Zhang Heng, with a fearless demeanor, walked slowly to Ma Ran and said in a leisurely tone, "In the vast Cosmos, every day countless races rise, and countless civilizations perish."
"Everything is but fleeting clouds."
"Only truth and technology endure forever."
"Your ideals, your pursuits, they seem too insignificant and trivial to me."
"Guarding a frail civilization and race will ultimately result in nothingness, leaving you grasping at nothing."
"True eternal path lies in their power and wisdom belonging to the individual!"
"I alone am a race."
"I am civilization!"
Ma Ran gave no response.
He could vaguely guess some of the other partyâs pursuits.
Li Zhen, truth. Ji Ke, technology.
They are just clichéd puns made into names.
They are all Zhang Heng.
To be precise, they are just a small part of Zhang Heng.
The other partyâs philosophy sounded somewhat grandiose, but it couldnât make Ma Ran abandon his own pursuits.
"I admire you a lot."
Zhang Heng ignored the other members of the Grass Hut Academy, looking intently at Ma Ran, "To be precise..."
"I like you."
"So..."
"Join me!"
"If you are strong enough, wise enough, you can completely replace me and become the new âZhang Hengâ!"
"Become the strongest âZhang Hengâ!"
"If you can manage that, the wealth, knowledge, and technology I have accumulated over many centuries will be yours to possess!"
"You are inherently strong of soul. Back on Wudang Mountain, after you, Wudang, and the Profound Immortal drank the Brotherhood Wine, your fortunes linked and soared, perhaps giving you the potential to become a âleaderâ."
Poof!
A spear tip pierced into Zhang Hengâs head from behind, exiting through his right eye.
The golden-rimmed glasses shattered, blood spattered everywhere!
At Zhang Hengâs wound, lightning surged, flames boiled, a dense bloody aura spreading.
Behind him, the Thunderfire Spear in Su Qiangweiâs hand suddenly dissipated.
At the same time, Zhang Hengâs aura of life rapidly weakened, even his soulâs aura started to wane.
Yet the corners of Zhang Hengâs lips slightly curled, without looking back, he casually watched Ma Ran, "Killing one Zhang Heng, there will still be thousands standing up."
"Because I cherish talent, I donât want things to become too tense."
"Now it seems, discussing these when you havenât yet despaired, is still a bit premature."
"So..."
"Iâll give you a minute to prepare."
Zhang Heng, with a bloodied hole in his head, smiled as he snapped his fingers.
Snap!
His body suddenly burst apart, transforming into countless blood butterflies, flying toward the dark universe.
Su Qiangweiâs fingers trembled slightly, wanting to give chase to finish him off, but was stopped by Ma Ran.
"Canât kill him."
Ma Ran said calmly, "Li Zhen, Ji Ke, including the Zhang Heng we saw, they are all but the most insignificant part of this guy."
"They are, in essence, part of a whole, akin to a single hair of a human."
"Cutting off a hair doesnât harm the essence of the other party."
Zhang Heng is strong.
Not only in strength but also in intelligence, which is remarkable.
Shrewd, calculates ten steps ahead, exuding the aura of a tactician from head to toe.
Such a person is whatâs known on Earthâs internet as an "old schemer."
The words from Zhang Hengâs mouth, unlike the previous nonsensical Li Zhen, had a ring of truth.
Ma Ran was well-acquainted with this type of opponent.
Zhang Hengâs words, if only half-listened to, would miss out on many important pieces of information; if taken completely seriously, would surely lead to being trapped to the point of ruin and eternal damnation.
If he truly agreed to the other partyâs conditions, relying on fortune and soul strength to become the "leader Zhang Heng," the chances of survival would be close to zero.
"This will be a hard battle."
Ma Ran calmly closed his eyes, a mysterious purple-golden light began to emanate around him, "I will first help everyone recover some strength."
In the vast, unbounded darkness of the universe, specks of starlight began to twinkle, drawn, linked, falling upon the Grass Hut Academy.
Bathed in starlight, the members of the Academy felt their blood and energy surging, bodies, and spirits quickly restored to prime condition!
"Though itâs a bit despicable to gang up, Iâm sorry, but Iâm a scientist, not a warrior."
Zhang Hengâs voice came from the void.
The next moment.
A dense array of black dots appeared before everyoneâs eyes!
On a closer look, what black dots? They were clearly all sorts of bizarre life forms!
Wolves, insects, tigers, leopards, whales, sharks, rabbits, deer, sheep, pigs, dogs, jellyfish...
These strange life forms had varied appearances, from which one could see shadows of many Earth creatures, yet essentially different, their auras varied greatly in strength.
The strongest was a creature with a sharkâs head and a human body, its life strength slightly inferior to the Sea Demon Feng Yuji, but it wielded weapons, moved faster, and was more agile!
It held a trident, its figure flickered, cutting several members of the Grass Hut Academy in half.
The overall combat power of the Extraordinary Legion clearly overpowered the Grass Hut Academy.
At the start of the battle, the academy lost over a dozen members.
"Li Tang, Li Xing, Qian Xixi, Qian Duoduo, you four control the battlefield, assist Su Qiangwei in creating a combat environment."
"Wan Haihao, Wu Di, your weapons are damaged, donât venture deep into the enemy camp, protect the wounded here."
Ma Ran immediately took action, using energy to condense Star Force Needles and Star Force Threads, performing emergency treatment on the injured members, while activating the Battlefield Commander mode, commanding with ease, calm and composed.
The academy members who were originally panic-stricken or even in despair, upon seeing Ma Ranâs maneuver, felt their hearts, previously lodged in their throats, settle back into their stomachs, their tension and fear greatly alleviated.
With Ma Ran around, members who had been beheaded, bisected, or had their bodies smashed, though having undergone a brush with death and temporarily losing combat ability, their injuries wouldnât worsen.
After the battle, with a bit of effort, Ma Ran could completely heal them without leaving any latent dangers.
Hidden injuries, chronic ailments...
In front of Ma Ran, such things didnât exist!
However, the immediate task was to resolve these monsters before them!
With that, Ma Ran, wielding a Tang Blade, turned into a ghostly figure, charging toward Zhang Hengâs Extraordinary Legion.
Wan Haihao, Li Xing, Wu Di, and other academy members, all followed Ma Ranâs commands, each doing their part, striving to do their duties.
Yet, when their gaze fell upon that shark-headed humanoid monster, they all felt a chill running through them, goosebumps rising.
That monster was simply like a malevolent spirit, each blink, it would "teleport" in front of a new academy member.
Teleportation wasnât possible.
Even Profound Immortal Zhao Guanlanâs Instant Teleportation required preparation time, and this monster henchman created by Zhang Heng certainly didnât have such deep ability.
But...
The lowest frame rate the human eye can recognize is 24 frames per second; even when focused, it doesnât exceed 30 frames.
This and superpower have little to do, it is determined by human genetics and body structure.
Unless one can, like Ma Ran, cultivate "Burning Martial" to an extremely profound level, achieving a transformation and ascension of life; or like Su Qiangwei, possessing an infinite variety of Superpowers, strengthening oneself from all angles with no blind spots; or possessing a special ability for enhanced vision, otherwise, the dynamic vision limit for Earth humans is almost constrained within this numerical range!
When images change more than 30 times per second, human eyes will perceive continuity; below 30 frames per second, a sense of pause will be felt.
Thus, a blink is about a thirtieth of a second.
The shark-headed humanoid monster, with exquisite body technique, its twists, turns, and changes in direction, all occurred within this time frame.
If not for Ma Ran simultaneously treating the wounded and sparring with it, it might only need a minute to slaughter the current Grass Hut Academy entirely!
As the battle reached a stalemate, Su Qiangwei, who was originally protecting the other academy members from the monster armyâs assault, spearheading with a Water Quality Thunder Spear, charged into the enemy camp.
"Su Hanhan you... Damn! Sister Qiangwei is awesome!"
The members quickly changed their tune, seamlessly switching from cursing to cheering in jubilance.