Zefre stares at Merin.
His eyes narrow slowly as he observes the man floating calmly in the air.
No wounds.
No unstable aura.
No visible damage.
Zefre's mind struggles to accept what he is seeing.
How is this even possible?
He is not a newly advanced Spirit Realm cultivator.
He stepped into the Spirit Realm decades ago.
His understanding of laws has been tempered through long years of cultivation and battle.
And the attack he just used was not an ordinary spell.
It was a Law Spell.
A spell infused with the Laws of Ice and Fire.
Even a Spirit Realm opponent should have suffered injuries from it.
At the very least, their aura would become unstable.
But Merin shows nothing.
His breathing remains steady.
His aura is calm.
His posture relaxed.
As if the attack had never touched him.
Zefre's thoughts race.
There are only two explanations.
Either Merin's understanding of laws is higher than his own.
Or Merin possesses a physique naturally aligned with Ice and Fire.
Both possibilities make Zefre uncomfortable.
Then he sees something else.
Merin's expression.
The Marquis remains in the air, looking toward him with a calm, almost indifferent gaze.
That indifference stabs into Zefre's pride.
Anger rises inside him.
His fists tighten.
"I am going to kill him," Zefre mutters to himself.
If he returns without even harming Merin slightly, his prestige will collapse.
Others will question his strength.
His position will weaken.
And the resources given to him by the organisation will certainly decrease.
That cannot happen.
His aura erupts outward again.
This time, the power is more violent.
More focused.
Zefre begins forming his second Law Spell.
His voice lowers into a cold whisper.
"Frost–Thunder Phoenix."
The moment the words leave his mouth, the surrounding spiritual energy begins to move.
Energy streams gather around him.
The currents twist and spiral under the command of his will.
Zefre's own energy spreads outward first.
It forms the framework.
Invisible lines of power construct the skeleton of the spell.
Within that framework, the surrounding spiritual energy pours in.
Frost gathers.
Lightning crackles.
The two forces combine into a massive shape.
Slowly, the figure of a phoenix appears in the sky.
Its wings spread wide.
Each feather looks like a frozen crystal edged with crackling thunder.
White frost drifts from its body like mist.
Blue lightning crawls across its wings and talons.
The phoenix opens its beak.
A piercing cry tears through the sky.
The sound shakes the battlefield below.
Soldiers instinctively cover their ears.
Then the phoenix moves.
It spirals once through the air.
Thunder explodes around it.
Frost spreads outward in waves.
Then it dives.
The massive bird barrels directly toward Merin.
Its speed increases with every heartbeat.
The air splits before it.
Merin watches the approaching spell.
This time, his expression becomes solemn.
He raises one hand toward Zefre.
His palm opens.
Energy gathers.
But he does not attempt to create a Law Spell.
He cannot.
His Virtual Law has not reached that level yet.
From Zero to Four, laws remain in a nascent state.
They resemble a student forming their own worldview.
Too immature to influence the world directly.
Only beyond that level can true Law Spells be created.
Instead, Merin channels his power differently.
His energy gathers together with his Sword Law.
The two forces intertwine.
A barrier forms before him.
Invisible yet solid.
A wall of sword energy reinforced by law.
The phoenix reaches him.
It crashes against the barrier.
For a fraction of a moment, the two forces resist each other.
Then the barrier shatters.
The phoenix smashes through it instantly.
Its frozen talons slam into Merin.
The impact carries him away.
Both figures shoot through the sky together.
The phoenix pushes him across the battlefield like a falling star.
They accelerate rapidly.
The wind howls around them.
A distant mountain rises ahead.
Then the phoenix slams Merin directly into the rocky slope.
The mountain shakes violently.
A heartbeat later, the spell detonates.
Thunder erupts.
Frost explodes outward.
The mountain disappears beneath a storm of lightning and ice.
The explosion spreads across the cliffs like a violent winter hurricane.
Frost sweeps through the air in waves.
Lightning crackles between the shattered rocks.
For a moment, the entire mountainside vanishes inside a blinding cloud of ice and thunder.
Zefre stands high above the battlefield and watches the destruction calmly.
His sharp eyes remain fixed on the collapsing mountain.
Stone crumbles.
Entire sections of the cliff break apart and tumble downward.
Ice spreads across the fractured rock like veins of crystal.
Within that ruin lies Merin.
Zefre's senses extend into the chaos.
He searches for the Marquis's aura.
After a moment, he finds it.
A faint glow inside the storm.
Merin's aura burns weakly within the rubble.
It reminds Zefre of a bonfire caught inside a violent storm.
Flickering.
Struggling.
It could vanish at any moment.
Zefre understands the situation immediately.
Merin is severely injured.
Right now, he could end the battle easily.
He does not even need to use the third Law Spell.
A simple strike would be enough.
One blow.
Merin would die.
Yet Zefre does not move.
He watches quietly.
Merin is not his life-and-death enemy.
He dislikes the Marquis.
And he does intend to kill him.
But not like this.
Not while Merin is already on the verge of collapse.
Zefre has his pride.
If his second Law Spell has brought Merin to this state, then his third Law Spell will be the one to end him.
Anything less would diminish the victory.
Inside the ruined mountain, Merin lies buried beneath layers of shattered stone and frozen debris.
His body is broken.
Bones cracked.
Muscles torn.
Internal organs damaged.
He tries to circulate his energy to heal.
But the remnants of the Law Spell remain inside him.
Traces of Ice and Thunder linger in his cells.
Each time he attempts to channel energy, the residual laws disrupt the flow.
Some channels freeze completely.
Others spark with violent thunder.
He cannot even absorb the surrounding spiritual energy.
Every attempt fails.
His Virtual Space Law continues to analyse the invading laws.
But the speed is not enough.
Too slow.
Far too slow.
Merin can feel death approaching.
Yet the feeling does not cause panic.
Instead, an unusual calm spreads through his mind.
The sound of his heartbeat becomes distant.
His thoughts slow.
Clear.
Precise.
He begins analysing the situation.
Help from outside does not exist.
No one here can save him.
Which means the solution must come from within.
He considers his options carefully.
There is a method that could save him.
His Past Virtual Space Law.
If he uses it, he could escape this predicament immediately.
But the consequences would be severe.
Using that law would fundamentally change his cultivation path.
Everything he has built in this life would collapse.
The result might allow him to survive.
But the future he has planned would be destroyed.
This life would become meaningless.
No.
That option cannot be used.
He must find the answer through his current Virtual Space Law.
If the Virtual Space Law advances even one level…
Then he can survive.
His Virtual Space Law is built upon three core laws.
The Law of Dream.
The Law of the Five Elements.
And the Law of Space.
These three form the framework.
All other laws only fill the gaps and strengthen the structure.
At present, the Law of Dream is only Level One.
The Law of the Five Elements has reached Level Two.
The Law of Space has not even reached Level One.
Despite that weakness, the combination of other minor laws has pushed the overall Virtual Space Law to Level Three.
He could add more laws to increase its strength quickly.
That would allow him to escape this crisis.
But doing so would fundamentally change the nature of the law.
It would no longer be a true Virtual Space Law.
It would become something else entirely.
Such a change might save him now.
But in the future, it would become a severe limitation.
The higher the level of a law becomes, the harder it is to modify.
A flawed foundation would trap him forever.
Merin continues thinking calmly.
His mind drifts toward the broader structure of cultivation in this world.
Advancing beyond the Saint Stage requires something different.
Saints must compete for believers.
Faith becomes power.
Saints battle other Saints and higher existences for influence.
To gather believers, a cultivator must offer something unique.
Like a product competing in a marketplace.
If there is nothing unique about it, no one will choose it.
Merin's Virtual Space Law possesses an analytical ability.
That ability is powerful.
But it is not unique.
Many other laws also possess similar analytical properties.
Right now, in this realm, his law seems unique.
Only because there are no Saints present.
His cultivation path gives him an advantage.
But in higher realms, where Saints exist everywhere, that advantage will disappear.
When competing for believers against other Saints…
His law must stand out.
It must offer something no one else possesses.
Something that will attract cultivators.
Something that will inspire faith.
Merin's mind continues turning through possibilities.
Searching.
Calculating.
Looking for the answer.