Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo

Taking advantage of Meng Zhang's hesitation, I once again used clever movement techniques, hoping to continue my relentless pursuit. However, the same trick is difficult to succeed twice. Meng Zhang no longer sees me as a character with only crude combat techniques, and with his speed surpassing mine, he quickly retreated and opened up distance.

I used the surrounding fire sea for flame transmission, attempting to capitalize on my victory. Meng Zhang still seemed unable to accept the events that just occurred, but instead of retreating blindly, he counterattacked actively, engaging me in close-quarter combat, entering a cycle of mutual injury exchange again. What's fascinating is that one of us manipulates fire, and the other thunder, both using destructive forces unrelated to defensive power. In theory, it should be like a quick draw between two gunfighters deciding life and death swiftly, yet for a moment neither of us could take down the other.

Indeed, what I was using just now was Xuanming's movement technique.

Paper understanding always seems shallow, true comprehension requires personal experience… Thanks to Little Bowl's blessing, I could gradually digest Xuanming's experience even during peace times, especially after Little Bowl fine-tuned the blessing, it was like adding wings to a tiger. Real combat enables me to accelerate the digestion process hundredfold. Xuanming was an extremely seasoned ancient Impermanence in battlefield slaughter, and the experience inheritance he left was primarily practical combat, something I was supposed to learn and understand on the battlefield.

Through this battle alone, I cannot completely digest Xuanming's immense experience, at best I can only absorb a part of it, but even that is enough to provide me some assistance. What Xuanming gave me addresses my weakest part. I have been an Impermanence for too short a time, while other Impermanences have lived for centuries at least, I have not even reached half a year since becoming an Impermanence, severely lacking in accumulation.

The experience obtained from the Catastrophe Demon was extremely biased, solely focused on insights into power itself, without any practical combat wisdom. Even insights into power were self-derived with many primitive and rough elements, while Xuanming's understanding was far more comprehensive.

After repeated confrontations, I gradually figured out my odds of winning. Calculating from the beginning of the battle, facing Meng Zhang who received the "Paradise" boost, the odds were significantly less favorable for me, but there is now a trend of gradually catching up.

Both Meng Zhang and I could display countless superpowers, manipulating time and space and even abstract concepts with ease. Yet our battle doesn't straightforwardly reflect those elements. It is because we are adept at all skills, able to use and counter them freely, making them meaningless against each other.

We merely collided, engaged in punches and kicks. There was no special exertion method, no joint techniques or grappling. Those moves have no use against my fire form, and the opponent able to transform into swift thunderlight has no need to bother with such unnecessary things.

Recalling the past, I saw some foreign comics depicting battles of supreme fighters, settings always claim they master certain powers, yet the depiction was always scenes of punches and kicks. Characters capable of controlling time, space, and causality at will, how did fighting end up resembling primitive beings? Occasionally, I also had such thoughts in the past. As a teenager, I certainly would not have imagined that growing up, I would ironically fall into such "conventional" scenarios.

Extremes yield reversals… These four words surfaced in my mind again. When the number of skills and techniques mastered reaches a certain quantity, fights become incredibly simple. This seemingly aligns with the theory that all different things develop towards a certain height, they present homogeneous colors.

Yet neither I nor Meng Zhang is close to the third gate, let alone comparable to the Master of Divine Seal who holds the power of omniscience and omnipotence. We are still far from ultimate realms, far from "the simplicity of the great way." Our current clash mainly revolving around strength as the central method stems partly from our similar nature as Impermanences.

Although we differ in mana attributes, we are roles primarily relying on overwhelming power. Xuanming was also the same. Pure conflict between forces rarely has astonishing reversals, victory results naturally emerge, evident even in my battle with Xuanming.

"It seems we're of the same type." I said amidst the rapid skirmish.

Meng Zhang still seemed caught in the shock from earlier, he said incredulously, "Xuanming left his experience… left his legacy to you at the end of his life? How is that possible, to someone like you!

"Does Xuanming agree with you more than me? Could there be a world in your heart… could there be mercy for all things?"

Honestly, I also could not quite understand where exactly Xuanming's trust in me lies.

"Why wouldn't I?" I deliberately retorted.

Meng Zhang's face showed disbelief instantly, but considering Xuanming indeed left a legacy for me eventually, he hesitated slightly, seemingly facing me for the first time, and then said solemnly, "Alright… then let me ask you, why do you deny my 'Paradise'?"

"And don't say you oppose me just because I wanted to wipe out you, Vermilion Bird Inheritor prematurely… I can feel from your mana, you possess strong opposition towards my 'Paradise'."

I said, "Instead, I should ask you, why do you think you wouldn't face denial? Seeking everyone to enter a blissful dream… isn't that your true wish."

Xuanming had said that in 'Paradise,' no new life would be born, civilization would end within one generation, this is perplexing upon closer thought.

Indeed, if everyone were asleep, pursuing everything meant to be chased in reality within dreams, naturally there would be no offline interactions and mating, nor would there be new life. Yet that assumes 'Paradise' as purely an online network space premise. 'Paradise' is also another real universe, I don't believe new life definitely won't be born there.

Especially for Impermanences, there's no absolute distinction between matter and spirit. Declaring 'Paradise' as a spiritual time-space based on the relative perspective of the real world, for residents living inside 'Paradise,' it could also be considered a material time-space. Even in this real world, there exist demons capable of treating the real world as an illusion.

Xuanming probably concluded this because he deciphered Meng Zhang's real aim.

Meng Zhang desires everyone's consciousness to experience nearly infinite time within 'Paradise' becoming homogenized, ultimately merging as one, leading 'Paradise' to truly complete its ultimate existence. For this aim, new life is superfluous, even causing interference.

Reflecting on this, there's something I don't understand. Based on past interactions and intel, 'Paradise' already had a nascent form before Meng Zhang destroyed this city. Why did Meng Zhang have to seize so many souls externally and incorporate them into the Dream Network instead of allowing those already within to combine and spawn numerous new souls? Is it because it's temporarily unachievable, or is there some reason not to?

"What I pursue is true order." Meng Zhang said.

"Order?" I countered.

"This is also the goal Luo Mountain has been striving for. Extraordinaryism, Governance Ideology… they all exist for a more ideal order." Meng Zhang said, "But because you always get bogged down in lower-dimensional arguments, you can't reach the correct conclusion. Regardless of the direction you head, it ultimately leads to a minority elite ruling over mass populace.

"That doesn't bring any essential change. Oppression of the weak by the strong won't cease, regardless of the heights civilization reaches, it remains no different from the primitive era of eating raw meat and bloodshed. Today's society might appear glamorous, but what it follows is still the same base order from primitive tribe days.

"What Xuanming pursued as the accumulation and progress of civilization, from another angle, never appeared initially, merely an illusion."

Excessively extreme remarks. Even if most people face various misfortunes in life, surely not many would wish to be reborn in primitive times starting a new life? If past and present truly have no difference, some answers might change. I think this alone is enough to prove the accumulation and progress of civilization isn't meaningless.

However, I seem to have heard similar tones before. Soon I recalled, during the first invasion of 'Paradise,' his avatar did speak critically of Luo Mountain.

"An ideal order pursues a society where everyone is tightly united. Although humans claim to be social animals, they remain at a halfway stage, unlike ants and bees as true social animals. Even if material abundance becomes extreme, as long as selfish desires exist, genuine peace cannot be achieved." Meng Zhang said, "Ideologies are merely surface talk, to solve issues fundamental changes are required."

"The ideal order exists, but current humans can't currently adapt to such order, so all they need is to evolve to the next stage."

"You mean 'Paradise'?" I anticipated what he would say next.

And regarding his proposition itself, I couldn't resonate even slightly.

"All originates from differences. Love and hate, right and wrong, and human individuality and selfishness…" Meng Zhang said, "'Paradise' exists precisely to transcend all contradictions."