"Harnessing the power of Heaven and Earth, the Bagua takes shape!" "Shock! Thunder!" Luo Yinglong moved his hands in a single gesture, and the colossal Bagua array diagram in the sky began to rotate violently. Several streaks of lightning were drawn in by the array, vanishing directly toward the apex of the sky. Immediately following this, the gathered electric light beneath the Bagua array pulsed, resembling a laser cannon charging up, vaguely spitting out arcs of energy. Only after several seconds did a colossal pillar of lightning shoot down directly from the Bagua array. Its speed was blinding; everyone present felt a flash before their eyes, and before their thoughts could catch up, the lightning, like a laser beam, had already struck, engulfing the entire Evangelion Unit-01.

"Thunder Dragon Strike!" Having unleashed this attack, Luo Yinglong couldn't help but pant heavily. He stared intently at the massive crater gouged out by the lightning pillar, fearing that the undying machine body might reappear from within. Since confronting Luo Gandao, he had executed the 'Harnessing Heaven and Earth Power' technique four times. Although each was augmented by the surrounding stormy weather, making them significantly more potent than usual, for some reason, they had failed to pierce the giant machine's 'Light of the Heart.' Out of options, he was forced to employ the greatest natural force he could borrow at this moment: lightning... This attack carried immense power, but its consumption of True Essence was equally staggering. At his current stage—the initial level of Soul Projection—he could manage only a few uses of power at this magnitude. If Luo Gandao and the colossal biological being still couldn't be killed, he would have no choice but to resort to forbidden techniques, moves born of utter desperation.

The destructive force of this single strike was extraordinary; the lightning moved at the speed of light, far too fast for any biological limit to evade.

Luo Gandao was struck down by the lightning pillar before he could even react.

Furthermore, this pillar of lightning did not explode; its entire power was rigidly locked in place by the True Essence energy.

Every last bit of its might was completely injected into the lightning beam, making its internal destructive power even greater than the core force of a conventional nuclear explosion.

It targeted the very power of a hydrogen bomb. This move was Luo Yinglong's ultimate technique, one forged by merging the might of Heaven and Earth. After this strike, not a single residual flash of lightning remained in the heavens. For Luo Yinglong to execute this move solely on his own strength, he would need to reach the Integration stage, or even the Tribulation stage. Of course, if he possessed superb magical artifacts or cultivation implements capable of fully unleashing its potential, he could use this technique at his current realm, but such artifacts were exceedingly rare and demanded a massive drain on True Essence... Chu Xuan's Eastern Emperor Bell, for instance, was one such item.

As the lightning pillar descended, Luo Gandao and Unit-01 were blasted deep into the earth, their fate unknown. Those watching nervously focused on the ground, wondering if Unit-01's 'Light of the Heart' could withstand an impact of such colossal magnitude. If it could indeed withstand it, Luo Gandao's true strength would be terrifyingly unpredictable. Among the onlookers, besides the desperate Luo Yinglong using a forbidden move, perhaps only Zheng Zha would be capable of dealing with such a formidable Luo Gandao.

After a short while, a large, blurred mass of light slowly drifted up from the depths of the earth. The surface of this luminous body was covered in a tangible, visible AT Field. Within that field was Unit-01, half its body blown away. Luo Gandao, still in its grasp, was also grievously wounded; his abdomen and chest cavity were vaporized into nothingness. Only his spine barely connected his lower and upper halves; he looked beyond saving. Yet, his face was ashen, but his eyes and mouth still moved, suggesting the injuries were not instantly fatal. It was at this moment that the others noticed his feet had merged completely with the colossal bio-machine. His two legs seemed to have dissolved into the unit, a detail previously obscured by his pant legs, but now horribly apparent.

"Excellent, very powerful. If your strength were lesser, I truly wouldn't have found this exhilarating..." Luo Gandao spoke word by word with a cold sneer. "This finally feels like a climactic battle. Like Chu Xuan's so-called 'Battle of Wits' and machinations—it's utterly boring. A genuine fight for life and death is much more satisfying. Cultivation, is it? I don't know what grievance you hold with Zheng Zha, but you are not the target of my revenge. If you wish to continue living, stay far away from the Central Continent Team..."

"This colossal machine exchanged for is called Unit-01... The description claims it is the body of a god, its only flaw being the lack of a soul powerful enough to pilot and use it. Therefore, to operate it, I had no choice but to also exchange for the attributes of an Angel. I don't even know if I still count as human, but for the sake of revenge, I stopped caring about such things. You will soon learn the extent of its power. Even if it loses sanity, even if it succumbs to its inner demons and transforms into a fiend, it will have been worth it... Hahaha! I'll grant you a few more moments of life. If you wish to die, come and kill me now..." As Luo Gandao spoke, he began to slowly sink into the palm of the giant biological body. Once he had completely merged and vanished, the entire colossal organism suddenly shuddered violently. The damaged flesh began to writhe and regrow at a visible rate. Although severely damaged, if this proliferation continued unchecked, it would be fully recovered in mere hours—perhaps the best time to strike him down.

Luo Yinglong had remained silent the entire time, his gaze fixed solely on Unit-01 as it proliferated and healed. He seemed hesitant about something. After a long pause, he sighed, then reached into his robes, appearing as if to draw something out. Zheng Zha flew over, shouting loudly, "Don't attack yet! Unit-01 cannot be engaged right now!"

"Why?" Luo Yinglong asked, startled.

"We can discuss the details later. It seems Unit-01's recovery will take some time. Let's talk while we fly. The lightning has also dissipated; this is a perfect opportunity to rush toward the Umbrella Tower. Let's go."

With that, Zheng Zha gave the massive life form a complex look and flew off into the distance on his Green Goblin Skateboard. Luo Yinglong hesitated, then stepped onto his flying sword, following behind them. However, among the members of the Central Continent Team... Zhao Yingkong was conspicuously absent.

"...That's the basic situation. Ah—cough—ignore what I just said. Let's return to our previous topic. This Unit-01 is clearly the Unit-01 God we encountered before, though it seems less powerful and the situation is stranger. Back then, Unit-01 God had no pilot, so I destroyed its central control system. Afterward, Unit-01 God began to infinitely replicate, turning into an extremely terrifying biological monster. The situation with this Unit-01 is unclear. If we attack it now, we don't know if it will also go berserk and turn into that kind of biological monstrosity, or perhaps with a pilot, it might erupt in an even more fearsome way. These are unknowns..." Zheng Zha explained to Luo Yinglong as they flew.

Luo Yinglong immediately questioned, "Then shouldn't we destroy it completely while it's still defenseless?"

"The problem is... none of us can confirm if this is a ploy orchestrated by the cloned Chu Xuan..." At this point, Zheng Zha specifically glanced at Chu Xuan, who was following quietly at the rear of the group. Anyone familiar with him could guess... this man was currently deep in thought. Perhaps it was to counter the enemy... or perhaps to counter his own comrades. In any case, the man gave off a somewhat terrifying aura.

As they spoke, Chu Xuan suddenly interjected, "There is no need to clash head-on with Luo Gandao right now. Luo Yinglong's appearance should be one of the bits of bad luck befalling the Demon Team. He can exhaust our strength and pose a threat. If possible, we naturally shouldn't engage him in a desperate battle at this time. We only need to follow the flow of events, stirring the entire situation into utter chaos, without letting ourselves get sucked into that chaos... If my guess is right, the Demon Team and the God Team must already be in motion. If the Demon Team's bad luck continues to worsen, Luo Gandao will be defeated by some accident before we even have to fight him to the death... The key point right now should be on you, Luo Yinglong."

"Me?" Luo Yinglong pointed at himself, confused. He then laughed. "Alright, alright. Stop being cryptic. I've been around Adam long enough to know that people like you enjoy hiding your true intentions. Just tell me straight—why is the critical point resting on me?"

"What you intend to discuss likely concerns the God Team, no, more accurately, it concerns Adam, correct? That possibility exceeds sixty percent. The remaining thirty-plus percent is that you are a spy sent by Adam. But a spy would need a token of loyalty, something to prove allegiance... The core issue remains on you: what happened to the God Team? Why is the cloned version of me forced to ally with you against us? Another crucial question is why the cloned me would secretly plan to stand by and reap the benefits while the God Team deals with you?" Chu Xuan pointed at Luo Yinglong. "What kind of situation has unfolded in the God Team that forces our Central Continent Team to fight, and what justification does Adam have for targeting us? This upsets the balance of the entire three-party dynamic. The calculations of the cloned me, the key to everything... lies within the words you are about to speak!"