this infinite world

—I have already grasped Chu Hao's weakness.

This was Ling Xin's initial thought after successfully plunging the battle into chaos.

Realizing his moves were completely ineffective against Chu Hao, Ling Xin decisively changed his fighting strategy. He shifted from a surgically precise, fast, accurate, and ruthless approach to a more aggressive, reckless style, disregarding the cost of his attacks. While this would certainly affect Ling Xin himself, it would create maximum trouble for Chu Hao, exponentially increasing the computational power Chu Hao needed to expend…

In Ling Xin's view, while Chu Hao's current state was powerful, it wasn't invincible. Otherwise, why would his opponent adopt an evasive strategy and easily defeat him to end the battle? His refusal to do so wasn't out of consideration for their brotherly bond, but rather a necessary tactical choice!

Therefore, each of Ling Xin's strikes carried a spiritual pressure powerful enough to tear space apart, forcing Chu Hao to constantly perform high-intensity dodges. He was gambling entirely, betting that the opponent's godlike state must have a critical point, just as even the most sophisticated computer will crash due to overheating!
—This thought persisted until Ling Xin's mask was struck again by Chu Hao's fist.

Ling Xin's mind didn't even have time to process the fact that he was being attacked. The instant the excruciating pain exploded in his facial nerves, his vision was reversed, his body splattered with blood in the sky, leaving a trail of afterimages like a kite with a broken string... and when Ling Xin's back hit the ground, the rocks within a radius of a thousand meters instantly collapsed!
"cough……!"

Of course, although the blow was incredibly heavy, it wasn't enough to instantly incapacitate Ling Xin. With a powerful effort, the young man managed to pull himself out of the pit.

How could that be? What exactly did he do?
After a brief moment of shock, countless questions flooded Ling Xin's mind, as he was completely unable to react to Chu Hao's attack. It was as if, in that instant, Chu Hao had elevated his strength and speed to an unbelievable level, making it seem as if their situations had been completely reversed.

More shocking than the injuries he sustained was that the protective demonic arts that had previously covered his body and could automatically retaliate upon being attacked were instantly breached as if they were non-existent phantoms, providing no protection whatsoever!
There were many things Ling Xin didn't understand. But in this lightning-fast battle, even devising a strategy had become a luxury... Before he could even sort out his thoughts, an overwhelming sense of pressure washed over him like a tidal wave.

Because, with a blank expression, Chu Hao slowly withdrew his right fist and made a slight knee bend, concentrating all his strength in his feet.

The instant his right foot left the ground, the ground within a hundred meters collapsed with a deafening roar. Chu Hao exerted such force that the ring-shaped shockwave created by the force of his foot vaporized all the debris. And the next instant, like a missile launched from the ground, accompanied by a deafening roar and ring-shaped shockwaves, he unleashed his fist once again!

Danger!

Ling Xin's skin tensed instantly, every nerve ending emitting an invisible, piercing scream, and he reacted almost without thinking. A tsunami-like surge of spiritual energy erupted from him, instantly condensing into hundreds of layers of translucent, semi-circular barriers. These defensive matrices, purely constructed of energy, unfolded layer upon layer, standing guard before his fist at the critical moment!

Spiritual pressure forms a shield!

The simplest, crudest, and also the most effective method in Ling Xin's opinion at present. Since Chu Hao had previously demonstrated the ability to analyze runes and thus pass through the "black coffin" barrier, it is not surprising that he has gone a step further and gained the ability to ignore defensive ghost paths like he did just now... In other words, all defensive skills could be easily broken through by him after "analyzing" them.

However, a protective shield composed purely of spiritual pressure is different. At least for Ling Xin himself, the only way to break through it is through a direct, forceful attack. After all, this move lacks any technical skill; it's simply a matter of piling up energy... And if it comes down to a contest of endurance and reserves, reducing the battle to this simplest level of "comparing sizes," Ling Xin is confident that he will not lose to Chu Hao before him!
Can it be stopped?

the answer is negative.

He could hear the sound of something solid shattering—and in the next instant, excruciating pain exploded again from Ling Xin's right cheek.

The young man watched helplessly as a huge crack spread across the silver metal mask that had been with him for so long. The moment the fragments fell off, they reflected Chu Hao's cold, unwavering pupils... The second punch that followed was like passing through a holographic projection, penetrating all defenses without any hindrance and hitting Ling Xin's cheekbone precisely!

The blow was incredibly powerful, causing Ling Xin to cough up a mouthful of blood. Broken teeth shattered and fell with the blood, and it was unclear how many were broken... However, Ling Xin had no time to care about the physical pain, because the layers of protective shields he had just set up had finally had some effect, allowing him to detect some clues about Chu Hao's punch.

—That is the power of runes.

Ling Xin saw it clearly: the instant Chu Hao threw that punch, the countless runes that had just merged into his body shone brightly, then, like a reversed galaxy, all converged into the arm from which he threw the punch. This caused the arm, which had previously appeared perfectly normal, to be covered with a thin layer of faint light.

When the fist made contact with the spiritual pressure shield set up by Ling Xin, the faint light shone brightly, unfolding an array of countless small runes on the contact surface. This amplified what should have been an ordinary punch many times over, like a hot knife cutting through butter, piercing through layers of shields with unstoppable force, and slamming into his face!

But... how is that possible?

Pain did not affect Ling Xin's thinking; on the contrary, it made his mind even clearer.

The young man's pupils trembled violently as his mind raced through all his knowledge of the D&D spell system. Every mage needs preparation before casting a spell; even with advanced skills like "Supermagic Feats," it's impossible to use too many spells simultaneously.

However, what had he just seen? If each small rune array that Ling Xin had just seen represented a corresponding spell, wouldn't that mean that Chu Hao had simultaneously gathered hundreds of spells on his right fist?

Hundreds of different schools of magic were compressed into a small space, their magical powers, which should have been in conflict, coexisting harmoniously. Even more terrifying was that these spells weren't simply superimposed; they formed a precise composite structure, collectively amplifying the punch just now. Like a three-dimensional network woven from countless calculus equations, each node perfectly fulfilled a specific function. The ability to stabilize such a magical model without causing an explosion was nothing short of miraculous. Thinking of this, Ling Xin's Adam's apple bobbed with difficulty. In that instant, he conjured up an even more astonishing and profound terror… If Chu Hao could compress hundreds of spells into a single punch, did that mean his opponent could use similar techniques at any time to unleash a torrent of thousands of spells in an instant?

"Impossible! If Chu Hao could do that, I wouldn't have been able to withstand it at all... He could have used that method from the very beginning to drown me in a sea of ​​magic!"

But how high is Ling Xin's intelligence? In an instant, he dismissed this possibility. The reason was simple: if Chu Hao could really do that, then Ling Xin would be no match for him at all!
Despite taking several blows powerful enough to shatter mountains, Ling Xin's body still retained more than half of its fighting strength. This made him keenly aware that if Chu Hao could truly master such a massive stacking of magic, one punch would either turn him into two small pancakes, or worse, reduce him to ashes...

The fact that Ling Xin can still stand proves that Chu Hao's current state has corresponding flaws. Perhaps his computational power is insufficient, preventing him from fully utilizing his abilities, or perhaps his energy is insufficient, leaving him merely a shell of his former self… Judging from Chu Hao's deliberate choice of "fists" as his attack method, the latter is clearly more likely!
Thinking of this, Ling Xin's courage immediately increased by three points. He stood up, leaning on the Zanpakuto beside him, and looked again at Chu Hao, who remained silent after throwing two punches, as if he had shut down his communication function.

"Cough... those were two very strong punches, but you'll need to show some more strength to defeat me."

Spitting out another mouthful of blood mixed with broken teeth, Ling Xin assessed his condition and spoke. But before he could say anything more, the young man suddenly felt liquid dripping onto his skin from his right hand, which was holding the knife.

Is it sweat?
Feeling the warmth on his wrist, a possibility flashed through Ling Xin's mind. But fortunately, the sound of water that followed helped him dismiss the thought.

That was rain.

Rain made of blood.

Not far from Ling Xin and Chu Hao, Xiao Niaoren was locked in a fierce battle with Nian Xikong.

Unlike before, when he could only rely on his comical, lazy rolling around to hold onto the enemy's hatred, Xiao Niaoren had now completely changed his appearance. His human pupils had completely disappeared, replaced by two blood-red lenses, his ears had elongated into sharp, elven shapes, and his canines had transformed into four gleaming white fangs protruding from his lips.

The most striking change was the appearance of a pair of enormous red bat wings that had somehow sprouted from Xiao Niaoren's back, their membranes covered in tangled veins. Each flap of these wings sent up sprays of blood, and the blood that had just splattered on Ling Xin's right hand was from this...

A gift from Dracula! A trump card that Xiao Niaoren can only use three times in his life!
The first time he used this move, Xiao Niaoren, who hadn't yet unlocked his fourth-tier gene lock, tore apart a fourth-tier demon lord with overwhelming force. Wherever his crimson bat wings swept past, powerful enemies fell like ears of wheat. While his strength was now immeasurably greater than before, he couldn't gain the slightest advantage against Nian Xikong…

Having rediscovered his former sword spirit and received Yang Yun's "transmission of the Dharma," Nian Xikong's strength could no longer be described as merely Foundation Establishment stage. As his sword flashed, it even subtly revealed a level of skill that even Golden Core stage cultivators could hardly match.

Although Nian Xikong had not yet condensed her Golden Core, her true essence seemed inexhaustible. When Xiao Niaoren's bat wings stirred up a blood-red storm, she simply twirled her sword, and the sword energy that filled the sky transformed into a blooming blue lotus, cleansing away all the blood and gore!
For a moment, one man wielded his sword with unparalleled skill, like a celestial being; the other, amidst a torrent of blood, resembled a demonic overlord. The two fought fiercely, their battle a lively and exciting spectacle...

"So it was a rain of blood... How could fighting Chu Hao possibly make me sweat?"

Ling Xin felt a sense of relief, though he didn't know where the confidence came from. But his good mood didn't last long, because Chu Hao, not far away, had once again raised his fist.

Whether he knew his key had been seen through or needed to build up his strength, Chu Hao openly displayed his preparations... Accompanied by a magical fluctuation far exceeding the previous one, dazzling runic light suddenly burst forth from Chu Hao's body!
This was no static array of runes; it was clearly a magical storm sweeping across reality! Tens of thousands of profound runes, like celestial bodies in a galaxy, ceaselessly moved along intricate trajectories. Whenever two runes met in the void, they would burst forth with dazzling magical sparks, giving rise to entirely new composite magic arrays that flowed and perished around Chu Hao…

Although it is the same manipulation technique, the "quality" and "precision" are completely different... If Chu Hao's ability just now was that of an interpreter of runes, then he is now the controller of runes. Wherever he goes, any rune must bow down and become the power in his palm!
Then, Chu Hao "looked" over.

It wasn't that I noticed the movement with my own eyes, but rather it was a premonition, as if the threads of fate had suddenly tightened, and the chill of death pierced my spine.

At the critical moment, Ling Xin almost reflexively released his last restraints. As the pitch-black spiritual pressure erupted like a burst dam, his mask began to twist and proliferate, white bone spurs rapidly emerging and spreading menacingly, outlining another grotesque, bony face. Even his entire aura began to become unstable…

Blurred!

Breaking the boundary between Shinigami and Hollows, and moving towards a higher level of evolution, with the remaining spiritual pressure surging within his body, the boundary between Hollows and Shinigami was forcibly torn apart at the critical moment of life and death. Ryoshin's body began to change, his aura rose sharply, and violent energy swept around like a storm!
This was a power that Ling Xin had not yet fully mastered, but now he had no other choice. This was a transformation that risked everything, a last struggle in a desperate situation, and Ling Xin's final act of resistance.

"boom--"

Then, Chu Hao's fist unleashed a dazzling divine light, like the light of dawn piercing through the eternal night, penetrating all of Ling Xin's defenses. This radiant punch actually dissected the rampaging black spiritual pressure... and thus halted Ling Xin's intangible transformation, shattering his final desperate gamble!
The purpose of etherealization is to introduce the power of "emptiness," to forcibly break through one's own limits with external force, and that is precisely why...

So how could it possibly escape the "analysis" of Chu Hao, a rune mage, based on the fragments of the Haotian Mirror? (End of Chapter)