Since acquiring the skill Descent of the Titan, Shi Ming had used it fourteen times. He didn’t just use it against enemies; he would occasionally cast it when he was sure there were none around to familiarize himself with the skill. But he had never once pulled the "grand prize"—the most powerful Divine Hall of Time—which had only a 2% chance of appearing.

This time, combined with the *Codex of All Nations*, the effect might be quite good.

The Titan Bloodline was quickly awakened. A virtual clock materialized behind Shi Ming. Its ancient hands ticked just once before stopping at the first position.

BOOM!

The Titan Power had descended!

This time, the virtual clock didn’t disappear. Instead, it expanded continuously, eventually emitting a peculiar ripple in the void and transforming into the transparent silhouette of a Divine Hall. The silhouette covered an area of nearly 1.3 nautical miles. At the very top of the Divine Hall, an even larger, ancient clock hung, ticking away.

The Divine Hall of Time!

’Under the rules of the *Codex of All Nations*, it was actually a guaranteed pull!’

’These games of probability should be rectified by law!’

And the skill’s effect was—

[Within the area covered by the Divine Hall of Time, for every 12 seconds that pass, time will pause for 1 second! During the time pause, all creatures and objects within the area will be in a state of stasis. Only the skill caster is unaffected and can move freely! The Divine Hall of Time will last for 50 minutes.]

Under the influence of the Divine Hall of Time, the Titan Runes covering Shi Ming’s entire body transformed into pale gold Runes of flowing sand.

The pupils in Shi Ming’s eyes each split into three, separating and overlapping, making his eyes themselves look like clocks with three faces.

Within each new pupil, a hand spun, symbolizing hours, minutes, and seconds.

...

A good warrior never gives their enemy an opening. Furthermore, Shi Ming had shown Quert no quarter, killing the person the Gladiator was meant to protect right before his eyes. This had thoroughly enraged him!

Quert attacked first.

Having obtained this brand-new Titan state, Shi Ming didn’t face him head-on, instead dodging nimbly.

Quert’s upper body and muscular arms were covered in scars. Flames seemed to flow within each wound. With the slightest exertion, the scars looked as if they would split open, threatening to spew magma. This gave him a savage aura, as if he would tear his prey to shreds the moment he caught it.

In his Divine Hall of Time state, Shi Ming’s strength and speed were relatively balanced. The enhancement from Descent of the Titan wasn’t as powerful as the Ten Thousand Tribulations Thunder Body, nor was it as weak as the Wheel of Destiny.

But a head-on clash was not the best choice.

Especially against such an aggressive, power-based fighter.

Shi Ming’s attacks were very conservative, which was the wisest choice. Mechanics trumped brute force. He would conserve his energy during the first twelve seconds, waiting for the pause in the thirteenth second to deal effective damage.

The Descent of the Titan state lasted 50 minutes—3,000 seconds.

It was enough time for him to build his advantage and secure victory with the arrival of each 13th second!

’Invincible War God?’

’No one is invincible!’

Although Quert’s aura was savage, he wasn’t some simple-minded brute who only knew how to use force. To remain undefeated, strength and skills were only part of the equation; a clear mind was indispensable. He had no memory of Shi Ming, but there was no doubt that the young man before him was an S-class Awakened, just like him!

’Excellent! An even match! Let’s fight!’

Quert grew even more excited.

Invincible War God provided a significant boost to his physical strength, and Quert himself was extremely proficient in Fighting Techniques. He had practiced classical Roman fighting styles since childhood. In his youth, he had even traveled to different countries like China, Thailand, Vortex Country, and India to learn various techniques like martial arts, Muay Thai, jujutsu, and sumo, incorporating the best of all of them.

He had once fought Mr. Lei of the Twelve Stars and had not been defeated.

But the Divine Hall of Time truly lived up to its name as the "grand prize"! It was an extremely rare time-control skill with a simple and brutal effect. If it were a permanent skill that didn’t rely on a random draw, it would definitely rank in the top 10!

Therefore, in this battle, Quert felt extremely frustrated.

He often felt as if he were being hit by strange attacks that came out of nowhere!

Or, just as his charged-up, ferocious attack was about to hit the kid, it would be dodged in a bizarre way, with some inconceivable ability! As this pattern continued, he had been hit squarely by Shi Ming six or seven times in just three minutes of fighting!

A person caught in a time pause does not perceive that time has stopped.

But a smart person could gradually guess the nature of this skill from the silhouette of the Divine Hall and the movement of the clock hands. However, even if they figured it out, as long as they didn’t leave the Divine Hall’s area or possess an evasive skill like Mr. Lei’s—who could turn into untargetable lightning—they still couldn’t escape its effect. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

His mind was entirely focused on his opponent; he hadn’t noticed the clock high in the sky at all!

’He has some combat intelligence, but not a lot!’

BANG!

Growing more and more frustrated, Quert roared, and the scars on his body burst into flames! It made the Gladiator look like a War God covered in flowing magma, as if he had just climbed out of a molten pool.

A new scar tore open on a part of his body covered by armor.

Shi Ming’s eyes twitched.

A new notification from the Eye of the World flashed before his eyes.

[Here it comes! It’s here!]

[The Eye of the World is very surprised!]

[Shi Ming’s tactics are astonishing! Facing a power-type opponent, he combined the *Codex of All Nations* and Descent of the Titan to obtain the simplest and most brutal skill, the Divine Hall of Time! In principle, with the help of the Divine Hall of Time, victory is only a matter of time!]

[But Quert has realized something is wrong!]

[He has fully activated his skill, Invincible War God! He has torn another wound on his body, deciding to use overwhelming power to secure a swift victory!]

This time, the Eye of the World completely revealed the abilities of Invincible War God. In a lull in the fighting, Shi Ming instantly absorbed the information and understood why Quert had never been defeated!

An S-class skill, ranked 50th!

From the deep sea, the "Magma Giant."

In its normal state, Invincible War God grants the Awakened a significant statistical boost. When an Awakened with the Invincible War God skill is on the verge of defeat, they can actively tear an eternally unhealing scar on their body. By borrowing the Magma Giant’s power, they can restore half of their Physical Strength and temporarily increase their base strength by 10% for one hour!

Of course, that’s not all.

If that was all, Invincible War God wouldn’t be ranked 50th, nor would it be placed above Descent of the Titan.

The key point is that the buff can be stacked infinitely! When Quert is about to be defeated again, he can tear another scar. And when he’s about to be defeated yet again, he can tear another. And again, and again.

However!

Not only do the torn scars never heal, but when the number of scars on the body reaches 108, the Magma Giant will reawaken. It will completely tear apart the host’s body, using their flesh and blood to resurrect itself. It will then continue the legend of invincibility in a new form.

This was the secret to never being defeated.

You can choose to always be victorious, but you must also bear the price of that victory.

The price is losing oneself and becoming a new Magma Giant.

...

...

...

The scars on Quert’s upper body were clearly visible. On his exposed arms alone, there were nearly ten old scars!

And that didn’t include the scars hidden beneath his armor or on his legs.

Shi Ming conservatively estimated there were at least fifty or sixty of them.

Even so, Shi Ming, who currently had the upper hand, felt a slight headache coming on.

’If this guy is a stubborn fool who’s determined to win at all costs, then the exponential power increase will be terrifying. With just 25 stacks, he’ll reach 10 times his current state. With 32 stacks, he’ll reach 20 times his current state.’

’With 49 stacks, he’ll reach 108 times his current state!’

’If it really gets to that stage, I’m afraid I’ll have to make a strategic retreat. And the Eye of the World won’t get to witness the myth of invincibility being broken.’

’Seriously, buddy,’

’That dead Prince of Vortex Country was just your nephew, not your father. There’s no need for this, really.’

’They say nephews take after their uncles, but you two don’t look even remotely related. He was probably a nephew in name only.’

’You can only use this skill 108 times in total, what are you risking your life for?!’

[A river of blood, all because of a whale, is now playing out on the grand stage of these waters!]

[This is not a zero-sum game!]

[The result of this escalation is that there will be no winner! Based on their fighting styles, the Eye of the World has predicted the outcome: Spartacus will fall after using Invincible War God 47 times in a row, and a hard-won victory for Shi Ming will only mean facing a newly returned Magma Giant? At that time, the Divine Hall of Time will collapse, and Shi Ming’s only option will be... Ice Annihilation?]

[This is only speculation. After all, the Eye of the World does not have the ability to predict the future, only to analyze and infer.]

Phew...

Quert was losing his cool.

He couldn’t believe that a young man in his twenties could actually be his equal.

He began to up the stakes.

He tore a third scar. He could accept defeat, but not at the hands of some brat!

Thoughts raced through Shi Ming’s mind.

’Retreat? No! Perhaps... this Beast Fighter could do me a huge favor, confirm a theory, and become a part of my upcoming plan?’

...

The thirteenth second arrived once again!

Shi Ming didn’t launch a fierce attack. Instead, he took out the Formless Pure Ice from his system inventory.

What came next was,

The Great Summoning Technique?

The golden sun was already sinking beneath the sea. True dusk was about to fall upon these waters.