"Bang!" Zheng Zha kicked backward forcefully with one foot, and the spot he kicked instantly rippled and surged into the Primordial Chaos, the World-Opening move. The flight speed achieved by the Latent Dragon Transformation could no longer keep pace with his current state. He kicked back into empty space, and the tremendous force accelerated him to a terrifying degree—a speed that could almost break Earth's gravity. In an instant, he shot from hundreds of meters away to the monster's front, and with another resounding crash, Zheng Zha slammed hard against a pale blue light barrier.

This Barrier of Pure Light was not the result of any rune magic, nor was it from a special artifact. It was the monster's actual Light of the Mind, and this Light of the Mind was incredibly dense, already visible to the naked eye, even more formidable than the Light of the Mind exhibited by the Prototype God. Despite this, Zheng Zha made no move to neutralize the Light of the Mind. Instead, he threw a casual punch straight through it. The immensely thick Barrier of Pure Light shattered into fragments as if it were made of paper, and the monster hadn't even managed to utter a sound by then.

The speed of Primordial Chaos, World-Opening was truly too fast. In the next instant, Zheng Zha landed upon the monster’s body.

"Die!" It was said in an instant, but in reality, Zheng Zha’s speed had reached an unimaginable level.

To use an analogy: an average person takes at least ten seconds to run a hundred meters, while a world champion's record is just over nine seconds, nearing ten. When Zheng Zha was in his "Explosion" state, covering a hundred meters took him only one or two seconds. In his "Ruin" state, a single "Shave" could cover several hundred meters in under a second—a speed that human eyes could no longer perceive. As for Primordial Chaos, World-Opening...

The speed and power achieved were absolutely incredible. Just the movement and attack alone strained Zheng Zha's physical constitution beyond its limits. One could imagine the potential of this move, as its principle was the very source of the Mobile Cannon's power. Even a fraction of that power concentrated into a single punch or kick would be comparable to a miniature nuclear bomb.

Zheng Zha, having landed on the monster’s body, brought his fist down hard.

When fist met flesh, a sound like clashing metal erupted. The monster’s physical toughness was truly astonishing. Struck by the full force of Primordial Chaos, World-Opening, it was merely driven downward toward the ground, remaining utterly unharmed across its entire surface. As both simultaneously hit the ground, the earth roared with a massive sound, and a huge shockwave rushed outward.

It was as if a nuclear bomb had detonated, raising a mushroom cloud.

At the epicenter of the explosion, the hand Zheng Zha used to punch was completely pulverized. However, the monster’s body did not fare much better. Though its outer shell appeared undamaged from the impact, it was visibly indented where struck, clearly indicating that the flesh and blood beneath had sustained a heavy blow, essentially turned into a bloody pulp. Not stopping there, Zheng Zha gripped the Hu Po Saber with his intact hand and brought it down to cleave the monster’s body.

Just an instant before the blade made contact, the monster’s seven heads roared almost simultaneously. All the runic sigils that had been floating around its body blazed intensely. The speed of this light was breathtaking. Before Zheng Zha’s Hu Po Saber could land, this light shot far beyond the heavy dust cloud. Anything struck by this light—whether the myriad crawling things on the ground, the drifting dust, or even Zheng Zha and the monster’s main body—was instantly frozen in place, as if the flow of time in their surroundings had completely ceased.

Zheng Zha and the monster were locked in the poses of that precise moment: Zheng Zha holding the Hu Po Saber, poised to strike, and the monster’s seven heads howling, desperately trying to pull away from Zheng Zha. All motion was perfectly arrested—truly the power of a Saint, having completely stabilized this segment of time.

In truth, Zheng Zha and the others were unaware that this monster had been notoriously powerful during the Primordial Wars, earning vast renown among Saints and Cultivators. While the number of Saints was far fewer than Cultivators, their individual strength was considerably superior. Even the quasi-Sainthood Witches, formed in haste, were stronger than Loose Immortals. Furthermore, Cultivators were overly reliant on their artifacts; a Cultivator with a high-tier artifact could contend with several Saints. For instance, the Eastern Emperor Bell that Zheng Zha acquired in The Mummy story was such an item. But without suitable artifacts, Cultivators were no match for Saints.

Although the monster before them now lacked divine consciousness and could not utilize many of its grand divine abilities, it instinctively perceived danger when facing Zheng Zha's overwhelming power. This ability to control time within a short range was instinctively employed.

All things are energy—this is the most crucial tenet of Einstein’s theory of relativity. And reality proved it: matter can indeed transform into energy, and conversely, under the pressure of massive, controllable energy, energy can transform into matter. Compared to the energy derived from matter, space is merely a specialized manifestation of energy. A minute piece of space, tens of thousands of times smaller than the tip of a needle, if completely converted into energy, could almost destroy a galaxy. Since space and time are convertible, relativity proposed that all things are energy. The power of a Saint lies in controlling energy. While they cannot possess omniscient control over all energy, inducing changes in space and time within a small radius is well within their capabilities... Witches possessed great power, nearly approaching that of a Saint... but they were not Saints and lacked the intellect to wield these profound abilities. Otherwise, Zheng Zha would have been killed by this monster before he could even unleash the Primordial Chaos, World-Opening move. However, once he unleashed it, the tables turned completely. This move was a pure reliance on brute force to shatter finesse; it contained nothing but enormous, almost exaggerated power. All those intricate, cunning abilities were useless. Regardless of its immense power, once Primordial Chaos, World-Opening was activated, Zheng Zha's speed rendered those abilities ineffective—until the monster managed to stabilize time. But since it wasn't a Saint, this time suppression froze not only Zheng Zha but itself as well.

(No, it still has mobility...) The monster was indeed moving slowly. Now that time around them had stopped, its movement, though sluggish, was quite noticeable. However, the speed was painfully slow. Judging by its trajectory, it would take another two or three minutes to fully pull away from the reach of Zheng Zha’s Hu Po Saber.

(As expected, in addition to Cultivator artifacts, Saintly methods can also affect the temporal plane... much like Cultivator artifacts, each has its own unique strengths... and the method of using these divine abilities seems to be at least seventy to eighty percent similar to the usage of Cultivator artifacts...) Chu Xuan had been watching the sliver of silver metal with absolute concentration. He was the sole spectator of the battle deep underground. Zheng Zha had actually wronged Chu Xuan earlier; although he possessed the new ability to see through objects, observing the battle below at will was not achieved through Zheng Zha’s silver metal piece. Instead, it was a function of the Yellow Turban Guards that Chu Xuan created within the Heavenly Fiend structure. As the battle in the bottomless abyss reached its climax, the runic sigils in Chu Xuan's left eye resurfaced.

From Chu Xuan’s perspective, the monster was continuously manipulating and using energy, which it controlled to form countless runic sigils. This was akin to the runic sigils within Cultivator artifacts acting like electronic integrated circuit boards. Electronic components control current to create various effects, just as runic sigils in Cultivator artifacts control energy to create various effects. What the monster was doing now was precisely this, but in a more sophisticated manner—directly using energy to form runic sigils to control energy, which resulted in the fighting styles seen earlier, as well as its ability to defy gravity.

(Then... Zheng Zha still has that single sliver of hope...) As Chu Xuan thought this, he suddenly rubbed his eye. The eye displaying the runic sigils was webbed with blood vessels, and fresh blood was leaking from the corner of his eye. It seemed this transformation placed a significant strain on the eye, startling Wang Xia, who stood beside him.

Wang Xia steadied Chu Xuan, asking, "What's wrong? Chu Xuan, did you use the Power of Belief? Why are you suddenly suffering internal bleeding?"

"...It's not internal bleeding."

Chu Xuan pushed Wang Xia away, wiping his cyan glasses and activating their hypnosis function. In moments, his expression shifted from detached coolness to feverish intensity. The Power of Belief—the λdrive—was now active, ready to unleash its power at his command.

"Time is running out... Wang Xia, you stay here. When I signal you to fire the cannon, activate the Mobile Cannon immediately. Remember, do not hesitate, even if Zheng Zha hasn't emerged from below..." Chu Xuan delivered these instructions to Wang Xia. Without waiting for a reaction, he stepped onto the Green Goblin Skateboard and ascended toward the capital city's royal palace.

Meanwhile, in the underground abyss, despite its agonizingly slow speed, the monster was gradually moving out from under the path of Zheng Zha's Hu Po Saber. At this rate, it would take only a few more minutes to escape the attack trajectory completely. At that point, Zheng Zha would still be frozen in time, while the monster could move slowly—victory would then belong to the monster.

(E’ya has already gathered the villagers to evacuate the capital, but the 'Main God' hasn't issued the completion prompt for the side quest yet. It looks like there's still some time... Zheng Zha, this is the last and only chance. Whether you seize it depends entirely on you.)

("I must pierce through to the bottomless abyss, I absolutely must pierce through! Absolutely!") He leaped toward...