The moment the settlement arrived, a vast energy erupted from Hong Fei's core as if tearing through the void itself. It flooded his system like a tidal wave, rushing through every vein and capillary until it saturated his entire being.
For a brief, disorienting moment, Hong Fei perceived his own body from outside himself. Chaotic energies swirled like vividly colored liquids trapped in a human-shaped flask. His form hung suspended in the void, limbs outstretched to form the character for "too"—the unmistakable silhouette of the Dragon Dimension.
Dense circles of chains suddenly flared across his skin, their blinding white radiance crisscrossing his body like a living net. The familiar energy signature prickled his senses—Odinforce. Odin's seal. Ten interlocking chains in total.
Through the Odinforce's enhancement, Hong Fei watched ripple patterns spread from the chains into his flesh, pulsing with rhythmic precision. Each wave triggered violent vibrations within his disparate powers, breaking them down at a molecular level.
He witnessed his own energies shatter into fragments—one becoming two, two becoming four—until they dissolved into microscopic motes of light. Then came the flash: a brilliant convergence where all colors bled away, leaving only a single streak of molten gold and crimson.
"So that's it."
The realization struck him like lightning. Odin's seal wasn't merely suppression—it was refinement. Beneath the guise of restraint, it methodically reforged the sealed individual's body, energy, and even soul.
The chains weren't shackles, but a smith's hammer. Each impact tempered him stronger than before, though the process remained invisible to the naked eye.
A parent's love could be ruthless indeed.
Thor had broken free quickly—his power was pure, singular, inherently divine. But Hong Fei? His energies were a cacophony of conflicting elements.
This so-called "confrontation of heart and power" likely meant aligning one's energy with the Odinforce to accelerate the tempering. Hong Fei scoffed at the notion. Only a fraction of his powers had unified—the rest still flaunted their garish hues like peacocks.
Golden dragon energy. White cosmic light. Water-clear qi. Yellow Kamar-Taj sorcery. Black self-wrought power. The list went on.
True, some fusion had occurred, but the remaining discordance would take ages to harmonize. No epiphany could rush that process.
Perhaps the seal held deeper mysteries yet undiscovered. The newly fused energy differed entirely from the others—a golden-red sphere resting in his core's depths, radiating quiet dominance. No other power dared approach its orbit.
It appeared solitary and lonely, but in reality, it was brilliant, magnificent, and stood imposingly in a high position, with nothing capable of contending with it. His perspective snapped back to reality. Blinking, he glanced down at the chains constricting his form. When Hong Fei raised his hand, all ten links blazed white-hot, tightening in what seemed like furious response.
However, as the seeping golden-red power spread according to his Soul's intent, the various energies separated and dodged. The binding effect of the chains was easily pushed open. He grabbed one of the chains, and the golden-red power poured into it. For a moment, the two brilliant lights shone upon each other, and the Odinforce within the chain suddenly invaded his body at an even faster speed.
Clusters of different-colored powers were shattered and melted, then added to the golden-red power. In a moment, this chain grew thinner and thinner, yet its light did not diminish in the slightest. Until this chain completely disappeared, the radiant white light finally seeped into Hong Fei's body at an extremely slow speed, not wasting a single thread.
In the room, Hong Fei suddenly opened his eyes. His pupils instantly flashed with a golden-red color, and his body radiated the same colored light from the inside out. However, it was only for a moment; the power that had just broken through his body was easily retracted by him. The iron armor was retracted.
Hong Fei clenched his fists, and the Ten Rings on his arms, which had long been disguised as decorations, suddenly moved. Energy was infused, the patterns on the rings lit up, and they separated at equal distances before contracting and tightening. The functions of the Ten Rings were instantly activated. His body floated up, looking as light as a feather.
He flew out the window, and as he looked up, his body suddenly accelerated into the sky, piercing through the clouds and disappearing in the blink of an eye. Stepping onto the clouds, the moonlight was scorching. With a flick of his fingertips, forty-five skill cards and four fusion cards arranged themselves around his body, rotating in layers.
The white, green, blue, purple, and orange skill cards were lit up one after another in his attempts. The white, green, and blue skill cards were easy, the purple ones consumed a lot, and the orange ones consumed so much that it was somewhat difficult. Fortunately, the only orange cards he currently had were the forging-type Ten Rings and Energy Absorption from Carol, so it wasn't a big problem.
The fusion cards Extremis, Godhood, Angel Wings, and Spirit of Vengeance were not suitable for fusing with himself at the moment. He spread his arms, the space in front of him tore open, and the Dragon Dimension opened. Inside, there was no longer the vast, continuous Dragon Power. Even the "Power of Hong" completely belonged to Hong Fei's body now.
Therefore, apart from the twenty or so nukes and other items Hong Fei had placed inside, there was only that phantom body hidden in the deepest part under Odin's seal. Its size was incomparably massive; Hong Fei's true body was like a speck of dust before it. Gathering everything, Hong Fei took a gentle breath and then closed his eyes.
In an instant, his brow flashed, and the golden-red dragon-shaped mark quickly lit up. This came from a fusion card he had already used: Dragon Seal. Dragon Seal: The primordial Dragon Power is scattered throughout the infinite multiverse; space, time, existence, and non-existence cannot erase the connection between these fragments.
Simply put, mastering the Dragon Seal is equivalent to mastering the way, or even the passage, to find Dragon Power. Hong Fei was using the Dragon Seal to sense Dragon Power other than his own. He emptied his mind. The moonlight shone down selflessly, and the white clouds beneath his feet moved slowly. After a long while, Hong Fei's brow twitched.
An extremely faint and fragile sensation had just appeared, but just as he was about to shift his attention to it, the connection suddenly snapped. This happened several times in a row. Half an hour later, Hong Fei opened his eyes and let out a long sigh, giving up for the time being. Having a connection is good; although he couldn't grasp it yet, it represented hope.
Taking a deep breath, the golden-red waves within his body churned and surged, and he seemed to hear the sound of raging torrents in his ears. Facing the moonlight, Hong Fei's mind stirred, and his body instantly absorbed all the moonlight falling upon him.
The light lost the chance to reflect; his body first darkened rapidly, then, due to the gathering and shrouding of the moonlight, it presented a faint, eerie glow. The description of Photonic Energy Control is to absorb Light Energy to store for later use or to strengthen oneself.
As long as it is light, it works; he could even absorb the light from a flashlight, so sunlight reflected by the moon was even less of an issue. One of the ten chains was gone, which was equivalent to him obtaining one-tenth.
But this one-tenth was one-tenth where all his powers, including his physical strength, were fused together, which was different from the one-tenth of his comprehensive strength where powers fought each other previously.
In Hong Fei's own estimation, this current one-tenth, in terms of energy reaction, was roughly equivalent to three-tenths or even more of the past, though its actual combat effectiveness remained to be tested.
Because the Dragon Power had already been smelted, there was no longer any talk of Dragon Power fusion levels; he had already absorbed one hundred percent of the Dragon Power of a single Universe. However, all the techniques and methods for applying Dragon Power had not changed, and other abilities like the Eyes of Death, skill cards, or physical combat techniques remained the same.
The only difference was that now, Hong Fei possessed a much stronger energy core to drive all his abilities. He reached out and pressed his palm downward. A giant dragon claw covered in golden-red scales descended from the sky. Each scale flashed with a metallic, eerie light under the moonlight, and the five claws were as sharp as knife points, exposing their keen edge.
The individual dragon claw was about thirty meters high, and the top was filled with illusory golden-red mist. As long as Hong Fei wanted, he could create an entire golden-red divine dragon along the mist. But there was no need for that. Whether spreading his palm or clenching his fist, the size of the dragon claw changed according to his will.
Nine chains remained, but he couldn't rush now, because there were still many powers of different attributes that hadn't fused yet; he needed time. Secondly, he firmly believed that he would definitely obtain more different kinds of energy in the future, and would even continue to obtain powers for physical strengthening and energy enhancement.
The powers obtained subsequently would not fuse with the Power of Hong out of thin air; there were no free lunches in the world.
Therefore, he needed to use the ability of these nine chains to figure out a technique that could temper and fuse all powers, or in other words, to master an ability that could smelt any energy into the current golden-red energy, i.e., the "Power of Hong," until it was perfect and one. Simply put, he wanted to comprehend a new skill from it, or even create a new "cultivation method."
He activated the Eyes of Death, and his pupils were instantly covered in golden-red light. The world lost its color, leaving only black and white, and the sea of clouds below seemed to stand still. His body flashed and rushed toward the city. Before long, he returned to his room, deactivated the Eyes of Death, and everything returned to normal.
Although he had changed Universes, the time-slowing effect of the Eyes of Death had not disappeared, and the constraint on himself during the activation process was becoming smaller and smaller. In the same amount of time, the consumption gap between the "Power of Hong" and "Energy" was almost one to ten.
The "Power of Hong" had clearly outclassed the measly "Energy" gained from petty misdeeds. Where ten units of energy might scrape together a result, a single pulse of Hong's power could accomplish the same. The difference was staggering—and now, he burned to test its combat potential. But who deserved the honor? Superman? Wonder Woman? The Flash? Perhaps Aquaman? Maybe even the Martian Manhunter?
Ah, Batman—dear Bruce Wayne—your absence from that list isn't a slight. It's simple pragmatism. Without prep time, even in full armor, you'd be a liability. At this level, I'd hate to break you by accident.