From the end of the world

Chapter 720 The Truth About the Lord of the Divine Seal 3
The thoughts of the students described by the Lord of the Divine Seal resonated strongly with me, and even made me feel that they were another version of myself.

That's something I've undoubtedly thought about before. If I lived in a world without any supernatural phenomena, like that student, and one day suddenly obtained a magical artifact that could manipulate the world at will, what wish would I make upon it?
The world today seems to offer a very likely answer.

Having learned a lesson from the ancient civilization, the master of the divine seal, who was once a scientist, could not allow his student to use the divine seal to modify the world.

The student attempting to activate the divine seal, and the teacher trying to stop it, engage in a struggle over the seal. At the last moment, the student successfully makes a wish upon the seal; simultaneously, the teacher also comes into contact with the seal and desperately makes a wish, trying to revoke his student's wish.

When two people simultaneously touch the divine seal and make opposing wishes, how does the seal determine whose wish takes priority? At least, the divine seal doesn't seem to have a mechanism to stop working midway. Granting any wish, regardless of its nature, is likely the underlying logic of the divine seal.

In terms of the outcome, Shenyin prioritized fulfilling the students' wishes.

"—Why?" I asked. "Did your student withhold some information when deciphering the ancient civilization's script...? He knew the correct procedure for making a wish, while you were at a disadvantage in this regard?"

"Perhaps that's part of the reason. The details and truths related to the original world are something I, living in this world, cannot go back and see clearly. At least until the Divine Seal is fully restored, I myself cannot fully understand the detailed procedures by which the truly complete Divine Seal operates," said the Lord of the Divine Seal. "It's not impossible to speculate; it could also be another reason, which is related to the way one makes a wish upon the Divine Seal."

"How do you make a wish?" I asked.

"Making a wish to the Divine Seal does not require verbally expressing your desire," said the Lord of the Divine Seal. "Of course, the process of turning thoughts into language can also be used to organize one's thoughts, so it cannot be said to be completely useless. However, when the Divine Seal truly listens to the user's wish, it listens not to the user's words, but to the voice of their heart. When entering the activation stage, you only need to depict the world you desire in your mind."

"However, although we don't know if the inhabitants of the ancient civilization were like humans, at least the human mind is contradictory. Even if you obtain a divine seal that can grant any wish, if you want to make a selfish wish on it, you might have the opposite thought in your mind, 'Is this really okay?'"

"When the divine seal reads such a mind, what judgment will it make?"

Even someone like me who pursues the apocalypse has had the thought, "Is this really possible?" more than once. I completely understand the psychology described by the Lord of the Divine Seal. And based on that, I'll definitely continue to pursue the apocalypse.

So, in response to this question, I offered what I considered a reasonable conjecture: "Even if there are several conflicting thoughts at the same time, their strengths can be distinguished, and the divine seal should listen to the strongest thought."

The Lord of the Divine Seal nodded: "So... the answer might be quite simple. The reason why the Divine Seal prioritizes fulfilling my student's wish might simply be because my willpower to deny his wish ultimately couldn't overcome his willpower to fulfill it."

"Then, the world changed in an instant."

He continued to tell me—

About five years ago, the "Fantian Incident" occurred. In Luo Shan's view, the barrier between the world of common sense and the world of the supernatural suddenly disappeared. The demon hunters, who were always active in the dark side of the world, slowly realized that they could actually become the overlords of the entire society. This process was not completed immediately. At first, only a very few people were able to break free from inertia and awaken. Most demon hunters gradually came to their senses after a period of time.

However, from the perspective of the Lord of the Seal, things are completely different. Luo Shan, the Demon Hunter, strange creatures… these are all new things that suddenly appeared after the students made their wishes. The entire world seems to have been suddenly thrust into the realm of fantasy, and its very worldview has been altered.

The Lord of the Divine Seal did not immediately learn of the aforementioned information after the world changed; he only gained a sufficiently comprehensive perspective later.

In this new worldview, he acquired a new identity. He was no longer in the Arctic region where he had fought with his students for the divine seal, nor even in the real world.

He felt as if he had woken up from a dream, or perhaps fallen into an endless nightmare. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in an ancient and magnificent building, surrounded by countless people who bowed and worshipped him with expressions of awe.

Those who worship him call him "Tai Sui". This unknown place where he is located is the "afterlife" that he has longed for in the past, the destination of all the souls of the dead.

Beside him was a black disc.
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At first, Tai Sui couldn't understand his situation, and many of his insights and truths were gradually formed through trial and error. We'll skip over his numerous initial explorations and erroneous assumptions and go straight to his current conclusions.

Why did he, a mere mortal scientist in the primitive world, become a god-like being in the new world? This may be related to the wishes made by his students.

It doesn't mean that the students' wishes included something like "hoping their teacher would become a god in the new world."

When students envision their ideal fantasy world, they likely also imagine the role they would assume in that new world. Some readers of time-travel novels fantasize about being reborn into an ancient dynasty, marrying wives and concubines. They certainly don't believe they could do that as ordinary citizens; they first envision themselves as having a certain social standing in that era. Students may have done something similar.

Even if one doesn't immediately become an invincible ultimate powerhouse in the new world, one should at least position oneself as a special character with extraordinary talent and limitless potential. This self-imposed "extraordinary status" likely influenced Tai Sui, who had also touched the divine seal at the time. Thus, Tai Sui possessed an extremely transcendent status and power in the new world.

However, the spirit of Tai Sui is incompatible with this magical new world. Ultimately, Tai Sui's position as a wish-granter is opposite to this new worldview, making it difficult for him to integrate normally. Therefore, in the initial stages, Tai Sui cannot even smoothly manipulate his own power, let alone obtain the background memories that the character "Tai Sui" should possess.

He was less a deity worshipped by believers and more a frail mortal cloaked in a sacred shell. After finally grasping the information about his environment, he began to study the black disc he possessed.

Although he lost the initial contest with his student for priority in granting the Divine Seal's wish, the unique event of both of them simultaneously making a wish upon it was not without its consequences. Perhaps due to the impact of this conflict, the Divine Seal split in two after the wish was granted. The black disc in his hand is one half of the Divine Seal.

At the same time, through the apocalyptic process simulated in the afterlife by Naraku's Gospel, he also realized that the apocalyptic problem facing the world today is the end of civilization brought about by the divine seal.

To save the world, he must find the other half of the divine seal. However, it seems likely that the other half is in the hands of his student. After a series of investigations, he is almost certain that his student is not in the afterlife. His first priority is to return to the real world.

Number Seven was the confidant he cultivated during this period. Lacking common sense about the new worldview, he needed trustworthy collaborators to seamlessly integrate into this world and formulate and execute plans. Especially since he wasn't particularly adept at handling activities outside his professional field, he needed someone to assist him.

However, this is merely a result-oriented perspective; Tai Sui didn't originally have such complex thoughts. When he first met Number Seven, she was just a lonely little girl who had lost all her past memories and companions, making her unsuitable as his assistant. He only took her in as an adopted daughter and student out of pity.

The passage of time in the afterlife is always blurred. It's unknown how much time passed, but Number Seven grew and transformed into a powerful being at the Great Completion level. Tai Sui was at least able to use his power as the Great Impermanence in a very rudimentary way, and made some progress in his research on the black disc. He even selectively revealed his origins and the truth of the world to Number Seven.

Most of the survivors who have experienced countless pains and misfortunes in the afterlife deeply abhor the concept of the apocalypse. After realizing that his adoptive father and mentor's ultimate goal was to prevent the apocalypse, Number Seven became a staunch supporter of this goal without hesitation.

While gaining allies, Tai Sui's enemies also secretly revealed their claws.

That is Yama, the Lord of the Gospels.

Perhaps it was some strange behavior of Tai Sui during this period that attracted his attention, or perhaps it was for other reasons, but Yama's gaze was focused on Tai Sui, and at a certain moment he noticed the black disc that Tai Sui was hiding.

As one of the three founders of Luoshan, the Great Impermanence, born in ancient times, and the Lord of the Gospel Court, Yama, like the Divination Master, had a certain understanding of the ancient civilization and even possessed some information about the divine seal.

He recognized the details of the black disc.

(End of this chapter)