This is utterly absurd!

Five incarnations of Meng Zhang weren't enough, and now a sixth and seventh have appeared? Are we next going to see eight, nine, or even ten incarnations of Meng Zhang, perhaps even more?

With so many Great Impermanence Level mana incarnations, the demon hunter's world wouldn't stand a chance. It should be Meng Zhang ruling supreme.

Although this thought first crossed my mind, I soon noticed that the two new Great Impermanence mana fluctuations were of a completely different nature from the five incarnations of Meng Zhang surrounding us.

One of the mana fluctuations carried a sharp and hard quality. I had encountered this mana fluctuation before; its source was undoubtedly Xu Gou.

The other mana fluctuation was half-familiar and half-strange. Familiar, because I had also dealt with its source before and even personally destroyed it; strange, because back then it was merely at the Great Success Rank, far from being as powerful as it is now.

Yes, if nothing unexpected, the latter should be the Water Master Xuanwu.

Both mana fluctuations were racing in my direction.

Whether the Water Master Xuanwu would continue to be my enemy this time or choose to first join me against Meng Zhang is still uncertain; as for Xu Gou, there's no need to overthink. He is definitely my enemy. If I have to endure Xu Gou's attack under these circumstances, or even face betrayal by Water Master Xuanwu, it would be an excruciating scenario.

I took Little Bowl and performed a Space Transfer again, trying to move away from them.

The scene changed again, and this time, I found myself in a relatively intact street and building complex. The city center, clearly devastated by the lightning strike of the cyan-glow giant hand, had astonishingly returned to normal. Even though this street felt different from the one we had arrived at earlier, it gave me a more than eighty to ninety percent similar feeling.

"This must be a phenomenon caused by spatial-time chaos," Little Bowl seemed to notice something, "and it's likely related to the Reboot phenomenon that Brother Zhuang Cheng mentioned, but it highlights even more the chaotic nature unique to dreams.

"The random teleportation phenomena we've encountered are part of this chaos as well. Even if we weren't using Space Transfer to move but were walking normally, we'd probably get lost in a way similar to the Doomsday Chaos Space-Time. And since this is a barrier specifically designed for invaders like us, relying solely on the good fortune and adaptability of Right Positioning Heavenly Phenomena will not break it.

"Perhaps this is a hurdle set by the Taoyuan Village Master to counter Brother Zhuang Cheng's invasion, or maybe it's an emergency plan designed beforehand to prevent Xuanming from breaking the 'Outer World Wall'... Though in terms of shielding strength, it's not as absolute as the 'Outer World Wall,' breaking it in a short period is nearly impossible."

This hypothesis is probably correct... As I affirmed it in my mind, I remained vigilant of my surroundings.

I felt myself trapped not only spatially but also temporally as if caught in a loop. The déjà vu around me seemed to indicate what would happen next.

And just like affirming my grim thoughts, five overwhelming mana fluctuations surged forth simultaneously, and the cyan-glow giant hand appeared from multiple directions.

Indeed, I failed to escape these nightmare-inducing chases by Meng Zhang's incarnations.

This experience reminded me of the scenes of nightmares.

In nightmares where ghosts appear, trying to hide is futile. No matter how concealed the corners, the ghosts always seem to know where to find you, as if they use a Mind Reading Technique. Naturally, because the monsters in nightmares are manifestations of the dreamer's own fears. As long as there's fear of being dragged out from hiding by terrifying monsters, this fear will inevitably take shape in the nightmare.

Now my experience mirrors this. Whenever I worry about being caught, these incarnations of Meng Zhang appear around me as if tied to my ill thoughts.

I think this isn't simply a coincidence, but because this city has been further transformed by "Paradise" into a time-space with the nature of a dream. It's my psychological activity that summoned these incarnations of Meng Zhang, and unless my consciousness is entirely extinguished, I can never escape their pursuit.

They truly are "nightmare pursuers" in every sense of the word!

The palm centers of the five cyan-glow giant hands simultaneously split open with menacing cracks, with eyes rotating out, locking onto me firmly.

A mighty blue lightning simultaneously surged towards me from five directions.

I tried to dodge, but just avoiding one of the blue thunders requires my full effort. When five blue thunders strike simultaneously, I really can't find any way to escape. Now I understand why these blue thunders have such a high hit rate. It's actually the same reason why these Meng Zhang incarnations can always pursue me. The more I try to evade the blue thunder, the more I attract it to myself. It's my inner self that leaves me no escape.

There's nothing I can do, so I can only drive my flames with full force, launching a counterattack in five different directions at once.

Five orange flames collided with five blue thunders simultaneously.

Fortunately, although the pursuit ability and hit rate of the Meng Zhang incarnations are remarkable, my frontal strength still holds an overwhelming advantage. The extremely dense flames naturally suppressed the five blue thunders, like a sharp iron sword clashing with a crudely made wooden blade. Then, I managed to intercept the cataclysmic shockwave and high temperatures, ensuring Little Bowl's safety.

"I'm sorry, Brother Zhuang Cheng, it's my fault for dragging you down..." Little Bowl sighed.

"No need to apologize to me, I was the one who summoned you here. Since I have received your blessings and healing, I should do my utmost to protect you." I said.

But the real trouble lies ahead.

Just as I finished dealing with the first wave of attacks from the five Meng Zhang incarnations, Xu Gou's mana fluctuations intruded onto our battlefield.

From my perspective, the destruction and rebirth of the city center buildings used my space transfer as a turning point. Although it seems like we traversed time, in reality, Xu Gou and Water Master Xuanwu are still in the same space-time as us. It's unclear how this area's changes appear from the viewpoint of Xu Gou and Water Master Xuanwu.

For Xu Gou, meeting me again should be over four months apart, while for me, it hasn't been that long. Xu Gou's appearance still looks the same as ever, his body hidden in at least three meters high, mighty, and robust black power armor, a symbol of destruction, a human weapon born for slaughter.

"No. 3, Zhuang Cheng—" he uttered in a deep and resolute voice.

"Are you still siding with the Taoyuan Village Master, Xu Gou?" I said, "Since you have sympathy for the victims of the former Luoshan Branch Base, bringing them liberation, and even killed those extreme extraordinaryism demon hunters, it shows you are a person with a conscience... Then why do you insist on continuing to help the Taoyuan Village Master?"

Xu Gou said heavily, "Don't make me repeat, No. 3. As long as I can reunite with Ai Ye, I am willing to do anything, even if it's only a reunion in a dream—"

"Ai Ye... Is she the female researcher who once saved you?" I asked.

During the conversation, Xu Gou's left hand armor transformed into a cannon, and an extremely thick silver-white beam blasted towards my head.

Compared to the past two battles with me, his silver-white beam's power has increased. The beam is not simply condensed mana, but countless interwoven cutting forces. It can be understood as a massive amount of tiny sharp sword gangs being violently compressed in the cannon barrel and fired together, capable of shredding the target it touches into subatomic particles like a shredder.

This attack is much stronger than those from the Meng Zhang incarnations nearby, but unfortunately, the hit rate bonus of the Meng Zhang incarnations is not present in Xu Gou. Dodging his attack was effortless for me.

Xu Gou then turned his right hand armor into a cannon form, firing silver-white beams continuously with both hands. This is also a move he's shown in the past, still unable to hit me. Meanwhile, the five Meng Zhang incarnations coincidentally launched blue thunders, and these attacks I could only honestly cancel out.

The Meng Zhang incarnations made no hostile moves against Xu Gou, clearly identifying him as a "friendly ally."

Xu Gou says he wants to utilize the "Paradise" to reunite with his past love in dreams, but I don't think his true goal is so superficial. It's not that I doubt his love for her is insufficient to make this decision, but from his standpoint, it seems odd to quickly abandon hope in reality and instead completely rely on the "Paradise."

As long as he finds a way to re-establish contact with the Master of Divine Seal in the future, he can obtain a method to resurrect his love through trade. He doesn't even need to "find a way," he just needs to patiently wait for the Master of Divine Seal to repair the Void Realm. No matter how anxious he is, is there any need to go to such lengths for the "Paradise?"

However, regardless of his unspoken troubles, they're irrelevant now. Although I'm interested in the mysteries surrounding him, I've never expected myself to unravel all the mysteries along the adventure. Since he stands opposed to me and Little Bowl, he might as well leave his life here.

At this moment, Little Bowl spoke a sentence.

"Brother Zhuang Cheng, I have a way to turn him." she said.