Chapter 148: Delaying for Time

Rumble...

The surrounding pressure grew intensely heavy, forcing half of the nether spirit's small foot straight into the ground, eliciting a miserable scream from him and leaving his expression extremely grim.

Meanwhile, the First Elder's face was equally unsightly. He had never expected the Female Marshal to set up such a powerful formation right here, completely slipping his mind until now.

The Grand Chief Priest was also somewhat taken in by surprise. Despite all his calculations, he had never anticipated that this formation would grant the Female Marshal a chance to fight a desperate, do-or-die battle.

"Yin Zetian, be a good girl and die peacefully. Only then can the masses of the Underworld follow my command. You must die, so stop struggling in vain."

The Grand Chief Priest spoke to the Female Marshal with a gentle expression.

"The most painful thing in this world is being betrayed by your most trusted friends. You have made me experience an unprecedented level of deception. Today, even if I die, I will drag you down with me."

Yin Zetian said with absolute seriousness and deep sorrow. Today, either they would perish, or she would survive.

Luffy, on the other hand, felt the suppressed power vanish completely. Instead, his strength began to soar continuously—surging from nine thousand nine hundred times to a staggering twenty-nine thousand seven hundred times, a full threefold increase. It was a truly unexpected boon.

Combined with the first and second tiers of the Dragon Emperor Tyrant Art, his combat power reached an astonishing two hundred ninety-seven thousand times. With such terrifying strength, dealing with these fellows from the Underworld clan would take nothing more than a flick of his finger.

This was a power far beyond his imagination. "What kind of formation is this? It's terrifying to this extent. My strength has literally tripled."

"It's a secret. It can only be deployed once a year."

Yin Zetian said very earnestly before turning her gaze to the Grand Chief Priest. "Your powers are heavily suppressed by at least half, aren't they? I might not be able to deal with you directly on my own, but he certainly can. Earlier, that nether spirit would have been obliterated by a single finger of his had he not used a clone. Furthermore, his power was suppressed back then, but right now, his strength is completely free of any suppression and has even been tripled. Do you honestly think you can defeat him now?"

Yin Zetian spoke with absolute seriousness.

"Heh... This formation of yours has a time limit. The nether spirit used it earlier, and if you use it again now, shouldn't the time be running out soon? We can simply avoid fighting him head-on and wait for the time to expire. Once that happens, he will become nothing more than fish on our chopping board."

The Grand Chief Priest showed not a trace of fear, acting as though he was thoroughly familiar with Yin Zetian's formation.

"Heh... You certainly know a lot. Don't waste any more time, eliminate them right now!" Yin Zetian said seriously.

"Very well, I don't want to waste time either." Luffy directly unleashed the Ancient God's Finger, glaring at the group of Underworld fellows. "A single finger of mine is enough to wipe all of you out. Why don't you hurry up and kneel down to beg for mercy?"

"Swish..." The nether spirit actually dropped straight to his knees.

"Huh..." Luffy never expected his own words to carry such intimidating weight that the nether spirit would instantly drop to his knees.

"Why are you kneeling?! Are you really that terrified of death?!" The Grand Chief Priest was utterly dumbfounded, never imagining that the previously obedient nether spirit would just kneel like that. Plans simply couldn't keep up with sudden changes—how could things turn out this way?

"You wretched woman!" The First Elder, wearing a double-take expression of utter confusion, kicked out fiercely at Yin Zetian before casting a grim look at Luffy. "Kid, stop putting on a front! Someone with a mere combat power of two, even when tripled, only reaches six."

"First Elder, is what you're saying true?" The Second Elder wore a multi-layered expression of pure bewilderment as he looked at the First Elder, finding it hard to believe.

"Of course it's true! Number Three, go over and test him out!"

The First Elder said with absolute seriousness, uttering words so convincingly that even he himself believed them. Unexpectedly, the Third Elder actually walked right over. "Come on, kid. Daddy will show you some love."

"Show your sister some love."

Luffy flicked his middle finger forward.

"Boom..." A destructive beam of light shot forth. The Ancient God's Finger descended silently, as though an ancient deity were standing right behind Luffy, pointing a single finger outward.

Rumble...

"Holy crap..." The First Elder was struck dumb with shock. He had just assumed the boy hadn't gained all that much power, never dreaming it would be this terrifying. A single finger had completely obliterated Number Three! The Second Elder was so frightened by the unfolding scene that he collapsed backward onto the ground, wetting his pants. This boy was simply too horrifying—he had eradicated the Third Elder with just a single finger! How were they supposed to fight this? And this Female Marshal's formation was far too overpowered!

In the span of a single breath, the tide of the battle had completely reversed.

It left both the Grand Chief Priest and the First Elder gripped with tension. How was this even possible? This... this boy was simply too terrifying!

"How else can we fight? We have to run." The Grand Chief Priest never expected the boy to be this monstrous; fleeing first and waiting for the formation to dissipate before coming back to slaughter the boy and Yin Zetian was their only option.

"Want to run?" Luffy seemed to have seen right through their intentions.

This made all of their bodies freeze stiff. The Grand Chief Priest forced a smile and said, "Heh... How could we possibly run? We are going to obliterate you."

Secretly, however, the Grand Chief Priest was already forming hand seals, preparing to make his escape.

"Our Underworld clan doesn't have cowards. Even if we can't win, we won't run. Even if we die, we will die standing. We will never submit! Unyielding to death, forging ever onward, possessing unyielding backbone, a pure heart, and the ultimate spirit!"

The First Elder of the Underworld spouted a bunch of utter nonsense, clearly just trying to buy time.

"Don't listen to his bullshit, they are trying to escape! That Grand Chief Priest has a teleportation technique ready. Quick, finish them off, otherwise he'll finish chanting the teleportation spell and get away."

Yin Zetian immediately called out to Luffy.

"So that's how it is. I figured as much. The nonsense this old dying fossil is spewing leaves me completely speechless. How dare he put on airs in front of me—go to hell, all of you!"

Luffy's eyes turned icy cold as he abruptly raised his finger, pointing it directly at the Underworld Grand Chief Priest. This time, he would use his full strength to blast them into dust. "Ancient God's Finger!"

"Whoosh..." The surrounding ambient energy instantly converged onto Luffy's fingertip, giving rise to a terrifying aura that induced a sense of suffocation. It felt as though a primordial giant god stood right behind Luffy, extending a single finger forward.

"Boom..." That finger seemed capable of shattering the heavens and destroying the earth. It was far too powerful, far too blinding, leaving even Yin Zetian unable to keep her eyes open.

A swirling vortex appeared behind the Grand Chief Priest, emitting wave after wave of suction force. However, he was frozen in terror by the dreadful incoming power. Was this really just a single finger? How could it be this terrifying? How could it carry such an ancient and desolate vicissitude? He found that his body could no longer move, the vortex behind him was locked in place, its suction vanished instantly, and the elders behind him were similarly paralyzed.

It was as though time and space had been completely locked down.

Even the wind stopped blowing, leaving only that massive beam of light plunging forward, carrying the might to destroy everything in existence.

Luffy was also deeply astonished, never expecting this finger to be so formidable. He felt an unprecedented surge of strength, entirely amplified by the formation.

"Boom..." The Grand Chief Priest bore the brunt of the attack, vanishing instantly beneath the destructive force. Next came the vortex, followed by the First Elder, the Second Elder...

All of them were reduced to starlight specks, scattering and dissolving into the thin air.

As for Yin Zetian, she stood there wearing a single-take, double-take, and multi-layered expression of utter bewilderment. How on earth could this boy's single finger possess such terrifying might?