Yu Hua wasn’t a god, and he wasn’t all-knowing and all-powerful. The “Tyrant” ability had limits, and using the “rule writer” had preconditions. 

He first needed to define the people he wanted to formulate rules for, for example, the “Tyrant” referred to himself, “common people” referred to ordinary people without special abilities, “soldiers” were special ability users who had come into contact with the black-cloaked man and who had been “controlled” by him. 

“Control” didn’t mean that they had obeyed him. As long as they had once belonged to the category of his subordinates, whether willing or not, they were all “controlled.” 

Of course, if he consumed all the true natural law power of this world, then he could formulate even more rules, and he wouldn’t be under so many restrictions. Though Yu Hua wouldn’t do that now. 

Completely protecting this world’s ordinary people and stimulating the abilities of the studio’s members was all he could do without shaking the rule of the world law. 

This world had struggled against the System’s oppression for hundreds of years without his protection. Right now, Yu Hua didn’t need to instruct each person step by step on how to reach a victory. He only needed to lend a helping hand. 

The traffic on the road became heavier. This car could no longer be used. 

Yu Hua opened the car door. The moment he got out, people passing in the street lowered their heads. Even the surveillance camera at the intersection changed direction, unable to look directly at the “Tyrant.” 

Yu Hua pointed. The off-road car stopped in the middle of the road moved to the side of the road, crowding into a parking space. 

He leapt onto a roof and looked at the only area that hadn’t been controlled by his law. The area by the estate near the studio had become a little world unto itself. 

Law couldn’t prescribe law. Unless he entirely consumed the other person’s natural law power, his orders wouldn’t be able to take effect inside that person’s little world. 

That Yu Hua could protect this world was because the world law had given way to a certain degree. But this person had no intention of yielding, staunchly persevering under Yu Hua’s law. 

On the one hand, there was the trapped estate and his old friend back from the dead. On the other hand, there was the icebound You Zhengping. Which should he choose? 

There was a balance in Yu Hua’s heart, weighted towards You Zhengping from the start. He didn’t need to hesitate. 

But when he had just taken a step in You Zhengping’s direction, the “rule writer” in his hand began to shake fiercely. 

Yu Hua released it, and the brush flew into the air and wrote with the rain: I want to rescue more people, protect…

The transparent writing slid and blurred from the effect of gravity, disappearing. Yu Hua didn’t have time to read clearly what was written after “protect” before it mixed with the rain and was gone. The brush was suspended in midair, the tip of it pointing towards the central park. 

The “rule writer” was the name of Yu Hua’s initial item. Previously, this brush had entirely merged with his body, but presently he had only unsealed 50% of his power, so his soul ability hadn’t entirely fused with his origin ability; it could only manifest in the form of a brush. 

Though it hadn’t merged with his body, not allowing him to use all the power of the brush, there was still no one but him who could use this brush. 

There was only one exception. 

The person with whom the “Tyrant” was willing to share his domain. 

This was a “rule” that You Zhengping had unconsciously used the “rule writer” to write. He hadn’t deliberately formulated anything. It was only that the brush had sensed his fervent wish. The “rule writer” had no self-awareness. It had only written those quickly disappearing words in the air because it had been touched by You Zhengping’s consciousness. 

This wasn’t a rule for others. It was a rule he had set for himself. When the “rule writer” was used on the user himself, the user could command unprecedented power. 

“I understand.” Yu Hua took hold of the brush. “I will carry out the rule that you’ve set, rescue more people. You…rescue yourself!” 

The constantly shaking brush, which had been unwilling to be put into Yu Hua’s pocket, calmed after he said this and obediently allowed itself to be put away. 

This was You Zhengping’s conviction. As the captain of the Xuyang District Protectors, he had to personally rescue more people; he didn’t need someone else to rescue him. 

Yu Hua was an excellent family member to Captain You. How could he disturb the captain in the course of carrying out his mission? 

All he could do was to rescue the people in that estate, providing firm backing. 

Yu Hua changed direction, decisively running towards the estate. 

You Zhengping, having no idea what he had done, was resisting the head of the league’s law bit by bit. 

While the space holding the weapons had been shattered, the spaces stockpiling energy sources and hiding the other Protectors hadn’t been impacted by the temperature. In the ice coffin, Cen Xiao still seemed to be struggling. 

The law that the head of the league had laid down was that -200°C was absolute zero; everything would freeze. 

But as long as it didn’t reach -200°C, then the law wouldn’t go into effect. The natural law power that the head of the league controlled was only superficial; it wasn’t perfect at all. 

Because they contained heat sources, the spaces hiding the energy and his teammates hadn’t dropped to -200°C as the head of the league had expected. Inside the space, his teammates were still struggling tenaciously. 

You Zhengping brought the space with the stockpile of energy closer to Cen Xiao. He wanted to bring out the energy in the space to support from the outside what Cen Xiao was doing from the inside, break the ice coffin, defeat the head of the league. 

But he was really too sleepy. Even as a Protector, under the influence of the low temperature and the law, his thoughts were freezing. He couldn’t think, and he was gradually losing his grip over his spaces. 

Just a little more, just a little bit more… You Zhengping struggled to hold on, but his thoughts were getting hazier and hazier. He was about to fall asleep. 

Just then, in his trance, he seemed to hear a voice. 

Rule 1, Rule 2, Rule 3, the Tyrant… Rule after rule poured into his brain, not through speech but by some more intense unspeakable connection. 

Instinctively, You Zhengping knew that Yu Hua had acted. Faced with a large-scale attack from the Destroyers, the black-cloaked man had bravely stepped in once more. 

Rules… He was even using natural law power. How much power had he unsealed? With this much power, was there still room to turn back? Could he…still live a peaceful life? 

When others mentioned the black-cloaked man, what they said was “the black-cloaked man is powerful,” “how can he be so strong,” “I envy the black-cloaked man’s power,” but You Zhengping, who understood Yu Hua better than anyone else, though, “You’ve shouldered such great power, fought the System for so many years. Are you tired?” 

In all these battles, You Zhengping had never had extravagant expectations of support, expectations that the black-cloaked man would come to rescue them. This world was their own. It was up to the Protectors to protect it. 

After clearing, Yu Hua had wanted to live the life of an ordinary person. From among all the worlds, he had chosen this one. Why? 

Because this was an unopened world that the System had been having trouble controlling for many years. Because the Protectors had kept the natural law intact countless times in the face of Destroyers. Yu Hua knew that it was safe here. That was why he had chosen it. 

If the Protectors couldn’t protect this world relying on their own power, then what meaning was there in Yu Hua’s choice? 

Here, at least, You Zhengping had to win this battle for himself! 

He thought had he had overlooked something. What was it? 

The power that the head of the league was using was the law of temperature. They had raised the threshold of absolute zero to -200°C and could freeze energy. That was why his space had shattered. 

But there was something wrong. What? You Zhengping struggled to recall what he had learned of physics, mathematics, chemistry, and other branches of learning. A notion appeared in his brain: space wasn’t energy. It was an objective reality in which matter existed. It was boundless and infinite. 

Could such a thing be frozen? 

He had only ever heard of objects being frozen, the microparticles within matter being frozen. Who had ever heard of space freezing? 

No, if the head of the league’s temperature could freeze the spaces, then You Zhengping’s understanding of them was wrong. 

His spaces were meant to exist within the world but also independently of the world. They were parallel to this world. They existed in a multidimensional universe. They weren’t inside this park. 

This was all wrong, for the first space, the second space, or the shape-changing third space. Space was boundless. Why would his spaces have set sizes? 

If they had a size, then they weren’t space. They were boundaries that could open doors to space. 

It was his thoughts and perceptions that limited the boundaries of the spaces. 

You Zhengping’s head cleared a little. He didn’t open the energy space to work with Cen Xiao like he had before. Instead, he attempted for the first time to link the first space, the second space, and the third space. 

The spaces had never been first, second, and third. These supposed three spaces were only three doors. 

What would happen if he merged all the doors together? 

The “rule writer” understood its master’s feelings better than even Yu Hua did. From the moment it had been unsealed, it had lent a portion of its power to You Zhengping. Under the impetus of this power, You Zhengping accomplished something never before brought about—combining the three spaces into one. 

The head of the league, who had been sure of success, saw ordinary people coming over to look at the snow and realized something was wrong. But it was too late. 

“So it’s a law that power inside the spaces will be reduced to one tenth.” You Zhengping, who had just been unfrozen, rubbed his shoulders. “I’ve been using a rudimentary form of natural law power without knowing it.” 

“When did you…” the head of the league asked in disbelief. 

You Zhengping frowned. “It’s kind of a pain to understand my ability. You could explain it by saying I just opened a spatial passage and jumped from the park to a parallel space where all power is reduced to one tenth. I also took my companions there.” 

Then he kicked the ice coffin, saying to Cen Xiao inside it, “Being reduced to one tenth means it’s -20°C. A little chill like that, and you still can’t get out?” 

Cen Xiao smacked the ice coffin, and a small crack at last appeared in it. With You Zhengping and Cen Xiao attacking together, the ice coffin shattered completely. Cen Xiao walked out from inside, holding a small flame in his hand. He asked, “Did you forget that my power is also reduced to one tenth? This is all I have left!” 

They dangled themselves like this in front of the head of the league. The head of the league doubtfully released countless ice blades to stab at them, but the ice blades passed through You Zhengping and the others. 

You Zhengping spread his hands. “Didn’t I say? We exist in a different dimension from the one you exist in. You can see us, but you can’t touch us. Not unless I open a spatial passage—like this.” 

As he spoke, You Zhengping suddenly opened a spatial passage next to the head of the league. Cen Xiao threw out a punch, which landed heavily on the head of the league’s face. 

Then he quickly withdrew his hand. Shaking it, he said, “Good heavens, it’s cold around them!” 

“That’s because your hand just went to the space where they are. The temperature is -200°C,” You Zhengping said. “So we can only hit once and then pull back. If we stay too long, we’ll be frozen by absolute zero again.” 

“Got it.” The squad members made “okay” signs towards You Zhengping, indicating that he should focus on opening and closing spatial passages, leaving the coordinated attacks to them. 

What followed was a one-sided brawl. The head of the league was separated by space. They could only see their actions, not attack them. But the six Protectors in You Zhengping’s squad could cooperate closely to incessantly attack them through the spatial passages. It was simply unscrupulous. 

A punch here and a kick there, a fireball here and a wind there—none of them had strong power, but added together, it was enough to exhaust the head of the league’s energy. 

Most importantly, the head of the league had been barely in control of the natural law power to start with. They couldn’t hold out very long. There were more and more traces of cracked ice on their body. At last, under the combined attack of the six people, they turned into ice crystals and dissipated in midair. 

After they disappeared, the snow in the central park instantly melted, and the rain fell with a patter. 

You Zhengping opened a spatial passage, and his teammates walked out. There was no pleasure in their victory. 

They hadn’t defeated the head of the league. The head of the league had died from being unable to bear the natural law power. 

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Author's Note

Yu Hua: When the emperor is ill, the empress rules in his place. I think that’s very reasonable. 

You Zhengping: Actually, I did use my own power to win…