Chapter 313 The Power of Great Impermanence 3
As I entered the realm of Great Impermanence, my perception underwent a qualitative change. In the past, I could only perceive the various changes occurring in the realm of cause and effect when someone around me activated a force related to cause and effect; now, I can perceive them proactively on my own.
Silver Moon's ability to "turn illusions into reality" is essentially a modification of "action" at the level of "non-action," that is, modifying the material world at the level of abstract things such as cause and effect and concepts.
The world we live in—is it that matter itself is the essence, or that there are some metaphysical essences governing everything behind matter? This is a topic of debate between materialism and ontology. I don't actually think that the fact that Silver Moon can do this means that the metaphysical realm is a more essential level than the material realm. It's possible that her power is built on this worldview, which leads to this absurd performance.
Even flawed, or even self-contradictory, worldviews can be realized through magic. Therefore, in this strange world, there is no objectively correct worldview. However, in this context, I must temporarily consider the abstract realm of cause and effect and concepts as the true battlefield.
In that abstract realm, I saw the fleeing Silver Moon. Words cannot describe the scene. Though Silver Moon vanished from the world of form, her silhouette could still be seen in the abstract world. Here, time and space do not exist, and the concept of distance is even more nonexistent.
But she kept "drifting away" from me.
This is because she is rapidly severing her connection with me. Changing "the fact that I captured her" to "what I captured was merely an illusion" was just her first step. She is going to change the historical fact that she and I met on Mount Moonshade to something that never happened in the first place.
It's like a junior high classmate who changes their phone number after moving or transferring schools, and doesn't reveal their new address or school location to anyone. Although in the abstract world there is neither distance nor a place to hide, if I let her do these things, she will completely disappear from the level I can perceive.
On this level where light and sound do not exist, I swiftly stretched out my arm. Just as I had done in the material world, my arm transformed into a giant, blazing hand of fire, inexplicably entering this symbolic realm and grabbing the fleeing Silver Moon.
On a physical level, my outstretched fiery hand seemed to conjure a living person out of thin air, pulling out a strange girl dressed in moon-white clothes—it was Silver Moon.
A look of terror crossed her face, but she hadn't completely given up. She immediately tilted her head back and let out a howl. This sound was equally indescribable, because her cry exceeded the frequencies that the human ear could distinguish. So it seemed as if she had simply opened her mouth wide towards the night sky, without making a sound. Only ripple-like shockwaves spread outwards, transforming into a gale that swept around, and the ground began to tremble. A very noticeable earthquake occurred within a radius of tens of kilometers centered on her.
This is a disturbance caused by her "Heaven and Earth Manifestation" technique. Of course, she certainly doesn't expect to stop me with just this technique. What we're seeing now is merely a secondary phenomenon caused by her unleashing her full power. For human society, the harm caused by this secondary phenomenon might be even greater. And she didn't even expend her own magical power on this when she caused this natural disaster; she was simply exercising her "authority."
The reason why ancient monarchs could mobilize troops and command millions of soldiers to launch campaigns in the south and north was not because they alone possessed the strength to defeat a million soldiers, but because the legions were willing to obey them. This is a form of "social power."
What the Great Impermanence and those qualified as Great Impermanence possess is "natural power." The feng shui of nature will proactively follow its will, exhibiting changes that conform to its nature. Transforming Moonshadow Mountain and its surrounding area into a lost and chaotic realm of spacetime distortion is precisely the manifestation of the Heavenly Law of the Silver Moon. And the current earthquake is not actually the earth shaking, but spacetime itself vibrating.
The Diviner Master should be in Moonlit Mountain City right now, trying to contain the disaster. As for me, I don't see Silver Moon using her new ultimate technique. Silver Moon is on par with the Water Master Xuanwu, her understanding of illusion rivals that of the historically renowned Great Impermanence, while I'm just a "newbie" who's only recently become Great Impermanence. Since the Water Master Xuanwu could potentially threaten me now, Silver Moon's ultimate technique might also have a powerful impact on me.
Before she could unleash her full power, the giant fiery hand that had grabbed her burst forth with flames without mercy, abruptly interrupting her attack.
You can't blame her for using a long-prepared finishing move in such a critical moment. In fact, she might have only needed a split second to unleash that attack, but my speed was even faster than a "split second." It wasn't just the attack itself that was fast; the speed at which I destroyed her body was also incredibly swift. Again, in less than a split second, Silver Moon didn't even have time to utter a painful cry before she was reduced to charred remains in the flames.
At the same time, I refined a large portion of her soul, and the corresponding substance appeared in my flames.
Previously, after I killed the Water Master Xuanwu, and his soul was automatically refined by the flames, all I got was "slag." It was just overwhelmingly larger, essentially no different from the material I obtained after killing Chenlong and Shenqiang. This time, however, I consciously showed mercy to Yinyue, intending not to kill him. Firstly, killing Yinyue would prevent the salvation of Chang'an; secondly, I wanted to conduct an experiment to see if using flames with the intent of a weapon refiner would yield different results.
Whether or not one obtains "slag" from an enemy is separate from whether the enemy is dead. Slag will appear as long as one injures a soul. The refining power inherent in the Vermilion Bird Seed likely follows the same principle.
Unfortunately, what appeared in the flames this time was still blackened "slag".
Having burned so many souls at the Great Completion level, including exceptional Great Completion level beings like the Water Master Xuanwu and Silver Moon, my "slag" inventory has become extremely large. But what use is so much "trash" to me? I used to think that "slag" might have special functions, but after realizing that my true power should be in weapon crafting, it became difficult for me to continue to have any expectations for "slag".
I could only release my giant fiery hand, while Silver Moon, completely burned and unconscious, fell to the ground, her slender body looking no different from charred remains. Anyone else might have thought she was already a corpse, but I burned her with the intention of "not killing her," so even though my flames were the Great Unpredictable Flame, I couldn't truly kill her.
Since she was unwilling to return to Chang'an on her own, I decided to find a way myself. Taking advantage of her unprecedented weakness, I took out the fake moon reflected in the water, then bent down, reached out, and used my fingers to pry open her eyelids, while simultaneously pointing the mirror of the artifact at her dazed eyes.
"A pillar of the nation, fallen in an instant—"
I imitated what Asahi had done in the past, clearly reciting the incantation and activating the power of the fake moon reflected in the water: "—Moon Reflection in Water, coming and going without intention."
The silver moon's eyes met the mirror of the counterfeit moon reflected in the water, forming a mirrored reflection that revealed an endless, mysteriously attractive maze of corridors. I made no struggle, focusing intently on this maze, letting my mind be drawn into this mesmerizing illusion by a magnet.
When I came to my senses, I was no longer on the half-destroyed summit of Moonshadow Mountain.
The surrounding scenery transformed into a strangely familiar garden. The sky was a hazy yellow, around dusk; the western sky was ablaze with crimson clouds, while the other half had turned a deep blue. I quickly surveyed my surroundings and then remembered where I was.
This is the Zhu family residence.
The real Zhu family mansion was destroyed during the Chenlong invasion and subsequently abandoned by Old Master Zhu. Clearly, this Zhu family mansion garden is a scene from a dream. Judging from the sunlight and ambient temperature, the dream is set in spring or summer, and the surrounding plant species and growth conditions are also different, so I almost didn't recognize it at first glance. It seems I've successfully entered Silver Moon's spiritual world.
However, I was surprised that Yin Yue's mental world was the Zhu family mansion. It's impossible for Old Master Zhu to allow Yin Yue to enter the Zhu family mansion, and even if Yin Yue did sneak in in reality, the Zhu family mansion shouldn't appear in her dream.
When I entered Asaho's mental world in the past, the reason I saw the Fukuin-in during the apocalypse was because the apocalypse left the deepest impression on Asaho, and the Fukuin-in was where she received her training as a blessed monk, perhaps similar to her hometown or school. Even though she gradually forgot about it under the influence of madness, it must have still occupied a very important place in her unconscious.
But for Yin Yue, is the Zhu family mansion really so important that she would dream about it?
Thinking of this, the answer came to me. Perhaps this place is not the "spiritual world of Silver Moon," but the "spiritual world of Chang'an."
Chang'an's spirit still lives on in Yin Yue's consciousness.
Although Yinyue claimed she could erase Chang'an's memories, it seems she didn't actually do so.
There are two possible reasons: either it's impossible to do, or it's possible but comes at an unacceptable and enormous cost.
It's also possible that although she could have done it without any cost, I caught her before she could; or perhaps it's because she still has some feelings for Chang'an, the son she had with her adopted son Ying Lingyun, so she couldn't bear to delete him... Either possibility is extremely low.
Since she already considers me an enemy that can only be dealt with after I've fully recovered, she shouldn't have left any mental contradictions or loopholes. As for a cold and cruel monster like her, the idea that she would have any extra feelings for her son, whom she's never met and whom she's using as a vessel for "resurrection," is just wishful thinking.
I put aside these distracting thoughts and decided to investigate the dream first, then ventured deep into the garden.
Soon, I arrived at the gate of the Zhu family mansion.
They say they're going to investigate, but how exactly should they investigate, and in what direction should they investigate? I'm completely clueless about this. I can only take it one step at a time, figuring out the right approach based on my limited knowledge.
First of all, since this is the spiritual world of Chang'an, then Chang'an should be somewhere here.
Perhaps I should find him first, then encourage him and help him overcome the spirit of Silver Moon. Although this is Chang'an's spiritual world, considering that Chang'an is now the embodiment of Silver Moon, Silver Moon's spirit should also be hiding in some corner of this spiritual world.
Many fantasy stories feature a protagonist who overcomes their evil side in the spiritual realm; this is a fairly standard development. Although applying fantasy stories to the real world is wrong, I can't find any other examples to follow, so I have to bite the bullet and force it.
Just then, I heard footsteps in the distance. They were coming from the direction I had come from. Looking in that direction, I saw a small child walking along the narrow path in the middle of the garden.
He was a boy carrying a black backpack and wearing a primary school uniform. He seemed depressed, with his head down and looking at the tips of his shoes as he walked.
At first, he didn't notice me. It wasn't until I got closer and my shadow came into his view that he looked up in surprise and revealed his face.
It is Chang'an.
To be precise, it was Chang'an when I was a child.
Although I only met Chang'an in college and had never seen what he looked like in elementary school, the boy in front of me bears many resemblances to Chang'an. Judging from the location, it couldn't possibly be anyone else.
Wait a minute… it seems there are other possibilities. Could this elementary school boy be Ying Lingyun? I heard that Ying Lingyun and Zhu Shi's mother were childhood sweethearts, and they've known each other since elementary school. Since they're childhood sweethearts, it seems normal for them to visit each other occasionally.
Furthermore, Yin Yue should have been Ying Lingyun's mother since then. Perhaps she was secretly observing Ying Lingyun's activities, which is why she had a deep impression of the places her son visited since childhood, to the point that she would occasionally see them in her dreams.
The great demon mother and the demon hunter were childhood sweethearts; I always feel like there are many stories going to happen here... But important matters come first, so let's not think about those things for now.
Looking at the little boy in front of me, just in case, I made sure to confirm again: "Chang'an...is that right?"
"Who...who are you?"
The little boy took a step back timidly, as if he didn't recognize me.
(End of this chapter)
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