Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 511 - 481 Third Form1

Chapter 511: 481 Third Form1

In response to Huang Quan and Xu Gou’s assaults from different directions, I can only say that I am stretched thin, racking my brain to figure out how to adjust my battle strategy. And now, what I’m doing is the conclusion I arrived at after bitter meditation.

That conclusion is to fuse the Furnace Slag Straight Sword with my fire-elemental body.

The Furnace Slag Straight Sword... Though this weapon bears the official name "Furnace Slag Impermanence Divine Sword," I often revert to calling it by the simpler name "Furnace Slag Straight Sword." In my heart, this weapon is nothing more than slag molded into the shape of a straight sword. The "sword" is merely a temporary guise. Giving it a formal title is as unnecessary as naming the act of stepping forward with one’s left or right foot as though it were a flashy killing move.

Perhaps the unnecessary part goes beyond naming it; in the end, the act of transforming slag into a weapon might itself be redundant.

Maybe it was influenced by the thought that "I possibly possess the power of artifact refining" that I turned slag into an external object. In truth, upon deliberating, the nature of slag is quite similar to my own body. It can both condense and compress fire while also releasing it externally. So it may be truly maximizing its utility to directly integrate the slag into my body as a component to enhance the fire-elemental body.

This method is absolutely impossible for other demon hunters to replicate.

Take the prototype of slag weapons, for instance—the Water Navy Xuanwu’s "Golden Core." Though the Water Navy Xuanwu usually keeps it within his body, he must remove it when unleashing its internal power. The rationale behind this is easy to understand. Even though it’s one’s own power, once compressed and concentrated to an extreme degree, it becomes uncontrollable. If released, it would reverse and destroy one’s body and soul, leading to self-annihilation before the enemy is even killed.

However, I don’t fear the destruction of my body and soul. The side effects the Water Navy Xuanwu worries about don’t exist for me at all.

When I pierced the Furnace Slag Straight Sword into my body, an uncontrollable, horrific fire erupted explosively from within, far beyond what a volcanic eruption could compare to. This body made of concentrated fire elements could no longer be shaped per my will into a lifelike human form. Instead, it radiated endlessly outward, dissolving into infinite light and heat.

Huang Quan and Xu Gou’s attacks struck me simultaneously, with Huang Quan’s assault specifically damaging my True Spirit once again. Yet after slicing through layers and layers of light and heat, his yellow-black mana weakened significantly and inflicted only slight harm to my True Spirit. Killing me with this level of attack would take dozens, if not hundreds, more strikes.

The damp heaviness brought by the special properties of their yellow-black mana vanished completely amidst the eruption of light and heat. It felt like a waterlogged, weighted quilt being wrung dry and laid under the blazing sun, regaining its lightness and softness.

I struggled to control this power, as wild and untamed as a rampaging stallion, attempting to restore my scattered body and soul somewhat. While the absence of a soul wouldn’t kill me, in a state where I only retain the True Spirit, I can merely maintain basic self-awareness and thought.

Or perhaps, it’s because I haven’t truly proven my own True Spirit, leaving me in a state that’s mysterious and unprovable.

Maybe that sounds too abstract. There’s a saying, "I think, therefore I am." Others might find it difficult to grasp the experience of "clearly existing as oneself, yet unable to prove one’s own existence." If anything, it can be described as a self-awareness that’s ambiguous and diffuse. To sufficiently affect the tangible reality of the world with one’s own power at the very least requires the presence of a soul.

The gathering process did not go smoothly, and the body I ultimately formed was a two-meter-tall figure—a shimmering, orange-red humanoid light form that flickered ethereally like flames burning.

After the initial material form and the second fire-elemental form, it seemed I had gained a new, integrated third form designed for both offense and defense.

As soon as I completed this transformation, I launched a counterattack at Huang Quan and Xu Gou at more than a thousand times the speed of sound.

My current attack power hasn’t grown compared to before, but my defensive capabilities have soared far beyond what they were earlier. I can now charge recklessly without concern. Huang Quan’s assaults pose significantly less threat to me, while Xu Gou’s attacks can be completely ignored. No longer do I need to defend reactively—I’ve officially sounded the trumpet of retaliation.

"What..." Xu Gou seemed to sense immense pressure.

He isn’t suited for this type of assault, where enemies team up against him. In our last bout, he showcased an overwhelming Cutting Storm, and now, with "allies" nearby, this indiscriminate killing move has become a forbidden technique.

Perhaps, as an alternative Impermanence, he could refine his mana to distinguish between attack targets, much like I can. However, that Cutting Storm is akin to the Water Navy Xuanwu’s Netherworld Strike upon releasing his Golden Core: Xu Gou evidently cannot wield it with mastery.

I wasn’t in a position to criticize him, though. My ability to control this rampaging, destructive fire from within is woefully inadequate. My mere existence is causing devastating effects to my surroundings.

To a certain extent, I might now be perceived as a human-shaped star. Even other forms of Impermanence cannot stand before me unharmed without employing mana-driven defenses. For demon hunters below the Great Success Rank, simply approaching me would result in their obliteration—let alone ordinary humans.

Just moving in the sky turns the earth beneath me into molten lava. The heat continuously radiating from my body causes nuclear explosion-like devastation wherever I pass.

I fear that even if I do absolutely nothing and merely maintain this third form for a sufficient length of time, it may bring mass extinction-scale catastrophes to the planet’s biosphere.

"So that’s how it is. That weapon wasn’t an external object refined using Vermilion Bird Power... It seems more like it’s your own ability?" Huang Quan appeared to grasp some insight. "Such rapid progress... Not long ago, you relied on old injuries left behind in Ming Zhuo by Xuanming to defeat him. Now you possess enough power to potentially defeat Ming Zhuo entirely on your own...

"But this—this isn’t the form that Luo Mountain Great Impermanence should exhibit to protect the righteous path. Bringing out such power—are you planning to destroy this world?"

Hearing his challenge, I responded, "Speaking of which, last time, through the river of time, it seemed like you and Mazao mentioned that the organization backing you—the Evangelical Institute—claims it intends to save this world, correct?

"Though I highly doubt how much credibility a group like yours, hidden in shadows, holds, this is the perfect opportunity for you to prove it.

If you don’t want the world destroyed, then attempt to defeat me here and now."

Huang Quan snorted coldly and spoke through gritted teeth: "Don’t exaggerate your importance. Do you think the advantage lies with your side?"

Even as he spoke, his figure suddenly blurred and appeared right before me.

Yellow-black mana gathered into his right hand, its tip rotating violently like a drill, as he thrust lightning-fast toward my chest.

Evidently, he had deduced how to inflict effective damage on me in this form: pierce my body and deliver attacks from within. This way, my third form’s light and heat body couldn’t prematurely diminish most of his power, and his strike could once again harm my True Spirit.

Direct contact with this light form would undoubtedly hurt him significantly, making his perilous move akin to snatching embers from a fire.

Meanwhile, seizing the opportunity, I unleashed Flame Transmission and teleported far behind Xu Gou.

After becoming Impermanence, I generally avoided using Flame Transmission in combat. Its principle requires disassembling my fire-elemental body and reconstructing it at a distant point—a process that resets my body and soul’s density, leaving me wholly defenseless. Restoring density takes brief moments, creating a massive vulnerability that might lead to my death from a single enemy strike.

But in the third form, this vulnerability doesn’t exist. My defense relies almost entirely on incessant bursts of high-density flames from within my body, enabling me to teleport freely.

What’s more convenient is that previously, upon teleporting to a target, I had to gather strength to launch attacks. Now, my very existence is an incredibly potent attack, requiring no more than slamming into the target post-teleportation.

Xu Gou’s combat instincts are astoundingly sharp. The moment I began Flame Transmission, he was already preparing his response. However, it was likely his first time witnessing my Flame Transmission, and possibly his first encounter with an enemy whose "existence itself is an attack." While he attempted to form a defensive stance, he was a fraction late in channeling the necessary mana, and my strike landed unerringly.

In that instant, his black Power Armor shattered entirely under my collision, and his physical body contained within was burned into charcoal by the intense heat before its appearance could even be discerned. Like a reverse comet streaking through the sky, he was catapulted into space, flying far beyond the Earth’s atmosphere and vanishing into the cosmic void.

Although I wasn’t certain whether Xu Gou was dead, I could sense one less ominous cloud hovering over me. Even if he survived, his severe injuries rendered him incapable of rejoining the battlefield. His wounds—including the full-force deadly intent I channeled into my third-form attack—were far too catastrophic for super-speed regeneration to fix within a short time.

But capitalizing on the opening created from my triumph over Xu Gou, Huang Quan’s yellow-black mana surged once more, closing in and landing a surprise strike on me.

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