From the end of the world

Chapter 708 The Power of the Third Gate
An angry expression melted and slid down Meng Zhang's face. He seemed unable to refute Shan Liangyi's words and could only stand stiffly in place.

Then, he said, unable to accept it, "But if that's the case... why did 'Shangri-La' set up a barrier in the city center in the past to prevent Xuanming from invading? Wasn't it because Xuanming threatened the birth of 'Shangri-La' that 'Shangri-La' instinctively formed a wall to reject any possibility of invasion from the outside world?"

“Didn’t I just say that? It’s all because of you, Meng Zhang. ‘Shangri-La’ did this for you, its creator. It’s all your wish,” Shan Liangyi said. “Although it doesn’t have the intention to be born into the real world, it will still accommodate your desires if you insist on it—provided that you maintain your relationship with it.”

As he spoke, his gaze swept over Meng Zhang and me, then over the spot where the naval Xuanwu had died, and then he continued to Meng Zhang: "Killing the three of you would be easy; I've had that opportunity more than once before. Even if the three of you were all together, frankly, it wouldn't be that difficult to overcome. The biggest obstacle is the 'Shangri-La' that maintains contact with you."

"If I can't dismantle it, I can't reclaim the Azure Dragon Seed. In other words, my power will forever be missing a link. This is a development I absolutely cannot accept."

"Fortunately, Ying Lingyun's past practices gave me inspiration. As long as I have the metal element magic of the White Tiger, I can hack into the 'Shangri-La'. Moreover, as long as I am well prepared, I can tear apart a part of its structure when it is still in its embryonic stage and turn it into a resource that I can use."

“I don’t need to tear apart and plunder large amounts of magical resources like he did. I just need to temporarily sever your connection with it. Although you can reconnect later, it will only be for a short time. It will not need to listen to your wishes then.”

Meng Zhang staggered back two steps as if he couldn't steady himself, then looked up at the blue sun in the sky in disbelief. It seemed that what he couldn't accept even more than the Yin-Yang Mountain before him was that the "Shangri-La" he had pursued all his life had betrayed him.

Sometimes, what people can least know is not everything in the outside world, but their own hearts. The truth that Meng Zhang himself could never have imagined may not be so elusive after all.

Meng Zhang once defined love as an evil force. From what kind of ideological soil did this unorthodox value system sprout? Strangely, I recalled the words spoken by the Peach Blossom Spring monk to Dongche when he was interrogated in the exhibition hall's sanctuary.

—Have you ever been loved?

The thoughts of devout believers can reflect the thoughts of the deity himself. Meng Zhang would rather painstakingly collect tens of millions of living souls from the outside world than attempt to breed new souls within the "Shangri-La," perhaps not because it was impossible, but because it was unseen. This path would never have even crossed his mind from the start.

I don’t know what kind of life Meng Zhang went through before becoming who he is today, but it is clear that Meng Zhang and his followers probably all thought that being born into this real world was painful and not worthwhile.

Therefore, they all wanted to enter the "Shangri-La," but the "Shangri-La," as the crystallization of this idea, had to replace them in living in this world.

Now, "Shangri-La" has been given a choice.

“Out of respect for you, I have explained enough. I suppose you can die knowing why,” Shan Liangyi said. “Then, you may depart now, Meng Zhang.”

He was about to make his move. I wanted to intervene, but the struggle of the Vermilion Bird Seed suddenly intensified, leaving my Corona Form body unable to move.

Meng Zhang merely looked up at the "Shangri-La," without even glancing at Shan Liangyi.

Shan Liangyi swung the sword of light formed from silver-white magic power, and an extremely sharp sword aura flew out, severing Meng Zhang's head.

The power of reactivation did not reappear. The severed head and the corpse simultaneously lost their ability to levitate and plummeted downwards.

Meng Zhang, the lord of Taoyuan Township, died.

At the same time, the azure sun in the sky disintegrated and exploded, instantly transforming into countless light azure orbs that slowly scattered like snowflakes. The illusory and chaotic spacetime that had swept through the city center began to slowly recover, and the massive barrier surrounding the city also began its collapse.

The "Shangri-La" died before it was even born.

Beneath the azure light of the snow, the mountain yin and yang slowly turned around.

Behind him, a deep yellow wheel emitted an extremely dense cyan light from one of its blank rings. Countless seeds of the heart seemed to have been collected from different dimensions as "Shangri-La" collapsed. For someone who wielded the power of the Yellow Dragon's spacetime, such a feat was likely effortless. At this moment, countless cultivators and eccentrics from the outside world would perish, but I had no time to ponder such matters.

On the deep yellow wheel, four seeds of power had already formed. The central Yellow Dragon Seed had connected with the other seeds and begun to resonate. Starting with Earth, the power flowed and transformed sequentially between the different seeds: Earth gave rise to Metal, Metal gave rise to Water, Water gave rise to Wood—and when the power flowed to the last, still empty ring, a red light appeared within it.

The red light looked very ethereal, yet it outlined the shape of the Vermilion Bird Seed.

With the four power seeds in hand, the mountain and yin-yang directly simulated the last missing Vermilion Bird seed through the mutual generation of the five elements!

The fluctuations of his magical power grew increasingly immense, until finally it seemed to have broken through the last barrier and entered an immeasurable realm.

Extremes meet. Overly bright and dazzling light can become like darkness, making it impossible to see anything clearly; similarly, excessively strong magical energy fluctuations can prevent the weak from accurately recognizing their presence. Right now, I can no longer sense the magical energy fluctuations of the Mountain Yin-Yang.

He stood before me, seemingly an ordinary person devoid of any power. But if he were truly an ordinary person, he couldn't possibly be levitating so high in the sky. This contradictory and terrifying phenomenon unfolded before my eyes, reminding me of a certain figure: the Old Fist God…

In the past, when I faced the old Fist God, I was also unable to sense his magical power fluctuations.

Not only that, he could even be in the same room with me if he wanted, and I wouldn't even be aware of his presence. Even Shenzhao, who spoke with me back then, was unaware that there was such a person beside him.

The Mountain Yin-Yang seems capable of the same thing. Previously, the most dangerous unknown being on this battlefield, the Great Impermanence, could force me to ignore its existence while I was thinking. Even though the Water Master Xuanwu possessed the correct information about the four Yin-Yang successors, he couldn't immediately deduce the problem of the Wheel King being the fifth Yin-Yang successor simply through his own reasoning.

Unlike the intuitive perception power—the power of "awareness"—that all Witchers, and even the Great Impermanence, possess, after pushing open the third door, it seems to exhibit an opposite nature, a "hidden" power.

At the same time, I am completely convinced that at this moment, the Mountain Two Elements is no longer the Great Impermanence that merely possesses the nature of the Third Gate but lacks the corresponding magical power. Instead, it has truly returned to the realm beyond the Third Gate and regained its rightful power.

A burning intensity, almost scalding, shone in Shan Liangyi's eyes. His gaze seemed capable of piercing my body and reaching the deepest recesses of my soul. There was no doubt that he was not looking at me personally, but at the Vermilion Bird Seed hidden deep within my soul.

The Water Master Xuanwu once said that as long as one becomes the Great Impermanence, the power seed of the Two Forms successor will not be unconditionally absorbed and reclaimed by the Mountain Two Forms, but that should be limited to general situations. Facing the Mountain Two Forms who have returned to the Third Gate realm, that old understanding is not applicable.

Now, if Shan Liangyi so desires, if he so desires, he doesn't even need to kill me; the Vermilion Bird Seed will return to his grasp without hesitation. And I will instantly lose all my power—the ability to manipulate fire, the natural privileges of the Great Impermanence—all will vanish from me.

I will become an ordinary person again, back to the person I used to be who could only fantasize about "what if I had supernatural powers" and studied strange books with unrealistic enthusiasm.

The two mountains reached out to me, seemingly to take away the Seed of Vermilion Bird, the power that had been indispensable to my adventures so far.

Of course, I couldn't just sit and wait to die, but the struggle of the Vermilion Bird Seed left me with no strength to defend or counterattack, not even the strength to escape. My elemental body had become an obstacle; my body and soul were composed of fire magic, and now it was preventing me from carrying out my plans.

Even if I wanted to transform all the fire magic into the Eclipse Fire, which is detached from the fire element, it would be useless. Not to mention that I cannot transform the fire magic in the present moment, which is a transitional form that is migrating from the fire element to the earth element, it is still within the framework of the two polarities, four symbols, and five elements. Moreover, the Eclipse Fire is also subject to the power of the Vermilion Bird Seed, otherwise I would not be able to control the Eclipse Fire myself.

What about the power of the Divine Seal Fragments? I desperately tried to connect with the two Divine Seal Fragments that existed in my consciousness, and the two Divine Seal Fragments responded to this request, releasing a power that flowed into my Corona Form body.

Impurities appeared within the flames, no longer obeying the Vermilion Bird Seed's commands but instead obeying my orders. The Vermilion Bird Seed's obstruction of the flames also decreased slightly. However, it was only slightly; the power of the Divine Seal fragments I could use was far too limited. Compared to the Vermilion Bird Seed, which had become excessively powerful with my growth, the power of the Divine Seal fragments was simply futile.

The Mountain Ryougi seemed to sense my struggle as well. His gaze shifted from the Vermilion Bird Seed to my eyes. Or rather, he was looking through my eyes into the depths of my consciousness and locking onto the thing bound to my consciousness.

He seemed to be able to directly observe the two fragments of divine seals within my consciousness.

Then, he did something even more incredible.

He reached out, his palm piercing through the boundary between matter and spirit, probing directly into my consciousness, and then grabbed the two fragments of the divine seal!
This was something that should have been impossible. The divine seal fragments bound to the Void Realm Apostles were untouchable by anyone, not even by the Void Realm Apostles themselves. Yet Shan Liangyi was able to capture them—not only that, but the moment he captured them, both divine seal fragments simultaneously ceased to release their power.

Then, he pulled his hand out of my consciousness, along with the two fragments of the divine seal. With this action, I felt the connection between myself and the divine seal fragments snap like an overstretched rubber band.

This also means that my connection with the Lord of the Divine Seal has been severed, and I am no longer an Apostle of the Void Realm.

How could he even do something like that?
This is the first time I've seen someone who, without being a Void Realm Apostle or relying on the power of the Divine Seal Fragment, has clearly altered the operation of the Divine Seal Fragment solely through their own power.

“Fragments of a divine seal…” Shan Liangyi carefully examined the two black jade stones in his hands. “So that’s how it is. It seems to have similar properties to otherworldly deities and spirits, which is why it can wield the power of true spirits… How did this thing appear on Earth? Could it be a product created by an alien civilization with a technological level advanced enough to observe great true spirits?”

He shook his head, looked at me again, and his gaze once more fell into the deepest recesses of my soul.

This time, his target must be the Vermilion Bird Seed.

I have lost my last means of resistance. Although I am still racking my brains to think of ways to struggle, I can't find any way out.

Just then, the deep yellow wheel behind him began to move.

(End of this chapter)