Chapter 80: The Battle

“Unknown human!” Feeling the force in his hand, no less than his own, Odin’s usually placid single eye revealed a rare ripple. “You actually possess such immense power?”

When he had invited Chu Tianjiao into his own Nibelungen, Odin had not spared a glance for the girl by his side, even though she too carried a remarkably pure dragon’s bloodline.

But what could an unawakened girl, even if she were to awaken suddenly, truly affect? Even if she had inherited her father’s Zero Time. Even hybrids with high-purity dragon blood failed to enter Odin’s notice—let alone Liu Tian, whose body did not possess a single drop of dragon blood, an anomaly so rare it was almost extinct.

In this era, after countless generations, dragon blood had nearly permeated the whole world. Everyone carried some trace of dragon genes—whether pure or diluted, manifest or dormant. A human like Liu Tian, sitting in the backseat, whose blood was untouched by dragons’ legacy and as ancient as the dawn of man, was now exceedingly rare.

When Odin considered whether to keep him as a specimen, he never once thought of consulting Liu Tian’s opinion—just as humans who capture rare butterflies and pin them as trophies never heed the butterflies’ wishes.

Yet as Liu Tian sensed his presence and his strength surged back, the unrestrained, overwhelming aura that exploded forth shook Odin to his core, making him realize this rare ‘butterfly’ was anything but ordinary.

Ever cautious, his prudence honed over hundreds of thousands of years, Odin now sensed he may have made a critical error.

But in the end, what can a mere mortal do?

Still, with the heart of a lion giving chase to a hare, Odin left his perfect vantage point and stepped onto the stage. He would use his greatest power to crush this unsettling ‘butterfly’ once and for all.

And then, the butterfly struck him across the face with a resounding slap.

“Damn you.”

Fury—twelve years of meticulous planning undone in a single instant—sent Liu Tian’s power soaring. The bird-shaped war markings on his brow faded, replaced by sharp white jagged lines.

“A thousand points! Damn it, I paid such a hefty price to create the perfect opportunity!”

“And you—You ruined it, you bastard—How dare you? How could you?”

Power surged unceasingly within him, emotions climbing higher and higher. Even though he remained at the two-hundred-thousand-volt level, Liu Tian’s fist began to overpower the divine spear Gungnir.

Sleipnir reared and strained, its eight legs buried deep in the ground, yet its rear hooves pressed on relentlessly. Wave after wave of terrifying force passed from the spear into Odin, and from Odin into Sleipnir, pushing both master and mount backward, gouging a deep trench into the road.

“How is this possible?” Odin could not comprehend Liu Tian’s words; he could only stare in shock at the outcome, at the furious human before him, at the jagged markings like serrated blades. For reasons he could not name, a chill ran through his heart. All the power he had reserved now poured forth, intent on utterly suppressing this madman who dared pit his fists against a god.

There was no reply. Realizing that even the force that had flung this giant Odin impersonator and his horse could not bend the spear’s shaft, Liu Tian shifted without hesitation, leaving behind a tangible afterimage.

Though he had not fought in over a decade, his mastery of martial arts had not waned; on the contrary, his craft had grown sharper. His command of secret techniques had reached new heights, as if the twelve lost years had been spent not in amnesia but in relentless refinement.

The afterimage, devoid of any elemental power and almost real, left Odin unable to withdraw in time. Gungnir traced a meteor’s arc, piercing the illusion, and in a flash broke the sound barrier. The ground split open in a rift dozens of meters long as the terrifying force discharged.

Too late!

As Odin realized Liu Tian had vanished, he knew trouble had come. But before he could adjust, he found himself—face first—confronted with Liu Tian’s missing presence.

A fist, solid and relentless, crashed into his face.

Two-hundred-thousand volts surged—Heavenly Martial Way: Executioner’s Path!

All his strength converged. With Odin’s guard wide open from the afterimage, Liu Tian struck mercilessly, his most potent, armor-piercing blow crashing into the iron mask.

Such might would have severed even meters of steel in his previous life. For a fleeting instant, the sound of metal upon metal rang out, accompanied by a sonic boom.

Liu Tian clearly saw Odin’s mask, along with the head beneath, flatten and then rebound to its original shape.

Sleipnir, seizing the momentum, carried its master in a blinding retreat. Though they broke the sound barrier, there was no sound; in the instant Liu Tian paused from the impact, Odin was carried to optimal striking range.

As if unharmed, Odin, leveraging Sleipnir’s recoil, swung Gungnir in a flash. Countless meteorlike thrusts burst forth in an instant, lightning arcing, each precise as a ray of light, all targeting Liu Tian’s vitals.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

In a heartbeat, the sound of rain was drowned out by the clash of metal. The fine uniform of Shilan High School was shredded, countless lines of blood spraying from the wounds that opened up across Liu Tian’s body.

Retreat!

Not giving Odin another chance, Liu Tian once more used his indistinguishable afterimage to blind his foe, retreating several hundred meters in a flash to a safe distance, then—Heavenly Martial Way: Body Control.

His muscles rippled as if conscious, and Liu Tian instinctively tried to close his shallow wounds by tensing his body. Yet, what should have been easy was now impossible, as if some force was actively preventing the injuries from healing.

Damn, did they sew the Spear of Longinus into this thing?

Irreparable wounds, is that it?

A thought flashed through his mind. Liu Tian summoned the [Endeavor] interface, eyeing the mere hundred source points remaining with a pang of regret, then unhesitatingly spent the weakest, pure technique-based martial skill for an upgrade.

With a single thought, a source point vanished.

A warm current surged from the depths of his soul, paying no heed to the strange force hindering his recovery. As always, [Endeavor]’s enhancement was reliable; in an instant, Liu Tian was fully restored.

“Mortal, whence comes your strength?” The deep voice echoed from nearby, yet sounded as if it was beside his ear. Witnessing this inexplicable scene, Odin asked.

“And where does your extraordinary vitality come from?” Liu Tian replied, ignoring Chu Tianjiao, who was trying to slip away with the case and Chu Zihang. Recalling the solid sensation of his earlier blow, and with his greatest trump card still unrevealed, Liu Tian shot back his own question.

“Unwilling to answer?”

Shadows emerged in droves behind Odin, swiftly pursuing the escaping pair. The God of War advanced with his steed.

And so, between them, pure killing intent replaced all words.