindingly brilliant.
Nearly an entire universe's worth of starlight was concentrated in every square meter.
This radiance was indescribable.
"Now, take another of my moves and see my true power!"
Within the blinding light, Ling's figure slowly vanished.
The entire starry sky became his weapon!
The starry sky began to flicker, and an ineffable sensation washed over Lin Feng's mind!
Danger!
Lin Feng suddenly felt threatened and quickly looked back.
*Whoosh!*
Three star-light spears spun and grazed his head.
The light spears came from nowhere; Lin Feng hadn't even perceived their creation!
Failing to hit their mark, the next second, the star-light spears began to split, multiplying exponentially!
"Damn it, has he suddenly gotten serious?"
A drop of cold sweat trickled down Lin Feng's face. The speed of these spear attacks was several times faster than before!
And the sheer number of them… wasn't it a bit excessive?
Hundreds of light spears, formed through splitting, chased after Lin Feng again.
Lin Feng predicted the trajectory of the spears and dodged to the right.
But immediately, the starlight on his right side exploded violently!
An explosion of one square meter represented the explosion of an entire universe's worth of starlight!
With his bio-field at maximum, Lin Feng, unable to dodge right, moved left.
Then, the starlight area on his left immediately exploded.
They were too dense. The starlight was distributed too densely, seemingly to trap Lin Feng in this area!
No matter which direction he moved, an explosion would occur!
However, compared to the destructive power of the starlight explosions, the spears posed a greater threat to Lin Feng!
There was no choice. Shielding himself with his bio-field, Lin Feng's figure flickered continuously.
His form darted through the universe, each reappearance accompanied by a violent explosion.
He was literally exploding wherever he went!
As Lin Feng flashed, he repeatedly drew circles with his left hand, attempting to use his portal ability to teleport the spears, as he had done before.
A golden portal opened, and Lin Feng stared in disbelief.
The spears abruptly braked in mid-air, stopped in front of the portal, then took a sharp turn, circumvented the portal, and continued to pursue Lin Feng.
"What the heck! Did these spears grow brains?!"
Moreover, before turning, the spears shook twice in a very human-like manner. Lin Feng felt like they were mocking him!
"It's no use, Lin Feng."
"I have become myriad starlights. Wherever there is starlight, you have no chance of winning!"
Ling's voice echoed from all directions, but his figure was nowhere to be seen.
Now this was a problem. Lin Feng didn't know where Ling was hiding, and even if the portal were useful, it was useless now since he had no idea of Ling's location.