Chapter 322 Da Cheng Ma Zao 1
I reached out and took down the Divine Elixir that was floating in the air.
Looking at this water-colored elixir, I recalled the prophecy I had received in the past, and some indescribable emotions arose in my heart.
This truly confirms the divination master's prophecy. On this trip to Moonshadow Mountain, between "saving my friend" and "obtaining the miraculous elixir," I could only accomplish one at most. And in the end, I lost my friend again, but I did obtain the Divine Elixir.
As for why there is a relationship between these two things where "gaining one means losing the other," to be honest, I still can't quite figure it out. I can only speculate with my limited wisdom.
The key to the problem might still be the Water Master Xuanwu. If he hadn't managed to buy himself some time from my flames, he wouldn't have been able to take advantage of the gap when I invaded Silver Moon's spiritual world to transfer him to Ying Lingyun's independent reality space, let alone hold on until he could refine the elixir for me.
Conversely, things would have turned out like this. Silver Moon was teleported away, and he delivered the Divine Elixir to my hands.
Perhaps there are more details I haven't noticed, and the key might not lie with the naval Xuanwu, but rather in the divergence that began much earlier. Or perhaps there isn't a clear causal relationship between the two events at all, and I simply lack the destiny to achieve both simultaneously. Right now, I'm merely working backward from the result to deduce the cause, which is essentially like shooting an arrow before drawing the target—no matter how eloquently I explain it, I can't guarantee that I've touched on the essence of the problem.
More important than that is that since the fortune teller said I might be able to save my friend's soul on this trip, it means that I already have the means to save Chang'an, I just haven't realized it yet.
The reason I remained so calm even after learning that "Chang'an was merely a dream of Yin Yue" was partly due to that "guarantee." However, I truly cannot understand where I currently possess the qualifications to save Chang'an.
Things that can't be figured out can only be put aside for now. There is another urgent matter at hand, which is to get the Divine Elixir into Ma Zao's hands as soon as possible.
I haven't forgotten what the naval commander Xuanwu said during the day. The Divine Elixir has a very short shelf life; it must be taken within one hour of being refined, otherwise it will be completely ruined.
I hurriedly left the half-destroyed Moonshadow Mountain and returned to Moonshadow Mountain City.
At this point, Moonshadow Mountain City had fallen into chaos.
That's for sure. The white mist enveloping the Moonshadow Mountain area had already caused unrest among the people, and tonight a sudden earthquake struck, even inexplicably destroying half of Moonshadow Mountain. Moonshadow Mountain City is located at the foot of Moonshadow Mountain, and even with the thin mist obscuring the view, people immediately recognized this "natural disaster."
It's likely thanks to the Celestial Master's covert protection that the attack by the Water Force's Xuanwu on Moonshadow Mountain failed to cause any significant physical damage to Moonshadow Mountain City at its foot. Normally, such massive destruction, which even a hundred strategic nuclear weapons couldn't achieve simultaneously, would have been enough to destroy the town at the foot of the mountain with just the shockwave, yet Moonshadow Mountain City remained intact. However, the lack of physical damage doesn't mean that morale remained unshaken.
Conversely, the town's residents and tourists are now almost in a frenzy. They cannot understand why such a disaster has struck their region, nor can they imagine what other calamities might follow. Some doomsday theorists are even spreading their views, suspecting that it's not just the Moonshadow Mountain area that's trapped in the white fog; the entire country, or even the world, may already be engulfed in its own catastrophe—otherwise, why hasn't the official force come to the aid of this place yet?
Although it was night, the streets were filled with chaotic crowds. I could even see people vandalizing and looting convenience stores, and there were also thugs taking advantage of the chaos to commit crimes. I quickly dealt with some of the unsightly incidents and then hurried back to the hotel.
This chaos won't last long. As the Silver Moon disappears from the Moonlit Mountain area, the white mist originating from its celestial manifestation is naturally receding. Because it's nighttime, they don't seem to have noticed yet, but they'll soon realize what's happening, and the situation will calm down. However, the negative emotions and doubts about reality that have accumulated in people's hearts won't dissipate so quickly, just like the streets left in ruins after a typhoon.
This situation wasn't created by me, but to say it has nothing to do with me would be to absolve myself of all responsibility. I myself won't feel any moral burden for this, but people like Ma Zao and Zhu Shi, who have higher moral standards for themselves, might not be as open-minded as I am.
If Ma Zao saw this situation, she would most likely think, "If I were Zhuang Cheng…", and then, after realizing that my behavior was different from what she imagined, she might have some thoughts. Although she probably wouldn't speak out to criticize me, I should probably do something about this situation.
What exactly can I do? With that thought in mind, I found Mazao in the hotel; she looked like she was about to go out.
"Zhuang Cheng, you're back?"
Mazao carefully examined my entire body. Seeing that I was alright, she breathed a sigh of relief and then said, "I sensed the fluctuations of magical power when you were fighting... You won, didn't you?"
"You could say we've only won half the battle." I observed Asahi's soul.
As before, I cannot sense the presence of flames within Asaho's soul trauma. If what hinders her recovery from her soul trauma, like the Water Master Genbu, is the residual Xuanming Flame within the injury, I can now extract it myself. If the reason is not that, then my power is useless.
Fortunately, I now have a better solution.
I took out the Divine Elixir and handed it to Ma Zao.
"This is..."
After just one glance, she seemed to understand what it was, and then a complicated expression appeared on her face: "So, that means..."
"Yes, I failed to save Chang'an."
I briefly explained the whole story of the battle, and then said, "Although it's very regrettable in Chang'an, at least we got the Divine Elixir, so it wasn't a complete loss. You should take this pill as soon as possible."
Thinking about it carefully, this pill is quite suspicious. After all, it came from the enemy's hands, so any normal person would wonder if it had been tampered with. Moreover, considering that this pill was made from human souls, it can be considered an evil pill in a sense.
However, considering the various behaviors of the naval commander Xuanwu before his death, I decided to believe him.
Ma Zao probably felt that this pill was a treasure I obtained at the cost of being unable to save my friend. She carefully held the Divine Elixir in both hands, looked down at it for a while, then looked up at my expression. Finally, her eyes became very firm for some reason, and she put it in her mouth and swallowed it.
In my perception, Ma Zao's soul began to repair itself rapidly—
(End of this chapter)
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