The law of shadows started turning back into Gu Nan's body, which soon returned to its original shape and reappeared in front of Austin and Yu Lian.
He completely destroyed Daisy earlier, and even now, she still hadn't managed to reassemble her divine body. It was apparent that the attack at the law level dealt severe damage to her.
The three's previous strategy of not giving Gu Nan a chance to breathe was completely crushed.
Yu Lian was experiencing a major shock while Austin remained silent. The battle seemed to reach a stalemate.
Gu Nan wasn't in a hurry to attack. He was comparing the differences between his "pseudo-Third Round" and the real Third Round, in terms of both laws and the Evil God physique.
In his past life, Gu Nan transmigrated as soon as he reached the Third Round and never personally experienced how powerful the Third Round was. However, he wasn't the first player to reach the Third Round. At any rate, he'd also seen other people's game videos.
In comparison, it was true that his current state could not be considered the true Third Round. At the very least, the strength of the Evil God physique was far from the Third Round's level. However, his laws did reveal some indication of the Third Round's power.
Now, Gu Nan's shadows could be controlled freely and could even exhibit the properties of other laws. He could change its characteristics with a single thought.
In terms of level, even though he hadn't reached the true Third Round yet, he'd still surpassed Tier 15 slightly, which was enough to suppress Austin, Daisy, and Yu Lian.
The Evil God physique, on the other hand, wasn't much different from its pre-Third Round state, which gave Gu Nan some vague conjectures.
Perhaps at his current stage, the strength of the Evil God physique was no longer determined by level, but by Evil Value.
This phenomenon was inconsistent with his past situation. Perhaps it was because the Evil God Temple shattered?
Gu Nan also didn't know the answer. The current him had gradually embarked on an unprecedented path, so much so that no one in this world even knew what the path after Tier 15 looked like.
For now, Gu Nan would have to explore and develop that path by himself.
Gu Nan's thoughts gradually returned to the present, and his gaze landed on Austin and Yu Lian again.
The next second, shadows surpassing their understanding emerged and quickly eroded the space around the two. Be it holy light or Daoist techniques, they both quickly disintegrated when coming into contact with the shadows.
Under Gu Nan's control, the shadows gained the characteristics of both light and darkness. It could assimilate and devour at the same time, swiftly defeating the enemy while simultaneously strengthening itself. It could be described as "invincible".
But for Austin and Yu Lian, the situation took a turn for the worse.
Daisy was critically wounded by Gu Nan's sudden attack, which greatly reduced the threat they posed to Gu Nan. With merely Austin and Yu Lian working together, it would be almost impossible to hit the Stigma of Life and Death.
Faced with the shadows that were quickly surrounding him, Austin glanced at Yu Lian beside him. When he saw her only barely holding on, he couldn't help sighing in his mind.
Then he waved his holy sword, and an enormous amount of holy light gathered, cutting open a path through the shadows as he tried to return to the World of Gods.
Gu Nan just cast him a glance. Immediately afterwards, his figure flickered slightly and reappeared directly in front of Austin, blocking his way.
The law of shadows was akin to maggots gnawing at bone, wrapping around the holy sword and making it hard for Austin to even swing the sword.
The next instant, Gu Nan's punch reached Austin's chest. Ensnared in shadows, this Greater God of Light couldn't even put up any effective resistance as his body was instantly blown apart.
The current Austin—who used to be the strongest in both worlds—was no longer a match for Gu Nan.
If not for wanting to deal with Austin in the shortest possible time, Gu Nan could even use laws to cause more damage to Austin.
And after Austin was beaten back, Yu Lian was the only one left before Gu Nan.
But once things reached this point, the leader of Void Grotto Heaven actually turned calm.
She simply gave up on resisting and allowed the shadows to capture her. "Gu Nan, I'm willing to hand over the position of Star Ruler of Void Grotto Heaven. You can—"
"Don't need it." Gu Nan stepped forward and clamped a hand around her neck. Countless shadows poured in from her seven orifices, almost assimilating her whole body into shadows.
In a one-on-one fight, Yu Lian would undoubtedly be completely suppressed by Gu Nan.
Her law realm wasn't as high as Gu Nan's to begin with, and none of her Daoist techniques had any effect on Gu Nan. In addition, she was still heavily injured, so it could be said that she had no chance of winning.
Once even Void Grotto Heaven failed to pique Gu Nan's interest, Yu Lian had lost all value.
Gu Nan was determined to kill her this time. He would first clear out all resistance in the Myriad Heavens, then deal with the remaining greater gods. Only then would he be able to conduct his own experiments in peace.
Gathering the power of both worlds to research the secrets of the Origin World—this was Gu Nan's goal.
Yu Lian bore the influx of the law of shadows, unable to use any of her laws. She realized that if things continued like this, even her own laws would probably be washed away.
Having no other alternative, she could only use her power to detonate this body, sending countless fragments of her power through the void in all directions.
Self-detonation was already a very helpless choice for a Unified Dao powerhouse.
Because the disorderly law explosion could only cause a shockwave. The power was far less than that of a normal attack, so it was an extremely inefficient method.
Gu Nan slowly walked out of the void. The shockwave and lingering power from Yu Lian's self-destruction naturally had no effect on him.
He didn't have any intention of delaying and arrived in Void Grotto Heaven in one step. The shadows behind him flared up again, quickly erasing everything in Void Grotto Heaven.
This astral world, which was the core of the Heaven Realm in ancient times and the origin of Daoism in the present, fared no better than a normal astral world in the face of Gu Nan's shadows.
Countless Daoist priests died, and some even died inexplicably while in closed-door cultivation. Even until their deaths, they didn't know what just happened.
Perhaps they were all high and mighty enlightened Daoists once upon a time, but everyone was equal in the face of death.
"Master! Sect Master!" A disciple stumbled into the temple, only to see Yu Lian sitting on the praying mat, staring blankly at the sky.
"Master, the elders…"
"I know." Yu Lian sighed softly. "If it can help the Daoist Sect survive this calamity, anything is fine."
The disciple's eyes couldn't help but redden slightly. "But…"
Of course he knew what the elders were going to do.
An external enemy was invading their astral world, but the Sect Master could only imprison herself here while the elders went forth to plead with the enemy in order to beg for the sect's continued survival…
This was humiliating!
'Is there nobody in this enormous Void Grotto Heaven who can take the lead?'
The Daoist disciple couldn't help but feel the blood all over his body boiling with anger. He wished he could immediately become a Star Ruler and rush out to destroy that powerful enemy.
However, the next second, boundless shadows instantly swept across the entire hall. This disciple couldn't even say anything before his whole person turned into ashes.
But Yu Lian just watched all of this blankly, without any reaction at all, and even allowed the shadows to invade the Daoist temple.