The Old Fist God pointed and detonated my Fireball, emerging unscathed.

"Everything in the world has its structure, and as long as there is a structure, there will be a vital flaw. If a high-rise building loses its load-bearing walls, it cannot support its weight and will collapse; a solid, heavy tank or fighter jet, if it loses a critical component, cannot function properly. A martial artist, no matter how strong, becomes immobile if their vital spot is damaged." The Old Fist God said, "This universal truth also exists in magic power that seems omnipotent.

"No matter how intangible the soul power may be, it also reveals the user's main ideas and structure. When it manifests as a force that impacts reality, its invisible structure surfaces and becomes something that can be influenced by real-world objects in return. As long as you use your power to destroy its key points, you can render it harmless. What I'm doing now is merely such a tactic.

"... Or rather, it should have been such a tactic."

He showed a look of disappointment.

I could understand what he had actually done just now.

The technique the Old Fist God actually used was somewhat different from his explanation.

Indeed, his theory could possibly become a concrete move, though applying it to destroy the magical power of a formidable opponent of the same level is quite absurd. I don't know how to practically implement it, but at least it sounds self-consistent. However, his previous action was neither based on "observing the opponent's vital flaw and destroying it" but rather creating an originally nonexistent vital flaw in my Fireball using the Third Door Power.

This was not a phenomenon he intentionally caused.

He probably really wanted to forcefully observe the structural weaknesses present in my power. It was because he tried too hard that his will distorted reality and created what he wanted to see.

But what he really wished to see, was not this.

This was neither perception nor technique, but purely a result of power.

"As my soul power grew stronger, I could see the changes in the microscopic world and the laws of cause and effect. It seemed as if all the appearances of the world were unfolding before my eyes, yet paradoxically, it seemed to distance me more from the true state beyond all appearances." The Old Fist God lamented, "Shan Liangyi's 'Opening the Door' may not be the right path. But no matter what path, if you reach the ultimate, it will inevitably lead to the same endpoint. Since I can no longer turn back, I have no choice but to walk this path to the end.

"Let's continue, Zhuang Cheng. Either become my whetstone or use me as a stepping stone, and fight me to the death!"

He suddenly burst forth with an untraceable speed, arriving right in front of me. The penetrating iron fist attacked once more. I tried to dodge again, but this time something unexpected happened—his fist passed through my chest. The attack I should have easily dodged before now caught me.

At the last moment, I used the transformation ability of Elemental Incarnation to preemptively create a hole in my chest. His fist didn't hit me directly, but the magic power around his fist, like Qi Force, still caused some damage to me.

This inventive countermeasure could only be used once; it certainly wouldn't work against the Old Fist God again next time. I endured the damage with effort, seized the opportunity to retreat, and tried to increase the distance.

However, unlike dealing with Shan Liangyi, the Old Fist God was now going all out.

He relentlessly closed the distance between us.

"In ancient Martial Arts, there is a level of mental method achievement considered the pinnacle, called 'Unity of Heaven and Man.'" The Old Fist God spoke to himself, "A martial artist who achieves this can enter a state of non-thought and non-concept, seemingly merging with the natural environment. Although it is far inferior to your Power of Manifestation, it can also erase one's presence, making themselves as elusive as a transparent person.

"In the past, the reason I could come and go undetected by you, Divine Light, and Weichi, was this.

"And once a person told me that 'Unity of Heaven and Man' might not be the highest mental method in Martial Arts. Beyond non-concept or non-thought, there is an even higher realm. He called it 'Non-thought and Non-non-thought.'

"When I realized this realm in reality, I naturally opened the Third Door."

As he spoke, he explosively closed the distance again, delivering another punch. This time, he solidly hit me. Comparable to a strike from the Solar Eclipse Sword, he sent me flying into the distance.

The reason Shan Liangyi could harm my integration into everything was because the Yin Yang Black and White Magic Power had a nature similar to True Spirit Power, which I could not integrate into. The Old Fist God did not have this nature, yet he could still inflict powerful damage on me. Although from the start, I did not overestimate my ability to unconditionally ignore the Old Fist God's attacks, actually confirming this result still leaves me somewhat disappointed.

I also observed the reason my integration state was nullified, and it's the same rationale why the Old Fist God's attacks could hit me now—I was locked by the perception of the Old Fist God.

The Old Fist God's perception is far keener than Shan Liangyi's and has a special nature that Shan Liangyi does not possess. I do not know if it is related to his so-called 'Non-thought and Non-non-thought.' I, an enemy who could merge into the natural elements, would be discerned by his perception from the natural elements once again. This nature of "discernment" was inherited by his magic power, which enabled him to harm me anew.

Non-thought and Non-non-thought... I have heard of this term elsewhere.

Neither "thought" nor "non-thought." In Buddhism, which seeks to prove that all things are void, this is the ultimate meditation where even the concept of "void" can be negated. If there is anything higher, it might only be the legendary "Nirvana," which is the self-realization of True Spirit.

It is said that those who grasp Non-thought and Non-non-thought would ascend to the Fourth Heaven of the Formless Realm in the Three Realms, the highest heaven among them.

With such a wondrous mental state, it is not surprising that his magic power could discern my existence.

However, perhaps it has something to do with what he said about "'opening the door' not being the right path." His "Non-thought and Non-non-thought" may still have some flaws, and its distinctiveness wasn't clear. Most of the lethality was mitigated by my Power of Manifestation. Although the attack power was far higher than Shan Liangyi's, in terms of real effective lethality, it was actually not as good as Shan Liangyi's Yin Yang Black and White Magic Power. Under my full defense, I felt a significant damage on the True Spirit layer, but I barely managed to endure it.

Seizing this opportunity to distance ourselves, I once again focused my strength to gather flames. A fireball with density raised to the limit reappeared. Facing the rapidly approaching Old Fist God, I grabbed the fireball as a weapon and smashed it with all my strength.

The Old Fist God let out a maniacal laugh and punched again. The iron fist and the fireball collided, and an explosion capable of shattering small celestial bodies spread in the cosmic space. There was simply no time to create a second fireball, and the Old Fist God rushed through the explosion at high speed, hitting me again with the same force, sending me flying.

Even with high damage mitigation, I couldn't withstand many more of such attacks. I once again confirmed my prediction: in a fair and just fight, I had no chance of winning against the Old Fist God.

Then, I could only use some underhanded tactics.

I glanced once more in the direction of Little Bowl, who was steadily advancing in suppressing Tai Sui. It would only take a little more time for her to become the Master of the Doomsday Divine Seal as planned, then support me with the power of the Doomsday Divine Seal. Now I had two options: either convince the Old Fist God to temporarily ceasefire, giving me a chance to grow stronger through external means; or endure this time with my own skill, then turn the tables using the power of the Doomsday Divine Seal, taking the Old Fist God by surprise.

No matter whether the Old Fist God would agree to the former shameless plan, the latter option would not be so difficult for me to execute. I wasn't required to defeat the Old Fist God, nor to defend until the end of time, merely "win some time"; I could currently think of at least three solutions by relying on my endless combinations of abilities.

The only variable was the special ability of the Old Fist God.

That was an unknown ability that could even terrify the unyielding Shan Liangyi into fleeing. If used against me, who knows what terrifying changes might occur.

The only confirmed points were two: one, it was a power that directly took effect on the target's body; two, it wasn't a power that would cause immediate death once hit.

From these two points, at least on my side, I wouldn't be defeated without any chance to resist, so I could use the Power of Return to erase the effects of the opponent's special ability. Because it was a power that directly acted on my body, I definitely had an advantage over the Old Fist God who launched attacks from a distance due to erupting power directly from my body's interior.

For this reason, I had to keep my distance from the Old Fist God. As long as it wasn't at the closest range, I had a better chance of countering.

I couldn't have imagined that at this stage, I would be engaging in an "ability battle" against the Old Fist God where I had to fathom his superpower intelligence and strategize!

When I decided to drag the fight until Little Bowl could determine the outcome on her side, the Old Fist God seemed to instantly realize my combat strategy had changed.

"Zhuang Cheng, are you not planning to fight me with all your might?" he asked. "Are you focusing on something outside this battleground?"

"Since you're so dissatisfied, then find a way to force my full strength out, or have you already reached your limit?" I replied.

The Old Fist God wasn't distracted by the change in topic, and said calmly, "What you're waiting for must be another divine seal, right? You don't consider yourself a match for me, so you're pinning your hopes on external help?"

He really did notice the changes happening on Little Bowl's side, and I countered with a question, "So what? I am not like you martial artists; I am not fussy about victory, I'll use any means necessary."

The Old Fist God nodded and said, "I'm not a stick-in-the-mud either. The enemy is barehanded, I am barehanded; if the enemy uses swords, guns, staves, I also know how to wield them. Whether barehanded or armed, all these are part of martial arts, and I am proficient in them all.

"And since you said you'd use any means, you shouldn't mind me using some means either, right?"

Saying this, the Old Fist God extended his hand, a white jade disc appeared in his hand, exuding the same aura as the Doomsday Divine Seal.

However, unlike the cracked Doomsday Divine Seal, this white divine seal disc was intact.

The Old Fist God had taken out the Current World Divine Seal!

In his hands, the Current World Divine Seal surged with extremely intense waves, even adding up both my and his power would not be on the same level as the intensity of these waves.

If converted all to destructive force, I'd be obliterated in an instant.

Far away on Earth, Little Bowl seemed to sense this overwhelming wave, and she shared my vision; her voice resounded with shock in my heart: "This, this is—"

I quickly asked, "Little Bowl, did you see something?"

Perhaps possessing the Doomsday Divine Seal, Little Bowl knew some things I didn't, and she expressed with difficulty, "This Current World Divine Seal... it's not simply drawing out a part of its power, it's fully operational now!"

I immediately realized things were bad.

The worst-case scenario had appeared.

According to the strategy Little Bowl and I had devised before the battle, as long as we gained full power of the Doomsday Divine Seal, we could defeat the Old Fist God who could only use part of the Current World Divine Seal's power. And now, before we even had the chance to seize the position of Master of the Doomsday Divine Seal, the Old Fist God had already taken out the full-powered Current World Divine Seal!

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