Chapter 24 The Echoes of the End So-called mortals, without the seven orifices opened, are blind and deaf…
Chapter Twenty-Four
"Splash!"
Purple flames erupted, burning along the iron chain to its end, even reaching the void in Du Yu's perception!
The man ignored the crackling burning chains, quietly crushing bread with his head down, only to suddenly look up at the sky as if sensing something.
Du Yu's mind stirred, and she looked in the same direction. Although it was also shrouded in gray mist, she vaguely sensed that a familiar consciousness was wandering behind the gray mist.
Was it the divine fire that burned along the iron chain?
As enlightenment dawned, joy, excitement, and satisfaction welled up within Du Yu. She vaguely saw the images transmitted back by the flames:
A viscous black liquid churned in the sea, greedily licking the iron coffin submerged within it.
Some iron coffins floated on the sponge, their surfaces smooth with only a few scratches; some iron coffins were almost entirely submerged in the Black Sea, their exposed tops covered in rust; and some coffins floated on the surface of the sea, their lids missing, their interiors filled with a black, foul liquid.
A coffin, seemingly about to sink, floated on the sea. Suddenly, the tightly closed coffin lid opened a small crack, and before the black liquid could rush in with ecstatic joy, an inconspicuous purple flame leaped out and willingly jumped into the greedily surging black liquid.
"clang."
The gap disappeared, and the coffin was sealed tightly once more. The late-arriving black liquid crashed against the side of the coffin in disappointment, sliding deeper to devour the delicious-smelling purple flames.
"Splash."
The black liquid poured into the small flame, causing it to flicker as if it were about to go out. More black liquid followed, and the small flame was visibly suppressed, seemingly about to be extinguished at any moment—
With a "boom," the small flame suddenly expanded a hundredfold. The nearby black liquid had no time to resist, and in the instant the flame expanded, it was refined into pure energy and poured into the core of the flame.
Above the Black Sea, the purple flames continuously devoured the black liquid to grow stronger. In an instant, they expanded into a wall of fire hundreds of meters high that stretched outwards, sweeping across most of the ocean like the wings of a roc!
Where the purple flames burned, the black liquid screamed and evaporated into streams of poisonous gas, and the sea level dropped significantly at a visible rate.
The iron coffin, which had been sinking in the Black Sea and gradually corroding, surfaced. The stubborn rust was scorched into black ash, and the coffin gradually shrank and deformed, floating on the much clearer sea surface like amethyst crystals.
The energy from the purple flames increased, and Du Yu, who hadn't felt full for over twenty years, touched his stomach and felt like he was stuffed.
Aside from a small portion of energy flowing into the limbs, most of the energy was transmitted to the mental space, continuously pouring into what seemed like a bottomless black hole.
That black hole wasn't a real black hole after all. As massive amounts of energy poured in, it not only stopped devouring Du Yu's spiritual power, but also began to shrink slowly at a rate imperceptible to the naked eye.
When it shrinks to half its original size, no matter how much energy flows in, the black hole stops shrinking. Instead, it stretches out like it has eaten too much, becoming pointed at the top and round at the bottom, looking like a bell.
After the "bell" took shape, the size of the black hole no longer changed, but its texture became solid, as if it had gradually condensed from a mass of empty air into a liquid, and then the liquid gradually became viscous until it approached a solid.
[Ding dong, Trait [???] has been unlocked, Trait [???] is in fusion, fusion progress: 50%, 53%...]
The fusion progress bar on the pop-up window finally stopped at "66%", and only the middle bead of the "bell" completely turned into a solid, refracting light slightly like amethyst.
"Ding ding ding—"
The bell rang automatically without wind, its sound clear and melodious, the sound waves brushing across the sea of spiritual energy as if they were tangible, circling like blooming lotus flowers.
The sea of mental energy surged continuously with the ringing of the bell. The colorless energy seemed to be tinged with a faint purple. The total amount of mental energy did not increase, but Du Yu felt that his mental attack power had increased several times, as if he had crossed an invisible barrier and his mental energy had undergone a qualitative improvement.
"Bang—"
Du Yu's attention instantly returned to Zi Yan.
As the purple flames engulfed nearly half of the sea, the Black Sea seemed to finally discover the intruder and roared as it launched an attack.
After discovering that ordinary methods of erosion, impact, and parasitism were ineffective, the remaining black liquid condensed into a palm-like shape and blasted the purple flames, along with the coffin and liquid burned by the purple flames, into the sky!
The purple flames burned for a moment, about to lunge down menacingly. Suddenly, a faint gray mist rose from the gap between the purple flames and the black sea.
The gray fog thickened instantly. The purple flames were a second too late and could no longer locate the Black Sea. They could only reluctantly burn the remaining liquid.
The "Black Sea" seemed to have vanished as if it were a living thing!
Du Yu's eye twitched, and she said it was a pity. Her mind stirred, and she turned around, only to see a ball of flame suddenly leap out of the altar.
The purple flame, originally as thick as a thumb, burned along the chain and returned to the size of a basketball. It crackled and popped as it burned, like a victorious general swaggering about.
Feeling the abundant energy within him, Du Yu sincerely praised the purple flame. As if understanding, the flame before him suddenly surged upwards again.
"Huh."
Du Yu's expression shifted. In the instant the flames surged, her senses expanded infinitely. She seemed to see a mysterious space: hanging from the ceiling was a bell, its shape indistinct, surrounded by mist. Within the mist, 16 stars could be faintly seen.
The stars varied in size, and as Du Yu gazed upon them, information about each star surfaced in her mind: Wen Xi, Tian Yinuo, Shen Xijing…
Are these "stars" her followers? Du Yu seemed to sense something, and after being "kicked" out of that mysterious space, a question flashed through her mind: How come there are two more followers?
She looked at three unfamiliar names: Kou Qingyi, Kou Qingman, %*&#￥ (crossed out) 001.
The first two unfamiliar names seemed to be related, and Du Yu followed the connection that had been added in his mental space and immediately understood where the two people came from.
The Black Sea seemed to have the power to devour human spirits. When the purple flames burned the Black Sea, they not only brought back pure energy, but also conveniently "picked up" several spirits from within!
Among them, some spirits were not deeply corrupted, and after the pollution left by the Black Sea was burned away, they automatically returned to their bodies. Others were corrupted to a much deeper degree, and the purple flames bringing them out was only a quick death for them, as they soon dissipated into the gray mist.
Only the two sisters, Kou Qingyi and Kou Qingman, had been deeply corrupted by the Black Sea, but there was still hope. Zi Yan smoothly burned away the pollution of the Black Sea and "picked up" the two sisters.
"166, they didn't pray, so why did they become my followers?"
[Gu, so-called believers are mortals who admire God's power and voluntarily offer a little spirituality to God. Deep within their spirits lies the ladder to God's kingdom.]
Prayer is not the only way to become a believer; it's just that mortals are not yet enlightened, deaf and blind, and only through prayers that refer to the divine can their meager spirituality connect them with the divine.
"So, in their case, they sacrificed their spirits to me without reciting any prayers?"
[That's right! Their spirits were incomplete; the [Iron Parasite] had stolen their souls. Although the divine fire expelled the corruption, the stolen souls could not be returned. Their souls were then sacrificed to you by the divine fire, so their faith turned to you.]
Du Yu's eyes lit up. If that's the case, wouldn't he be able to extract even more believers from [Iron Parasite]?
Even thinking of the Black Sea that had already fled, she wasn't disappointed. The Misty Rift didn't have much else, just plenty of trash and monsters! Even without the Black Sea, surely she could find the Purple Sea, the Blue Sea?
Sensing that the two sisters were asleep, Du Yu did not disturb them and disconnected the connection. Suddenly, he remembered something: "If believers pray to me as if they are sacrificing their spirituality, will the lack of spirituality affect them?"
Especially Tian Yinuo, who was already simple-minded, and now she prays every day. If there are any aftereffects, how will she live her life?
[No, we're serious gods!]
A white dove landed on 001's head, proudly puffing out its chest. [Like spiritual energy, spiritual power regenerates automatically! Sacrificing spiritual energy to a player will grant their spirit protection! Only evil gods endlessly demand spiritual energy from their followers!]
What is the relationship between spirit and spirituality?
Du Yu caught the key words in 166's words. These were concepts she didn't understand in her previous life. 166 had mentioned them before, but she hadn't found the right time to ask.
[Guy, what do you think the human soul is made of?]
166 rolled his eyes, but instead of answering directly, he kept her in suspense.
Du Yu stroked her chin. As a pragmatist, she had never thought about this issue before, but since such a bizarre thing as transmigrating into a book had happened, and she had inexplicably become a god, she had to consider these mysterious things.
166 didn't give Du Yu much time to think, revealing the answer himself: "The soul is the sum of the spirit and the body! The body has the power to change the material world, and the spirit also has the power to change the spirit world—spirituality."
The soul is the sum of the spirit and the body. Du Yu pondered 166's words; simple, yet they gave him a profound sense of enlightenment.
She soon had a new question: "What about mental power? And—what about me?"
If the soul is the sum of the spirit and the body, then what happens to oneself when one travels through a world and enters another person's body? Or, to put it another way, am I still myself?
166 seemed to know what Du Yu was thinking, and a strangely solemn expression appeared on one of its pigeon face. [Coo, please rest assured, player, you are special!]
166 spoke with great certainty, but when Du Yu pressed it to reveal what was so special about it, it began to evade the question and instead explained its mental power:
The physical body cannot interfere with the spirit world, and the spirit cannot change the material world, but mental power is different. Players can use mental power in the spirit world because—
"Because of [trait]?"
[How clever! [Special trait], or more accurately, the [elements] that constitute [Special trait], is the bridge connecting the material world and the spiritual world. Unfortunately, most mortals, after awakening their special traits, fail to grasp their true meaning. "Extraordinary beings"? They're nothing more than a bunch of kids playing with slingshots and the Imperial Seal of the State.]
And you—
The sound of 166 abruptly stopped, and the long-silent system suddenly emerged, its mechanical voice mixed with fervor—
And you—my dearest player, you have reached the finish line that millions of mortals yearn for; you are about to embark on that one and only path, the true path to transcendence.
[Ding-dong~ Player listens to [The Path to the Extraordinary] (partial), gains insights, and the fusion speed of the trait [? ? ?] increases.]
[Affected by an unknown aura, the direction of trait [???] awakening has changed.]
Congratulations on unlocking the trait [? ? ?] (partial) and gaining the skill: Echoes of the End.
[The Echoes of the End: You can hear the echoes from the past, the final demise of a world already heading towards destruction]
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Author's Note: I thought this chapter would cover the puppy leash, but it fell short.
On one hand, I felt that all of this was necessary groundwork, but on the other hand, I felt that my progress was too slow.
Do you guys think this chapter is wordy? (orz)
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