Chapter 609 The City Surrounded by Fire

If I were an upright person who had nothing to hide, or at least an eloquent and persuasive speaker, even if my relationship with Asa, a young girl, which could only be described as forbidden under general moral and legal standards, was exposed to her parents, I might be able to receive recognition, blessings, and encouragement, just like the righteous protagonists in many stories.

It is obvious that I do not possess the two outstanding qualities mentioned above. Therefore, it is only natural that this immoral relationship was destined to be disapproved of by the girl's parents, and it even created tension between us.

Asa's father's threats had absolutely no effect on me.

To put it bluntly, even if he were to immediately implement his threat, what could it do? I am the Great Impermanence, while he is merely an ordinary person. Even if I stand here and let him slaughter me, and he were to squander the rest of his lifespan on this matter, he still wouldn't be able to inflict the slightest effective harm on me. Anyone with even a modicum of common sense about the supernatural would understand how utterly ineffective this threat is.

He didn't know what the Great Impermanence was. Even if he had heard some simple introductions and descriptions, it was all hearsay. He had never truly witnessed how the power of the Great Impermanence could change the color of heaven and earth. Perhaps his ability to utter such a threat now was partly due to his ignorance.

However, he certainly understood that I was no ordinary person, and could imagine the immense power I represented. He must have known that his warnings and potential retaliation were laughable, and that even uttering them aloud carried a risk. As he said, I was an "evil fellow," not a weak and easily bullied good man.

But as a father and a man, there are ultimately aspects of him that he cannot compromise on. I can understand his feelings to some extent. He is serious; no matter what he is capable of, if I dare to hurt Mazao, he will fight to the death.

Is this the spirit a father should have? I wondered, while feeling happy that Asaho had such a father.

Late at night, Mazao and I said goodbye to the couple and left the bakery.

Ma Zao kept turning back every three steps, clearly still concerned about her mother who was seeing her off with tears in her eyes, but that figure had already disappeared around the corner as we walked away.

"Let Lu Chan arrange for them to live in a safe place later," I said.

"Hmm..." Ma Zao nodded, still feeling uneasy. "If I regain my memories in the future, I want to see them again... Zhuang Cheng, will you come with me next time?"

“If we were still together then,” I said.

As if she had finally regained her composure, Mazao said with absolute certainty, "It definitely will."

-

We quickly returned to the headquarters in Luoshan, and I began to re-examine the situation on the other side.

First, regarding the "southern metropolis caught in a spacetime distortion and a mysterious sea of ​​fire" mentioned last time, I previously only gave a simple description of this massive and bizarre event from the perspective of ordinary people. Here, I will explain it in more detail from Luo Shan's perspective.

That was not some random, strange event. Based on Luo Shan's observation of that location, it can be determined that it was a huge phenomenon caused by a conflict between Meng Zhang, the lord of Taoyuan Township, and Xuan Ming.

Even before the incident, that area had already become a gathering place for a large number of believers from Taoyuan Township.

Xuanming seems to harbor deep disgust and hostility towards Taoyuan Township's "Shangri-La" plan, and about a month ago he finally made up his mind to put it into action and completely kill Meng Zhang, the head of Taoyuan Township.

This undisguised sentiment was received by the believers through their manifest bodies, causing a huge uproar. Most of the Prophet's followers began a large-scale, spontaneous hunt for believers in Peach Blossom Village.

Such behavior is not only based on fanatical belief in the manifest, but also on a pursuit of power, and more often a mixture of the two. Believers in the Great Impermanence can invoke its power upon themselves through devout prayer and ritualistic acts, and demonstrating their faith through actions not only conforms to the concept of ritual, but also tempers their faith.

Throughout history, even religions devoid of genuine miracles have been able to ignite massive religious fervor, let alone a belief in a deity centered around the Great Impermanence. For a significant number of demon hunters, faith is far more than just a spiritual anchor and a means to gain power; it is the foundation of their existence and the guiding philosophy of their lives. Everything in their lives is inextricably linked to their faith and the interpersonal relationships associated with it.

Many Xuanming believers who had been hiding well in Luoshan were exposed as a result, and many others headed towards that southern city. Because many Taoyuan Township believers were active there, the Xuanming believers regarded it as the best hunting ground.

Until half a month ago, Meng Zhang, the lord of Peach Blossom Village, inexplicably appeared there and deployed a massive barrier covering the entire enclosed city. Xuan Ming rushed to the scene upon hearing the news, using a secret technique to break in, and then presumably clashed with Meng Zhang. What happened next was unknown even to Luo Shan; he could only observe from the outside that Xuan Ming, inside, had sealed off the city with a sea of ​​fire.

Recalling what Xuanming had told me last time, I guess he was unable to kill Meng Zhang, the lord of Taoyuan Township, from within, and instead fell into a stalemate.

Incidentally, the "firefly" I sensed not long ago that "strayed into an area with extremely poor signal for some reason" fell into this city that is now sealed off by barriers and a sea of ​​fire.

I didn't originally set "Fireflies" in that southern city. The reason "Fireflies" ended up there was because someone brought them in.

As for who this mysterious person is, Lu Chan has already helped me pinpoint it.

Most likely, they are Zhu Shi's friends, and Xiao Qiao, his junior.

Four months ago, she was involved in the Peach Blossom Village missionary incident, which forged her connection with the supernatural world. Therefore, Zhu Shi wanted to recommend her to study at the Luoshan Demon Hunter Academy. However, this was not the enrollment season for Luoshan Academy. The reason Chang'an was able to transfer in midway was because he had received some basic knowledge about the supernatural world in his childhood, which allowed him to keep up with the courses.

So, Xiao Qiao had some time to wait. Recently, it seems she planned to visit relatives in the south, and she set off for there. Yes, the southern city mentioned earlier that was in turmoil.

I had left a "firefly" on my junior classmate Xiao Qiao before, but I didn't take it away and just left it there casually. Unlike thermal markings, "fireflies" are easy to spot, so I originally thought she would throw it away... no, I didn't really think so, or rather, I hadn't even noticed the "firefly" at all; I simply forgot about it. She might have just used it as a talisman or something, carrying it with her and bringing it into the area where the incident occurred.

Zhu Shi is unaware of this news yet, but she cannot be blamed for being negligent, as she has recently focused all her energy on guarding against Ming Zhuo and has been working hard to protect Ma Zao.

Besides, even if she knew, it wouldn't make a difference. That morning, after learning of this, I immediately moved to the outside of the city besieged by fire to see if I could infiltrate it.

Now that I know Xuanming harbors ill intentions towards Xiaowan, I certainly can't just sit and wait for him to come knocking. If I have the opportunity, I'll definitely go and fight him myself. That's how it was with Mingzhuo back then, and it will be the same now.

The sea of ​​fire surrounding the city is an insurmountable forbidden zone for ordinary people, but not for me. In Xuanming's absence, I could even hack into these flames, transforming them into my own power; being harmed by them would be impossible. However, since I don't know Xuanming's specific intentions in placing them here, I'll leave them untouched for now, lest they inadvertently help Meng Zhang, the lord of Peach Blossom Village.

However, even if I could cross the sea of ​​fire, I would not be able to easily cross the barrier of the closed city.

The source of the spatial-temporal chaos surrounding the city is this barrier. I've even experienced the chaotic spacetime of the "apocalyptic era," so the spatial-temporal chaos here is nothing compared to that. So I continued along the road without hindrance. After traveling a distance, I bumped into a layer of frosted glass—this was the main body of the barrier.

This was clearly something personally set up by Meng Zhang, the lord of Peach Blossom Spring, and one could sense his extremely refined magical power emanating from it. The texture was like glass, its sturdiness so high that it could only be described as "unbreakable." It was probably a magical creation he had painstakingly prepared. Even now, without finding the correct strategy, trying to break it with pure brute force would be no different from an ordinary person trying to shatter bulletproof glass with their bare hands.

Fortunately, I actually do have a strategy guide. Although it's not exactly a legitimate strategy, the key is whether it works.

That is through the "fireflies" that Xiao Qiao, the junior, was suspected of bringing into it.

This is based on the experience I gained during the battle for the Humanitarian Division's main base. Once a connection is established with the "Fireflies" inside the closed alternate dimension, that dimension is no longer completely closed. The established connection itself is sufficient to serve as a medium for drilling into the target alternate dimension; that's how we infiltrated the independent reality space where the Humanitarian Division's main base was located.

I don't need to go to the step of drilling; I just need to keep increasing the strength of this connection until it's strong enough to teleport me inside.

To maintain its high degree of self-isolation, the barrier outputs power to hinder my expansion of connections—a form of resistance. However, given that the first minor flaw has already appeared, it's only a matter of time before the barrier is breached by me. This is an extremely complex task; in a time when I lacked understanding of the Dao of Density and could only haphazardly wield power, I simply couldn't have performed such a precise operation.

And now I've even developed a bit of an expert's demeanor. Even when facing unfamiliar barrier forces, I can challenge them using my profound and mysterious magical techniques. Especially with the blessing of the little bowl, my efficiency has been greatly amplified.

Even so, this barrier created by Meng Zhang is truly remarkable. Its underlying energy seems inexhaustible, forcing me to expend considerable patience to upgrade my intrusion techniques and proficiency, rather than simply resorting to brute force. It's estimated that it will take another five to eight days for me to complete this intrusion.

I have a pretty good impression of my junior, Xiao Qiao. Because during the Taoyuan Township missionary incident, her reaction to me being a god really satisfied my shallow and childish vanity. So I wanted to try and see if I could also rescue her, who is now caught in this incident and whose fate is uncertain.

I just don't know whether I'll be the one to infiltrate first, or whether Xuanming and Meng Zhang, the master of Taoyuan Township, will decide the victor first.

However, on the morning of the very next day, new developments occurred on the other side.

Fa Zheng delivered some exciting new news to me.

(End of this chapter)