Interlayer.
"I understand your feelings, but... this is our destiny." Rongxin spoke softly.
"Once the sky canopy opens, it will gradually sink sooner or later, losing its original balance.
In other words, from the moment we broke into this interaction zone from the outside, it was already unbalanced. As long as it’s breached once, the sky canopy will no longer be as flawless as before. It can no longer fully block the sunlight."
The Moon God remained silent.
He thought of the sky canopy before he left; it was also sinking then. Perhaps the reason was that the sky canopy had been opened once before?
"We’ve wasted too much time already, Rongxin, begin!" Laf, slightly impatient.
"Yes." All the feathers around Rongxin stood up, and next, he would launch all the feathers, turning them into feather powder to contaminate the entire interaction zone.
Once his feather powder fully integrated into the cycle of heaven and earth, it would swiftly harvest the brains of all living beings here.
"Heaven and Earth Towards Ling!"
The feathers around Rongxin slowly lit up with a white glow.
The dazzling white light bleached everything around into a ghastly white, and a sharp, piercing sound echoed from within his body, spreading out in waves.
Boom!!
In an instant, all of Rongxin’s feathers exploded.
His feathers burst open in a flash, turning into countless blue-green dust, scattering and rushing towards the blue atmosphere below, disappearing in no time.
"Wait, something seems amiss...?" Zhaoyu Pavilion furrowed her brows faintly at the side.
Normally, once the feather powder is dispersed, it would quickly integrate into the atmospheric cycle, not disappear inexplicably like this.
Indeed.
The massive amount of feather powder that Rongxin released vanished as soon as it entered the atmosphere, as if it never existed.
As if it never existed from the beginning.
"I seem to smell a somewhat familiar scent...?" Zhaoyu Pavilion looked towards Laf.
Laf squinted, staring steadily at the atmosphere below, silent for a moment.
Suddenly, he swung his palm downward.
A massive surge of formless heat erupted from his hand, forming a mighty divine hand, flying towards the atmosphere.
Whooo!!!
The blue atmosphere below everyone was fiercely struck.
The blue light twisted, began to shatter, and radiated half-transparent ripples throughout.
The atmosphere was torn apart from the center, revealing a massive blue hole.
And within the blue hole, the scene below was completely revealed.
"!!? This... this is!!?" Zhaoyu Pavilion’s beautiful eyes widened, staring dumbfoundedly at the scene exposed beneath the torn atmosphere.
Not just her, even Rongxin was stunned, his three eyes contracted instantly, staring intently at the scene exposed beneath the atmosphere.
A chill that pierced his bones surged into his heart.
".....Evil Spirit....!!" Laf took a deep breath, gritting his teeth, staring at the enormous blood-red face beneath the atmosphere.
The massive face, at least a thousand meters in diameter, hid beneath the atmosphere, turning itself the same pale blue color, continually devouring the countless feather powders that Rongxin had just released.
He abruptly turned his head to look at the Moon God.
"Did you know all along!!?"
An Evil Spirit Body of such colossal size, who knows how much time it had taken to develop.
They had just rushed straight in, thinking this was an abandoned large interaction zone!?
"....." The Moon God didn’t understand why they were so nervous. But during the time he spent outside, he knew what he needed to know.
Especially the most sensitive Evil Spirits.
"Withdraw!! This place has been completely contaminated! Quick, withdraw!!" Laf shouted angrily, turning around and flying towards the sky canopy first.
Once living beings are contaminated by Evil Spirits, extracting their brains would become deadly poison to them.
This is a terrifying existence completely opposed to living beings, utterly worthless!
The three swiftly turned and rushed towards the sky canopy they entered from.
But they hadn’t flown far when Laf suddenly stopped dead in his tracks, staring straight ahead.
"Who!? Come out!!"
His voice was stern, now tinged with nervousness.
Zhaoyu Pavilion and Rongxin were puzzled, looking towards the sky canopy direction where there was nothing. In their view, the path was clear, allowing them to charge through quickly and leave.
But Laf seemed to have discovered something, merely hovering in place, his eyes coldly fixed on the empty space.
Hiss....
While the two were startled, a tall and burly red-robed figure suddenly materialized in the spot Laf was staring at.
The figure was like a chameleon, previously blending perfectly with the sky canopy’s color, almost without any aura fluctuations.
If Laf hadn’t noticed beforehand, they might have realized something was wrong only after actually crashing into it.
If it came to that time.....
The blood-robed figure had a pale complexion, eyes burning with blood-colored flames, scanning over the group one by one.
Finally, his gaze landed on the Moon God.
"Master... you still treat me best. On your return, you remembered to bring me snacks...."
The Moon God’s lips parted slightly, bewildered at the moment.
He remembered he hadn’t been away for long??
Before leaving, Zhang Rongfang wasn’t in this ghastly appearance. Nor did he have this kind of aura!!
And now....
Just being close, one could feel the fierce, strong, terrifying, and malicious intent exuding from the other, as if wanting to devour everything.
The aura belonging to the original Zhang Rongfang was only a tiny part; most was some peculiar, brand-new distinctive aura. It seemed to also contain traces of those decomposing tendrils from the Sea of Oblivion....
This guy.... what had he been up to during the years he was away!!??
The Moon God looked at this once-familiar disciple as if seeing not a person but a complex assemblage of countless bizarre, terrifying Evil Spirits!
"You.....!!? Allying with Evil Spirits!!?" Laf’s expression changed dramatically, as Evil Spirits and gods were absolute opposites.
And this Moon God actually....!?
He quickly connected everything from before.
Soon, a terrifying conclusion flooded his mind.
"Go! This is a trap!!"
Around him, black flames suddenly erupted.
The firelight scattered, transforming into the state of the Heart-Burning Furnace, rushing rapidly towards another part of the sky.
Rongxin and Zhaoyu Pavilion also curved their paths simultaneously, escaping in other directions.
Fighting with Evil Spirits, whether win or lose, is a huge expenditure for them.
Nobody would do such a thing without any benefits!
"Evil Spirit? Are they talking about me??" Zhang Rongfang was slightly puzzled.
But confusion is confusion; he still needs to eat.
Consuming these individuals from the outside should give him an initial understanding of the outside world.
Watching the three rapidly escape, Zhang Rongfang’s thoughts raced. His body exploded suddenly, transforming into countless blood mist.
At the same time, new blood mist instantly coagulated beside Rongxin, transforming into a brand new Zhang Rongfang in the blink of an eye, grabbing Rongxin’s shoulder.
"!!??"
Rongxin was completely caught off guard by how quickly the opponent targeted him first.
His foundational furnace was crafted by a Martial Arts Atlas called ’Primordial Wind Beast Skill.’
Upon reaching the final level of this martial arts furnace, he could transform into a gigantic beast known as the Primordial Wind Beast.
This colossal beast has extremely terrifying strength, can control air flow in the atmosphere, and has a nearly eternal lifespan.
Now with his shoulder held, his chest furnace immediately ignited with fiery light, his arm instantly amplifying the furnace’s power.
Boom!!
Rongxin, with a reverse hand palm strike, landed on Zhang Rongfang’s right arm in a flash.
With a crack, Zhang Rongfang’s arm barely held for a moment, crushed to shreds, becoming countless minced meat.
His robust body and flesh forged with the talents of iron skin were utterly useless against this amplified power.
Like iron colliding with tofu.
Rongxin steadied his mind.
"This guy isn’t as strong as those Evil Spirit Elephants outside!" He transmitted rapidly; since escape was futile, he immediately turned, swinging his arms to unleash a dense array of palm shadows.
In an instant, all the palm shadows transformed into a massive wall, like a tsunami, crashing into Zhang Rongfang.
Enormous power coupled with air control, like cannon fire, continuously bombarded down.
This wasn’t the virtual assault of divine presence in terms of conscious spirituality but a supernatural move affecting reality!
Caught unprepared, Zhang Rongfang’s body deformed, wounds split open, and blood flew everywhere.
Boom!!
Another palm struck squarely on the forehead, forcing Zhang Rongfang’s entire head to snap backward, aligning with his back.
The opponent’s proactive defense is no weaker than his, yet their speed and power erupted terrifyingly.
If Zhang Rongfang’s maximum speed was around three times the speed of sound, then Rongxin’s current burst speed is at least five times.
More impressive is, due to air control, Rongxin’s moves faced minimal air resistance and showed no extraordinary phenomena breaking the sound barrier.
Though both engaged in a fierce mid-air battle, in reality, Zhang Rongfang was entirely on the receiving end for at least three full seconds, not retaliating at all.
’True Seal: Wind Fix!!’
Rongxin got into the groove, his hands joined before him, his palms coalescing into a black hollow sphere.
The sphere seemed devoid of air, as though completely vacuumed dry.
He rubbed his hands, accelerating the black sphere, and struck Zhang Rongfang’s chest.
Hiss!!
The moment the black sphere hit Zhang Rongfang, it released terrifying gravity, collapsing everything around towards its center.
With merely a second.
Zhang Rongfang was absorbed, becoming a mass, sucked into the sphere.
Afterward, with a thunderous explosion.
The sphere burst open, spewing countless sprays of blood and flesh.
"It’s over." Rongxin breathed a sigh, raising his hand, only suffering a small cut on his palm throughout.
He managed to complete the battle virtually unscathed.
Regarding the pollution of evil essence, the furnace purification made him less worried.
"Initially thought it was an Evil Spirit Elephant from the Evil Spirit Vehicle, but it seems it just looked similar on the surface." He glanced at Laf and Zhaoyu Pavilion.
The two also slightly exhaled in relief.
Rongxin released a breath and looked at Laf.
"Boss, should we next continue to..."
Suddenly his speech halted, his gaze frozen at his flank.
In the air beside him, a figure he knew all too well was rapidly molding from the flesh and blood, solidifying.
Soon, the figure’s face finally coalesced.
That face....
Shockingly, it was his own!!??
"Your strength is impressive; I really like it..." The figure lightly flexed its hands, seemingly savoring the newfound power.
This is genetic simulation combined with life transformation’s terrifying power.
As long as he obtained any body tissue containing genes from the opponent.
Zhang Rongfang could rapidly simulate and temporarily transform into the opponent’s body, acquiring their talents, abilities, and physical qualities.
And if he managed to kill the opponent, he could assimilate everything: memories, experiences, skills, permanently stacking them onto himself through the capability of the ultimate archetype.
Witnessing this scene.
Rongxin, Laf, and Zhaoyu Pavilion, even the Moon God, showed subtle signs of shock.
"Mere counterfeit!! Die!!" Rongxin burst fiercely, his chest furnace shining brightly, amplifying his body, transforming into a phantom, surging towards Zhang Rongfang.
With a tremendous boom.
Zhang Rongfang’s chest also ignited with furnace light, unleashing equally terrifying speed and power, engaging Rongxin head-on.
Indeed, he could only briefly simulate acquiring the opponent’s strength, but....as long as he continuously gathered the opponent’s blood tissue and body tissue, this simulation could persist indefinitely.
Until....completely annihilating and consuming the opponent!