From the end of the world

Chapter 777 Tai Sui Didn't Expect This

I recalled the historical scenes I observed during my conversation with the Divination Master, the fierce battle between the Mountain Yin and Yang and the Old Fist God, and then compared them with my own experience.

The current me is vastly different in strength from the me who fought against the mountain spirit after pushing open the third door.

By spending countless hours optimizing and iterating my soul structure in the void, my power has increased by leaps and bounds. To be honest, even I don't know how strong I am now. Although I've fought a few times recently, it was all about using the power of rebirth to restore cities and revive humanity, not real combat. Currently, in the real world, the only opponents I can fight are Shan Liangyi and the Old Fist God. If I don't actually fight them, I really don't know how high my combat power truly is.

The current Shan Liangyi is somewhat different from the one I fought last time. Not only does it possess innate spiritual talent, but its power has also significantly increased.

Even among the third gates, there can be huge differences between them.

This is the same as the Great Impermanence stage—there exists a version of me that has just become the Great Impermanence, and there exists a Mingzhuo that can repeatedly kill that version of me, and there exists Xuanming that can easily defeat that version of Mingzhuo, as well as Yanmo, the master of the Gospel Academy, and the Divination Master, who surpass Xuanming and Mengzhang, the master of Peach Blossom Village, and can sense the fluctuations of the third gate's magical power.

The third gate is a much larger area.

Because the historical scenes I observed were very blurry, I could only get a general idea, like looking at flowers through a fog, and I had no idea exactly how much stronger Shan Liangyi had become. Moreover, when Shan Liangyi fights me, she will likely adopt a completely different fighting style from the old Fist God, which adds more variables to the judgment of the odds of victory.

After a moment's consideration, I replied, "I'm not entirely sure what the exact odds are, but..."

"But?" Xiao Wan asked.

"I am now stronger than Yama Ryougi."

Making this conclusion in front of the small bowl wasn't about showing off, but a calm judgment. I have no doubt about this.

Xiao Wan paused for a moment, then smiled.

Then, she became serious again and asked earnestly, "So... what if the old boxing god were my opponent?"

"I am no match for the old boxing god," I stated frankly.

"Not even a 10% chance of winning?" Xiao Wan asked.

“If it’s a full-scale battle, I’ll probably die and he’ll be injured. In extreme cases, I might be able to seriously injure him, but as for the chance of winning, I don’t feel that opportunity at all. Although it’s just a purely intuitive judgment, that’s probably the truth,” I said. “If I’m taking a ‘risk,’ then he’s in a ‘battle.’”

"There may be dangerous situations in this world that I can overcome but that he would surely die in, and when it comes to fighting, normally, the only one who can be defeated is me."

From this perspective, it's somewhat thought-provoking to consider the level of power Liu Shuying possesses, who claims he wouldn't be without a chance even against the old Fist God who doesn't use the Divine Seal of the Present World.

“Is that so…” Xiao Wan pondered, “If that’s the case, then the only option is to make me the Lord of the Doomsday Divine Seal immediately after defeating Shan Liangyi, and at the same time deal with Tai Sui.”

"In this way, Brother Zhuang Cheng will be able to use the full power of the Doomsday Divine Seal, and it will be no problem for him to overwhelm the Old Fist God himself."

"However, the Old Fist God also possesses another divine seal—the Seal of Present World. Although under normal circumstances, the Old Fist God does not use external objects in battle, if we use the Seal of Doomsday first, he may not continue to be inflexible."

"The problem is... how much of the power of the Divine Seal of the Present World can 'he' use now?"

Martial arts isn't just about bare hands; weapons like swords, spears, and clubs also constitute martial arts. Although the old boxing master didn't rely on external tools in combat, I don't think he was a rigid or inflexible person.

If the enemy only brings out 'swords', that's fine, or even a 'pistol', it's acceptable. But if they bring out 'tanks', 'fighter jets', or even 'military fortresses loaded with countless nuclear bombs', even the most insane martial artist would surely make the most of every card at their disposal.

Things like the Doomsday Divine Seal and the Present World Divine Seal carry this kind of weight.

While the old Fist God might want to experience the pressure of life and death through battles against powerful opponents, forcing himself to achieve a "great surrender," if he were facing me, wielding the Doomsday Seal, he might not even have time to feel the pressure before dying, let alone surrender or gain anything. However, I will not show mercy. For victory, I will use every permissible means—that's my style. If the old Fist God were to die like this, I might feel a pang of sympathy, but I would absolutely not stop what I'm doing.

After thinking for a moment, I said, "Since we can forcibly draw out a portion of the power of the present-day divine seal simply by using the power of the third gate... then the further we go after pushing open the third gate, the more power we can draw out."

“If it were the old Fist God, he could definitely draw out a considerable amount of power… but no matter how high the percentage, it would only be ‘partial power.’ The Doomsday God Seal and the Present World God Seal each symbolize half of the complete God Seal, and their power should be roughly the same. Since we are using ‘the whole,’ there’s no reason for us to lose to the old Fist God’s ‘partial power.’”

"What if the old boxing god could also use 'all'?" Xiao Wan asked seriously.

"Given equal weaponry, the key to victory will then become the user's own combat ability. In other words, I'll be at a disadvantage again," I said. "But I don't think it will come to that, will it?"

"Is that so..." Xiao Wan seemed to be trying to consider other possibilities, "...In any case, the more fatal obstacle now than whether the Old Fist God can use the full power of the Divine Seal of the Present World is timing. I can only become the soul of the Divine Seal of Doomsday after defeating the Mountain Two Elements, and that is also the time when the Old Fist God challenged you."

"If, while we are dealing with Tai Sui, the Old Fist God breaks in first and starts fighting Brother Zhuang Cheng, the situation will become very bad. Even so, please support me while fighting the Old Fist God. As long as I become the soul of the Doomsday Divine Seal and send all the power of the Doomsday Divine Seal to support Brother Zhuang Cheng, the situation will be reversed instantly."

“I understand.” I nodded. “However, it was my oversight. If I had obtained the fragment of the divine seal from Fazheng before leaving the afterlife, you could have become the master of the Doomsday Divine Seal right now.”

"Back then, Brother Zhuang Cheng hadn't heard about the 'End of the Age of Gods' plan from me yet, and he didn't know so many details. Of course, he couldn't have prepared for it in advance, nor could he have imagined that we still had a gap in the divine seal fragment," Xiao Wan said with a smile. "Besides, even if you asked Fa Zheng for it, he wouldn't be willing to give it to you. The reason he trusts you now is because he has no other choice but to trust you—you are just too powerful."

"But once it comes to the ownership of the divine seal, then it's a different story. Brother Zhuang Cheng, not long ago you were planning to eliminate all the bad guys who tried to stop the apocalypse. Even Fa Zheng would have to observe for a while longer before he could convince his own heart and fully accept your change."

"Even a divination master, despite telling you that he handed over all the fragments of divine seals he had to Shenzhao in the past, actually... ...!!"

As she spoke, Xiao Wan suddenly paused, then her expression changed drastically. She read in utter astonishment, "...This...how could this be? But...this doesn't make sense! No, it makes sense...does it make sense? How could such a thing happen..."

"Xiaowan, what's wrong? What happened?"

Seeing her sudden change in expression, I immediately stood up. I first observed my surroundings, quickly confirming that her change was not due to any external stimulus, and then looked at her again.

"Have you thought of something important?" I asked.

Xiao Wan stared at me blankly for two seconds before recovering. As if gathering her thoughts, she continued, "Brother Zhuang Cheng... Tai Sui probably never imagined this, maybe he's never even considered it..."

"He didn't imagine anything?" I asked.

“Our plan,” Xiaowan said, “is the biggest mystery surrounding our ‘End of the Age of Gods’ plan. How much preparation has Tai Sui made for my attempt to become the Lord of the Doomsday Divine Seal? He will definitely set up countermeasures to the maximum extent possible and use the most powerful means to ‘stop us’... The problem now is that we can’t observe any trace of this, which is completely contrary to our expectations. We have no way of predicting his methods.”

"That's right." I thought about what she had just said. "Wait, you don't mean to say..."

“What if he really didn’t take any countermeasures?” Xiaowan said solemnly. “Or even, what if he never expected us to do this?”

“How could such a thing be possible?” I blurted out. “Even if you say he was using a ruse, I’d admit it, but how could he not have thought of such a simple strategy as ‘you replacing me as the Lord of the Doomsday Seal’?”

“The Empty City Stratagem is a risky tactic. If Sima Yi had stormed into the city directly, Zhuge Liang would have been disgraced on the spot. Who would use such a strategy unless it was a critical situation? Moreover, such psychological warfare tactics are also selective. Brother Zhuangcheng, if there was a strange and eerie empty city in front of you, would you be scared and turn away, or would you investigate?” Xiaowan asked.

“Of course I want to find out,” I said. “But I still don’t understand why you came to the conclusion that ‘the Grand Duke Jupiter is unpredictable.’”

“The reason is very simple, because Tai Sui never thought that you would give up the opportunity to become the Lord of the Doomsday Divine Seal,” Xiao Wan said.

(End of this chapter)