’Maybe Kumironi and the others managed to escape.’

’Or maybe Iz is coming to back me up.’

’I can choose to keep advancing my Date of Death to kill her, or I can choose... to stall for more time.’

But now, stalling for time seemed completely unrealistic.

’There are still at least fifteen minutes left of the original thirty!’

The moment the cooldown ended, Lu Cang’s figure once again Escaped into Nonexistence.

Escape into Nonexistence was currently the most useful tactic against Aertemi.

Lu Cang once again vanished from Aertemi’s sight, and from her memory.

At the same time, Holy Spears formed from all directions!

’The outer skin envelops the essence. All things have an outer skin, with the core contained within.’

Lu Cang’s Spirituality gazed at the area around her, and he seemed to see a faint, almost imperceptible field.

After Aertemi finished her Chanting, a flesh-toned field seemed to gradually form around her body!

And the Holy Spears he had condensed using "Reflection of the Past" began to peel away even as they were forming!

Her expression gradually grew cold.

The faint smile on her face slowly vanished.

Lu Cang sensed an emotion... called annoyance.

Aertemi was annoyed.

She had been playing with a little bug for a minute and still hadn’t killed him. She was gradually starting to feel that it was, indeed, a bit irritating.

"Don’t you have any more surprises for me?"

Even though he was in a state of "Void," her moment of absentmindedness had become even shorter.

As the battle dragged on, the longer it lasted... the harder it naturally became for her to forget.

SWISH!

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM—

The Holy Spears from all directions suddenly shot out beams of light!

Aertemi stood within the void, a Hooked Dagger Blade already in her hand.

The Holy Spears stabbing in from all directions instantly diverged!

"You dare show your face before me with such an inferior Holy Artifact."

SWISH!

The sixteen streams of light split into thirty-two.

They veered around Aertemi’s body, each blasting off in a different direction.

But not a single beam of light caused Aertemi any harm.

"You’ve shown me so many surprises. Now, let me show you something in return..."

"...a power that no mortal can overcome."

The blood-colored Hooked Dagger Blade slashed upward violently!

SWOOSH!

A single slash shot out!

The massive, spherical aftershock of the Soul Burst, formed by the "Soul Condensing True Burst," was actually cleaved in two!

The scattered remnants of the aftershock began to shed their layers, one by one!

Lu Cang reappeared from the Void.

And the moment he did—

BANG!

The flesh and skin all over his body almost instantly collapsed and disintegrated!

SWISH!

However, at almost the exact same time, everything that was collapsing began to undergo Rebirth!

SZZZZT—

At this moment, Lu Cang looked like a monster made of countless bloody skins that had turned into scattering threads, his flesh and skin fluttering like willow catkins.

They scattered and then came together again.

Excruciating pain flooded Lu Cang’s mind.

Lu Cang had no choice but to increase the dosage of his pain medication, drastically blocking out the sensation!

However, at almost the same time, Aertemi’s Hooked Dagger Blade was already thrusting forward!

"Wrapped within your skin, is your essence."

"I see it, you know."

POOF!

Lu Cang vanished in an instant, only to reappear an instant later!

’It hasn’t even been five seconds!’

’I forced myself to use Forgetfulness Void.’

Upon leaving the Void and returning to the physical world, Lu Cang felt a wave of nothingness wash over his body and mind.

Some of his emotions had been erased.

Even a tiny fraction of his Spirituality had dissipated.

’Escape into Nonexistence is also turning me into nonexistence...’

’But if I hadn’t dodged that last attack...’

Lu Cang’s skin was currently writhing like the countless legs of a centipede, constantly splaying open and pulling back together...

If his recovery speed had been any slower, he would have been completely flayed.

WHOOSH!

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM

The sixteen Holy Spears still fired!

SWISH!

However, Aertemi had already reappeared in front of him, completely ignoring the Holy Spears he had fired!

’The Future Technique also requires a process of observation.’

’But her pursuit is now so relentless that it leaves me no time for careful observation.’

"I’ve already peeled away your disguise and seen what’s inside!"

"No wonder you have such power. You possess the Spirituality of the Highest Leaf."

"I didn’t expect such a surprise besides Kumironi."

"No, that’s not all you are!"

"Alright, this ends now... After I peel off your skin, I’ll take my time and carefully study your deeper essence. After all, just peeling away your outermost layers doesn’t give a very clear view~"

Aertemi thrust her Hooked Dagger Blade forward coldly.

Watching the hooked blade draw infinitely close, now impossible to evade, Lu Cang felt as if, in that instant, time had slowed to a standstill.

Within his heart, it was as if a drop of understanding had fallen upon his entire Spirituality.

Even though death was just a hair’s breadth away, his heart had become incomparably calm.

’The inside.’

’Essence. The essence is wrapped by the outer skin.’

’The manifestation of Root Magic can be interpreted by any school of thought.’

’Any theory, even two diametrically opposed ones, can perfectly explain the doctrine of the Root Source and can also be expressed as Magic.’

’A Skin Taker could also be a Divine Officer of another Church.’

’A person wears different disguises and shows different faces to different people.’

’One must peel away the layers, moving inward, to see the final essence.’

’It’s like a maze where victory is only achieved by reaching the very center.’

’The countless branching paths to the center are all interpretations leading to the maze’s end.’

’Essence is, of course, important.’

’But does that mean the outer skin is unimportant?’

Lu Cang looked at Aertemi, who seemed frozen before him.

’No.’

’The skin is extremely important...’

’All things are not just their essence; the outer skin that envelops the essence is also part of the whole.’

An image of a single "All Elements" particle appeared in Lu Cang’s mind.

In his mind’s eye, the outer skin of the "All Elements" particle peeled away, layer by layer.

One layer was composed of just a single Element.

Another layer was a fusion of multiple Elements.

Each layer had a different structure, offering a different interpretation. The "All Elements" particle in his mind continued to be peeled away, ever inward.

’Everything in the world has an outer skin.’

’What the naked eye can see is also just the surface of all things.’

’That’s it...’

’The Root Source has a manifestation of All Transformations, all floating on its ever-changing skin. But no matter how it changes, the person within the skin, the object within the Core... is singular.’

’But that doesn’t mean everything on the outside should be negated.’

’The Root Source, the mystery that envelops it, the various different interpretations of it, and the process of reaching it—they are all part of the Root Source itself.’

’The Root Source is singular—singular as a complete whole.’

’And in the process of continuously peeling away the whole, one can obtain the manifestation of All Transformations.’

He had considered all sorts of ideas before, but had found it difficult to arrive at a complete theoretical interpretation.

Proving the singularity of the Root Source wasn’t difficult.

The difficult part was interpreting All Transformations within that singularity—an interpretation that aligned with the theory of Magic, the Laws of the world, and the principles of all things.

Today, upon seeing Aertemi—seeing the Law of Skin Stripping all things and the form this Law took—the Decryption Scholar’s second brain was experiencing a constant Burst of Inspiration.

He had been pondering the second Root Source for so long, and had already accumulated countless ideas.

Lu Cang felt that he was gradually beginning... to understand.

’I understand everything.’

Even as Aertemi’s dagger slashed toward him, its sharp tip had yet to make contact, but the shockwave it produced had already torn his skin to shreds.

But Lu Cang’s consciousness seemed to suddenly let out a sigh of relief.

"Haaa—"

Aertemi suddenly sensed that Lu Cang’s state seemed to have undergone a sublimation.

A brilliant, dazzling, constantly rotating Core also appeared in Lu Cang’s palm.

Lu Cang did not dodge Aertemi’s dagger!

Instead, he thrust a single palm forward, pressing the Core toward Aertemi’s body!

"Tier Four Root Magic: Core of All Things."