Die, Replay, Repeat

BOOM—!

The monstrous form of Taotie towered over Lu Ziming, its decayed, titanic hand stretching toward him. The sheer size of it blotted out the sky, casting a suffocating shadow over the world below.

With a single motion, the heavens trembled. The clouds churned violently, as if the very sky was collapsing. The sheer force shattered the air, detonating in a series of deafening blasts.

Lu Ziming's eyes widened in horror. His heart plummeted into an abyss of despair. He was a Fifth-Tier powerhouse, a warrior at the pinnacle of human strength—yet at this moment, he felt utterly insignificant. Like an ant, helpless before the flick of a god's finger.

Perhaps now, he finally understood what Zhou Qingfeng had felt all those years ago.

But surrender was never an option. Gritting his teeth, Lu Ziming gathered every last ounce of his strength for a final, desperate counterattack.

CLANG!

His sword slashed forward, ripping through the void. A torrential surge of Mindflare erupted from the blade, cascading like an unending flood.

His intent was clear—if he was to die, then Fang Xiu would die with him.

And yet, something utterly impossible happened.

The massive hand, powerful enough to crush mountains, disintegrated the moment his sword struck. Inch by inch, the monstrous flesh crumbled into nothingness.

In the blink of an eye, the entire arm was obliterated.

Lu Ziming froze, struggling to comprehend what had just happened.

By all logic, a Specter infused with the presence of a Specter God shouldn't have been harmed—let alone lose an entire limb—from his attack.

Yet the evidence was undeniable. Reality left no room for doubt.

Then, a realization struck him like lightning. His mind raced back to the weakened version of the Corpse Lake he had encountered before.

His eyes lit up with wild, unrestrained joy.

"I see it now!" he exclaimed, his voice trembling with excitement. "The Specters you summon… they're all just projections—mere shadows of the real thing! They're not the actual entities!"

And just like that, the crushing weight of despair lifted.

He threw his head back and laughed—loud, manic, triumphant.

"Hahaha… I knew it! I knew it! You? A mere Third-Tier, summoning something this powerful? As if! You really thought you could fool me? You're still too green!"

At that moment, Lu Ziming was confident once more.

To those unfamiliar with Taotie, its projection could easily be mistaken for the real thing. But now that he had seen through the illusion, he no longer feared it.

And yet, across from him—Fang Xiu was also laughing.

His grin was sharp and predatory, his eyes gleaming with amusement.

Because he knew—he had always known—that at this stage, Taotie's projection couldn't kill a fifth-tier powerhouse.

And yet, he had still summoned it, because this wasn't the real world.

This was the Land Between.

And here, at this moment—Taotie was invincible.

"Kehehe…" A low, sinister chuckle escaped Fang Xiu's lips. His gaze locked onto Lu Ziming, filled with cold amusement. The look of a man watching a fool who had yet to realize he was already dead.

Lu Ziming's laughter faltered. His expression darkened.

Why? Why was Fang Xiu still laughing?

"What the hell are you laughing at?!" he roared.

Fang Xiu's right eye flared with an ominous crimson glow. Suddenly, black flames ignited across his body. His dark hair turned a brilliant silver, whipping wildly in the stormy wind.

"I'm laughing… because you're already dead," said Fang Xiu.

Lu Ziming's rage exploded. "Arrogant bastard! I'll kill you first and show you that not just anyone can be a Chief Commander!"

With a furious roar, he swung his sword once more. A brilliant arc of sword energy, shaped like a crescent moon, tore through the sky, cutting toward Fang Xiu with devastating force.

But Fang Xiu only raised a hand and slowly ran it across his face.

A mask of black flames formed over his pale skin, fusing seamlessly with his flesh.

Then—

A sickening squelch.

From the darkness, the sound of writhing, regenerating flesh echoed through the air.

The severed arm of Taotie, which had been obliterated just moments ago… grew back instantly.

And as the crescent-shaped sword energy struck the newly formed limb, the flesh was torn apart—only to heal again immediately, pulsing with grotesque vitality.

As if nothing in this world could truly harm it.

"Hyper Regeneration?" Lu Ziming sneered. "Every ability comes at a cost. No matter how fast you heal, it still drains your Spiritual Energy. Let's see how many times you can recover before you run dry!"

With that, he swung his sword relentlessly, unleashing a storm of razor-sharp energy. 

The battlefield trembled beneath his assault, consumed by his relentless onslaught. 

With Mindflare shielding him, the lurking Specters were nothing more than background noise. Their interference was meaningless—his blade remained steady, unwavering.

And before him, Taotie's massive form continued to be torn apart.

But instead of panic—Fang Xiu only grinned wider. "Let me show you what it truly means to be undying."

The moment his words fell, the battlefield shifted.

A putrid, unnatural stench erupted from Taotie's decaying flesh.

The snake-like Specters that slithered in the darkness—Specters that should have been attacking indiscriminately—froze. Then, like beasts catching the scent of fresh prey, their eyes burned with frenzied hunger.

They abandoned everything else.

With unnatural, ravenous desire, they swarmed Taotie.

In an instant, Taotie's entire body was engulfed by the writhing mass of Specters. They burrowed into its flesh. They crawled through its body like maggots, twisting and writhing inside it.

Lu Ziming's eyes widened—then he burst into laughter. "Hahaha! Even the Specters are turning against you?! This is too perfect!"

He had braced for a grueling battle, but victory was practically being handed to him. Taotie was being ripped apart from the inside.

But in his excitement, he failed to notice something.

Though Taotie was being devoured, its energy was only growing stronger.

The Specters that had slithered into his body never came back out, as if they had been completely… assimilated.

"Heavenly Slash!" Lu Ziming wasted no time. He unleashed his strongest attack, determined to end this once and for all.

If Taotie could regenerate, then he would reduce him to nothing.

His sword cleaved forward, unleashing a massive surge of Mindflare that roared into the heavens. The energy condensed into an enormous celestial blade, so vast it seemed to tear the very sky apart.

Then, it descended.

The heavens split.

And so did Taotie.

BOOM!

The devastating sword light erupted, not just slicing through Taotie's colossal form, but detonating from within his flesh.

Countless blades of light burst forth, consuming everything in their path. The battlefield was swallowed in a blinding explosion—a cataclysm of pure destruction.

For a long moment, nothing remained but silence.

Then, as the dust settled—

There was no trace of Fang Xiu. No sign of Taotie.

Only scattered chunks of bloodied, rotting flesh.

Lu Ziming gasped for breath, his chest heaving as he wiped the sweat from his brow.

"Finally… it's over. Dammit… I burned through too much Spiritual Energy. At this rate, I won't even have enough left to make money tomorrow."

Even though the battle was won, Specter energy still clung to the air, thick and oppressive. His expression darkened. He needed to finish the others quickly and retreat.

But just as he turned to move—

A sickening sound slithered through the battlefield.

The wet, grotesque squelch of flesh writhing.

Lu Ziming's head snapped around, his eyes widening in disbelief.

And then—he saw it.

From the bloodied remains of what should have been Taotie, a single, pale hand burst forth.

Then another.

And with a slow, effortless push, Fang Xiu rose from the carnage. Unscathed.

His silver hair cascaded over his shoulders, his crimson eyes gleaming like bloodstained gemstones. The Specter mask still clung to his face, a nightmarish visage of malice.

Lu Ziming's mind reeled.

"You're… alive?!" His voice cracked. "Impossible!"

He knew the power of his Heavenly Slash. It was a trump card, a technique that could slay even a low-rank Fifth-Tier psychic in one strike. And against a mere third-tier like Fang Xiu? He should have been annihilated.

Yet here he was—standing.

No, thriving.

Fang Xiu's lips curled into a savage grin.

"Dead?" His voice dripped with mockery.

"Kehehe… As long as Specters exist…" His left hand twitched—the grotesque mouth on his palm still chewing, still devouring. "I am eternal. I am immortal."

Lu Ziming finally understood. Fang Xiu hadn't merely survived; he had become something else.

Something that could never die.

And here, in the Land Between—where Specters were endless, where suffering never ceased—His power was limitless.