"Chu Xuan... My patience is reaching its absolute limit!"

A voice rang out, and without needing to turn around, everyone knew it was Luo Gandao's eerily sinister tone. Since entering Raccoon City, this man had become increasingly gloomy and cold; besides him, a few others were also acting strangely... Zhao Zhuikong, for instance, and Ming Wei...

Chu Xuan didn't turn his head, replying, "I am powerless regarding your demand. We are about three days' travel from the Central Continent Team. Intercepting and attacking them before the Hive is theoretically possible within the time frame, but we have another crucial matter to attend to first... I do not wish to be disturbed by your interference."

"And what if I do disturb you?"

Luo Gandao slowly rose from his seated position. He glared at Chu Xuan with a cold smile, his expression clearly screaming provocation.

"...You will die. I will absolutely kill you." Chu Xuan set down the apple he was holding and looked at Luo Gandao, stating it plainly.

Luo Gandao roared as if deeply provoked, "Damn you, come and kill me then! I’ve already been killed by you once, why would I fear death now? To hell with your whole family, if I feared death, I wouldn't be standing here! I’ve repeatedly put myself in mortal danger just to grow stronger—all for revenge... You cannot stop me!" As he finished, Luo Gandao calmed down slightly, his body slowly rising above the ground. Yet, his eyes were locked firmly onto Chu Xuan; it was clear he deeply feared him.

To his surprise, and the surprise of most others, Chu Xuan made no move whatsoever. He actually let the man fly away unimpeded. Only after a long moment did he pick up the apple and take another bite, as if nothing had happened.

"Chu, Chu Xuan, you're just letting him go like that? Is it alright?" Zhang Xiaoxue seemed stunned, asking foolishly.

"It no longer matters..." Chu Xuan replied with his eyes closed. "I know you are all confused, confused since the very start of this horror movie world. Why have I been monitoring the Central Continent Team and the Pantheon Team right up until the final battle? Logically, we hold an almost absolute advantage in strength. Our Zheng Zha possesses formidable combat power, especially that move he created after breaking through to the peak of the Fourth Tier—it’s infinitely powerful. It can be said that he alone is stronger than all of us combined. Although he always claims his destined enemy is the true body of Zheng Zha, I believe resolving that won't take much time... Why am I being so cautious? Because we have terribly bad luck..."

"This isn't a simple exclamation about bad luck in the narrow sense, but truly broad, generalized luck—meaning we are being rejected by the temporal counter-flow. We do not belong in these horror movie worlds, and as outsiders using the Investiture of the Gods scroll in these worlds, the greatest negative impact is the temporal counter-flow... Let me use an analogy: the banana peel theory, an interesting hypothesis in temporal mechanics. If we could reverse time and go back to a previous juncture to enact world-changing actions, like assassinating a famous person or killing ourselves, the timeline, despite its long-term self-healing capabilities, will manifest in the short term as a temporal counter-flow—a reactive force against the invading entity. That person will invariably fail to achieve their goal due to numerous accidents, like stepping on a banana peel... Remember the Final Destination horror world we experienced? That world was the Main God showing us the dangers of causality weapons. If pushed to the extreme, that’s what happens—the world rejects that entity..."

Chu Xuan sighed, "It's regrettable that the Investiture of the Gods is precisely such a powerful weapon capable of triggering the temporal counter-flow. You could directly consider it capable of defying heaven; that is no exaggeration. Intelligence gathering is merely one of its minor functions. For example, during my battles, Zhang Xiaoxue could even transform Causality Points into a protective shield for me. As long as Causality Points exist, I am invincible. Furthermore, if there are enough Causality Points, one could exchange for a completely independent Main God under my control; that wouldn't even be an issue..."

"Because of overusing Causality Points, we will become progressively unluckier in this horror movie world. This heavy rain is just one instance of it, which significantly boosted the Central Continent Team's virus potency while also preventing our Mental Power Controllers from quickly reaching their location—this nearly nullified my prior calculations to wipe out this Central Continent squad in a short time... Although I did account for this slight correction factor, during actual manipulation, my true body exploited this very situation to set up such a perilous trap. The Central Continent Team gambled and won..."

Chu Xuan gazed at the unending downpour in the distance. "And then there is the Pantheon Team. Adam possesses something incredibly dangerous. Although its technological level is far below the Investiture of the Gods, it was created through the joint efforts of the White-Skinned Saints and their cultivators. It aligns with some of their ideologies. If Adam genuinely managed to complete that plan, even we, possessing the Investiture of the Gods, would barely escape doom. That’s why I set up the initial trap before."

"The beginning of the entire trap was set before the Central Continent Team experienced Perfect Storm... At that time, I learned from the Investiture of the Gods that the Central Continent Team possessed a large-scale destructive weapon. Unlike self-made weapons sourced from horror worlds, like the Magic Railgun, their weapon, being self-developed, would not be restricted by the Main God. Although I didn't know what the weapon was, I could use that fact to pressure the Central Continent Team, making the true body realize I possessed a sort of omniscience. In that absolutely disadvantaged position, his thinking would surely align with mine: to completely disrupt the setup for the final battle. When at a disadvantage, any positional advantage becomes meaningless to the Central Continent Team. Rather than being powerfully suppressed by our team, it's better to fight desperately and level the playing field—that was likely the thought process of my true body. Although I hadn't anticipated he would create such a terrifying virus beforehand, up to this point, the situation unfolded largely as I expected, and the scheme proceeded smoothly..."

"There were two genuine surprises. The first was Luo Yinglong's betrayal. Unlike Song Tian of the Pantheon Team, who only cared for the Martial Path, if Adam had completed his plan, Song Tian would have achieved the martial arts he longed for even if he disappeared. But Luo Yinglong only wanted to survive—and survive with spirit. His betrayal severely threatened Adam's plan. If the Central Continent Team learned of his plan, Adam would likely fail, and consequently, my scheme would be ruined..."

"My scheme was simple: make the Central Continent Team use that large-scale destructive weapon to reduce the Angel Alliance's numbers, allowing Adam’s plan to proceed, albeit with greatly diminished power. After completing the plan, Adam would inevitably attack the Central Continent Team first, driven by the anger of those who died... making him irrational. The Central Continent Team would also lose some combat strength under this attack. At that point, we would enter the fray, leading to the irreversible defeat of the Central Continent Team... But then the unexpected occurred. That is our bad luck: first, Luo Yinglong's betrayal, as mentioned; second, this rainstorm right here... The Central Continent Team's virus potency has surged, and its spread rate has accelerated rapidly. Who knows how many survivors remain in the Angel Alliance... Adam will inevitably fail. Moreover, this rainstorm has slowed our advance. If we cannot exert military pressure on the Central Continent Team... I worry something else might happen."

Chu Xuan looked towards Zhang Xiaoxue, an expression only she could understand—a query. She immediately shook her head. The Central Continent Team had been under surveillance the entire time. Although the Investiture of the Gods provided hints through cryptic prophecies, Zhang Xiaoxue's enhancement attribute was Precognition, which is why she was the one using the scroll. According to the information from the scroll, the Central Continent Team's Chu Xuan had indeed hidden a piece of paper inside one of the virus bombs. However, the characters and numbers on it were arranged without any discernible pattern. The Investiture of the Gods, after all, was an inanimate object; it could crack codes and translate documents, but it couldn't conjure meaning from utterly meaningless text and numbers. She had relayed this situation to Chu Xuan, and since then, he often fell into deep contemplation.

"...Because all these unexpected events have occurred, chaos has become a foregone conclusion. Allowing Luo Gandao to test the Central Continent Team's military strength prematurely is not an unacceptable option. But my greatest concern is still something else... If our luck continues to sour, can Luo Gandao truly fight the Central Continent Team? Perhaps another accident will occur, leading him to fight someone else instead..."

(The negative effects of this Investiture of the Gods scroll are so profound; there must be something—a skill, or an attribute—that can counteract it... That thing must be hidden within the inheritance of the yellow-skinned cultivators... Did my true body obtain it?)

Chu Xuan looked up at the sky, dark and heavy, with purple lightning flashing wildly as the rain continued to pour down like buckets. The storm intensified further...

Luo Gandao's progress was incredibly fast. He seemed utterly unconcerned by the lightning overhead, continuing his high-speed flight about a hundred meters up. Occasionally, a bolt would strike, causing a visible, rhombic shield to appear around him, instantly dissipating the lightning without delaying his speed at all as he sped heedlessly through the void.

A three-day journey on foot would take less than an hour if flying, and at Luo Gandao's current velocity, he reached the hotel building where the Central Continent Team was staying in less than half an hour. Mere seconds after arriving, a figure suddenly burst through a window. The man tapped his feet slightly in the void and shot straight toward the hotel roof like an arrow. Luo Gandao looked closely; it was Zheng Zha, holding the Tiger Soul Blade.

"Long time no see... Zheng Zha. Yes, we haven't seen each other since I died, have we?" Luo Gandao paused silently, then roared loudly toward the figure.

Zheng Zha had initially only sensed a powerful aura flying toward him, accompanied by a pervasive killing intent. Such a disturbance naturally didn't escape his senses. He immediately smashed through the window to reach the rooftop, but who was standing there...? It was him? Luo Gandao, who had died in Transformers!

"Lo, Luo Gandao! You're alive?" Zheng Zha roared, a mixture of surprise and delight in his voice.

Just as Zheng Zha shouted, a voice spoke from beside him, "No, he should be dead. This Luo Gandao before us... is a clone resurrected by the Demon Team. Correct? Clone Luo Gandao!"

"Clone? Haha, yes, I’m a clone now... Die, Chu Xuan!"

Luo Gandao threw back his head and laughed wildly. He raised his right hand, where the space strangely warped. Then, with a sweep of his hand, he flung this mass of twisted space toward Chu Xuan, who had appeared unnoticed.

Chu Xuan didn't move. Zheng Zha, standing in front of him, swung his blade down forcefully. After one strike, the incoming spatial wave instantly vanished. However, the sudden, massive explosion and the shattered rooftop beneath them suggested Zheng Zha had struck a bomb. Simultaneously, everyone except Zhao Yingkong had gathered on the roof.

"Haha, come on, all of you! Let me see if you still have the strength to kill me again!" Luo Gandao roared loudly. At the same time, the faint, rhombic shield around his body became more defined, looking almost substantial.

"True Light of the Mind? The early stage of the Fourth Tier?" Zheng Zha frowned. "Luo Gandao, be careful. You are being controlled by inner demons. Calm your mind and don't let them expand, or you might fail to advance to the mid-stage of the Fourth Tier, or even die!"

Luo Gandao exploded with curses, "Go to hell! You always talk about companionship, about surviving together, but you are the most hypocritical one! You are still alive now, but what about your comrades? God knows how many have died. And me? I died because you either didn't save me, or deliberately set me up. I refuse to accept this! Why should you hypocrites get to live while I had to die! Now that I’m stronger, I've come for revenge against you hypocrites! Come on, let me see what power you hypocrites have left to maintain your hypocrisy!" With a shout, he charged toward the Central Continent Team.

Zheng Zha also roared back, "Luo Gandao, have you misunderstood something? I have always viewed you as a comrade! When have I ever done anything to betray you?"

Luo Gandao offered no reply, charging forward with his face twisted in hatred toward the Central Continent members. Just as Zheng Zha was about to raise his blade, a flash of green light cut through the darkness from a distance—an ancient, simple longsword. This ancient sword shot toward Luo Gandao’s back. Reluctantly, Luo Gandao turned and punched, causing a rhombic protective layer to appear on his fist, successfully blocking the thrust. The long sword was sentient; failing its first strike, it immediately retreated and spun back. At that moment, a young man flew from the distance, standing on a flying sword, with several sharp, ancient swords glowing green orbiting around him. The newcomer was Luo Yinglong.

"That guy from the Demon Team, you really are a busy man, your presence is seen everywhere. What's up? Planning to stir things up again?" Luo Yinglong asked with clear sarcasm upon seeing Luo Gandao. Luo Gandao didn't respond; he clearly hated everyone before him. He casually hurled a large mass of twisted space. Luo Yinglong, being knowledgeable, recognized the twist as psychokinesis—one manifestation of the Light of the Mind. It could be called psychokinesis, Light of the Mind, Soul Power, or AT Field; it's one of the greatest features of the Fourth Tier, excluding micro-control.

Luo Yinglong had initially been rather dismissive of Luo Gandao. After all, experts at his level possessed imposing auras, but Luo Gandao’s presence wasn't overwhelmingly strong—at best, he was just a considerably tough individual. Who knew he possessed the Light of the Mind, and used it so fluently? This Light of the Mind clearly wasn't triggered by a skill or attribute; it seemed to be an inherent property. Instantly, Luo Yinglong became serious. The flying swords, under his control, slammed into the twisted space. With a deafening explosion, the space was annihilated, but the flying swords appeared completely unharmed.

"Is that all? Your strength doesn't seem like much..." Luo Yinglong scoffed slightly.

Luo Gandao burst into laughter, laughing so hard that everyone was baffled, before he stated coldly, "Unfortunately, my inherent combat strength isn't much. Strictly speaking in terms of fighting power, some people with excellent enhancement attributes could defeat me... But luckily, I am a genius pilot; that much has been confirmed. Want to see the robot I pilot? No, it should be called a combat lifeform... Want to see it? My mount... Evangelion Unit-01!"

A vast area behind Luo Gandao began to twist as if the space there had turned to flowing water. Suddenly, a colossal purple hand reached out from that watery space, so enormous that it dwarfed Luo Gandao’s entire body. This massive hand supported Luo Gandao’s feet, and the man slowly descended onto it. As the hand continued to extend, a colossal half-robot, over twenty meters tall, appeared in the void. It floated there, surrounded by a distinctly visible, rhombic, translucent layer. This was no longer merely a shield; it looked like an organic part of its structure. The Light of the Mind had reached such a level; it was indeed terrifying.

"Come! Let us compose the final symphony, you hypocrites! Let me hear your agonizing groans! Let me know all my hardship was not in vain—the suffering of life and death, the pain of forcing myself to become stronger—tell me it was all worth it!"

Luo Gandao waved his hand, and the colossal, half-mechanized creature roared violently. A silver cross of light flashed from its enormous maw. Simultaneously, everyone on the rooftop leaped into the air, each instantly drawing a Green Goblin Glider beneath their feet. The building beneath them seemed struck by immense force, instantly exploding with silver light. In the next second, the top floor of the building, roughly a story high, vanished, cleanly sheared away. The entire rooftop was gone.

"Hahahaha... Hypocrites, fight back! Have a proper battle with me, even if it means killing me again!" Luo Gandao screamed maniacally. At the same time, the giant creature behind him roared and charged toward the group. The rhombic shield around its body stood erect, appearing like countless rhombic blades. If it struck them directly, it would truly be a slow dismemberment.

"Stop it... Your opponent is me!"

Luo Yinglong took a deep breath, then roared suddenly. His voice radiated outward like a sonic weapon, causing the pouring rain to ripple into an elliptical shape. The giant lifeform charging forward seemed to hear the sound; it abruptly halted its charge, then slowly turned its head, panting heavily. This giant looked like a giant magnified tenfold, its face covered by a metal mask save for a cavernous mouth constantly spewing white vapor. Gritting its teeth, it turned its attention toward Luo Yinglong and suddenly roared.

"Are you trying to spoil things? You kid from the Pantheon Team! Do you think you’re so great just because you studied systematic cultivation? Get lost! My target today is the Central Continent Team! You Pantheon Team have your own plans to deal with. If you want to keep living... get as far away as you can!" Luo Gandao said, leveling his gaze at Luo Yinglong from atop the giant palm. His voice grew increasingly sinister, as if he could barely contain the surging killing intent within him.

Luo Yinglong felt both anxious and angry. Anxious because he urgently needed to tell Chu Xuan something but didn't know how to voice it. Angry because he had spent a tremendous amount of True Essence Power and Life Essence to divine the Central Continent Team's location, only for some Demon Team member to show up to fight. Wouldn't his True Essence and Life Essence have been wasted? He grit his teeth hard, ignoring Luo Gandao’s words, and instead brought his hands together to form a mudra while stepping into the Dragon-Tiger Stance.

"Borrowing strength from Heaven and Earth, forming the Bagua!"

"Kan! Drown!"

Luo Yinglong made a gesture with his hands, and a rapidly spinning Bagua array instantly materialized in the air. As this diagram appeared, the surrounding rainwater seemed to come under control, reversing direction and surging toward the array. In an instant, for a radius of several miles, not a single drop of rain remained; it all flowed back into the Bagua array.

Luo Gandao knew there was no easy way out. With a wave of his hand, the giant creature behind him immediately unleashed another silver cross of light, completely engulfing the area where Luo Yinglong stood. This silver cross light was even more powerful than the previous one. The entire zone where Luo Yinglong stood was enveloped in the blast radius; several surrounding buildings were instantly pulverized and collapsed. The sheer force of this blast was comparable to Wang Xia's miniature nuclear device.

When the silver explosion dissipated, Luo Yinglong, at the epicenter, was completely unscathed. His several Qingfeng Ancient Swords danced around him, having completely negated the destructive power of the explosion. Without posturing, he brought his hands together, stomped his feet twice, and roared, "Rivers Surge!"

The Bagua Formation spun rapidly, and a torrent of water poured down from the diagram. Initially, it wasn't massive, perhaps only a few meters in diameter, but as it fell to a hundred meters above the ground, the torrent expanded dramatically, its diameter swelling from meters to hundreds of meters, completely enveloping both Luo Gandao and the giant creature hanging in mid-air. This was no ordinary stream; the water seemed imbued with a strange kinetic energy, sharp as knives and shears. Buildings struck by the surge instantly crumbled to dust. The giant creature, EVA Unit-01, which bore the brunt of the attack, let out only a single roar before being hurled toward the ground by the colossal water flow. The torrent did not cease, turning the ground into a vast ocean...

"Ha, ha ha... a mere machine, how can it contend with a cultivator? Furthermore, this Qiankun Borrowing Power draws strength from all things under heaven and earth. In this torrential rain, the power of the Kan character technique is several times stronger than usual. Let's see if you survive this one!"

Luo Yinglong’s reaction was consistent with the Central Continent Team’s memory of him—still clinging to that impulsive, reckless image from The Lord of the Rings. He began to rant loudly. After a few seconds, as if snapping back to awareness, he hurriedly shouted towards Chu Xuan, "Hey! Chu Xuan! I have something urgent to tell you, that Adam guy... uh, he..."

Chu Xuan paused, momentarily surprised, and asked, "Uh? What about Adam?"

"...I can't tell you!" Luo Yinglong muttered after a long, dazed silence.

"...Did you specifically fly over here on your sword just to tease us?" Zheng Zha, overhearing this, felt both exasperated and amused. He called out loudly, "If you can't tell us, then just say nothing. Or just tell us outright."

"It's not that I don't want to say, but that I can't..." Luo Yinglong replied with a pained expression. Just as he was about to elaborate, he suddenly flicked his hand, controlling the ancient longsword, which shot upwards from below in a silver laser beam. This light was even more intense than the previous explosion, and its power was significantly greater. Even Zheng Zha and the others standing far away had to squint their eyes. The shockwave from this blast propagated for hundreds of meters, completely devastating the buildings in that area. At this moment, a gigantic creature slowly floated up from the ground: purple-bodied, embedded with metallic structures on its surface, its form still visibly radiating an exaggerated glow of psychic energy—or perhaps an A-Field. Under the impact of that massive assault, the creature named EVA Unit-01 was entirely unharmed, as was Luo Gandao, who stood calmly in its palm.

"Alright, I admit I underestimated you before... Cultivator man, forgive me for addressing you so casually. I suppose I'll have to get a little serious now; it wouldn't do to dishonor my standing as the third strongest in the Demon Team..."

Luo Gandao spread his arms, and suddenly nine pairs of luminous wings unfolded from his back. Simultaneously, nine pairs of luminous wings also deployed from the back of the giant creature, EVA Unit-01. These nine pairs of wings were certainly no mere decorations, for visibly, they continuously absorbed minute light specks vaguely appearing in the surrounding space. Whatever these specks were, as they were absorbed, the oppressive aura radiating from the giant instantly intensified.

Luo Yinglong also reappeared unharmed at the very center of the silver explosion. Seemingly fine, a closer look would reveal that the edge of his ancient longsword's Qingfeng seemed shorter and slightly dimmer...

"Just as expected, the anomaly has appeared. Although there were signs, its emergence now, during his provocation of the Central Continent Team, and in this manner... it seems fate has turned against us," Chu Xuan sighed, glancing briefly at Zhang Xiaoxue before murmuring.

Zhang Xiaoxue blinked, "Should we use the Investiture of the Gods list to help him? Defeat that cultivator quickly, and continue draining the Central Continent Team’s strength?"

"No... the course of events possesses its own inertia. The inertia generated by this current anomaly... cannot be easily smoothed over. It has begun; the final battle has truly commenced, ushered in by these two men surnamed Luo..." Chu Xuan tilted his head back to stare at the sky. After saying this, he fell silent. After a long while, he continued, "It’s a pity; you can't see the stars in this weather..."

"Stars?" The surrounding people murmured in curiosity. Suddenly, one person exclaimed loudly, "Bad news! Zhao Zhuikong is gone!"

"No need to search... I said, the progression of events carries inherent momentum. Once started, it often requires greater force to stop it. Rather than exerting effort to halt it, we should utilize the current momentum... Let us begin. The final battle—our Demon Team joins in..."

In a square not too far from the Demon Team's encampment, Zhao Zhuikong stood smiling. Facing him was a man also smiling, or rather, a man whose appearance was strikingly similar to his own—another Zhao Zhuikong, almost identical.

"How was it? Did you exchange for it? Don't tell me you got nothing?" Zhao Zhuikong smiled at the man opposite him. Two identical men stood together in a bizarre manner. If their clothing hadn't differed, they would have appeared as if carved from a mirror image.

"Heh, of course I exchanged for it... I'm quite interested. If I weren't due to meet Little Apple, I really should have sparred with you before we merged, right, my copy?" Zhao Zhuikong said to the other him with the same smile.

"Yes. Besides my Little Apple, compared to those vegetables and potatoes, you are more to my taste... But it won't work now. Little Apple is getting impatient. If I don't resolve this quickly, she might get angry... It’s just a shame that once this thing merges, it can't separate. Otherwise, fighting myself would be a fantastic form of entertainment," the other Zhao Zhuikong replied with an identical smile.

The two stared silently at each other for a long moment, then each produced an item from their hands: a pair of earrings, to be precise, each holding one. They placed them in their left and right ears, respectively. Instantly, an inexplicable force pulled them toward each other. Then, with a flash of intense light, both lost consciousness simultaneously... Jump to