From the end of the world

Chapter 788 VS The Old Fist God 2
The old fist god actually shattered my fireball with a single finger, without suffering any harm himself.

"Everything in the world has its structure, and every structure has its weaknesses. If a tall building has its load-bearing walls removed, it will collapse under its own weight; a sturdy and heavy tank or fighter jet will not function properly if it loses a key component. The same is true for a well-trained martial artist; no matter how strong he is, if his vital points are damaged, he will become immobile," the old boxing master said. "This universal principle also applies to seemingly omnipotent magical powers."

"No matter how ethereal the power of the soul may be, it will still reveal the user's core thoughts and structure. When it is manifested as a power that can influence reality, its invisible structure will also surface, becoming an object that can be influenced by reality in turn. As long as you destroy its key points with your own power, you can render it harmless. What I am doing now is nothing more than such a move."

"...or rather, this is the move that should have been made."

He looked disappointed.

I can understand what he just did.

The old boxing master actually used moves that seemed to contradict his explanation.

Admittedly, his theory could potentially be translated into concrete techniques, although using it to destroy the magic of an equally powerful enemy is absurd, and I don't know how to put it into practice, but at least it sounds plausible. However, what he did just now was not based on "observing the opponent's weakness and destroying it," but rather he used the power of the third gate to create a weakness that did not exist before on my fireball.

This was not a phenomenon he intentionally created.

He was probably really trying to find the structural weaknesses in my magic. Because he tried so hard, his will distorted reality, creating what he wanted to see.

But that's not what he really wants to see.

This is neither perception nor skill; it is purely the result of power.

"As my soul power grows stronger, I can see changes in the microscopic world, and I can also see cause and effect and laws. It's as if all aspects of the world are presented in my eyes, yet it seems to be taking me further and further away from the true realm of non-phenomena," the Old Fist God sighed. "The 'opening' of the Mountain Yin and Yang may not be the right path. But no matter what path it is, as long as you reach the ultimate, it will inevitably lead to the same end. Since I can no longer turn back, there is only one path left: to walk to death."

"Let's continue, Zhuang Cheng. Either become my whetstone, or use me as a stepping stone and fight me to the death!"

He unleashed an unstoppable speed, arriving right in front of me. His all-piercing iron fist struck again. I tried to dodge once more. But this time, something unexpected happened; his fist pierced through my chest. The attack, which should have been easily dodged as before, now managed to reach me.

At the critical moment, I used my elemental transformation ability to create a hole in my chest beforehand. His fist didn't hit me directly, but the magical energy swirling around it still caused me some damage.

This ingenious strategy can only be used once; it definitely won't work on the old fist god next time. I endured the damage with all my might, seized the opportunity to retreat, and tried to create distance.

However, unlike when he was dealing with Shan Liangyi, the old Fist God is now going all out.

He held on tightly to the distance between us.

"In the ancient martial arts, there is a mental cultivation achievement considered to be the pinnacle, called 'Unity of Heaven and Man'," the old Fist God said to himself. "Martial artists who reach this level of mental cultivation achievement can enter a state of mind without thoughts or desires, as if they have merged with the natural environment. Although it is far inferior to your power of manifestation, it can still have the effect of obliterating one's aura, making oneself as elusive as a transparent person."

"The reason why I was able to keep you, Shenzhao, and Yuchi from noticing my comings and goings in the past is also because of this."

"Someone once told me that 'harmony between man and nature' might not be the ultimate martial arts principle. There is an even higher realm above non-thought or non-thought. He called it 'neither thought nor non-thought'."

"After I grasped this level of understanding in reality, I naturally pushed open the third door."

As he spoke, he once again explosively closed the distance and threw another punch. This time, he landed a solid blow. The strike, comparable to the Eclipse Sword, sent me flying far away.

The reason the Yin-Yang duality was able to harm me, who was integrated into all things, is because the Yin-Yang and Black-White magic possesses properties similar to true spiritual power, which I cannot integrate into. The Old Fist God doesn't possess this property, yet he was still able to inflict powerful damage on me. Although I never arrogantly believed I could unconditionally ignore the Old Fist God's attacks, the actual confirmation of this outcome inevitably dashed my hopes.

I also observed that the reason why my state of integration was nullified was the same reason why the old Fist God's attacks could now hit me—I was locked onto by the old Fist God's perception.

The Old Fist God's perception is far more acute than that of the Mountain Two Elements, and possesses unique characteristics that the Mountain Two Elements lack, perhaps related to his so-called "neither thought nor non-thought." I, an enemy capable of merging into all things in nature, can be re-identified from them by his perception. This "identification" is inherited by his magical power, allowing him to injure me once more.

Neither thinking nor thinking... I've heard this term elsewhere.

It is neither "thinking" nor "not thinking." In Buddhism, which attempts to prove that all things are nothingness, this is the ultimate meditation that can even negate the concept of "nothingness." If one insists on saying there is anything higher than this, perhaps only the legendary "Nirvana," which is self-realization of one's true spirit.

Those who attain the state of neither thought nor non-thought are believed to ascend to the fourth heaven of the Formless Realm within the Three Realms, which is also the highest heaven within the Three Realms.

It is no exaggeration to say that someone with such a profound spiritual realm could recognize my presence.

However, perhaps related to his statement that "'opening the door' is not the right path," his "neither thought nor non-thought" might still have some flaws, lacking clarity, and most of its destructive power was mitigated by my manifestation power. Although its attack power far exceeded that of the Mountain Yin-Yang, in terms of actual effective destructive force, it was inferior to the Yin-Yang black-and-white magic of the Mountain Yin-Yang. Under my full-force defense, I felt myself suffering significant damage at the true spirit level, yet I still barely survived. Seizing this opening in the distance, I once again gathered and condensed flames. A massive fireball, its density increased to its limit, reappeared. Facing the rapidly approaching Old Fist God, I grabbed the fireball in my hand as a weapon and hurled it with all my might.

The old Fist God let out a maniacal laugh and threw another punch. The iron fist collided with the fireball, and a massive explosion, powerful enough to shatter small celestial bodies, spread throughout space. There was no time to create a second fireball; the old Fist God sped through the explosion, and his iron fist, its power undiminished, struck again, sending me flying.

Even with high damage reduction, I couldn't withstand too many of these attacks. I was once again certain of my prediction: in a fair fight, I had no chance against the old Fist God.

Therefore, I can only resort to some underhanded tactics.

I glanced at Xiaowan again; her suppression of Tai Sui was progressing steadily. In just a little longer, she would be able to become the master of the Doomsday Divine Seal as planned, and then transfer its power to me. Now I have two options: either persuade the Old Fist God to temporarily cease hostilities, giving me a chance to grow stronger through external means; or rely on my own abilities to weather this period, and then use the power of the Doomsday Divine Seal to turn the tide and catch the Old Fist God off guard.

Regardless of whether the old boxing god would agree to the former's shameless plan, implementing the latter plan wouldn't be that difficult for me. It's neither about defeating the old boxing god nor about defending forever; it's simply about "buying some time." I can already come up with at least three plans using my ever-evolving abilities.

The only variable is the old boxing god's special ability.

That was an unknown ability that could even frighten the unyielding Yama Ryougi into running away. If it were used on me, I don’t know what terrifying changes would occur.

Currently, only two things are certain: first, it is a power that directly affects the target; second, it is not a power that will kill instantly upon being hit.

Based on these two points, at least we won't be defeated without any chance to fight back. Therefore, we can use the power of return to erase the effects of the opponent's special ability. Since that power acts directly on my body, I definitely have an advantage over the old Fist God who attacks from a distance, as my power erupts directly from within my body.

Therefore, I must continue to keep my distance from the old boxing legend. As long as it's not close range, my chances of success in the fight will be much higher.

I never expected that at this stage, I would actually be fighting an "ability battle" with the old boxing god, where I have to figure out his superpower information and formulate a strategy!
Just as I was determined to stall until the match was decided at the small bowl, the old boxing god seemed to immediately realize that my fighting strategy had changed.

"Zhuang Cheng, aren't you planning to fight me with all your might?" he asked. "Are you paying attention to places outside this battlefield?"

"Since you're so dissatisfied, why don't you find a way to force me to use my full strength, or have you already reached your limit?" I said.

The old fist god was not distracted by the change of topic, but said calmly, "What you are waiting for is probably another divine seal. You think you are no match for me, so you have to pin your hopes on external things?"

He had indeed noticed the changes on the small bowl side. I retorted, "So what if I did? I'm not a martial artist like you, who doesn't care about winning and uses any means necessary."

The old boxing master nodded and said, "I'm not one to stick to the old ways. If the enemy is unarmed, I'll be unarmed too; if the enemy uses knives, spears, or clubs, I'm not ignorant of wielding them either. Whether unarmed or armed, these are all part of martial arts, and I'm proficient in them all."

"Since you say you'll stop at nothing, you probably wouldn't mind if I used some of my own methods, right?"

As he spoke, the old Fist God stretched out his hand, and a white jade disc appeared in his hand, emitting the same aura as the Doomsday God Seal.

However, unlike the cracked Doomsday Seal, this white divine seal disc was intact.

The old boxing god has brought out the divine seal of the mortal world!

In his hands, the Divine Seal of the Present World erupted with extremely violent fluctuations. Even if we combined all our power, it wouldn't be on the same level as the intensity of this fluctuation.

If I were to convert all of that energy into lethality, it would obliterate me in the blink of an eye.

The little bowl on Earth seemed to sense this overwhelming fluctuation as well, and shared my view. Her voice, filled with shock, echoed in my mind: "This...this is..."

I quickly asked, "Little Bowl, what did you see?"

Perhaps because she possessed the Doomsday Divine Seal, Xiaowan now knew things I didn't. She couldn't calmly say, "This present-day divine seal... is not simply a matter of drawing out a portion of its power; it is now operating at full power!"

I immediately realized that something terrible had happened.

The worst-case scenario has occurred.

According to the strategy Xiaowan and I devised before the battle, as long as we obtained the full-power Doomsday Divine Seal, we could defeat the Old Fist God, who could only use a portion of the power of the Real World Divine Seal. But before we even had a chance to seize the position of Doomsday Divine Seal's master, the Old Fist God had already taken the lead and unleashed the full-power Real World Divine Seal!
(End of this chapter)