From the end of the world

Chapter 654 The Unknown and Unpredictable

The naval Xuanwu became the Great Impermanence.

Hearing this news, while I hadn't anticipated it, I wasn't surprised either. Shuishi Xuanwu, like my past self, was already a candidate for Great Impermanence, recognized by the world as someone with the potential to become one. I had also fought against the Great Demon Xuanwu in the afterlife, so I had, in a sense, witnessed the power Shuishi Xuanwu might possess upon actually reaching this level. If I were to encounter Shuishi Xuanwu again later, still at the Great Completion stage, I'd probably feel a sense of contrast.

The prototypes of the other great demons are all Great Impermanence, except for the Great Demon of Calamity and the Great Demon Genbu, whose prototypes had not yet become Great Impermanence at the time they were summoned by Naraku's Gospel. This is not to belittle the value of Great Impermanence, but if the Water Master Genbu cannot even accomplish something as simple as becoming Great Impermanence, it would be a great disservice to Naraku's Gospel's high regard for him.

More than the news that Shui Shi Xuanwu has become a Da Wuchang, I am more concerned about Jiao Shu's mention of "three other Da Wuchang" - in addition to Shui Shi Xuanwu, there are actually two other Da Wuchang that I don't know about who are secretly operating in this city?

This southern city is indeed the most important economic center in the country, with an extraordinary status, and its area can be consistently ranked among the top ten in the country. However, it is impossible to accommodate so many unpredictable people running rampant here.

"Who are the other two Great Impermanences?" I pressed.

“According to Xuanming, one of the remaining two is the ‘Dog’—a humane figure created by the Humanitarian Division that destroyed the Fufeng base,” Jiao Shu said. “To be honest, I personally can’t accept that such a character could be considered a ‘Dog,’ but since Xuanming calls him that, I have no choice but to accept it…”

Dog (戌狗)... I almost forgot about him.

Last time, in the final battle at the Peach Blossom Village stronghold, I sent him flying into outer space outside Earth's atmosphere in one go. If it were someone without interstellar travel capabilities, they might never have returned. But the Dog is, after all, a Great Impermanence, so he probably returned quickly after that.

Last time, he chose to stand with Taoyuan Township and fight alongside Taoyuan Township Lord Meng Zhang and Huang Quan, so it's reasonable for him to be here now.

"After Xuanming clashed with Taoyuan Township Lord and caused the destruction of the city, we were all caught in the crossfire and died, but that seemed to be just the beginning of the battle," Jiao Shu described. "Xuanming told us that after the battle started, Xu Gou quickly tried to join the fight to help Taoyuan Township Lord, but the newly promoted Great Impermanence Xuanwu also appeared at almost the same time and joined the battle."

"Although Xuanwu assassinated Xuanming in the past, this time he did not stand against Xuanming, but instead chose to stop the Xugou who was trying to join forces with Taoyuan Township Lord to attack Xuanming. Xuanming fought against Taoyuan Township Lord, while Xuanwu was responsible for fighting against Xugou... That was roughly the conflict structure at the time."

"At the end of that battle, the Lord of Taoyuan Township summoned a barrier in the city center, keeping Xuanming out, while Xuanwu and Xugou were sealed inside the barrier and their whereabouts remain unknown to this day."

I was wondering why I couldn't detect the magical fluctuations of the Water Master Xuanwu and the Dog within this city. It turns out that these two are on the other side of the "Wall Beyond the World".

However, the current situation of the Xuanwu (Black Tortoise) is truly dire. It seems he has chosen to stand against Peach Blossom Village, thus becoming the enemy of both Peach Blossom Village Lord Meng Zhang and the Dog (戌狗). Not only is he at a disadvantage in terms of numbers, but the interior of the "Wall Beyond the World" can also be considered the home ground of Peach Blossom Village Lord Meng Zhang, who is himself a powerful Great Impermanence whose strength is no less than that of Xuanming.

As a newly appointed Great Impermanence, the gap between Shui Shi Xuanwu and Meng Zhang, the Lord of Taoyuan Township, is likely much greater than the gap between me and Ming Zhuo when I first became Great Impermanence. To be honest, I doubt whether Shui Shi Xuanwu will be instantly killed by the other party.

Moreover, Meng Zhang, the lord of Taoyuan Township, may also have a good reason to kill the Water Master Xuanwu. First of all, in the relationship of mutual generation of the five elements, although the Water Master Xuanwu is not as "nutritious" to the Earth Element Yellow Dragon as I am, the successor of the Vermilion Bird, it is still enough to become the prey for the Mountain Yin and Yang to replenish their own strength.
Secondly, just as fire generates earth and water generates wood in the five elements' generating cycle, if Meng Zhang, the lord of Peach Blossom Village, possessed the knowledge and skills to devour other power seeds like the Water Master Xuanwu, he would likely regard the Water Master Xuanwu as a great tonic for himself.

When the Water Master Xuanwu wanted to hunt me down as the successor of the Vermilion Bird, did he ever consider that he himself might one day become the prey of other successors of the Yin and Yang?
Perhaps because she had never personally witnessed the naval Xuanwu and the Dog, Jiao Shu seemed to lack a sense of reality regarding the existence of those two great impermanences, and had never mentioned them to me before. Of course, from my perspective, without my active questioning, she had no need to bring them up to me so much.

She continued uncertainly, "As for the third Great Impermanence... when Xuanming explained it to us, he wasn't sure who the other person was, or even whether such a person really existed. He said he was just relying on his intuition, vaguely sensing that such a person might exist in this city..." "So that's why you said at the beginning that there might be three other Great Impermanences?" I suddenly realized.

“Yes. Xuanming’s task for us was to investigate clues related to that unknown Great Impermanence,” Jiao Shu said. “However, Xuanming also told us that if that unknown Great Impermanence was deliberately lurking in the shadows, then we wouldn’t be able to find it with our abilities; on the contrary, even if we did nothing, the other party would expose its tracks under Xuanming’s search. So Xuanming didn’t require us to complete this task.”

She hesitated for a moment, then asked, "That unknown Great Impermanence, isn't that you... isn't that you?"

I?
This conjecture is quite reasonable. From an observer's perspective, with the identity of the last Great Impermanence unknown, the sudden appearance of someone like me, "a Great Impermanence hiding my true appearance," makes it hard not to suspect a connection. Moreover, my "Fireflies" had been lurking within the city before I even officially entered it.

Even if it's tiny, the "firefly" is still equivalent to an avatar and tentacle of me, the Great Impermanence; and as a fellow Great Impermanence who manipulates the power of fire, Xuanming might instinctively sense that tiny "firefly" as his target. At the same time, given its excessively small size, it's understandable that Xuanming couldn't pinpoint this "dust" within the vast area filled with the magical fluctuations of himself and Meng Zhang, the Lord of Peach Blossom Village.

However, I felt a sense of unease with this conclusion. Xuanming's attitude towards me after his appearance clearly treated me as someone who had just entered the city. He didn't see me at all as the mysterious, unpredictable Great Impermanence. In his mind, that mysterious person was someone else entirely.

The concept of "Great Impermanence" (a term referring to unpredictable or impermanent beings) is strictly defined; there is no truly unknown Great Impermanence. We can simply eliminate those who are definitely not included in this list and gradually narrow down the scope.

Old Fist God, Willow Shadow, Life Turbidity, Wheel King, and the Apostle Yama and the Great Demon God Tu… I've initially narrowed it down to six suspects. Among them, Apostle Yama had a very brief conflict with me not long ago, and Life Turbidity has escaped into the afterlife, both having alibis. Of the remaining four, I believe Willow Shadow is the most suspicious.

He initially suspected that Meng Zhang, the lord of Peach Blossom Village, was the Yin-Yang of Huanglong Mountain who had devoured the Azure Dragon's descendant, which is why he dragged me along to assassinate him. After that battle, he disappeared without a trace, and we could only confirm that he was still alive by investigating his physical condition and other methods. Now that Meng Zhang, the lord of Peach Blossom Village, is still alive, he will likely try to assassinate him again, and his current state of lying low is precisely for the purpose of delivering a fatal blow.

Honestly, I can't think of any reason why the other three suspects would be there. They could make things up, but nothing is as convincing as the willow shadow.

However... there is actually another suspect who was not mentioned.

That is the duality of the mountain.

If Meng Zhang, the lord of Peach Blossom Village, is not Shan Liangyi, then the possibility that Shan Liangyi himself, as the unknown Great Impermanence, would appear here is undeniable. Furthermore, based on the various clues so far, I believe the possibility that Meng Zhang, the lord of Peach Blossom Village, is Shan Liangyi has become very low.

Whether it's Huang Quan's notes or Xuan Ming's narrative, the description of Meng Zhang, the lord of Taoyuan Township, is not at all like a terrestrial immortal who reincarnates in different eras, constantly distributing power seeds and hunting down enemies, all in order to prove the "manifestation" realm. Instead, he is more like a heretical deity with strange ideas.

The thought that Shan Liangyi might be active in this city makes my heart race. I can't tell if it's fear or excitement coursing through my veins.

Judging from the fact that Xuanming was able to determine immediately that I was not the Unknown Great Impermanence, Xuanming himself seems to have some speculation about the true identity of that Unknown Great Impermanence.

When he told me there was no need to worry about us profiting from our conflict, he only briefly mentioned Meng Zhang, the lord of Peach Blossom Village, but not the naval commander Xuanwu or Xu Gou. It's likely he believed Xuanwu had already been killed by Meng Zhang and Xu Gou, and that Xu Gou didn't possess the strength to warrant his attention. So what about that unknown Great Impermanence?
If the other party is an entity with an unknown stance, they may be detrimental to us at a crucial moment. Xuanming seems to have disregarded that possibility, and even seems to think that I don't need to worry about them—how can this be explained?

(End of this chapter)