This villain is too popular.

Chapter 475 Restraint [4000 words]

Before the golden smoke from the disintegration of the Leo clone had completely dissipated, the azure vector force field surrounding the Heavenly Dao gently swept up, enveloping, dismantling, and annihilating all the remaining fragments of the flame rules and abyssal energy in the void.

Soon, the chaotic energy flow in the surrounding subspace instantly returned to calm.

The Heavenly Dao stood suspended in the void, its azure Star Eclipse Heavenly Eye slowly sweeping across the surroundings. Only after sensing no abnormal fluctuations within its range did it withdraw its gaze.

His expression remained calm, as if he had just killed not a legendary clone containing primordial power, but an ant.

Although it was a bit too 'deliberate'.

Knowing the importance of 'persona', Tiandao naturally understands how to maintain his image on 'screen'.

Regardless of whether it's intentional or not, the important thing is to maintain his current 'style' in the eyes of the audience.

Just as Tiandao had expected, at this moment, the screen on station 13 was already completely flooded with dense barrage comments.

Countless shocks and fervor surge forth through the words:

'Holy crap! Ten breaths! He defeated his opponent in just ten breaths?! Lao Tian's strength is ridiculously high!'

'I used to think the twelve zodiac signs were incredibly mysterious and powerful, but now it seems they're just a bunch of clowns in front of Lao Tian! Even their clones couldn't withstand a single move!'

'The key point is that not only did Laotian reflect the attack, but it also added a new characteristic to it? This is practically a game-changing, rule-breaking attack! Leo probably died without ever understanding why his own flames were turning against him!'

'The "Ceiling of Stars" reputation is truly well-deserved! While others are still consolidating their foundations after breaking through to the Calamity Realm, Lao Tian has already begun slaughtering legendary-level avatars. This gap is even greater than an insurmountable chasm!'

The barrage of comments continued, while in the distant core of the subspace, a huge uproar had already broken out in the Star Palace.

The moment the Leo's clone disintegrated, it abruptly stood up from the throne inlaid with abyssal crystals, its chest heaving violently, and a mouthful of golden blood uncontrollably spurted onto the armrest of the throne, staining the cold crystals crimson.

The flames around it surged wildly, distorting and warping the space around the throne, yet it was unable to calm the chaotic primal energy within its body.

"Pfft... Alright, alright, I underestimated this guy."

The Leo's voice carried an undisguised mix of shock and excitement.

He is the most warlike of the twelve zodiac signs.

Its unwavering belief is in 'fighting'.

As for 'death,' that's just the price you have to pay after a defeat in battle.

Not dwelling too much on the recent 'failure,' Leo began to analyze the power of fate.

"His vector rules can not only dismantle my flame rules, but also tamper with energy properties. This is definitely not a single vector control; he must have incorporated other properties into it as well."

"Interesting, very interesting indeed."

The other nine dark figures remained silent.

Unlike Leo's excitement, the other zodiac signs are contemplating the influence of the heavens on them.

Although the encounter between Leo and the Heavenly Dao was brief, they could clearly sense the primal vibrations emanating from Leo's main body and trace back to the entire process of the clone being slain through the remaining energy imprints.

The Heavenly Dao's effortless demeanor and its masterful control over the rules made these born legendary beings feel a sense of dread from the depths of their souls for the first time.

After an unknown amount of time, the true form of Aries slowly spoke, its voice still cold, but with an added hint of imperceptible solemnity.

“His understanding of the rules has gone beyond the scope of ‘mechanism’ and reached the level of ‘tampering’.”

"Ordinary natural disaster realms compete in the subtlety of rule application, but he can directly interfere with or even rewrite the core characteristics of other rules, which has already touched the threshold of our legendary realm."

"The limits of the human body are there, and I don't think he can overcome that hurdle."

A calm voice rang out; it was Gemini in its true form.

Its figure swayed slightly in the shadows, adding, "I'm more inclined to believe he possesses some kind of special inheritance or artifact; otherwise, he could never have such power, however..."

The Pisces entity clutched the wound on its chest and said, "Whether it's an inheritance or a secret treasure, the facts are right before our eyes."

"My clone was injured by his ranged attack, and Leo's original clone was killed by him in ten breaths. We have lost the right to test him."

"Sending another clone would only waste our resources and pose no threat to him."

The Starry Sky Palace fell silent once more, the nine dark figures remaining silent as they plotted their next move.

Their plans had been delayed for a long time due to Ennet's existence, and now the emergence of a powerful Heavenly Dao has completely disrupted their original arrangements.

Continuing to target the Heavenly Dao is too risky; abandoning the target risks the Heavenly Dao becoming an even more terrifying threat than Ennet once it grows stronger.

This difficult choice made these legendary beings, who had traversed the subspace for countless years, feel a sense of unease for the first time.

Meanwhile, in the subspace outside Martial Capital, the Heavenly Dao had already retracted its vector force field. With a swift movement, it transformed into a streak of azure light, instantly piercing through the subspace barrier and returning to the training room of Martial Capital.

As soon as he landed, he sat down cross-legged, closed his eyes, and began to process his insights after killing the Leo clone.

"Tampering with rule characteristics... It seems there's still room for improvement in my application of vector rules."

In the Heavenly Dao's sea of ​​consciousness, countless rules and runes collided and recombined rapidly, and the details of the battle with the Leo clone resurfaced.

"The core of the rules of flame is 'burning' and 'diffusion'. By changing its energy flow trajectory through vector force lines, I injected reverse 'contraction' and 'annihilation' vectors, which caused its flames to backfire on itself."

"This kind of alteration requires an extreme understanding of the core structure of the target rules, and the observation capabilities of the Star Eclipse Eye played a key role."

With a thought, a faint azure light emanated from Tiandao's body once again, and countless tiny vector lines extended from within him, weaving into a dense vector network in the void.

Within the network, a faint flame energy was forcibly extracted. Under the control of vector force lines, the flame, which was originally spreading outward, began to shrink inward and annihilate, eventually turning into a wisp of smoke and dissipating.

This attempt was much smoother than the previous battle, clearly demonstrating that the previous practical experience had deepened his understanding of the 'rule-altering characteristics'.

"The energy supply of the Heavenly Dao Cells, the precise observation of the Star Eclipse Heavenly Eye, and the ultimate control of the Vector Rules—these three complement each other to achieve this effect."

The Heavenly Dao slowly opened its eyes, a flash of enlightenment appearing within them.

"To completely crush the true form of the Zodiac, merely reaching the threshold of the mid-stage of the Calamity Realm is not enough. I need to further refine this ability to 'alter the rules' and make it one of my core combat forces."

Just then, the alloy gate of the training room was gently pushed open, and Lei Xiao and Shi Jian walked in side by side.

As soon as the two stepped into the cultivation room, they felt the faint pressure of the rules remaining in the air, and their expressions immediately became extremely respectful.

"The Way of Heaven."

Lei Xiao looked at him, his tone filled with undisguised curiosity.

"We have already sensed the terrifying energy fluctuations that came from the subspace. Did you kill the avatars of the Zodiac again?" The Heavenly Dao nodded and replied, "It was the original avatar of Leo. It has been dealt with."

"The original manifestation of Leo?"

Although I don't know what Leo is, I'm thinking about the mysterious and powerful person I encountered in the Tianyuan Organization before.

Shi Jian, who was standing to the side, quickly deduced that the so-called Leo was definitely not an ordinary being, but rather a top-tier being among the calamities.

You have to understand that when he first broke through to the Heavenly Calamity Realm, let alone easily killing other beings of the same level, it would be quite an achievement if he could fight them to a standstill.

After all, there are few rules that are strong or weak; there are only differences in 'restraint' and 'degree of mastery'.

The Heavenly Dao was able to kill a Calamity-level being so easily, and it did so multiple times.

This shows that although he has just broken through, his development and mastery of his own star source has reached an absolutely superhuman level.

Thinking of this, Shi Jian couldn't help but glance at the Heavenly Dao a few more times, as if he wanted to know where this monster came from.

As for Shi Jian's strange gaze, Tian Dao didn't pay much attention to it.

After a short rest, Tiandao asked, "How is the cleanup work on the meteorite ruins progressing?"

When the topic turned to business, Lei Xiao and Shi Jian immediately composed themselves and gave their answers.

"It's almost over. The remaining forces of the Tianyuan Organization have been completely wiped out. More than 3,000 tons of various star source ores and 127 star artifacts have been recovered, including some semi-finished products of catastrophe-level star artifacts."

"In addition, we have discovered a new hidden teleportation array deep within the ruins. Preliminary assessments indicate it is a passage connecting to subspace. We have already sent people to seal it off and await your instructions."

"Teleportation array?"

A glint of light flashed in Tiandao's eyes.

"Take me to see it."

"Yes!"

Then, Tiandao followed Lei Xiao and Shi Jian, and in a flash, appeared in the port of Martial Capital.

Inside the port, countless star-powered ships were moving in and out in an orderly manner, with staff working tirelessly, creating a thriving scene.

The three of them boarded a small starship and soon arrived at the meteorite ruins.

Deep within the ruins, a massive teleportation array suddenly appeared before them.

This teleportation array is made entirely of black abyssal crystals, and the array patterns retain a rich abyssal energy, clearly serving as a passage for the Tianyuan Organization to connect with the Zodiac.

Tiandao stepped forward, his azure Star Eclipse Heavenly Eye glowing slightly, with countless rule runes flowing within his pupils.

In just a moment, he saw through the core structure of the teleportation array.

"This teleportation array connects to a transit station in the subspace. Through this transit station, one can reach the sphere of influence of the Zodiac."

The Heavenly Dao said calmly, "However, the array contains the rules and imprints of the twelve zodiac signs. Once activated, they will be able to sense it."

Lei Xiao frowned slightly: "Then should we destroy it completely to prevent it from becoming a hidden danger?"

"No need."

Tiandao shook his head, a meaningful smile curving his lips.

"This teleportation array is a good place to make some arrangements."

As soon as he finished speaking, Tiandao raised his hand and gently pressed it against the teleportation array. Countless azure vector lines surged out from his body and burrowed into the array's patterns like venomous snakes.

These lines of force rapidly traverse and recombine within the array patterns, completely erasing the regular imprints of the twelve zodiac signs while simultaneously injecting their own vector rules.

"From now on, I will control this teleportation array."

The Heavenly Dao said softly, "As long as someone enters the New Federation territory through this teleportation array, I will be able to sense it immediately and use the teleportation array to directly cover the subspace transfer station with my vector force field."

Upon hearing this, Lei Xiao and Shi Jian were once again awestruck by the power of the Heavenly Dao.

Tampering with the rules of the teleportation array and controlling the inter-space passage—these methods far exceed their understanding of the Calamity Realm.

Inside the Starry Sky Palace at the core of the subspace, the nine dark figures who were discussing countermeasures suddenly changed their expressions simultaneously. They clearly sensed that the rule imprints they had left in the Heavenly Abyss Organization's teleportation array had been completely erased by a powerful vector rule!
"It is the Heavenly Dao; it controls our teleportation array."

The Leo himself spoke calmly, no longer displaying the impulsiveness he had before.

The Aries entity remained silent for a moment, then slowly said, "It seems we must speed up our plans."

"Pass down the message: all forces lurking around the New Federation should lie low for now and refrain from making any rash moves."

"At the same time, we must focus all our efforts on that 'thing.' Once we find that 'thing,' we will hold the key to solving Ennet's problem."

"As for that human named Tiandao, let's leave him alone for now."

"That's all."

The nine dark figures nodded in unison, then transformed into streaks of light and disappeared into the Starry Sky Palace.

Clearly, they have completely abandoned the idea of ​​targeting the Heavenly Dao in the short term and have instead set their sights on Enite.

In the ruins of the meteorite, the Heavenly Dao sensed the changes in energy fluctuations coming from the subspace, and the smile on its lips deepened.

"You want to deal with Ennet first, then deal with me?"

"Unfortunately, you seem to be underestimating a certain old fellow."

After resolving the matter of the teleportation array, Tiandao returned to his training room in Martial Capital.

This time, he didn't rush into cultivation, but instead began to analyze his current strength and trump cards.

With the ultimate manipulation and alteration of vector rules, the energy supply and self-healing of the Heavenly Dao Cells, the precise observation and deduction of the Star Eclipse Heavenly Eye, the protection of the 'Azure Star' matrix, and the controlled inter-space teleportation array, his current strength is sufficient to deal with the vast majority of threats.

"The next step is to thoroughly improve the ability to 'tamper with the rules'."

Tiandao sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and a pale blue vector force field once again emanated from his body.

Inside the cultivation room, the rule runes began to flicker once more, a faint azure light enveloping the figure of the Heavenly Dao.

And his legend continues to write new chapters with each breakthrough and awe-inspiring achievement, resounding throughout the entire starry sky.

(End of this chapter)