From the end of the world

Chapter 649 The barrier of the universe

As that questioning voice rang out, the orange flames that washed over me seemed to vanish into thin air. Although they completely engulfed me, they didn't inflict any damage on me like they had on the surrounding monsters. Aside from the intense light blinding me, not a single hair on my head was burned.

Then, light surged from the center of the sea of ​​fire, and some of the orange flames gathered together there, forming a human shape made of flames.

Just like when I returned to the world of the living with Xiaowan and was attacked by Xuanming, the fiery humanoid that appeared in front of me now was obviously a temporary avatar created by Xuanming using the power of fire from a distance.

From the cultivators of Peach Blossom Village attacking me, to their counterattack and death, to the appearance of Xuanming's fiery power avatar... all these twists and turns were so rapid that onlookers were overwhelmed. Only now did Jiao Shu seem to realize what had happened.

As a devout believer, it was impossible for Jiao Shu not to recognize the orange flames around him and the fiery humanoid figure before him. The god he worshipped and feared had suddenly appeared before him; Jiao Shu stared at it all as if his brain had gone blank, his grip on his weapon involuntarily loosening.

The Impermanence Sword fell heavily to the ground with a loud clang. Then, as if unconsciously, she knelt down, her hands supporting her on the ground, her mouth slightly moving as if she wanted to say something, but she couldn't utter a word.

The flame-shaped figure didn't even glance at Jiao Shu; it was simply observing me intently.

"Xuanming, you're not going to kill me?" I asked.

"Kill you? Now?" the flame-shaped humanoid declared.

He didn't comment on my current youthful appearance, but simply answered my question: "Here, you are merely a body composed of meager magical power, no different from my flame avatar. Even if I were to attack you, it wouldn't pose the slightest threat to your life."

"I didn't expect you could infiltrate Meng Zhang's barrier with your own power and come to him on your own. Even the Divination Master and the others couldn't do that. But why did you only send in a weak clone?"

"I vaguely sensed your magical power in this city some time ago, which is why I've been continuously scanning the entire city with my mind... Such caution isn't like you. Don't you want to settle things with me?"

I now understand why Xuanming's flame avatar suddenly appeared here. It turns out his true form noticed me when I invaded the city, and he pinpointed my location the moment I attacked the Peach Blossom Village cultivators. But if he used his searching ability, why didn't I sense any related clues?
I immediately realized that this was the principle of hiding one's roots within the forest. The sky was filled with his sea of ​​fire, and the city was permeated with the fluctuations of his magical power. In this environment of immense "noise," even if he secretly used some kind of reconnaissance ability, he could easily remain undetected.

Since killing me now would be pointless, he temporarily abandoned his attack and instead inquired about my purpose—that's roughly it.

When Jiao Shu saw the deity he devoutly believed in communicating with him on an equal footing, he looked at me with an expression as if he had seen a ghost.

"I need some more time before I can send all my parts into the barrier. After that, I will naturally appear before you in my complete form. Prepare yourself for battle, and don't regret your carelessness and underestimation of the enemy when you're about to die," I said.

Xuanming said calmly, "If all you're going to say is empty talk, then I won't keep you company. You should just get into this place as soon as possible. After I've dealt with your matter, I still need to take care of Meng Zhang."

"You've spent so much time trying to breach the barrier surrounding the city center, so how are you going to deal with the Lord of Peach Blossom Village?" I countered.

Xuanming calmly replied, "I have my own way."

"How about we join forces first?" I said.

Xuanming read aloud in surprise, "You mean cooperation?"

"In our life-or-death battle, whoever survives will not be at their full strength. The Lord of Peach Blossom Village still exists in this city, and he could very well reap the benefits. Rather than that, it's better if we join forces first. Once I've fully entered this area, you and I will work together to break through the barrier surrounding the city center, surround and kill the Lord of Peach Blossom Village, and then we'll decide the victor." I revealed my plan.

"So you also have this kind of strategic thinking about alliances and counter-alliances..." Xuanming pondered for a moment.

Three hostile deities gathered in one place, any two of them fighting fiercely, could be vulnerable to a third party taking advantage of the situation, forming a solid triangular structure; but from another perspective, to avoid such consequences, any two of them have a basis for cooperation.

Just as I could ally with Meng Zhang, the Lord of Peach Blossom Village, to eliminate Xuan Ming, Xuan Ming could also ally with Meng Zhang, the Lord of Peach Blossom Village, to eliminate me. However, Xuan Ming didn't explicitly state that direction. Currently, among the three parties, only the two of us have a basis for communication, while Meng Zhang, the Lord of Peach Blossom Village, is completely isolated within the city center's barrier. To meet and communicate with him, one must first break through that extremely troublesome barrier. Everything has two sides; the barrier is his magic weapon to prevent external enemies, but now it has become a cause for his unknowing and unfavorable situation.

However, after thinking it over, Xuanming gave this reply: "I cannot agree to that."

"Why is that?" I asked.

“It’s simple. You’re underestimating the barrier that shuts down the city center. It’s not something that can be easily overcome,” Xuanming said.

"Even if we combine our strength, we still can't break through the barrier set up by the Lord of Peach Blossom Village alone?" I asked. "I have speculated that the barrier is not the Lord of Peach Blossom Village's own power, but rather it uses the power resources of 'Peach Blossom Village'. However, as far as I know, the scale of 'Peach Blossom Village's' power may be enormous, but its density requires him to increase the pressure himself."

"Even if we can't destroy the entire barrier, if we just puncture it, creating a rift big enough for the two of us to enter..."

Xuanming shook his head: "That's impossible. First of all, you've misunderstood something. That wasn't a barrier set up by Meng Zhang himself."

This was truly beyond my expectations, and I immediately asked, "If it wasn't him, then who was it?"

“I initially assumed that it was a barrier set up by Meng Zhang himself. But in the time leading up to this, I was researching how to break through that barrier and finally came to a conclusion…” Xuan Ming said slowly, “It was a defensive barrier that ‘Shangri-La’ itself created to instinctively deal with external threats.”

"'Shangri-La'... The ultimate existence that the Lord of Peach Blossom Village has been dreaming of has actually been created?" The alarm bells in my heart were ringing.

From a theoretical perspective, "Shangri-La" can be considered a separate, supreme being. If such an ultimate existence can truly be created, it must be something beyond the reach of the Great Impermanence. By definition, it might be an individual that transcends the third gate... it cannot even be defined by the concept of a mere individual; it would be a miniature universe walking on the earth.

If what was preventing Xuanming's invasion was that kind of thing, it's completely understandable why Xuanming spent so much time without achieving anything.

While my heart was pounding, I also developed a strong interest in it.

“Strictly speaking, the ultimate existence called ‘Shangri-La’ has not yet been born. Meng Zhang has only gathered all the conditions to create it. To put it another way, it’s like he has gathered all the parts of a super machine, but it will still take time and effort to assemble it,” Xuan Ming said. “The current ‘Shangri-La’ is only in the stage of ‘potentially being created’.”

"If it hasn't been created yet, what's the deal with that protective barrier?" I asked curiously.

Xuanming said in a deep voice: "Although it is unbelievable, 'Shangri-La' has such incredible power - even if it only exists in the realm of vague assumptions and possibilities, it can already exert its influence on the real world."

"When I finally managed to infiltrate this city not long ago, Meng Zhang was actually on the verge of creating 'Shangri-La.' To prevent this, I had to use external force to shut down most of the processes running his dream network, preventing 'Shangri-La,' which was built on the foundation of the dream network, from being successfully created. The sea of ​​fire currently set up in the sky exists for this purpose."

"The 'paradise' that sensed my threat instinctively took action. The barrier that prevented us from entering the city center was not actually a barrier, but a barrier between one universe and another."

"As for the great barrier that now seals off the entire city from the outside, that was something Meng Zhang built himself using the power of 'Shangri-La'... Although it is incredibly powerful, it is still possible to force it through, but the 'Wall of Shangri-La' allows no room for luck."

The barriers between universes... I never imagined they would be such insurmountable walls.

If anyone could break through that barrier, in my understanding, it would probably only be the Mountain Two Elements that can freely reincarnate between different eras and worlds.

Even so, it's likely that even the Mountain Ryougi would need to die once before being able to reincarnate on the other side, and that would only be possible if a new life were born on the other side.

“But… it’s not like there’s absolutely no way out, right?” I said. “You just said you had a way… I don’t think you were just bluffing at me.”

(End of this chapter)