Chapter 145 Undercurrents 1
I mentioned the matter of the Void Realm and the Second Bowl to Zhu Shi last time. Given her kind nature, she wouldn't ignore the aftermath, so I need to wrap up this topic first.
If that were all, I wouldn't need to reveal even the matter of the Lord of the Divine Seal. But since I've already told Zhu Shi such important information as the Divine Seal fragments, it would be too late to hide it now, so I might as well tell the whole story.
Moreover, Zhu Shi possesses systematic knowledge of occultism and has connections and background within Luoshan. While I am also a Wuchang (a type of occultist), I am a non-Wuchang practitioner and remain an outsider to Luoshan. Much information needs to be obtained through Zhu Shi's connections; she herself could also be an excellent consultant.
As for Lu Youxun, he certainly has a wider network of connections in Luoshan than Zhu Shi, and he probably surpasses Zhu Shi in experience and knowledge as well. But no matter what I say, I would never be honest with him. Trust is more important than ability. Even if I have a good impression of his character, at most I can only form a business relationship with him, not a true friendship.
To make it easier for Zhu Shi to accept what I said, I allowed her to use "Buzhou Mountain" on me throughout the entire process. On this basis, I recounted my experience in the virtual realm.
No matter how absurd what I said sounded, she had no choice but to accept it.
After the initial shock, she first shut down "Mount Buzhou," then rubbed her nose, and then said as if to herself, "Seven chosen people are competing for the sole winning spot, and the final winner can use the omnipotent wish-granting machine to fulfill their wish... Senior Brother Zhuang, what kind of magical battle movie have you stumbled into?"
"I'd like to ask that too," I said.
"Fortunately, you don't need to fight each other for the spot to fulfill your wishes. Otherwise, with two of the seven contestants being Great Impermanence, how would the rest of you compete?" She shook her head. "No, it's not impossible that you won't fight each other. Although the Lord of the Divine Seal said that fighting each other would penalize your contribution to the task of collecting Divine Seal Fragments, if someone is willing to risk that penalty to kill a competitor, then things will be different."
"Furthermore, if one of the seven contestants stands out, the remaining six can easily collude to eliminate him and share the negative score. If everyone's score decreases, it's as if no one's score decreases."
I have a feeling that Junior Sister Zhu has probably read a lot of fantasy stories like this, or maybe she's just naturally good at finding flaws in things. I had barely finished speaking when she immediately noticed the loophole in the rules.
Furthermore, if we're talking about who stands out among the seven, it's me. Even the Lord of the Divine Seal specifically named me, saying I'm the only intruder present. Could this be a deliberate attempt to put me at a disadvantage, inducing the other six to test my strength, or even using Zhu Shi's methods to create a situation where someone else is used to kill me? I find it hard not to have these paranoid speculations.
However, the Lord of the Divine Seal doesn't even take figures like No. 4 Xuanming and No. 6, who are considered Great Impermanences, seriously, let alone me. Even if he can't directly affect me through the binding relationship of the Divine Seal fragments, at least the gray mist can control me. If all else fails, he can simply use his enormous body to deal with me; he has plenty of ways to do so.
I don't believe at all that death in the virtual realm is invalid just because it's a dream. The opponent is not someone who would be bound by such common sense.
"This kind of competition with such rudimentary rules seems problematic no matter how you look at it..." Zhu Shi pondered. "And granting the wish only to the one who contributed the most seems a bit stingy. Since the Divine Seal is omnipotent, why not offer a grander vision that grants the wishes of all participants?"
"...No, that would actually lower 'work efficiency.' With the current system, those confident in their abilities can work hard, while those who lack confidence can exchange for the knowledge necessary to achieve their goals. It doesn't seem so bad, does it?"
I added, "Although neither of the two strongest people in the Void Realm right now seems like the type to work hard and honestly."
"You're in the same boat. I imagine the Lord of the Divine Seal must be having a real headache right now." As she spoke, she seemed to connect it to something else, and said with a smile, "Speaking of which, it feels like your place is straight out of a fantasy novel I used to read. Maybe the Lord of the Divine Seal is actually just an ordinary person who accidentally obtained the Divine Seal and is pretending to be the mastermind behind it all, while Number Seven is just his alternate account that he infiltrated your ranks. When he discovered you, the intruder, he might have just appeared calm, but in reality, he was sweating buckets."
I imagined the scene she described and was speechless for a moment. Then I said, "That would actually make things easier for us. If he really is just an ordinary person who's trying to be mysterious, at least we don't have to worry about him destroying the world."
There are actually quite a few ordinary people who wish for the world to end when they are unhappy with their lives, but if they still sincerely think that way after gaining extraordinary power and a position, they are no longer ordinary people just from a psychological perspective.
Even someone with a somewhat unconventional personality like me wouldn't wish for such extreme destruction.
What I truly desire is the bizarre and wondrous spectacle that unfolds during the process of destruction, not the outcome of destruction itself.
However, according to Luo Shan's doomsday prophecy, the end of the doomsday will be the emptiness of the four elements, with everything turning into nothingness.
“That makes sense.” She shook her head helplessly. “From your previous description, Number Six clearly had an extraordinary understanding of the Divine Seal and believed he had figured out the master of the Divine Seal. He even easily broke through the seal of the gray mist, but in the end, he was still defeated…”
"Although I don't know what Number Six initially thought the Lord of the Divine Seal was, if the latter was really just an ordinary person who happened to find the Divine Seal, he would probably have been torn to pieces at that stage."
She then asked, "Do you have a way to destroy the divine seal fragments you possess? If the divine seal fragments that force you to participate in the fragment competition are bound to you, you should be able to withdraw by destroying them, right?"
"That's impossible," I said, immediately rejecting the idea.
I have long been able to decompose the fragments of the Divine Seal into flames and reassemble them, but the material fragments of the Divine Seal are nothing more than a mirage of its essence. Even if they are decomposed into particles, their essential bond with me remains unshaken, and the fragments of the Divine Seal that once disappeared will reappear without anyone noticing. This is something I confirmed long before I regained Ma Zao.
Could the state of the Divine Seal being "both fragmented and intact" refer to this? I feel the reality might be different. If the contradictory state of the Divine Seal were merely this, even a great impermanence like the Fourth Proclamation wouldn't have been so perplexed by it.
Incidentally, after this gathering in the illusory realm, the divine seal fragment bound to me underwent some changes. The new function added by the Lord of Divine Seals to the fragments seems to go beyond simply detecting other fragments; it has also made them more portable. With a single thought, I can make my own divine seal fragment temporarily disappear; with another thought, it will reappear.
“Since there’s no way to back out, we can only try to face this situation positively. Ma Zao’s advice to you is correct. Even if the Lord of the Divine Seal promises that he can answer any question, you shouldn’t actually exchange the Divine Seal fragments for answers from him,” Zhu Shi said cautiously. “You seem to think that as long as you find a way to eliminate this risk, there won’t be a problem. I suggest you don’t have that kind of wishful thinking.”
"It's like a court determining whether a suspect has committed a crime; it only requires 'proof that he committed the crime,' not 'proof that he did not commit the crime,' the latter being impossible in most cases. And you also have no way of knowing whether making a deal with a strange entity will truly have no negative consequences."
"But... even if I put it this way, you might 'accidentally' forget it when the time comes."
Compared to Ma Zao, Zhu Shi definitely knows more about me. And I have thought about the questions she raised. It's just that even I am not sure if I will really risk making a deal with the Lord of the Divine Seal in the future and asking him all sorts of questions related to the apocalypse—whether it's to prevent the apocalypse or the other way around, I must get definite answers.
So I humbly asked, "If things really turn out that way, what should I do?"
Upon hearing this, Zhu Shi sighed wearily, then rallied and offered a suggestion: "If you really have to ask, you can start with some less important questions. For example, what items you accidentally lost before, what location of a target you want to know, or answers that you can find yourself with a little more time."
"As for puzzles that you think you can't solve no matter how long you spend, or overly difficult questions like 'how to save the world,' you should never ask them. No matter how much you want to ask, it's best not to ask them on the first try."
"There is a general rule that the greater the gain, the greater the consequences of dealing with evil and strange things. Therefore, the first problem must be a small one. Don't think that it is a waste to give up divine seal fragments for such a small problem. The amount you gain in the first transaction is not important. What is really important is the feedback that the transaction itself will bring you in the future. In other words, it is to test the waters."
"Been taught a lesson."
I took careful notes and then continued our conversation.
Although she just made her suggestion based on the premise that I would make a deal with the Lord of the Divine Seal, she is still generally on the side of not making a deal. Her reasons are not only that making a deal would bring me negative consequences, but also the uncertainty surrounding the Lord of the Divine Seal's stance. If the Lord of the Divine Seal is indeed the person who, as Xuanming of Number Four speculated, wished for the destruction of the world, then helping him collect the fragments of the Divine Seal would be aiding and abetting evil.
As an extension of this issue, there is another crucial question that I have to face.
How does the Lord of the Divine Seals plan to recover all the fragments of the Divine Seals in the final stage?
(End of this chapter)
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