From the end of the world

Chapter 776 What are the chances of winning?
Whether I'm willing to believe Xiaowan, the answer to that question is implicit. And Xiaowan specifically asked this here, so it's certainly not without reason.

First, Xiao Wan becomes the master of the Doomsday Divine Seal, and even the master of the complete Doomsday Divine Seal. This means that the power balance between me and Xiao Wan will be reversed. The always weak Xiao Wan will instantly become an existence far more powerful than me. Even without merging with the present world's divine seal and not yet being a true master of the divine seal, she is enough to change the world in an instant and become the god of this planet.

It's not about prioritizing my role as the one fighting on the front lines, but rather about giving my full support to her, the one strategizing from the rear. Even though we share an unbreakable bond of trust, the authority of the Lord of the Doomsday Seal is so immense that it needs to be reaffirmed here.

Xiao Wan, in particular, often felt ashamed that she could only stay in the safe rear, which made her even more bothered by this. The "Zhu Jiuxing" of her childhood was someone who would risk everything for someone important and resolutely become "Zhu Shi." Xiao Wan is the same now, but ultimately she is different from Zhu Shi, lacking the innate conditions to make the same choice.

There was once a teacher and student who turned against each other because of the power of the divine seal. The world we live in now, the world I want to save and protect, can be traced back to a great betrayal.

Having understood all of this, I still answered without the slightest hesitation: "I believe you."

A genuine smile of joy appeared on Xiaowan's face.

“I still have some questions,” I said. “Your plan to replace me as the Lord of the Doomsday Seal must have been anticipated by Tai Sui, right?”

“Yes. Since Brother Zhuangcheng can’t do it, I will take his place—this logic is very simple and easy to understand. Tai Sui must have extremely thorough precautions against this, and we must overcome this obstacle.” Xiao Wan showed an expression of deep thought. “And the biggest difficulty now is… I have absolutely no way of predicting Tai Sui’s next move.”

"Even you?" I was surprised.

“Well, I can’t fathom what kind of preparations Tai Sui has made in this regard. Not even a single clue or sign has been revealed. That’s the scariest thing,” Xiao Wan said seriously. “Judging from the various behaviors of Tai Sui mentioned by Brother Zhuang Cheng, it’s as if he hasn’t made any preparations at all… This means that he may possess unknown methods that we can’t even imagine, and he can completely thwart our plans from an unpredictable angle.”

Is Tai Sui really that powerful that even Xiao Wan couldn't detect the slightest sign of it?
I find it hard to believe. Although the current Tai Sui possesses near-omniscient abilities, he has never demonstrated exceptionally clever tactics. In the old world, he lost to his student in the struggle for the Divine Seal, and in the new world, he died tragically in the battle against Yama, the master of the Evangelical Fellowship. Even after becoming the master of the Divine Seal, he was unable to control Shenzhao's actions or prevent Xuanming's betrayal. Even though his enemies are all formidable figures, it's clear that he lacks strong strategic planning skills.

To say he was so foolish as to not even predict that I would support Xiao Wan becoming the Lord of the Doomsday Divine Seal would be to treat him as mentally challenged. In the old world, where no supernatural clues were outwardly apparent, he tracked down the long-lost ruins of an ancient civilization solely through his scientific intellect—a feat that surpasses many of the Great Impermanences of the new world. Clearly, Tai Sui isn't particularly outstanding in scheming and intrigue; his absolute intelligence far surpasses that of an ordinary person like me.

If I had to choose between "Tai Sui's scheming was ahead of Xiao Wan's in this incident" and "Tai Sui is a fool who couldn't even think of things that I could easily have thought of," I think the former is more convincing.

Xiao Wan clearly thought so too.

"Speaking of which, why did Tai Sui choose you to become the Apostle of the Void Realm?" I asked curiously. "He clearly knew that after becoming the Apostle of the Void Realm, the Child of Divinity might become the 'Soul of the Doomsday Divine Seal' just like himself, right?"

“I guess Tai Sui initially wanted me to be Lady Seven’s teammate,” Xiao Wan said. “At the time when the quota for Void Realm Apostles was set, Tai Sui couldn’t know the detailed dynamics of the afterlife because there were too few Divine Seal Fragments distributed in the afterlife. So it was probably difficult for him to accurately name specific people in the afterlife to become Void Realm Apostles.”

"His approach is probably similar to how he uses screening criteria to keep the fragments of the divine seal away from the willow tree shadow, and he also uses screening criteria to designate who in the afterlife will become the apostles of the illusory realm. Among them, although the 'Number Seven' spot cannot be directly designated for Ms. Seven, the screening criteria can be set to a mode that only Ms. Seven can meet."

"As for the 'Number Two' spot, although I'm just guessing, Tai Sui has probably set the conditions rather vaguely. The content might be 'a character who will undoubtedly become Number Seven's partner in terms of stance, and who is capable of providing significant assistance to Number Seven'."

"—That person is me."

How did it become you? That thought popped into my head, and it took me a while to figure it out.

In terms of stance, Xiaowan is a staunch partner of Asao, while Asao is an enemy of Fukuinin and cannot tolerate the human slaughter plan, making her an undisputed potential ally of the Tai Sui Army; in terms of ability, Xiaowan's "Upright Position Dharma of Heaven and Earth" is a top-tier divine skill on the apocalyptic earth, and in the post-apocalyptic world of death, its value is equivalent to that of a Great Impermanence.

If there's anything wrong with it, it's that Asaho's jinx power would bring countless misfortunes and calamities to the apocalyptic land, but for the Tai Sui Army, that's nothing to worry about. They were already being fiercely hunted by the gods and demons of the Fukuinin, so it was just a matter of dying a day sooner or later. On the contrary, Asaho had the potential to break through to the Great Impermanence level. At that time, Asaho could be said to be the only potential Great Impermanence-level combatant that the Tai Sui Army could possibly acquire in the afterlife.

If the above situation were explained clearly, even if Asaho was extremely afraid of bringing disaster to others at the time, she might directly join the Tai Sui Army with Xiaowan. As for personal feelings, Number Seven seems to have long wanted to reconcile with Asaho and rebuild a new friendship.

Unfortunately, all of this was destroyed by the sudden intrusion of "my future self"—the Great Demon of Disaster.

Afterwards, Ma Zao traveled to the real world and was picked up by me. Even the small bowl that Tai Sui left for Number Seven was "mysteriously" intercepted by me and became one of my people.

I feel like I've let Number Seven down.

As I pondered this, Xiaowan seemed to read my mind and smiled slightly at me. For some reason, I felt a little guilty.

"...What about the problem with the Power of Return?" I habitually changed the subject. "As you know, I can't use the Power of Return for extended periods. A few months is manageable, but the 'End of the Age of Gods' project requires me to use it for centuries, depending on the circumstances; even a thousand years must be taken into account. This isn't a matter of exerting effort, but a matter of the very essence of my soul. The Power of Return clashes too much with my nature."

"Even if I have time to adjust in the middle, problems will inevitably accumulate. And if there's too much time for adjustment, I'll have to increase the output to avoid being overtaken by the doomsday process during the adjustment period. Wouldn't that violate the basic principle of gradual progress?"
"If the goal is to resolve this conflict by making a wish upon the divine seal, that's not impossible, however..."

Xiao Wan continued, "We must try our best not to make unnecessary wishes to the divine seal, and it's best to simply use it as a tool to enhance the power of return... right?"

I nodded.

Xiao Wan had already prepared a plan, saying, "Then, all we need to do is let Sister Mazao use the power of return after the complete divine seal is strengthened to save the world."

"Will Asahi become the master of the divine seal?" I asked.

"No. In the end, it must be Zhuang Cheng who becomes the absolute master of the complete divine seal. That's settled. Otherwise, the divine seal cannot maintain its complete state. What I mean is, Zhuang Cheng, as the master of the divine seal, will strengthen Ma Zao, and then Ma Zao will output the power of return after the strengthening," Xiao Wan explained.

I understood. "Asahaya's use of the power of reversion does not conflict with her true nature. Moreover, as long as the power of reversion exists, even if a thousand years pass, it will not leave a trace on Asahaya..."

"And because the power of return is used at a low power, Asaha-neechan shouldn't become like a human sacrifice, having to work wholeheartedly for centuries. She can return to a normal life while outputting the power of return," Xiaowan said. "Unconsciously radiating one's power to the outside world—anyone can do that, and Asaha-neechan after being strengthened by the power of the divine seal can definitely do it too."

"Even if Asaho, who is still at the Great Completion level, is unable to make such a change, Zhuangcheng could simply grant her this state, right?"

“The power of manifestation can do this.” I nodded. “However, the divine seal reads the user’s thoughts. When I use the power of the divine seal to enhance Asahi’s power of return, it may mix in some of my unconscious desires, and ultimately achieve them in a roundabout way.”

"There's nothing we can do about that; we can only adjust things based on the situation later," Xiaowan said.

After finalizing each step, we discussed some details of the plan.

The most pressing issues are still the problems of Shan Liangyi and the Old Fist God.

If even the Two Elements of the Mountain cannot be defeated, then this "End of the Age of Gods" plan is nothing but empty wishful thinking.

"Brother Zhuang Cheng, have you seen the historical scene of Shan Liangyi fighting the old Fist God with all his might?" Xiao Wan asked seriously, "Please tell me—what are your chances of winning if you fight Shan Liangyi now?"

(End of this chapter)