Chapter 576 Fierce Battle
I was alone, facing two formidable enemies: Huang Quan and the Great Demon Xuanwu. This scene was so familiar; for a moment, I felt as if I had returned to the Tai Sui Army's main stronghold.
Strictly speaking, I wasn't truly fighting alone. I had Xiaowan's help behind me. So, it could perhaps be considered a fair two-on-two match.
Whether it's Huang Quan or the Great Demon Xuanwu, these are the third opponents I've encountered. There's a saying, "One effort, then decline, then exhaustion," and also, "Things don't happen more than three times." A thing repeated a third time should come to an end. I hope this is my last battle with them. Whether I die at their hands or they die at mine, this must be determined today.
It was clear I had fallen into Huang Quan's ambush, but compared to the treacherous character who orchestrated it, the Great Demon Xuanwu was far more ferocious. The monstrous dragon, burdened with a dark blue pentagonal magic array, roared madly and charged forward relentlessly. Its speed reached one-thousandth the speed of light; its high-speed movement alone stirred up a storm capable of easily destroying a city, plunging the world into darkness.
Instead of confronting it head-on, I used the blessing of the small bowl to boost my evasion rate, easily dodging the Great Demon Xuanwu's charge and bite. Meanwhile, Huang Quan gathered yellow-black magic power in the distance, waiting for his chance to strike, just like in the last battle.
"Can't you understand why the Great Demon Xuanwu is here, and even obediently ambushing you with me? Actually, it's very simple." Huang Quan distracted me from afar with words, "The Great Demon of Calamity is known for its fondness for hunting down the strong, but it has no interest in the Great Demon Xuanwu, which it greatly counters. Therefore, after severely injuring the Great Demon Xuanwu to the point of incapacitation, it left its remains on the spot, and then probably chased after you."
"After my resurrection, I returned to the scene of the last battle and moved the remains of the Great Demon Genbu to the vicinity of this Gospel Institute. The Great Demon Genbu is not a fragile human, but a monster with super-fast regeneration capabilities. Even after suffering extremely severe injuries, it quickly recovered to its full state."
"However, I did something during its weakened period, so that it can only be confined to this area for the time being... like this."
As soon as he finished speaking, I felt an extremely powerful binding force grabbing my body.
It's like immense gravity, yet upon closer inspection, there are subtle differences. To describe it precisely, it's like being wrapped in layers upon layers of extremely thick, tattered cotton-padded clothing in winter, and then accidentally falling into a frigid lake. Since it's a tattered cotton-padded clothing, it's not waterproof. The lake water seeps through the holes inside and out, quickly saturating the clothing and turning it into incredibly heavy shackles, dragging its wearer towards the dark, suffocating bottom of the lake.
What awaited him at the bottom of that lake was countless decaying mud, with withered white skeletons piled up haphazardly among them, and he was about to become one of them.
Cold, stinging, heaviness, suffocation, powerlessness, despair... all sorts of negative influences, both indescribable and inexplicable, were penetrating my mind and body, even strangely infiltrating my thoughts. I even found myself involuntarily contemplating giving up and sinking forever into the bottom of the lake of despair, and the power of my magic began to decline.
This is the death magic of the Yellow Springs.
However, this power did not come entirely from him; it was mostly the power emanating from the land I was in.
It's highly likely that this is a hidden formation beneath the soil. The "Dushuo Mountain" developed by Huang Quan is also a technology that uses formations to penetrate the afterlife and the world of the living, which is why Number Seven wanted me to hand it over to Yu Chi for deciphering and reconstruction. This shows that Huang Quan himself is a master of formations who has reached a state of perfection.
The area where the Yellow Springs Gospel Temple is located is his long-established territory, which is why he mocked me for daring to attack here. This formation is most likely not specifically set up for me, but rather a killing formation that this cunning and cautious god-man has set up here long ago.
However, it's utterly impossible to kill me with such means. The death magic binding me seems to be trying to kill me, but in reality, it never takes that final step. And as I suddenly unleash my own fire magic, this binding force dissolves as quickly as a sugar cube meeting boiling water.
If this death magic were to fall on other Great Impermanences, that would be one thing, but on my Corona Form, where "existence itself is an attack," it's like trying to use a fragile straw rope to bind a raging chariot.
At the same time, I once again unleashed a sea of fire in the surrounding area, attempting to dig three feet into the ground and melt and evaporate everything.
"--snort!"
Huang Quan raised his hands, gripping them tightly as if trying to grab my shoulders from afar, and the power of death once again bound me. The Great Demon Xuanwu was not to be outdone, transforming into a cannonball wrapped in black water and hurtling towards me at high speed.
Unfortunately, burning the land didn't seem to be enough to break the formation he had hidden in this area. Meanwhile, although his death magic wasn't entirely effective against me, it still made me feel uncomfortable and hindered me at every turn, significantly reducing my evasion rate.
I could no longer skillfully dodge the attacks of the god and the demon at the same time as in the last battle. Although the evasion rate boost from the Little Bowl's blessing was not completely negated, I still inevitably felt the difficulty.
"This is the consequence of your reckless actions, Zhuang Cheng," Huang Quan said. "The Great Demon of Calamity possesses an extremely powerful 'attraction' force. Even I, once identified as its prey, cannot escape its pursuit. It will be a matter of life and death."
"And since you are here alone, it means you have already killed the Great Demon of Calamity."
"The reason you were able to turn the tide in the last battle was because of the interference of the Great Demon of Calamity. Otherwise, even if you could dodge both my attacks and the Great Demon Xuanwu's attacks for a while, you would have been worn down by us sooner or later. Now that you are trapped in my home field and there will be no more interference from additional forces, what can you use to fight me?"
"This is our third duel. You may escape once, but you can't escape forever. Your two previous escapes were just luck. This time, you will die by my hand!"
“These are my lines, Huang Quan,” I said. “The one who’s going to die is you.”
"Still being stubborn?" Huang Quan sneered.
Meanwhile, the Great Demon Xuanwu focused solely on its frenzied attacks, unleashing a continuous barrage of black water cannons that blasted forth like machine guns.
I am much stronger now than when I fought it last time. In terms of sheer density, my second form is enough to rival the Great Demon Xuanwu, while my third form, "Corona," is a whole level higher.
However, the disadvantage of attribute advantage outweighs this gap, and I still cannot directly defend against the direct attack of the Great Demon Xuanwu.
If I were to use the Eclipse Fire, the situation would be quite different. Although my Eclipse Fire cannot directly counter the Great Demon Xuanwu, it can negate the elemental advantage, allowing me to defeat the Great Demon Xuanwu in a short time based solely on the difference in strength.
However, doing so would most likely fail to kill Huang Quan. Don't be fooled by his current arrogant demeanor; it's all an act. Once he senses trouble, he'll abandon all pride, forget all his boasts, and run away without looking back.
In that case, should I ignore the Great Demon Xuanwu for now and concentrate all my firepower on Huang Quan?
That won't work either. Even though I'm stronger than him, with the Great Demon Xuanwu interfering, I still can't stop him from escaping. Worst of all, knowing he can't even escape, he has suicide as a last resort.
No matter how fast I kill him, can I kill him faster than he commits suicide?
Unless... I have a way to kill the Great Demon Xuanwu in one strike, and at the same time Huang Quan realizes that the situation is not right, I can try to use the power of the True Spirit to finish him off in one strike... Only in this way can I hope to reap the fruits of victory before he commits suicide.
Is it even possible for me to do something like that? Killing Huang Quan in one blow is something I can imagine, but the Great Demon Xuanwu is much harder to kill. To use a video game analogy, although the Great Demon Xuanwu's attack and defense are only at the level of a normal Great Impermanence, its health is extremely high, and it also has a passive skill that regenerates a large amount of health every second.
In any case, I absolutely cannot rashly reveal my trump card, the Eclipse Flame, nor can I easily show Huang Quan the significant progress I have made since the battle with the Great Demon of Calamity.
I must come up with a solution as soon as possible, preferably without wasting a second. Based on my understanding of Huang Quan, his preparations for this battle are likely far more extensive than this.
Because in past battles, I have repeatedly defied his predictions. Even if he is now confident of victory, he is likely still wondering, "Will Zhuang Cheng come up with another strategy to turn the tide?" A cautious and cunning fellow like him would definitely be thinking that.
Therefore, it is very likely that after confirming my intrusion, he had already secretly and urgently summoned other Evangelical Fellowships.
Getting help from other gods and humans would inevitably place a huge debt on him, but when it comes to a life-or-death struggle, he wouldn't hesitate to do so. Considering the chaotic timeline of the afterlife, and the fact that the gods and humans of the Gospel House don't seem to live side-by-side or have frequent contact, their timelines are likely slightly out of sync. Like two old mechanical watches that haven't been synchronized in a long time, their times will inevitably be slightly off, and reinforcements won't arrive instantly—the current situation is proof of that.
I must keep this fight under five minutes… no, at most three minutes. I can sense that this is the longest I'm allowed to fight.
"A desperate struggle." Huang Quan continued, trying to undermine my fighting spirit. "This battle is like this, and so is your stance. You already know our plan, yet you chose to stand with the Tai Sui Army. Do you really think you have a chance to be an enemy of me and the Gospel House?"
"Even if you miraculously survive this battle, what can you accomplish? The Gospel House is already one family with Luoshan in the world of the living. Once we all transfer to the world of the living, we will naturally merge with Luoshan. At that time, all the Great Impermanence will agree with the Gospel House's plan, and even Fazheng may join us."
"No one can help you; all that awaits you is a future of destruction."
"—Are you all part of the same family as Luoshan?" I deliberately used a dismissive tone. "So, there was someone who boasted to me before that Fukuin-in was the orthodox Luoshan sect. How wishful thinking! In the past, you all generally centered your totem on the will of Naraku, but now Fukuin-in worships something of dubious origin like the Gospel of Naraku. Do you really think you're still on the same side as Luoshan?"
(End of this chapter)
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