Lord of the Truth

Chapter 1048: Value of the merged laws

”Hahaha!!” Pythor pointed toward the battlefield of the main army, laughing hysterically. ”Look, look over there! Your general has stepped onto the battlefield himself as if thatʼs going to make a difference! Haha, he didnʼt even leave anyone in the back to direct the battle!”

”...” Robin also watched the unfolding chaos. Upon Amonʼs arrival on the battlefield, he directly attacked the right flank, alleviating some of the pressure on the struggling forces. With his power as a Level 48 Demon Emperor, he would indeed wreak havoc for a time. However, Robin sighed at the sight, his expression betraying a sense of disappointment. ”Sigh- Amonʼs leadership skills arenʼt the best, I canʼt blame him given the situation he found himself in, any capable General would have found in difficult to face this kind of numerical disadvantage...”

It wouldnʼt take more than a few minutes before Amon was surrounded and dealt with by ten or twenty martial emperors from the Great Serpent Empire. His joining the fight might have bought the right flank five extra minutes at best, but it had cost the army its general. There was no one left to issue commands.

”...Hmmm, speaking of numerical disadvantage, something doesnʼt add up on that battlefield.” Pythor stroked his chin repeatedly, scrutinizing the Demon general and his main army. ”There are too many of them, far too many... I thought I had annihilated a third of that army with Cataclysm Sealing Cubes, and the rest were supposed to be fighting in the south!” Without waiting for a response from Robin, Pythor swiftly pulled out his transmitter from his traveling pouch. After adjusting the frequencies for a few seconds, he spoke in a commanding voice, loud enough to be heard clearly. ”Whoeverʼs listening, get me the Seventh Prince!”

After a full minute of tense silence, a voice finally emerged from the device: (Your Majesty, this is the Seventh Prince.)

”What exactly are you doing over there? Most of the demon army has made it to the City of Hope!” Pythorʼs tone was sharp and impatient. ”Send reinforcements immediately! Letʼs crush them all today.”

This time, the response was quick: (Is this real? How unfortunate... Weʼre currently fighting hundreds of thousands of demons and hundreds of demon emperors. There are also tens of millions of locals here. The battle is extremely difficult!)

”What? Something like that is happening in the south?” Baithor frowned deeply, his brows knitting together. ”Fine, focus on what you are doing, but try to retreat with minimum losses and come here as soon as possible. Your battle no longer holds any value.”

(Understood, Your Majesty. Iʼll try to get there as fast as I can!) The Seventh Prince replied promptly.

Slowly, Pythor placed the transmitter back into his traveling pouch. His sharp eyes shifted toward Robin. ”Hi, What is happening in the South? Were you hiding another demon army that we werenʼt aware of?”

Robin shrugged, equally clueless about what the Seventh Prince was talking about. It was likely another one of Sakaarʼs plans, so he chose silence over speculation. Instead, he attempted to redirect the conversation. ”Shall we continue our discussion? We were initially talking about the difference between martial arts and merged laws. You explained martial arts, but you didnʼt elaborate on the merged laws yet.”

”Ah yes, yes!” Pythor waved his hand dismissively, shifting his focus back to their earlier topic. ”I spoke about the history of martial arts first to make the comparison with merged laws easier later on. A martial art that incorporates a single elemental minor law can sell thousands of energy pearls. A martial art that uses two elemental minor laws can sell for tens of thousands, and so on~ Martial arts containing attacks derived from a major elemental law or more are auctioned off for astronomical prices! And thatʼs without even mentioning the value of martial arts with high grades of such laws, or rarities like a minor law from a fundamental path- those types of arts require experts just to appraise their worth!”

Robin nodded in understanding. The sheer quantity and diversity of heavenly laws were overwhelming. When one considered the possibilities of combining these laws to create martial techniques, the number of potential combinations seemed infinite. A Truth Chosen, for example, could seamlessly merge the third stage of one law with the first stage of another. After all, they were just overlapping patterns translated into reality through energy. Anything was possible!

But it was easy to imagine the staggering value of integrating one of the fundamental laws- those just beneath the master laws, such as Time, Space, Life, Death, Construction, and Destruction-into a martial art. The price of any martial technique containing even a minor pattern of such paths would be astronomical.

”Now that we agree on the value of martial arts,” Pythor said, his expression turning slightly serious, ”we can discuss merged laws... What are merged laws but eternal martial arts? A martial art that can endlessly spawn hundreds of other techniques at will!”

”...!!!” Robinʼs eyes widened to their fullest. That single statement from Pythor hit him like a thunderclap.

Leaning back against his throne, Pythor continued in a measured tone, ”If I, Pythor, the first and last of my name, were offered a merged law, I would trade all my planets without hesitation. Because I know with certainty that, by cultivating my offspring in that merged law, I could rebuild an even greater empire!”

”But alas...” Baithorʼs tone dipped with a hint of bitterness. ”Iʼve never seen a merged law in my life. Even if one existed, our bodies have developed a natural affinity for the Path of Destruction after becoming transformed using Durgerʼs blood. Could there be a merged law in this universe with one of its poles aligned with the Path of Destruction? If such a law existed, it wouldnʼt be my turn to claim it. Iʼd be too afraid to even approach it, hehe.” He shook his head in self-deprecating amusement.

”...Are merged laws really that rare?” Robin asked hesitantly, his hands tightening around the armrests of his throne as the implications began to dawn on him.

”What do you think?” Pythor spread his arms wide. ”That kind of meddling with laws is exclusive to Truth Chosens. And anything exclusive to them is rare. But the rarest of all are the merged laws. Iʼve heard rumors of several merged law techniques wandering the middle planetary belt, but theyʼre only accessible up to the fourth grade at best and mostly involve elemental law compositions. And even then, no one knows where these merged laws are, and whoever possesses them certainly isnʼt selling!”

Pythor shook his head solemnly. ”Merged laws are simply too powerful to be bought and sold. Any race that manages to obtain a complete, clear merged law technique - even just to the fifth grade- would ascend to dominate centennial empires!”

”....” For a moment, Robin felt Pythor might be exaggerating. But then his gaze drifted

toward Richard and the feats he was accomplishing against the marshals.

What would happen... if he had a thousand Richards? No, just twenty?

The thought sent a shiver down Robinʼs spine. The potential was terrifying, yet the allure was equally irresistible.