Zuko leaped into action immediately.

“-think I’m bluffing? If you perished today, your story would be spoken about all over the Sea! The death of an arrogant fool who-” Bilibu was saying before he was interrupted by a sudden burst of energy.

“Wha-” He froze as he noticed a petrifying silver aura surrounding the Centipedes body, releasing a vibe of the likes he had never seen before. It may have lacked the aura of raw power that would have made him truly fearful, but it had a feeling of authority that compelled him to bow his head and humble his tone.

Kings and Emperors, even the one Kaiser he had met in a different Sea, all of them were inferior before this authority. This was the aura of an entity that was above any and all lifeforms, and the indescribable feeling of pureness wasn’t helping him to calm down.

The sudden reality that was thrusted upon him had him stunned silly, and thus, he was barely able to react before a blinding light struck from above, sending him into a world of terrific pain as a few of senses shut down.

He was blinded and he couldn’t smell. The damage from that attack had severely harmed the necessary organs and left him in quite a pitiful situation, however, other than some burnt flesh, that was all. He would heal soon enough and when he did, he would not be making anymore requests. Regardless of whether he lost the fruit or not the Centipede was dead. He would make certain of it.

The damage from that attack, although surprising and certainly harmful, had reminded him that it didn’t possess the power to kill him if he protected himself. And next time, if the Centipede was even capable of pulling such a ridiculous thing off again, he would not even let himself be hit.

He was distracted by the previous aura of unparalleled majesty and peerlessness but that would not be happening again. Authority without power isn’t even a funny joke, not here in the Sea, and the Centipede had no power.

It was just a pending corpse.

…

Zuko had not wasted any time in running away, and with the speed boost he had gotten from the Divine Lunar Enhancement the distance he had put between him and Bilibu was enough to make a person wonder if they were dreaming.

The attack he had used was of course the [Divine Lunar Punishment] Originally, the plan was to only do this after causing some considerable damage to Bilibu first. He would use his varied innate skills powered by all of his Enhancements to do some semi-lasting damage that would slow the Emperor down. Eventually, he would finally strike with the Divine Lunar Punishment out of nowhere before fleeing with all of his might.

Of course, he himself would have slowed down by then because an altercation with a creature in the 2nd Stage of the 4th Realm was not something he could escape without injury. Especially when the opponent held mastery over the Lightning Element. However, that was the only chance he had.

Or so he had thought.

Now, he had directly used the Divine Lunar Punishment and fled. Not for the ultimate goal of complete escape since he had attacked too early and would be caught sooner or later whenever the Divine Lunar Enhancement ran out and sent him into a severe tiredness, but instead to make enough distance to consume the fruit and initiate his breakthrough to the 4th Realm.

He felt adrenaline rush through his veins as the threat of death surrounded him, only leaving a narrow gap for survival and a future of unparalleled greatness. It was a harrowing situation but as he continued to desperately swim, he couldn’t help but begin to feel excited.

But he didn’t let that affect his concentration, he swam and swam and eventually when he thought that he had reached a good distance, he immediately swallowed the fruit in his mouth. No need for suspense, suspicion or preparation, he was on an extremely strict time limit and failing meant doom.

He didn’t need to repeat that this was an all or nothing situation. Down the fruit went.

*Gulp*

‘!!!’

Zuko’s body shivered as the fruit instantly broke apart and dissolved into pure essence that permeated throughout his body with astonishing speed. It didn’t take long for it to begin to seep into his cells with an unprecedented assimilation rate and he could already feel his power surging. However, there were definitely favourite locations that the essence seemed to focus on.

His Carapace, his Mana Circuits, his Mana Core, his Heart and his Brain. For whatever reason, it wasn’t his Mana Core that received the most attention but actually his brain. In fact, it was receiving so much attention that it was making his mind foggy, which was a little worrying considering the circumstances, but what could he do?

Thankfully, the process was remarkably gentle. The energy moved around quickly and with zero hesitation but it wasn’t violent or careless in any regard. This was probably the best assimilation of a natural resource that he had ever consumed. It was wonderful!

20 seconds later.

*DZZZZZ!*

The sound of rampaging lightning faintly made its way into his ears, signifying that Bilibu had begun to act, but instead of worrying he smiled instead.

‘It’s too late.’

*Buff!*

Zuko’s body released an irregular wave of energy. It didn’t do anything and it didn’t even seem to move very far, but anyone with experience would have instantly had a change in expression.

=STOP!!!= Emperor Bilibu’s voice burst into his mind, startling him.

But then he smirked.

“It’s too late, old fool. I’ll soon become Enlightened.” Zuko spoke out for the ‘benefit’ of his listener.

Clearly, Bilibu had sensed what was about to happen and had tried to derail his concentration by yelling in his mind, which could have had some disastrous effects if he succeeded. But unfortunately for him, he wasn’t even the one in control of the breakthrough in the first place.

The essence from the fruit was doing everything on its own as if it had a mind, and he was just enjoying the process. What bliss!