This was one of the most disparate battles in history.

In terms of reaction speed, physical capabilities, and the power of Divine Skills, a Divine Separation Cultivator was thousands of times beyond a Modern Foundation Establishment Cultivator. In front of him, Ai Changyuan might as well have not been any tougher than an egg. A single hit would reduce this minor Foundation Establishment Cultivator to a spray of blood and flesh.

Yes, just one hit. But the premise was to make contact, for the attack to take effect.

At this moment, between Ai Changyuan and Heavenly Master Wang lay, not a mere thirty feet, but two different frames of reference.

It was the kind of absurd barrier usually found only between distant galaxies, between strong and weak gravitational fields, or between two objects traveling at sub-light speed.

Heavenly Master Wang, unaware of the mysteries of the Cave Heaven Ruler, lunged forward. He had stopped underestimating this youth. But in Ai Changyuan's eyes, Heavenly Master Wang seemed both comical and ferocious. He casually shifted half a step to the left, evading the lethal strike.

Heavenly Master Wang's eyes widened as if he had seen something unbelievable. His punch had not slowed down, and Ai Changyuan had seemed slow, without any apparent acceleration. Yet, Ai Changyuan had dodged it!

This... this was against the Heavenly Dao!

Having his first strike dodged, Hongyuan Heavenly Master stopped behind Ai Changyuan, lifting his leg to sweep across. This kick, like a giant axe as large as a desktop, came sweeping with a heavy layer of Protective Gang Qi. If it hit, even a small hill would be shaved flat, let alone the weakened body of Ai Changyuan.

However, this move still needed to "hit."

The fists and feet of the Divine Separation Stage, slowed down by a hundred times, still appeared fast and deadly to Ai Changyuan, but they were no longer beyond his reach. On the other hand, to Heavenly Master Wang, Ai Changyuan's movements also slowed down. Light faithfully shuttled back and forth between the two frames of reference, conveying their mutual information but greatly distorted due to the shift in temporal logic. If fists aimed where the eyes saw, a hit was likely to miss.

In A's eyes B slowed down, in B's eyes A slowed down, yet both felt normal to themselves. This was the logic and time of the high-speed domain!

This movement, defying conventional logic, rendered all their familiar punching experiences laughable. In Heavenly Master Wang's eyes, Ai Changyuan might as well have been motionless. But in Ai Changyuan's eyes, the actions of the Divine Separation Stage Cultivator became clear and visible. While constructing another spell, he tried to dodge. But after a few steps, Ai Changyuan gave up.

Between him and Heavenly Master Wang, there seemed to be only a three-foot distance. But what actually separated them was a chasm only light could cross.

No wonder the Cave Heaven Ruler was once called "Immortal Characteristic." Grasping the secret of this relative spacetime could almost decide the outcome of combat! Even if the difference in absolute strength varied by hundreds or thousands of times, not grasping meant not grasping, missing meant missing.

"So, the first move!" Ai Changyuan's body and arms, from a distance, clenched: "A thousand times gravity..."

The human heart weighs about 350 grams, the brain about 1400 grams. A moment of a thousand times gravity is akin to slamming down with a 700-pound hammer and a 2800-pound wood beam on the unprotected soft organs of the brain! Unlike a mere hammer strike, such an attack disintegrates the body's microstructures completely. Every organism's body exists in adaptation to its natural environment. Place it under extreme conditions like Hua Jingxia, and it can't survive.

Moreover, this move also caused the blood flow direction to become chaotic, partly scrambling the body's nerve signaling, causing a conflict in the sense of direction.

Ai Changyuan slightly adjusted the flow of time, narrowing the gap between them to less than ten times. The figure of the Divine Separation Stage Cultivator once again turned into a blurry afterimage. But Ai Changyuan saw that the opponent's figure visibly paused, the Divine Descent Stage Witch stepping back a few steps cautiously at the chest.

700 pounds on top, even without smashing, could crush a person dead. If placed on soft organs, especially the brain which is mostly lipid, those organs would instantly turn into a mess of flesh. However, Heavenly Master Wang just staggered. He clutched his head in fear, temporarily pushing himself away to observe Ai Changyuan.

Ai Changyuan couldn't afford to idly wait; after adjusting the speed of time, his consumption was very large but luckily, the Cave Heaven Ruler was not merely about speeding up or slowing down but shifting the reference frame in motion, so currently, only attacks at light speed were effective. He could consider his strategy within his personal time, relatively close to Shenzhou time.

"It just feels painful, but it didn't tear any major blood vessels or heart tendons, not even the pericardium is scratched. The physical condition of the Divine Separation Stage has strengthened to an extent I can hardly imagine... The nerves are indeed damaged, but the impact is tiny or barely there. This guy doesn't need his brain to think anymore."

"In this case, there's no need to consider damaging muscles or bones," Ai Changyuan thought. "At my maximum effort, I'd only manage to tear a scratch on his body, one that would heal momentarily."

Ai Changyuan simply stopped thinking, allowing himself to remain stationary within the gravity field to save some computational power. Black shadows passed through his body seven times in an instant, each strike conveying immense boxing intent and huge momentum. The aftermath of the protective Gang Qi created gusts that tore through rock layers, as if an invisible, gigantic plough trailed behind him.

If Ai Changyuan were in a normal frame of reference, just protecting his eardrums would consume significant amounts of mana. To a Divine Separation Stage Cultivator, his power was even less than that of an ant, unable to withstand even the explosive force generated by others' simple movements.

"Since I can't break through externally, I might as well continue working internally," Ai Changyuan stretched out a hand, his body's regular mana spread like a filled membrane, seizing the air, then clenching it tightly. The air compressed and then heated up.

Using gravity to bind and compress the air was simply an impossible dream. The power required was beyond what Ai Changyuan could bear. Electromagnetic-based regular mana was far better suited for this task. The air Ai Changyuan could influence with his regular mana was merely the bits he brought with him into this frame of reference, less than a cubic meter, eighty percent of which he collapsed into two "air bullets" as thick as little fingers.

Then, Ai Changyuan's personal time dilated again. Like a close-up shot in a film, Heavenly Master Wang's movements froze. He held up his ceremonial mace with steaming black flames, frozen at that moment. The curvature of space formed a tight bowstring, and the two "air pieces" shot out like hidden weapons. The space rippled, precisely directing the compressed air thousands of times denser into the opponent's coronary vessels and cranial cavity. Ai Changyuan then positioned two gravity lenses directly behind Heavenly Master Wang's body, executed a beautiful hollow flip, moving from above Wang's head to directly behind him, while at the same time, the gravity field faded.

The Cave Heaven Ruler, temporarily disengaged.

Then, the world became illogically fast-forwarded for Ai Changyuan once more. The surrounding spacetime shattered at almost the speed of silk, air currents moved instantaneously.

Heavenly Master Wang also discovered Ai Changyuan at once—or rather, by his own time logic, he had noticed Ai Changyuan long ago. However, for him, the battle had just begun a few seconds ago. The Twin Paradox gave Ai Changyuan extra time. He had already realized that ordinary attacks were futile against the Modern Foundation Establishment Heterodox before him, yet he hadn't immediately thought to employ the Cave Heaven Ruler, typically reserved for Modern Golden Core Cultivators. He was still trying some charged moves.

He turned around, anomalies surged around him, a black hood that seemed to harbor a person floated behind him. He raised his ceremonial mace, seemingly wanting to attack Ai Changyuan. But what also arrived in this frame of reference with Ai Changyuan was the air he had injected into his heart and cranial cavity.

For mortals, injecting even a few milliliters of air into blood vessels is more deadly than any poison. However, nearly a cubic meter of air burst inside that man's body. Heavenly Master Wang gave Ai Changyuan a surprised glance, seemingly finding the attack too primitive. Caught off guard, the pressure inside his skull did indeed spike suddenly, a trickle of blood mixed with lipids and cerebrospinal fluid sprayed from his nose. But, he quickly controlled the air inside his body. His mana enveloped that bit of air, then with a light stroke on his neck artery, the two bullet-like air masses were expelled from his body. His well-trained heart barely sustained any damage, only discomfort lingered.

"Damn, I knew it wouldn't work," Ai Changyuan scoffed coldly, landing steadily on the ground. Back in the conventional frame of reference, he immediately began harvesting the Ancient Method Practitioner's mana within, more power converging back to him. He spoke nonchalantly, but his heartbeat was subtly accelerating. In this state, without the protection of the Cave Heaven Ruler, he couldn't ignore the enemy's attacks as before. Heavenly Master Wang merely needed a light sweep to eradicate him.

A pause of one second… two seconds… three seconds…

The time difference maintained by the Cave Heaven Comparison Ruler… fifteen seconds… eighteen seconds…

And Heavenly Master Wang kept his ceremonial mace aloft, continuing to manifest the Dharma. He no longer treated his opponent as merely at the Foundation Establishment Stage. In his eyes, this was a foe worthy of the Divine Separation Stage, demanding his full attention. As a Divine Descent Stage Witch, his greatest act was to channel the Divine Spirit's will with his own mana, manifesting the Divine Spirit Dharma.

"Heavenly catastrophe transforms, meeting the End of Fortune!"

The Divine Spirit Dharma's black robe unfurled, its hem extending boundless Red Light, drenched in the force of End of Fortune. Heaven and Earth trembled, production stumbled, storage faltered, rites crumbled, music spoiled.

"Boundless Paradise, Home of Hongyuan!"

The robe opened, revealing an immense black void within, utterly empty and baseless, characterized by mutual forgetfulness and annihilation. The Divine Spirit Dharma expanded limitlessly, in mere seconds growing as tall as mountains, its robe enveloping the entire island.

This was a move capable of annihilating entire groups of Nascent Souls.

The whole process took ten seconds.

—Heavenly Master Wang didn't know that actually, if he hadn't bothered with these tricks and had simply used the overwhelming force and speed typical of the Divine Separation Stage against ordinary Foundation Establishment Cultivators, he might have won.

Ancient Method Practitioner and Modern Cultivator could compete in anything, but they should never compete in technology. (To be continued. If you like this work, please visit qidian.com to cast your recommendation votes and monthly votes. Your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)