For example, unconverted, attribute-less energy can combine with air to form wind and with water to form waves. However, in this application, attribute-less energy is obviously not as effective as single-attribute wind or water energy. But it is very useful for forming a protective shield at this moment.
The earth tremors lasted for two or three minutes without any sign of stopping, and Zhou Ziwei and the others were thrown into the ground, no one knew how deep. In short, just maintaining that attribute-less energy shield caused Zhou Ziwei a lot of trouble, almost draining all the attribute-less energy accumulated in his body.
Could it be another major earthquake? This earthquake is so powerful, it's probably even more terrifying than the Wenzhou earthquake a couple of years ago! And this is Zhongdu, a city with tens of millions of people... If an earthquake happens here, what horrific consequences will it cause... If the entire city is destroyed, how many people will die...?
Zhou Ziwei sighed inwardly, struggling as he tried to release his soul power towards the ground, wanting to see what a terrible state the ground was in.
However, when Zhou Ziwei observed the situation outside the Earth using his soul power, he was immediately stunned...
How could this be? Wasn't this an earthquake? And a rather rare and massive one at that, but... why didn't the military camps above collapse? Even the camp walls only developed a few cracks, showing no signs of collapsing.
Well... although generally speaking, earthquakes tend to shake more violently the deeper underground they go, and less so on the surface, but now... the difference is just too big!
Zhou Ziwei roughly calculated that he was currently more than 100 meters underground, but he felt that the earthquake must have been at least magnitude 8 or 10. How come there was no damage outside? Logically speaking, a difference of less than 100 meters shouldn't be that serious!
Why does it feel like... this earthquake was specifically targeted at him? Could it be... that someone deliberately arranged this earthquake for him?
The thought of such a difficult situation made Zhou Ziwei feel a chill run down his spine, but he then shook his head and dismissed the absurd idea from his mind.
Someone deliberately created an earthquake just to deal with him... That's just too outrageous! Although the black market assassin network is powerful and awesome, they even used a nuclear bomb to deal with him, and the explosion of the nuclear bomb created a powerful tsunami, killing tens of thousands of Japanese soldiers in one fell swoop.
However, Zhou Ziwei did not believe that the black market assassin network was powerful enough to create earthquakes at will. If that were the case, Black God would truly become a god, an omnipotent living deity.
But if it wasn't an earthquake specifically targeting Zhou Ziwei, then... why did the earthquake seem particularly strong around them, while the ground wasn't greatly affected?
Zhou Ziwei was puzzled and couldn't help but release his soul power to explore in all directions. He immediately found that there was no mistake. The earthquake seemed to be centered on him. In other words, the tremor of the earth's crust was centered on him. The strongest tremor was at his location, and the impact was smaller the farther away from him.
Upon realizing this, cold sweat immediately poured down Zhou Ziwei's forehead.
Could it really be that insane?! Is it really possible for someone to create an earthquake? Hmm... well, it's not impossible. Creating an earthquake... like... creating a nuclear explosion deep underground, that would definitely trigger an earthquake! But if that were the case, the earthquake couldn't be controlled so precisely, so accurately centered on itself!
Zhou Ziwei was in a state of utter confusion. He released his soul power again to scan downwards, but found nothing unusual.
At this moment, the attribute-less energy stored in Zhou Ziwei's middle dantian was almost depleted.
To add... I need to replenish a large amount of attribute-less energy, otherwise even if the earthquake stops now, I won't have the strength to crawl out of the ground again.
But there is neither wind, fire, nor water here, so how can we absorb energy?
Zhou Ziwei felt the immense, mountain-like pressure of the surrounding soil constantly squeezing the attribute-less energy shield, and suddenly an idea struck him.
Water has its energy, wind has its energy, fire has its energy, so does the earth also possess its energy? Normally, when the earth is still, people often overlook that it also possesses energy. However, once this energy leaks out, causing a terrifying earthquake, the energy displayed by the earth becomes frighteningly large, as is the case now…
The earth's tremors, compressions, and creeps... aren't these all manifestations of the earth's energy release? Since this energy can be released from the thick earth, it can naturally be absorbed, just like the energy we can absorb from sunlight, wind, and water.
Thinking of this, Zhou Ziwei suddenly perked up, and almost completely forgot about the dangerous situation he was about to face.
However, his body is currently completely enveloped by that huge energy shield composed of pure, attribute-less energy, making it impossible for him to directly contact the earth and soil, and therefore impossible for him to absorb the energy that the earth is constantly releasing.
Without any hesitation, Zhou Ziwei immediately leaped forward, carefully using his soul consciousness to control the entire attribute-free energy shield, enveloping his parents, Yu Xiaoru, and the robot Xiaoxin inside. Zhou Ziwei himself then slipped out of the shield's protective range, directly bearing the mountain-like pressure of the earth with his body...
Immense pressure is itself a powerful form of energy, but because this energy is released from the earth, it appears exceptionally heavy and solid.
Zhou Ziwei placed his body under this immense pressure without any reservation, and immediately felt as if his entire body was about to be crushed flat, and his internal organs were almost crushed into powder. The protective capabilities of the alloy suit were completely ineffective under this powerful pressure from all directions.
Zhou Ziwei was startled and hurriedly used all his strength to resist.
In that instant, all the muscles in his body tensed to the maximum extent. His body, cleansed by the water of reincarnation, unleashed unparalleled power. If it were an ordinary person, buried two or three meters deep, they probably wouldn't last more than half a minute before being suffocated by the pressure of the soil.
This place is over a hundred meters underground... The pressure of the soil here is even stronger than unimaginable. Moreover, an earthquake is happening here. The earth, which was originally still, is now like a series of precise gears, meshing and slowly rotating, constantly sending Zhou Ziwei and the others deeper underground, as if it were sending them all the way to the eighteenth level of hell.
"Pfft—" His body continued to sink under the pressure of the earth, and as the depth of the sinking increased, the pressure Zhou Ziwei felt also became stronger and stronger. Finally... every bit of strength in Zhou Ziwei's body seemed to have been squeezed out, and he could no longer muster any strength to resist the heavy pressure. Overwhelmed, he groaned and a mouthful of blood was immediately squeezed out of his mouth.
I think I've made some mistakes...
Zhou Ziwei held his last breath, muttering to himself: I came out of the attribute-less energy shield to absorb the energy released from the earth, but... now I am being suppressed by this energy and can only keep resisting. It is as if I am using the strength of my body to resist the almost endless energy from the earth. It is as if I am pushing the earth's energy outward with all my might. How can I absorb even a trace of the earth's energy in this way?
If you want to absorb something, you can't resist it... Only by accepting it can you fully absorb it into your body, but...
However, Zhou Ziwei had serious doubts. Under such terrifying pressure, if he completely gave up resisting, would he be crushed into a thin human meat pie in just a second? If that were the case... no matter how great the power of the earth was, he wouldn't have a chance to absorb any more. Once his body was truly flattened and his physical body perished, he would at most be left with only a pure soul.
However, the soul cannot absorb this kind of earth energy.
However, as the strength within his body was further and continuously squeezed, to the point that all the bones in his body were about to break, and the attribute-less energy shield was also becoming shaky, leaving his middle dantian with almost no more energy to supply, he knew that he had no other choice.
If he takes a gamble, he might be able to survive, but if he still doesn't dare to take the risk... then he's basically doomed.
Let's go for it! I can die, and even if I die, there's always a chance to come back to life, but my parents and Yu Xiaoru can't die... If I keep hesitating and wavering, I'll be extinguishing their last hope...
Thinking of this, Zhou Ziwei gritted his teeth and first released his powerful liquid soul energy to thoroughly infuse all his organs. He then allowed the unique vitality of the soul energy to rapidly divide and regenerate all the damaged organ cells, repairing every part of his body. Only then did he finally give up resisting, letting the mountain-like pressure act directly on his defenseless body...
With a sharp crack, more than half of Zhou Ziwei's bones shattered. The intense pain almost made him faint, but under the influence of the powerful soul force, he remained clear-headed.
Having powerful soul strength isn't always a good thing. For example, sometimes, even if he wanted to faint and completely lose consciousness, it was simply impossible.
"Pfft—" Under the violent pressure, a large amount of flesh and blood instantly turned into mincemeat... Zhou Ziwei lost more than half of his life in that instant.
However, no matter how badly his body was ravaged, Zhou Ziwei's brain and heart, his two most vital organs, were never truly fatally damaged.
If someone could see this deep underground, they would notice that a faint silver halo was shimmering around these two organs on Zhou Ziwei's body.
If Zhou Ziwei could see it himself, he would discover that... this was actually the divine power source that he had unintentionally absorbed into his body in the pilot plane.
However, Zhou Ziwei was already driven almost insane by the intense pain, so he naturally had no mind to study or ponder these subtle physical characteristics.
Damn it, looks like I lost my gamble! Giving up resistance caused my flesh and blood to immediately crumble, even my meridians ceased to exist. How could I possibly absorb the immense energy from the earth with my body now…?
Zhou Ziwei, somewhat unwilling, let out a silent roar in his heart, continuing to channel even more immense soul power into his entire body, even onto his body organs which had already turned into a lump of flesh.
The vigorous vitality was unstoppable. Under Zhou Ziwei's powerful soul force, the limbs that had been squeezed into minced meat were like withered trees coming back to life. In just an instant, the damaged organs were reassembled. The remaining intact cells devoured the broken cells and then rapidly divided, causing the severed limbs to regenerate and piece together a relatively complete limb once again.
However, the body, which had just been formed after consuming a large amount of soul power, couldn't even last a tenth of a second under the immense pressure from the earth. It collapsed again with a "crack" and was crushed into a pulp once more...
"I condense—" Zhou Ziwei roared unwillingly. With the infusion of soul power, the metabolic speed of his body increased by countless times. In just a moment, he completed countless processes of cell engulfment, cell division, and regeneration and recombination. In the blink of an eye, the body that had been squeezed into a lump of mud was restored to a perfect state.
But... this time he still couldn't hold on for even a tenth of a second, his body collapsed again...
"I'm going all out today."
Zhou Ziwei turned his head and saw that the huge attribute-less energy shield next to him was still teetering on the brink of collapse with the last bit of energy support, so Zhou Ziwei decided to just go all out.
If Zhou Ziwei's parents and Yu Xiaoru had all died by this point, he might not have insisted on keeping his current body anymore. He could simply find a suitable body to be resurrected.
But now that his parents and Yu Xiaoru are still alive, Zhou Ziwei must continue to fight for them. Even if he still has a wisp of soul power in his sea of souls and can be resurrected again, he will not give up.
His body collapsed and reassembled, then collapsed and reassembled again... After countless cycles, Zhou Ziwei's body had unknowingly shrunk considerably.
This is because each division and recombination of his cells is completed under the immense pressure of the earth, so these cells become much more solidified under the pressure.
In just a dozen seconds, Zhou Ziwei lost count of how many times his body collapsed and reassembled. Although his body could not withstand even a tenth of a second after each reassembly before collapsing again, he did absorb some of the earth's energy during those tenths of a second.
However, as soon as the earth's energy entered Zhou Ziwei's body, before he could transform it into pure, attribute-free energy, his body would collapse again, and the earth's energy, freed from the constraints of his meridians, would immediately disperse with a "boom".
Therefore, Zhou Ziwei was essentially doing useless work repeatedly.
As the attribute-less energy shield enveloping Yu Xiaoru and the other two grew thinner and more fragile, on the verge of collapse, Zhou Ziwei still couldn't collect even a trace of the transformed and absorbed attribute-less energy.
Zhou Ziwei knew he couldn't hold on any longer. Even if he could endure thousands more cycles of physical collapse and reconstruction, Yu Xiaoru and the others couldn't wait any longer. Without fresh energy being replenished into that massive, attribute-less energy shield, it would inevitably collapse...
"Go—" Just as the attribute-less energy began to flicker and was about to collapse, Zhou Ziwei finally disregarded everything and injected the wisp of energy from the earth that he had just absorbed into the flickering energy shield without any conversion.
Volume 3, King of the City, Chapter 487: Rejuvenation
"Pfft—" The attribute-less energy shield, which was about to collapse completely due to energy depletion, trembled slightly after receiving this new energy infusion, and then slowly stabilized.
The energy shield, which originally appeared to be colorless and shapeless, slowly turned into an earthy yellow under the influence of this not-too-powerful energy, just like a thick, large ball of earth, protecting the three people and the robot inside.
To Zhou Ziwei's surprise, the energy shield, after receiving only a small amount of replenishment, produced a surprisingly good effect. The energy loss from the shield was significantly slowed down due to the pressure from the earth.
With his worries temporarily resolved, Zhou Ziwei was immediately invigorated. Once again, he was crushed into dust by the immense pressure deep within the earth, and then he rebuilt his body in an instant.
A more solidified body can withstand more and more of the immense pressure from deep within the earth, which also allows Zhou Ziwei to maintain his solidified state for a longer period of time each time.
The longer time allowed Zhou Ziwei to absorb more of the vast and abundant energy from the earth, which he then channeled into the energy sphere used to protect Yu Xiaoru and the others.
However, since this energy had not undergone the process of being condensed within Zhou Ziwei's dantian, it appeared somewhat violent. Although Zhou Ziwei successfully infused it into the energy shield, it always gave him a very unstable feeling.
After experiencing the shattering and re-condensation of his body more than ten times, Zhou Ziwei's body finally reached a new level of solidification. He could no longer feel the pressure from the earth. After the last condensation into a new body, Zhou Ziwei's size was more than half the original size. Now he looked like a child who was only five or six years old.
However, at this moment, the toughness of his body reached an outrageous level. Even the earth, hundreds of meters underground, which was constantly grinding and squeezing, could not crush his new body again.
Zhou Ziwei had no time to worry about his current state; he was simply constantly inhaling and exhaling the massive, mountain-like energy from the earth, drawing that powerful energy into his body through every meridian, and then transforming it into attribute-free energy which he injected into his middle dantian in his chest.
Zhou Ziwei only then realized that after the earth-shattering changes in his body, his dantian had expanded by more than double. If it was a huge lake before, it had now become a vast ocean.
The rich, earthy-yellow energy was injected into Zhou Ziwei's body. A small portion was absorbed by Zhou Ziwei's body and gradually replenished the flesh, blood, and bones of every organ in his body. The majority of it was completely transformed into attribute-free energy, which then flowed slowly through the meridians into the space formed by the huge middle dantian.
In a short while, the previously dried-up middle dantian once again gathered a pool of pure, attribute-free energy.
Zhou Ziwei sensed the instability of the huge earthen-yellow energy sphere surrounding Yu Xiaoru and the others, so he quickly mobilized the attribute-less energy that he had just condensed in his body, and then transformed it back into earthen-yellow earth energy, injecting it into the unstable energy shield.
This energy form, imbued with the power of the earth, is clearly more suitable than ordinary attribute-less energy for forming a protective shield deep within the earth. Indeed, this energy can greatly reduce the degree of rejection Zhou Ziwei experiences when resisting the pressure from deep within the earth.
This is like a balloon being submerged in water. Due to the water pressure, the balloon will not sink very deep before it is squeezed and bursts.
However... if you remove all the air from this balloon and fill it with water instead, then even if the balloon sinks to a great depth, it will be very difficult for it to burst.
The energy shield has now been almost entirely condensed from the earth's energy, and deep within the earth, it has developed a sense of harmony with the earth itself, thus naturally reducing the pressure it experiences.
After the energy shield stabilized again, Zhou Ziwei tried to absorb more earth energy into his body while simultaneously converting the attribute-less energy he had condensed into earth energy and expelling it from his body, merging it into the soil around him.
Sure enough... just like when he encountered a tsunami in the ocean last time... this energy from the earth, after being transformed back into this form, has an unparalleled effect on controlling the earth and soil.
Once the earth energy released by Zhou Ziwei had reached a certain scale around him, he immediately stopped feeling any pressure from the earth.
The mysterious force that had been pulling him down into the ground was now completely ineffective against him, because Zhou Ziwei had become one with the vast earth around him, as if he had become a part of the earth.
At this moment, Zhou Ziwei seemed to have transformed into a fish living in the deep sea, swimming freely in the depths of the earth. With the help of this earth energy, Zhou Ziwei no longer felt any pressure here. Compared with the earth-burrowing technique he had learned from Xueying, this method of using earth energy to assimilate the earth around him and then transform into the earth was simply a step above.
At this moment, Zhou Ziwei could feel it more clearly. Sure enough... it was as if there was some kind of mysterious force acting mainly around his body, influencing the earth around him, and dragging him deeper into the earth. However, this force became extremely weak after Zhou Ziwei's body completely merged with the surrounding earth.
In the blink of an eye, Zhou Ziwei completely broke free from the shackles of this power. In an instant, carrying the huge energy shield, he floated rapidly towards the ground against the direction of that power.
Indeed... Zhou Ziwei was now as if he were swimming. The pressure of the earth was completely transformed into the buoyancy that comes with sinking into water. With his mind at work, even without exerting any effort to move the soil, his body was naturally lifted up by that pressure.
Feeling that mysterious force coming from the depths of the earth filled Zhou Ziwei with both curiosity and fear. If Yu Xiaoru and his parents hadn't been there, Zhou Ziwei might have actually dared to give in to that force and sink into the depths of the earth to see what was pulling him down and dragging him there.
However, considering the safety of his parents and Yu Xiaoru, Zhou Ziwei had to abandon the idea. He was willing to take the risk, but he couldn't take his parents with him.
Although he was now certain that the earthquake-like force he had just experienced was indeed directed at him specifically, Zhou Ziwei did not believe it was the work of the Black Market Assassin Network. He thought that Black God was not capable of such a feat, and if he were truly able to hire such a powerful figure, he would not be so wary of him.
Moreover, Zhou Ziwei felt that the power deep underground came from a very, very deep underground source, which is why the power became much weaker when it reached him. If... if the source of the power could float upwards a certain distance, meaning it could be emitted and acted on him at close range, then even if he were twice as powerful, he would have been dragged down long ago.
This is a force powerful enough to trigger a massive earthquake. Although Zhou Ziwei is already very strong, he is not yet strong enough to contend with that force...