Chapter 375 Preview

"The shadow that looms over my fate... the people around me who have encountered more events than I have..." Asahi murmured these words.

“Although you possess a ‘magnetic force’ that frequently attracts strange things, because your fate is dominated by this bizarre giant shadow, other strange things cannot easily bypass you and directly attack you,” the divination master said. “From your perspective, this giant black shadow is like a prison cell without doors or windows.”

"He has both imprisoned you, attempting to deprive you of your freedom, and protected you, keeping you away from the many dangers of the outside world."

"You probably already understand who I'm referring to, right?"

Mazao finally looked enlightened and turned to look at me.

But I understood the diviner's implication much faster than she did.

—It's me.

The giant shadow that the fortune teller spoke of, which loomed over Ma Zao's fate, refers to me.

This also resolved a major question that had been bothering me. Why was it that Asahaya, who clearly possessed the "jinx" constitution, was merely affected, yet Asahaya rarely came into direct contact with strange events, while I was the one who did? Although there might have been an element of me actively protecting Asahaya, Asahaya didn't show any further attraction to strange things.

According to Asaho's description of her "jinxed" constitution, she should be the center of the vortex, attracting strange events, while I would be implicated and drawn into it. However, since I met Asaho, I've been the one collecting clues to strange events, rather than actively gathering them with her, as if I were the center of the vortex.

The truth is quite simple: I didn't really become the "center of the vortex"... but rather I became "caught in the vortex of Asahi".

Although I always subconsciously consider myself human, objectively speaking, someone like me who mimics a human body with flames is actually more like a monster with human consciousness.

In many urban legends, there are often narratives of victims who, due to bad luck, breaking some taboo, or meeting the criteria of being prey, are targeted by strange beings and subsequently monitored, followed, imprisoned, or killed by them. If I were a strange being, then Asaha would clearly be a victim currently caught up in such a ghost story.

From the very first night they met, the girl Asahi was "imprisoned" by the monster named Shōsei through various means.

However, just as the fortune teller said at the beginning, this seems to be "good news".

If there's a limit to how many strange creatures Asao attracts within a given timeframe, then my existence might be occupying a portion of that limit. If Asao attracts ten strange creatures each day, I could probably take up more than half of those spots, and any remaining "escaped" creatures, no matter how many there are, would have to get past me before they could see Asao.

Even if I don't get rid of Asa's jinx constitution for the time being, I can use my own power to help Asa avoid most dangers... Maybe this is the only balance I can find right now, to satisfy my own desires while ensuring Asa's safety.

No, that's too hypocritical. Since it's about satisfying one's own desires, one shouldn't cowardly succumb to such comfort.

It's ironic that Asahi now treats me with all her heart. Even if a golden opportunity to get rid of her jinxed constitution were placed in front of her, she would choose to give it up for me. This is clearly a perfect situation for me, yet I am deeply moved by her dedication, and I'm having thoughts that aren't my own. Perhaps I need to find my original self as soon as possible—the cold-blooded self who, if necessary, would break her limbs to keep her imprisoned by my side.

At the same time, I couldn't help but feel how soft and warm the hand she was holding tightly was.

She seemed to be conveying a message that she wouldn't let you escape.

The conversation with the fortune teller came to an end. I felt that I was not in a state of calm communication at the moment, so I said goodbye to the fortune teller and asked one last question before leaving.

“Master of Divination, since you know I am the successor of the Two Elements, why do you still go to the trouble of trying to win me over?” I asked. “Although I do not intend to easily surrender to the Two Elements of the Mountain, from an outsider’s perspective, the day I met the Two Elements of the Mountain is destined to be my death anniversary.”

"I might even be a more short-lived impermanent being than the turbid immortal. All the time and energy invested in me is probably meaningless."

This was also a question that the naval commander Xuanwu once had: even if he had the opportunity to become the Great Impermanence, as long as he could not get rid of his identity as the successor of the Two Elements, his value in winning him over would be greatly reduced.

The divination master's reply was very simple: "Your talent is very strong, and you may be able to counteract the Yin and Yang of the mountain, that's all."

"That's all?" I wasn't entirely convinced.

“If it were me from a long time ago, I probably wouldn’t have made this judgment based on reasons of this magnitude,” the fortune teller said. “After all, in the long history of humankind, the number of geniuses is as numerous as the stars in the sky. Even a super genius who can dominate an era is just a large ripple in a timescale of thousands or tens of thousands of years.”

"But the Mountain of Two Elements is completely different. Even in my opinion, it can be described as a raging torrent in the river of time. Even many powerful Great Impermanences pale in comparison to it. To think that one can compete with it simply because of one's extraordinary talent is nothing but ignorance of one's own limitations."

"But one person changed my mind. Like you, he was once a successor of the Ryougi lineage, but he rose from obscurity with unbelievable speed, eventually reaching a level that even the Mountain Ryougi had to look up to, and even killing the Mountain Ryougi with his bare fists..."

"Who is that person?" I asked.

The divination master slowly said, "Old Fist God."

The most powerful and unpredictable person in Luoshan was actually once a successor of the Two Elements?

"Wait...you said 'once upon a time'?" I asked. "So...the current Fist God is no longer the successor of the Two Elements?"

"The seeds of power that Shan Liangyi left in his body in the past have disappeared. The old Fist God now uses only his own power," said the Divination Master.

"Losing the Seed of Power...does that mean all of the old Fist God's talents have disappeared? Or has his talent returned to its original state?" I asked. "And how did he defeat Yama Ryougi?"

"If you ask me what the reason is that he was able to defeat Shan Liangyi, I can't say. If you insist on an answer, I can only say that there may be no logic to it," the divination master said. "If you really want to know the truth, you can ask him yourself."

"I believe that you are not the only one interested in the old boxing god; the old boxing god is probably also interested in you, and may even take the initiative to come to your door."

"Based on my calculations, you should be able to see him after you go back."

-

Ma Zao and I left the fortune teller's residence.

Throughout the journey, Ma Zao held my hand tightly, showing no intention of letting go. I squeezed her small hand back, pondering the words the fortune teller had spoken earlier.

The old boxing god will come to me on his own initiative, and I will be able to see him after I go back... Does that mean the old boxing god has already arrived at the sanatorium and is waiting for me there?

According to the information Mr. Zhu gave me before, the Old Fist God was a believer in the power of strength. Although most of the Great Impermanences believe in strength, the Old Fist God was particularly prominent among them.

It is said that since his debut as a witcher, he has constantly challenged powerful witchers and strange beings, first at the Bad level, then the Dwelling level, then the Success level, and then the Great Completion level and the Great Impermanence... His rate of progress is not considered fast among the Great Impermanence of all time. The Great Impermanence of all time either had the strength of the Success level or the Great Completion level from the very beginning, or suddenly burst forth with an astonishing rate of progress at a certain stage, as if they had attained enlightenment. The Old Fist God seems to be an anomaly.

When he first started out, his strength was even weaker than that of an ordinary bad-level witcher. Some even suspected that he didn't know how to use magic when he first challenged witchers and strange creatures, relying solely on his bare fists. After that, he didn't experience any explosive growth, but rather steadily became stronger, challenging increasingly stronger opponents.

Later, people noticed his unusual behavior: he seemed to have no bottlenecks in his progress of power. Normal demon hunters would enter a plateau period between each level where they could hardly make any progress, but the Old Fist God's progress from the beginner level to the advanced level, and from the advanced level to the Great Impermanence level, was unimpeded, to the point that some people suspected that the Old Fist God had already ascended to a realm above the Great Impermanence level.

If the Great Completion rank symbolizes pushing open the first limit of a Witcher, that is, the first door, then the Great Impermanence is the existence that pushes open the second door.

Then the old boxing god may have already opened the third door.

(End of this chapter)