From the end of the world

Chapter 765 The Diviner's Judgment
Listening to the noise coming from the distant streets and looking at the bewildered expressions of the resurrected demon hunters around me, even I felt a little tired after resurrecting so many people at once.

However, as he took a deep breath, the power of return flashed by, instantly sweeping away the fatigue and restoring his spirit to a state of perfection. As a manifestation-proving being capable of simulating any existence, the concept of exhaustion does not exist. He has as many means of recovery as he needs, and even without the power of return, he can choose to directly replicate his "spirited self."

While recreating the city and reviving its entire population, I also attempted to access human history itself, hoping to use the power of reversion to fix its errors. As Tai Sui predicted, the errors in human history stemmed from the magical elements consciously created by Liu Shuying using the divine seal. Just as I couldn't use the power of reversion to recreate the portal deliberately destroyed by Shan Liangyi, the errors in human history are not something I can directly fix.

Fortunately, it wasn't entirely fruitless. The truly irreparable mistakes are actually the past history divided by the "Fantian Incident" five years ago, while the mistakes from the "Fantian Incident" to today are the part of the history that I can intervene in.

In other words, while it cannot address the root cause, it can address the symptoms. By settling accounts with the mistakes of the past five years, we may not be able to overcome the apocalypse itself, but we can settle accounts with the accumulated apocalyptic process, effectively postponing the inevitable end.

However, the scale of the apocalyptic process was still too enormous. It was a poisonous curse engulfing the entirety of human civilization.

If you want me to burn the surface of the entire planet into glass, that's negotiable. In just a seventh of a second, my power can reach the entire globe. The manifested power of light will ignite and destroy everything it touches, both living and non-living.

In terms of scale and efficiency of destruction alone, I believe that even if you were to combine the Mountain Two Elements and the Old Fist God together, they would still be on a completely different level.

However, "salvation" is always more difficult than "destruction," especially when it involves the power of return that clashes with one's own nature. In the end, the process of apocalypse will accumulate errors faster than I can clean up them. The two will vie for control, and in the end, apocalypse will still arrive, only delayed by a few years.

“Yuchi, I’ll trouble you to rebuild the portal to the afterlife,” I said. “But remember not to activate it immediately after it’s built. At the earliest, wait until I kill Shan Liangyi.”

“Okay… I understand.” Yu Chi nodded. “Actually, not to mention that rebuilding the portal would take at least a week, I don’t have the means to activate it immediately after it’s built. I’m no longer a Void Realm Apostle, and I don’t have any Divine Seal Fragments on hand, while activating the portal requires the power of Divine Seal Fragments.”

"That's true. I almost forgot." I replied, while considering my next move.

Instead of rushing to find Shan Liangyi, I first sensed the "fireflies" that were scattered in other places, wanting to track down the whereabouts of other acquaintances.

Now, I can't sense the "fireflies" near the small bowl anymore; I've also lost contact with the "fireflies" near Old Master Zhu, Chang'an, Lu Chan, and others. I was wondering if Zhu Jiu's body had died along with the destruction of Xianshui City, but after resurrecting everyone in Xianshui City, I sensed the direction of the Zhu family villa from afar, and Zhu Jiu's body wasn't there either; it seemed to have been moved long ago.

As for Luoshan Dawuchang, Fazheng and Jian Feixian of the ruling faction are currently trapped in the afterlife, while Mingzhuo, Shenzhao, and Zhuanlunwang of the transcendental faction are either dead or have become enemies. Laoquanshen and Liushuying of the neutral faction have also become enemies.

The fortune teller I had a cooperative relationship with was also missing. I used the "fireflies" left at the Luoshan headquarters to check the places where the fortune teller often appeared, but all my efforts were in vain.

Suddenly, the voice rang in my ears again.

"Brother Zhuangcheng!" It was Xiaowan's voice.

"Little Bowl?" I replied verbally, "Is that you? Where are you?"

Meanwhile, I observed my surroundings, trying to trace the source of the spoken signal. But as before, I couldn't pinpoint the direction or location of the small bowl; it was as if I were being deceived by a very cunning force. However, if I could maintain this communication for a few more seconds, I should be able to reverse-engineer and crack it.

"It's me. Brother Zhuang Cheng, it really is you! You're still alive!" Xiao Wan said happily. "Just now, the fortune teller said he discovered an unusually powerful magical energy fluctuation in the direction of Xianshui City. It was somewhat like Sister Mazao's magical energy fluctuation, but when I sensed in this direction, it was clearly Brother Zhuang Cheng there... Did you come back with Sister Mazao?"

The fact that Xiao Wan was able to identify me must be based on the connection of blessings. But the divination master could also sense my current magical fluctuations... It seems that Yama, the master of the Gospel Court, can do the same thing. Their level as Great Impermanence is clearly half a step higher than that of Fa Zheng, who wields the divine weapon of humanity.

“No, I am alone now. Ma Zao and Zhu Shi are temporarily staying in the afterlife,” I said.

"Oh, I see. But it's good that everything's alright... By the way, we're at this location now..."

Xiao Wan first transmitted the coordinates of her location to my consciousness, and then said, "The divination master said that the two polarities of the mountain might attack me, so he hid me in this place. Also, Dad... Old Master Zhu and the others are currently in this place as well."

"Okay, I understand, we're almost there."

As soon as I finished speaking, I gave Yuchi a brief farewell and turned to leave. The surrounding scenery instantly changed, transforming from a residential area into a dense forest. To avoid being tracked by the Mountain Ryougi's gaze, I also used my ability to blend into nature. In terms of concealing one's aura and whereabouts, this is arguably the ultimate ability; even the Mountain Ryougi cannot easily lock onto me.

Deep in the forest, there was a mansion shrouded in a powerful barrier. I walked right through the barrier as if it didn't exist, and then saw Xiao Wan looking around curiously at the entrance of the mansion.

As soon as she saw me, she was overjoyed and ran over to me, hugging my waist tightly.

"Brother Zhuangcheng!" Xiaowan called my name again.

I hugged her and said, "I'm back."

Only after confirming her safety with my own eyes did I finally feel relieved. At the same time, I also sensed the presence of the Divination Master deep within the mansion.

The fortune teller didn't come out with Xiao Wan, probably because he wasn't in a condition where he could move around freely. It was clear his current state was very bad. In the past, the fortune teller's aura, while not flamboyant or fiery, possessed a stable and enduring quality, like jade. But now, he seemed to be on his deathbed, reminiscent of an elderly patient lying in a hospital bed, his breathing shallow and labored, with an unstable electrocardiogram machine beside him.

“Brother Zhuang Cheng, why don’t you go talk to the fortune teller first? I’ll take you there,” Xiao Wan said.

I nodded and entered the courtyard with Xiaowan.

On the way, I shared my detailed experiences over this period with Xiaowan by reading aloud, and she also told me about the changes that had occurred on her side.

Before I even met the fortune teller, I already knew the details of his serious injury.

Simply put, he ambushed the mountain spirit.

The timing was roughly around the time Shan Liangyi had constructed a portal to the afterlife in the real world, intending to infiltrate the battlefield while I and Fazheng were fighting against the Fuyin Institute. The Divination Master, who had been monitoring various locations in the real world for portals, located Shan Liangyi's position and launched a covert attack.

If we allow Yama Ryougi to enter the afterlife, the war with Fukuin will turn into our defeat. The Diviner knew very well that he couldn't harm Yama Ryougi with his own power, so he thought he should at least destroy the portal.

This approach is, of course, extremely reckless. No matter how powerful the Great Impermanence is, he is powerless against the strong one who pushes open the third door, but the Diviner Master has no choice but to "do" it. If the Gospel Institute wins with the addition of Yama Ryougi, the human extermination plan will be implemented without hindrance; but if the Gospel Institute is destroyed first, even if Yama Ryougi himself is still alive, he will not choose to advance the human extermination plan.

The outcome is self-evident: the Diviner Master failed. To be fair, the Diviner Master wasn't originally a master of killing and attacking. It's not that he lacked the necessary skills; as an ancient Great Impermanence who had lived for at least hundreds of thousands of years, his offensive and killing methods likely outnumbered those of Fazheng and Jian Feixian. However, his foundation ultimately wasn't combat.

Given the overwhelming disparity in power, Fazheng and Jian Feixian have an extremely small chance of conjuring a miracle, while the Divination Master is not that type of character.

However, in terms of "survival," the two men combined were far inferior to the Diviner. After the sneak attack failed, the Diviner actually managed to save his life from the counterattack of the Mountain Yin and Yang.

As a powerful being who manipulates the power of space and time, Shan Liangyi is not only adept at making himself untouchable, but also exceptionally skilled at capturing his enemies. The fact that the Divination Master was able to escape from such a person is something that even another powerful being who has pushed open the third gate might not be able to do, let alone other Great Impermanences. I don't even know what the Divination Master did back then, and Xiaowan hasn't heard the details either. The mystery surrounding this matter in my mind surpasses even the assassination attempt on Great Impermanence Xuanming by the Great Completion-level Water Master Xuanwu, which resulted in his escape.

It can only be said that this is truly the most ancient and powerful being, likely possessing some unknown trump cards for survival. The barrier surrounding this mansion is probably one such trump card; the reason I couldn't determine the location of the small bowl earlier seems to be due to this barrier. Although the outer surface is nothing special, it seems to be able to use the power of true spirit to conceal the fate of those inside.

This true spiritual power lacked the scent of divine seal fragments, suggesting it was likely summoned through unknown means. This is probably why Shan Liangyi was unable to track down the Divination Master's whereabouts. Simultaneously, because his counterattack would cause a leak of magical energy, potentially attracting the attention of the Old Fist God, Shan Liangyi likely destroyed the portal in Saltwater City around that time. Without wasting time searching for the Divination Master, he directly entered the afterlife.

The Diviner, however, believed that the Gospel Institute would ultimately prevail and that the human extermination plan was inevitable. He had no choice but to lie low and devour a new strategy.

Then, a new development occurred, altering his judgment.

(End of this chapter)