Zhang Lie manipulated the first two tablets toward Musi Yu once again. Still subject to the effects of the fourth tablet, Musi Yu was unable to dodge. Genetic energy burst forth from his body along with a spray of blood.

"[Rune: Activate]!" With his opponent trapped, Zhang Lie could now easily launch his strongest techniques. He pressed his palms together. The dragonturtle roared as all four tablets activated simultaneously, their effects resonating with each other and causing Musi Yu to lose control over his mind and body.

"[The Boundless Blade: Dragon's Wrath]!" A blood dragon sprang forth from Zhang Lie's palm, circled around his blade, and shot out toward Musi Yu.

Musi Yu's eyes widened. Trapped within his mind and body, he had no choice but to consume his lifeforce to forcibly activate a technique that would break him out of this mess. The black sun behind him exploded in flames, causing the runic tablets to fly out in all directions. Even the blood dragon was forced back, sending Zhang Lie stumbling back.

Blood seeped out of Musi Yu's mouth. His trump card allowed him to temporarily use ten times his genetic energy, at the cost of half his lifeforce, a kamikaze-style attack that was a technique of last resort. Musi Yu coughed, spitting out another mouthful of fresh blood. Black flames flared around his body, haloing him.

Zhang Lie's eyes widened. "You can combine your body with [Black Sun]?"

He had never imagined that Musi Yu would possess such a trump card. Zhang Lie had tried to combine other techniques with the domain of [Eclipse] before, but never his own body. He could clearly sense that Musi Yu's strength had increased by an entire order of magnitude upon doing so.

"Zhang Lie, you're an interesting figure, but this is the end of the line for you!" Musi Yu's body ballooned with flame, responding to his killing intent and anger. His genetic energy had, by then, exceeded the limit of the second realm. The will of the world sent a palm composed of genetic energy down toward him.

"I said, scram!" Musi Yu howled at the sky, destroying the palm with nothing more than his voice and a pulse of genetic energy. Black flame filled the sky and land as far as the eye could see; the sun dimmed even further. Zhang Lie had seen an occurrence like this before upon acquiring disaster gene fragments.

As expected of a third-realm warlord, Musi Yu was so strong that he was being repelled by the will of the world even without activating a single technique. Of course, he was still weaker than he would otherwise be in the third realm.

Instead of attacking him directly, the will of the world cordoned off the fight between the two hunters so as to prevent him from dealing additional damage to the second realm.

When the spectators saw how much stronger Musi Yu had gotten, they too were shocked.

"Even the will of the world's trying to suppress Musi Yu! How is Zhang Lie supposed to beat a hunter like him?"

"As expected, Zhang Lie was too strong to be ignored. He might be able to combat Musi Yu given another decade or two, but it's far too early for him now."

"What a pity to have a genius fall just like that! If Zhang Lie had some more time, he could well become the second Martial Sage Hong Tianqi."

"Wasn't the Martial Sage ridiculous? Even while he was in the second realm, no one from the third dared to challenge him!"

The screen of light surrounding Musi Yu and Zhang Lie was opaque; none of the spectators could see through it, but they were assured of Musi Yu's victory.

Zhang Lie raised both his arms into the sky, and the image of a dragonturtle appeared behind him. The first two gravity-controlling tablets smashed into the ground even as Musi Yu shot toward Zhang Lie, streaking with black flame. 

"You're done for!" Zhang Lie then triggered the third and fourth tablets, suppressing the flow of time and weakening the flames over Musi Yu's body.

"Fool! You're so close to me that you'll suffer from the tablets' effects too." Musi Yu didn't seem at all worried. His fist, wreathed in black flame, punched toward Zhang Lie, who dodged with surprising speed.

"What?!" To Musi Yu's surprise, the tablets didn't affect Zhang Lie at all!

"[The Boundless Blade: Dragon's Ascent]!" Zhang Lie counterattacked. However, despite the combined effects of the third and fourth runic tablets, Musi Yu was able to maintain his original speed. The flames surrounding his body burned Zhang Lie's bloody dragon to a crisp, then extended around Zhang Lie like a pair of black wings.

Musi Yu roared in laughter. "Just because I've been weakened doesn't mean that you'll be able to surpass me. Under this condition, I'm invincible!"

"Is that so?"

Zhang Lie activated [Ninecarp Transformation: Second Form]. Dragon scales appeared all over his body, his eyes became slitted, and genetic energy burst forth from him like a storm. He blew the black flames away with a pulse of genetic energy.

Despite his earlier claims, Musi Yu couldn't help but worry.

"[Fists of the Silent Sea: Dragon's Wrath]!" Hundreds of dragons exploded from Zhang Lie's body, striking, swarming, and devouring Musi Yu.

The light barrier erected by the will of the world, subject to such a severe impact, began to crack. The cracks propagated, and the barrier exploded in a flurry of shards.

A figure was knocked out past the barrier, past hundreds of trees, then skidded for a few hundred meters in a long, deep gouge before his momentum was expended. The bag of flesh that remained at the very end no longer seemed to be a human.

"Who's that?"

"Who else? It has to be Zhang Lie. What a pity!"

"Isn't that so? But it serves him right for being so daring as to issue a bounty on a third-realm warlord, after all—"

"Wait, who's that?!"

Everyone turned toward the man who had shouted, then followed his outstretched arm toward a figure at the epicenter of the sudden explosion: Zhang Lie! 

If Zhang Lie was standing there, then the defeated figure had to be…

Musi Yu!