After realizing the threat posed by Time Manipulators, I had to kill him no matter what.
If during the Human Bureau base incident, it hadn’t been Divine Spear who came to capture Mazao on behalf of Ming Zhuo’s faction but this Time Manipulator, I would have had no way to protect Mazao. The reason Divine Spear was in charge of this matter was probably because Lu Youxun happened to ask him for help; it was merely convenient and he didn’t anticipate that I, beside Mazao, had such capabilities.
It’s still not too late. As long as Ming Zhuo accurately locks onto Mazao’s current location and orders the Time Manipulator to capture Mazao, no matter how strong my power is, I won’t be able to deploy it in time. Under the condition that he doesn’t target me, I can’t sense or affect him as he sneaks into Planck time. I must kill him now.
If I must say, it’s not that there isn’t a single method... When I touched the Time Manipulator with the giant flame hand before, I had already implanted a thermal energy marker in his body. Through this thermal energy marker, even if he sneaks back into the still world, I might be able to form a perception there.
And now, all I need to do is to trigger an explosion , and I can successfully eliminate him before he reacts.
Since it’s an attack launched directly inside his body, even Ming Zhuo can’t protect his life. My flames can instantly burn and destroy even his solidified time, along with evaporating his body and soul on the spot. Ming Zhuo let out an uncontrollable roar, and mana fluctuations violently swept around, turning into shock waves and fierce winds that exploded from inside the laboratory building. The surrounding guards were blown away like scraps of paper in front of a leaf blower.
There are less than twenty at the Great Success Rank in Luoshan, and there are eight of Impermanence. Even if each Great Success Rank has a master and is equally divided among all the Impermanences, each Impermanence gets at most two people. Divine Spear died before, and now this Time Manipulator, Ming Zhuo’s subordinates may no longer have any useful pieces.
Ming Zhuo aimed his palm at me. In an instant, the endless shock waves and fierce winds disappeared. To be precise, they did not disappear but converged together. Mana fluctuations that were venting in all directions were focused into one beam, and, at the same time, his mana exploded further violently from his body, turning into an invisible concentrated force that hammered towards my heart.
With no time to dodge, I reflexively took a defensive stance. A huge amount of flames converged at the point that was about to be hit, greatly increasing the firmness of that part. However, as easily as a diamond drill bit penetrates a wafer, my defense was shattered, and I was flung out at a speed exceeding Mach 100.
An additional hole appeared in the region of my heart. Not only that, but my soul was also severely pierced. This blow could, in fact, have annihilated my entire soul, but the excessive concentration of power actually resulted in a relatively minor puncture effect.
As an Impermanence, how could his attack so easily penetrate my defense?
In the blink of an eye, I flew out from Luoshan Headquarters and arrived above the Primordial Forest. Even Luoshan Headquarters rapidly disappeared beyond the horizon. Although I’m not sure whether Ming Zhuo deliberately knocked me far away or it was by chance, I had no intention of formally starting a battle in the town anyways, so this saved me the trouble.
"How come... didn’t you want to take my life?" Ming Zhuo’s hateful voice echoed around, "Why have you now become this embarassingly injured?"
—He was beneath, in the forest.
I immediately sensed his presence and consequently unfolded a vast Fire Sea, covering a radius of more than twenty kilometers of the forest area.
The blaze reaching for the sky instantly turned the area into what seemed like daylight, while black-red smoke rapidly rose from the forest below, forming an image of a person made of smoke at high altitudes.
That must also be Fake Elementalization. Now, I can somewhat distinguish between Fake Elementalization and True Elementalization. The Fake Elementalization that Ming Zhuo is using involves turning his physical body into Mana Elements and then attaching his soul to it. The Fake Elementalization of Water Navy Xuanwu is probably the same concept.
This is essentially more of a soul possession spell, but ordinary demon hunters might only be able to possess other bodies or attach to mechanical puppets and the like, while the highly skilled can inhabit unstable things like water, fire, lightning. This behavior is like walking a tightrope, not only easy to lose control while maintaining it, but elements like water, fire, lightning, and other elemental containers also don’t have decent soul defense capabilities.
The real Elementalization, which is what I used, can turn both the body and soul into Mana Elements. Even if seriously injured, I can repair myself anytime, anywhere. "The water flows even more when you draw your sword and chop through it"—this ancient poem describing "futile" also applies to the attack on my soul.
"Injured? What do you mean?"
With the support of the Fire Sea, my body and soul instantly reverted to their original state.
"Even the soul can exist in the form of Mana Elements, true Elementalization... Indeed, the intelligence didn’t exaggerate your abilities, have you grasped the realm of Manifestation?" Ming Zhuo said thoughtfully, "But if it’s Manifestation reached through acquired cultivation, it can’t just be this level of change. Could it be that you didn’t achieve this domain through cultivation and insight, but rather purely relied on innate talent? Are you a natural-born Manifestation User?"