From the end of the world

Chapter 680 Encounter

A bluish magical glow appeared at the end of the street, and a massive, flood-like surge of magical energy rushed towards us. Although magical energy is not physical energy, if it could be converted into a strong wind, it would be enough to blow humans of the same size as me and Xiaowan away from the city like paper scraps.

Xiao Wan couldn't help but show a suffocating expression. I immediately stepped in front of her to shield her from the wind and rain, blocking the surging waves of magical energy.

My conflicts with Meng Zhang, the Lord of Peach Blossom Village, have happened more than once or twice, and I am very familiar with his magical fluctuations. I never expected this enemy to appear before me so quickly. Xuan Ming once said that Lord Meng Zhang was temporarily unable to attack because he was overseeing the creation of "Peach Blossom Spring." I thought that as long as I didn't actively go to him, I wouldn't have to fight him.

Or was it because I accidentally intruded into the city center that he had the opportunity to attack me? But if he had the means to be distracted, then even though he was temporarily restricted from leaving the city center, he should still be able to launch long-range sniping attacks on any enemy within the city.

In the distance, the azure magical light coalesced into a distinct shape, but it was not the figure of Meng Zhang himself, but rather the shape of a giant hand.

A jagged crack opened in the palm of his hand, revealing a large, lifeless eyeball.

Its eyes instantly locked onto me and Xiaowan. A flash of azure lightning transformed into a bolt of lightning as thick as a pillar, hurtling towards us.

Without thinking, I hugged the little bowl beside me, and in an instant, I was lifted a thousand meters into the air. Such terrifying acceleration would be unbearable for any human being, no matter how strong. Fortunately, thanks to my natural privilege as the Great Impermanence, I managed to temporarily disable the law of inertia on the little bowl, so that it did not have to pay the price for high-speed movement.

Below, where we had been standing was struck by a blue lightning bolt, sending endless dust and rubble soaring into the sky. The shockwave instantly swept away and destroyed the city center, and then rushed towards me and Xiaowan with terrifying heat. I used flames to create a force field barrier, preventing it from harming Xiaowan.

The problem lies in the upcoming confrontation, and...

What appeared before us was not Meng Zhang's true form, but rather an avatar form that I had encountered a long time ago.

It seems Meng Zhang truly cannot afford to be distracted, resorting to sending something of this caliber to deal with me. The first time we encountered each other, even this small avatar was enough to subdue me; the second time, I had to be on high alert and give it my all. In terms of combat power, the Meng Zhang avatar I remember is comparable to the veteran Great Impermanence. Now, trying to use something like this to defeat me won't be so easy.

Moreover, based on my observation, this avatar seems to be quite out of sorts.

"Meng Zhang, are you listening?" I asked.

The giant, cyan-glowing hand turned its eyes and locked onto me again. This action didn't feel like a response to my words. It was more like an automated device designed to eliminate enemies, following my gaze with an unspoken, unquestioning will, its only purpose being to destroy me and Xiaowan, the two intruders.

This is merely a mass of power—I concluded. It doesn't contain the will of Meng Zhang, the Great Impermanence himself. Lacking a central core, its power naturally lacks the crucial density. While it possesses the power of a Great Impermanence, capable of unleashing a thunderous attack surpassing even strategic nuclear weapons with every move, it's merely a matter of creating a large crater; its actual combat strength is only on par with mine when I first became the Great Impermanence.

If the opponent is only at this level, it wouldn't be a problem to protect the small bowl while fighting against it.

However, I find it hard to believe that the obstacles brought by the power of the jinx would remain at such a trivial level. Even a lion uses its full strength to hunt a rabbit, just in case. I didn't let my guard down in this battle, so I took out my slag weapon and entered Corona Mode.

Almost simultaneously, the giant hand of azure light unleashed another devastating lightning strike towards us.

Once again, I carefully avoided the attack's path with the small bowl in hand. The attack grazed past us, narrowly missing us.

The opponent's first attack also had the same hit rate. It's truly perplexing. Given the density of their attacks, the depth they could reach in the realms of fate and causality was far inferior to mine. Moreover, I had the blessing of the Little Bowl. Although the bonuses to evasion and hit rate in the living world weren't as high as in the chaotic post-apocalyptic environment, all the factors combined were enough to ensure that the opponent couldn't even catch up to me. Yet, the reality was this perilous outcome.

It wasn't the inherent high speed of the lightning strike that made it difficult for me to react, but rather that my opponent received other enhancements. Was it because of this illusory and chaotic spacetime environment? What's difficult for me to assess, my opponent sees as a perfect fit, a strong home-field advantage?
The same thing happened during my previous battle with Xuanming; I always seem to fight in unfamiliar environments. Perhaps this is the fate of those who crave adventure; as long as one continues to pursue magical and unknown adventures, one is destined to challenge unfamiliar environments.

I used my free left hand to conjure a large fireball, intending to destroy that giant blue hand in one blow.

Just then, the little bowl in my arms changed its expression, and its voice rang in my mind: "—Brother Zhuang Cheng, behind you!" It was probably because it didn't have time to warn me verbally, so it used its telepathic ability. In reality, its warning was still a step too late. The speed of combat at the Great Impermanence level could easily surpass the mental speed of the weak. Fortunately, even without its warning, I had already sensed the threat behind me.

The giant, cyan-glowing hand was clearly in my field of vision, but a surge of magical energy erupted from a distance behind me, beyond my sight. I sensed a fierce and ruthless lightning strike launching a sneak attack on me and Xiaowan.

Given the opponent's accuracy and the advantage of a sneak attack, there was no time to dodge. I had no choice but to use the large fireball in my hand, throwing it behind me without looking back. With lightning speed, the blue lightning struck and the orange-red flames collided, creating a massive explosion that shook the heavens and the earth. My gaze pierced through the light spreading from the explosion and saw the target who had launched the sneak attack.

That was also a giant hand radiating cyan light; Meng Zhang's second avatar had appeared!
Seeing this, I immediately had a terrible premonition. Multiple avatars of Meng Zhang appeared at the same time? If the second one has already appeared, how far away can the third be?
Unfortunately, my bad feeling came true.

The third, fourth, fifth...

Three more surges of magical power rose from different directions. A burst of azure light erupted, and five gigantic azure hands appeared in the distance, surrounding me and Xiaowan.

Destructive blue lightning compressed and gathered in their palms.

Seeing this, I grabbed the small bowl without thinking, took a step, and used spatial teleportation to leave the location.

Even if the landing point of the spatial transfer becomes random, it doesn't matter. I don't want to fight five of Meng Zhang's avatars at the same time while carrying Xiao Wan.

Generally speaking, even a Grand Impermanence of Meng Zhang's level couldn't summon five avatars of such strength simultaneously. Even if they were only at the level of newly promoted Grand Impermanence in terms of actual combat power, the difference between them and veteran Grand Impermanence was only in density; their magical power was almost the same.

It is very likely that he used the massive amount of magic power stored in the "Shangri-La"... Relying on that absurd total amount of magic power, Meng Zhang actually achieved the mass production of his own avatars.

Even with the resources of "Shangri-La," it's impossible to mass-produce the Great Impermanence indefinitely. Considering that "Shangri-La" hasn't truly completed its creation, such an action would be akin to extracting nutrients meant for an unborn fetus for other purposes. Even if it were to be done, only a small amount of resources that wouldn't affect the creation of "Shangri-La" could be extracted. It's unclear exactly how much of that small amount of resources those five giant, cyan-glowing hands consumed, but it was certainly a significant drain on resources.

It seems that Meng Zhang himself was not manipulating those five avatars behind the scenes. Most likely, they were just "guards" lingering in the city center, responsible for repelling external invading enemies.

After the scene changed, Xiaowan and I arrived at a relatively intact street, surrounded by rows of buildings.

This shouldn't have happened. The only place where these streets and buildings remain is the city center, and that area was just completely destroyed by the lightning strike that Meng Zhang, in his guise, delivered. It's as if we not only jumped through space but also through time, returning to the point in time when we first entered the city center.

What's even more alarming is that this street looks so familiar, bearing at least 80-90% similarity to the streets we'd visited before. Even if the city center really does have many similar streets, it still seems somewhat far-fetched.

Since this is the scenario we've jumped to, then...

My bad idea was proven true once again.

The familiar magical fluctuations surged once more, and a giant hand radiating cyan light appeared again at the end of the street, striking me and Xiaowan with lightning.

I teleported with Xiaowan into the air, and the city center was once again destroyed by the lightning strikes. Then, four more waves of magical energy appeared around us, transforming into four more giant hands of cyan light, surrounding Xiaowan and me.

Immediately afterwards, the sixth and seventh waves of magical power, of the scale of Great Impermanence, emerged from different directions.

(End of this chapter)