Shan Liangyi will definitely strike again soon.

The exact timing is still unknown. Although it's unlikely to happen before I finish healing, I'm also unsure how much preparation he needs for devouring the Vermilion Bird Seed. He might suddenly appear in front of me the next day, and I won't have much time on my side.

Once the Power Seed is reclaimed, ordinary Liangyi inheritors will die just from this alone. The Power Seed not only converts the talents and attributes of the inheritor but also distorts and takes over their fate. It was due to this "taking everything" nature that Ying Lingyun could relatively easily use the Xuanwu Seed and White Tiger Seed to revive Water Navy Xuanwu, who had reached Great Success Rank and passed away.

Upon ascending to Impermanence, merely having the Power Seed seized might not necessarily result in death, but losing all talents and powers is an undeniable future. Though I don't know the origin of my innate manifestation nature, Shan Liangyi will seize all my talents when reclaiming the Power Seed, and the innate manifestation is surely not exempt. Or rather, if it weren't like this, Shan Liangyi wouldn't need to choose to devour me in the best state possible.

At present, there are two routes before me to oppose Shan Liangyi: "external aid" and "internal strength".

"External aid" involves seeking external forces, allies, finding reliable helpers to confront Shan Liangyi for me. If not a Liangyi inheritor, naturally one wouldn't be subject to Shan Liangyi's unconditional suppression. However, if choosing this route, I can only seek out the Old Fist God. Even without unconditional suppression, the power of Shan Liangyi's third door is overwhelmingly sufficient. Even if the power of allies like Gua Tianshi, Fa Zheng, and Jian Feixian are consolidated together, they're certainly not a match for Shan Liangyi.

Currently, even Gua Tianshi cannot track down the whereabouts of the Old Fist God. Although the Old Fist God has mentioned he welcomes challenges if Shan Liangyi restores all power and strengthens himself, if he cannot be found, one must give up.

More importantly, Shan Liangyi might be restoring all power but is not necessarily stronger. Relying on the forced simulation of the five elements cycle with four properties—gold, wood, water, and earth—might only restore him to the previous life level, further progress might require reclaiming my Vermilion Bird Seed.

With the Old Fist God's previous wild behavior, perhaps he'll kill me to fight a "stronger Shan Liangyi" and return the Vermilion Bird Seed to Shan Liangyi quickly.

"Internal strength" involves strengthening oneself, becoming strong enough not to have the Vermilion Bird Seed seized by Shan Liangyi at a whim, even reaching the level to contend with Shan Liangyi pushing open the third door...

Can I achieve this? In such a short time? Break through my limits, push open the third door?

Even ancient Impermanence beings like Gua Tianshi and Xuanming, who have lived countless years, can't achieve this, and even Fa Zheng, who holds the Human Dao Divine Weapon, can only reach this level during a genocide crisis. Can I reach it just by saying I will?

If this is the only possibility, I would certainly challenge it with all my might. However, at the same time, my reason tells me it's impossible.

While pondering these matters, I also shared all my experiences with Little Bowl.

"Shan Liangyi finally appears..." Little Bowl showed a very stressed emotion too.

As the ancestor Zhu Yi of the Zhu family fell under him, for Little Bowl, who has intricate ties with the Zhu family, the name Shan Liangyi likely has extraordinary significance.

Even with her wisdom, she seems unable to come up with a good solution for the time being. Overwhelming power can suppress all calculations, that's the despair Shan Liangyi brings.

"By the way, Little Bowl, you mentioned Mazao earlier... How is she now?" I asked, "She should have taken the Great Demon God Gui Spirit Pill I sent earlier, right? Any adverse reactions?"

Little Bowl shifted her attention from the hope-lacking issue to answer, "Everything's going smoothly. Thanks to Brother Zhuang Cheng, Sister Mazao has completely absorbed the new Shen Gui Spirit Pill. The last bit of soul trauma is completely healed."

"Completely absorbed?" This good news exceeded my expectations, "So quickly?"

Water Navy Xuanwu said with the body constitution of a Great Success Rank, it takes a few days to completely absorb the Great Demon God Gui Spirit Pill.

From when I sent the elixir until now, it's been not even half a day, let alone several days. Even though Mazao possesses potential to become Impermanence, being outstanding among Great Success Rank, this absorption rate is excessively fast.

"It's not fast; it's the normal speed," Little Bowl said, "From when Brother Zhuang Cheng sent the elixir until now, more than a week has already passed."

"More than a week..."

I was stunned for a moment and then realized.

Because the battle with Meng Zhang churned the spacetime of the Southern City center into chaos, the otherwise illusionary and chaotic spacetime turned into a mess, and so the flow of time likely became very strange. It's been just over a week; it's plain ordinary. Even being thrown into the past or more future possibilities concerning wars with the Evangelical Institute are possible.

Looking from another angle, possibly the next events were missed hence only this extent of time was skipped. Perhaps the inadvertent help from 扫把星 power contributed to this.

Little Bowl seemed to have some information she wanted to share with me.

"During this period, many things have likely occurred?" I asked.

"Yes," Little Bowl appeared thoughtful, "where should I begin..."

I wished to first inquire about information related to Mazao and Zhu Shi, but after considering, opted to first ask about parts more likely to cause issues: "How's Xu Gou's current state? Has he been working sincerely for us as agreed? Any conflicts with Fa Zheng?"

"Mr. Xugou has met with Great Impermanence Fa Zheng, I accompanied Brother Zhuang Cheng during the meeting, their atmosphere wasn't favorable but they've managed to agree on cooperation. Mr. Xugou remained very restrained, willing to serve us consistently. Unfortunately...," Little Bowl's voice held regret, "Mr. Xugou's injuries from betrayal of his contract with Taoyuan Village Master remain untreated."

She continued her supplementary explanation.

As with her prior diagnosis, the root of Xu Gou's contractual injury links to "Paradise", akin to True Spirit Power's nature of harm.

If previously my True Spirit Power was too thin, only selectively manifesting "True Death", then "Paradise" damage could even materialize the nature "harm from True Spirit Power cannot be repaired".

Naturally, there's an exception to this "irreparable". Harm from True Spirit Power can theoretically be repaired with True Spirit Power itself. Divine Seal Fragments Power is True Spirit Power, Xu Gou is a human-made Impermanence based on Divine Seal Fragment, his regeneration capability is uniquely able to even repair "Paradise" induced direction harm.

Besides, "Paradise" hasn't truly descended yet; its "real damage" might have disputes in "reality" aspects—I can't quite explain "damages with disputed reality" well, but Xu Gou's case isn't unrecoverable.

His recovery process, however, is exceedingly slow. As only previously perhaps in history, Void Envoy could thoroughly exhibit Divine Seal Fragment Power as True Spirit Power, Xu Gou needs to first convert it through a silver-white Gold Element Magical Power process. True Spirit Power's inherent nature may only leave faint echoes. Both possess middling components relying on time to erode.

Fa Zheng's side also provides significant healing support, its effect isn't entirely absent, yet anticipating snow relief-level aid is hard.

If treated by Little Bowl, Xu Gou might recover quickly. Little Bowl made many attempts, but unsurprisingly, it wasn't smooth.

The blessings from Little Bowl cannot apply evenly to anyone. Only those she devoutly reveres can fall within the benefit zone. For long periods, she's unable to bless herself, not to mention having less intimate acquaintances. Currently, those who can receive Little Bowl's Power of Blessing support include me, Mazao, Zhu Shi, who are closely tied to her dream obsession.

The continuous nourishment that heals my true spirit and the Power of Blessing that seems like a given aren't so ordinary—I once again deeply realized this.

"Mr. Xugou likely can't partake in the upcoming battle," Little Bowl said regretfully.

"Then let's have him receive treatment in the rear," I said, "but you mention 'upcoming battle', could it be..."

"Indeed," Little Bowl confirmed, "Mr. Yuchi completed the teleportation array of 'Du Shuo Mountain', and the gate to the Post-mortem World has now opened completely to Luo Mountain.

"And Great Impermanence Fa Zheng, along with Jian Feixian, have first penetrated the Post-mortem World."

She paused slightly before adding, "Zhu Shi has also joined this troupe."