Chapter 580 The Blood and Flesh of the Great Demon Xuanwu
This mass of black water is the flesh and blood of the Great Demon Xuanwu.
Like the black flames, the black water is an extremely dense aggregate of magical energy. Just as the matter of a white dwarf cannot exist outside of its star, the flesh and blood of the Great Demon Xuanwu cannot exist outside of it. The answer to why I suddenly became able to preserve this mass of black water lies in the Eclipse Fire.
To put it another way, it lies in earth-attribute magic.
The Four Symbols and Five Elements are a very profound and ever-changing field. Not only can the Vermilion Bird's Fire be transformed into the Yellow Dragon's Earth based on the Fire-Earth relationship, but alternative transformations can also be achieved based on the Earth-Water relationship. The generating and restraining relationships of the Five Elements can be referenced from the elemental relationships in nature. Soil can retain water and become a breeding ground for plants, therefore "Earth" restrains "Water" and is also restrained by "Wood".
The key here is that earth-elemental magic can preserve water-elemental magic. The black flames of the Great Demon of Calamity can also be used to seal and restrict the flesh and blood of the Great Demon Xuanwu.
My realization of this in the previous battle wasn't entirely a sudden flash of inspiration; it also benefited from the experience of the Great Demon of Calamity. To be precise, the Great Demon of Calamity's experience with the Eclipse form didn't originally include how to use earth-based magic to restrict water-based magic. However, it had recently clashed with the Great Demon Xuanwu, and I inherited its residual experience. The feedback generated when earth-based and water-based magic clashed allowed me to analyze the feasibility of this approach.
When the "eclipse" completely devoured the Great Demon Xuanwu, I managed to extract and preserve a portion of it, which is what I'm showing to Xiaowan now.
Incidentally, although I have taken out the black flame, I am not directly maintaining this black flame.
The black flames reaching the Earth Realm require the Eclipse Form to sustain, but I cannot maintain the Eclipse Form for long. That being said, I must preserve the Great Demon Xuanwu's flesh and blood with the black flames before bringing it to Mazao. So what should I do? The method I came up with is to feed the black flames with my normal flames as fuel while exiting the Eclipse Form.
With external fuel, my flames could have continued to exist independently of their own state; this is simply the same thing. Although the black flames are ultimately not "flames" but rather "flames-like alien objects," and may not necessarily have the concept of sustaining themselves with external fuel, just as the Great Demon of Calamity could try to devour me, the black flames could also devour my flames to replenish themselves.
To put it extremely, I am nothing more than a "self-aware flame." So, if I input my consciousness into the black flame as a preset command, giving it the ability to automatically absorb the power of normal flames, this black flame can actually be regarded as a "super mini version of the Great Demon of Calamity."
Thus, the container for preserving the flesh and blood of the Great Demon Xuanwu was completed.
I only explained it in a few sentences, and Xiao Wan seemed to completely understand what I was doing. Then, in a surprised and admiring tone, she said, "What a great idea! It's all thanks to Brother Zhuang Cheng for coming up with such a wonderful idea."
Hearing my quick wit praised by the usually clever Xiao Wan, I felt my vanity begin to swell.
"But is such a small amount of flesh and blood from the Great Demon Xuanwu really enough?" Xiaowan asked worriedly.
“Actually, there’s more than just this small clump; quite a few were preserved inside the black flames, but I haven’t been able to decompress them,” I said.
"That's good." Xiao Wan looked relieved.
I put away the black flames. At that moment, I sensed a fluctuation in the space not far away, and simultaneously, the fragments of the divine seal within my consciousness trembled slightly. Turning my head, I saw Number Seven appear near the gas station. She was carrying a shoulder bag and walking towards us.
“You all look very happy. Did something good happen?” she asked.
"We just got some spoils. It's a long story, but if you want to hear it, I can explain in detail later," I said.
“The spoils of war…” Number Seven gave me a deep look. “You defeated them, didn’t you? While I was active at the Yomi Gospel House, the earthquakes and shockwaves caused by your battle kept coming back to me.”
"Fortunately, you and Huang Quan kept moving the battle location away from the Gospel Academy, so the impact here was barely within acceptable limits. However, I could still clearly sense the magical fluctuations on your side throughout. In the end, the magical fluctuations of the Great Demon Xuanwu and Huang Quan disappeared one after another... The Great Demon Xuanwu was definitely killed by you, but what about Huang Quan? Did he commit suicide, or did he die at your hands?"
“I killed Huang Quan,” I said, “using the power of the True Spirit.”
"...Really?" Number Seven seemed somewhat incredulous for a moment.
That's normal. Even if she knows that I'm stronger than Huang Quan now, she probably can't imagine that I can kill Huang Quan faster than he can commit suicide.
Although this might be a pointless comparison, when it comes to the speed of suicide among all the impermanent things, I would say I am second to none.
This is probably one of the major advantages of "manifestation." Because I am not only a body, but I can also freely decompose my soul into fire elements, and fire is inherently a force with extremely high explosiveness and destructiveness, so I only need a thought to self-destruct.
Other Great Impermanence are different. Leaving aside their physical bodies, their souls are the very foundation of their existence. To withstand their immense magical output and resist attacks from opponents of equal strength, their souls possess extremely high density. To describe it, it's like compressing a mountain-sized mass into a human-sized container. Even they themselves wouldn't be able to completely destroy it with just a little effort.
There are also those who, by making themselves too resilient to death, are unable to die when they desire it; wandering spirits are an example of this. As for those like Huang Quan, who can commit suicide simply by raising their hand and slapping their face, they might be among the fastest suicide victims in the Great Impermanence realm.
I even suspect that he may have undergone targeted training in order to commit suicide quickly in case of any emergency.
Thinking of this, the image of Huang Quan secretly practicing suicide because he was afraid of dying came to mind, which I found quite humorous.
Number Seven seemed to have finally come to terms with this fact, and said in a complicated tone, "...Then he must really be dead, and can never be resurrected."
The Great Demon of Calamity and the Underworld were both her enemies, and both died at my hands. The chance for revenge is always snatched away; it must be bitter to think about. While I rejoice in the deaths of my enemies, I also regret why I wasn't the one to deliver the fatal blow. Although I've never truly hated anyone, I can more or less imagine that feeling.
I changed the subject and asked, "So, what about you? Number Seven, did you retrieve everything we wanted as agreed from the beginning?"
"Of course."
Number Seven quickly composed himself and took two items out of his shoulder bag.
One of the items was a blue folder containing thick white paper documents; the other was a small black jade stone, which was a fragment of the Divine Seal.
Number Seven's hands were covered by black tactical gloves, preventing direct contact with the fragment of the divine seal. This fragment was currently unclaimed, and the subtle vibrations I sensed emanating from it were precisely from this.
"I have successfully completed my mission and obtained the technical data on 'Dushuo Mountain' and the fragments of the unclaimed divine seal."
As he spoke, Number Seven handed me the blue folder containing "Dushuo Mountain" technical data and added, "This is a copy from the Yellow Springs Gospel Institute; the original is still there. This way, we can create the illusion that the key technical data has not been leaked."
After receiving the technical documents, I put them into my flames and took out two other items from them.
These two items are the Three Lives Stone Powder delivered by Number Seven last time, and the wooden box that Shenzhao gave me in the past to store fragments of the Divine Seal, which also contains an unclaimed fragment of the Divine Seal.
With the unclaimed divine seal fragment that Number Seven brought out, and the divine seal fragment that Little Bowl had bound to herself, the three divine seal fragments were now complete.
The three fragments of the divine seal are the necessary condition for "not dying after taking the Three Lives Stone Powder".
"Little Bowl, are you ready?" I asked.
Xiao Wan said with a serious expression, "...Yes, Brother Zhuang Cheng, I'm prepared."
By taking the Three Lives Stone Powder, one can regain the memories lost due to the madness infection... and unlike the case of wandering souls, where ordinary people can only regain the part of their memories they wish to recover by taking the Three Lives Stone Powder, taking it through the method to be used next will not only prevent death, but will also allow one to regain all of their past memories.
If the wandering spirit knew about this, how would he view it? He would probably have some mixed feelings, but he wouldn't say things like, "If only I had known there was a way to avoid dying..." Because he wasn't "willing to die to regain his memories," but rather "regaining his memories in order to die." "Regaining his memories" was merely a necessary condition for his pursuit of death, a wish that had to be fulfilled so that he could die in peace.
"So, how exactly should we put this into practice?" I looked at Number Seven. "You mentioned not long ago that you would provide us with specific technical support, so you should know the details of how to do it, right?"
Number Seven nodded, then said to Little Bowl, "Then... Little Bowl, please bind these two divine seal fragments first."
(End of this chapter)
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