Chapter 263 Divine Photo

It seems the Lord of the Seal doesn't want things to end with just such a simple question.

Was it because he wanted to deepen my connection with the virtual realm? Or did he have other motives?

Previously, through observation of Number Five, Number Two, and myself, we only confirmed that trading with the Lord of the Divine Seal would deepen our connection with the Void Realm, but we couldn't confirm whether different levels of problems would produce different levels of deepening effects. Now, judging from the Lord of the Divine Seal's attitude, it seems that "simple problems" are indeed not enough to achieve the effect he wants with me.

Since he's actively "selling" it to me, I'm even less likely to let him have his way.

"Didn't you say that a fragment of a divine seal could only be exchanged for one answer? I've already gotten the answer I wanted, so let's end the deal here."

This was originally supposed to be a card played by the Lord of the Divine Seal against the persistent questioner, but it ended up coming out of my mouth instead. How unpredictable life can be!

Are you sure you want to miss this opportunity?

The Lord of the Divine Seal did not explain why he did this, but continued to ask: "Don't you have other more important questions? For example, who exactly is the so-called Great Impermanence who is now your enemy, or where does your 'superpower' come from? As long as you ask, all your questions will be answered immediately."

The Lord of the Seal clearly knows about my activities in the real world, and may even know many of my inner thoughts. However, if he couldn't do something to that extent, it would be a disservice to his self-proclaimed knowledge of "most things happening in this world."

Therefore, I was not surprised by this, and answered without hesitation, "No question."

I've already said I'd trust Little Bowl No. 2 and follow her advice, and I don't intend to go back on my word here. It would be too pathetic to go back and say, "Sorry, I was greedy." Besides, after listening to Little Bowl No. 2's analysis, I've regained some of the clear-headedness of an observer.

Just as she said, there's absolutely no need for me to rush to know the true identity of the antagonistic Great Impermanence. I guess it's because the existence of this antagonistic enemy in this dimension has created an invisible psychological burden, inevitably leading me to harbor some weak-willed thoughts, wanting beyond necessary limits to know who is plotting against us. But is it really that important?

The fact that the hostile Great Impermanence attacked us directly beforehand added extra pressure, causing me to miss the opportunity. Opportunities often lie hidden in crises; I should have viewed the situation that way—the enemy was clearly offering themselves up. Now that I know the hostile Great Impermanence isn't prioritizing killing Asao, and that Asao has the ability to escape from the Great Impermanence, all I need to do is raise my strength to a level sufficient to fight the Great Impermanence.

Perhaps the sincerity shown by Number Two earlier influenced some of my judgment. The conditions for activating her prayer power are quite strict; even praying for one's own life wouldn't meet the requirements, yet she could confidently say she would pray for my safety. This means that in her heart, my life's safety even surpasses her own. Therefore, in her presence, I became somewhat unable to display the same indifference towards my own life as before.

After realizing this, I felt that I might have been somewhat "restrained" by the size two bowl.

The Lord of the Seal gazed at me for a while. Just as I thought he was about to continue his "push," he again curled his fingers and gently tapped the armrest of the rock chair. The gray mist enveloping us returned to its original density, and the chosen ones around us could see us again. He didn't seem to intend to waste any more time and energy trying to persuade me to ask more questions.

“Then, the deal is done,” he said.

I turned around and went back to the second small bowl.

Number Two immediately stepped forward, took my hand, and repeatedly observed my body.

She seemed to frown, and reported to me in her mind's eye: "Indeed, your connection with the illusory realm has deepened, and it has become even deeper than I imagined..."

“I didn’t ask any more questions,” I said. “How much deeper exactly?”

"It's not easy to describe, but... at least it's far inferior to the connection between the other chosen ones and the Void Realm." She breathed a small sigh of relief. "But even so, it shouldn't be enough for the Lord of the Divine Seal to affect your life or death."

"That's enough."

I was mentally prepared that I might end up like the other selected people after just one transaction, but the result is better than I expected.

As I responded, I looked around and noticed that the number of people on the field had decreased.

Number Four Xuanming and Number One have disappeared for unknown reasons.

"Where did those two people go?" I asked.

"Mr. Number One said he wanted to speak with Xuanming alone, and now the two of them have moved into the depths of the fog," said Number Two, Little Bowl.

What Number One wanted to talk about was nothing more than topics related to the fragments of the Divine Seal. However, he had already tried before, and Number Four's Divine Seal fragments could not be lent to him. What did he want to ask Number Four to do now?

Just as I was pondering this, both Number One and Number Four returned to the rock seating area. The two stood in different positions as if nothing had happened, without exchanging any further words, leaving me wondering whether they had reached an agreement or not.

Meanwhile, neither Number Four, Xuanming, nor Number Six, intended to make a deal with the Lord of the Divine Seal. The latter, being a Great Impermanence, had likely already obtained more fragments of the Divine Seal, much like Number Four, Xuanming. They were probably wary of the potential risks involved in any transaction.

They should be well aware that their lives are now entirely in the hands of the Lord of the Divine Seal. They may not yet see the worst as the situation, or the point where they can no longer handle it. This is why I never considered having Number Two Little Bowl make the deal in my place. Perhaps some mysterious and unpredictable hidden danger has already been planted within me.

However, even if the "hidden danger" truly exists, this level of foreshadowing is certainly not enough to have a significant impact on me. This can also be judged from the Lord of the Divine Seal's attitude of wanting me to ask more questions.

Seeing that everyone had gathered again, Number Six looked around and suddenly spoke up: "According to this Lord of the Divine Seal, this so-called Void Realm Gathering is set up for us to exchange information related to the fragments of the Divine Seal, but don't you think this form of exchange is too inefficient?"

"What do you mean?" Number Four Xuanming asked.

What happens next is none of your business.

Number Six first gave Number Four, Xuanming, a disdainful look, then spoke to us: "I am Luoshan Dawuchang—Shenzhao. I am currently at Luoshan headquarters. Whether you want to collect more fragments of the Divine Seal, or have questions about this fragment competition... or even about the Lord of the Divine Seal, you can come to headquarters to find me and cooperate with me."

He spoke these words without any attempt to conceal the presence of the Lord of the Divine Seals. No matter how you looked at it, his desire to cooperate with the other chosen ones wasn't to gain an advantage in the fragment competition posed by the Lord of the Divine Seals. Gathering all the fragments of the Divine Seals and then asking the Lord of the Divine Seals to grant his wish? That kind of idea probably never even crossed his mind from the start.

He was openly pointing his sword at the Lord of the Divine Seal.

The Lord of the Divine Seal, however, remained unmoved by these words, allowing the other party to continue speaking.

Divine Illumination... As far as I know, that's the name of some extraordinary, unpredictable being.

There are four Great Impermanences in the Transcendentalist faction. The Great Impermanence behind the Divine Gun is most likely one of these four, and I am certain that Divine Illumination is not the Great Impermanence who attacked me and Mazao not long ago. Now we can remove one person from the suspect list.

The Great Impermanence, who is still a suspect, is ranked in my mind by the degree of suspicion: King of the Wheel, Divination Master, Turbid Fate... I silently calculated in my mind while continuing to observe the changes on the field.

"Of course, some of you may be in a position where you cannot openly approach Luo Shan, which I can understand."

Sixth God glanced at First God and continued, "That's alright. Just recite my name in your heart after returning to the real world and state your identity as the chosen one. Then I will find you."

"Most of you will probably think I have ulterior motives and some kind of conspiracy. I won't bother with pointless self-justification here, because I can't immediately prove my goodwill to you. But I'll tell you the benefits first. As long as you come to me before the next Virtual Realm Gathering, I will give you a fragment of a divine seal."

"I will not interfere with what you do with the fragments of the divine seal that you have given away. Whether you keep them for your own research or trade them with the Lord of the Divine Seal to obtain the knowledge to fulfill your wishes, you can do whatever you want."

Before anyone else could react, Number One seemed to be intrigued. He said, "How could you possibly have so many Divine Seal fragments? No, that's not the point... The Divine Seal fragments we each possess shouldn't be able to be given to others. How do you plan to send them away?"

“If what he said is true, then the divine seal fragments he mentioned that he was going to send out should all be divine seal fragments that he deliberately left behind and that were not bound to himself,” I said.

Whether feigning ignorance or genuinely unaware, Number One asked with puzzlement, "What's the point of deliberately not binding it to yourself?"

(End of this chapter)