Chapter 577 Eclipse Patterns

Upon hearing this, Huang Quan revealed a strange smile.

“Luoshan is the Luoshan of Great Impermanence, not the Luoshan of Naraku's Will; similarly, the same applies to Fukuin. So what if the central totem changes from Naraku's Will to Naraku's Gospel? There is no essential difference between us.” He looked at me and said, “You suddenly said those things, most likely because you wanted to get information about Naraku's Gospel from me. You're thinking about such things even when you're about to die; it seems your mind is indeed different from a normal person’s.”

"Then I'll tell you the truth. Even without Naraku's gospel, we would still abandon Naraku's will. This thing called the collective unconscious of humanity will inevitably become an obstacle when we embark on the path of mass slaughtering humans, so it's better to distance ourselves from it as soon as possible."

"Moreover, we have not truly deviated from the will of Naraku; we have merely shifted from the narrow sense of the will of Naraku to the broader sense of the will of Naraku."

"—What?" I asked, surprised.

The broader concept of Naraku's will?

It's not that I don't know what he's trying to say. Just as the afterlife can be divided into a broad and a narrow sense, when we mention the afterlife, we generally mean the narrow sense, which is the human aspect of the afterlife. Similarly, when we mention the will of Naraku, we generally mean the will of the human aspect of the afterlife, which is the collective unconscious of humanity.

The broader concept of the Naraku Will corresponds to the broader concept of the afterlife, which includes the afterlife of all living beings, including humans. It is a super Naraku Will formed by the accumulation of deaths over billions of years in the planet's ecosystem.

Compared to this, the collective unconscious of humanity is utterly insignificant.

Is this the truth behind Naraku's Gospel?

If that's the case, then many things can be explained.

Why was Naraku's will so easily replaced? Why could Naraku's Gospel so easily reshape the afterlife? It's because Naraku's Gospel was originally the superior of Naraku's will and the true ruler of the afterlife.

Xiaowan once speculated that Naraku's Gospel might have invaded from other "channels" in the afterlife, which is partially correct. Excluding the severely damaged Naraku Will, Naraku's Gospel can be considered a collection of all aspects of the afterlife except for the human form.

The reason why Naraku Fukuin harbors such malice and murderous intent towards humanity is because the existence of humanity is like a cancer cell appearing in this world, dragging down the planet's ecosystem and even destroying the planet itself. After death, the world is even the first part to be destroyed.

Naraku Fukuin can be considered a victim.

But why is the moon the symbol of Naraku's Gospel? This question has resurfaced in my mind.

Huang Quan said calmly, "Consider this truth as my last gift before sending you to hell."

I countered, "Isn't this hell we're in right now?"

"Yes... so your soul can't even go to hell, it will just be completely annihilated and turned into nothingness!"

The power Huang Quan unleashed grew increasingly intense, and the suffocating, icy force surrounding me, attempting to bind me, became ever heavier. The Great Demon Xuanwu pressed its advantage, shrinking my escape route, and I was on the verge of being struck and severely injured.

At the same time, I have also found the path to complete victory.

"Little Bowl, can you hear me?" I murmured to myself.

The numerous thermal energy markings left on the small bowl make it seem as if we are always together. I can use this as a medium to initiate verbal communication anytime, anywhere, and the small bowl can do the same.

"Brother Zhuang Cheng, I'm here."

Xiaowan immediately replied via voice communication. She understood my need to contact her right away: "You're still fighting on your end. Is there anything I can do to help you?"

“That’s right. Next, I’m going to use the 'Eclipse Form',” I said. “I need your help.”

There's no need to spend extra time explaining what an "eclipse pattern" is, because verbal communication can convey a tremendous amount of information. In the world of common sense, people call the ability to understand all the underlying information through simple words, gestures, and eye contact "tacit understanding," but it's commonplace in verbal communication. Little Bowl understands all my intentions.

I am currently unable to enter Eclipse form on my own. Although I can actively use Eclipse Fire, I cannot reach the level of the Great Demon of Calamity, who constructs his body with black flames, nor can I push Eclipse Fire to the extreme to the point of suppressing the Great Demon Xuanwu. However, this does not mean that I lack the potential to enter Eclipse form.

If I can fully digest, understand, and master all the experience and information I gained from fighting the Great Demon of Calamity, and undergo a long period of training, I can completely master this flawed path of evolution and become the new "Great Demon of Calamity"—does this sound familiar?

Yes, I wouldn't normally be able to flexibly utilize the power of the "correct evolutionary path" deduced from that experiential information. However, thanks to the blessing of the small bowl, I can skip the time for understanding and training, and apply the still theoretical technology to practice ahead of time. Since I can perfectly control the power of the Corona Mode through this method, I can certainly obtain the conditions to enter the Eclipse Mode ahead of time as well.

However, I cannot use the incorrectly evolved form for an extended period, otherwise it will affect the very nature of my power. Even short-term use might cause unpredictable side effects. Perhaps because of this, the Little Bowl's blessing does not automatically enhance my power in that direction. I must make the Little Bowl adjust its blessing to a certain extent.

I don't care about the potential side effects of the eclipse form. Right now, I care more about the victory in front of me and only think about how to kill Huang Quan. If it were like when Ming Zhuo was at his wit's end, that would be one thing, but he clearly possessed the true spiritual power to truly kill his opponent and even thought of a feasible tactic, yet he still hesitated because of all sorts of trivial matters. I absolutely will not tolerate that.

"I understand, Brother Zhuang Cheng."

As if understanding my thoughts, Xiaowan lowered her voice and said seriously, "I'll help you now—"

As she spoke, I felt the nature of the blessing that was falling on me change.

What was originally a blessing meant to guide me on the right evolutionary path seemed to have reversed in subtle ways, causing my understanding of eclipse patterns to explode in my mind. It was like a series of complex equations rapidly unfolding, deriving one answer after another that suited my needs. Following this momentum, I began to exert my power. The flames changed accordingly.

The corona-shaped luminous body, which had been continuously radiating flames, suddenly turned completely dark, as if a button on a digital camera had been pressed, switching the captured scene to inverted mode. No longer was it an intensely hot and dazzling orange-red, but instead, it was inverted into a deep, abyss-like black. At the same time, terrifying gravity descended upon the earth.

What would happen if a black hole suddenly appeared on Earth? I've often fantasized about such a scene in the past. While it's not comparable to a real black hole, I would undoubtedly be exhibiting a massive gravitational catastrophe. Centered on me high in the sky, an overwhelming torrent of gravity would violently spread across the surface, tearing the land apart out of thin air. Vast, canyon-like chasms would randomly appear, and countless rocks and groundwater would be forcefully sucked into the sky.

An erroneous evolutionary form – “Solar Eclipse”.

The flames that make up my body have all reversed into black eclipse fire. This feeling is fresh and strange. Originally, I was a light flame with extremely high destructive power, and my body could expand and explode at any time, losing its shape. But now I seem to have become an ultra-high density mountain that has collapsed to the extreme under invisible and enormous pressure, and finally turned into a mysterious material.

I became incredibly heavy and solid, yet I didn't feel any difficulty moving, and I could move at terrifyingly high speeds, like an asteroid capable of destroying everything.

Such a high-density, high-mass flame transforming so quickly seems too easy. But this is the most logical thing to do. My flame is inherently a spiritual force; while it can simulate the inertia of matter, it can also choose not to. As long as the mind is in the right place, everything will fall into place.

This is a double-edged sword, a dangerous one. Because the potential harm can be amplified dramatically. I must end the battle before the Eclipse form inflicts irreparable damage upon itself.

Witnessing my transformation, Huang Quan was so shocked that he stopped in his tracks. The Great Demon Xuanwu, however, did not hesitate as much. On the contrary, it seemed to have met someone with whom it had a deep-seated hatred, and it unleashed an even stronger killing intent, its massive body hurtling towards me with all its might.

However, it no longer poses any threat to me.

I raised my finger, and in an instant, a sphere resembling a black hole appeared in front of my fingertip.

This is also a "solar eclipse," but it's completely different from any "solar eclipse" I've ever seen before. It looks utterly devoid of any connection to fire. Despite being just a small sphere, it seems to possess a mass far greater than the earth below, a manifestation of overwhelming gravity.

Facing the oncoming Great Demon Xuanwu, the small black ball was launched and then collided with it.

Then, without making a sound, the small ball pierced through the massive body of the Great Demon Xuanwu. The Great Demon Xuanwu continued its charge forward, propelled by inertia, but only for a fleeting moment.

Then, it abruptly stopped, as if forcibly pulled by invisible reins. It let out a huge roar, but it was completely powerless to resist the force. The small ball directly behind it released terrifying gravity, dragging its entire body along.

As it approached the small sphere, its entire body was torn apart by an invisible force, shredded into pieces like a plastic doll being crushed in a shredder. In the blink of an eye, the black sphere devoured the Great Demon Xuanwu's body without leaving a trace.

In the next instant, the ball burst forth with boundless light and heat, and the flames, like a supernova explosion, engulfed everything in sight.

—The Great Demon Xuanwu, destroyed.

(End of this chapter)