Chapter 234 The Great Impermanence
There's at least some good news: I no longer need to worry about whether the image I've painstakingly built in the past will be ruined.
Given the current trajectory, even if Asahi learns of my past pursuit of strange events through other channels, she probably won't believe I genuinely pursued them. Similarly, I can't use this past experience to bolster the persuasiveness of my honest opinion. The reason is simple: let alone others, even I myself couldn't be entirely certain whether I genuinely pursued strange events or was merely paying lip service before experiencing the fifteenth-floor basement incident.
So should we reverse course and say that our reason for needing Asa is "to anchor ourselves in the supernatural world"? Because the supernatural world and the common sense world are rapidly merging, if I lose Asa in the future, I may be completely rejected by both the supernatural world and the common sense world, and then be completely excluded from the civilized world of humanity—this reason is incredibly persuasive.
However, there are still a few problems with this reason: First, the so-called "may be completely rejected by the strange world and the common sense world in the future" is just my past speculation. In fact, whether someone like me with the qualifications of a Great Impermanence and those Great Impermanences will really face such a terrifying situation is still debatable.
Secondly, it's not really necessary for Asahi to simply anchor myself in the supernatural world. Once I've forged enough connections in the supernatural world (I don't think that will take that long), my relationship with Asahi will become unstable again. At that point, although I can use the "Second Bowl" card, that will only be a last resort.
Most importantly, what I truly hope for is that my honest words can reach Asahi's heart.
Is it because I'm afraid of being excluded from the civilized world that I need her? While it would be a lie to say I'm not worried about this at all, this reason only came to my mind afterward and doesn't really resonate with my true feelings.
Even if we forge countless connections in the strange world later, I will never want to let go of Asahi. Her very existence symbolizes adventure to me. Less than a month has passed since we met, and I've already experienced so many ups and downs. Perhaps she would say she's burdened with bad luck, but in my heart, she's simply a goddess of fortune.
After the conversation ended, Mazao took out the head of the divine spear and continued his investigation.
Whether it's investigating the true identity of the mastermind behind the divine spear, or searching for the soul of Chang'an that was taken away by the Silver Moon, both are tasks that require time.
"Zhuang Cheng, can I also take a look at the nameless pendant that Fu Feng gave you? I want to investigate whether there's a backdoor." Ma Zao looked at the prop hanging on my chest.
Her tone and expression were very natural at this moment, as if she had forgotten about the previous topic.
I took the pendant off and handed it to her, asking, "Your investigative skills are so good that you can even tell from this?"
“It will take at least one night,” she said.
She should have been able to investigate the backdoor in the device Lu Youxun gave her last time, which served as a substitute for the user to bear the burden of the soul; she just didn't have enough time. Of course, she probably anticipated from the beginning that there was a backdoor inside and had prepared countermeasures.
Thinking about what happened last time, I remembered another item and said, "By the way, I have something else here. Could you help me investigate it?"
"What is it?" Asa asked curiously.
I summoned a ball of flame and took out a palm-sized, shattered round mirror covered in burn marks.
This broken round mirror is suspected to be a relic of Dr. Silver Mask—I'm not entirely sure, to be precise, it's an unfamiliar item I found in the old Humanitarian Division outpost in the real world, at the location where Dr. Silver Mask died. Combined with the burn marks on it, it gives me the impression of being "one of Dr. Silver Mask's dropped items."
Previously, I had kept this broken round mirror hidden inside the flames. It sounds like my flames are some kind of spatial storage device, and their actual nature is probably similar. Because I can freely decompose my personal belongings into flames and physical objects, the flames can indeed function similarly to a virtual game inventory.
Since the condition is "personal belongings," it's impossible to store items that are too bulky. And even if the size meets the requirement, it's impossible to store too many at once. Otherwise, there wouldn't be enough to carry around—this inherent concept is probably the root cause of why I can't do it.
My superpowers have many unclear aspects. Take the National First-Class Demon Hunter Medal of the girl Lu Chan for example—that silver medal can be said to be something dropped by Chen Long, and also something abandoned by Lu Chan in the past, so it is considered unclaimed. To put it further, it can also be considered my spoils of war, and of course, I can use it as a personal item for fire teleportation.
However, upon closer reflection, that silver medal was still Lu Chan's original form at the time, a vessel for her obsession. Could it really be treated as "my thing"? I hadn't thought about this carefully at the time, taking the silver medal with me during more than one fire teleportation as if it were perfectly natural. If I had accidentally thought about this question, I definitely wouldn't have been able to do it.
When it comes to powers like "magic," whether something can be done or not is just a matter of a single thought. That's why the Silver Moon, capable of thinking in a way different from humans, is so feared.
Right now, I don't know what the broken round mirror in my hand means, but I think it's best to take it to Ma Zao for investigation first.
After hearing my explanation, Mazao took the broken round mirror and said she would investigate it thoroughly later.
“This should be a magical artifact,” she said. “It’s not just about investigation… I should be able to repair this mirror to some extent.”
She can even repair magical items... I cautiously said, "Just in case, let's investigate first."
She nodded and began to examine the two nameless pendants we were to wear close to our bodies.
I wasn't idle either. I first released some "fireflies" to learn about this Fufeng base. At the same time, I also checked the situation on Dong's side using the thermal markers on the vehicle.
He was quietly reading a magazine in his room. A second later, he suddenly looked up.
Fu Feng once said that Dong Che possesses perception far surpassing that of ordinary level-one demon hunters. Perhaps it is because of this that Dong Che seems to have sensed that I am watching him.
Instead of showing any anger, he happily said, "Zhuang Cheng... no, Senior Zhuang Cheng! Are you looking at me? Want to chat?"
I only glanced at him, had no intention of chatting with him, and then looked away as if nothing had happened.
Now I'm going to focus my attention on something more important.
-
Because Fufeng had previously told me that "there are always four Great Impermanences on the mountain of Transcendentalism," I realized that I had never really looked into Luoshan's information in this regard.
Because I wasn't interested in the political turmoil in Luoshan, I was indifferent to which powerful figures supported transcendence, which supported worldly governance, and so on, intentionally or unintentionally avoiding those kinds of thoughts. Only now do I realize that I don't even know who the powerful figures in Luoshan are specifically.
I inquired about the Luoshan Great Impermanence from the Zhu family through "Fireflies," and Mr. Zhu quickly compiled a detailed report and handed it over to me.
Although Luoshan is dotted with numerous factions, they can generally be divided into two extremes: transcendence and pragmatism. Currently, Luoshan has eight powerful figures in charge. Since four of them support transcendence, the remaining four should seemingly be pragmatists. Four against four seems balanced. However, this is not the case.
Of the remaining four Great Impermanences, only two are worldly-oriented, and the other two are neutral. Furthermore, according to public opinion, the two neutral Great Impermanences exhibit a style more inclined towards transcendentalism.
Most witchers don't seem to be so extreme as to believe they must turn mortals into slaves, or even resources and consumables; however, they all believe they deserve a more privileged position in society. From this perspective, most witchers actually lean towards a hegemonic approach. However, in Roshan, where the superstructure dictates everything, hegemonic thinking is far from optimistic.
No wonder Fufeng was so eager to win me over, this "future Great Impermanence." If I were to be won over by the other side, it would undoubtedly be adding insult to injury for the regime.
I temporarily set aside those things and focused my attention on the names of these eight great impermanent beings.
Among them, the four great impermanences of transcendence are the Divination Master, the Wheel-Turning King, the Turbid Life, and the Divine Illumination;
The two great impermanences of governance are Fazheng and Jian Feixian;
The two neutral Great Impermanences are Old Fist God and Willow Shadow.
The mastermind behind the sharpshooter is likely hidden among the four masters of transcendence. Moreover, there may be more than one person secretly coveting Asahi; the others are also somewhat suspicious.
And Number Six is also hidden among them...
While I was thinking, my gaze was involuntarily drawn to the name "King of the Wheel".
In the folk mythology system, King Yama is one of the Ten Kings of Hell. Unlike the other Kings of Hell who are in charge of the terrifying and cruel hells, his domain, simply put, is "the reincarnation of souls".
The Great Impermanence of Luoshan is the mythological prototype of Yama, the King of Hell. Among the names of those Great Impermanence who seem to have no connection with Yama, this Wheel-Turning King is the only one that can be directly associated with the underworld.
Asaho, on the other hand, is a "person who has died and been resurrected" in the mystical sense. From another perspective, he can be said to be a soul that escaped from the clutches of the King of Hell.
The proverb, "If the King of Hell calls you to die at midnight, who dares to keep you alive until dawn..." came to mind.
(End of this chapter)
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