Eternal Night

Chapter 807 The Truth Behind the Human-Beast Disaster (Seeking monthly votes at the beginning of the month)
Wu Pifu felt a little pressure.

This aloof, long-haired young man is a standard martial artist. He may not be a martial artist like Wu Pifu, nor has he studied traditional Chinese martial arts, but his combat experience is almost second only to Wu Pifu.

Under the expansion of this unknown power, as Wu Pifu observed, its strength was expanding exponentially. It wasn't just its displayed strength; even the life force that Wu Pifu sensed was expanding wildly. As a result, it reached the Human Immortal level in its first exchange with Wu Pifu, and then reached the middle level of the Human Immortal level within five seconds. At this point, its life force intensity surpassed Wu Pifu's for the first time.

It's understandable for strength to expand and become stronger. There are many ways to quickly increase one's strength. Even for Wu Pifu himself, the combination of multiple extraordinary paths can immediately bring about a qualitative change in strength. Even using some forbidden methods to squeeze life and time can also bring about a qualitative change in strength.

However, the expansion of vitality is incomprehensible.

Just as Beelzebub said before, even the extraordinary paths in the dream world have an underlying logic and follow certain basic laws. Power cannot come out of thin air; there is always something to replace it. The True Martial lineage relies on one's own blood and qi. Eating more and consuming more good things can accelerate the accumulation. Other extraordinary paths are no different. Whether it is accumulating skills through hard work, relying on things like natural treasures, taking unorthodox methods such as absorbing yin energy and souls, or signing some kind of contract with a more powerful and higher-level being, in short, there are traces to follow.

There can't be a sudden surge in vitality!

However, this cold-looking, long-haired youth accomplished this. Not only him, but the previous twenty-odd people also experienced a surge in vitality intensity and total amount before their strength increased dramatically. This vitality came out of thin air, not from external infusion, but from their own expansion.

This completely defies basic logic; it can't even be described as a perpetual motion machine.

(Or is it the power of time? They did mention before that it could unleash the power of decades or centuries in a single moment, but...)
Wu Pifu slashed out with his sword, striking a golden wolf head that emerged from the palm of the cold-looking, long-haired youth. The wolf's fangs, like daggers, bit into the blade as the sword struck, creating a loud clang of metal against metal. Wu Pifu's sword hadn't managed to cut it open, but the golden wolf head was immobilized by the slightly vibrating sword, unable to move either.

At the same time, the cold-looking long-haired youth arrived in a flash, kicking Wu Pifu in the back and spine. He had somehow bypassed the golden giant wolf and launched an attack from behind Wu Pifu. However, as his kick came, Wu Pifu had already struck with a chop to his ankle. The chop and the ankle collided, producing another metallic clang. In less than the blink of an eye, the cold-looking long-haired youth had flashed to Wu Pifu's side, thrusting his hand forward towards his temple.

Wu Pifu was about to raise his hand to block, but a sudden sense of danger erupted within him. He felt a slight stinging pain in his temple and immediately slapped his waist with his palm, using the force to shift himself a few inches. Then, a thin scratch appeared on his temple skin, and a tremendous force pierced through his back, tearing through the air and striking the ground, creating a bottomless hole in the earth.

(Not sword energy or blade aura, but physical weapons I can't see, or similar attack methods...)
With a thought flashing through his mind, Wu Pifu turned to the side. Taking advantage of the moment when the cold-haired youth was adjusting his body after making a single outstretched strike, Wu Pifu's palm moved like a wave, gently stroking the youth's abdomen with a soft force. At the same time, he used his other hand to forcefully tear the golden giant wolf to shreds with a single twist of his Death-Defying Blade.

The cold, long-haired youth was sent flying by the soft force, traveling thousands of meters away. Even in mid-air, he roared furiously, his face contorted with rage: "No, not this! Use your full power! Terrifying calamity, use your full power! This is not what I want to see!"

Amidst the roar, the life force of the cold, long-haired youth continued to expand, transforming into a visible milky-white flame of life that burned fiercely, extending a hundred feet away from his body. His hair and nails grew at a visible speed, and his muscles began to swell, even exceeding the expansion of a normal human body.

The excessive vitality, even though he clearly had a way to convert it into unknown extraordinary energy, was now completely beyond his control, much like cancer.

Wu Pifu paused for a moment, then gave an apologetic look and said, "I'm sorry, because there's so much unknown information, I originally intended to probe as much as possible during this battle, but that would be too disrespectful to you... Your 'time' isn't much longer either, is it? Okay, from now on, I'll fight seriously."

"...Is it merely being serious, rather than giving it your all?"

A complex and unreadable expression appeared on the face of the cold-looking, long-haired young man.

His conversations with Wu Pifu and his various actions were like super-fast cuts in a movie. He raised his hands and looked up: "This is a terrifying power that I never dared to imagine before I was 'raised'. It is a level that surpasses the limits of human life, but in your eyes, you don't even need to be serious... So, what exactly are you?"

“Human!” Wu Pifu said very seriously, “Without a doubt, I am human, a pure-blooded human.”

"...Pureblood, human?" The cold, long-haired youth muttered with a bizarre expression before shaking his head and saying, "I don't care what you are. Before I burn out my life, come, let me see a different kind of scenery!"

"In return, I will tell you the truth about the human-breeding beast Pap, and the true hope hidden here!"

Then, the two fell silent. The cold-looking, long-haired youth landed, his foot stomping and the ground crumbling. He pounced on Wu Pifu again, his hands clasped together, forming the fangs of a wild beast, and thrust forward: "Wolf Fang!"

A gigantic golden wolf, hundreds of meters long, suddenly appeared and howled as it lunged at Wu Pifu.

Wu Pifu then used a third extraordinary method... the Human Immortal Martial Arts.

The hundreds-of-foot-long wall of energy suddenly erupted, and the giant wolf crashed into it. For a moment, it couldn't break through the wall, until it used its teeth to tear it apart and finally managed to break through.

"...The Unmanned Stones, the hope on the surface of this forbidden land, are a super perpetual energy source that can be used indefinitely. They will discharge electricity as long as they are placed in water. The size and number of Unmanned Stones in the bracelet are enough to provide the electricity for a city."

The cold, long-haired youth's voice reached Wu Pifu's ears. He was hiding behind the giant wolf, making a grabbing motion with his hand, seemingly holding something, but Wu Pifu couldn't see it. Wu Pifu had truly witnessed the terrifying power of this extraordinary force called "Nian" before—not in its raw power, but in its almost unsolvable rules. Therefore, he didn't dare let the cold, long-haired youth get close easily. He simply raised his broadsword and slashed forward, unleashing a blade of light that instantly cleaved the golden giant wolf in two. As it reached the cold, long-haired youth, the youth forcefully swung it back. Wu Pifu's pupils constricted sharply, because the blade of light actually slashed back exactly as it had before—its power, speed, and size remained unchanged, but its direction had changed, and he could no longer control the blade of light.

"...Three hundred and fifty years ago, my team and I were hired by V5...five of the most powerful nations in human civilization, along with two of the world's five strongest Nen users at the time, more than two thousand elite Nen users, and more than five thousand elite special forces soldiers. We crossed Lake Möbius from the human world and came to the Dark Continent to explore this land of hope in the deserted stone."

The sound was still echoing, and Wu Pifu, facing the blade that had come at him, could not dodge it. He simply raised his blade and slashed again, unleashing another blade of light that clashed and clashed with the returning blade of light.

With a loud bang, a terrifying shockwave erupted in mid-air, sweeping outwards in all directions, distorting the sky into ripples that spread for tens of thousands of miles.

In that instant, the cold-looking, long-haired youth had already closed in on Wu Pifu.

He's still getting stronger!
He has been continuously getting stronger, seemingly without end. Now, in terms of strength, speed, and reaction speed alone, he is no less than Wu Pifu, who has combined national martial arts, human immortal martial arts, and has not used his full immortal martial arts internal energy.

He formed claws with both hands and lunged at Wu Pifu from mid-air.

It was the same kind of damage that was invisible to the naked eye, just like when it grazed Wu Pifu's temple before, extending at least several meters in front of its claws out of thin air.

But just because he can't see it doesn't mean Wu Pifu can't fight back.

As the claws came at him, he raised one palm high in the air, his mouth moving slightly, but he didn't utter any poem or anything. He simply slapped the palm down from above.

"The Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms, Dragon Appears in the Field!"

With a palm strike in mid-air, the two claws collided. Before the dragon-shaped energy could grow, it was torn apart by the claws. Sure enough, the claws were covered with an incomparably sharp, invisible substance. However, the upward momentum of the cold-haired youth was interrupted by this palm strike.

He does not have the ability to levitate!

"Dragon and Wolf Playing with a Pearl!"

The cold-looking, long-haired youth suddenly roared and slammed his claws downwards. Then, he actually flew into the air, but his posture was a bit strange, as if he was stepping on something invisible to soar into the sky.

"...Then, our team encountered the Disaster Beast Papp, who guarded the hope of this place. At that time, only three humans raised by Papp appeared. Three, and then our team was slaughtered. Only I and two other Nen users were preserved as collectibles and have been raised to this day."

The cold-looking, long-haired youth flew around Wu Pifu at an extremely fast speed. The invisible thing he was standing on was enormous. Although Wu Pifu couldn't see what it was, he could tell from the trajectory of the surrounding wind that it seemed to be a long, claw-like object. Suddenly, he felt a slight stinging pain on his head and the soles of his feet. He immediately struck out with one palm upwards and one foot downwards at the same time.

A tremendous force converged from above and below, propelling him backward by this invisible attack. At the same time, the cold-haired youth leaped into the air, his arms outstretched, and something incredibly powerful seemed to materialize in his hands. In Wu Pifu's perception, his exaggeratedly surging life force began to gather in his hands.

"...During the 350 years we've been raised, we've only been awake a handful of times. We're usually awakened when humans approach in large numbers and with powerful Nen abilities. But it's not always my turn to awaken, so my awakening time is very short. Even so, I, and we, have largely learned the true secrets of this place..."

At this moment, the cold-looking, long-haired youth raised his hands high and slapped them down towards Wu Pifu's head and heart. But in Wu Pifu's eyes, the skin on his arms began to wither at a visible speed, and his body was rapidly shrinking...

"...True hope lies beneath the earth. The true nature of the Undead Stone is merely a byproduct of its embellishment, while the true form of the Human-Beast Pap—no, it should be the form of the Primordial Mind before its rampage—is..."

The moment the cold, long-haired youth slapped Wu Pifu with both hands, he rapidly shrank, withered, and transformed into a palm-sized, withered humanoid fruit...

Wu Pifu felt two indestructible attacks, each carrying terrifying tearing power, land on him. In that instant, he even felt a deadly threat, so much so that he subconsciously widened his eyes and used his Super Brain World.

By the time the superbrain world shut down, he was already hundreds of meters away. The two terrifying forces remained invisible and silent, simply being thrown forward rapidly. After more than ten seconds, two enormous mushroom clouds suddenly rose up thousands of miles away, their power terrifying. One cloud fell along the land towards the plains, carving a long trail across the ground, while the other fell towards the mountainous region, shattering several peaks over 10,000 meters high. The continuous collapse of the mountains continued.

Only then did Wu Pifu hear the last words of the cold, long-haired youth.

"...Virtual reality hibernation..."

(End of this chapter)