The blue lightning released by the Taoyuan Village Cultivator carried mana fluctuations similar to that of Taoyuan Village Master Meng Zhang, which sufficiently demonstrated that this strike was summoned through his faith in Taoyuan Village Master Meng Zhang. Although its power was still limited to the achieved level range, it was enough to wield the terrifying force to instantly evaporate and sublimate a human into gas, and possessed the unique super-speed of lightning. Purely in terms of physical speed, even the Great Success Rank might find it hard to react.

Yet, what seemed like an instantaneous attack to ordinary people and even Jiaoshu beside me, appeared, in my perception, to be moving as slowly as a crawling turtle.

Judging by the change from blue lightning into a gigantic claw, the Taoyuan Village Cultivator's purpose wasn't to kill me, but to capture me before officially engaging with Jiaoshu. This approach seemed somewhat odd; if it were purely for combat convenience, leaving me beside Jiaoshu would maximize the advantage, as it would make me Jiaoshu's burden.

Despite his consistently arrogant attitude, I could see that he was still wary of Jiaoshu. Demon hunters in the achieved level rank must always consider the risks of unexpected setbacks during battles; mature warriors would never take this lightly, especially since Jiaoshu clearly possesses cross-level superpowers, which requires even more cautious conduct.

He likely judged that Jiaoshu wouldn't be burdened by me, so he might as well catch this prey first. Although I am nothing more than a resource below mosquito legs for the "Paradise" plan, given his sincere faith in Taoyuan Village Master Meng Zhang and the vision of saving souls from the sea of suffering through a happy dream, making this decision is understandable.

In contrast, Jiaoshu might, upon realizing his inability to turn the tide, choose to destroy everything along with me rather than surrender his side's soul to the enemy, as a final struggle in a desperate situation.

As the attack steadily approached me, I was pondering while extending a finger to gently touch the incoming gigantic blue lightning claw.

On one side was the minuscule mana of bad-level, while the other was the immense power of achieved-level lightning. Who would win seemed obvious, but the result was entirely unexpected—the massive blue lightning claw shattered like a balloon hitting a needle tip, dissipating into thin air instantly.

The Taoyuan Village Cultivator immediately let out a sound as if doubting his eyes. Jiaoshu raised his Evil Sword a beat too slowly and was also stunned by what he saw.

"What did you just do?" Jiaoshu asked in amazement.

"How is this possible!?" The Taoyuan Village Cultivator couldn't comprehend, "Was there a mistake in my summoning of power?"

He seemed more inclined to doubt himself first, unable to accept what he witnessed.

However, this wasn't a mystery. Explaining the principle is as simple and uninteresting as revealing the secret of a magic trick.

My power is like soft and fragile graphite, while the Taoyuan Village Cultivator's power is an indestructible diamond. Though the macroscopic hardness difference between graphite and diamond is vast as heaven and earth, on a microscopic level they're merely different arrangements of carbon atoms. If someone could delve into the atomic structure with their power, they'd find the difficulty in destroying diamond is truly the same as destroying graphite.

With the Power of Great Impermanence's perception of the world and manipulation of mana, if applied through an atomic worldview, one could directly observe the protons, neutrons, and electrons of atoms. However, the perception of Great Impermanence generally leans towards the metaphysical realm, and I am no exception. Yet, on a detailed level, there is little difference.

It's just a matter of approaching the world from different angles. Life-forms perceiving the world visually versus those perceiving it aurally experience different facets of the world. It's like the blind men feeling an elephant—although each senses different results, both are valid. The superspatial perception power of Great Impermanence grasps a different world from that known to humans living in a three-dimensional universe, and the understanding of "fundamental units composing the world" varies greatly between the two.

Perhaps in the distant future, the power of Great Impermanence like mine may be dissected by science, possibly utilizing theoretical models even I cannot comprehend. Currently, I can manufacture nuclear fission, fusion, and other physical phenomena by altering causality and concepts, yet the process doesn't occur according to atomic theory but a personal reinterpretation; meanwhile, my interference with causality and concepts might be seen by scientists as exploiting an unseen form of interaction force within quantum fields, and so forth.

One could only say my soul approaches the world from a mysticism standpoint, like most with the power of Great Impermanence, though this doesn't relate to whether I adhere to materialism or idealism. Despite aligning with human rational logic, science has been favored too briefly in humanity's evolution, incongruent with the sensibility and intuition formed over a long evolutionary history.

Faced with unknown circumstances, the Taoyuan Village Cultivator displayed the qualities a demon hunter of the achieved level should have—though emotionally rattled, his actions did not hesitate at all, instinctually gearing up for a new action.

Was he planning to attack again, or cautiously assume a defensive stance first? Either way was trivial. Without waiting for him to proceed, I cast a glance at him.

Just by meeting my gaze, he died.

Though it showed no external injuries, his brain tissue was instantly charred through at a distance. Even a being of achieved level cannot strengthen brain tissue enough to withstand enemy attacks; although such beings possess formidable regenerative and endurance abilities, surviving and recovering even with damaged organs, they cannot maintain life if the brain is completely destroyed.

His outwardly unscathed corpse teetered like a drunk unable to stand, about to collapse to the ground. Jiaoshu seemed not even to realize the opponent had died, his face showing bewilderment and shock. The dozen or so monsters around us also showed signs of losing control.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, I planned a small test. In killing the Taoyuan Village Cultivator, I deliberately refrained from infusing murderous intent into the flames. According to Jiaoshu, this city has a reboot phenomenon, where those killed by forces other than the Taoyuan Village Cultivator and monsters revive after reboot. I wanted to personally investigate.

Jiaoshu too had died from the echoes of battle between Xuanming and Taoyuan Village Master Meng Zhang, yet now lived again, demonstrating that the reboot phenomenon can even resurrect those killed by the Power of Great Impermanence.

Of course, the rule that "those killed by Great Impermanence cannot be revived" only applies when "Great Impermanence seriously intends to kill the opponent." Only being killed by residual effects doesn't incur non-revival; hence resurrection is logical. Yet, this matter potentially involves Xiaoqiao's life or death, warranting some concrete verification.

On the dead Taoyuan Village Cultivator, I intentionally left a thermal energy marker so that even if space position changes upon resurrection, I should locate him.

Incidentally, I also placed a thermal energy marker on Jiaoshu, in case the alleged reboot phenomenon suddenly occurs, preventing me from finding this intelligence source again.

I intended to clear these surrounding monsters as well, but then something unexpected happened.

Before the Taoyuan Village Cultivator's corpse hit the ground, a sea of fire suddenly erupted without warning, completely covering the subway platform. However, this was not a flame I caused. With my current meager mana, I couldn't deploy such an extravagant fire sea. This fire was slightly orange-yellow, differing in color from the orange-red flame I used.

All the monsters present were consumed by the sudden blaze, turning to ash, even the Taoyuan Village Cultivator's corpse was engulfed. Jiaoshu wasn't harmed at all; this orange-yellow flame, like my flame, seemed to possess an enemy-friend distinction mechanism, likely judging Jiaoshu as a whitelist member.

But I was different, feeling the orange-yellow flame directed its clear aggressive intent towards me, swiftly advancing to consume me like those monsters, intending to burn me to ashes.

It finally clicked—I was undoubtedly facing Xuanming's fire. The Xuanming fire summoned by Jiaoshu might be susceptible to my technique, subject to my manipulation and turning against itself. However, the Xuanming Fire appearing here was most likely — no, it was certainly being controlled by Xuanming himself from some distant location!

If I were here at full strength, a fire sea of this level wouldn't be worrisome, but the current state of my power precludes that. Facing Xuanming personally isn't feasible now. Fortunately, it is only a small portion of my spirit transmitted here, so no matter how much it is destroyed, it cannot truly harm or kill me. However, should I wish to re-enter this city's barrier, it will require much time or sheer luck, to see if the calls that guided me inside before will resound again...

Contrary to my thoughts, as I confronted the advancing flames, I extended a finger, gently tapping the approaching giant blue lightning claw.

At that moment, I barely heard a puzzled voice amidst the orange-yellow flames.