Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo

"Yes." I admitted, "Gua Tianshi, Shan Liangyi should have fought with Old Fist God. I missed their battle, and I don't know the specifics. You should have been observing from the shadows, right? What happened at that time?"

Gua Tianshi countered, "You couldn't see the process of their battle?"

"I'm trying here too, but I need you to provide some clues."

As I spoke, I focused a portion of my attention on the past space-time, trying to clearly see the history of that moment.

But Shan Liangyi and Old Fist God were similar to me, possessing the power to distort worlds as third-tier gate masters. When they fought with all their might, the power pressed against the space-time axis of the past, even twisting history. I felt like I was observing things through a mosaic glass, unable to see the images and sounds clearly.

If testimonies from witnesses could be combined, it might be possible to piece together the chaotic mosaic and even gain some insights that couldn't be obtained merely through observation.

Maybe I could also acquire information related to Old Fist God's special abilities.

"Unfortunately, the detailed process of Shan Liangyi and Old Fist God's battle, I wouldn't dare say I understand it well. Just like the instantaneous moments of Great Success Rank and Great Impermanence cannot be compared, I can't guarantee that what I saw was the entirety of the battle. If you don't mind this point, I can share what I know with you." Gua Tianshi said.

"Please do." I nodded.

"Shan Liangyi challenged Old Fist God three days after returning to the real world, by then he should have fully digested all his gains." Gua Tianshi began to elaborate, "According to my observation, although he hadn't yet become a true Manifestation and Enlightenment individual, he had already mastered your past Innate Manifestation Talent. Compared to the era when he was previously defeated by Old Fist God, his power has significantly improved now."

Innate Manifestation...

Since he fully digested the Vermilion Bird Seed obtained from me, this is naturally the case.

The advantages of the Innate Manifestation Talent lie mainly in two aspects, one being able to completely liberate the power of the soul, the other being the Manifestation Undying Body.

The power of the soul can be divided into two parts: the part composing the soul structure, and the part that can be consumed as energy. The former is power that cannot be moved to maintain one's own existence, unless using forbidden spells that burn the soul structure, leading to severe aftereffects after the duration ends, or even paying the price of life. Otherwise, no one can use this portion of power.

Even if it can be used, it is far from "complete liberation." The former maker of monstrosities emphasized that liberated power must have a main body to utilize it; otherwise, the individual would merely disintegrate into Mana without centripetal force. And Innate Manifestation allows the usage of this power that surpasses any forbidden soul-burning spells without any cost.

However, this part does not significantly enhance Shan Liangyi's combating ability.

Because starting from the Great Impermanence level, it's no longer about the quantity of power. Each Great Impermanence can exhibit world-destroying power, none lack mere destructive scale. Even though I often claim to have the advantage of infinite Mana, in actual combat, I've never seen a Great Impermanence level opponent show signs of running out of power.

To speak extreme, in a conflict between Great Impermanences, even if one of them has power so immense it could blow the Earth away in one strike, the real target to eliminate isn't Earth but the other Great Impermanence as the enemy. If the firepower of that strike covers the entire Earth, the result might be the disappearance of Earth, yet the enemy Great Impermanence remains alive and well.

The enemy is merely a small humanoid figure. The priority isn't how enormous an object can be destroyed, but how all that power can be focused entirely on this enemy. What truly decides the outcome of the conflict is the density of power.

In a certain way, the strength standard of a Great Impermanence may resemble the products of stellar evolution's final stage. From stars to white dwarfs, neutron stars, black holes, the more terrifying the celestial bodies, the smaller their bodies evolve, whereas red giants, excessively large celestial bodies, result in an average temperature lesser than regular stars.

With Gua Tianshi's narration, countless historical pieces assembled in my mind, allowing me to glimpse the past battle scenes between Shan Liangyi and Old Fist God.

Although still rather vague, I'm just barely able to see a rough picture. The two were once flashing from place to place on Earth. When Old Fist God appeared in the capital, he punched out, and the Mana followed his motion like a spiral, transforming into a strike that pierced through the Earth. Shan Liangyi transformed into five different elemental attributes and spread out instantly, narrowly dodging this strike. This was a clever trick, effective only once against enemies of the same level, after which he reformed his body and took a retreating move.

This retreat took him above Europe, and Shan Liangyi immediately summoned a large amount of Yin Yang Black and White Magic Power, shooting it at the pursuing Old Fist God. However, the opponent effortlessly dodged it. The Yin Yang Black and White Magic Power crashed onto the ground, shattering one-third of the European continent.

Old Fist God's combat style seems to focus on fists and kicks, producing penetrating destructive waves. Straightforward and plain, yet terrifying in power, each strike carries the potential for a one-hit kill. Even Shan Liangyi now, if he takes a direct hit, could likely die on the spot.

Currently, Shan Liangyi's strength is much stronger than when he fought me in the Post-mortem World, yet it can be seen that he struggles to maintain his rhythm when facing Old Fist God. The way he manipulates his power reveals this conclusion, his counterattacks are somewhat hurried and reactive. Normally, he wouldn't unleash an attack with such large-scale destruction.

The power of a Third Gate warrior is naturally stronger than a Great Impermanence of the Second Gate, but its destructive scale should be smaller. If the diameter of the crater created is large for the same hit, it only shows lower density and weakness. Shan Liangyi's counterattack and Old Fist God's strike in the capital have about the same amount of magic power, but the latter can pierce through the planet while the former could not achieve the same. It's not that he truly couldn't do it, rather he is in a precarious situation.

It's obvious that Shan Liangyi perhaps initially thought that as long as he became strong to this extent, he could surpass Old Fist God, but the reality is that Old Fist God's level of strength surpassed his expectations.

Unlike him, with his Manifestation Undying Body, Old Fist God probably only has one life, yet Shan Liangyi cannot trade life for life with the opponent.

After opening the Third Gate, the damage ratio against the True Spirit Layer would greatly increase. Previously, the damage I suffered in this aspect could be said to be "only indirect harm." Now, if damage avoidance through Manifestation's integration with all things is not applied, and hit directly by an enemy of the same level, it's best to regard it as "almost directly attacked to the True Spirit." The same goes for Shan Liangyi.

Although they have caused much damage to the earth's surface, the battlefield is mostly not on Earth, but has shifted to cosmic space. After all, they are engaging each other with movements far surpassing third cosmic speed, a slight move taking them thousands of miles away, so making them fight entirely within the atmosphere would be too difficult.

As the battle intensifies, observing this period of history becomes increasingly difficult. The figures of the two shuttling back and forth in cosmic space are becoming more blurred in my observation.

I can somewhat feel that Old Fist God seems to not yet have exerted his full power. Compared to rushing for victory in battle, he seems to more enjoy having Shan Liangyi as a formidable opponent. However, this leisurely state is about to end. Shan Liangyi very possibly indeed has the power to threaten Old Fist God's life, thus Old Fist God appears to be getting more heated, and unable to restrain himself.

Clearly, Shan Liangyi can also perceive Old Fist God's fluctuating state, and he finally found an opportunity to temporarily escape Old Fist God's pursuit, then suspended standing in the vast cosmos, with the dazzling sun behind him.

"Alright, Old Fist God, the fooling ends here, show all your power." He said with both hatred and killing intent, "Today is either your death or my demise, only one of us can leave here. I will also unleash my full power strike next, any remaining strength or special abilities you have, use them all against me. But don't wait till the last moment and give me excuses saying you were careless!"

As he spoke, a large amount of Yin Yang Black and White Magic Power rapidly gathered and compressed in his palm, transforming into a terrifying magic power vortex, making even me feel frightened.

"Ha ha... good, good! Shan Liangyi, you've become so strong, I'm overjoyed..." Old Fist God laughed jubilantly, "But too bad, you still can't defeat me... however, fine, I will fulfill your wish, let you witness my long-hidden superpower."

"I'll personally tear off that pretentiously proud face of yours... die!"

Shan Liangyi suddenly let out a shout, charging straight at Old Fist God.

Doing such a thing against an enemy far more proficient in close combat generally seems insane, but this might be Shan Liangyi's only remaining chance for victory. Old Fist God has a higher density, and clearly can further increase it. Through a series of confrontations, Shan Liangyi might have confirmed that changes in tactics and techniques couldn't help him gain enough advantage in this deadly fight.

However, in the clash of power density, there's still one simple yet effective strategy that can partly compensate for the density gap: unleashing all the power at close range from the source of the attack force.

This is the Method of Seeking Life in Death.

Facing Shan Liangyi's death charge, Old Fist God laughed excitedly, using his special ability.

An invisible force wave rapidly spread from him as the center, even Shan Liangyi, skilled in Space-Time Power, couldn't dodge it, and was hit on the spot.

His whole body seemed to be frozen, immobile in the dark cosmic backdrop.