(In truth, escaping would have been quite simple; judging by the Green Goblin Glider’s jet system, it could have shaken off that giant bat in mere seconds. However, if he did that... they would all be finished.) Cheng Xiao looked down at the ground where the protagonist, Eragon, and the others were running desperately through the flames. They were trying to break free from the fiery encirclement, but the Shadow Blighter Desa kept them pinned. As soon as they escaped a certain perimeter, Desa would undoubtedly hurl fireballs to surround them again. If they fled now, those three and the dragon would surely die.

(What should I do? Getting close is almost impossible, and the maximum attack range for the Nanto Suichoken is five meters. That means I must strike within five meters of him. If I use a move like Hien Byakurei and control the wind currents for the attack, the maximum range extends to forty meters. But that requires me to hover in mid-air for several seconds—time I absolutely cannot spend maneuvering the Green Goblin Glider... But just stalling like this isn't a solution either.) Cheng Xiao frantically searched for options, yet he wasn't Chu Xuan, nor did he possess Zheng Zha’s overwhelming strength. Facing an enemy superior to him, he had no way to rely on trickery or brute force to overcome skill. In the situation before him, he felt truly, profoundly helpless.

"Damn it, I’m going all in! What’s this talk of helplessness? I’m a member of the Reincarnation Squad too!" "Since Zheng Zha has the resolve to fight to the death, so do I!" Cheng Xiao roared. The muscles across his body suddenly began to swell, the unmistakable sign of unlocking the second stage of the Gene Lock. With a sudden surge, he violently rocketed the Green Goblin Glider upward. By the time Desa recovered his senses, the glider had already seized the high ground, hovering directly above his head.

"All or nothing!" Cheng Xiao placed the young dragon onto the glider and leaped off without hesitation. Even while still suspended in the void, his body began to twist and contort.

"Nanto Suichoken! Hien Byakurei!" Nanto Suichoken was the martial art Cheng Xiao had exchanged for—a fighting style that used the body to generate wind currents, creating slicing winds to injure the enemy. Its actual power varied depending on the user, but given Cheng Xiao’s physique and martial arts aptitude, the power he could manifest was certainly no less than the original user in the comics. He even discovered another application for this Nanto Suichoken... Wind! To let the body induce wind blades, to feel the wind, soaring as if he were a bird... (Although saying that, imagining oneself as a bird... the difficulty level is certainly beyond ordinary...) Cheng Xiao thought self-deprecatingly, but in that brief instant, he had already passed Desa and the giant bat. Although they were twenty meters apart, they were still within his attack range.

When Cheng Xiao descended another twenty meters, Desa let out a furious shriek as his waist split apart. Simultaneously, the massive bat beneath his feet fragmented into pieces. Instantly, both man and beast dissolved into a rain of shredded meat mid-air.

(Good! Done! And then... Help!) Cheng Xiao looked up at the blooming crimson flower of shredded meat scattering across the sky. A wave of relief washed over him, but then he realized the problem: he was still plummeting hundreds of meters from the sky. Relief? What relief! He immediately started flailing wildly in the air again.

(Based on previous estimates, use the wind flow skill of Nanto Suichoken, control the wind speed as much as possible, glide to the ground, and then... Help!) Cheng Xiao had miscalculated again. He had assumed he could use the wind flow skill one more time, but in reality, all his strength had been completely depleted in the previous move. Now, forget using the wind flow skill; even moving a finger sent jolts of pain through his body. Just like that, he plummeted straight towards the ground.

Time rewound a few seconds. As Cheng Xiao leaped downward, the black dragon he left on the Green Goblin Glider also flapped its small wings and burst out. Astonishingly, it didn't fall to the ground but floated slowly in the void, then shot upward toward the zenith of the sky.

Time rewound several tens of seconds further. Protagonist Eragon and the other two were desperately trying to escape the flames. This was a forest, and Desa's fireballs consumed vast areas, meaning they were largely confined to running in place. Unfortunately, except for Brom, whose physical condition was slightly better, the other two were essentially ordinary farmers. After running for several minutes in the intense heat, they were already exhausted. While leaping over a large fiery trench, Eragon’s uncle’s legs suddenly gave way, and he began to slide into the chasm.

Eragon was closest and managed to grab his uncle’s left arm, but being equally exhausted, he had little strength. While holding the arm, he nearly dragged himself into the trench too. Thankfully, Brom reacted quickly, rushing over and grabbing Eragon with both hands. However, in that critical moment, the young dragon in Eragon’s arms tumbled out, falling directly toward the fiery trench. Just as the three cried out in alarm, the young dragon suddenly spread its wings and flew up, soaring directly toward the top of the sky.

*Both young dragons vanished above the zenith. Except for Cheng Xiao, who was still yelling for help while falling, the other three couldn't help but look up at the sky. Indeed, they saw one black and one blue young dragon visibly changing above the ceiling of the sky. Then, two massive dragons roared downward. The blue dragon was much smaller, only about eight or nine meters long, while the black dragon was monstrously huge, reaching an exaggerated forty meters in length, and it moved considerably faster than the blue one.

The black dragon flew straight toward Cheng Xiao. When the man was about a hundred meters from the ground, the giant dragon reached him. With a swift movement of its claw, Cheng Xiao was caught in its palm. Due to the vast size difference, holding Cheng Xiao was like holding a minuscule mouse. Before Cheng Xiao could offer any more banter, the black dragon unfurled its wings and sped away toward a specific direction on the horizon—the direction that seemed to be the Imperial Capital City...

Meanwhile, in the Abyss, Zheng Zha was facing a super-powerful enemy he had never encountered before. It could be said that this enemy’s strength far exceeded his imagination, even surpassing his own copied self from Resident Evil 2. If the copy hadn't improved much, even the copy might not defeat this monster; it was too strong... When the monster’s seven heads roared simultaneously, runic patterns appeared around its body in the void, manifesting as pure energy. These runes suddenly shone brilliantly, and an observable shockwave radiated outward with the monster at the center. The tiny crawling insects caught in the front line immediately turned to dust, and even several meters of thick earth were lifted, creating a mushroom cloud akin to a small nuclear explosion. When the shockwave reached Zheng Zha, he dared not be careless. He poured the entirety of his "Destruction" state power into the Tiger Soul Blade and slashed fiercely. With a bang, as if shattering something solid, Zheng Zha was thrown backward dozens of meters before slowly coming to a stop. Although he had neutralized the impact wave, the web between his thumb and forefinger had split open.

(What terrifying power... Even the shockwave is this terrifying. Is this the power level achievable in the fifth stage after gaining control over energy? Even a defective product possesses this might...) Zheng Zha gasped, but he lacked the confidence to directly assault the monster. He paused in mid-air for several seconds, then retrieved a gold mask from his spatial ring. He had obtained this item long ago in the Mummy world during a brutal battle against a failed creation of a Saint—though that monster paled in comparison to the one before him. However, this gold mask had one very... specialized function... temporarily experiencing the power of the fifth stage.

(I originally planned to save it for the final battle, but it seems I don't have that luxury now. I might as well wear it...) "It's best if you don't wear it."

Chu Xuan's voice suddenly cut in: "With so many precedents, haven't you realized this golden mask might just be a beautiful trap? The previous monster that achieved infinite genetic evolution, this current failed product of the fifth stage that has backfired—you might end up the same way... Fly high and try to stall for time until I say you can return!"

Zheng Zha hesitated upon hearing this. Seeing the runes reappearing on the monster below, he quickly put away the golden mask: "Fine, I'll try to stall. You guys hurry up and clear things outside. The moment you say it’s clear, I’ll charge out from below! No more talk!" Before his voice faded, Zheng Zha unfurled his wings and shot toward the sky.

(You can't fly anyway. If you had to crawl up those flesh pillars, given your size, how many pillars would you need? By then, too much time would have passed... Damn it! Does anyone want me to live?) Zheng Zha mused as he flew, but before he could process his thoughts, the monster below suddenly levitated. Countless dust and rock fragments floated around its body; the creature had entered an anti-gravity state. Though its form was massive, under anti-gravity, it lost its bulky feeling and accelerated toward the zenith at nearly the same speed as Zheng Zha’s flight. Simultaneously, the runes around its body flared brightly again. About twenty meters behind Zheng Zha, a space roughly ten meters in volume suddenly collapsed, followed by a violent explosion. The immense blast even struck Zheng Zha, causing him to violently cough up a mouthful of blood and sending him hurtling back a hundred meters. His vision blurred, and he nearly passed out.

Everyone... the real world... Loli... the copy... "Chu Xuan, I’m going to use the Primordial Chaos to cleave the heavens and earth... If I die, tell the copy of me that the biggest regret I have is never fighting him..." "Primordial Chaos! Cleave the heavens and earth!" Leaping to...