As far as Luo Yinglong knew, Song Tian excelled at overcoming brute force with technique; Zhao Zhuikong was the master of ghostly, unpredictable extreme speed; the Demon Zheng Zha specialized in terrifyingly precise control that bordered on obsession. This Zheng Zha before him, however—he didn't know if he'd been provoked by something, but he had apparently developed an instantaneous power-up that involved self-harm. With Luo Yinglong's eyesight, he could clearly see that this terrifying surge of strength would inevitably lead to physical damage and a complete loss of combat ability afterward. But, for the moment, he was almost unstoppable…

"That's genuinely exaggerated. I probably won't last ten seconds... Are you a freak? To create such an insane skill, compressing and destroying your own body to its limit..." Luo Yinglong stepped onto his flying sword and charged straight up. Behind him, Zheng Zha used "Moon Walk," pursuing relentlessly, the distance between them only a few meters, and decreasing rapidly. Luo Yinglong then pulled eight small flags from his robe and tossed them downward. The flags expanded upon meeting the air, growing instantly into eight massive banners several meters wide. These eight giant flags descended, encircling Zheng Zha, who immediately felt his body become a hundred times heavier, forcing him involuntarily to the ground.

Only then did Luo Yinglong stop, breathing heavily.

He looked down and saw the disarray within the confines of the eight flags.

Dust was violently kicked up by Zheng Zha's frenzied movements. Zheng Zha was desperately attacking all around within the flags; every strike caused the entire banner structure to tremble violently. Yet, these seemingly mere strips of cloth managed to completely confine him. No matter how terrifying his "Destruction" state was, it was useless; he simply could not break free of the flags.

"Give it up! I spent eighty-one days meticulously forging these, using countless rare treasures to create these supreme artifacts. To unleash their full power, I must reach the Nascent Soul stage. But even using only a fraction of their strength is enough to trap and kill you. Hmph, never mind you, I haven't seen anyone yet who could escape their attack!" Luo Yinglong said fiercely, though even as he spoke, his hands were desperately forming complex hand seals.

His internal True Essence poured out as if life itself were not important. If he didn't do this, Zheng Zha’s immense power would already have forced the eight flags open.

(Truly... formidable. I was looking at him, and now his strength, just like his copy, is about to leave me behind... Damnation!) Luo Yinglong grew increasingly anxious. With a cry, he spat out a large mouthful of blood, but surprisingly, after expelling the blood, his chest felt significantly relieved.

(This is killing me. Even the Puppet Seal was broken. What terrifying destructive power... A mere graze and the bones in my chest fractured instantly. Damn it... He and his copy are both freaks. What lineage of monstrous power are they inheriting across generations? Are they the strongest monsters beyond the Sages?) Luo Yinglong cursed inwardly while using his True Essence to regulate the injuries within his body. Once he suppressed the pain, he stood firmly in place.

His feet traced the Seven Star Steps, his hands held two different mudras, and his mouth began chanting an incantation.

"Doushuai Eight Trigrams Furnace!" "Qian, Kun, Li, Kan, Zhen, Xun, Gen, Dui!" As these eight true words were recited, the eight characters instantly appeared on the eight flags. On the reverse side of the banners materialized the Bagua symbols corresponding to these eight characters.

Then, the eight flags began to rotate along with the recited sounds. Zheng Zha, caught in the center, suddenly felt immense pressure surrounding him, pinning him down so he couldn't move within the flags. But his reaction was swift, and his strength was immense. In that critical second, he managed to draw the Hu Po Blade, pouring his internal energy into it, instantly coating his entire body with a layer of blade light shielding.

"Doushuai Violet Fire refines ten thousand demons; the profound mystery of the Eight Trigrams eliminates heavenly devils! As swift as the law decrees…" "Doushuai Violet Fire Eight Trigrams Furnace!" With Luo Yinglong's final utterance, his voice grew distant, sounding as if the Supreme Old Lord from the Nine Heavens were speaking. Instantly, a Taiji diagram emerged beneath his feet. Luo Yinglong stood above this diagram, and as he channeled his True Essence, the Taiji symbol began to rotate slowly. Clusters of purple flames appeared on the diagram and gathered together, falling downward in succession, plunging into the surrounding flags.

The fire clusters bombarded Zheng Zha's blade light shield. Once, twice—and cracks actually began to appear in the shield. Zheng Zha was still in the state of unlocking the fourth stage of the Gene Lock; every crack was instantly mended with internal energy. His fine control allowed him to circulate immortal energy like silk, yet even so, he knew death was imminent. Because after the flames struck the shield, they began to burn all around him. Even he instantly activated the Red Flame, barely holding off the extreme heat, but the temperature of this Violet Fire rivaled the scorching white flames of an Efreet. Moreover, the fire did not dissipate; instead, it burned as the Eight Trigrams flags spun. After several clusters fell, the space within the flags was already a sea of fire! (Am I going to die? I... am going to die…) At this moment of life and death, Zheng Zha inexplicably regained his independent consciousness—while still in the unlocked Gene Lock state. But this was already the final desperate situation, mere seconds from death…

"Boom!" At the peak of Zheng Zha’s life-or-death crisis, a thunderous noise suddenly echoed. Before this sound registered, a golden light instantly erupted from Luo Yinglong’s body. However, this golden light shattered. Luo Yinglong stood silently, touching his chest, and then his body began to disintegrate starting from his sternum. Within two or three seconds, he was completely reduced to powder. A blinding radiance shot out from his shattered skull, then flew toward the west…

"That's basically how it goes... After Zero Point's training and unlocking the first stage of the Gene Lock, the success rate should be over sixty percent. Of course, during actual deployment, based on individual temperaments, some people can exert one hundred percent of their power, while others, due to stage fright, might only manage half. But Zero Point is the trustworthy type; I am certain her success rate at that critical moment was one hundred percent."

A black-haired youth wearing glasses sat across from another handsome black-haired youth. Silence reigned between them for a long time. Finally, the handsome youth managed a sarcastic chuckle: "You still insist on measuring human lives with data... What do you think your comrades are? Data?"

"No," the youth with glasses said calmly. "Not data. People."

The handsome black-haired youth froze, then suddenly burst out laughing. "I concede. You are always this rational. When will you ever argue with someone? Show some humanity, please!"

The youth wearing glasses was none other than Chu Xuan, who had supposedly died at Helm’s Deep. Yet, here he sat, perfectly intact, facing the handsome black-haired youth, who was Hao Tian, a newly joined member of the Central Continent Team.

Chu Xuan said nothing more, staring intently at Hao Tian.

After several minutes, Hao Tian waved his hand dismissively. "Understood. Ask whatever you want. If I don't want to answer, you can just pull the information directly from my mind, right? Though the data might be incomplete, and it could potentially damage my brain. Is that correct?"

"Precisely," Chu Xuan affirmed. Hao Tian could only shrug in boredom.

Chu Xuan adjusted his glasses. "I have several points I don't fully grasp. First, this is your first entry into the horror world reincarnation, correct? So, how did you coordinate with Adam from the God Squad? According to my deductions, you shouldn't have been able to contact them in this particular horror movie unless one possibility occurred: you met somewhere. Since you hadn't entered a horror world before, that place could only be the real world…"

Hao Tian stated frankly, "That’s right. I lied before. Adam unintentionally entered the horror world reincarnation first, and only then did he conceive a plan similar to yours. I went to the Chinese government to search for data and discovered your historical record concerning the captaincy of the Central Continent Team. Then, you sent back the message you intended to transmit. Since neither of us was erased, the data was preserved. Unfortunately, Adam also thought of that method. I then obtained that portion of information—details about the regional teams, the captain, the God Squad, and the Demon Squad. Additionally, Adam gave me a mobile phone for contact. This phone functions exactly as you surmised: as long as we are in the same space, we can communicate across the entire Earth. That's how it happened…"

Chu Xuan gave an "Oh," his expression barely shifting, but the expressions of the few people beside him changed drastically. The others were stunned by the sheer audacity of the plan.

Hao Tian continued: "So, after that, Adam encountered the Demon Reincarnation Squad shortly after joining the God Squad. There, he claimed he met your copy, along with an overwhelmingly powerful combatant whose strength had almost reached a level that disregarded strategy. He absolutely did not want his plan to fail, so that's when I started plotting with him. First, I came to mainland China and used self-hypnosis to infiltrate this Central Continent Team. If you and that Chinese man were here, I would display my strength to earn your trust, preferably becoming a crucial member. Once we encountered the God Squad, I would annihilate all of you. I would only need to complete some side missions or perhaps kill some inconsequential people unrelated to the Gods. Afterward, I would naturally become the Central Continent Team captain, enter the God Squad, and then proceed with the next stage of my thievery plan with Adam…"