From the end of the world

Chapter 790 VS The Old Fist God 4
My power has increased slightly, which is unreasonable.

Although the third door is known for its "unreasonableness," not everything unreasonable can be accomplished, as I have already demonstrated to Little Bowl. Right now, I can only create stones that I cannot lift and lift them; I cannot yet complete this challenge while strictly adhering to mathematical rules and without inducing apocalyptic phenomena.

And using this unreasonable force to break the limits of power and strengthen oneself, and then using the unreasonable force after breaking the limits to break the limits again and strengthen oneself... This kind of unreasonable cycle of stepping on the right foot and rising infinitely is also beyond my current reach. I can't even take the first step.

But my strength has indeed increased, that's an undeniable fact... So, could it be that I really did become stronger under the stimulation of life-and-death battles, just like the protagonist in a classic battle manga?
Perhaps this isn't entirely without theoretical support. Human growth requires interaction and stimulation from the outside world, and I, in my spiritual state, am no exception.

If I were in a void, I could only digest past experiences to become stronger. Without new connections and encounters, and without truly unknown and unfamiliar things, once I reached a bottleneck, I would have to return to the real world to have any chance of making further progress; otherwise, even the "slow growth plateau" wouldn't exist. Even if I replicated countless creations around myself there, I was merely summoning known existences, essentially sealing myself in a recurring dream.

Conversely, in extreme situations, such as enduring the thrill of a life-or-death battle, especially when the enemy is also a third-level expert with power surpassing mine, then I can certainly obtain the most nutrients related to becoming stronger.

However, this is still not enough to explain how strong I have become.

To put it in ancient terms, trying to become stronger in the void is "thinking without learning is perilous"; while trying to become stronger in battle is "learning without thinking is futile." In the midst of fierce fighting where even catching one's breath is difficult, one can indeed absorb a lot of new experience, but there is no room to settle down and digest it carefully.

I have indeed had experiences of becoming stronger in battle in the past, but that was because I already possessed a latent power that could only be unleashed under the pressure of life-or-death crises. I don't have such favorable conditions now. In addition, I have taken out all the skills I could find to enhance my strength and added them to myself. My current state is not because I unconsciously used any methods that I forgot to take out at the beginning.

What exactly is going on with this strange phenomenon? I barely have time to analyze it, so I can only accept this bizarre situation in a hasty manner and concentrate the slightly stronger black flames.

The Eclipse Fire, once defined as an "erroneous evolution," has now, thanks to my transformation into a benevolent and all-encompassing being, become a simple yet powerful force attribute. While it's not as intuitive to use as its normal form, it's second only to it in terms of ease of handling. I transformed it into a black sun, releasing waves of destruction from it.

I aimed the Black Sun at the old Fist God, who was about to charge forward, and launched it. The old Fist God tried to dodge the attack, but was caught by its gravity and had no choice but to confront it head-on. He punched the Black Sun and blasted it apart with a single blow.

Just as I expected, the old fist god was indeed unable to use a skill that could destroy a fatal weakness to cleverly destroy the Eclipse Fire, and could only meet force with force. However, this time I used a ranged attack. Although the intensity of the Eclipse Fire increased slightly, it was not the Eclipse Sword at close range after all, so its actual lethality was inevitably reduced.

The old Fist God's fist was severely burned. However, such an injury, which would be horrific for a normal human, did not fundamentally harm the old Fist God, who was a third-level expert with a fanatical fighting spirit.

I could even see the burns on his fists gradually healing, and the deep, bone-revealing gash on his chest slowly healing. In fact, I had infused my attack with the intent to kill, and even simulated a large number of abilities related to "preventing the enemy from repairing damage." This was the regenerative power of a third-level expert specializing in the physical body.

I currently have no Divine Seal fragments at hand, nor can I output True Spirit Power myself, let alone inflict "Irreparable True Damage." Perhaps even if I did, merely mixing a small percentage of True Spirit Power into my attacks wouldn't be enough to truly threaten the Old Fist God.

The only option was to continue risking using the Eclipse Sword at close range, gradually stacking up the damage.

"Very good, Zhuang Cheng, you have indeed lived up to my expectations!" the old boxing god shouted joyfully.

“I don’t understand, what’s so great about you?” I asked.

"A formidable opponent is right in front of me, what reason do I have to be unhappy?" the old boxing god said with a smile.

"A formidable opponent? You overestimate me. I don't believe you haven't realized that I'm weaker right now, and the probability of me defeating you is extremely small. Besides, didn't you just say that the purpose of this battle is also for 'the Great Abandonment'?" I said. "I seriously doubt whether this level of combat can really put you under enough life-or-death pressure."

"No, it's not a matter of whether the pressure of life and death is enough. I've also challenged the 'Great Abandonment' route, so I can give a very clear conclusion. 'Great Abandonment' is not a simple hurdle that can be overcome simply by the thrill of battle and the pressure of life and death."

“Everyone has a different temperament,” the old boxing master said unmoved. “Some people can find a breakthrough in battle, while others, even if they can learn from the experience, can only digest and absorb it after surviving. In my opinion, you must be the latter, so how can you be sure that the former is incapable of doing it?”

“Since you’re so confident, it must be the former,” I said. “Then why not give me the Divine Seal of the Present World? You don’t need it right now anyway, so I can use it and bring you absolute pressure in a desperate situation.” “You’re dreaming. You think you can get something for nothing from me?” Old Fist God chuckled. “I’m not stupid. If things really turn out that way, I probably won’t even have time to feel the taste of life and death before I die under the power of the Divine Seal.”

I countered with a question: "Since you want to achieve a 'great abandonment' purely through a life-or-death crisis, how can it be justified if you don't go to that level? How can you achieve a truly extraordinary sublimation without facing such an unconventional predicament?"

"External forces have no soul... I think that's what you just said. But whether or not they have a soul, power is power, life and death are life and death, adventure is adventure, and none of that changes. Or are you afraid, and that's why you're using the excuse of souls to avoid adventure?"

Although there was an element of provocation involved, I also had the idea of ​​exploring the old boxing god's deeper psychology during the fierce battle, and wanted to find his weaknesses from a perspective outside of the fight.

The old boxing god paused slightly, but his face did not show any anger. Instead, his eyes lit up and he said, "That's right, you're right... I've fallen into a vicious cycle."

"Alright, then after I defeat you, I will hand over the divine seal to the little girl beside you. Let her use this power to avenge you and bring down the 'unconventional predicament' you mentioned!"

He laughed heartily, as if he had solved some kind of puzzle. I sensed that he was actually serious; he really wanted to implement this strategy later!

I had initially considered trying to persuade him to hand over the Divine Seal of the Present World. It wasn't that I genuinely thought this approach had any potential; I was simply using verbal attacks as a way to overcome the difficulty. While it wasn't entirely fruitless, it didn't contribute to the battle itself. He still wanted to continue the current situation and fight me to the death.

"If the enemy is the one who wields the divine seal, then it doesn't matter who that person is," said the Old Fist God. "Anyway, the divine seal is still a divine seal no matter who wields it; it won't become a powerless piece of junk just because the wielder changes. If she really can't unleash its power, I can lend her a hand."

“But you are different… Zhuang Cheng.”

His voice was filled with a fighting spirit, "Opportunities to fight against the controllers of divine seals are readily available, but the opportunity to fight against you, a genuine manifestation of the Dao, is absolutely unique. You have no choice but to savor it!"

This is the first time in my life that someone has described me as "authentic".

No sooner had he finished speaking than the Old Fist God made a stepping motion in outer space, instantly arriving in front of me, and that terrifying iron fist once again struck towards my head.

I had already conjured yet another Eclipse Sword, intending to strike while simultaneously making a dodging motion, but I had already given up hope of actually avoiding it. With each round of combat and the deepening of my awareness lock-on, the Old Fist God's accuracy against me was increasing. Since I hadn't been able to dodge successfully before, this time it was even less likely I could.

But reality was quite different from my prediction. I narrowly dodged the old Fist God's attack, while the Eclipse Sword's strike reached his arm. An explosion occurred at the point of impact, allowing me to retreat to a distance using the shockwave while completing my attack. A deep, bone-revealing gash appeared on the old Fist God's arm, part of it charred, with blood gushing out continuously.

I actually dodged it... Was it luck? Did my luck suddenly explode? No, the strongmen of the third gate cannot be controlled by luck or misfortune; then could it be that Old Fist God went easy on me? That's impossible too, even when facing his adopted daughter Qilin, whom he regarded as his own daughter, he never showed any mercy.

The old Fist God's passion seemed to be further ignited by his blood. He charged forward excitedly, and powerful magical energy fluctuations spread in all directions as if they were constantly exploding.

"And... you don't need to underestimate yourself, Zhuang Cheng. You have plenty of opportunities to defeat me," he said with a loud laugh. "You're still getting stronger... aren't you?"

Yes, that's the only answer. The reason I was able to evade and counterattack the old boxing god is because I just became stronger again, strong enough to temporarily surpass the old boxing god's lock-on progress.

But I still don't understand why I can continue to get stronger?

At that moment, I noticed two strange details.

(End of this chapter)