Chu Xuan soared into the air, positioning himself directly above the royal fortress, his Gauss pistol gripped in one hand, his eyes burning with fervent emotion. At this moment, his Power of Belief had fully activated, reaching the absolute limit of his current capability: the initial stage of unlocking the fourth tier of the Gene Lock.

“I can pierce through to the Abyss, I absolutely can pierce through! I absolutely can!” Chu Xuan roared with manic intensity. The Gauss pistol immediately erupted in a blinding, magnificent light, far more violent than any previous manifestation when using the Power of Belief. In this instant, time itself seemed to pause around Chu Xuan; all brilliance converged upon the muzzle of the Gauss pistol. As the light reached its apex of concentration, the Power of Belief finally ignited. With a deafening boom, the bullet, trailed by a blazing cascade of light, shot forth. Though the projectile itself was mere millimeters in size, suggesting limited power, the moment it struck the ground, the surrounding column of light detonated... Wang Xia, watching from afar, had been anxiously observing the sky. Only when Chu Xuan unleashed the Power of Belief did he see a beam of pure light hurtling toward the earth. When that light impacted the ground, it exploded into a glare as brilliant as the sun, searing Wang Xia’s vision white. Before the radiance could fade, the earth began to tremble violently, as if struck by an ultra-powerful earthquake registering eight or nine on the scale.

Caught completely off guard, Wang Xia was thrown to the ground. Only when the seismic activity and the light subsided did Wang Xia scramble back to his feet and gaze into the distance. From his vantage point, he could see the result of the impact.

Where the shot landed, a colossal crater now gaped—approximately two hundred meters in diameter, its depth utterly unfathomable. The sheer destructive force of that single shot was staggering. No, more accurately, the power of the Power of Belief had reached an utterly exaggerated level.

“This is insane. The power of this shot must surpass ten miniature nuclear bombs, right? Has Chu Xuan already surpassed Zheng Zha?” Wang Xia muttered, his mouth agape. After a few moments of silent contemplation, he suddenly shouted, “Wait, it’s the Power of Belief! Damn it, doesn’t the Power of Belief consume life force? Chu Xuan just used that much power—his life…” As he roared, Wang Xia snatched his Green Goblin Glider, intending to rush toward the site. But before he could even lift off, the surroundings abruptly darkened. A colossal shape swooped down from the sky, passing barely five or six meters above his head.

The immense air pressure pinned him, preventing him from taking flight. Simultaneously, a figure roared as they plummeted downward, finally crashing down on top of him, pinning both Wang Xia and the Glider underneath.

“…Cheng Xiao. You’re hurting me, pressing down like that…” “Sorry! I was thrown down suddenly, and I momentarily lost all strength. Don’t worry, I only weigh a hundred-odd catties; you can’t possibly handle that, can you?” “That’s what you say… but most of those catties are pressing down on that thing! Do you think it doesn’t hurt? Get off me!” Without pausing his bellowing and shoving Cheng Xiao away with all his might, Wang Xia noticed a giant Black Dragon rapidly approaching from the distance.

Its flight speed was truly astonishing; it was unclear if this was a result of utilizing Dragon Clan energy. Judging by physics, a single wing beat propelled it hundreds of meters; such velocity should be impossible for a reptile of its immense size.

The giant Black Dragon wasted no time on calculation. Arriving above the royal city, it immediately dove down, plunging directly into the massive subterranean pit created by Chu Xuan’s Power of Belief strike. It swept a claw downward and emerged grasping a man with entirely white hair—it was Chu Xuan, who had fallen unconscious from the massive life-force expenditure of using the Power of Belief. The Black Dragon showed no hesitation, gripping Chu Xuan and continuing its plunge deeper.

Let us rewind to the moment before Chu Xuan used the Power of Belief, as the Gauss bullet, imbued with that force, pierced toward the ground. In launching that projectile, Chu Xuan finally confirmed a hypothesis he had long entertained: the maximum output and energy cost of the Power of Belief ($\lambda$drive).

For a long time, Chu Xuan had systematically studied his enhancement attributes, specifically the mechanism by which the Power of Belief ($\lambda$drive) generated force. Unfortunately, he lacked the necessary large-scale tools and equipment, items that couldn't be synthesized in the basement but had to be exchanged from the ‘Main God.’ Initially, Chu Xuan lacked the Reward Points and Subplots required for these exchanges. By the time he could afford them, he was occupied deciphering acquired Cultivation techniques and artifacts, leaving him without the requisite equipment to fully analyze the Power of Belief; thus, much remained speculation.

The Power of Belief ($\lambda$drive) was infinitely mighty, capable of transcending certain physical laws upon activation. For instance, Chu Xuan had once stood unharmed on a beam of laser light. Such a power required only one condition: "You believe you can." As long as one could truly believe in their actions, however absurd, success was possible. However, this required an equivalent sacrifice of life force to offset the backlash, which was understandable.

Yet, the saying is easier done than realized. Human consciousness is not machinery and cannot mechanically enforce absolute belief. The more intelligent a person, the harder it is to harness this power. Even self-hypnosis into fanaticism or youthful zeal cannot prevent a sliver of internal doubt, and even the slightest wavering diminishes, or entirely cancels, the Power of Belief. To illustrate, if a patient with a slingshot were told to believe they could shoot the moon, such a belief is inherently impossible; even hypnosis would falter. This difficulty in activation was precisely why harnessing the Power of Belief to its limits was a central focus of Chu Xuan’s research.

The second point was pure conjecture: a force as overwhelming as the Power of Belief must consume energy for its attack. The continuous loss of life force, according to the law of conservation of energy, could not account for its entire power source. Therefore, the consumption of life force likely served only to offset the backlash of the power. The true energy source should be derived from ambient spatial energy. In this instance, by fully unleashing the Power of Belief to pierce hundreds of meters of ground from the sky, straight down into the Abyss, such devastating force proved that the energy for the Power of Belief did not originate from life force, but from universally pervasive ambient spatial energy. This realization allowed another, later application of this move to finally be validated—but that is a story for another time.

Setting that aside for now, Chu Xuan was unaware that upon firing this supreme blow, even if the life force drain was merely an offset mechanism, the resulting backlash was still too much for his body to bear, causing him to instantly pass out. Had the Black Dragon not seized him, the ultimate goal of that strike would have become a complete farce.

The grand strategy for the final battle can wait; returning to the action, the monster’s supernatural abilities were flawed. When it activated Time Stop, even its own temporal flow decelerated. As it slowly withdrew from Zheng Zha’s Tiger Soul Blade, the magic runes surrounding its body began to glow again, seemingly preparing to unleash some capability to kill Zheng Zha. Several minutes had passed since it initiated the time stop.

Zheng Zha and everything around him remained frozen in silence until a small energy projectile suddenly descended from the sky. It shot down at extreme velocity, detonating a hundred meters from the monster, shattering into pieces and sending a massive wave of turbulent energy outward. The energy sustaining the monster—organized in the form of rune diagrams and electronic components—was instantly disrupted. Its supernatural ability vanished immediately. After all, it was no saint; it could not prevent this momentary breach.

In that instant, a massive sound erupted, and a huge chasm, over ten meters wide and a hundred meters long, tore open the ground—Zheng Zha’s single slash had carved the trench.

——————Zheng Zha reacted with incredible speed. He suddenly realized the monster was no longer where his blade had struck. It had repositioned itself over ten meters away. Startled, he stamped his foot, causing a small mushroom cloud to billow up from the ground. The next second, Zheng Zha, Tiger Soul Blade in hand, plunged through the monster’s body, carving a hole several meters in diameter right through its chest.

The creature shrieked, and the magic runes surrounding its body began to reassemble. Although Zheng Zha had no idea what was happening, the runes around the monster were already broken. How could he allow this thing to regain its combat capability? He kicked forcefully against the void, rocketing forward like a missile. Clang! He smashed through the monster’s Spiritual Light barrier once more, carving another through-hole into its form.

The monster wailed in distress. In barely one or two seconds, it now bore two massive holes. It was likely a creature specializing in legendary magic skills—a Witch. Despite its hundred-meter bulk suggesting proficiency in melee combat, facing the unleashed Zheng Zha, operating under the power of Honghuang, Kaitian Pidi (Primal Chaos, Heaven and Earth Opening), its melee fighting capacity was utterly devastating. The monster couldn’t even match his speed. If this continued, it might be killed before the surrounding energy stabilized. Left with no choice, the monster opened nine mouths and spewed green venom at Zheng Zha.

Zheng Zha feared mere venom? He hadn't feared the corrosive fluids of an Alien Queen. He casually slashed through the torrent of poison, smashed through the Spiritual Light barrier again, and bored yet another hole through the monster. However, a fraction of a second later, as Zheng Zha shot out of the creature’s body, a primal sense of danger alerted him. A few drops of venom landed on his chest and one thigh. This liquid, composed of unknown material, instantly began corroding inward. Even with Zheng Zha’s physical resilience, he couldn't withstand these few drops. In less than half a second, his right lung was eaten through. The corrosion slowed only because of the massive dilution from the ensuing blood flow, but his right lung was already gone. Similarly, one thigh was entirely eaten out from the center; the lower half of the calf simply fell away, while the upper thigh continued to corrode slowly. This venom was so fierce that it seemed intent on complete consumption—an utterly exaggerated level of toxicity.

Yet, the monster seemed in no better shape. After expelling the venom from its nine mouths, it sagged, and the three gaping holes were horrifying to behold. Just as it seemed about to spray a second volley, the voice of the ‘Main God’ echoed in Zheng Zha’s mind.

“Subplot completed. All team members will receive 5000 Reward Points and one B-Rank Subplot.”

Zheng Zha was shocked, then elated. He erupted into maniacal laughter, though he coughed up blood with every laugh. He nevertheless summoned his final reserves of True Essence Power and Demonic Power to sustain Honghuang, Kaitian Pidi. He stamped his foot and charged madly toward the sinkhole in the ceiling.

(So incredibly lucky. I still don’t know why the monster couldn’t use its magic skills, but luck was on my side. And the Subplot completed right at this moment—I actually survived… This venom is too tyrannical, and my body can’t handle the might of Honghuang, Kaitian Pidi, which is starting to collapse. I hope I can hold on for one more minute…) Zheng Zha knew his physical condition too well. Using Honghuang, Kaitian Pidi was pushing his body past its breaking point; the venom merely accelerated the process. Fortunately, the Subplot finished in time, allowing Zheng Zha to escape the Abyss. Thus, he desperately surged upward, knowing that even with his body set to collapse within tens of seconds, the residual power of Honghuang, Kaitian Pidi was still enough to lift him out of the Abyss.

(Good! I’m out of the subterranean pit! The hypnotic field in the tunnel is gone. Wait—damn it!) Zheng Zha gave one mighty push in the Abyss, the immense force propelling him ten thousand meters high into the upper world. By the time he reached this realm, his power was utterly spent, and his body continued to disintegrate. The power of Honghuang, Kaitian Pidi was less than thirty percent of its normal strength. As he burst from the pit, a surge of intense flame spewed directly at him. Zheng Zha’s mind flashed—he finally remembered King Gobatar and his massive Black Dragon guarding this spot. But now, his old strength was gone, leaving no room for evasive maneuvers. He could only swing the Tiger Soul Blade to meet the flames. He could still utilize Honghuang, Kaitian Pidi for this one attack. The slash cleaved the pillar of flame in two, but simultaneously, the giant Black Dragon, having just exhaled fire, dove down upon him with suicidal intent—intending to crush him and drive him back into the Abyss.

Zheng Zha was truly at the end of his rope: poisoned, and the Honghuang, Kaitian Pidi power had reached its unsustainable limit. He had enough strength left for perhaps one more swing or one more upward kick. He had to choose.

Zheng Zha stared in near despair as the huge dragon descended, hearing King Gobatar’s loud taunts.

“Go back to the Abyss! No monster shall pass from here into the human world!” Gobatar roared, hurling the Dragon Spear he held. It pierced Zheng Zha’s lower abdomen, and immediately after, the Black Dragon’s claws lunged for him. A black shadow enveloped him, mirroring the despair in his heart—this time, there seemed to be no way out.

“ROAR!” Suddenly, a deep dragon roar echoed from the top of the sky. A second Black Dragon swooped down from above. Just as King Gobatar’s dragon seized Zheng Zha, this second dragon arrived faster, biting savagely at the first dragon’s claw. Caught completely off guard, the first dragon’s claw was firmly seized in a powerful bite. As Zheng Zha slipped free from the grasping claw, he was caught in the talons of the smaller, descending Black Dragon.

The two dragons could not resolve their fight with a single bite. The other dragon retaliated fiercely, biting back. The two beasts tumbled, colliding and tearing at each other within the pit, gradually nearing the edge of the Abyss.

Meanwhile, as Zheng Zha was held in the claws of the newly arrived Black Dragon, a strange energy suddenly permeated from the point of contact into his body. This energy was vast and mighty. While not as potent as the True Essence or Demonic Power already within him, it ranked a full tier above his Inner Force or Bloodline Energy. This influx of power immediately began repairing his flesh. Although the body was virtually destroyed, crumbling at the atomic level, this fresh force immediately slowed the rate of collapse, allowing the Honghuang, Kaitian Pidi power to operate once more.

“Is that Little Hound? Haha, you’ve truly grown?” Zheng Zha realized instantly that the energy entering him was pure Dragon Clan energy, and the dragon that rescued him was entirely black—it must be his hatchling, now fully grown. As energy gathered within him, the technique Honghuang, Kaitian Pidi could be utilized again. Seeing himself about to fall back into the Abyss, Zheng Zha violently wrenched himself free from the dragon’s grip. He managed to grab the dragon's claw with one hand, then stamped his foot forcefully in the void. The shockwave burst forth, tearing the air apart, and with an almost unbelievable feat, he dragged the Black Dragon along with him as they shot skyward. Considering the immense power of Honghuang, Kaitian Pidi, the shockwave created by breaking the air momentarily stunned the other Black Dragon. When King Gobatar and his dragon recovered their senses, Zheng Zha was already ascending with the rescuing Black Dragon, bursting out of the passage opened by Chu Xuan, thousands of meters above the surface.

“Who is near the Mobile Cannon?” Zheng Zha roared wildly the moment he broke into the upper atmosphere.

Wang Xia and Cheng Xiao had already struggled free from the ground. Zero Point and the others were escorting the Elf Princess and her group toward the plains far from the royal city. No members of the Central Continent Team remained near the capital anymore. Hearing Zheng Zha’s shout, the two men called out almost simultaneously to the silver metallic shard: “Wang Xia (Cheng Xiao)!” “Got it!” Zheng Zha was now over two thousand meters high in the sky. King Gobatar and his dragon were only just emerging from the hole. Escaping death, he shouted ecstatically, “Wang Xia, Cheng Xiao! Use the Mobile Cannon to destroy that dragon! We cannot lose the Dragon Rider Subplot!” “Ah! We finally… all survived!” he shouted, before leaping.