From the end of the world

Chapter 756 The Void of Nothingness

In a completely silent space, even the sound of a pin dropping would be incredibly jarring. And in the void where nothing exists, the appearance of the gray mist was equally blinding. It was like a flashbang exploding in the darkness, impossible to ignore. My gaze was immediately drawn to it, and then I was filled with confusion.

The gray mist, a symbol of the Void Realm, appears in the void—a truly bizarre occurrence. Of course, since it originates from the power of the Divine Seal, maintaining its existence within the Void Realm isn't impossible. The problem lies in its reason for appearing here. Speaking of the gray mist and the Void Realm, that refers to Tai Sui, the master of the Divine Seal. Could it be that Tai Sui is attempting to interfere with the Void Realm… or even with me?
The gray mist was spreading towards me, partially confirming my premonition. Its motives were unclear; I didn't know if they were benevolent or malevolent. Although I wasn't sure if contacting Tai Sui at this time was good or bad, I had no intention of turning and running away. This sudden new development intrigued me greatly. Besides, I might not be a match for the Lord of the Divine Seal now.

After much deliberation, I decided to move closer to the gray mist.

Although the gray fog seemed to be right in front of me, it turned out that I was moving too slowly, or perhaps the actual distance was quite far, and it only appeared close due to the lack of a reference point. It took me quite a while to reach the fog. During this time, the gray fog itself kept growing larger, and it was hard to tell whether it was expanding on its own or appearing larger because I was getting closer.

When I arrived, the fog had transformed into an enormous wall of mist, stretching as far as the eye could see. I stepped directly into it, and the surrounding space became a very familiar, fog-filled space.

Looking back, when I first entered the Void Realm in the basement on the fifteenth floor, and again after regaining my status as a Void Realm Apostle, the gray mist seemed to emerge against a backdrop of utter darkness. I once thought it was the darkness of consciousness, since the Void Realm could be seen as the shared dream of the Lord of the Divine Seal and all Void Realm Apostles. Now, it seems, could this shared dream-like space have always been built upon a void that is both nowhere and everywhere?

I looked down to check my body. Previously, when I entered the virtual realm, my body always appeared as a black silhouette, but now it was completely different. The clothes I wore, the color of my skin, the texture of my hair—all these things were unchanged. I was still myself. It was probably the power of the third gate—its ability to "maintain one's true self regardless of the world"—that was at work.

As for power, I felt that using my power in this Void Realm was more strenuous than in the Nothingness Domain. I could clearly perceive that the surrounding space was filled with a hatred for magic and the bizarre, and a strong will to deny supernatural power.

This is the will of Tai Sui, the master of the divine seal.

What Tai Sui seeks is the world before it was altered by the Divine Seal. There are no witchers, no strange creatures, and no messy supernatural powers. Perhaps even in the old world there were concepts like souls that science cannot fathom, but in his view, most of the magical concepts of today were brought about by the Divine Seal, the source of the apocalypse.

In this case, it's inevitable that the former Void Realm Apostles would be unable to directly exert their power within the Void Realm. This place is governed by the Tai Sui's worldview, and only those who push open the third door can rightfully disregard it.

However, the current Tai Sui, like the Doomsday Divine Seal, is in a fragmented and weakened state, and this rigid worldview seems unstable. Although the conditions are stricter than in the Void Realm, this level of constraint is still something I can easily break free from with a little effort. Even the Great Impermanence like Shenzhao and Xuanming, who haven't opened the third gate, and myself during my innate manifestation period, can find some hidden loopholes to "legally" release power that doesn't belong to this "universe."

Having checked my status, I moved deeper into the virtual realm.

Before long, I entered a more familiar area: the rock seating area of ​​the Void Realm. The seven rock seats were empty; as expected, this time it wasn't a gathering of the remaining Void Realm apostles, but rather a special invitation to me. On the opposite side, in the largest rock seat, the Divine Seal Lord Tai Sui, resembling a colossal statue, sat as always.

“—Zhuang Cheng.” He called out my name.

"Is there something particularly important that you invited me here?" I asked. "Or do you want me to hand over all the fragments of the divine seal?"

"That's the main reason," Tai Sui said.

“Now you can start talking about the secondary reasons,” I said.

“There’s no need to be so quick to refuse,” Tai Sui said. “You should be able to change your mind by now.”

"What makes you say that?" I asked in return.

Tai Sui said solemnly, "I saw your struggle in the afterlife."

As expected, because I possessed a large number of divine seal fragments and entered the afterlife, Tai Sui was also able to observe the changes there.

Those fragments of divine seals were all preserved in tiny, nascent illusory realms, and it cannot be said that they completely entered the afterlife. Therefore, Tai Sui may not be able to know most things about the afterlife unconditionally... but it should still be easy for him to know some things that happened centered around me.

It's really uncomfortable to have your every move secretly monitored. Although I often do that myself, I'm a double standard person, so I won't accept it. "What are you trying to say?" I asked.

“In the past, you were like my students, with a dangerous tendency to disregard everything for your own desires. Whether it was important things you possessed, important people around you, or even the whole world… you could abandon them all. This is a demonic path, and no matter how you embellish it, it can only be called evil,” Tai Sui said. “Therefore, I was once very wary of you, and although I needed your help, I still couldn’t trust you.”

"At the same time, I might also have a sliver of hope for you... Perhaps people like you can turn over a new leaf, but I made mistakes in the past, failed to fulfill my responsibilities as a teacher, and thus missed the opportunity to prevent disaster..."

“Leave those arrogant words to your students,” I interrupted him. “I’m no one to you, so don’t have that strange empathy for me. Isn’t it time to get down to business? You didn’t call me here to explain your own inner thoughts, did you?”

Tai Sui sighed, then slowly stood up.

It was the first time I had ever seen him stand up. His magnificent, colossal statue stood before me, truly awe-inspiring. I felt like a toddler just learning to walk, barely taller than his knees.

The massive rock chair behind him collapsed and disintegrated, turning into countless wisps of gray mist that scattered and fled in a sudden gust of wind. Then, his enormous body also crumbled and vanished, turning into countless wisps of gray mist as well.

The person who appeared in the spot was an old man with white hair and beard.

Unlike many withered old men, he seemed to maintain a high-intensity exercise routine, and his body was stronger and a bit taller than mine, a young man. He had a refined and composed appearance, giving the impression of an intellectual.

However, his mental state did not seem good; he appeared to be deeply negative and depressed, reminiscent of a sinner trapped in past mistakes, unable to extricate himself and tormenting himself.

It is obvious that this old man is the original appearance of Tai Sui.

This act of showing one's true self is probably an attempt to further demonstrate one's sincerity.

“Perhaps you still don’t trust me, but I believe we all have a common enemy,” Tai Sui said. “And now, I’m going to tell you his true identity.”

"You mean... the one who holds the seal?" I said. "So you weren't really unaware of this information last time, but deliberately concealed it?"

As I spoke, I simulated the divine child's ability to see through all lies.

“Yes,” Tai Sui admitted, “because your past mind was too similar to that of the one who holds the seal. I was very worried that if you had confirmed his true identity at the time, it would have been secondary to not being willing to work with me, but you might have colluded with him.”

Regardless of whether I would actually side with the Seal Master at that time, if the Seal Master did not intend to prevent the apocalypse or to harm those important to me, then I had no reason to be his enemy.

From an outsider's perspective, I do indeed share the same ideals as the one who holds the seal. Although there is a saying that "like repels like," we cannot deny the possibility that we are "birds of a feather."

Past interactions with Xiaowan flashed through my mind, and the most likely candidate to be the one to hold the seal slowly emerged.

"At least there's one thing I haven't lied to you about: I genuinely can't use the power of the Doomsday Seal to directly determine the true identity of the Seal Bearer. So, when I first became the Lord of the Seal, I truly didn't know who the Seal Bearer was. But even if I can't use a direct method, it doesn't prevent me from using indirect methods," Tai Sui said. "Now that we know the Seal Bearer is likely a Great Impermanence, or someone qualified as a Great Impermanence, then we only need to use the process of elimination to deduce the correct answer."

"You and Number Two have probably discussed this answer quite a bit, and you may already have a good idea of ​​what to expect."

Tai Sui paused for a moment, then said the name: "—Willow Shadow, that is the one who holds the seal."

(End of this chapter)