My health recovery is incredibly fast.

The eight negative effects include: despair, helplessness, near death, regret, madness, dementia, self-harm, and delusions.

...

While Xia Zuo's fighting team drew the Faceless Man's attention on the ground, the last remaining burrowing vehicle drilled underground, opened the secret chamber located beneath the Faceless Man's alchemy room, and retrieved the dangerous chaotic energy—a ball of black energy sealed in a crystal bottle and bound by a light-dark force field.

The drilling vehicle did not take Rena and Hughie away for the time being, as the magical cocoons on their bodies could not be removed in the short term.

The drilling vehicle, carrying the bottle of chaotic energy, drove directly to the pre-designated launch site, set up the heavy weapon launcher, and its flesh-and-blood clone stuffed the crystal bottle into the launcher's barrel, exhausting all its life force to input energy into the launcher, successfully converting the chaotic energy into a chaotic arrow and launching it.

This spell arrow, only the size of a fist, was not much larger than an ordinary bird.

To condense it into shape, Xia Zuo gulped down alchemical dragon blood, but his face remained pale; the cost of launching it—a staggering 13 points of health—was simply too great.

The Chaos Arrow, which Xia Zuo had high hopes for, flew faster and faster, and a black beam of light attacked from directly in front of it, creating a black channel with a pulling effect.

The source of this black beam of light is the floating turret behind the Shadow Giant.

This tadpole-like creature devoured the flesh and blood of the Shadow Giant, using a cannon formed from shadow energy to fire tractor beams of light, guiding the trajectory of the Chaos Arrow.

The faceless man transformed back into a humanoid form from the white pillar, and he also withdrew the static energy field around him—the Chaos Arrow hitting the energy field was equivalent to hitting the faceless man's energy body. The connection between the two would instantly transfer any damage suffered by one to the other. This was another feature that Xia Zuo accidentally discovered in a future timeline.

Even after reverting to human form, the faceless man still couldn't escape the Shadow Giant's enthusiastic embrace.

A large cloud of black mist spewed out from half of the Shadow Giant's body, squeezing out the air around the two and creating a narrow temporary area where only shadow energy existed. This isolated the Faceless Man from the normal spellcasting environment, temporarily disabling all his elemental spells.

The more black mist was sprayed, the thinner the shadow giant became, and his muscles visibly atrophied, soon revealing his steel-like bones.

Xia Zuo's health was also decreasing in tandem, and his pale face began to turn ashen with exhaustion. He only hoped that the Chaos Arrow could hit the faceless man accurately, even if it meant that the Shadow Giant would perish with him.

The faceless man struggled and roared, writhing wildly in the shadow giant's embrace:

"Are you insane! That's the Arrow of Chaos! It will tear your consciousness apart and destroy your spiritual ocean. You will no longer be yourself. Even if your master can resurrect you, you will no longer be yourself! You will be a madman driven to madness!"

The arms around his body tightened even more, and the faceless man cried out in pain:

"Let go! Let go! You bastard! You're committing suicide!"

The emaciated shadow giant remained unmoved, steadfastly carrying out its master's orders, tightly constricting the faceless man's body until the arrow of chaos pierced both of them.

"Let me go! Name your terms! Whatever your master needs, I can give it to you!" The once arrogant faceless man begged for mercy, only to be met with arms that tightened their grip even further.

A shadow darker than the black mist shot in from outside the black mist, and the faceless man's shouts came abruptly.

The black mist in mid-air dissipated, and the Shadow Giant completed its mission. It released its arms and slowly fell downwards. It clenched its right fist and pounded twice on its left chest, which had a round hole in it, before turning into black particles and dissipating into the air.

On the other side of the battlefield, Xia Zuo also pounded his chest in salute, paying tribute to the flesh and blood clones of the important figures who had successfully completed their mission. Even though they were just magical clones, and everything came from Xia Zuo, the spellcaster, their persistence, determination, and loyalty deserved Xia Zuo's respect.

"Cough...cough..." A hoarse cough came from the sky.

The faceless man lowered his head, staring incredulously at the circular hole in the center of his chest, which looked as if it had been coated with a layer of pitch-black oil, completely out of place with the elemental luster of the rest of his body.

Inside the circular opening, a tranquil darkness was rapidly writhing, devouring the faceless man's energy body.

The faceless man's internal organs, skin, and fillers, formed from energy, were decomposed by chaotic energy into nutrients to strengthen himself. Countless black lines spread from the energy channels inside his body to his limbs and head.

"Whoosh~"

The sharp blade of air severed the faceless man's neck, blocking the spread of chaotic energy before it could corrupt his head.

The next second, the faceless man's energy body turned into black particles, following in the footsteps of the Shadow Giant.

The faceless man's handiwork was severing his neck with an air blade; he was trying to save himself.

The faceless beings use the spiritual ocean to attract chaotic energy and construct a chaotic container that envelops the spiritual ocean.

The ratio between the spiritual ocean and the chaotic container must be kept in balance. If more chaotic energy comes into contact with the spiritual ocean, the spiritual ocean will be squeezed inward by the excessively dense chaotic energy in a very short time, eventually causing the spellcaster to die a bizarre brain death.

As a wild elemental, the Faceless Man is not afraid of his limbs splitting apart, nor is he afraid of any insidious negative effects. His only fatal weakness is that the chaotic container in his brain cannot be contaminated with even a tiny bit of extra chaotic energy.

The faceless man's head tumbled and fell through the air, spinning in circles, as if it had completely lost consciousness.

Xia Zuo looked at the scene and a bitter smile appeared on his lips.

It was still just a little short.

The conditions for launching the Chaos Arrow are far too demanding—accuracy is guaranteed when fired at close range, but the Faceless Ones will detect it in advance and destroy the launcher. Accuracy is also poor when fired at long range, even with the dual guidance of the tractor beam and blood element minions, a slight deviation still occurs.

In the ideal scenario, a single shot from the Chaos Arrow into the Faceless Man's head would end the battle.

Now... although the faceless man is only left with his head, he is not dead.

Under Xia Zuo's gaze, energy limbs radiating elemental light flew out from the tunnel entrance on the ground.

These things are the Faceless Man's spare torso. After the Faceless Man's original energy body is severely injured and disappears, they will fly out of a sealed container disguised as an alchemical device underground and assemble onto the Faceless Man's head.

Xia Zuo had always wanted to find the sealing containers of these spare bodies, but unfortunately, the "Xia Zuo" in the future timeline was not helpful and never went back underground to explore again after the spare bodies appeared, so as to find the alchemical device that could remove the disguise.

Therefore, in reality, Xia Zuo had no choice but to use heavy boulders to destroy all the facilities in the underground base.

Unfortunately, the movement of the heavy boulder was interrupted by the faceless man.

The arrow of chaos also missed due to error.

The faceless man narrowly escaped death and returned to the world of the living, where he continued to survive in a spare body, protected by more than a dozen energy clones.

"Haha~" The faceless man, now fully recovered, laughed heartily. "Haha~ I knew I wouldn't die! I will never die here! No one can stop me!"

The faceless man spread his arms and looked around. "You've exhausted all your tricks, but you still haven't killed me! I admit, your schemes were meticulously planned, each link targeting my weakness, yet I still survived! Come out, you despicable bastard! Face your predicament, and I'll give you a quick death!"

The faceless man knew that his shouts were likely to have no effect.

Why would a mastermind who can foresee the future and command otherworldly demons to attack him personally step into the limelight? This doesn't fit his sinister character.

Just as the faceless man was certain that the potential enemy had gone far away, a crisp clapping sound came from the sky behind him.

"Clap clap clap."

The figure in the black and white robe clapped and said in a calm tone:

"A good performance, Inst Heguman."

Chapter 42 Cunning Villain

The battle with the Faceless Men could no longer completely evade the Temple's pursuit.

Even with the chaotic zone provided by the Sands of Time in another location as cover, the Temple Mystic can still use the spacetime container to recreate the general scene of the entire battlefield.

If Xia Zuo is not careful, he will leave some clues that he himself will not be able to detect.

Therefore, Xia Zuo had meticulously planned every detail of his appearance.

You absolutely cannot wear clothes that reveal your identity. Alchemy robes, tower mage robes, Silvermoon Federation work clothes, etc., are all unacceptable, as these clothes will leave clues for the trackers and the Faceless Men.

A set of clothes that had never appeared on this land before was obviously more in line with Xia Zuo's needs, and thus he got the hooded robe that was black on the left and white on the right, with gold thread wrapped around the edges and black and white satin ribbons.

The mask, white on the left and black on the right, covers Xia Zuo's face. On the small right corner of the mask, there is a "18" mark in white on the black background.

This exotic outfit was clearly unfamiliar to the faceless man.

The strange color blocking, elegant lines, serene clothing style, and numbered masks all foreshadow that the opponent comes from a culture incompatible with the temple.

"Who are you?" The faceless man remained vigilant, several magical lights flashing around him, layers upon layers of magical shields surrounding him. His inner state was not as calm as he appeared.

"Is there some misunderstanding between us? Why are you targeting me? And how did you get my name?"

“I am the Death Apostle of Light and Darkness.” Xia Zuo was too lazy to waste time on pleasantries and casually announced the name of his design. “You will die today, Inster Heguman.”

"Heh, then you try it." The faceless man snapped his fingers, and more than ten radiant energy bodies flew out from the ground, forming a protective array around him to protect him from all sides.

This is the Faceless Man's second combat form.

The energy field form composed of the [Static Energy Field] and the [Elemental Star Network] body is the first form, which focuses on area attacks and group control, but loses the high mobility brought by instantaneous teleportation.

The humanoid form's attack range and casting speed are not as high as the first combat form, but its mobility is exceptionally high. It can dodge all attacks with an instant teleport, and it also has numerous energy clones as helpers.

According to "Xia Zuo" in the future timeline, there is a cooldown period of about 5 minutes between the two combat forms of the faceless man.

If the faceless man can survive for 5 minutes by relying on his energy clone, he can cast the [Static Energy Field] again and crush his opponent with the massive energy field. He does not believe that his opponent can launch a second Chaos Arrow.

Indeed, Xia Zuo only obtained a bottle of Chaos Energy from the underground chamber.

But he has another trump card.

“Inster Heguman.” Shazo pointed forward, a dazzling golden light flashing at his fingertips. “I will fight you fairly!”

"what?!"

The faceless man was horrified to find an insurmountable spatial chasm surrounding him.

Those energy clones that were within arm's reach were pushed into the distance by the golden light.

A subdimensional space constructed with lines of light energy completed its process from construction to stabilization in an instant.

A dueling platform bathed in golden light appeared beneath their feet, with towering pale golden walls piercing the sky, separating the natural world from the interior and exterior of the sub-plane.

The faceless man reached out and condensed several ball-shaped lightning bolts, launching them towards the dimensional barrier. However, they failed to cause even the slightest tremor or ripple on the wall. The lightning bolts exploded and disappeared without a trace, unable to shake the towering dimensional barrier at all.

"You're wasting your time, Inster Heguman. Prepare for your fate."

Xia Zuo specially installed a golden alchemy voice device on himself to make his voice more majestic, in order to better match his current image.

The Death Apostle of Light and Darkness, known as number 18, will appear as a spellcaster who manipulates light and shadow energies, completely separate from Xia Zuo's pure-blooded mage image—after all, it's an identity used to cheat and openly provoke the authority of the Temple and the Church of the Otherworld, so we must be extra careful.

After confirming that he could not break through the barrier of the sub-plane, the faceless man immediately flickered a few times and used the [Blink] spell repeatedly to increase the distance between himself and Xia Zuo.

Xia Zuo wouldn't give him a chance to fly a kite; he directly raised his hand, clenched his fist, and shrank the size of the fair duel sub-plane.

With a "duang," the faceless man crashed into the suddenly moving subdimensional barrier in the center of the scene, and was pushed by the barrier towards the figure in the black and white robe.

Seeing that he had nowhere to hide, the faceless man decisively changed his form, transforming from a humanoid appearance into a sphere covered with energy spikes.

The faceless creature, resembling a sea mine, spun rapidly, its energy spikes spewing out high-powered energy of different types, emitting a series of energy beams. Combined with [Blink], it created a multitude of afterimages around Xia Zuo.

The bone-chilling [Freezing Ray], the raging [Flame Blast], the sharp ground spikes condensed by [Shaping Technique], the [Frigid Whirlwind] that scatters wind blades...

The four elements of magic roared in.

They also reacted with each other, producing dark green acidic gases and sandstorms that obscured vision, compressing the opponent's perception range from all angles of sight, hearing, and touch.

Faced with such a swift offensive, Xia Zuo remained remarkably calm.

Just before the first wind blade was about to hit him, he pretended to make a spellcasting gesture in front of him—this would make the enemy think that only by making the gesture could the next spell be successfully cast, but in fact it was just a pointless disguise.

A radiant pattern symbolizing the [Pure Seal] appeared above Xia Zuo's head, as if he were wearing a sacred crown.