If we can successfully recruit Xu Gou, the benefits will be much greater than they appear, which I am naturally very aware of.

Although Xu Gou's performance has been mediocre all along, one must know that what he possesses is the power of simulating the White Tiger Killing Power. This term "simulate" might suggest a kind of degradation, yet the silver-white mana Xu Gou displays is not inferior to the White Tiger Killing Power I know of.

One must realize that the current Xu Gou is quite similar to me when I first became the Great Impermanence. He has little concept of how to correctly enhance the density of mana yet he can already demonstrate a power level equivalent to that of an old veteran Great Impermanence. If he can, like me in the future, fill in his shortcomings, his combat fighting ability might not be less than mine and Xuanming's.

Even so, I would still not recruit Xu Gou at the risk of Little Bowl's life.

Taking a big step back, even just from a purely beneficial perspective, Little Bowl's value is higher than another character who simply matches my combat strength. Zhu Shi must rely on Little Bowl's blessing to master the Power of Great Impermanence in a short enough time, otherwise, he will most likely not catch up with the battle against the Evangelical Institute; moreover, Mazao's plan to become stronger is even more indispensable with Little Bowl's blessing as a core necessity.

I must also rely on the Blessing Power to fill in my own shortcomings in many areas. From the Post-mortem World to the Living World, the victories in successive battles on this journey, and the resolution of numerous key challenges all rely on the support of Blessing Power. Little Bowl is also the only person I know who can actively heal the True Spirit. Without her support, I would still be in a dying state and surely would have had my life taken by the likes of Xu Gou by now.

"You don't need to worry about the blessings, Brother Zhuang Cheng. Even if I die, I can ensure the blessings placed on you won't disappear," said Little Bowl in a comforting tone.

The power of telepathy sometimes does not dissolve with the death of the individual involved, which I understand too.

Precisely because the individual dies with an obsession, so do stubborn and strong curses exist. In many ancient tales and bizarre stories, there is a depiction of curses left by deceased individuals, causing the living to fall into endless horror and pain. Even if they were ordinary mortals in life, they could leave behind a curse power that changes the fate of others.

Similarly, blessings can be maintained by the same principle.

"Perhaps, it might even grow stronger," Little Bowl said, "Although it won't be as flexible and changeable as when I was alive, the basic functionalities can be preserved intact. Even if Brother Zhuang Cheng's True Spirit is harmed in the future, the blessings I leave behind can automatically repair the True Spirit... Right now, I can't perform such a blessing, but if anything happens, I'll try my best to make sure the residual blessings strengthen in this respect."

"Little Bowl, you know this isn't what I want to say," I said.

"I understand, Brother Zhuang Cheng. You wouldn't gamble a partner's life for the sake of profits... right?" Little Bowl said, "But this matter is not only due to profit calculation; it's something I wish for myself. In the past, I have always been in the safe rear, while Brother Zhuang Cheng was gambling his life on the front line. And if I could achieve huge gain by bearing the risk myself, what's my reason to evade it? It's something I yearn for."

"I cannot accept it," I said, "No matter what you say, I will not gamble with your life to recruit Xu Gou."

In the end, if it wasn't for me bringing Little Bowl into this city, she would not have been drawn into our battlefield.

I must admit this is my responsibility, and I must acknowledge my own lack of foresight. Of course, I don't regret my choices; this is my principle. Even when looking back to re-evaluate the decisions at the time, I still feel that seeking Little Bowl's help was immensely necessary. Since I've considered Little Bowl an important partner, I wouldn't be hypocritical about sharing risks together.

However, seeking Little Bowl's help and gambling with her life for massive profits are fundamentally different actions. Even if I'm 60-70% confident, or even 99% confident, I will not make a single concession.

Little Bowl sighed deeply, yet she seemed to have a complex joy.

"What are you guys jabbering about over there?" Xu Gou asked coldly.

Right now, our telepathy-based communication isn't revealed to Xu Gou; he cannot hear the content. However, he seemed to have sensed some truth with his mind and intuition, his voice becoming extremely cold and piercing: "You don't think... you've already won, do you?"

"Xu Gou, if you surrender now, I can spare your life," I said, "But if you continue to resist stubbornly... then this will be your grave."

"What a joke," Xu Gou laughed in extreme anger, "You alone against the six of us... are you still this boastful?"

After saying that, he suddenly accelerated, soaring to several thousand times the speed of sound, transforming into a pitch-black line constantly flickering on the battlefield. The Gold Element of power symbolizes an invincible weapon, easily converted into speed and power on a physical level.

Countless silver beams shot from different angles, resembling a coordinated strategy with Xu Gou's high-speed movement. The five Meng Zhang avatars also shifted their combat modes. At first glance, they still seemed to be firing lightning from different angles, but there was a display of extremely harmonious cooperation, with significantly optimized frequency and rhythm of attacks.

Neither Xu Gou nor these Meng Zhang avatars likely have any expertise in battle strategy. However, because Xu Gou utilized a power deeply rooted in metaphysical conceptual layers, and these Meng Zhang avatars instinctively made Xu Gou the core of their offensive, they "accidentally" showcased an assault in line with strategic principles.

However, Xu Gou misunderstood one thing.

Ultimately, he was not deeply versed in the domain of Great Impermanence, and his experience in battles with other Great Impermanence fighters was far inferior to mine.

Having the support of five Meng Zhang avatars made him believe he could cross the gap in power and gain an advantage—having such a thought only shows a lack of awareness for the density difference.

If the power of the five Meng Zhang avatars were fully concentrated and compressed onto his body, then things might turn out as he imagined. But if they were presented in such a dispersed form around me, thinking to take me down this way is merely wishful thinking.

No matter how well one arranges battle formations, in battles between Great Impermanence fighters, it's still just a trifling trick. If our strengths were similar, such tactics might prove useful, but with such a vast gap between us, his approach is merely a futile struggle.

On one side is him, who only matches veteran Great Impermanence fighters due to special attributes, and on the other side is me, significantly surpassing him due to advantageous methods and additional blessing power... If it weren't necessary to protect those around me, the battle would have ended long ago. Presumably, it was because I adopted a passive defense stance at one point that he mistakenly thought I was at a disadvantage.

Now, this farce should also come to an end.

I unleashed a long-stored blast of Flame Magic Power in one breath, transforming into five pillar-like giant Flame Spears, locking onto the five Meng Zhang avatars and shooting towards them.

The Meng Zhang avatars swiftly moved in different directions to evade. Since these enemies previously managed to utilize the advantageous positioning of illusory time-space to achieve abnormally high accuracy, there's a good chance they could also display an abnormally high evasion rate. Once again, my suspicions were confirmed as they all simultaneously dodged the Flame Spears.

However, this change was within my expectations. The five Flame Spears seemed to have lives of their own as their trajectories sharply angled, swinging back for another strike at their targets. This simulates the "Guaranteed Hit and Kill" effect of the ancient Divine Spear through the use of the Power of Great Impermanence to manipulate fate and causality.

Although the Meng Zhang avatars have a high accuracy rate, I also have the experience of forcefully evading with my power; similarly, it is also possible to forcefully hit the Meng Zhang avatars with sufficient power.

Just as it is difficult for me to simultaneously dodge five Meng Zhang avatars' attacks, it is also challenging to simultaneously kill all five avatars, which is why I needed so much time to gather power for a decisive strike. I didn't know what other unsuspecting special abilities these Meng Zhang avatars might have, so in order to annihilate them all before they changed tactics, this was the only strategy I could choose.

The five Flame Spears hit the five Meng Zhang avatars simultaneously, and in the earth-shattering explosion, these enemies were utterly destroyed without any chance of resurrection.

Seeing this scene, Xu Gou's high-speed movement trajectory seemed somewhat out of control. I could sense his overwhelming shock.

"How... how is this possible!" he shouted.

Immediately after, I flew towards him at full speed.

The truly threatening move from Xu Gou wasn't those chaotic silver beams but his Power of Cutting. More precisely, it was the Destruction Blade Storm that he could unleash utilizing the endless Power of Divine Seal Fragments, capable of obliterating everything within a 100-kilometer diameter in a single breath.

Once released, everything inside the barrier would vanish. The battle between me and Xuanming only leveled the Southern City, while his destruction far exceeded that scale. The ground would cease to exist, replaced by a 100-kilometer wide abyssal hole.

In terms of sheer scale, it's even doubtful whether it's comparable to the power beyond the Third Gate. Even now, I have no confidence in fully taking that move. While it won't be fatal, it's impossible to protect Little Bowl under such an offensive. Hence, he must be interrupted at the first opportunity.

Previously, perhaps due to concerns of affecting his allies, he refrained from doing so, but now he no longer has such concerns.

Xu Gou's two arms transformed into blade shapes, a massive sense of threat rushing towards me.