Time had lost all meaning in the fierce battle between high-ranked wizards.
Perhaps only a quarter of an hour had passed, or perhaps several years.
Inside the battle room, the simulated star system had completely lost its original appearance.
The four planets that had transformed into armor had all turned into floating rubble in the void. The star was repeatedly drawn upon, compressed, and then reignited. In the end, the entire system was left with only a rolling plasma storm and the training ground's formation that continuously repaired spatial cracks.
Boom!!!
The dark-gold fist clashed once more with the stellar giant's fist, a terrifying shock wave sweeping across millions of kilometers.
This time, Jie Ming finally furrowed his brows slightly.
Because the Dharma Aspect was beginning to become unstable.
At that moment, the entire twenty-five-thousand-kilometer-tall Dharma Aspect began to ripple faintly.
Cracks constantly appeared and then rapidly healed.
But the healing speed was getting slower and slower.
"...As expected, at my current level, maintaining the third Dharma Aspect for a long time is still too much of a stretch." Jie Ming sighed inwardly.
The third Dharma Aspect he had condensed now was forcibly crossing the threshold thanks to his surging spiritual aptitude.
The larger the Dharma Aspect, the more terrifying the consumption of mental strength and computational power.
Moreover, in order to verify his true limits, he had not connected to the Incense Fire Divine Dao throughout this battle.
Without drawing on cross-space spiritual energy transmission, without using the entire divine system as a backup energy source, he fought entirely on his own reserves. Now, not only was his mental strength depleted, but even the spiritual power within his body had finally run dry.
Boom!
Another punch collided.
The cracks on the Dharma Aspect's arm suddenly expanded.
Then, the entire right arm shattered with a bang, scattering dark-golden light spots across the void.
This time, Jie Ming did not immediately repair it, because there was no surplus spiritual power left.
Augusta naturally noticed this change.
Without hesitation, the stellar giant swung all six arms simultaneously, raining down a barrage of fists.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Finally, with the last punch landing, the entire Dharma Aspect violently shook and ultimately shattered.
The golden giant, twenty-five thousand kilometers tall, slowly disintegrated in space, with billions of light spots scattering in all directions like a golden star rain.
Jie Ming's ordinary-sized puppet body also detached from the Dharma Aspect, floating quietly in the void.
On the other side, Augusta's situation was not much better.
The stellar giant had long lost its humanoid form; only two of its six arms remained, and its lower body had completely lost its shape, held together only by gravity forcing the countless plasma units to re-adhere, as if it could self-destruct at any moment.
She looked at the dissipated Dharma Aspect and finally let out a long breath, then slowly dispersed the stellar giant’s power.
"It's over." Augusta's voice remained calm.
But her forehead was covered in fine beads of sweat, and sharp pains came from the depths of her spiritual sea.
This battle had pushed her to her limits as well.
Jie Ming smiled and nodded: "Yes, it's truly over."
Upon hearing this, a hint of a smile appeared at the corner of Augusta's mouth.
However, Jie Ming's next words froze the smile on her face.
"Unfortunately, you lost."
Augusta immediately frowned, crossing her arms: "Stubborn men are not liked. Right now, you have clearly lost your combat ability. No matter how you look at it, you lost."
Jie Ming just smiled, not arguing, but slowly raised his right hand.
A faint gray divine radiance began to flow again.
Embers of Nihility - Reversal Palm.
But this time, the target of his spell was not the enemy.
Rather... himself.
Or, to be precise, his own self that had completely fused with the Inner World.
The gray light gently swept across the entire Inner World. The next moment, time began to flow backward.
The nearly drained spiritual power recovered wildly in a way that completely defied common sense. The severely depleted mental strength quickly filled up, and the fatigue vanished in the blink of an eye.
In an instant, Jie Ming returned to his peak state.
Outside, the billions of golden light spots that had dissipated into space suddenly came to a halt, then flew backward.
Countless light spots converged again against their diffusion trajectory, and the previously shattered Dharma Aspect slowly condensed once more from the void.
Finally, the six vertical eyes on the forehead slowly opened again, and the dark-gold divine radiance once again illuminated the entire universe.
The third Dharma Aspect, reappeared!
"You..."
Seeing this scene, Augusta was stunned.
For the first time, she didn't know what to say.
Augusta could sense that not only had Jie Ming's Dharma Aspect recovered, but his own mental strength and physical state had also returned to their peak.
"This... how is it possible?"
Augusta recognized that Jie Ming was using the same "trick" he had used at the beginning of their fight.
But she couldn't understand how this trick could achieve such a thing.
Jie Ming felt his own state, and his heart was filled with delight.
This was the main reason he had chosen Embers of Nihility - Reversal Palm back then.
Just as the criteria he had searched for, without a doubt, this was a great divine ability that could turn the tide of battle!
By using it on himself, he could completely ignore all previous consumption, restore himself out of nowhere, and reverse the meter.
That is, so-called creation from nothing.
This was the truly terrifying aspect of this spell.
Its true reversal target was never the enemy, but oneself.
As long as he could cast it once, it was equivalent to having a full state again.
This meant that from now on, unless someone could instantly kill him, it would be impossible to defeat him in a prolonged battle!
Jie Ming gently moved the Dharma Aspect's palm, looked at Augusta, and said with a smile:
"So I said, you lost."
Augusta was silent for a few breaths, then slowly exhaled, her gaze becoming sharp again: "It's not over yet!"
The fighting spirit in her eyes reignited.
Even though sharp pains came from her spiritual sea, even though her physical strength was nearly exhausted, she still raised her hands again!
The damaged stellar giant moved once more, launching an attack at Jie Ming.
Jie Ming smiled and stepped forward as well.
Then, another battle that stretched on until time was forgotten.
Augusta displayed the true strength of a combat-system wizard.
She was breaking through her limits in the midst of battle, adjusting her control methods each time she was on the verge of collapse. Her mastery of electromagnetic force became more precise, gravity more condensed, and the connections between the four fundamental forces more natural.
She grew rapidly in this near-desperate battle.
With each punch, she became stronger than the last.
Jie Ming even had the illusion that this woman was like a protagonist in a story, growing stronger the more she fought, never stopping.
Unfortunately, even if Augusta could hold on, the continuously shattered stellar giant could not maintain itself.
After losing matter beyond a certain limit, the entire stellar giant collapsed with a bang, scattering stellar matter in all directions.
But just as Jie Ming was about to stop, a figure suddenly rushed out from the endless flames.
It was Augusta.
At this moment, taking advantage of the stellar giant's collapse, she had finally closed in on Jie Ming's puppet.
After the long battle, she had mastered the four fundamental forces to their limits. Now, all she needed was the knowledge to complete the unification. Augusta abandoned all defense, wrapping the four fundamental forces around her body, synergistically enhancing and amplifying herself to the extreme, and delivered her final strike! She turned herself into a streak of light, crashing fiercely into the Dharma Aspect's chest!
Boom!!!
The Return to Ruins Armor, already shaken violently by the collapsing stellar matter stream, shattered with a bang. Then, Augusta pierced through the Dharma Aspect's chest. The streak of light penetrated the Dharma Aspect and finally slammed heavily into Jie Ming's main body puppet.
Bang!
After the puppet flew backward for countless kilometers, Jie Ming finally stopped.
He looked down at the shattered puppet, then at Augusta charging toward him. He raised his head and smiled: "Impressive."
Then, the gray divine radiance shone again.
Embers of Nihility - Reversal Palm.
Time reversed.
The Dharma Aspect recovered.
The puppet recovered.
Augusta stared expressionlessly at the golden glow that bloomed again before her, her charging steps involuntarily stopping.
"Ha... haha..."
Augusta laughed in exasperation.
She had been completely bloodthirsty, but now seeing this scene, her gaze calmed.
"Your ability... is really cheap."
She finally raised her hands: "I concede."
Jie Ming also dispersed his Dharma Aspect.
The dark-gold divine radiance slowly faded, and the entire space scene began to dissolve as well.
The darkness receded, the starry sky dissipated, and the surroundings returned to that spotless white hemispherical metal battle room.
It was only then that Jie Ming noticed Augusta's appearance.
During that final strike, she had exhausted all her strength, and with no protection left, the ordinary-material black robe had long been burned to ashes by the stellar heat. Now, she could only use her disheveled long hair to barely cover her vital parts.
Jie Ming raised his right hand, and an alchemy array unfolded. Elements in the air quickly gathered.
Moments later, a loose black robe slowly fell into his hand.
He handed it over: "Put it on. You are already very strong. If it weren't for this special technique, I definitely couldn't have beaten you."
Augusta took the robe and put it on, snorting coldly:
"No need to comfort me. Not to mention anything else, that technique of yours called Light God Transformation was never used from start to finish."
She tied the belt and returned to her cold-faced War God demeanor.
"And don't worry that I'll give up. I'm not someone with weak willpower. I know there is still a gap between us, but I won't admit defeat!"
Jie Ming smiled: "You are welcome to challenge me anytime. But before that, the academy duty for the next period of time is on you."
Augusta rolled her eyes and didn't reply.
She just waved her hand and walked straight out the door.
The battle room door opened, and for a moment, silence fell outside.
The apprentices and instructors who had gathered nearby almost simultaneously turned their heads away.
Some began to study the patterns on the wall.
Some crouched down to inspect the metal floor tiles.
And a small apprentice was squatting in a corner, seriously concocting a potion.
Only, that potion hadn't even been lit.
Jie Ming couldn't help but laugh at the sight, gently shook his head, and then followed Augusta out.
Only after the two figures had completely disappeared did the long-suppressed discussions in the training ground finally erupt.
"Who won in the end?"
"Don't know!"
"They didn't have a scratch when they came out!"
While the crowd was arguing, a sharp-eyed instructor suddenly pushed up his glasses.
"Wait! When Lady Augusta went in... wasn't she wearing a different robe?"
Everyone was stunned for a moment.
Then, they all realized at the same time.
If even the robe had been changed...
That meant that during the battle just now, one side had been beaten to the point where they couldn't even keep their robe intact.
The answer was already clear.
In an instant.
The entire Nolen 147 Academy erupted in excitement over this sparring match.