I am the Arcane Archer, and all my skills are self-created.

Hua Zitong's reaction was remarkably quick.

She was a reborn being, and the fighting instinct was ingrained in her bones. The moment the claws extended, her body began to dodge.

But it's too close.

The claws extended from the crack less than thirty centimeters from her back. At that speed, even a top-tier assassin at max level would not be able to completely dodge them.

Moreover, the distorted power of the laws surrounding the claws directly paralyzed the space around Hua Zitong.

Her body became extremely heavy in that instant, and her movements slowed down by at least five times.

Li Wu reacted faster than anyone else.

His mental energy was already greatly depleted, but the moment he saw the crack appear, he activated the law without hesitation, condensing a transparent shield in front of Hua Zitong.

The protective cover is formed.

The claws struck the protective shield.

Broken.

It wasn't the claws that broke, it was the protective shield.

Li Wu's law barrier didn't even last half a second against the Star Shatterer's claws.

The power of the distorted laws directly dismantled the defensive structure he had woven, and the shield shattered into scattered fragments of light.

The claws continued to push forward.

Hua Zitong could see the claw; its black carapace was covered with irregular bumps and patterns, each pattern radiating a nauseating fluctuation of law.

It was only ten centimeters away from her back.

She had only one thought in her mind... It's over!

Just then.

One light.

It wasn't Li Wu's light.

The light cut in from the side at an angle, so fast that Hua Zitong didn't even see what it was.

She only saw a silvery-white line, moving silently from left to right across her path.

Time slows down on that line.

The claws slowed their movements.

The rapid pace turned into a slow crawl, as if something had pressed the "fast forward" button but suddenly switched to slow motion.

Then... the claws broke off.

The cut surface was neat and smooth, and even the black bodily fluid didn't have time to spray out.

Before the severed claws even hit the ground, the second sword light had already chased into the depths of the spatial rift.

A sharp roar came from within the rift, and then the rift itself was forcibly smoothed out and closed by a force.

The crack appeared and disappeared in less than two seconds.

Gu Yuan sheathed his sword.

He stood beside Hua Zitong, his posture casual, as if he had just done a small thing on the spur of the moment.

But there was a fine layer of sweat on his forehead.

"Phew!" Hua Zitong collapsed to the ground, her back covered in cold sweat.

She was panting heavily, her heart pounding so hard it felt like it was going to jump out of her throat.

Li Wu rushed to her side in three quick steps and grabbed her shoulder.

Are you alright?

"N-nothing...it's nothing." Hua Zitong's voice trembled. "What is it?"

"The Starbreaker." Li Wu's face was so gloomy it could drip water.

He turned to look at the crack that had disappeared.

"Those are elite units of the Starbreakers," Gu Yuan said, his voice somewhat deep. "Void Hunters. They excel at spatial jumps and deadly strikes."

"They can lock onto specific coordinates and launch an attack."

"How could they locate this place?" Zhui Feng rushed over, supporting Hua Zitong, both shocked and furious.

Gu Yuan remained silent for two seconds, his gaze sweeping over everyone present before finally settling on Li Wu's face.

"Because that's what I promised," he said.

The entire platform fell into an instant silence.

All eyes turned to Gu Yuan. Shock, anger, confusion... a mix of emotions swirled on their faces.

"You agreed?" Li Wu's voice was calm, eerily calm. "What do you mean?"

"When Erlin's fragment of will gave me the dice fragment that allowed me to travel through time, he made a condition." Gu Yuan looked directly into Li Wu's eyes.

"At some point in the future, we will proactively expose a coordinate to test the strength and attack patterns of the Starbreaker vanguard. The coordinate must be held by one of our key personnel."

"So you chose me?" Hua Zitong's voice trembled, whether from anger or fear, it was hard to tell.

"I've done the calculations," Gu Yuan said. "Of all the possibilities, this attack has a 12% chance of hitting and a less than 1% chance of being fatal. The reason I chose you is because your soul strength is higher than that of ordinary people, and you have a greater ability to withstand the distortion of the laws."

"Moreover, with Li Wu by your side, the probability of him saving you is the highest among all the options."

"So I became your 'test subject'?" Hua Zitong stood up straight and stared intently at Gu Yuan.

"This is a necessary test." Gu Yuan's tone remained unchanged. "We need to know the attack methods, reaction speed, and intensity of the law distortion of the Starbreaker vanguard."

"These data are about the life and death of everyone in the future. A leader who only knows how to protect and dares not let anyone take risks cannot win a war of extinction."

He looked at Li Wu and said, "Your reaction just now proves that you have this potential. Under extreme pressure, you made the right choice, even at the cost of overworking yourself."

"But that's not enough. You need to be more ruthless and decisive. Sometimes, necessary sacrifices are unavoidable."

Li Wu didn't speak, she just looked at Gu Yuan.

The atmosphere on the platform plummeted to freezing point.

The newly established trust has been severely damaged by Gu Yuan's frank confession.

The Iron-Blooded Emperor crossed his arms, sneered, and didn't say anything, but the distrust in his eyes was almost overflowing.

Zhui Feng and Ye Feng stood protectively beside Hua Zitong, glaring angrily at Gu Yuan.

Shadow leaned against the shadows, his fingers unconsciously stroking the broken hilt of the dagger.

Li Wu remained silent for a long time.

It went on for so long that Gu Yuan thought he was about to explode or do something extreme.

But Li Wu simply straightened up slowly, walked over, and picked something up from the ground.

It was a small, dark, jagged fragment, a piece of the Void Hunter's carapace that had broken off when its claws were severed.

The fragments still bear extremely faint, unsettling fluctuations of distorted laws.

Li Wu held the broken pieces in her hand, looking at Gu Yuan with a calm and unwavering gaze.

"Did you get the data?"

Gu Yuan paused for a moment, then nodded. "Got it. Better than I expected."

"Moreover, their attack just now wasn't just on a physical level. That Void Hunter, while attacking, attempted to simultaneously erode Hua Zitong's soul."

The voice just fell.

"Ugh..." Hua Zitong suddenly let out a painful groan and covered her forehead.

"What's wrong?" Li Wu immediately looked at her.

On Hua Zitong's forehead, beneath her skin, a complex mark composed of extremely fine black law threads was faintly visible.

The pattern of that mark was exactly the same as the twisted pattern on the Void Hunter's claws.