Chapter 397 The Lord of Peach Blossom Village Makes a Move
The surrounding scenery appeared to glow with an illusory light, and became transparent, melting into the light.
The basement on the fifteenth floor was the very heart of this dream; the moment I conquered it, the very foundation of the dream crumbled. This dream is drawing to a close and will soon vanish. If I ever have the chance to enter the Silver Moon again—or rather, Chang'an's spiritual world—I'll likely see something different.
Although I just told Xiao Chang'an the key to conquering the basement on the fifteenth floor, there are actually many complex factors involved in making this key effective.
Ultimately, the basement on the fifteenth floor is an alternate dimension that should not exist.
First of all, the ritual array that the Fallen Witcher, Agent Kong, placed in the fifteenth-floor room for unknown motives was something that shouldn't have been activated. Zhu Shiyou mentioned to me that even if all the symbol lines were completed, the probability of that ritual array successfully activating would be astronomically low, practically impossible.
In reality, the ritual array successfully opened the portal to the other dimension. The reason for this, I believe, is likely due to the power of the divine seal fragments. More precisely, it's the connection between the divine seal fragments and the user that's at play. Only by establishing a relationship with the divine seal fragments can such a near-impossible miracle be achieved.
This is also one of the reasons why I judged that the original destined object of the Divine Seal Fragment was Chang'an. Because Chang'an may have originally possessed a connection with the Divine Seal Fragment, this incredible connection made "the English letters on the carpet in the rented room happen to match the missing symbol lines of the ritual array", which in turn made "the ritual array, which became complete, open the door to another dimension with an astronomically low probability".
Chang'an avoided that door at the time, which is why the connection with the fragment of the divine seal fell to me, the second in line. From the moment I picked up the fragment of the divine seal, the door to the other dimension had completed its mission and automatically closed.
My second-place ranking wasn't due to my own efforts, but rather to Asahi's jinxed nature—a potentially presumptuous position. If it were Chang An, he might have had the "destiny of successfully bringing the Divine Seal fragments back to the real world," while I would have had to find a way to escape from it all on my own.
The reason I was able to reopen the door to the other dimension by completing the ritual array might be because the ritual array still retained a little bit of the power from the previous success, or it might be because the destiny I usurped was just a little bit short of a breakthrough, or it might even be because Xiao Wan's wish was still working... There are many reasons I can think of, but I don't know which one it is, so I won't think about it for now.
Moreover, my purpose in entering this dream world is not to conquer the fifteenth-floor basement again.
Taking Xiao Chang'an out of the fifteenth-floor basement in the dream is something I could have done last time, but merely doing that isn't enough to truly save Chang'an. I must strike while the iron is hot and complete the final stage of the work.
I picked up the stone necklace and, without saying a word, fastened it around Xiao Chang'an's neck.
The original purpose of this stone collar was to prevent the Ancient Moon God from physically separating from the Silver Moon's celestial and terrestrial form in the real world. Although it was a prop specifically designed to seal the Ancient Moon God and the Silver Moon, it did not have the function of sealing consciousness.
However, that kind of common sense doesn't apply to the impermanent.
Now I can touch abstract concepts like cause and effect, fate, and spirit with my own hands without any logic. Applying a material stone necklace directly to the spiritual realm is just a matter of one action from me.
After I finished this action, flames burst forth from my hand, igniting Little Chang'an like a torch.
The flames did not appear to damage Xiao Chang'an's body, as if they were merely an illusion, but in reality, they were constantly destroying the soul of the incarnate Silver Moon.
The self-awareness of the manifested Silver Moon as Silver Moon was severely damaged by the resurrection ritual; and now, what I am releasing is a flame specifically designed to destroy the Silver Moon aspect of the manifested Silver Moon. Combined with the sealing power of the stone collar, it will reseal the memories that gave rise to Silver Moon's self-awareness back into the unconscious ocean of Chang'an.
In such a broken and severely injured state, and subjected to such a powerful seal, according to Master Zhu, over time, just like a fatigued spring that loses its elasticity, Silver Moon's self-awareness will gradually become irretrievably lost.
Little Chang'an touched the stone necklace and muttered to himself, "I will... fall into a dream again..."
"—No, you will become a dream that Chang'an has," I said.
What is reality, and what is a dream?
Xiao Chang'an seemed to be looking at me, or perhaps at a place I couldn't fathom, her eyes filled with a sense of bewilderment. She continued, "...What is the real 'me'?"
After saying that, Yin Yue's aura completely disappeared from Xiao Chang'an, as if it had finally been completely suppressed into Chang'an's unconscious by the stone collar.
"Then, see you in real life next time," I said to Xiao Chang'an as my last words.
In the illusory glow, the dream came to an end.
-
My consciousness returned to the real world, back to the massive metal battlefield where I was cooperating with Mingzhuo to suppress Ying Lingyun.
Chang'an's body had stopped shifting and was now firmly fixed in its original form, indicating that my series of actions had been successfully completed. I then deactivated my fully accelerated state of consciousness, and the flow of time around me returned to normal. All sounds and movements on the battlefield returned to their original speeds.
Ying Lingyun had been watching Chang'an closely. He immediately noticed the changes in Chang'an's body and seemed to instantly grasp what it meant. His expression changed drastically, and he uttered a painful and desperate cry, as if his dream had been shattered: "No—!!!"
What he pursued was nothing but an illusion in the eyes of the incarnate Silver Moon. If it were the mentally sound Ying Lingyun, perhaps he could realize his own illusion and distinguish between the real Silver Moon and the Silver Moon he had idealized through his memories. As for whether he could accept it, I have no idea.
Now, he might not even be able to do that; his mind has long since descended into madness and chaos. In his quest to resurrect Silver Moon, he has become someone who can no longer distinguish himself from the true Silver Moon. What utter emptiness this is.
It's time for me to bring this tragic farce to a close.
As Ming Zhuo manipulated his dark red magic to force Ying Lingyun's defenses to retreat, "Eclipse" reappeared in my palm and was launched towards Ying Lingyun. This wasn't just adding the final straw to the camel's back; it was adding another camel to the camel's back. Taking this attack would surely shatter Ying Lingyun's Rebooting Power defense.
At this critical juncture, a change occurred on the battlefield that may have been completely unexpected by everyone.
Behind Ying Lingyun, the space was suddenly torn open, revealing a vast expanse of unfathomable darkness.
The act of tearing space itself is not surprising; Ming Zhuo just did it, and I can do something similar with "Eclipse." The key point is what appears after space is torn apart—it's a giant hand, a giant hand radiating a familiar magical aura.
This giant hand was composed of cyan light, and its magical fluctuations were extremely similar to the power that Ying Lingyun had previously summoned, which was a hundred times larger than mine.
The giant hand casually swatted "Eclipse" aside like a volleyball, then grabbed Ying Lingyun.
Upon seeing this, Mingzhuo was struck dumb, his eyes wide with disbelief as he shouted, "This is... the Lord of Peach Blossom Spring!?"
As he spoke, his movements continued unabated. One hand continued to emit black and red power, while the other hand concentrated his magic power, resulting in an unprecedentedly high-density magic power reaction.
The giant hand that suddenly appeared—did it belong to the Lord of Peach Blossom Village? Or was it the legendary Great Impermanence from beyond Mount Luo?
Why did the Lord of Peach Blossom Village appear here to rescue Ying Lingyun? Does the Peach Blossom Village organization have a secret connection with the Humanitarian Affairs Department?
The origin of the Seed of the Heart—who exactly is the original being behind all the strange characters—has always remained an unsolved mystery. All that is known is that it is at least a powerful being at the level of the Great Impermanence. I once suspected it might be the legendary Lord of Peach Blossom Village. And since the Lord of Peach Blossom Village truly colluded with Ying Lingyun in secret, then the Great Impermanence who provided the Seed of the Heart is indeed the Lord of Peach Blossom Village?
The case of the eccentric is the Humanitarian Affairs Bureau's top priority, and the Seed of the Heart is a key element within it, its origin surprisingly being the Peach Blossom Village Lord. In this light, the Humanitarian Affairs Bureau and Peach Blossom Village… no, perhaps it should be said that the Peach Blossom Village Lord and Ying Lingyun have a connection that is likely deeper than imagined…
Seeing that the giant hand of cyan light was about to grab Ying Lingyun and drag him into the spatial rift, I did not stand idly by.
Killing Ying Lingyun is the biggest objective of this Humanitarian Division's main stronghold battle. At the same time, Ying Lingyun is also an important target for me personally. I will absolutely not stand by and watch him be rescued by the forces that suddenly break into the battlefield.
This giant hand felt incredibly powerful to me; its source was probably more powerful than both me and Mingzhuo combined.
The rumored Lord of Peach Blossom Village is actually this powerful, something I never imagined. However, his strength is clearly not as outrageous as the power Ying Lingyun summoned when he resurrected Silver Moon. The nature of the power is very similar, but the scale is on a completely different level. I don't know the specific connection between the two, and I can't worry about that now; I acted immediately.
My heat still lingered inside Ying Lingyun's body. Through the connection with that heat, I transferred my flames toward the target in one breath.
(End of this chapter)
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