Records of Mysterious Things in the Southern Dynasties

Chapter 505 A One-Man War

"Only by killing you can I truly be myself!"

"Only by killing you can I truly be myself!"

The two were originally one, and their thoughts were exactly the same. They both realized immediately that they should kill the other to complete themselves, rather than let the other kill them to replenish themselves.

So they all attacked at the same time, and even their moves were the same...

"Those who die first don't deserve to be whole!"

"Hmph, you're nothing but a defective product of mine; you don't deserve to be whole!"

Amidst a barrage of words, the two engaged in a frenzied battle, their moves mirroring each other perfectly. Thunder and black fire collided repeatedly, causing the entire layer of hell to tremble violently and shattering countless bronze mirrors.

The fragments of the bronze mirror transformed into sharp blades that shot towards Zhen Renyuan, but they all disintegrated upon touching the protective aura surrounding him!

"Don't forget this is my home turf!" Ghost General Ren Yuan sneered. "Even if we're evenly matched, I still have the advantage of terrain!"

He suddenly split into a hundred illusory figures, which was Ren Yuan's signature move from his early days, 'Myriad Transformations'. But when combined with his supreme divine abilities 'Illusory Universe' and 'Creating Something from Nothing', he could make each illusory figure his own, each capable of launching a deadly attack!

Of course, this requires immense magical power; even though he is already a demigod, he can only control a hundred such clones at the same time...

However, the ghost general Ren Yuan mobilized the magic power of the Mirror Abyss, which refracted thousands upon thousands of clones, surrounding Ren Yuan completely.

"Keep imitating me then!" Thousands of ghost generals mocked Ren Yuan in unison, "You don't have the ability anymore, do you?"

"I also have moves that you can't imitate." Ren Yuan smiled faintly, and his dragon scale armor radiated a chaotic halo. The scales were no longer a single gilded color, but were interwoven with black, white and gold flowing light, as if he had condensed the chaotic energy at the beginning of the world into his body.

The Dragon-Patterned Demon-Slaying Blade in his hand also underwent a change—

The blade churned like molten gold, with black, white, and gold lights intertwining and swirling, as if a primordial chaos aura flowed within it. The edge of the blade was no longer a single point of sharpness, but was surrounded by a faint, ethereal halo of chaotic light!
The Demon-Slaying Blade has evolved once again, becoming a Chaos Blade!
"Come on, let's see if my new technique, which I comprehended in the chaos, is more powerful, or if your home-field advantage in hell is stronger!" Ren Yuan roared, swinging his blade at the myriad avatars of the ghost general Ren Yuan. Wherever the blade passed, space rippled like water, as if even time and rules were distorted and collapsed!
"Come on then, who's afraid of who?!" Tens of thousands of ghost generals roared together, like a surging tide of the underworld, launching an overwhelming attack on him!

The black demon-slaying blades, densely packed like dark clouds obscuring the sun, shot towards Ren Yuan with purple lightning! Thousands of bolts of lightning struck Ren Yuan's head simultaneously with earth-shattering force!

Ren Yuan showed no fear. He suddenly spread his wings, and the resulting gale shook the phantoms at the front row, making them unsteady. He raised the Chaos Blade high and slashed fiercely at the purple lightning that filled the sky!

The black, white, and gold light flowing across the blade grew even more dazzling, and wherever the blade passed, it was like boiling water being poured over snow, dissipating all the purple lightning into nothingness...

"You really mastered the power of chaos?!" Ren Yuan, one of the myriad ghost generals, had his pupils shrink, and his expression was one of utter disappointment.

"That's right, I was reborn from the chaos before the creation of the world." Ren Yuan's voice seemed to come from the end of time and space, with a huge chaotic vortex appearing behind him. "And you, you are forever frozen at the moment of your demise!"

"You're talking nonsense! Kill you, and Chaos will be mine!" Tens of thousands of ghost generals roared and pounced on Ren Yuan, wanting to cut him into a thousand pieces! "Well done!" Ren Yuan shouted, his figure as fast as lightning, and took the initiative to charge into the enemy group. The Chaos Blade was wielded wildly, and each slash brought out an arc of light containing the origin of chaos, annihilating a group of ghost generals!
The attacks of the ghost generals Ren Yuan came like hail. Some of them used black demon-slaying blades to slash at Ren Yuan, some spewed out nether poison mist, some detonated their companions in front of Ren Yuan in an attempt to kill him, and some transformed into dragon bodies and spewed flames at Ren Yuan!
Ren Yuan moved as if he were in an empty field, the chaotic aura emanating from his dragon scale armor deflecting all attacks. Sometimes he would leap into the air, his blade slicing through the air, large swaths of afterimages vanishing under the power of chaos; other times he would swoop down, his wings sweeping across the ground, shattering rows of afterimages into fragments.

Seeing this, Ghost General Ren Yuan was enraged and roared, "Let's go all out! Many ants can kill an elephant!"

Upon hearing the summons, even more phantoms surged forth from the depths of the Mirror Abyss, densely packed and overwhelming, like a swarm of locusts.

"Let's see how long you can hold out!" Countless voices rang out simultaneously, deafeningly loud. The phantoms formed various battle formations, some transforming into behemoths of the underworld, others into mountain of blades and sword formations, launching the fiercest offensive against Ren Yuan!
"No matter how much I was yesterday, I can't hold me back today!" Ren Yuan laughed loudly, his laughter filled with confidence.

But he dared not be careless either, raising the Chaos Blade high with both hands, the vortex behind him spinning wildly, the chaotic energy emanating from it filling the entire layer of hell!

"Eternal Annihilation!" With a roar, an enormous chaotic blade of light burst forth from the blade! Wherever the blade of light passed, the world was reduced to only black and white. The phantoms screamed in agony, utterly annihilated before they even had a chance to struggle.

The entire Mirror Abyss trembled violently under this devastating power, eventually shattering completely, and the entire dome disappeared.

The eighth level of the Stone Mill Hell crashed down. The demon general guarding the prison, Demon Heart, and his thousands of demon soldiers were humming songs as they pushed the millstone, crushing the ghosts who had squandered grain and lived extravagantly in their previous lives into dust. Suddenly, they found the ground disappearing, and they were falling like dumplings being dropped into a pot.

Before they could react, the entire layer of ghost soldiers was submerged in the chaos that devoured heaven and earth.

Ren Yuan stood in the chaos, his face expressionless as he surveyed his surroundings. He saw that Jing Yuan and the thousands of phantoms had completely disappeared, leaving only the ghost general Ren Yuan, who was also covered in wounds.

"Damn it, this is impossible..." Ghost General Ren Yuan spat out a mouthful of black blood, and said angrily, "We are clearly the same, so why is there such a big difference?"

He was still unwilling to give up and frantically swung his sword at Ren Yuan, but once his attacks touched the chaos, they melted instantly, like ice and snow meeting the scorching sun.

Ren Yuan spread his wings, and the chaotic vortex behind him continued to expand, gradually enveloping the ghost general Ren Yuan.

"I told you, you are forever trapped in the past in hell, while I touched the future in chaos."

When chaos completely enveloped Ghost General Ren Yuan, he finally sensed the origin and suddenly understood the Dao.

"So... the true meaning of life is to constantly surpass yourself from yesterday."

“Yes. Once you stagnate, you’re heading towards death…” Ren Yuan nodded.

"Then keep going, don't stop." Ghost General Ren Yuan finally revealed a relieved smile.

After saying that, his body transformed into countless points of light and merged into Ren Yuan's body.

"Don't worry, only death will stop me!" Ren Yuan nodded emphatically. With the fusion complete, the emptiness he had felt since waking up vanished completely; he knew he was now whole!

(End of this chapter)