I rapidly flew towards Xu Gou, and he assumed a deadly stance.

He crossed his armored arms, and two sharp silver-white sword gangs shot at me at high speed. I didn't waste time making a defensive move, simply commanding flames to form a shield wall in front, blocking these sword gangs, which had far less density than my flames.

This was just the beginning. Xu Gou swung his armored arms again. This time, his swinging speed doubled, releasing four silver-white sword gangs in the same amount of time; then swung his arms again, releasing eight silver-white sword gangs in the same time; and again swung his arms...

With each swing, his attack speed doubled. This was a miracle achieved by the power of cutting, his greatest and strongest move. As he swung his armored arms to release silver-white sword gangs, he also halved the time needed for his attacks.

If this attack took one second, the next would only take 0.5 seconds, and the next would take 0.25 seconds. In this manner, assuming the attacks repeated to the tenth time, he could attack 1,024 times within one second.

In fact, finishing the first attack certainly wouldn't take him as long as a second, perhaps not even a ten-thousandth of a second. Therefore, assuming he repeats to the tenth time, supported by the endless energy from the Divine Seal Fragment, he could complete over ten million attacks within a second.

If his attack nature wasn't "cutting," but instead "explosion," it's hard to imagine what level of destruction it would bring down on the earth. Or perhaps if the attack nature wasn't cutting, it couldn't achieve such a quantity of attacks due to some mechanism I can't understand? In any case, I must act quickly to stop Xu Gou now.

Honestly speaking, rather than first unexpectedly destroying those five Meng Zhang incarnations, maybe I should kill Xu Gou unexpectedly first... But compared to Xu Gou, whose trump cards are fully exposed, those Meng Zhang incarnations hold more unknowns in my mind. On one hand is a known great threat, and on the other is unknown danger; I'm more inclined to handle the latter first.

And at the moment, sure enough, none of the silver-white sword gangs Xu Gou unleashes is enough to threaten me. Even though my flames aren't known for defense, their density advantage is enough to easily block them, but that's under conditions where the magnitude difference isn't too great. Extremely speaking, even if I were rock, and he were rain, there's still the saying "water dripping through stone."

"Quality" doesn't always override "quantity," and density doesn't always override scale. No matter what the thing is, once accumulated to a certain degree, it may produce incredible changes. Xu Gou could also be said to be the best practitioner of this theory.

Fortunately, his magnitude increase must have a process, and I just need to stifle it during this early stage. His silver-white sword gangs, like a heavenly net, bombarded my Flame Shield, slightly slowing my charge, giving him the chance to compound his attack times. On the other hand, he can't smoothly harness such terrifying mana output, which is the same weakness he exposed in the past.

Not to say that he didn't try to become familiar with his moves after that. Training ultimately has a limit; such massive mana output can't be mastered through training alone. Most of his silver-white sword gangs flew in irrelevant directions, and more than half of the fewer gangs were also dodged by me.

With so many attacks, naturally, it's impossible for me to avoid them all; moreover, the closer I get to him, the denser the radiation-like silver-white sword gangs become on my body.

I unleashed all my Flame Magic Power in one breath, engaging in mutual bombardment with Xu Gou's countless silver-white sword gangs.

In an extremely brief stalemate, then, the Flame Magic Power overwhelmed the countless silver-white sword gangs.

I won.

Under my first-time interception, Xu Gou's attack counts ultimately didn't have time to stack up to a sufficient extent. The flame, in a spiral thrust form, pierced through the impenetrable group of sword gangs like a drill, then in turn pierced through Xu Gou's black Power Armor. Xu Gou, like a falling star, crashed to the ground, forming a massive meteoric crater and a gigantic wave of mud and stones.

I instantly moved to the ground, and in the distance, Xu Gou climbed out of the giant pit, then kneeled on the ground.

His entire Power Armor was extensively shattered, leaking a massive amount of shredded flesh and blood plasma. Intense breathing and the sound of vomiting blood could be heard coming from inside the closed helmet.

Then came another sound of flesh squirming. Based on my experience, he should be in super-speed regeneration of his damaged body. Even that black, metal Power Armor seemed to possess life-like proliferation regeneration, wanting to restore to a complete form.

Not just flesh and armor; although that layer of armor seems to have stealth functions, I can't clearly perceive Xu Gou's state, but his soul also seems to be in super-speed regeneration. This was deduced from his mana fluctuations, which had initially weakened after severe injury and near death, now rapidly reviving, attempting to return to a burning state.

This must be his Undying Body ability.

The peculiar ones often display regenerative power entering the Undying Domain at the Great Success Rank, and upon reaching the Impermanence stage, they seem to have an Undying Body that can even recover from soul-level severe injuries. Xu Gou is not a peculiar one in the strict sense; his power source isn't the seed of the heart, but rather the Divine Seal Fragment, yet he still shares many similarities with the peculiar ones.

Though it is impossible for someone like me and Ming Zhuo, who can regenerate completely even if our bodies and souls are utterly obliterated, as long as a certain amount of soul components remain, we can make a comeback repeatedly.

Of course, this kind of undying body ability cannot defy True Spirit Power; at the same time, since it is not a specialized undying body, merely a "ridiculously powerful regeneration power," it can be negated by strong malicious intent in battles among Impermanence. Especially when encountering people like me, whose rank is higher than his, the chance of negation is greater.

The "special abilities" that most possess before becoming Impermanence lose their uniqueness thereafter. At most, they are just more adept in specific areas and cannot form a "mechanism." Like the Death Magic owned by Ming Zhuo and Huang Quan, and the Ice Magic Power owned by Fa Zheng, they might have been powerful superpowers related to death or cold before becoming Impermanence, but thereafter, they are merely rather special attributes.

"—Behave yourself."

I blasted a Great Fireball.

The flames pierced through Xu Gou's chest, sending him flying off into the distance, lying supine on the ground. He once again emitted a violent sound of blood vomiting.

With Little Bowl, I moved towards Xu Gou while quickly observing the surroundings with some attention.

No new Meng Zhang incarnations appeared… If I were ambushed thinking everything is fine, it wouldn't be a joke. However, there were noteworthy changes.

The five Meng Zhang incarnations I previously killed left no remnants whatsoever… It's not because my firepower was too strong that even the slightest trace couldn't be preserved. The opponent, possessing extremely vast mana, couldn't possibly disappear so thoroughly.

I simply retrieved the observation records stored within the flames I scattered around and found that the mana composing those Meng Zhang incarnations seemed to be absorbed by this unreal chaotic space after being broken down.

Considering that Paradise can automatically absorb the human souls killed by Taoyuan Village cultivators and monsters, it's likely that a similar underlying mechanism exists within those Meng Zhang incarnations. Once accidentally broken down, they are conveniently recycled by Paradise.

As for whether those recycled resources will be reconstituted into Meng Zhang incarnations and summoned again after some time… I think it's highly probable.

Even using True Spirit Power to kill Meng Zhang incarnations cannot prevent their comeback. Unlike the Doomsday Demon summoned by Naraku Gospel, those Meng Zhang incarnations neither possess their own soul nor concept of life and death. They are merely lumps of mana, an automatic device.

Attempting to prohibit them with True Spirit Power is akin to attempting to stop Meng Zhang from exercising mana with True Spirit Power… that surpasses the scope of True Spirit Power. Could complete True Spirit Power actually manage that aspect of authority? I don't know; at the very least, my meager True Spirit Power cannot accomplish that.

"Why…" Xu Gou groaned.

I looked at him.

He temporarily ceased his regeneration, no longer attempting to recover his combat ability, instead striving to sustain his shattered body and soul with tenacious vitality, merely seeking an undying result.

"Why… didn't you kill me?" Xu Gou said as he continued to vomit blood, "You should have been able to… just now, when our mana clashed fiercely, you showed mercy at the critical moment… weren't you intending to kill me? Do you really want to turn me into a captive… and then recruit me?"

Little Bowl also looked at me, both glad and puzzled.

To speak frankly, it was somewhat embarrassing; I had just denied Little Bowl's proposal to recruit Xu Gou, yet did something completely contrary. However, I have my reasons for doing this. It wasn't done without cause.

"This is the chance to live you earned yourself, Xu Gou," I said.

Xu Gou was silent for a moment, then asked, "…What did you say?"

"You didn't use all your power just now, did you?" I said.