Chapter 357 Victory 1

After returning to the surface, Mingzhuo and I found ourselves in a vast wasteland.

The light cannon that struck Mingzhuo from a distance sent him flying, causing him to crash heavily to the ground.

This attack was incredibly powerful. It appeared to be a sneak attack to kill Mingzhuo, but in reality, it truly took advantage of his weakened state, weakened by attacks from both inside and outside, and killed him. However, this also temporarily freed him from my control. Not only that, the magic power contained within the light cannon transformed into a cocoon-like substance, sealing him inside and severing my connection with the Flame of Proclaimed Light.

I immediately unleashed flames to destroy the white light cocoon. I could sense that this was merely an emergency protective measure; the white light cocoon was disintegrated in less than a tenth of a second. But it was too late.

In less than a tenth of a second, Mingzhuo completely broke free from my kill cycle.

Each time the Flame of Proclamation breaks through the seal of Fate's Impurity and erupts, Fate's Impurity dies and is resurrected. The seal on the Flame of Proclamation is restored, and the erupted Flame of Proclamation is automatically sealed back in, before the next destructive eruption. In this killing cycle, the Flame of Proclamation cannot access any new fuel other than my spirit, and remains in a state where it can only maintain its high-intensity combustion by the spirit I infuse into it.

Once this cycle stops, the Flame of Proclamation will quickly return to its original size due to insufficient fuel, and the Turbid Life can completely seal it, severing the connection between me and the Flame of Proclamation.

To restart the kill cycle, I must use "Eclipse" to hit and damage Mingzhuo a second time, thus shaking his seal. But to hit Mingzhuo again... it's not impossible, but the difficulty of making the same move work on Mingzhuo again will undoubtedly increase.

Who exactly is that Great Impermanence in the distance, who seems to be helping me but is actually helping Mingzhuo escape his predicament?

No, I know. I've experienced that magical fluctuation just now.

I landed on the ground as well and looked in that direction. From tens of kilometers away, a white light streaked across the sky and fell like a meteor beside Mingzhuo, shattering all the surrounding flames.

After the light faded, a strong and imposing man emerged, reminiscent of an ancient general, possessing a dignified and imposing presence.

Although this was the first time I had seen his face, the magical energy swirling around him felt familiar. It was the same kind of energy sealed within the glass talisman Yuchi had given me, even though their scale and intensity differed greatly, their attributes were completely identical.

"——God's photo!"

After being resurrected, Mingzhuo called out his name.

Shenzhao turned his head and glanced at him twice, then let out a merciless laugh: "Mingzhuo, look at you... what a disgrace! You've been beaten into this state by the newly promoted Great Impermanence, and now I have to come and save you. If I were you, I would have killed myself long ago."

"Oh, sorry, I forgot, you can't even die if you want to."

"Save me?" Mingzhuo seemed to be grinding his teeth to powder. "I didn't ask you to save me, did I? What are you here for? If you're just here to make sarcastic remarks, then get lost!"

Although both were Great Impermanences who championed the transcendental, it seemed, just as the Diviner Master had said, that even those who shared the transcendentalism weren't necessarily of one mind. Mingzhuo's gaze towards Shenzhao wasn't just filled with anger, but also with very obvious doubt and wariness, as if he were guarding against Shenzhao suddenly turning against him.

Could it be that someone with a turbid destiny actually has very poor interpersonal relationships during the Great Impermanence period?

Shenzhao said dismissively, "Don't say that. I did take some things from you not long ago, and I can't just watch you be worn down to death by San... Zhuang Cheng. Consider this help as paying off a debt."

"Shenzhao, are you planning to side with Mingzhuo? Will you fight me alongside him later?" I asked.

"Well..." Shenzhao was about to answer.

Suddenly, two new fluctuations of Great Impermanence-level magical power came from afar, along with a deep, ancient voice like distant thunder: "Don't worry about that kind of thing."

Two figures appeared beside me. Strictly speaking, the figures appeared first, followed by the voice, though in chronological order, one of them had likely spoken first before arriving. However, their speed far exceeded the sound, so much so that by the time they arrived, the voice had already followed long after. It was as if a non-existent sound system was playing one of the figures' voices.

One of them was an older man in a black suit with a serious and profound expression, while the other was a young man in white carrying a long sword.

Judging from his appearance, the one who made the voice should be the former. The magical energy fluctuations emanating from him also felt familiar to me, possessing the same properties as the magical energy within the glass talisman that Elder Zhu had given me. In other words, this person was Fazheng.

Since that white-clad youth carrying a sword is associated with Fazheng, he must be another unpredictable figure in the ruling faction, Jian Feixian.

“Shenzhao, the conflict between Zhuang Cheng and Mingzhuo is their own private feud. As long as they don’t get too involved in the surrounding area, it doesn’t matter if they fight each other to the end. But if you’re going to side with Mingzhuo and attack Zhuang Cheng, don’t blame us for also standing with Zhuang Cheng and joining the battle,” Fazheng said solemnly.

Jian Feixian stood silently behind Fazheng with his arms crossed, staring at Mingzhuo and Shenzhao with sharp eyes.

"I never said I would help Mingzhuo deal with Zhuang Cheng; I just wanted to protect Mingzhuo. Besides, I also had some things to discuss with Zhuang Cheng," Shenzhao said. "But what do you mean? Fazheng, you don't mean you're tacitly acknowledging Zhuang Cheng as a pacifist, which is why you're helping him?"

"You couldn't have missed his attitude towards his surroundings, could you? He'd be willing to burn the whole world to the ground for his own whim, without considering what would happen to society and civilization... Isn't he the kind of person you hate the most?"

"If it weren't to prevent us from intervening, he wouldn't have even come up with the idea of ​​'dragging Mingzhu underground,' would he?"

Fa Zheng said without changing his expression, "Once the fighting starts, anyone will be blinded by passion and unable to pay attention to their surroundings. Even I couldn't avoid this situation, so how can you blame Zhuang Cheng? In the end, the cause of this matter is still Ming Zhuo's fault. Zhuang Cheng was just acting in self-defense, which was a reasonable counterattack."

"You've got the pleasantries... So, what exactly are you going to do with this situation?" Shenzhao asked.

"It's not Fazheng who can decide this matter, but Zhuang Cheng."

Then another voice rang out, and a tall, thin old man with white hair and a youthful face, wearing a gray Taoist robe, appeared beside Mingzhuo and Shenzhao at some point.

“The Divination Master…” Fa Zheng looked at the other party with apprehension.

This is the first time I've seen a divination master in human form. Judging from his posture, he seems to be trying to protect Mingzhuo. His motives are probably understandable; although he claims to be a transcendentalist, he cares deeply about the ecology of mortals. Killing Mingzhuo could potentially cause large-scale climate anomalies, which is likely not something he wants to see.

Although my initial plan was to extract mantle energy from underground to kill Mingzhuo, upon calm reflection, I realized that continuously pumping energy into the mantle at the Great Impermanence level for ten years would have unpredictable consequences for the surface world. One theory about the origin of earthquakes is that the Earth's crust moves, collides, and rubs due to mantle-driven processes; abnormal mantle movements can also cause volcanic eruptions. Even if my actions don't lead to the destruction of the world, there's no guarantee they won't trigger a chain reaction of natural disasters.

As both sides entered the scene one after another, the number of people present, including myself, had increased to six.

Perhaps other unpredictable events will continue to occur.

While observing his surroundings, Fa Zheng asked, "Where are the rest? Did they come too?"

"No, those gathered here should be all the Great Impermanence currently gathered at headquarters," said the Diviner. "The Wheel King is still not replying to messages as usual, and we don't know where he is. Willow Shadow is still in the North Pole."

"As for the old boxing god... he always appears and disappears mysteriously. He may have come to headquarters, but he doesn't seem to have any intention of showing up."

Willow Shadow... I know this name. He is a neutral figure, just like the most powerful Wuchang Old Fist God in Luoshan.

I know very little about this great impermanence.

Compared to King Yama, a figure whose very existence is questioned even by those at the grassroots level of Luoshan, Willow Shadow is at least universally recognized as the real Great Impermanence. However, a closer examination reveals that the two are essentially the same. Old Master Zhu also gathered information about Willow Shadow for me, but the total amount he collected was roughly the same as that for King Yama—not even half a page of information.

He's actually in the Arctic? Why? What's his purpose?

In the "World of Possibility" summoned by the Silver Moon's illusionary power in the past, the North Pole was a key location known as the "Land of Beginning," and one had to travel to the North Pole to obtain the complete Divine Seal. I also briefly went to the North Pole to conduct a simple investigation, but I found no signs of anything unusual.

And there's another Great Impermanence active in the Arctic. Judging from the divination master's tone, it seems this isn't something that happened just a day or two... It can only be assumed that the Great Impermanence named Willow Shadow has also realized the importance of the Arctic, or perhaps, like me, realized that to obtain the complete divine seal, one must go to the Arctic...

Indeed, none of these great impermanences should be underestimated.

Even before the Luoshan region as a whole took the Divine Seal seriously, these people had already explored quite deeply into its depths.

"So, Zhuang Cheng..." Fa Zheng asked, "what do you plan to do with Ming Zhuo?"

(End of this chapter)