From the end of the world

Chapter 778 The Soul of the Little Bowl

“In the past, Liu Shuying was Tai Sui’s student, whom he treated like his own child. However, in order to seize the divine seal and realize his own wishes, Liu Shuying did not hesitate to betray Tai Sui, his mentor, and deeply hurt Tai Sui.” Xiao Wan read aloud as if to make sense of her own logic. “And now, facing Brother Zhuang Cheng, who is highly similar to Liu Shuying on a spiritual level, Tai Sui has largely projected Liu Shuying’s image onto you.”

"On the one hand, he is wary of you, and on the other hand, he has expectations of you. Even though you are now somewhat different from Liu Shuying, he still cannot get rid of his preconceived notions. Under the identification conditions set by Tai Sui himself, the Divine Seal Fragment still judges you as Liu Shuying. The compatibility between you is so low, which can be seen as Tai Sui's intuitive view of you in a sense."

"In Tai Sui's eyes, you and Liu Shuying are both extremely self-centered people, with only their own selfish desires and only knowing how to satisfy themselves... You would never hand over the 'power to customize the world' so easily."

"He didn't arrive at this conclusion through rational and logical deduction, because he never doubted it from the beginning, and never even considered it once!"

Xiao Wan once told me this: "Tai Sui has almost omniscient power; no matter what question he has, he can get the answer."

However, this ability also has a weakness: if Tai Sui has never had any questions about a matter, then it will not get any answers.

The current situation has exposed the weaknesses of Tai Sui.

We used such a simple strategy that even someone as unremarkable as me could easily come up with it, yet Tai Sui couldn't even imagine it.

"This isn't a matter of intelligence, but rather a blind spot in consciousness caused by life's circumstances..." I suddenly understood. "The power to manipulate the world at will is right before my eyes, and no normal person would give it up so easily. Especially not someone like Liu Shuying, who has deeply betrayed me, or someone who can be considered another Liu Shuying."

On such a crucial issue, even with my relationship with Xiaowan, we need to reaffirm our mutual trust.

"Tai Sui hopes that you will become the Lord of the Divine Seal and fulfill his wish. The specific route is that you will first succeed him as the Lord of the Doomsday Divine Seal, then obtain the Divine Seal of the Present World, and finally save the world with the power of the complete Lord of the Divine Seal." Xiao Wan seemed to be carefully considering Tai Sui's possible mindset from his perspective. "As long as you accept his plan, from the very first step, there is no way that anyone other than yourself can touch the supreme power in your hands."

"So... what does it mean that the first step is to give the Doomsday Divine Seal to the little girl who has always been protected by him, and that the power of the Doomsday Divine Seal can only be used with her authorization? I think even if this possibility is mentioned in front of Tai Sui, Tai Sui probably won't doubt that 'Brother Zhuang Cheng might choose this route'."

It's ironic how fate works. In fact, it wasn't just me; even Liu Shuying far exceeded Tai Sui's predictions. Just as I could first entrust the opportunity to wield the Doomsday Divine Seal to Xiao Wan, and then have Ma Zao use the power of return to save the world, Liu Shuying was even able to relinquish the present-day Divine Seal and let the Old Fist God decide the shape of the new world.

The reason why the Grand Duke Jupiter of the past was unable to stop his students was because he never saw their true colors.

This time, it's very likely that Tai Sui still hasn't seen through the true nature of Liu Shuying and me.

"Speaking of which... Little Bowl, if you become the soul of the Doomsday Divine Seal, can you change back later?" I thought of this question. "After being killed by Yama, the Lord of the Gospel Court, Tai Sui was able to maintain his existence only through the Divine Seal. I feel that he probably couldn't continue to survive without the Divine Seal, but it's also possible that he's not yet the complete master of the Doomsday Divine Seal and can't rebuild his soul outside of the Doomsday Divine Seal's environment..."

“No.” Xiao Wan said bluntly, “Forcibly running self-awareness on the fragments of the divine seal with the power of the Son of God is a binding that is far deeper than the ‘binding’ technology that Tai Sui developed in his lifetime.”

"I think this is a combination of the power of the Son of God and the authority to hold the seal, achieving a higher-dimensional synchronization with the fragment of the divine seal. The principle may be similar to how Brother Zhuang Cheng, under the condition of having the authority to hold the seal, was able to exceptionally integrate his manifest power into the fragment of the divine seal which has the power of true spirit. Similarly, Tai Sui, who simulates the Son of God, was able to exceptionally enter the interior of the fragment of the divine seal under the same conditions."

"From that moment on, Tai Sui has been a part of the Divine Seal System. This binding relationship is not limited to the soul level. Based on my observation of the Divine Seal fragments and the Tai Sui soul components within them, it is very likely that it involves the True Spirit level. To break free from the Divine Seal in this state is equivalent to destroying the Divine Seal itself."

"This is also why Brother Zhuang Cheng was unable to destroy the Tai Sui's soul components inside the Divine Seal Fragment... I think not only Brother Zhuang Cheng, but even Tai Sui itself cannot erase itself from inside the Divine Seal Fragment by normal means, and cannot even die."

"There is only one way to achieve this goal."

I immediately deduced the answer, saying, "That means someone will take over—or steal my place and become the new 'Divine Soul'."

"Looking at it from another angle, this is also a kind of immortality," Xiao Wan said. "If I can live on with Brother Zhuang Cheng in the future, I will have no complaints, especially since this is a precious position that many people would kill for. If we really don't want to continue, we can find a successor in the future. As for how to judge who is the right person, there's plenty of time, so there's no need to worry about it now."

"However, this approach has a flaw..."

"I am still the embodiment of Zhu Shi's childhood dream. If I become the soul of the Divine Seal in this form, the soul of Zhu Jiu, which is the base material, will never return, as will the soul components that Zhu Shi lost in his childhood."

At this point, she sighed softly, "But the arrow is already on the bowstring, and it must be released. We absolutely cannot let this reason hinder the subsequent 'End of the Age of Gods' plan. I can tell what's more important." Seeing her like this, I thought for a moment and said, "--If this is only the problem, I have a way."

"Is Brother Zhuang Cheng talking about a 'blank soul'?" Xiao Wan asked. "The current Brother Zhuang Cheng is a manifestation of the Dao, so he should be able to create the blank soul that the Divination Master mentioned. Using this as a container, it can indeed hold my independent self, separating Zhu Jiu's soul and Zhu Shi's childhood dreams before the plan even begins."

"However, my independent self is still in the developmental stage, and my soul accounts for a small proportion, so it cannot truly function independently. Compared to a complete soul, it is at most just a small organ. To use computer software as an analogy, it cannot yet be called a self-contained program. My current personality structure still relies heavily on the support of the other two aspects."

"If I were to be transplanted into a blank soul, it would take a very long time for me to grow into a complete personality."

"Regardless of whether I will experience a crisis of self-awareness, turn my back on everyone, or be able to retain my status as a Void Realm Apostle, the power of the Child of Divinity will certainly be lost first, because it originates from the power of Zhu Shi—Zhu Jiuxing—in my childhood. In that case, I will be unable to become the Lord of the Doomsday Divine Seal."

"And equally fatal is... we don't have that much time to wait for me to redevelop later."

I listened carefully to what they said, and then replied, "None of what you said is a problem."

"What?" Xiao Wan was stunned for a moment.

I looked at my hands. I knew I could do it, but whether or not to do it, even knowing it was necessary, left me with a slight hesitation. But soon, I made up my mind.

"Little Bowl, do you believe me?" I asked.

Xiao Wan said without hesitation, "I believe you, Brother Zhuang Cheng."

"—Well then, I'll begin."

I stepped forward, stretched out my hand, and placed it on top of the small bowl.

Orange-red flames erupted from my hand, instantly engulfing the small bowl without reducing it to ashes. The bowl's body transformed into an ethereal, flickering shadow within the flames, then split into three beams of soul light of different colors, converging in my palm. The colors were white, blue, and cyan; the latter two symbolized Zhu Jiuxing and Zhu Jiu respectively, while the white light represented the bowl's independent self.

The flames still burned fiercely where they were, and I cast my white light into them. The color and shape of the flames changed, eventually transforming into a delicate and adorable little girl in a white dress, like a doll.

The small bowl reappeared in front of me.

She slowly opened her eyes, looking at me with some confusion. At the same time, she saw the blue and cyan light in my palm. Then her expression changed slightly, as if she recognized what the two lights symbolized.

"I……"

She looked down at her hands again, then fell into deep thought, seemingly confirming the state of her body and mind step by step.

"I seem to...haven't changed at all?" Xiao Wan said, puzzled. "My original personality, and the power of the Child of God...are all still here?"

“…In addition to your independent self component, I have replicated and created the components of your previous soul, as well as the power of the Child of Divinity.” I gave the answer. “Finally, all I need to do is ‘install’ your independent self component into it, and that will be the end of it.”

"Next, just like the metabolism of the body, the soul components I simulated and created will be gradually digested by you as nourishment over time. Even if you fulfill the mission of becoming the incarnation of a dream in the future, your soul will not dissipate and ascend to heaven, and the divine child talent you acquired in your childhood will not disappear as a result. The proportion of your independent self will expand during the digestion process, grow along the existing path, and eventually become the same personality structure as now."

"In the end, your soul is something that belongs only to you."

Listening to these explanations, Xiao Wan stared at me without saying a word.

(End of this chapter)