Chapter 622 The Savior of the World

After returning to my residence at the headquarters in Luoshan, I saw the little bowl waiting there as if it had foreseen the future.

"Brother Zhuang Cheng, you must be injured," she said in a soft voice. "Let me treat you."

The commotion from the battle with those three great demons is likely known worldwide. Xiao Wan can easily deduce that I was involved and knows I experienced an earth-shattering battle.

Besides her, Ma Zao and Lu Chan were also waiting here. Ma Zao was probably with Xiao Wan, while Lu Chan probably made the same guess as Xiao Wan and wanted to know the whole story from me.

I briefly explained what had happened, and Lu Chan looked shocked, muttering, "I knew it... I knew something terrible must have happened, but... I never imagined that the world almost went into the apocalypse just now, and human civilization narrowly escaped destruction..."

Then, he looked me over again and said, "So... you and Fa Zheng saved the world together?"

"—Saving the world?"

Upon hearing this keyword, Ma Zao's spirits lifted.

"It's all thanks to the Divination Master and Sword Immortal; otherwise, even if Fazheng and I had destroyed those three great demons, we still wouldn't have been able to save anything," I said.

“But if you and Fazheng weren’t there, the three-headed demon would definitely have brought the world to an apocalypse,” Lu Chan sighed.

Whether it will really turn out that way is a hypothetical question and we can't say for sure, but at least the Evangelical Fellowship is very likely to be planning that.

Lu Chan planned to leave soon after. The battle that destroyed that second-tier coastal city in the east must have caused immense turmoil throughout Luoshan, and having quickly grasped the truth, he would have some work to deal with urgently. Their own god had saved the world—that alone had enormous propaganda value. I wasn't particularly concerned about that, but he was quite enthusiastic.

Before leaving, he added some noteworthy information.

"Regarding the flesh and blood of the Great Demon Xuanwu," he said, "I consulted some experts and masters skilled in refining pills, and I'm very sorry, they all said they couldn't process that material, and unanimously agreed that only the Water Master Xuanwu could refine it into an effective pill."

This result was somewhat expected, and I wasn't surprised. He continued, "I'm currently searching for his whereabouts, but there aren't many useful clues. There are quite a few possibilities, but none can be confirmed. After all, he's a man whose whereabouts were impossible to track down even with the combined efforts of countless believers. Finding him in a short time using our intelligence network is almost an impossible task. However..."

"But?" I asked.

"Among those clues and possibilities, some of which are unclear, there is one that points to the fact that he may have recently traveled to the large southern city that was surrounded and sealed off by barriers and a sea of ​​fire, where Xuanming clashed with the Lord of Taoyuan Township." Lu Chan looked at me. "You had a conflict with Xuanming not long ago, and you should also be planning to go to that conflict zone soon, right?"

"That's right," I replied frankly.

"Considering the fateful force that always attracts dangerous events surrounding you, I believe there's a very high probability that the Water Martial Xuanwu is currently in that conflict zone," Lu Chan said.

Although it was only at the "possibility" stage, I immediately accepted this logic.

Why did the naval Xuanwu actually appear on the battlefield between Xuanming and Meng Zhang, the lord of Taoyuan Township? The only connection that can be thought of is that "both the naval Xuanwu and Meng Zhang, the lord of Taoyuan Township, are successors of the Yin-Yang lineage".

However, the difference in skill between these two individuals is vast. To put it bluntly, if the naval commander Xuanwu had happened to be nearby when Meng Zhang, the lord of Peach Blossom Village, was fighting Xuanming, it would have been quite an achievement for him to survive. What could a mere Great Completion level cultivator possibly accomplish in such a place?

After Lu Chan left, Xiao Wan and I went inside to begin treatment. Ma Zao followed closely behind, watching me with a strange smile. She has a hard time hiding her feelings, and perhaps she didn't even realize the smile on her face.

"Did something good happen to you?" I asked intentionally.

Ma Zao exclaimed with emotion, "Zhuang Cheng, you prevented the apocalypse from happening."

"Hmm, so how come this is... ah." I finally realized what was going on.

Not long ago, I asserted that my desire was the complete opposite of hers—that I intended to prevent the apocalypse—but rather that I wanted to hasten its arrival. And if I had deliberately held back in the battle against the Great Demon Kirin, or even intentionally opposed and sabotaged Fazheng, the entire world would inevitably have been plunged into the apocalypse. From Mazao's perspective, if she had known from the beginning what kind of battle I was fighting with Fazheng, she would likely have had that kind of worry.

It was only after she reminded me that I finally remembered that what happened before might have been a golden opportunity to plunge the world into chaos. But at the time, all my attention was focused on the Great Demon Qilin, and my mind was filled with the desire for victory; nothing else was on my mind.

Actually, there's nothing to regret. If I were facing an "apocalyptic" world like the afterlife we ​​live in now, I would have already recovered from my fever. Besides, that approach wouldn't accelerate the actual apocalypse; letting the apocalyptic spacetime spread throughout the world would only help the Evangelion's plan to exterminate humanity. Thinking about it calmly, it's definitely in my "long-term interest" to eliminate those three great demons.

But at least on the surface, I did something that didn't fit my "evil image." Especially when Asaho pointed it out to my face, I felt awkward and embarrassed.

“No. The previous one doesn’t count,” I said.

Asahi just laughed happily.

The urge to refute her conflicted with the feeling that her smiling face was incredibly cute. In the end, I decided against engaging in any unromantic arguments in this situation. Let her laugh if she wants; there will be plenty of time. I'm sure there will be a chance for Asahi to witness my wicked nature someday.

Xiao Wan looked at me and Ma Zao and gave us a strange smile.

After entering my bedroom, Xiao Wan began to heal my spirit.

This time, there was neither a lap pillow nor a close embrace from behind like when Number Seven was there last time. She simply let me relax on the bed, moved a stool over and sat down beside me, holding my hands in hers as if visiting a relative of a seriously ill patient, releasing healing power in a prayerful gesture.

In this focused treatment setting, Asaha became quieter than usual, watching me and Xiaowan as if holding her breath. Xiaowan probably didn't adopt an intimate posture because Asaha was watching, and wanted to avoid any awkwardness.

That said, was that kind of intimate physical contact actually unnecessary during therapy? They would do it when they were alone, but not when Asa was watching—thinking about it that way, it inevitably feels like an affair. However, the idea of ​​having an affair with a ten-year-old girl while keeping it a secret from a thirteen-year-old lover… that just sounds really strange.

It's best not to delve any deeper into this. Right now, Xiaowan and I are in physical contact, so she can easily sense what I'm thinking. Let's find another topic to talk about.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't kill Meiko this time," I said to Asahi.

“There’s no need to apologize to me. I was the one who attracted this enemy in the first place. Besides, there was nothing I could do about it. The enemy isn’t even there right now,” Asaho said.

“Mingzhuo can only escape from Zhuangcheng-gege this time. In the future, when we fight against Fuyin-in, we will definitely have another chance to meet him. To put it another way, even if he manages to escape again later, it will be in vain. Asao-jie's jinx power is something even the Great Impermanence cannot escape,” Xiaowan said. “However, since the place where Mingzhuo disappeared is also the place where the three-headed demon appeared, it means that Mingzhuo has really entered the afterlife. That also means that we don’t need to guard against Mingzhuo’s possible sudden attacks for the time being.”

"Because Meizo's motive for wanting to capture Asaha-neechan was to enter the afterlife, he no longer has the motivation to act again. And the reason why Sho-sei and Meizo were locked in a life-or-death struggle no longer exists..."

“I will not let Mingzhuo get away with this.” I said in an irrefutable tone. “He dared to attack Mazao again without any sense of lesson. I must make him pay with his life. And I have already mastered the power necessary to achieve this.”

As expected, Xiao Wan nodded.

"True spirit power, is it..."

Ma Zao muttered the word, then looked at the small bowl that was repairing my true spirit, and suddenly asked, "Speaking of which, there's a question I've never quite understood... Most of the Great Impermanence should be able to attack the true spirit of their opponents, right? And before the conflict with Zhuang Cheng, Ming Zhuo should have had some friction with other Great Impermanence before."

"Didn't the Great Impermanence attack Naraku's true spirit to break his immortality before? Or does Naraku's immortality even extend to damaging the true spirit?"

As if summarizing for Asaho, Xiaowan said, "If even the damage at the True Spirit level cannot break Naraku's immortal body, then the idea that 'as long as one has the power of the True Spirit, one can kill Meiko' might become somewhat untenable... Is that what you mean, Asaho-neechan?"

“That’s it.” Asahi nodded vigorously.

"No, as long as the power of the true spirit is used, it will definitely be able to break the Naraku Undying Body of Life Turbidity. This conclusion is not wrong," I said with absolute certainty.

(End of this chapter)