From the end of the world

Chapter 681 Nightmare Incarnation
This is really unreasonable!

Five incarnations of Meng Zhang weren't enough, and now a sixth or seventh has appeared? Will there be eighty, ninety, or even more incarnations of Meng Zhang next?
With so many powerful avatars at the level of the Great Impermanence, it's likely that the world of demon hunters is not in Luo Shan's hands; it should be Meng Zhang who reigns supreme.

Although this thought came to my mind immediately, I soon realized that the two newly appeared fluctuations of the Great Impermanence magic power were completely different in nature from the five Meng Zhang avatars surrounding us.

One of the magical energy fluctuations revealed a sharp and hard quality. I had dealt with this magical energy fluctuation before, and its source was undoubtedly the Dog (戌狗).

The other fluctuation of magical power was both familiar and unfamiliar. It was familiar because I had dealt with the source of this magical power before, and even destroyed it with my own hands; it was unfamiliar because the other party was only at the Great Completion stage back then, far less powerful than it is now.

Yes, barring any unforeseen circumstances, the latter should be the naval Xuanwu.

Both waves of magical energy were moving rapidly toward me.

Whether the Water Spirit Xuanwu will remain my enemy or choose to join me in dealing with Meng Zhang is uncertain at the moment; as for the Dog, there's no need to think too much about it, they are clearly my enemy. If I have to endure the Dog's attacks under these circumstances, or even be kicked while I'm down by the Water Spirit Xuanwu, that would be an absolutely excruciating headache.

I used the small bowl to teleport again, first trying to move in a direction away from them.

The scene shifted again, and this time, I found myself in relatively intact streets and buildings. The city center, which had been destroyed by the lightning strike of the giant blue hand, had miraculously recovered. Although the streets looked different from where I had been previously transported, this place gave me a feeling that was 80-90% similar.

“This should be a phenomenon caused by spacetime chaos.” Xiao Wan seemed to have seen the clue. “It may be related to the restart phenomenon that Brother Zhuang Cheng mentioned, but it highlights the chaotic nature unique to dreams.”

"The random teleportation phenomenon we are encountering is also part of this chaos. Even if we were to walk normally instead of using spatial teleportation, we would probably get lost, just like in the chaotic spacetime of the apocalypse. And since this is an obstacle specifically designed to target intruders like us, we cannot break through it simply by relying on the strong luck and adaptability of the celestial phenomena."

"Perhaps this is a barrier that the Lord of Peach Blossom Village used to deal with Brother Zhuang Cheng's invasion, or it may be an emergency plan designed in advance to prevent Xuan Ming from breaking through the 'Wall of the World'... Although it is not as absolute as the 'Wall of the World' in terms of the strength of preventing invasion, it is still an almost impossible task to break through it in a short period of time."

This assumption must be correct... I affirmed this in my mind while remaining vigilant about my surroundings.

I felt like I was not only lost in a random spatial predicament, but also trapped in a time maze. The surrounding scenes, full of déjà vu, seemed to be telling me what was going to happen next.

And just as if to confirm my bad idea once again, five powerful magical fluctuations, like mountains collapsing and tsunamis crashing, surged out at the same time, and giant hands of azure light appeared in different directions.

As expected, I was unable to escape the pursuit of these incarnations of Meng Zhang.

This experience reminded me of a nightmare scenario.

In nightmares filled with ghosts, hiding is futile. No matter how well you hide in a secluded corner, the ghost will always seem to be able to read your mind and pull you out. This is inevitable, because the ghosts in nightmares are the dreamer's own inner fears. As long as there is a fear of being pulled out of a corner by a terrifying ghost, that fear will inevitably manifest in the nightmare.

My experience is similar now. Whenever I worry that I might be caught, these Meng Zhang avatars always follow my bad thoughts and quickly appear around me.

I think this is not just a coincidence, but because the city I live in has been further transformed by "Shangri-La" into a dreamlike space-time. It is my mental activity that has summoned these incarnations of Meng Zhang, and unless my consciousness is completely extinguished, I will never be able to escape their pursuit.

They are truly a group of "nightmare hunters" as the literal meaning suggests!
At the same time, jagged cracks appeared in the palms of the five giant, cyan-glowing hands, and eyeballs emerged from them, locking onto me firmly.

A massive burst of azure lightning struck me from five directions simultaneously.

I tried to dodge, but even dodging one bolt of azure lightning required my full strength. With five bolts striking simultaneously, I truly couldn't find any way to escape. Now I understand why this azure lightning has such a high hit rate; it's the same reason why these avatars of Meng Zhang always manage to pursue me. The more I try to escape the azure lightning, the easier it is to draw it to my side. It's my own mind that leaves me nowhere to run.

With no other option, I could only unleash my full power to ignite my flames, launching a simultaneous counterattack in five different directions. Five streaks of orange-red flames collided with five streaks of cyan lightning.

Fortunately, although Meng Zhang's avatars were incredibly skilled at pursuit and had a high accuracy rate, I still held an overwhelming advantage in direct combat. The extremely dense flames naturally overwhelmed the five bolts of azure lightning, like a sharpened iron sword clashing with a crudely made wooden knife. I also successfully intercepted the earth-shattering shockwave and intense heat, ensuring Xiao Wan's safety.

"I'm sorry, Brother Zhuang Cheng, I've dragged you down..." Xiao Wan sighed.

“There’s no need to apologize to me. I’m the one who summoned you here. Since I’ve received your blessing and healing, I should do everything I can to protect you,” I said.

But the real trouble is yet to come.

I had just dealt with the first wave of attacks from the five avatars of Meng Zhang's power when the magical fluctuations of Xu Gou invaded the battlefield where we were.

From my perspective, the destruction and rebirth of the city center's buildings was marked by my spatial shift. Although it appeared as if I had traveled through time, I was actually still in the same space-time as the Dog and the Black Tortoise. I wonder how the changes in this area appeared from the perspective of the Dog and the Black Tortoise.

For Xu Gou, it had been more than four months since our last meeting, but for me, it hadn't been that long. Xu Gou's appearance remained unchanged, his body concealed within a majestic black power armor at least three meters tall, like a symbol of destruction, a human weapon born solely for slaughter.

“Number Three, Zhuang Cheng—” he said in a deep and resolute voice.

"Are you still on Taoyuan Township Lord's side, Xu Gou?" I said. "Since you had compassion for the victims of that Luoshan branch base back then, brought them relief, and even killed those extreme supernatural demon hunters, it means you are a person with a conscience... So why are you so determined to continue helping Taoyuan Township Lord?"

Dog said in a deep voice, "Don't make me repeat myself, Number Three. I'm willing to do anything to reunite with Ai Ye. Even if we can only reunite in a dream—"

“Ai Ye…is that the female researcher who once saved you?” I asked.

During the conversation, the dog's left-hand armor transformed into a cannon, and an extremely thick, silver-white beam of light shot towards my head.

Compared to my previous two battles, his silver-white beam was more powerful. It wasn't simply composed of concentrated magic power, but rather countless crisscrossing cutting forces. It could be understood as a massive amount of tiny, sharp blade-like energy being brutally compressed into the barrel and fired together, capable of breaking down any target it touched into subatomic particles, as if throwing it into a shredder.

This attack was far stronger than those Meng Zhang avatars nearby, but unfortunately, the accuracy bonus those Meng Zhang avatars possessed didn't apply to Xu Gou. Dodging his attack was effortless for me.

The dog then transformed its right-hand armor into a cannon, firing silver-white beams of light from both hands in rapid succession. This was a technique it had used before, yet it still failed to hit me. At the same time, the five avatars of Meng Zhang simultaneously unleashed cyan lightning; I could only obediently neutralize this attack.

Meng Zhang's avatars did not show any hostility towards Xu Gou, clearly identifying him as a "friendly faction member".

While the Dog (戌狗) claims to want to use the "Shangri-La" to reunite with his past lover in a dream, I don't believe his true purpose is that superficial. It's not that I think his feelings for his lover aren't enough to make him make this decision, but from his perspective, it seems rather strange that he would so quickly abandon hope in reality and instead rely entirely on the "Shangri-La."

If he could re-establish contact with the Lord of the Divine Seal in the future, he could obtain a way to resurrect his lover through a trade. He wouldn't even need to "find a way"; he could simply wait patiently for the Lord of the Divine Seal to repair the illusory realm. Even if he was anxious, was it really necessary to go to such lengths for a "paradise"?

However, whatever his unspeakable secrets may be, they are irrelevant now. Although I am interested in the mysteries surrounding him, I never aspire to unravel all the mysteries of our adventure. Since he stands against me and Xiaowan, then he may leave his life here.

At that moment, Xiao Wan said something.

“Brother Zhuang Cheng, I have a way to turn him to the other side,” she said.

(End of this chapter)