From the end of the world

Chapter 648 Xuanming Takes Action
The azure lightning unleashed by the Peach Blossom Village cultivator possessed magical fluctuations similar to those of Meng Zhang, the village's lord, indicating that this attack was summoned by the cultivator through their faith in Meng Zhang. Although its power remained within the range of the Great Completion level, it was still powerful enough to vaporize a human in place, possessing the terrifying force of lightning and its characteristic ultra-high speed. In terms of pure physical speed, even a Great Completion level cultivator would likely struggle to react.

What seemed like an instantaneous attack to ordinary people, and even to Jiao Shu standing nearby, was perceived by me as slow as a tortoise crawling.

Judging from the transformation of the azure lightning into a giant claw, the Peach Blossom Village cultivators' goal wasn't to kill me, but rather to capture me before their formal confrontation with Jiao Shu. This approach seems rather strange. If it were purely for the convenience of combat, keeping me by Jiao Shu's side would maximize their advantage, as it would make me a burden to Jiao Shu.

Despite the Peach Blossom Spring cultivator's consistently arrogant attitude, I could tell he remained wary of Jiao Shu. Demon hunters at the Formation, Existence, Decay, and Void levels must always be mindful of the risk of unexpected setbacks in battle; no seasoned warrior would take this lightly. Moreover, Jiao Shu clearly possessed abilities that transcended levels, making caution all the more necessary.

He likely judged that Jiao Shu wouldn't be a burden to me, so he decided to take me down first. Although I am but a tiny resource to the "Shangri-La" plan, since he genuinely believes in Meng Zhang, the lord of Shangri-La, and in his vision of redeeming all suffering beings through a dream of happiness, his decision is understandable.

On the contrary, Jiao Shu might, when he realizes that he is powerless to reverse the situation, with the spirit of "better to die a glorious death than live a shameful life", rather than let his own soul be given to the enemy camp, which can be regarded as the last struggle in a desperate situation.

As I watched the attack gradually advance towards me, I thought to myself as I stretched out my finger and gently tapped the oncoming cyan lightning claw.

One side possessed only a meager amount of magic power at the level of "bad," while the other wielded immense, overwhelming power at the level of "complete." The outcome seemed obvious, but the result was the complete opposite of that impression—the massive, cyan lightning claw vanished instantly, like a balloon hitting a needle tip head-on.

The cultivators from Peach Blossom Village immediately let out a sound as if they were doubting their own eyes. Jiao Shu, who was a beat slower in raising his Impermanence Sword, was also stunned by what he saw.

"What did you just do?" Jiao Shu asked, stunned.

"How is this possible?!" The cultivator from Peach Blossom Village couldn't understand. "Did I make a mistake in how I summoned my power?"

He seemed more inclined to doubt himself than to accept what he was seeing.

But frankly, there's nothing strange about it. Once the principle is explained clearly, it's as simple and uninteresting as revealing the secret of magic.

My power is like soft and fragile graphite, while the power of the cultivators in Peach Blossom Spring is like indestructible diamond. Although the difference in hardness between graphite and diamond on a macroscopic scale is vast, at the microscopic level they are merely carbon atoms arranged in different ways. If someone could penetrate their power to the level of atomic structure, they would find that destroying diamond is exactly the same difficulty as destroying graphite.

Given Da Wuchang's perception of the world and his control over magical power, if he used an atomistic worldview, he could directly observe the protons, neutrons, electrons, and so on that make up atoms. However, Da Wuchang's perception generally leans towards the metaphysical realm, and I am no exception. But in terms of minute detail, the difference is negligible.

It's simply a matter of different perspectives on the world. Beings who perceive the world through sight and those who perceive it through hearing encounter different facets of it. Like the blind men and the elephant, although their understanding differs, both perspectives contain elements of truth. The world perceived by the Great Impermanence's transcendental spatial and temporal perception is destined to differ from the world perceived by humans living in a three-dimensional universe, especially regarding the understanding of the "basic units that constitute the world."

Perhaps in the distant future, even a force as unpredictable as mine will be analyzed by science, but perhaps using theoretical models that even I cannot comprehend. Right now, I can indeed create physical phenomena like nuclear fission and nuclear fusion by influencing causality and concepts, but that process wouldn't follow atomic theory; instead, it would be reinterpreted from my perspective. Furthermore, from a scientist's point of view, my interference with causality and concepts might be interpreted as me utilizing some invisible force between quantum particles.

I can only say that my perspective on the world leans more towards the mystical, as do most of the mystical ones, but that probably has nothing to do with whether I adhere to materialism or idealism. Science has been prevalent for far too short a time in the evolutionary history of humankind. Although it conforms to human rational logic, it does not conform to the emotions and intuitions that have developed over a long period of human evolution.

Faced with the unknown situation, the Peach Blossom Village cultivator displayed the qualities expected of a high-level demon hunter—although his emotions were very turbulent, his movements did not falter in the slightest, almost reflexively wanting to make new moves.

Whether he was planning another attack, or choosing a defensive stance first, it didn't matter. Before he could make his next move, I glanced at him. He died the moment our eyes met.

Although there were no visible external injuries, I burned his brain tissue from a distance in an instant. Even a monster of a certain level cannot strengthen its brain tissue to a degree sufficient to resist enemy attacks; and while monsters certainly possess powerful regenerative abilities and endurance, allowing them to continue to survive and recover even when their internal organs are destroyed, they still cannot maintain life activities under the premise of complete brain destruction.

His perfectly intact corpse swayed and nearly collapsed to the ground like a drunkard who had lost his balance after a bout of heavy drinking. Jiao Shu seemed unaware that the other was dead, his face showing confusion and surprise. The dozen or so monsters around them also showed signs of going out of control.

Taking this opportunity, I plan to conduct a small test. When killing the Peach Blossom Spring cultivators, I deliberately didn't infuse the flames with killing intent. Jiao Shu mentioned that this city has a rebooting phenomenon; those killed by forces other than the Peach Blossom Spring cultivators and monsters don't have their souls merged into "Peach Blossom Spring" and can be resurrected after the reboot. I want to see for myself.

Jiao Shu was also killed by the aftermath of the battle between Xuan Ming and Meng Zhang, the lord of Taoyuan Township, but he is still alive. This shows that the mysterious restart phenomenon can even revive those who were killed in the battle of Da Wuchang.

Of course, the rule that "those killed by the Great Impermanence cannot be resurrected in principle" only applies to cases where "the Great Impermanence intended to kill them." If someone is merely killed in the aftermath, there's no rule against resurrection. Therefore, it seems logical that they could be resurrected by a restart phenomenon that is suspected to be powered by the Great Impermanence. However, this matter may also involve the life and death of Junior Sister Xiao Qiao, so some specific verification is necessary.

I even left a thermal mark on the body of the deceased cultivator from Peach Blossom Village, so that even if he changes his spatial location after being resurrected, I should still be able to find him.

Incidentally, I also left a thermal energy mark on Jiao Shu's body, in case the so-called restart phenomenon suddenly occurs and I can't find this source of information.

I planned to clear out all the monsters around me, but then, something unexpected happened.

Before the cultivator's body from Peach Blossom Village even hit the ground, a sea of ​​fire suddenly erupted without warning, completely engulfing the subway platform. However, this wasn't the flame I unleashed. With my current meager magical power, I couldn't afford such a luxurious feat as unleashing a sea of ​​fire. This flame differed slightly in color from the orange-red flame I used; it was an orange-yellow flame.

All the monsters present were engulfed by the sudden sea of ​​fire, turning to ashes. Even the corpses of the Peach Blossom Village cultivators were reduced to ashes. Jiao Shu was unharmed. This orange-yellow flame was the same as my flame, seemingly possessing a mechanism to distinguish friend from foe. Jiao Shu probably belonged to the whitelist.

But I was different. I could feel the orange flames were attacking me with a strong sense of aggression, rapidly engulfing me and trying to burn me to ashes like those monsters.

I understand perfectly well; this is clearly the Fire of Proclamation!
Furthermore, it's completely different from the kind of fire used by believers like Jiao Shu. Jiao Shu's fire of enlightenment, summoned through faith, could even be manipulated and turned against him by my fire abilities. But the fire of enlightenment appearing here is very likely—no, it must be—being manipulated by Xuanming himself, somewhere far away!

If I were here with my full power, this level of fire would be nothing to fear, but I cannot do so now. Against Xuanming himself, the talk of the depth of power manipulation I just demonstrated is utterly useless. It seems I have no choice but to stop here.

Fortunately, what's here is only a small portion of my spirit; no matter how much they try to destroy it, they can't truly harm or kill me. However, to re-enter the city's barrier, I'll have to spend a long time, or simply try my luck and see if the calling voice that led me into the barrier will sound again…

In a flash, I didn't make any pointless dodging or defensive moves, but stood still and calmly accepted being engulfed by the sea of ​​fire.

At the same time, I vaguely heard a questioning voice coming from within the orange flames.

(End of this chapter)