No strange things are allowed to evolve!

He had his eyes closed, his expression serious and solemn, and he was muttering incantations.

He spoke at breakneck speed, spouting things like "Desolation grants me divine power," "The spiritual root of love and desire is the spiritual root of operation," "True damage is the most real damage," "One finger can inflict a thousand damages and you'll win," and "I'm gaining fake points, but you're losing real points," which were completely incomprehensible to everyone.

It's no different from chanting a mantra.

Just after Jiang Shu finished reciting the last incantation, he raised his eyelids and twitched his eyebrows: "Resistance is fake, health is illusory, true damage is given to me by Clarity, break!"

Bang!

A loud bang came from Sachima.

In an instant, Sachima's confidence vanished without a trace, replaced by panic.

Because he realized that the explosion did not occur on the surface of his body, but rather came from inside.

Although she didn't know how Jiang Shu did it, Shaqima was absolutely certain that he had successfully dismantled her defenses from within.

The immortal World Tree can resist some external attacks, but...

It is now withering from the inside out.

"How could you..."

Before Shaqima could finish speaking, he began to expand uncontrollably and rapidly, like an overinflated balloon, or even more like a bloated giant.

When the expansion reached its limit, his skin finally couldn't withstand the internal pulling and tore open, splattering blood and flesh.

In the blink of an eye, Shaqima went from a vibrant person to a pool of blood, her fate unknown.

The sudden turn of events shocked everyone watching.

"What kind of skill is this?"

"Could it be... that Sachima's immortal world tree is actually an illusion? Otherwise, how do you explain why Sachima's defenses failed after he recited the Antidote?"

"What kind of magic spell is that?"

"I'm not sure either, but I've heard that when people used to encounter ghost walls, the elders would say it's all fake, it's all fake, and then shout 'Break!' and they would be able to get out."

"Really...?"

While everyone was discussing this, Sugar Knight stared wide-eyed, unable to utter a single word.

The more you know about something, the more likely you are to feel fear.

Unlike others who only had a superficial understanding and knew that Sachima was powerful, but didn't know exactly how powerful it was, he clearly understood just how monstrous the "Immortal World Tree" skill was.

That's a divine skill that truly allows you to defy superiors and, even if you can't win, you'll never lose.

If your stats are at the same level as or slightly higher than Sachima's, and you don't have any specific skills, then Sachima is invincible.

Even if there is a way to break through his defense, it will be difficult to defeat him in a short time unless Shaqima stands there and lets you hit her.

In general, Sachima can definitely be considered "a person who will never die" in actual combat.

But this man, who was supposed to be invincible, is now dead, and right in front of him, at the hands of an insubordinate.

How could this not terrify him?

The Sugar Knight stared intently at Jiang Shu on the light screen, feeling a sense of threat for the first time...

At the same moment, Jiang Shu, who was in the arena, also felt a chill.

Then he pulled out the kidney from the sachima that had been blown into his neck.

"It feels icy cold, which means my kidneys are a bit weak and deficient."

Chapter 308 A Great Confucian Scholar Will Debate the Classics for Me

In fact, this outcome was also unexpected by Jiang Shu.

Since this was the first time it was used officially, Jiang Shu wasn't entirely sure what the specific effects would be after detonating the marker.

He could only guess what the scene would look like after the explosion based on the skill description.

In his imagination, the true damage from detonating the maximum health value, along with the removal of the corresponding physical strength, would at most weaken him and reduce his defense, turning him into a fragile glass man who would shatter at the slightest touch.

In short, it should be a state.

But he didn't expect the scene to be so impactful; the sachima shattered on its own without him even needing to touch it.

This puzzled Jiang Shu.

Even if it's because of a hundred consecutive hits, stacking up the "Annihilation" state, and detonating 90% of the maximum true damage, there should still be 10% left to sustain life.

In any case, Sachima should be able to manage to survive.

But he just exploded like a balloon.

Why is that?

Could it be...

Is it because of that?

Jiang Shu suddenly thought of a possibility.

What if we don't simply view Sachima as a person?

If we break it down into quantities down to the cellular level.

Ninety percent of the real damage is that it causes the cells that make up a complete Sachima to lose ninety percent of their activity.

In war, when a conventional force loses 50% of its available combat personnel, although it still has 50% manpower, it is actually no longer combat-ready.

So, is there a possibility?

When the loss of vitality reached 90%, although Sachima still had a chance to survive and maintained a minimum level of activity under extreme conditions, the remaining cells judged that the whole had suffered an unprecedented failure, so it simply collapsed.

The more Jiang Shu thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed.

For Shaqima, his "Immortal World Tree" was invincible, so his cells were all a bunch of pampered guys who relied on their top-notch and ultimate defensive capabilities to rest on their laurels.

Therefore, when faced with casualties of this magnitude, no, perhaps not even 90%, and possibly not even 50%, it is entirely possible that they would turn into surrenderers.

In short, is Sachima someone who can't stand any pressure? Beneath her seemingly strong exterior lies a soft heart that's easily broken...?

"I hope I didn't scare you, but that's how the 'Immortal World Tree' is. It's not just a skill that's independent of me. In fact, it's completely and deeply bound to my life force, so once it's broken through, I will also collapse."

"Oh."

Inside the final arena, Jiang Shu appeared calm.

But in reality, it's quite unpleasant.

Damn it, such a seemingly reasonable guess doesn't even come close to the truth?

"So, you mean I didn't actually defeat you completely, but it was just a side effect of your own skill?"

“I didn’t say that.” Shaqima waved her hand. “I’m not such a sore loser. No matter what the reason, as long as you can make me unable to stand in the arena within three moves, then I lose. This is what we agreed on beforehand, and I won’t go back on my word.”

Jiang Shu nodded gently.

He's a man of his word.

"I'm just curious, how did you do that?"

When she asked that question, Sachima's expression was quite calm.

Although his first reaction when he felt he couldn't hold on any longer was the same as the Hiroshima heatwave—disbelief—the difference was that he quickly accepted reality.

He had already learned the principle that there are always people better than him and heavens beyond heavens long before he even fought against those monsters ranked higher, so he didn't find it unreasonable at all that his seemingly invincible defense had been breached.

He had long understood that there is no true invincibility, nor is there a true limit; all invincibility is merely an illusion because weaknesses have not yet been exposed.

Rather than giving up in the face of failure, it's better to accept it early, learn from it, and improve your weaknesses.

Therefore, rather than "how could he possibly have done it", he was more concerned with "how he did it", which helped him discover flaws in the "immortal world tree" that had never been discovered before.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Shu countered, "Would you willingly expose your weaknesses to others?"

Sachima smiled helplessly.

This answer was exactly what he expected.

Regardless of how Jiang Shu cracked the "Immortal World Tree," it must have involved his core abilities.

Asking how he did it is tantamount to exposing his expertise to the world. If Jiang Shu really does that, he will inevitably be studied and targeted.

Jiang Shu's goal was clearly not just to secure a spot in the competition; he genuinely intended to compete for the title of King of Confrontation. Therefore, he certainly wouldn't voluntarily reveal his trump cards, which he might reuse repeatedly in the future.

This was indeed one of the important reasons that Jiang Shu was considering.

The solution to deal with the desolate wasteland is actually quite simple: just prevent Jiang Shu from having the opportunity to layer his power.

If Jiang Shu were to launch a powerful attack from the outset with an absolute disparity in strength, leaving him no chance to breathe, then Jiang Shu would have little opportunity to stack up enough layers to render the opponent incapable of fighting. It might even be difficult for him to stack up enough layers to meet the minimum conditions for detonation.

This effectively eliminated the possibility of Jiang Shu ending the game directly, essentially wasting one of his cards.

So even if you're not very familiar with Shaqima, you can't just reveal secrets like your own parents.

That might not be the right way to put it.

After all, his real biological parents don't even know that Jiang Shu has now become an evolved being.

That's the gist of it.

But in addition to that, Jiang Shu also considered another reason.

The nature of desolation and barrenness is quite unique.

It's not just a term derived from the characteristics of spiritual roots, or something linked to spiritual roots; it's also extremely rare in terms of its attributes.

It involves real harm.

Since Jiang Shu joined the Bureau of Different Principles, he has gained access to a great deal of information and has the authority to consult it. Therefore, he knows very well that true damage, which ignores physical strength and the resistance brought by skills and items, is not only unheard of in the entire history, but also extremely rare.

Their value is no less than that of a good girl working in a foot massage parlor.

Therefore, it is conceivable how much covetousness and danger such a powerful ability would attract if it were to be invented.

The good thing is that true damage is straightforward and unpretentious, unlike elemental damage like the Hiroshima Heatwave, which is flashy and easily recognizable as special.

The same punch that causes a broken nose after being resisted and a broken nose after ignoring resistance have the same effect. The person being punched will only feel pain in their nose and will not feel any difference between the two.

So, as long as Jiang Shu doesn't say anything, no one will know that his attack method is actually hidden so big. They will just think that this kid is just strong and that he is just punching people, but he insists on calling it a skill.

That's why he fabricated a "gentle knock on the sleeping soul," complete with a bunch of incantations and inexplicable hand seals.

But in reality, if you ask him to do those things a hundred times, the steps might be different ninety-nine times.

“I understand.” Sachima didn’t ask any more questions, but looked at the Sugar Knight beside her: “I lost. According to the agreement, I will give him all the points that exceeded his, so he will be tenth.”

"I understand." Sugar Knight nodded.

He still wore his signature smile.

However, no one noticed that, compared to his usual natural smile, the curve of his lips now looked somewhat stiff.

If you look closely, you can see that his current state is not very natural.

However, no one paid much attention to him, because they were all deeply shocked that Jiang Shu had broken Shaqima's invincible body with just a simple incantation.

This feels like a dream.

It wasn't until Sachima personally admitted that she had lost that they came to their senses and clearly realized that this was actually true, not some kind of illusion.

The heatwave in Hiroshima also looked unbelievable.

And his feelings were even more complicated than others.

It's not just in retrospect that his idea of ​​persuading Jiang Shu before the battle, and his certainty that Jiang Shu had fallen into the trap of Sachima and was bound to lose, seems so naive, even somewhat clownish.

It was also because he didn't know that Shaqima had also been defeated by Jiang Shu, so whether it was a consolation or a blow to him was unclear.

As for consolation, since even someone he had never been able to beat had been defeated by Jiang Shu, his own loss to Jiang Shu was nothing.

If it's just a little bit short, it's a pity and it's necessary to be a little sad. But if the gap is too big, being sad about such a failure is just torturing yourself. You might as well eat and drink as usual.

But if we're talking about a blow, the fact that the opponent he considered his goal and motivation lost so easily made Hiroshima Hot Wave realize that even the things he, an evolved being, had fought for were, in the eyes of some people, so insignificant.

Although Jiang Shu didn't defeat him, it was even more heartbreaking than defeating him.

Does this mean that the efforts of ordinary people are meaningless?

No, that's not how it is.

Just as the Hiroshima heatwave was getting out of control, they suddenly heard Jiang Shu's voice.