Chapter 382 The Old Fist God Appears
Most Witcher players would not comment on the moral character of the Great Impermanence, because the mainstream opinion in the Witcher community is that the Great Impermanence is above morality, or that the Great Impermanence himself is the benchmark of morality, or its definer.
If we were to judge the Old Fist God by moral standards, we could only say he was a person whose morality was blurred. Sometimes he would do righteous deeds that were truly gratifying, and other times, like Qilin, he would drag many innocent people into his own whims. The fact that he could teach a disciple like Qilin, who was unscrupulous in his methods, is enough to show that he was also a person who would do anything in many ways.
During his rise to power, the old Fist God surpassed even Qilin in many ways, and countless lives, whether righteous or demonic, were lost to his fists. As for why he suddenly killed his proud disciple, his motives remain unknown, and there are many conflicting theories within Luoshan.
Some believe that Qilin finally did something evil and insane that even the old Fist God couldn't tolerate, while others believe that the old Fist God was afraid that his disciple would surpass him, so he nipped him in the bud.
Whatever the reason, the result is undeniable—Qilin died at the hands of the Old Fist God.
Perhaps because Qilin was a relatively young Great Impermanence, its influence on the natural structure had not yet accumulated to such a profound extent. Therefore, even its sudden death did not cause a strong natural upheaval. Fu Hongchen, who was killed by Xuanming half a year ago, was also considered relatively young among the Great Impermanence. From the perspective of secular society, it was nothing more than the occurrence of natural disasters such as typhoons, earthquakes, and tsunamis, which were still within the scope of meteorological explanation.
In Yuchi's heart, the death of Qilin was nothing short of a cataclysmic event.
After a long period of depression and pain, he made a decision.
"I want to become stronger, strong enough to kill the old Fist God and avenge Qilin," Yuchi said resolutely.
After listening to his story, I had only one thought in my mind.
Why are all you widowers so heavy?
First there was Ying Lingyun, then Xu Gou, and now Yu Chi. How come these widowers' lives are all so full of ups and downs, and the things they do are all so earth-shattering?
Thinking about the first two points, I couldn't help but wonder: "Aren't you planning to revive the Qilin?"
"Qilin has killed countless innocent people, so she has no one to blame but herself if she is killed by someone else. Although the one who ultimately killed Qilin was not someone related to those victims, but Old Fist God, perhaps death itself can be seen as her retribution," Yu Chi said calmly. "Moreover, after she is resurrected, she will surely repeat the actions she had in life."
“I will definitely try my best to persuade her, but in the meantime, there is a high possibility that many more people will die because of her willfulness... Are they just the price she pays for turning back to the right path?”
"You've come to terms with it all, yet you still insist on revenge?" I asked.
Yu Chi said expressionlessly, "I can accept the death of Qilin, but that doesn't mean I will forgive what Old Fist God did."
Just then, a strange, strong old man's voice came from the side.
"Well said."
I reflexively turned my head to look over, but Yuchi reacted even more strongly, standing up abruptly as if in response to stress.
The source of the sound was an old man sitting not far away. He had white hair and beard, sharp eyes, strong muscles, and was dressed in dark gray cloth. He sat upright on a stool with a plate of food half-filled in front of him.
He didn't suddenly appear there. While I was talking to Yuchi, he was just eating and drinking soup as if it were none of his business.
I can even recall when he appeared. He arrived at the cafeteria earlier than Yuchi and me, and initially sat in the center of the cafeteria. Just as Yuchi and I sat down and began to talk, he picked up his tray, grabbed a large amount of food from the self-service area, and then plopped down next to Yuchi and me.
Although no one could hear our conversation unless I wanted to, I still habitually sat with Yuchi in a secluded corner. Therefore, I would definitely react strongly if someone were to sit nearby. Strangely, I didn't react at all. When he sat down, I accepted it as naturally as if a gentle breeze had passed by, only realizing something was amiss at that moment.
No, that's not right... I didn't see him for the first time in the cafeteria; I saw him much earlier.
When Shenzhao and Yuchi appeared in my room to plot the assassination of the Lord of the Divine Seal, the old man moved a stool and sat down to the side. Only when Shenzhao announced that they were about to discuss an important secret did the old man stroke his white beard, stand up, leave my room, and close the door behind him.
Not only me and Yuchi, but even Shenzhao seemed not to have noticed the old man's coming and going at the time. This old man seemed to be a ghost, only observable through memory; his presence could not be recognized when they were face to face.
Now, it seems he has deliberately withdrawn his power, which he had previously kept hidden from others, and is now openly and honestly appearing before us.
The existence of a power that can even deceive the senses of the Great Impermanence—could this old man be—
A name immediately came to mind.
"—Old Fist God!"
Yu Chi shouted through gritted teeth. His voice echoed in the quiet cafeteria, but it did not attract the attention of several diners in the distance.
This strong old man is the old boxing god... I carefully observed him.
The stereotypical image of the elderly is that of a cold twilight, with hands that are often cold to the touch and an air of decay like dried wood. But this old man before me had bright, piercing eyes, like a blazing furnace, constantly radiating immense vitality. It seemed as if even tables and chairs would melt from his heat. Even teenagers in their formative years didn't possess his vibrant energy.
I tried to sense his magical power, wanting to measure the gap between myself and the most powerful impermanent being in Luoshan, but to my astonishment I found that I couldn't measure it at all.
It wasn't that his magic was too powerful; on the contrary, I couldn't sense anything at all. From the perspective of magical perception, it was as if what was sitting there was merely an invisible and colorless mass of air.
Could he be hiding his magical power? That was my first thought. Just as he could deceive my consciousness and lurk nearby, perhaps he could also use some means to obscure my perception of magical power. Although I don't know why he would do that, he certainly could.
At the same time, I inevitably became aware of another, even more unbelievable possibility.
That means he might not have been hiding his magical power.
Ordinary witchers cannot sense the power of the Great Impermanence, because compared to the minuscule witchers, the Great Impermanence is as enormous as a mountain. As the saying goes, "When you are in the mountain, you can't see the mountain," when the size difference between you and your opponent becomes large enough, one of you will lose the ability to perceive the other.
I probably see the old Fist God the way an ordinary Witcher sees me.
Is such a thing... such an absurd thing really possible?
Or am I misunderstanding something, and there are other possibilities I haven't considered yet? For example, perhaps the Old Fist God doesn't use a common magic system, so we can't judge him using the standards of a common magic system?
Now I understand why many of my enemies, despite not being able to sense my magical energy fluctuations, still couldn't determine the difference in our strength. Simply not being able to sense an opponent's magical energy fluctuations is indeed insufficient for assessing strength. If I didn't know this old man was the Old Fist God, I probably wouldn't have suspected that the inability to sense his magical energy fluctuations was because he was so strong, on a completely different level.
"What are you doing here?" Yu Chi stared at the old fist god.
"I'm here to see him."
The old fist god was unfazed by Yuchi's rude attitude, his gaze remaining fixed on me, and said, "You are Zhuang Cheng, right?"
"Yes," I admitted.
"Have you finished talking about your little secrets? I thought you two had something important to discuss, so we went to the cafeteria for lunch."
As the old fist god spoke, he observed me, then nodded: "Hmm... I heard you've reached the realm that the two elements of that mountain dream of achieving, and you're a legendary spirit-manifestation cultivator... I've never witnessed such a 'spirit manifestation' before. I see, it's indeed quite different from other elemental transformations, and it looks very intriguing."
What does "looks chewy" mean? Would you still eat people?
"What do you want from me?" I asked.
"Nothing else, just came to take a look. If possible, I'd also like to see what level a manifested cultivator is at... but you don't seem to be in particularly good condition. It seems I've come at the wrong time."
The old fist god first showed regret, then curiosity appeared on his face as he turned to look at Yuchi: "You've really impressed me. What did you just say? You wanted to become stronger, then kill me to avenge the Qilin? Are you serious?"
This was the first time I had heard Yuchi speak in such a cold tone: "Do you think I can't do it?"
"It's not a question of whether it's possible or not." The old Fist God looked at him with a strange expression. "If any other demon hunter spoke to me like this, I would just think that he had lofty ambitions and wanted to take me as his role model to become stronger. Putting aside whether it can be achieved, a man should set lofty goals to be respectable."
"But you're different. This kind of ambition is not something you should set for yourself. Although I don't know how you plan to become stronger, are you really willing to pay the price for it?"
As he finished speaking, a sense of anticipation seemed to emerge in his voice.
(End of this chapter)
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