Ancient martial arts and endurance
Zhang Xuezhou and others had discussed how to deal with the residual mental energy in Zuo Luo's brain more than ten days ago.
The best approach would be for Zhang Xuezhou to advance the Mental Strengthening Chapter to its seventh stage, thereby gaining a stronger sea of consciousness and being able to withstand the impact of this mental energy.
At present, Zhang Xuezhou is still in the process of developing his Mental Strengthening Chapter, and he has not yet made any preparations. This kind of trouble has already begun.
Perhaps it stemmed from the clash between the Emperor and the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon, or perhaps Zuo Luo was targeting the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon, and the latter had been struggling and resisting, causing the methods left behind by Zuo Luo to eventually collapse.
The out-of-control mental energy surged like a flood, so vast that it chilled Zhang Xuezhou to the bone.
Spiritual energy is not something that can withstand an impact and remain unharmed, as ordinary people imagine. Instead, it is filled with annihilation in the clash between them.
Zhang Xuezhou needs to counteract the amount of spiritual energy Zuo Luo left behind.
Zuo Luo's loss of this spiritual energy resulted in severe physical damage, and Zhang Xuezhou's hedging efforts made no difference.
"It's over!"
Zhang Xuezhou has not only failed to break through to Chapter Seven of the Mental Strengthening Chapter, thus failing to further improve the quality and quantity of his mental abilities, but the damage to his brain has also not fully recovered.
Engaging in a confrontation while in a weakened state is clearly not a good idea.
Zhang Xuezhou felt a chill run down his spine, as if the blazing sun he was visualizing was swaying more violently.
"My body is immortal!"
"Quack quack quack quack!"
Amidst the hellfire that stared back at Zhang Xuezhou, a voice as resounding as a great bell rang out, which then transformed into countless repeated whispers, interspersed with the angry quacks of the demonic duck.
"Your immortality will not diminish my own!"
The Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon were Zhang Xuezhou's nightmare, but Zhang Xuezhou knew very well that the opponent was undoubtedly a veteran and experienced cultivator, and his approach to dealing with them was absolutely correct.
He followed suit, and no matter how much damage was caused by the back-and-forth collisions of Zuo Luo's mental energy, he considered it a success as long as he maintained his sanity and preserved his life.
"Zoro is targeting you. You will inevitably bear the first brunt of the attack, and only then will it be my turn!"
The Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon wanted to control everything Zhang Xuezhou possessed, so they completely divided Zhang Xuezhou into two parts, and the best way to do this was to travel between worlds from time to time.
Compared to Zhang Xuezhou's complete isolation after his three souls and six spirits traversed, the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon undoubtedly suffered Zuo Luo's extremely complete control and attack after being trapped in its own web.
When the Zuo Luo chip was inserted and encased, Zhang Xuezhou was able to distinguish his complete self from the complete Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon for the first time.
This led to the Emperor, who knew the details of the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon, targeting them separately. If the Emperor's plan hadn't been to seek entry into the real world, Zhang Xuezhou believed that the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon would have been severely damaged by the Emperor once again.
Even so, the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon encountered two different types of experts during this period.
Zhang Xuezhou was injured by Pei Jing, and the situation of the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon was not good either.
Both sides are similarly injured, with the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon possibly being slightly more severely wounded.
Especially as Zuo Luo's target, Zhang Xuezhou believed that the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon would suffer a more severe impact from this shock than he would.
Having clearly calculated everything in his mind, Zhang Xuezhou steadied his mind and maintained mental stability and momentum.
"Swordsmen of ancient times would seek out waterfalls tens of meters high to practice their swordsmanship, enduring the constant impact, which could even cause internal injuries or illnesses. However, many of them improved their swordsmanship to a higher level. I don't believe that I need calm waters to cultivate in order to reach the highest level!"
Zhang Xuezhou had witnessed the development and promotion of ancient martial arts by many nations and clans within the Red Alliance. For example, the Pei family's swordsmanship utilized the power of water to create impacts.
The endless, relentless waterfall cascaded down, bringing not only a powerful impact on the body, but also making it difficult for the right hand holding the sword to wield it.
The resistance involved is beyond what the human body can withstand, and it will push the Pei family's swordsmen to the limit of physical strength.
Once they were away from the waterfall, the Pei family's swords became fast, accurate, and ruthless.
Modern gene technology has also brought a more powerful boost, giving Pei Jing the ability to instantly kill opponents within twenty meters.
Many ancient martial arts techniques, once exposed, seem unremarkable, but very few people can truly persevere with them.
Zhang Xuezhou believes that the impact and annihilation of spiritual energy is similar to this ancient martial arts training method that is not human; the only requirement is that he must survive it.
If it were a path no one had ever walked before, Zhang Xuezhou would indeed feel uneasy, but when faced with a path with many similar success stories, he remained relatively calm.
"The Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon have suffered two blows in succession, while I only suffered injuries from Pei Jing. Moreover, I have the Nine Treasures Wine to heal, the X864 gene drug as a backup option, Chapter Seven of the Mental Strengthening Chapter, and An Ran has returned to protect me. I have all three elements: favorable timing, advantageous location, and harmonious relationships!"
It felt as if a wild bull had charged at me, or as if someone had slashed my skin with a knife; the impact came just as I had expected.
Zhang Xuezhou groaned, but managed to hold on.
"Visualization arises spontaneously and ascends in a spiral!"
The Mental Strengthening Chapter materials that Ren Anran promptly submitted kept appearing in Zhang Xuezhou's mind, allowing him to maintain tight control over his brain.
Even without advancing to Chapter Seven, his continued progress in the Mental Strengthening Chapter will at least add to the progress, allowing him to maximize his ability to contend with others.
The impact came earlier than Zhang Xuezhou had imagined, and it wasn't at the stage where he was perfectly prepared. However, many things didn't revolve around Zhang Xuezhou. When he encountered the unexpected, he first adjusted his mindset. Secondly, he imitated the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon, an existence that had existed for countless years, to maintain stability. Thirdly, he chose to rely on his past experiences and, while gritting his teeth and persevering, tried to forge his own path.
In the sea of consciousness, layers upon layers of waves surged forth, the flames of hell dimmed, and the sky shattered, with countless raindrops pouring down like a flood.
If this were to occur in reality, it would undoubtedly be a scene resembling the end of the world, but within his sea of consciousness, only Zhang Xuezhou and the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon continued to endure it.
The waves covered the flames of hell, while the rain shielded the scorching sun.
The constant shocks gradually numbed and mechanical Zhang Xuezhou.
He transformed into an ever-growing, blazing sun, but after repeated impacts, he resembled a moon trapped in dark clouds.
Later on, Zhang Xuezhou even began to forget about the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon, his mind becoming so numb that he could hardly think of anything else.
He felt his Divine Sense constantly drying up and depleting, and the constant spiritual shocks and annihilation were like a continuous hemorrhage in his body, which was also difficult for him to bear.
It wasn't until a beam of white light fell into his sea of consciousness that Zhang Xuezhou felt his depleted Divine Sense rapidly thicken, giving him a renewed sense of life.
"It's the X864 gene therapy drug. My sister gave me the injection on time, but it's not enough!"
Normal injections have little effect on Zhang Xuezhou. Since his illness is serious and requires strong medicine, Zhang Xuezhou feels that he can be injected with X864 gene drug again, and even supplement with the Heavenly God General's secret medicine if the situation is different.
Regardless of any potential future problems, he needs to weather this storm before anything else can be discussed.
"My body is immortal!"
As the thought crossed his mind, Zhang Xuezhou felt the murmurs of the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon below him, their voices growing fainter and fainter.
"Croak~"
The sound of a black-feathered duck echoed in the demon's mind.
Under the blazing sun, Zhang Xuezhou felt as if he had become a black-feathered duck, or as if the Golden Crow Great Emperor had unleashed the True Solar Fire in his demonic form.
At the same time, countless scattered spiritual energies converged.
The injected gene drug was no longer affected by segmentation; the derived spiritual energy flowed in all at once.
In that brief moment, Zhang Xuezhou felt that his mental control over his sea of consciousness was finally complete.