The battle escalated beyond technique into pure conceptual warfare.
When Number Four attempted to unmake the concept of duration, Nian Shi simply made it so duration had never been unmade.
When Nian Shi tried to age Number Four out of existence, the Uncreation being made aging itself a foreign concept that couldn’t affect him.
Yun Lintian watched, his understanding of power being rewritten with each exchange. This was extremely precious information.
"Your silence speaks volumes," Nian Shi said conversationally as he parried a void thrust with a temporal paradox. "Yin couldn’t have acted alone from within the seal. There must be... intermediaries."
Number Four’s attacks became more frantic, the Mark of Uncreation pulsing violently.
Nian Shi’s smile turned predatory. "No matter. If you won’t tell me your secrets..."
The Hourglass of Beginnings inverted, its sands flowing upward. "I’ll extract them directly from your essence."
Space-time folded around Number Four, trapping him in a singularity of temporal force. The Uncreation being struggled, but for the first time, his void powers found no purchase against the absolute temporal lockdown.
"Let’s see what makes you tick," Nian Shi whispered, his hands moving in gestures that rewrote local reality. "And perhaps I’ll learn how Yin has been pulling strings from his prison."
Yun Lintian felt a chill that had nothing to do with the void. This was the true danger of the God of Time—not his power over time, but his relentless, analytical mind that never stopped working, never stopped learning.
And in that moment, Yun Lintian understood—Nian Shi had never shown his full capabilities because he’d never needed to.
Yun Lintian was aware that he himself could never outsmart Nian Shi no matter what. After all, one was the God of Time who lived for countless years while another was just an infant compared to him.
In the previous battles he had encountered Nian Shi, Yun Lintian tried his best to understand Nian Shi’s power but the more he saw it, the more he realized how shallowed he understanding of Nian Shi was. It was like everything he had seen in the past couldn’t even be counted as information.
Yun Lintian glanced at Number Four. If Number Four didn’t show up today, he probably still had no idea how strong Nian Shi truly was. Not to mention this was just Nian Shi from this timeline. He couldn’t imagine how terrifying the real Nian Shi was.
Knowing this, Yun Lintian wasn’t discouraged in the slightest. He became even more determined to increase his strength as much as possible.
Nian Shi’s patience finally snapped. The Blade of Eternity glowed with an intensity that transcended light itself. With a simple wave, the weapon didn’t cut through space or time—it enforced absolute temporal stasis across all existence.
"Ugh!" Yun Lintian grunted, his golden-black aura flaring violently as he struggled against the temporal lockdown.
For the first time, he truly felt the weight of Nian Shi’s full power—this wasn’t manipulation of time, but time itself becoming a prison. His muscles strained against forces that bound not just his body, but his very existence across all timelines.
The Seed of Time in Yun Lintian’s Divine Core spun rapidly, emitting its power to assist him. But even so, Yun Lintian could barely hold it.
Meanwhile, Number Four reacted differently. The Spear of Emptiness pulsed, and where the temporal stasis touched it, the frozen time simply... vanished.
Not broken, not overcome—but consumed into absolute nothingness. The Uncreation weapon didn’t resist Nian Shi’s power; it devoured it, turning eternity into emptiness.
Nian Shi’s eyes glowed with cold interest. "So that’s how it works. You don’t counter time—you consume its very essence."
The moment he killed the Creator, Nian Shi had begun to pay attention to the Uncreation as Yin would definitely become the final obstacle for his eternal rule.
Nian Shi spent his time studying Yin’s power and capability from what it was left behind by the Creator. He had created the Realm of Chaos and Chaos Knights in order to monitor Yin.
He did countless experiments on Chaos Knights, allowing them to be corrupted by the power of Yin that was lingering in the Abyssal Abyss.
However, even with all the studies and experiments he had done, Nian Shi still couldn’t truly understand the extent of Yin’s true power.
The concept of Uncreation seemed to be easy to understand—it was nothing more than an absolute destruction but in reality, it was beyond anything Nian Shi had ever encountered.
Now, Number Four had shown it to him on what the power of Uncreation could do... It could turn anything into nothingness with no scope—literally everything, including time itself.
Upon realizing this, Nian Shi was even more desperate to hold the power Yun Litnian was currently possessing—the power to wield both Creation and Uncreation.
The battle shifted again. This was no longer about power levels or techniques. The very concept of "power" had become meaningless. What remained was pure law against pure negation.
When Nian Shi manifested temporal paradoxes that should have unraveled reality, Number Four simply made paradox itself a concept that never existed.
When Number Four attempted to erase causality, Nian Shi made erasure an impossible action.
They weren’t fighting each other anymore—they were fighting the fundamental rules that allowed conflict to exist.
Nian Shi suddenly withdrew, the Blade of Eternity vanishing from his hand. The temporal pressure that had frozen the void lifted instantly, leaving behind only the eerie silence of unraveled reality.
He studied Number Four with new understanding, his silver eyes gleaming with cold triumph. "Now I see. The so-called Law of Emptiness is indeed formidable."
Number Four remained motionless, the Spear of Emptiness still humming with void energy.
Nian Shi’s gaze shifted to Yun Lintian, who had been observing the entire exchange while maintaining his defensive stance.
A faint, mocking smile touched Nian Shi’s lips. "Well? Did you learn anything useful, little godslayer? Or were you too busy struggling against my temporal stasis to pay attention?"
Yun Lintian met his gaze steadily, offering no response.
Nian Shi’s smile widened. "You’d better have learned something. If you can’t handle even one of Yin’s hunting dogs..." His voice dropped to a dangerous whisper. "...you’ll die long before I ever take you."
With that final warning, Nian Shi turned to leave—only to find the space around him sealed with layer upon layer of dimensional barriers. Golden-black energy shimmered across the void, forming a cage that even time itself struggled to penetrate.
Nian Shi’s amusement vanished, replaced by cold fury. He turned back to Yun Lintian, his silver eyes narrowing. "You dare?"