A Giant in the Golden Sea of Clouds

In an instant, radiant divine light burst forth from the lantern staff, flooding the sky in dazzling waves!It was as though he were holding the sun itself!The divine radiance reached its peak, rippling and illuminating everyone in its path!

"Seeking death!"The middle-aged man roared from the heavens, waving his hand and commanding, "Kill him!"Warriors from Suzhou City stepped forward, their leader raising a finger, pointing down at Dongfang Zhiyuan with a cold, authoritative gesture."Command! Seal!"Strange energies rippled through the air, attempting to seep into the divine light, but to no avail—nothing happened. The seal was utterly ineffective.

An old man, eyes blazing like a golden Buddha, his white beard swaying in the wind, and veins bulging on his thin arms, stood firm. His aura surged, visibly climbing in power, and a crushing pressure began to radiate, sweeping across the entire battlefield!

"This is bad!"The Suzhou warriors panicked. "The seal isn't working! Attack together!"

With a swish! Swish! Swish!Several figures descended from the heavens, and over a dozen Suzhou warriors closed in, prepared to engage the elder in close combat. They entered the all-encompassing divine light, charging toward Dongfang Zhiyuan and Jiang Xiaoci's position. The light was so intense that Dongfang Zhiyuan's figure vanished from sight, but his enemies still remembered his position."He's over there!""Kill him!"The Suzhou warriors unleashed their skills, tearing through the light as they quickly approached the core of the golden brilliance.

SS-class warriors were fast—almost in the blink of an eye, they reached the heart of the divine light.But in the next moment…

Boom!!

The first warrior to approach the core was sent flying back, as if struck by an invisible force, his body shattered and dissolved within the divine light, vanishing into its glowing mist.

The others froze in horror. The man had disintegrated like mist, unable to resist the overwhelming force. Was he dead?No one knew for sure. Fear gripped their hearts as they stood motionless, gazing forward.

Amidst the golden glow, a giant form began to emerge—its immense shape, like a tree, slowly came into view.

A massive head, towering at five meters tall, swung slightly, scattering the surrounding radiance, and revealed a giant standing tall in the golden glow.

It was a giant, a figure towering over everything, looking down upon them all.

"It's the old man!"A voice trembled in disbelief. The giant's face was unmistakable, the same old man who had appeared frail before, now much younger, but the same familiar features. His eyes, once clouded with age, now shone brightly like burning suns, full of life. His silver hair had turned jet-black, glistening with the shine of night, flowing down to his waist.

His chest, wide and bare, revealed golden muscles, his every breath exhaling golden light, exuding a pressure that could shake the heavens.

He stood like a mountain, with the giant lantern staff in his hand, towering so large that it seemed to touch the sky itself!

"Battle stance!"Mike, at this moment, switched his perspective and watched in awe. He was almost leaping from excitement.This was Dongfang Zhiyuan's battle form!

Mike had never seen anything like it before—he hadn't imagined a mere old man could grow into such a magnificent giant in the blink of an eye."No wonder he's a star system warrior... He must have really fought across planets before."Mike muttered, seeing now how the form made sense in a battlefield that spanned entire stars.

When he checked the old man's stats again, he noticed that his previous buffs had vanished, replaced by terrifying battle traits and talents.

Six battle traits, six combat talents!Each one was bizarre, unpredictable!While the old man's base stats might be lacking, his traits more than compensated for them.

"This... Can they win?"The Suzhou warriors trembled in fear. Their adversary was no longer a mere human but something akin to a god from legend—a golden giant whose power was almost divine!Despite their strength, they felt utterly insignificant, overwhelmed by Dongfang Zhiyuan's oppressive aura. They couldn't even muster the will to fight back.

The giant wasted no time, raising his colossal lantern staff high, sending waves of golden light crashing down upon them with relentless force—no finesse, no grace—just pure destruction.

"Get out of the way!"The Suzhou warriors screamed, scattering in all directions, using every skill they had to try and escape. This ancient elder was not someone they could defeat with their combined strength—they needed reinforcements.But as they tried to flee, they quickly realized there was no escape. No matter where they went, they couldn't break free from the infinite golden light that surrounded them.

It was like the endless darkness of the third apocalypse, where the world was suffocatingly sealed, with no way out.

"Mike, your teleportation!""It's useless! It's failing! The mechanism's warning me!"

They couldn't believe it—SS-level talents failing? This was unheard of!

"They're finished."Mike raised an eyebrow, already aware of the result.Looking at the old man's battle traits, he understood the overwhelming power they were up against.

[Long-Lasting Golden Lamp]: Wherever the warrior stands, the golden light will forever accompany him. All life within the light cannot escape his reach. Enemies killed will be absorbed into the light, strengthening its hold and range.

There was no escaping this. No contest.

Mike had learned long ago how to judge the effectiveness of abilities by simply glancing at their mechanics, and this one was beyond anything most SS-ranked powers could deal with.As he reviewed the data, Mike could hardly imagine the fate of those struck by the enormous lantern staff.

Soon, it became clear.

The Suzhou warriors scattered, desperate, trying to outrun the staff's devastating arc, but the distance between them and the staff only grew shorter.Some of them, in sheer desperation, turned and attempted to strike the staff, hoping to destroy it and gain a fighting chance.

But all their skills and talents dissolved into the light, their effects nullified.

[Holy Suppression]: During the Golden Lamp's activation, all actions of life within the light are suppressed. Attacks and defenses become ineffective, and all non-self actions feed the lamp's power, enhancing its reach and brilliance.

There was no fighting back. No resistance.The more they struggled, the brighter the light became.

"This... this is true power."Mike sighed, a twisted smile creeping on his face. "That behind-the-scenes figure may have underestimated him."

He never imagined that Dongfang Zhiyuan, alongside Wang Chen, could become such monstrous figures—two living gods among mortals.

Can they lose now?Mike couldn't see any possible way they could lose.

Boom!!The lantern staff descended again, an unstoppable force. The Suzhou warriors, unable to avoid it, were struck head-on, their bodies disintegrating in the golden light without a trace.

No blood. No corpses.

Everything became part of the golden light.

This was a quiet victory, so calm it was suffocating. The long-lamp sage's battle form was far too terrifying, an almost serene display of power.

Above the battlefield, the middle-aged man, furrowing his brow, could no longer see through the golden radiance.

"Where are they? Why haven't they emerged?""The old man... I recall his intel. He's only SS-level, he couldn't possibly win, right?"

"Impossible, but at least we still have forces in reserve. We can act at any moment."

The other warriors behind him spoke in hushed voices, their eyes glued to the golden light. They could no longer see the Suzhou warriors or the elder clearly, and they couldn't even make out Jiang Xiaoci or the majority of the patrol soldiers within the shimmering field.

Everything was cloaked in golden light, sealing the entire area.

"Go, check on them," the middle-aged man commanded, gesturing for the warriors of Gu City to join the fray.

"Understood."Without hesitation, the Gu City warriors descended, brimming with confidence in their strength and respect for the middle-aged man.

But before they could approach the golden radiance, it suddenly surged violently, a terrifying force emanating from within!

"Get back!"Chen Xing, reacting first, shouted the warning.

The Gu City warriors swiftly activated their abilities to retreat, using special mechanisms to evade the sudden burst of power.

But when they looked down at the swirling gold, they saw a massive form begin to rise from within the light—a giant lantern staff emerging first, its colossal size apparent.

Dongfang Zhiyuan's form, now towering and majestic, broke free from the golden swirl, his body growing ever taller, breaking through the clouds.

"What… is this?"Hundreds of warriors looked on in horror as the giant continued to ascend, his figure stretching higher than the clouds, a true titan.

The scene was so unimaginable that they were left frozen, eyes wide, hearts gripped with awe and fear.

The golden light erupted in an overwhelming burst, signaling the arrival of a being beyond their comprehension.