Chapter 569 The True Lineage of Luoshan
Although I know that Huang Quan is inside this Gospel House right now, I cannot pinpoint his exact location.
To be precise, it's not advisable to try to pinpoint his exact location. I already considered Huang Quan a target I would kill sooner or later, and to use my consciousness to scan for his location now would be like fearing he wouldn't notice my presence.
The abilities possessed by gods and mortals can be glimpsed from their personalities. After all, magical power is, in most cases, a manifestation of the user's mind. A cautious person is more likely to possess the special ability to detect danger. It's believed that Huang Quan also possesses one or two such special talents. Even if we haven't made any mistakes, the opponent could still potentially sense our presence at any time.
"So, what are your plans for investigating this monastery? Are you going to just conduct a thorough, door-to-door search?" I asked Number Seven.
"Of course not. That would be too inefficient, and if it drags on for too long, things could easily go wrong," Number Seven said. "Let's ask the 'locals' first. Would you mind helping out?"
I understood what she meant, and then we left the courtyard together and entered the Gospel House building.
The interior structure of the Huangquan Gospel Monastery is similar to the ruins of the Tai Sui Gospel Monastery that we explored some time ago. However, this one was not flooded, the buildings are relatively intact, and there is a stronger sense of human activity.
That being said, there's not much of a "human touch" here. Perhaps it's because this is the afterlife, but people don't care about the warmth of human presence or the atmosphere of their surroundings; everything is filled with a deathly stillness. Just like the courtyard before, there were clearly designated areas for planting flowers and plants, but there were no people to maintain them, and the plants were left to wither and die.
Since it's impossible to properly plant greenery in the afterlife, then all related facilities should be removed so that they're out of sight and out of mind. But it seems they're too lazy to even do that.
This doesn't seem to stem from a lack of cohesion or organization within the Gospel Monastery; on the contrary, the monks moving about in the corridors give the impression of order and discipline. It might sound somewhat like an army, but it's not. If one were to compare the organization to a person, the Gospel Monastery would be like a hermit. Despite their unkempt appearance, they harbor a fervent collective faith and conviction.
"The monks of the Yellow Springs Gospel Monastery are basically believers in the Yellow Springs God," Number Seven said unsurprised. "Believers are often influenced by the god they believe in. The more devout their faith, the more the nature of that god will be manifested on a collective level."
"Basically, Huang Quan is a scholar who doesn't care about material enjoyment and acts based on rationality. Although he has interpersonal skills and knowledge, he is not a person who enjoys communicating with others and lacks the motivation to improve his environment. He can adapt to anything that is not so bad that he cannot tolerate it."
"Therefore, most of the believers in the underworld are this type. Whether it's interpersonal relationships or living environment, they are indifferent and drift along in everything except for spiritual practice and work. Although there are people in this monastery who are specifically responsible for maintaining and beautifying the environment, since no one cares, the standards for the environment will be lowered accordingly."
In some fantasy stories, the personality of a deity is influenced by the faith of the believers, but here it is clearly the other way around.
Number Seven continued, "At the same time, the same applies to the plan to exterminate all of humanity. Although this plan was proposed by Huang Quan himself, Huang Quan himself may not have truly harbored the great determination to 'save the world even if it means this.' He was originally indifferent to the life and death of all humanity, and thought, 'Since this is the way, let's do it this way.' That was probably just what he was thinking."
"The cultivators here are all the same. It's not because they have a strong obsession with the continuation of the world and the race, but because this method is more reasonable. As the executor, they also have the opportunity to obtain a ticket to the Ark to the future. They don't want to perish with the old human history, so they just go with the flow."
"As for how many tragedies and tears will be created in this process, they don't care. So what if hundreds of millions of mortals are slaughtered? As long as they kill them all, they can ensure that they, the high and mighty cultivators, will not be destroyed. Then the mortals deserve to die... Using the existence or absence of cultivation as the criterion and legitimacy for judging who should live more, this kind of thinking should be considered 'transcendentalism' in your country, right?"
After thinking for a moment, I replied, "More or less."
As we were talking, I saw a monk dressed in distinctive attire walk towards us from the other end of the corridor. He was an elderly-looking man, and although both were wearing black uniforms, this monk clearly had more decorations and badges on him. The monks passing by stopped and bowed in respect when they saw him.
This person clearly holds a high position and must possess considerable intelligence. Judging from their soul, they are a highly skilled individual. Or, to use a more transcendental term, perhaps "a cultivator at the peak of their cultivation"?
To reiterate, while Cheng-level figures may seem insignificant to me, within the broader context of Luoshan, they are practically at the very top. I believe the same holds true within the Fuyin Academy; there are likely very few individuals of higher rank than this monk.
—Then let's choose him.
I, along with Number Seven and Little Bowl, deliberately blocked the path of this cultivator at the Completion Realm. He seemed to only then notice our presence, stopping in his tracks. Then, with a puzzled expression, he frowned and asked, "What are you... wait, who are you? You look unfamiliar..."
Before he could react defensively, I spoke first: "From this moment on, you are our slave. You must not disobey us in any way, nor may you lie, conceal, or remain silent in response to our questions."
"What...!" The cultivator at the completion stage stared wide-eyed in shock. "What exactly are you—"
He seemed to want to speak loudly and make some kind of aggressive move. However, his voice suddenly stopped, as if an invisible hand had choked him; and the movement he was about to make was also abandoned halfway, as if he had been petrified.
My power of words has completely imprisoned him. No matter what noise he tries to make to attract attention or what actions he wants to take that are harmful to us, he will ultimately be stopped by his own body and soul.
This is not only a law that acts on his body and soul, but also on the air and space around him. Even if he could break free from this law and run away screaming, the air around him would refuse to carry his voice, and the space would automatically stretch and change, making it impossible for him to escape from our side.
Perhaps he had other tools and spells specifically for relaying messages… but those are useless now. Under the overwhelming power of the law, all those fancy methods are rendered ineffective. Even his own life or death is a matter I can decide with a single word.
I focused all my power on him as much as possible to avoid leaking any fluctuations that might cause a reaction in the distant Yellow Springs.
Although Xiao Wan had certainly expected it, she was still amazed by the scene: "It was resolved so quickly..."
“Although the specific effects may differ, you are actually capable of doing similar things for other people,” I said.
As a child of divinity, Xiao Wan also possesses the power of words, though it differs from the power of words of Da Wuchang.
The small bowl could inspire trust and affection in others, making them unconsciously believe her words, respond to her commands, and become her followers. In ancient times, this extraordinary charisma of a leader, capable of commanding a hundred responses, was also regarded as the aura of a sage king or enlightened ruler, even causing the heavens and earth to become as harmonious as the human heart, a kind of "power to govern the world."
Although her madness makes it difficult for her to use this ability on people in the afterlife, I believe that with the power of the Divine Seal Fragment, she can find a way to overcome this obstacle.
All of this is predicated on her own sincerity in treating others—because the power of the divine child's words is a "capability of dialogue," pursuing a harmonious outcome.
The power of the Great Impermanence's words is the "ability to command," ultimately achieving the result of forcing others and the world to make an ideal response.
"The power of divine words... no matter how many times I witness them, they are always so unreasonable..."
Number Seven seemed to feel a strange empathy for the cultivator in front of him who held a high position but whose life and death were controlled in the blink of an eye, and let out a sigh.
"You are... Rainbow Grass!"
The cultivator at the completion realm clearly recognized Number Seven's identity, then looked at me with even greater astonishment, "Human God... no, this feeling... the Great Demon of Calamity? Why would the Great Demon of Calamity appear here!?"
"Long time no see. I remember you and a few other cadres are managing this Gospel Institute for Huang Quan now, right?" Number Seven looked at the other party coldly. "You were probably behind the scenes planning Huang Quan Gospel Institute's pursuit of the Tai Sui Army, weren't you? Have you ever thought that you would one day fall into my hands?"
The cultivator's expression changed several times.
It turns out these two people know each other. They were both high-ranking figures at the Evangelical Fellowship, which makes sense.
Based on my first impression, this cultivator who has reached the Enlightenment Realm is not a Blessed Cultivator, but rather someone who, as Number Seven mentioned, received a complete and systematic education from the Gospel Academy and was cultivated as a high-ranking cadre. Judging from his aged appearance, he might even have been a veteran high-ranking cadre before that system even existed.
“However, those grudges need to be put aside for now. We have some questions for you,” Number Seven said. “Where are you keeping the technical data for ‘Dushuo Mountain’? Also, do you know where Huang Quan put the fragments of the Divine Seal?”
The cultivator at the Chengjing realm was stunned for a moment. "'Dushuo Mountain'? Fragments of a divine seal? I don't know... Isn't 'Dushuo Mountain' still in its early stages of development? Could it be that the Yellow Spring God completed it himself?"
Number Seven gave a look of utter disgust and said, "You don't know anything? You're really useless. ... Come to think of it, how could Huang Quan possibly tell you such important information to someone like you who just blurts out anything when asked casually?"
The cultivator who had reached the Chengjing realm disregarded the humiliation he had suffered. The keyword "Dushuo Mountain" seemed to stimulate his imagination, allowing him to quickly deduce a lot of information.
His gaze turned to me, his voice trembling with awe, "I...I understand...You are not the Great Demon of Calamity. A Great Demon cannot take human form and speak human language...You are the prototype of the Great Demon of Calamity who traveled from the world of the living to the world of the dead? The Great Impermanence of the Second Luo Mountain?"
“Your mind works very fast, but have you forgotten that it’s your turn to answer our questions?” I said. “And… what does ‘Second Luoshan’ mean? Does it mean there’s a First Luoshan? Tell me everything you can think of.”
The cultivator, unable to disobey my orders, could only grit his teeth and say, "Have they even erased our records over there? Our Gospel Academy... is the true lineage of Luoshan."
(End of this chapter)
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