From the end of the world

Chapter 793 Burying the Stars
Willow Shadow is not only the ruler of the present-day divine seal, but also the holder of the authority to obtain the complete divine seal. Since Xiaowan and I aim to master the complete divine seal, we must first defeat Willow Shadow.

Furthermore, unlike Tai Sui, the master of the Divine Seal, Liu Shuying's goal is not "the previous world" but "the next world." However, the two are in agreement, and their wishes will eventually encompass the present world.

To put it another way, perhaps Liu Shuying is truly different from Tai Sui, the Lord of the Divine Seal, who wants to restore the current world to its original state. His wish could be fulfilled without altering the current world. For example, since he so desperately wants to go to a stage that matches his adventurous desires, there's no need to change the current world. He could simply use the power of the Divine Seal, like the Yin and Yang of the Mountain, to travel to a suitable other world.

Even so, we cannot watch him take away the divine seal necessary to save the world, nor can we expect him to show mercy after repairing the seal and resolve the world's apocalyptic crisis before setting off. I know that since he is the same type of person as my past self, the allure of the apocalypse for him must be no less than that for my past self. He will definitely bring the apocalypse to life in some world—so why can't it be this world?
Xiaowan had prepared some contingency plans and strategies in advance to deal with Liu Shuying, an inevitable enemy.

The simplest approach is to prevent him from coming into contact with the Divine Seal of the Present World. We'll seize the Divine Seal first, then use its power to wipe out the unarmed Willow Shadow in one fell swoop. Although it was mentioned before that Willow Shadow would have an opportunity to seize the Divine Seal of the Present World after the Old Fist God's death, Xiao Wan has also considered ways to avoid this.

Since my flames are both my spirit and an extension of my body, it's entirely possible for me to kill the Old Fist God with my flames while simultaneously engulfing and controlling the Divine Seal of the Present World. Although no one can be certain of my ability to defeat the Old Fist God before the actual battle begins, we can only formulate this strategy based on the premise that it's achievable. This would allow for a seamless transition in the process of the Divine Seal of the Present World taking over.

Unfortunately, man proposes, God disposes. Who knew that Old Fist God would actually lock the Divine Seal of the Present World and Earth together, which directly ruined Little Bowl's strategy. However, we didn't expect everything to go according to our wishes, and the possibility of Willow Shadow seizing the Divine Seal of the Present World was also within our calculations, albeit reluctantly. At this moment, I have already put it into practice.

The moment Liu Shuying obtained the Divine Seal of the Present World, boundless power surged forth from it, sweeping towards me. It was like the third gate fighting the second gate, or the Great Impermanence fighting a Great Completion Realm expert; the difference in power between us was at least two orders of magnitude. Let alone my current weakened, near-death state, even if I were in my full form, I wouldn't be able to withstand this attack.

This overwhelming power is composed entirely of true spiritual energy; once struck, there is no chance of resurrection. Even a mere graze or burn will leave terrifying, irreparable damage.

On the way, I had already transferred all my power to Xiaowan. At this moment, Xiaowan, which was already in the final stages of suppression, finally managed to completely suppress Tai Sui with this support.

Faintly, I seemed to hear Tai Sui sigh. At the same time, Xiao Wan finally took over the position of the Lord of the Doomsday Divine Seal.

Using the connection between us as a medium, a boundless power wave, as vast as the divine seal of the mortal world, violently transmitted over, engulfing me like a boundless ocean.

The power of the Doomsday Divine Seal enveloped me, forming a defensive circle that resembled a force field shield.

The power of Willow Tree Shadow's manifest divine seal engulfed me in one gulp, yet failed to breach this unimaginably sturdy defensive barrier. Perhaps Willow Tree Shadow hadn't anticipated my ability to struggle and survive at such a moment, hence the relatively low density of its manifest divine seal power. I felt like an ant caught in front of a high-pressure water cannon; though I wasn't shattered, a massive amount of destructive force surged backward with overwhelming momentum, hurtling towards Earth.

The force surge struck the Arctic. In an instant, the entire Arctic Ocean was evaporated, and what happened next was like a bullet striking ballistic gel, something I'd seen on TV before. The force pierced through the exposed Arctic seabed, creating a massive crater thousands of kilometers in size.

On the southern hemisphere side of the Earth, the vast Antarctic continent, spanning over 14 million square kilometers of ice, was blasted into the sky. The surrounding ocean areas were also blasted away by the immense force of the "bursting forth," and most of the southern hemisphere was covered by the enormous hole that suddenly appeared. Endless amounts of mantle and core material were exploding into space from the massive crater.

The consequences of this cataclysmic event went far beyond simply altering the Earth's surface. The devastation that occurred in the Southern Hemisphere was as if an invisible cosmic giant had taken a fist-sized piece of fruit and bit into it. From that moment on, the Earth was no longer a sphere.

The countless substances that make up celestial bodies are propelled out of gravity by the explosion, and I was also thrown to the other side of the celestial body by this impact, flying into deep space along with these substances. In the future, some of these substances may be captured by Earth's gravity and regain Earth's mass, while others may gather in the distant future to become a second moon, or merge into the now-broken moon. The remaining parts will probably be lost permanently.

Although the battles between me and the Mountain Yin-Yang, as well as with the Old Fist God, caused extremely high levels of damage to the Earth, even resulting in a decrease in the Earth's rotation speed and a shift in the Earth's axis, the power density was so concentrated that it would not lead to a mass extinction or the extinction of the human race in the short term.

Liu Shuying's attack was entirely different in nature. With a single strike, he transformed Earth from a life-bearing planet into a veritable infernal celestial body in the blink of an eye. The mantle surged and churned above the crust, and the destructive shockwave, carrying deadly heat and dust, swept across the globe. Countless supervolcanic eruptions occurred on land and in the oceans beyond the massive crater, and even in areas without volcanoes, countless rift valleys appeared, gushing out massive amounts of lava like blood gushing from wounds.

The flames are rapidly engulfing the Earth, plunging it back into the Hadean era, shrouded in scorching magma and toxic gases. No life form, except for those at the highest level and those of great impermanence, can survive there; even the most advanced technology cannot help the human race endure on such a celestial body.

“Zhuang Cheng, the other me—” Liu Shuying’s voice, tinged with laughter, came over, “Do you like the funeral I prepared for you?”

"A funeral?" I looked in the direction the voice came from. "I'm not dead yet."

Holding the Divine Seal of Present World, Liu Shuying stood against the backdrop of countless burning materials flying in the universe, and said with a smile: "Yes, you actually mastered the Divine Seal of Doomsday at this critical juncture. It's a real waste of the funeral I held for you."

"However... this is not without its good thing. "On the path to regaining the true position of the Lord of the Divine Seal, it would be unworthy of my status to merely watch you fight each other and then reap the rewards. I also long to fight alongside you, to have a contest of wills, to dance in the cracks between life and death."

"Come on, Zhuang Cheng, it's our turn now. You have the Doomsday Divine Seal, and I have the Present World Divine Seal. You can also fully recover from the fatigue and injuries you suffered after fighting the Old Fist God with the Doomsday Divine Seal. Now we are on equal footing, so let's have a fair and just battle right here."

"Who will rule the new world will be decided by the outcome of this battle!"

"Fair and just?" I countered. "Are you sure?"

As I spoke, I sensed the power of the Doomsday Divine Seal within me, then reached out. A disc appeared in my hand. Completely opposite in color to the white Divine Seal of Present World in Liu Shuying's hand, this was a black divine seal disc. It was indeed the Doomsday Divine Seal.

At this moment, all the cracks on the Doomsday Seal disappeared, revealing its perfect form.

The aura of the Tai Sui's soul component could no longer be felt; instead, the soul aura of the small bowl, full of warmth and affection, replaced it.

"Brother Zhuang Cheng..."

Xiao Wan's voice came from the Doomsday Seal, resounding in my mind as if speaking, "I have given you full access to the Doomsday Seal. Please use this power to your heart's content and defeat Liu Shuying."

"it is good."

I also responded in my mind and tried to manipulate it.

Just like when I used the fragments of the Divine Seal in the past, I felt an invisible connection between myself and the Doomsday Divine Seal. To be precise, the actual connection with the Doomsday Divine Seal only accounts for a small part, corresponding to one-thirty-fifth of the Doomsday Divine Seal's authority. The real major connection is with the Doomsday Divine Seal's current soul, which is also my own familiar, Little Bowl.

The little bowl seemed to have become the operating system of the Doomsday Divine Seal. With her wholehearted support, I was able to mobilize its power at will.

In terms of power, the Divine Seal Fragment is worlds apart from the Doomsday Divine Seal, and my own power is insignificant compared to the Doomsday Divine Seal.

The power of the Doomsday Seal amplified my abilities, causing them to surge wildly and uncontrollably. With a thought, the power of return flashed through my body. My true spirit, which had been on the verge of death and weakened, was instantly restored to full strength. Then, flames ignited on my body—flames no longer formed from my normal magical power, but purely from the power of my true spirit.

"Oh? Do you have any questions about the fairness of this battle?" Liu Shuying said. "Although it seems like you have an extra person on your side, she is a necessary tool for you to manipulate the Doomsday Seal, right? I won't criticize your actions. Or do you think I still have some kind of advantage?"

"...Now that you mention it, although we both possess divine seals, this is merely an equivalence of external conditions. As fellow Great Impermanences of the Third Gate, I am roughly equal to the Old Fist God, though I am even stronger than you. My chances of winning are indeed higher than yours."

"But that's just because you're not good enough. If you have something to complain about, blame yourself for not being as good as others."

After hearing what he said, I said, "No, you've misunderstood two things."

"A misunderstanding...or two things?" Liu Shuying asked, puzzled.

“First of all, the small bowl is not my tool; secondly, this fight was a bit unfair to you,” I said. “So if you have any complaints, you’d better blame yourself.”

After saying that, I made my move before Liu Shuying could respond.

(End of this chapter)