The crowd on the outskirts was still murmuring, while the leading believer standing in one corner of the ritual site whispered, "——Silence."

His voice wasn't loud, yet it magically spread throughout the surrounding space. It seemed to contain an incredible power, prompting everyone to subconsciously close their mouths. Then, people noticed that I was moving towards the center of the ritual site. All eyes were focused on me like spotlights.

Dong Che also moved to a position within the ritual site, and once I was in the central spot, the summoning ceremony officially began.

Led by Dong Che, a dozen or so believers at different positions within the ritual site made gestures of bowing their heads and clasping their hands in prayer, channeling their mana into the array on the ground. From their respective positions, the lines forming the array ignited like fuses lit by a lighter.

Fire lines advanced from the periphery to the inner circle, passing through countless candles set up at various points of the array. The candles ignited one by one with orange-red flames, creating an atmosphere of primal sanctity.

Each time a batch of candles was passed, the flames on the fire lines flared more intensely. Initially just finger-sized flames, they gradually grew taller than a human body. When the fire lines from all directions advanced to the central position where I stood, they formed towering walls of fire that surrounded me.

I made no attempt to evade or resist; instead, I opened my heart and mind completely, welcoming the flames.

All the flames collided with me simultaneously, setting my body ablaze. I seemed to transform into a blazing stake, my entire vision filled with the colors of the flames, my ears drowned in the incessant sound of burning.

At first, I could still use my spiritual perception to observe the surrounding scenes. I could see the still fervently praying believers, the demon hunters maintaining order on the outskirts of the ritual site, and the hundreds of spectators around the ceremony expressing shock and panic they couldn't suppress.

What did the scene look like in their eyes? A group of adults wielding mysterious powers solemnly surrounded a thirteen or fourteen-year-old boy and set him on fire in a religious sacrificial atmosphere, which looked unmistakably like a savage and evil human sacrifice ritual, inevitably eliciting reactions of terror.

I recalled an investigation from long ago into a certain place where superstitious feudal forces reigned. Their sect hierarch was eventually exposed for lies and burned to death by his enraged and despairing followers. Witnessing that scene, I never imagined that I would one day play a visually similar role. However, while both the sect hierarch and I were encircled and set on fire by believers, the hierarch met his end amidst wails, whereas I would restore all my powers as Impermanence through the summoning ceremony.

Gradually, as if unable to observe the surrounding changes with my normal senses, my spiritual perception was also engulfed. It wasn't darkness that covered me but the radiant light of burning. The firelight invaded my spiritual realm from all directions. Extreme light and extreme darkness were indistinguishable, and the current phenomenon seemed to convey this principle.

I closed my eyes.

Amidst the endless firelight, I felt the resistance binding me retreating. It wasn't receding voluntarily but being destroyed. The once unbreakable resistance, like iron chains, was now disintegrating like cobwebs burned by a flamethrower.

At some point, I suddenly realized that this boundless firelight wasn't the flames entwining my body, but rather all the power I had been unable to unleash within the city barrier until now. The moment I became aware of this, all the firelight surged towards my body.

I was becoming enormous. Physically, there might have been no discernible change, but the scale of my existence was rapidly expanding, quickly reaching the limits that the omnipresent resistance would allow. Like a beast cub trapped in a small box, I could comfortably inhabit it upon birth, but not after growth.

Yet my rapid growth couldn't be contained by this small box. Under this surge of momentum, the resistance could only retreat step by step. My power soared madly, my perception rapidly recovered, and I could again perceive the surroundings. Not only that, but I could also clearly sense the countless streets beyond the sanctuary, and even further, the city's divisions.

To the extent that I had a more comprehensive grasp of the resistance itself that obstructed me. This environment that prevented me from exerting power reminded me of the Void Realm filled with gray mist.

The mana-blocking gray mist was likely a manifestation of the Power of Divine Seal Fragments; in other words, it was a form of True Spirit Power. Meanwhile, the source of the city barrier's resistance was "Paradise," an ultimate existence close to True Spirit in definition. The two shared commonalities in some respects.

And now, I can more or less understand by feeling, whether it is the Void Realm or the "Paradise," their suppression of Mana is not entirely about targeting Mana itself. At least the Master of Divine Seal and Taoyuan Village Master Meng Zhang, these two individuals are consciously achieving the result of suppressing Mana. However, the principle by which the divine seal and the "Paradise" achieve this effect is better described as "rejecting a worldview outside themselves" rather than "suppressing Mana."

The Void Realm formed by the Power of True Spirit is also another kind of "Paradise," although much smaller in scale compared to the "Paradise," it may also possess the nature of another universe, having an underlying order different from the world of common sense and the abnormal world we know. The powers of our universe might have difficulty operating normally in another universe, only the Power of True Spirit is an exception.

It is also possible that as long as there is sufficiently powerful force, one can create an exception. Just like how I was previously able to exert part of my power within the city barrier, if I were to be reborn in the period when the Void Realm still existed, I might also be able to exert part of my power in the Void Realm without the blessings of Little Bowl.

By combining the blessings of Little Bowl with the Power of Divine Seal Fragments, I can exert all of my power within the Void Realm, but here, it presents a problem. Because the gray mist and the city barrier resistance ultimately possess different natures, my utilization of the Power of Divine Seal Fragments is insufficient to allow me to smoothly blend into this place. Solely relying on the blessings of Little Bowl cannot help me completely ignore the resistance of the city barrier, or rather, being able to pierce through the outermost strongest barrier is partly due to the blessings.

Perhaps the reason Xuanming can do things that other Impermanences cannot, successfully invading the inside of the city barrier, is also because of possessing experiences in the Void Realm that other Impermanences do not have.

On the other hand, it could be because "Paradise," as another worldview, is not yet entirely complete. While referencing how Water Navy Xuanwu and Xu Gou can exert their powers normally here, it might recognize entities that were inside when expanding the city barrier as contents of its original worldview. From this point of view, it is not truly incapable of being compatible with us, but rather, it can also choose not to be compatible.

I can now summon my power here through ceremonial means, and Xuanming seems able to overcome the resistance here through other means, indicating these might be evidence that the "firewall" of "Paradise" is not fully developed. Or if I really crossed over into another universe, could I also exert my full power using similar methods? It somehow feels like I am projecting my power into another universe, intending to invade it as an Evil God.

I gradually opened my eyes, and the flames covering my body were completely absorbed by my form, transforming my body from the weak figure of a boy to the youthful form I was most familiar with. My perception stretched across the entire city; aside from the city center area sealed by the "Outer World Wall," every corner was under my watch.

The Taoyuan Village believers and Xuanming believers scattered across the city, as well as the survivors hiding in various nooks and crannies, were all exposed within my sight.

I let out a breath, and then, an endless Fire Sea instantly engulfed the entire city. The sky was an orange sea of fire unfolded by Xuanming, while on the ground was an orange-red sea of fire that I unveiled. Countless Taoyuan Village believers and hundreds of thousands of monsters, without even realizing they were being attacked, were all reduced to ashes in an instant.

The demon hunters and survivors inside the sanctuary did not realize that the power structure of the city had undergone such a cataclysmic change. They saw themselves enveloped in so much flame and panicked wildly, but soon they realized these flames posed no harm to them.

Their emotions quickly calmed down, realizing their safety, and also because I did not want them to overreact. This is a disguised form of Fatian Xiangdi. Now, as the complete form of Impermanence, just by thinking that they don't need to be afraid, their mental activities are unconsciously influenced.

"Senior Zhuang Cheng... you succeeded!" Dong Che exclaimed joyfully.

I nodded.

At this moment, I had regained all my power.

Then, I reached out my hand and made a grasping motion.

The ordinary survivors hiding throughout the city were now also engulfed in the flames. Of course, they weren't burned, but were in a state of extreme unease. But with this motion, they were all seized by a flame shaped like a giant hand. With another pull, they were forced to cross space from different directions and gathered onto the empty ground of the exhibition hall. There weren't many, just over two hundred.

After that, I made another grasping motion, and the Xuanming believers distributed in different places were also transferred to this location in one go.