On the other side!
Breaking free from the towering waves, Osial was consumed by fury.
Out of nowhere, an attack had slapped it more than ten kilometers away.
When it finally surfaced and looked around, it found itself back at the familiar Guyun Stone Forest.
If before this it had merely been angered by humanity's defiance, then now it was suffering utter humiliation—an unrestrained, hysterical rage.
"Ahhhhhhh!!!"
The shockwaves from its roar alone made the land tremble. Osial straightened its mangled, blood-soaked heads and stared into the sky at that figure whose presence overwhelmed the heavens.
The suffocating pressure blanketing the entire sky—there was no doubt who was responsible.
Yet the moment it clearly saw that figure, the raging hatred choking the air suddenly stalled.
As Osial locked eyes with him, Luo Li casually pressed his hand downward.
"Who allowed you to look at me on equal footing?"
Osial's instincts screamed danger. But before it could react, an irresistible gravitational force slammed down.
It was as if the sky itself had collapsed.
Across a radius of over ten kilometers centered on Osial, the sea surface abruptly sank hundreds of meters, forming a terrifying visible chasm.
The scales along Osial's long necks exploded outward, exposing mangled flesh beneath; even its bones shattered under the pressure.
Unable to withstand such crushing gravity, Osial was forced to bend and crash into the sinking sea, its eyes—filled with terror and hatred—struggling to look up at Luo Li.
"Ahhhhhhh!!!"
A shrill, anguished scream echoed out, yet Osial was pinned helplessly to the sea's surface, utterly unable to move.
It had recognized him.
Maintaining a gravity field spanning dozens of kilometers, Luo Li looked at Osial as casually as if he were playing with a loach in a pond.
Five hundred years had passed, and his mastery over the Herrscher Core had advanced dramatically. The countless abilities he had gained through repeated sign-ins had long since fused into that core.
Luo Li intended to use the Herrscher Core as a foundation—not only to command the limits of physical laws, but also to integrate conceptual and fantasy-based powers, carving out a completely new path.
After all, nearly three thousand sign-ins had granted him abilities far too numerous and diverse—most of which he rarely needed to use.
"Tsk… looks like I used a bit too much force."
Supporting his chin with one hand, Luo Li examined Osial's miserable state, slightly troubled.
At this rate, Osial might sink back into the deep sea before long.
Estimating the remaining duration of the Sigils of Permission, he nodded faintly.
"In that case…"
Murmuring softly, Luo Li waved his hand. The gravity field vanished. After sealing off the Guyun area with imaginary space, he directly teleported Eula, Noelle, and Shenhe inside.
"You have ten minutes. Send Osial back into the deep sea, and you pass the exam."
The leisurely condition made all three women grimace.
Osial, having recognized Luo Li, knew that revenge was now nothing more than a foolish dream. Trapped within the imaginary barrier, it glared at the three tiny figures before it—fear and hatred swirling in its vicious eyes as it glanced toward Luo Li.
When you're under someone else's roof, you have no choice but to bow your head.
Not daring to raise itself too high, Osial coiled its massive body, madness flooding its gaze.
If it couldn't resist… then it would slaughter these three ants to vent its rage!
In an instant, Eula felt the aura of death close in. Her earlier ease vanished completely.
Meeting Osial's furious stare, she knew a brutal battle was inevitable.
"Luo Li, I'll remember this for cranking up the difficulty without warning!"
No sooner had she spoken than an overwhelming torrent of elemental energy came crashing down, startling her.
This attack was easily ten times stronger than before.
Worse still, it came so suddenly that neither Noelle nor Shenhe could escape its range.
Eula's expression changed. She could dodge—but what about the other two?
All this because Luo Li hadn't even given them a heads-up before teleporting them straight in front of a demon god.
Cursing him inwardly, Eula took a deep breath and decided to use a move she had never unleashed before.
Her demon blood boiled like never before. Even before she consciously summoned ice, an extreme cold surged outward.
"Once I restrain it, use everything you have—aim for the weak points on its heads!"
Fixing her gaze on Osial's torn, bleeding necks, Eula quickly issued commands.
Shenhe replied calmly, "Understood."
Noelle had already assumed a draw stance, eyes locked onto the massive wound near Osial's vital point, her mind filled with a single thought: pass the trial.
As the elemental torrent engulfed everything, Eula closed her eyes and pushed the demon essence to its absolute limit.
A bone-chilling cold erupted—ice so profound it seemed capable of freezing time and space itself.
"Mahā-Kālpa!"
In that instant, time froze.
The raging sea fell silent. Even the droplets suspended in midair became motionless.
Osial—and its elemental barrage—were completely frozen.
Eula gasped for breath. The strain of using this technique was enormous.
"This is it—now or never!"
At her signal, all three launched their final attacks.
Noelle had already targeted the wound beneath Osial's first head. Her blade flashed from its sheath.
"Soaring Dragon Flash!"
She became a streak of lightning, reaching the barrel-thick wound in an instant and slashing with all her strength.
At the same time, Shenhe drove her adeptal arts to the extreme, draining the last of her stamina. Empowered by the icy domain, the Adeptal Talisman Spirit expanded several times over, emitting a piercing shriek.
Eula herself gritted her teeth, squeezing out the final remnants of her power.
"Ice Storm General!"
Days' worth of accumulated blizzards erupted all at once. With the expanded ice domain, the talisman spirit grew visibly more imposing.
"No—can't hold it anymore!"
The time-freeze lasted less than three seconds before reality shattered like a mirage.
Osial awoke in shock and fury, utterly unprepared for its thoughts and body to have been frozen.
And when it came to its senses—the attacks were already upon it.
The elemental barrage had been completely avoided.
Noelle and Shenhe were right in front of it.
"Back into the deep sea with you!"
The brilliance of the Snow-Tombed Greatsword and Amenoma Kageuchi tore through the air, ripping Osial's already shattered wound open by several more meters. Blood gushed out like a severed artery.
Already heavily injured by Luo Li, Osial was pushed to the brink.
Then came Shenhe's finishing blow.
The raging blizzard churned the skies, and four massive ice spears—each dozens of meters long—pinned Osial mercilessly into the sea.
With one final, miserable wail, the power of the Sigils of Permission completely dissipated.
Osial sank back into the deep sea, hatred unfulfilled.
Its colossal body disappeared beneath the waves.
In an instant, everything returned to calm—
as still and silent as an ancient, undisturbed well.