From the end of the world

Chapter 657 Mastering the Brain
The cultivator from Peach Blossom Village, who had achieved the Great Completion stage, was probably very confident in his killing move. Therefore, when he saw me suddenly appear and rescue Dongche, especially since I, the rescuer, looked quite weak, he showed a puzzled expression.

The demon hunters responsible for maintaining the white light barrier were also closely monitoring the changes here. Most of the demon hunters did not recognize who I was, but a few of them, who were my followers, showed a mixture of shock and confusion upon seeing me.

They are believers after all, and perhaps they have some kind of unseen connection to me as a deity, intuitively recognizing my true identity. It's just that I'm not using a normal form right now, which inevitably causes confusion.

Dongche, however, was completely different. He had seen me in my youthful form on Mount Yueyin and recognized me at a glance. He stammered as he tried to say something, but even his words became very incoherent.

I didn't know what to say to start, so I just used a cliché that was only there to fit the occasion: "Sorry I'm late."

Dongche nodded vigorously, then shook his head vigorously.

"Who are you?" the Great Completion cultivator asked warily. "You were able to dodge my attack... Your magic power seems to be only at the Bad level. No, you must be hiding your power, or do you have some kind of special ability?"

I first had Dongche step back a few steps, then said to the Great Completion cultivator, "You just gave him a chance to turn around and leave, so I'll give you a chance too. Turn around and leave now, and I won't kill you."

Actually, I was mostly just saying that; I knew very well that the other party would not let it go so easily. Sure enough, the Great Completion cultivator snorted dismissively and said in a deep voice, "You're quite arrogant... Perhaps you possess very special power, but the difference in strength between us is still decisive. Do you really think you can turn the tide single-handedly? Trying to play the hero?"

Secretly, I could sense that he was already secretly accumulating power. Even if he had reached the Great Completion stage through the power of the Seed of the Heart, he must still be a seasoned veteran with countless battles under his belt. He couldn't possibly let his guard down against an opponent whose strength was unknown.

“It makes no difference whether there’s one more person or one less. Let’s send you all to ‘Shangri-La’ together. Once you get there, you’ll realize how short-sighted your current resistance is, and you’ll never want to return to the real world,” he said.

Dongche quickly came to his senses and said hostilely, "What do you mean by 'never wanting to return to the real world'... It means there's simply no way to return to the real world anymore, right?"

"What does this mean?" I asked curiously.

“Those victims who were incorporated into ‘Shangri-La’ in this city all experienced the slaughter by the cultivators and monsters of Shangri-La, which means they experienced the destruction of their souls,” Dongche said with a tone of hatred. “Their souls are now shattered, and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that they are dead. Only in the environment of the dream network can the fragments be preserved and connected, and then the network’s computing power can be used to re-simulate a complete personality; once they leave that environment, they are truly annihilated.”

"Their current consciousness has been transformed into an illusion in a sense, and it is impossible for them to return to the real world. They can only exist as a component of the 'Shangri-La'."

The Great Accomplishment cultivator said frankly, "Since we have already attained complete happiness on the other shore, what need is there for us to return to the real world, which is full of flaws? Their consciousness has only changed in terms of the premise for its existence; the content remains unchanged and is still their own consciousness."

"If a lie can be carried through to the end, then it becomes the truth; similarly, if a dream never ends until the very last moment, then it can be considered another kind of reality."

"How many people in this world want to forever indulge in a beautiful and realistic dream, yet they cannot attain it? You who want to shatter the ideal dream are the real sinners. Why don't you understand this?"

Dongche said coldly, "Perhaps some people do think that way, but there are also many people in this city who have the courage to face reality. They have built their lives and dignity in the real world through their own will and courage."

"And you, under the banner of 'for your own good,' impose your own ideas on them without explanation, destroying all the good things they have accumulated so far, then force-feeding them what you consider good, and expecting them to be grateful to you, turning it into material to realize your own desires..."

"When you destroyed this city and slaughtered the 30 million people living in it, did you ever ask them if they were willing?"

The Great Completion cultivator said without wavering: "In the end, only a few strong people can forge their own path in the real world. Only in the 'Shangri-La' can the greatest number of people achieve happiness."

"And even those few strong individuals will soon find themselves immersed in the 'Shangri-La,' enjoying a happiness they could never attain even upon returning to the real world. In the end, everyone will achieve the best outcome, so why not?"

At this point, his power seemed to have been fully amassed.

“That’s all for now, you intruder,” he said to me. “Become one of the cornerstones of our great aspirations.”

As he finished speaking, Dongche looked startled, seemingly wanting to hurriedly remind him, but it was too late. Suddenly, azure lightning exploded beneath my feet, transforming into a pillar of lightning that shot up from the ground and engulfed my vision.

If someone were to take a direct hit from such a powerful and fierce lightning bolt, even a master would either die or be crippled; in my current state, it would be even more difficult for me to resist.

However, I had already made the best possible response at the same time. As a result, I wasn't harmed at all. The lightning bolt passed through my body like a phantom. Then, I moved forward, stepping outside the range of the lightning bolt. Seeing this, Dongche breathed a huge sigh of relief. He could clearly see that something was wrong with me and was probably worried that something might happen to me. The Great Completion cultivator's expression changed drastically, but his actions didn't stop due to shock. He immediately launched several thick bolts of lightning at me, but all the attacks passed through my body like phantoms.

"It didn't cause any damage...why?" the Great Completion cultivator said in disbelief, "It dodged at a very fast speed...no, I clearly hit it..."

"I dodged it, but I used a slightly special method. To be specific..." I finally found a good opportunity to explain the move.

Dongche quickly spoke up: "Don't explain your moves to the enemy on the battlefield, Senior Zhuangcheng!"

Since those around me had explicitly told me to stop, I could only regretfully keep my explanation to myself.

This move that ignores enemy attacks is actually quite simple; it's just that I slightly offset myself from the opponent on the timeline.

To describe it, it's like moving to a different layer in an image processing program. While we can still see each other, we're no longer on the same screen. Unless the opponent can also move to the same "layer" as me, they can't affect me at all. The attack just now, seemingly hitting me, was actually as meaningless as using a sweeping kick on an opponent floating in mid-air.

Historically, there have been individuals with special abilities who could etherealize their bodies and thus nullify any attacks they encountered, the principle of which is very similar to what I am doing now. Within the stages of formation, existence, decay, and emptiness, such an ability is practically invincible. Even at the Great Completion stage, not everyone can directly counter it, because the two sides do not interact, making it extremely difficult to forcibly break through with overwhelming power.

This special ability doesn't even require Da Wuchang to use his magic; he can simply move his position in space slightly, as easily as taking a step.

Those who can perceive the truth and break the invincibility state can do it directly; those who can't, even after hearing the explanation, can't do it. At most, they can only try to launch an attack during the gap when the opponent leaves the invincibility state to see if they can hit them. Since one's own attack cannot reach the opponent, the opponent must also be unable to reach one. Therefore, the moment the opponent launches an attack is one's opportunity to counterattack—that's the general thought, right? I also detected similar emotions on the surface of the soul of a Great Completion cultivator.

Unfortunately, he didn't have that opportunity.

"Wait... what did he just call you?"

The Great Completion cultivator wasn't deaf. Upon hearing Dongche's address to me, he seemed to instantly make the correct connection and finally realize the seriousness of the problem.

I didn't say a word, but reached out towards him from a distance and grabbed something. From his perspective, I probably just grabbed a handful of air. Then something that shouldn't have been there appeared in my palm.

That was a heart, a heart that was beating vividly.

The cultivator was stunned for a moment, then revealed a look of pain, clutched his chest, and couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood.

"That's...my heart?" he said, unable to believe it. "How could this be..."

I clenched my fist, and flames erupted, igniting and crushing the heart. The Great Completion cultivator in the distance immediately collapsed to his knees, blood gushing from his mouth and nose, leaving him in a wretched state.

In the perception of a normal person, the human body is a closed system, but in my perception, the closed nature of the human body is practically non-existent. If an open box is placed in front of someone with only two-dimensional perception, they will only perceive it as a perfectly closed container. However, someone with three-dimensional perception will realize that this is not the case.

Although I cannot directly perceive his internal condition due to the resistance, I can understand the location of the brain and heart without needing to specifically confirm it. Furthermore, by combining the Great Impermanence's property of ignoring spatial distance with this property of penetrating matter, even something like this is possible.

Similarly, this wasn't magic; it didn't use any magical power. It was just a simple action of reaching out to grab something.

This is the first time I've tried this trick. I was originally going to try to get your brain working, but I accidentally got your heart working instead.

I reached out again and grabbed something, then took it. This time, a complete pinkish-gray brain appeared in my hand, connected to numerous nerves that had vanished into the void.

Upon seeing this, the cultivator's eyes widened in horror, and he hurriedly shouted, "No, wait—!!"

(End of this chapter)