From the end of the world

Chapter 624 The Gate of Life and Death 1
The unexpected guest knocked on the mansion's door. Though the knock wasn't loud, it was loud enough for me, deep within the mansion, to hear. After a moment's thought, I was able to identify the guest. It was Yuchi.

They've probably come to inquire about the Great Demon Qilin. Since my magical power fluctuations are roughly the same as the Great Demon of Calamity, then the magical power fluctuations of the Great Impermanence Qilin and the Great Demon Qilin must be similar. The reason Yuchi adopted such a relentless attitude towards the Old Fist God was because of his love for his deceased wife, Qilin; and after countless years, Qilin's magical power fluctuations have reappeared in this world—how could this not shake Yuchi's resolve?

However, Fa Zheng, as the person directly involved, was still busy rescuing ordinary people affected by the chaotic spacetime of the apocalypse, while Jian Feixian was still holding his hand. Yu Chi couldn't even find his old superior to get the full story. Finding someone in the chaotic spacetime of the apocalypse was incredibly difficult; let alone someone at the Great Completion stage like him, even other Great Impermanence would have to put in considerable effort. The only person he could find at the moment was me.

I planned to greet the guests first, while Mazao, perhaps feeling it inconvenient to interrupt our conversation, went to Zhushi's side first.

Zhu Shi is currently in seclusion, much like a master in a martial arts story. I heard she's rented a secluded meditation room at the Luoshan headquarters, completely isolated from external distractions, where she's focusing entirely on communicating with the Yama Sword. That's why Ma Zao and Xiao Wan showed up earlier, but she didn't; the events on my end probably haven't reached her ears yet.

However, Ma Zao still visits Zhu Shi every now and then. One reason is to temporarily restore Zhu Shi's original Heavenly Manifestation ability with the power of return, helping to accelerate his cultivation progress. The other is to act as a supervisor. Although I believe Zhu Shi wouldn't neglect his cultivation even without supervision, the difference in mindset between having someone watching and not having someone watching makes a huge difference. Some people might feel that they can only concentrate fully when no one is watching, but Zhu Shi is clearly not the reclusive type.

Xiao Wan, however, seemed somewhat interested in Yu Chi. As a fellow Void Realm Apostle, although she had heard some information about Yu Chi from me, seeing him in person was far better than hearing about him. Furthermore, Yu Chi's area of ​​expertise—array formations—overlapped somewhat with Xiao Wan's True Position Law of Heaven and Earth. She wondered what kind of synergy would occur when they met.

I had no reason to refuse, so I took the small bowl and headed to the reception room of the mansion, saying from afar towards the gate, "Please come in."

In the distance, the main gate of the mansion opened automatically. It wasn't that the gate had a voice-activated function; it simply understood my words. I'm now increasingly adept at controlling the laws of nature. Yu Chi, outside the gate, also heard my voice and, unfazed, crossed the threshold and moved towards me. Soon, we met in the reception room.

Yuchi Laoshang was wearing a white Wuchang uniform. He looked preoccupied, with the weariness and exhaustion typical of someone who works at a desk for long periods of time. He must have been working hard on the technical data of "Dushuo Mountain" for the past two or three days.

He greeted them first, then looked curiously at the small bowl.

"Long time no see, Yuchi," I said. "Let me apologize first. I made a promise with you last time that I would protect you when Mingzhuo posed a threat to you, but I have been trapped in the afterlife for the past four months."

"You were the one who contacted me in the afterlife last time, right? Thank you for relaying my survival information to Asaha and the others. I wasn't able to properly provide you with shelter, but you helped me out instead."

“It’s alright. The premise of our transaction is that I can help you pinpoint the spacetime location of the ‘target,’ while you will enter the spacetime where the other party is located beforehand…” Yu Chi showed a humble expression. “As for delivering the message, it’s just a small matter. The ‘fireflies’ you left with me also served to let me use their power, so we’re even.”

Perhaps because he didn't know Xiao Wan's background, he replaced "number two" with "target" in his words. Although I told Fa Zheng that Xiao Wan and I were Void Realm Apostles, I didn't reveal Yu Chi's background to Fa Zheng, so I guess they didn't tell Yu Chi about this either.

However, Yu Chi seemed to have already made a deduction. He looked at the small bowl and asked with a serious expression, "Could it be that she is...?"

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Number Five." Little Bowl smiled sweetly. "I am the Number Two you just mentioned. You can call me Little Bowl."

Yu Chi nodded as expected, and politely replied with a couple of sentences. Then, after observing Xiao Wan again, he said, "Excuse my bluntness... but you seem to look very similar to Zhuang Cheng's fiancée?"

"It's a long story. Let's get to the point first, Yuchi. Did you come to ask me about the Qilin?" I asked.

Yu Chi's expression quickly turned serious. He nodded and said in an extremely strange tone, "Although the magical energy fluctuations transmitted were intermittent and chaotic due to the influence of that chaotic spacetime, but... Zhuang Cheng, you fought the Qilin, right? And in the end, the Qilin's magical energy fluctuations disappeared. Could it be..."

"Yes, I killed him," I said frankly.

Yuchi's fist clenched reflexively.

"Are you also planning to fight me to the death? Just like you did with the old Fist God?" I asked. Yu Chi seemed to only then realize his slight loss of composure. He smiled bitterly, then relaxed his hand and said, "When Fa Zheng asked me to analyze the technical data of 'Du Shuo Mountain,' he also gave me a comprehensive and detailed explanation of the current state of the afterlife. That suddenly appearing Qilin should be the great demon that Fa Zheng mentioned."

"Only those who harbor the desire to destroy the world can be summoned by Naraku Gospel as a Great Demon... I know perfectly well what kind of role my wife played in life, so it is only natural that she would be summoned by Naraku Gospel in the form of the Doomsday Great Demon."

"And I will not feel any real feelings for that monster that mimics my fallen wife, although I may have some complicated thoughts... You didn't have to answer me in such a blunt way, did you? I should thank you instead, thank you for eliminating that monstrous thing that tarnished my wife's reputation on my behalf... Do you really think I would be an enemy of you without any reason?"

"That's hard to say," I said. "Feelings are irrational. You dare to go against Old Fist God, who knows what kind of answer your brain will come up with."

I am sometimes told that I am mentally unstable, but in my opinion, Yuchi is no less so in some ways.

Then, I explained to Yuchi the whole story of my battle with the Great Demon Qilin. After listening, Yuchi seemed to finally give up and let out a long sigh.

"Thank you for telling me this," he said with a sigh of relief.

"Are you planning to leave?" I asked.

“Yes, that’s all I came here for. I still have a lot of work to do, the most important of which is the teleportation array on Dushuo Mountain.” Yu Chi’s tone gradually turned into a complaint. “Fa Zheng has high hopes for me, as if he thinks that as long as it’s me, I can definitely unlock the secrets of that teleportation array. But to be honest, that’s asking too much.”

Not only did Fazheng place high hopes on Yuchi, but I also had great confidence in him. However, his thoughts surprised me, and I couldn't help but ask, "Even you couldn't decipher that technical document?"

"No, I've figured it out..." Yu Chi said helplessly. "After all, they've just thrown the answer right in my face. If I couldn't even copy it, I'd be letting down my reputation as the number one expert in Luoshan formations. But it's precisely because I've figured it out that I feel powerless."

"That technical document itself is problematic. It contains huge flaws and should not be valid in principle. As a formation that allows travel between two worlds, it is still a prototype technology in the drafting stage. Without overcoming several key obstacles, it cannot be put into practical application at all."

Upon hearing this, I recalled what the monk Chengjing from the Yellow Springs Gospel Monastery had mentioned.

The cultivator who had reached the completion stage was unaware that the teleportation array at Dushuo Mountain had already been completed; in his eyes, it was still in its rudimentary stage.

Perhaps the information he possessed wasn't wrong; the teleportation array at Dushuo Mountain was indeed only a work in progress.

“With my knowledge of formations, I can roughly deduce what is needed to overcome those key points,” Yu Chi said. “One is the power of the Divine Seal fragments… Without this, it would be impossible to make the crossing of the boundary between life and death, which Ming Zhuo tried so hard to accomplish, possible. I can use the power of the Divine Seal fragments, so this part can be overcome by my power.”

"But having the power of a fragment of a divine seal alone is not enough. Turning the impossible into the possible sounds nice, but it's just a breakthrough from zero to one. The complete realization of the teleportation array requires a leap from one to one hundred. It's no exaggeration to say that this is no simpler than a breakthrough from zero to one."

"The difficulty of traveling between the world of the living and the present afterlife is far beyond what can be described as rowing against the current; it is going against the will of Heaven. The Gospel House can ignore this because they currently symbolize the Way of Heaven and have the backing of the natural will of the planet."

"Just as an imperial envoy representing the emperor can give the green light to all kinds of matters, now even the laws of physics are opening the door to convenience for the Gospel House. They are in a state of complete cheating."

(End of this chapter)