This black water cannon attack has a rather tricky angle, and it targets my attribute suppression. Not only can it easily cause massive damage, but it also completely locks me down from the perspective of causality and fate. Although I was mentally prepared, I still felt unexpectedly caught off guard.

I don't know how to describe it. It's like watching a horror movie, fully aware that a jump scare is coming, yet still being startled to the point of being frozen by the loud sound and frightening scene... This might somewhat resemble my current experience. Even my attempts to block or dodge were involuntarily disrupted, forcibly changing direction towards receiving the attack unprepared.

In the chaos of post-apocalyptic space-time of the post-mortem world, because of the great chaos in causality and fate there, the attribute suppression of Great Demon Xuanwu targeting me didn't manifest in this regard at all; but here in this space-time labyrinth, most of the related orders are still retained. Natural privileges like Fatian Xiangdi and the power of word spirit can be used normally here, it's just difficult to move along the expected route. The strong attribute suppression I've faced before was not yet in its complete form.

Suppose the battlefield wasn't in the chaos of doomsday space-time, but in the real world, maybe when first facing the joint attack of Great Demon Xuanwu and Huang Quan, even with Little Bowl's blessing at my back, I wouldn't have been able to dodge Great Demon Xuanwu's attack so flexibly. And now, this "hypothetical" has turned into a perilous reality.

I can only confront this strike head-on.

Fortunately, my preparation wasn't just on a mental level.

When I walked onto this street, I had already pre-converted a portion of the intensely compressed flame within the Ash Weapon into a sufficient amount of Solar Eclipse Fire. Although I couldn't convert flames with earth attributes using my own power without targeted adjustments to Little Bowl's blessing, the Solar Eclipse Fire now converted has completely deviated from fire attributes and is not suppressed by Water Navy Xuanwu's water elemental magic.

At the moment when the black water cannon was about to hit me, a large amount of Solar Eclipse Fire emerged from the space according to my preset command, turning into a shield that blocked the front.

Excluding the explanation of attribute suppression, just in terms of mana density, Water Navy Xuanwu is far inferior to me, let alone veteran Impermanence like Ming Zhuo and Huang Quan. If compared with me, who just became Impermanence, his mana density is noticeably much higher. After all, he has been a demon hunter for hundreds of years and must have deeply studied the concept of mana density while still in the Great Success rank.

But, despite everything, he has been Impermanence for only a short time. Even if flame power, which is not skilled at defense, forcefully blocked the black water cannon. The aftermath shattered all the buildings and concrete surfaces in this area, turning the place into an uneven wasteland.

And the flame shield and black water cannon neutralized and scattered in the intense confrontation.

This change surprised me. This flame shield wasn't controlled by me in real time but was autonomously mobilized through preset instructions, thus inevitably lacking in density. Even so, in my expectations, it should have been able to easily block Water Navy Xuanwu's attack. The result, however, was a tie, which seemed unreasonable.

Water Navy Xuanwu's black water cannon was stronger than I expected... yet its mana density told me that this attack was consistent with my expectations. Could it be that attribute suppression was secretly exerting force?

No, attribute suppression indeed did not take effect just now. This particular black water cannon seemed to possess a nature of "destructive power beyond its inherent level." I've encountered similar situations elsewhere, such as with Zhu Shi holding the Yama Sword and Xu Gou imitating the White Tiger Killing Power.

Inherent combat prowess can unleash attack power exceeding its own density during battle. Xu Gou, newly inducted into Impermanence, also relied on this nature to exhibit the combat power of a veteran Impermanence.

The black water cannon of Water Navy Xuanwu also seemed to contain an addition of some Gold Element magic power. Although the extent wasn't as high as Xu Gou and Zhu Shi, combining with his already dense mana, it vaguely surpassed the former Great Demon Xuanwu.

"Come out, Xuanwu." I said, "The current you is not my match, don't waste your strength in such futile efforts. I will consider your previous attack a special greeting and won't dwell on it."

It's quite normal for Water Navy Xuanwu to attack me. Even though we share Taoyuan Village Master Meng Zhang as a common enemy, he doesn't necessarily need to ally with me to gain extra strength but can instead find a way to seize my Vermilion Bird Seed and stack my power onto himself.

Joining forces is merely a doubling of numbers, but devouring me would mean doubling the quality, and the latter offers a higher probability of success.

If I didn't need to seek elixirs from Water Navy Xuanwu, and if I could grasp the method of devouring other Liangyi inheritors, I would undoubtedly try to kill Water Navy Xuanwu first. This has nothing to do with whether I respect him—on the contrary, it's precisely because I respect him that I'm more eager to defeat and devour him; I possess this aspect.

The Solar Eclipse Fire earlier was just an appetizer. I could completely convert all the flames composing my body and soul into Solar Eclipse Fire. By doing so, the attribute suppression effect that exerted power on the levels of causality and fate earlier would no longer exist. The Solar Eclipse Fire, manipulated by me in real time, would also overwhelm Water Navy Xuanwu's black water. Even though such aggressive manipulation of flames deviating from their main purpose would bring some side effects to my state, I'm confident I can defeat Water Navy Xuanwu within a safe timeframe.

I first drew out some stored Solar Eclipse Fire from the Ash Weapon, temporarily mixing it into my soul, then used spiritual perception that exceeded attribute suppression to scour the surroundings.

Then, I locked onto one direction and moved my gaze over. The Water Master Xuanwu was hiding in that place, perhaps thinking that he could deceive this side's perception using Water Magic Power, but such a trick doesn't work on me.

Found you—I silently announced this information with my actions.

Surely, at this moment, Water Master Xuanwu also realized his own exposure. The silence lasted for two or three seconds, then a black water vortex appeared in front of me. After the vortex shattered and dissipated, a sturdy middle-aged man in his forties or fifties, wearing light-colored training clothes and having the demeanor of a scholarly professor, appeared before me.

I don't know how many times I've heard the news of his resurrection, and I occasionally doubted the authenticity of this news in my heart. After all, he definitely died at my hands at that time, and that feeling could not have been faked. It wasn't until this moment that I finally confirmed it with my own eyes.

This familiar man was undoubtedly Water Master Xuanwu, who died by my hand.

"Zhuang Cheng, long time no see." He gazed at me with a deep look.

"I called you out, and you really came out. Aren't you afraid I'll kill you?" I asked.

"You are the one who found me, right? Being able to walk unimpeded in this phantasmagoric chaotic space-time… in this place akin to an octagonal cage arena, there's no way for me who can't do this to escape, no matter how hard I try to run, I will only be struggling on my deathbed, and in the end, you will just catch up and capture me," Water Master Xuanwu said without changing his expression. "And as for the previous confrontation… it looked evenly matched, but I used my full strength, while you just relied on your automatic protective defense to block it unharmed.

"Your strength surpasses mine so much, and on top of that, you seemingly can further neutralize my side's attribute suppression… the gap between you and me is like that between a child and an adult, to continue resisting stubbornly would be me not knowing my place.

"I admit, I am not your opponent."

Based on mere details, he seemed to have discerned the true combat power gap between us. Saying 'a child and an adult' was an exaggeration, but in terms of victory probability alone, it was more or less like that.

I originally thought about giving a little intimidation, but now it seems unnecessary, instead, it's somewhat making me itch where I can't scratch.

"Giving up the struggle so quickly doesn't seem like your style. Back then, daring to attempt to assassinate Xuanming during the Great Success stage is enough to show that you are someone who will try to grab any opportunity, no matter how slim it might be," I said.

Water Master Xuanwu noncommittally said, "Even that Xuanming now seems already defeated at your hands. I can perceive the mana fluctuations he left in this city, entwined with yours… the one who killed Xuanming, it was you, wasn't it?"

"It was me," I said candidly.

Water Master Xuanwu looked at me keenly for a few seconds, then said, "There's no need to continue with redundant words. Zhuang Cheng, you weren't planning on killing me; otherwise, you could have acted directly. What do you want? Are you intending to be on the same side with me to deal with the Taoyuan Village Master?"

"That is part of the reason, but not the main one," I said, "I wish for you to refine elixirs for me."

Water Master Xuanwu was apparently not surprised. He is the foremost Alchemy Master among all demon hunters, and countless people seek elixirs from him. If anyone had a request for him, it was not to wield his power in battle but to ask him to refine spiritual pills.

I then explained my requirements to him.

"—So it's the follow-up from last time?" Water Master Xuanwu understood, "It is indeed. Though last time I refined the Shen Gui Spirit Pill for you, that elixir couldn't completely dispel the injuries left by the Xuanming Fire, only getting infinitely close to a cure. This degree of repair basically doesn't affect the future life of the patient, but under very rare conditions, it still shows inconvenient aspects… this was the consequence left due to my insufficient power at that time."

His information is still relatively outdated, still assuming that the flames that harmed Mazao were Xuanming Fire. But I can blame myself because, at that time, what Mr. Zhu relayed to Water Master Xuanwu was based on erroneous speculation.

"So... are you willing to refine the Shen Gui Spirit Pill for us once again?" I asked.

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