Chapter 224 The Great Impermanence in the Dark
After a moment of silence, Mr. Zhu said, "...At least that's how it seems for now."
I felt completely lost and didn't know where to begin.
I have firsthand experience of just how powerful the mobility of a Grand Completion level cultivator is. Two days have passed since Silver Moon took Chang'an's soul away; that's enough time for Silver Moon to move to any location on Earth, or even the Moon. Finding her without any clues is an almost impossible task.
Is there really no clue? I asked myself this question, while simultaneously recalling the events of my life, examining the scene when I defeated Silver Moon. No matter how I looked at it, I couldn't discern which route Silver Moon had taken to escape; in other words, she could only have escaped using spatial teleportation. This meant that Asahi's tracking and investigation abilities would be completely useless.
Is it feasible to use a jinx-like constitution to attract strange clues? However, given the lack of time constraints and the likely distance of the target, it's unrealistic to expect a jinx-like constitution to be so benevolent as to specifically attract the strange clues we want to encounter. It's inherently an uncontrolled attraction of calamity, and cannot be used as a convenient method in every situation.
After racking my brains, a figure slowly emerged in my mind.
It was a colossal statue, seated deep within the void, resembling a deity.
He once said, "I know most of what happens in this world."
If I could exchange a fragment of the Divine Seal for an answer with him, I might be able to get a clue about Chang'an. Coincidentally, I happen to have a spare fragment of the Divine Seal.
Should I propose a deal to him the next time I enter the Void Realm? But I don't know when I'll be able to enter the Void Realm again.
Mr. Zhu then proactively shifted the topic to the next one, this time mentioning the public opinion about me in Luoshan in a reporting tone.
"...Right now, the hottest topic in Luoshan is your feat of defeating three Great Completion Realm experts in succession at the old stronghold of the Humanity Department. Many people believe that you may become the new Great Impermanence," he said.
It is possible that I will become the new Great Impermanence, which means that in the eyes of many people, I have not yet stepped into the threshold of the Great Impermanence.
That's how I assess myself too. Although I can now kill Chenlong and Shenqiang in one hit, I estimate I'm still at the Great Completion level in terms of combat power. "Instantly killing a Great Completion level opponent" sounds impressive, but in reality, Great Completion level opponents are likely to be able to easily kill each other.
Based on what Zhu Shi mentioned to me in a previous conversation, demon hunters' magic and modern military technology have something in common: their offensive capabilities far outweigh their defensive capabilities. Even for the well-rounded Luo Shan Wu Chang, offensive power is clearly a stronger suit than defensive power.
So far, I've encountered three Grandmaster-level warriors: Chenlong, Shenqiang, and Yinyue. Excluding Yinyue, an anomaly who isn't even human, the difference lies in the Grandmaster-level warriors Shenqiang and Chenlong, both humans. The "Portal Armor," symbolizing ultimate defense, clashing with Shenqiang's charged ultimate attack—the result is definitely not evenly matched; the former is instantly killed by the latter.
In terms of sheer power, the blow I delivered to defeat those three was no stronger than the charged finishing moves of Silver Moon and Divine Spear. The only difference was that the latter two required time to charge, which I could unleash as a normal attack. In other words, what I could do, they could also do with enough effort—this alone is enough to demonstrate that there is no fundamental difference between us.
Furthermore, the Divine Spear's ultimate skill comes with an absurd "guaranteed hit and penetration" effect. I can kill him instantly like that, and he can kill other Grand Completion level cultivators in the same way. If other Grand Completion level cultivators gain the initiative, he might be the one who gets killed instantly instead.
The reason I can overwhelm the Divine Spear isn't because I'm stronger, but because I'm inexplicably unkillable. Among Witchers, whose attack power far exceeds their defense, I'm an anomaly. But that doesn't mean I'm the Great Impermanence.
However... I am still getting stronger.
This is something I've only gradually noticed in the last two days. Although I awakened during my battle with Silver Moon and experienced a leap in power, this increase wasn't something that ended with a single jump. Even now, as I'm talking to Elder Zhu, my power continues to rise.
I used to need external stimuli to gradually unleash my inner potential, but now I don't even need that. Perhaps this is what "awakening" is all about. Now that I'm awake, there's no need for external "alarm clocks."
Based on my feelings, even if I do nothing right now, just lie down anywhere, my strength will automatically increase, and I'll achieve complete liberation within a month at most. At that time, compared to my current self, I will be completely transformed. Perhaps then, I can truly step into the realm of the Great Impermanence.
Speaking of "impermanence," I'm reminded of another important matter.
"By the way, Mr. Zhu... have you ever heard of the great impermanence 'Fazheng'?"
This is a very important question, as it relates to the authenticity of the "illusion" information.
"'Fazheng'?" Mr. Zhu asked in surprise, "Where did you hear this name from?"
Before I could answer, he continued, "Perfect timing, I was just about to tell you about Fa Zheng."
Judging from his tone, Fa Zheng seems to be a real person!
“I don’t know how much you know about Fazheng, so let me introduce him to you from the beginning. Fazheng is the Great Impermanence who leads the Zhishizhu faction, in other words, he is also the current top leader of our Zhu family. That being said, I doubt that the Great Impermanence has paid any attention to the Zhu family, and he may not even know that we have subordinates—but that was up until yesterday.” Old Master Zhu said, “Just yesterday, Fazheng contacted our Zhu family, hoping to convey a message to you through us.”
"To deliver a message?" I asked, puzzled. "Didn't the Zhu family publicly sever ties with me?"
"That's right. Fa Zheng probably just uses the Zhu family as a mouthpiece," said Old Mr. Zhu.
"So, what message is he trying to convey?" I asked.
"He extended an olive branch to you, which means he wants to win you over," Mr. Zhu replied.
"Winning him over..." I said, "But I clearly killed Luo Shan, a Grandmaster-level cultivator. Since he's a ruler, he should value rules, right? What I did was clearly an act of rebellion against Luo Shan."
In Luoshan, the Great Completion rank is second only to the Great Impermanence, and there are fewer than twenty of them. Even if Divine Spear isn't Fazheng's own confidant, isn't this approach still somewhat problematic? Even if Fazheng, as the Great Impermanence, can disregard many rules, shouldn't he at least consider the opinions of the Great Impermanence behind Divine Spear?
As a transcendentalist, Shenqiang's mastermind, Dawuchang, is also likely a transcendentalist; while Fazheng belongs to the ruling faction, so he can disregard the transcendentalist Dawuchang's views.
I feel like something's off about this hypothesis.
"If you had simply killed Divine Spear in an ordinary way, that would be one thing, but that's not the case, is it? Releasing those two demon hunters back to Luoshan was the right decision; they've already publicized your battle with Divine Spear extensively. Furthermore, the demon hunters at the old Humanitarian Division stronghold have also spread the word about your fight with Chenlong," said Elder Zhu. "Chenlong is a master of Humanitarian Division's technology, and Luoshan has always despised Humanitarian Division's technology, so the significance of your defeating him in one blow is questionable in the eyes of others. But defeating Divine Spear is different..."
"You not only killed the Divine Spear in one strike, but you also took the Divine Spear's 'guaranteed hit and pierce' fatal blow head-on, and then emerged unscathed. This feat is enough to draw a decisive line between you and other Great Completion level cultivators."
"For the Great Impermanences, the Great Completion stage is nothing more than this; but if you are not simply a Great Completion stage, but a 'future Great Impermanence,' then the nature of things is completely different."
It seems that little has been told about my battle with Silvermoon. No wonder; others probably only discerned the outcome through the clash of magical energy fluctuations, without witnessing the actual battlefield up close. Anyone unfortunate enough to have gotten close would likely have been reduced to ashes in Silvermoon's nuclear explosion.
"The nature of this matter... is probably the same for the Great Impermanence behind the Divine Gun." I speculated, "If the Fazheng wants to win me over, he should want to eliminate me."
Old Master Zhu said slowly, "Fa Zheng wants you to go to one of his bases. From there, the Great Impermanence behind the Divine Gun should be unable to locate you. What do you think?"
I could tell he seemed to want me to accept this offer. He was also a pragmatist, and perhaps he hoped to use this opportunity to get me into his faction.
As for Fazheng, frankly, I have some suspicions that he knows who the Great Impermanence behind the Divine Spear is. Perhaps there are internal conflicts among the Great Impermanence, and his actions now are not only to get me to join the Governance Movement, but also to drag me into the internal conflicts of the Great Impermanence.
I have absolutely no interest in this kind of thing, and I certainly don't want to become someone else's weapon. Besides, Fazheng, this "Great Impermanence," is somewhat suspicious... or rather, a suspect...
Right, I know what was wrong with me before.
The one who commands the Divine Gun, a master of transcendentalism, is not necessarily the Great Impermanence of transcendentalism. Or rather, I don't believe that the Great Impermanence and the mastered level would be bound by mere "isms" or "factions." What determines their power is never their position within a particular stance, but rather the purest form of power.
I must think this way—it is not that the Great Impermanence Dharma is subordinate to governance, but rather that governance must submit to the Great Impermanence Dharma.
Similarly, transcendence does not usually have a strong binding force on the Great Perfection level of Divine Gunner.
They were not ordinary people who needed to be part of an organization to ensure their influence.
In other words, Fazheng could very well be the mastermind behind Shenqiang's kidnapping of Mazao.
Even if that's not the case, we absolutely cannot let our guard down. Because no one has ever guaranteed that the only one secretly coveting Ma Zao is the Great Impermanence.
(End of this chapter)
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