Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo

In a space without any sound, even just a dropped pin sounds piercing. And in the void where nothing exists, the appearance of gray mist seems so glaring. It's like a flashbang suddenly exploding in the night, making it hard to ignore. My gaze was immediately drawn to it, and then I found myself puzzled.

Gray mist is a symbol of the Void Realm, yet it appears within the void, a truly bizarre occurrence. Of course, since it stems from the power of the divine seal, it's not impossible for it to maintain its presence in the void domain. The question is the reason for its appearance here. Speaking of gray mist and Void Realm, that relates to Tai Sui, the Master of Divine Seal. Could it be that Tai Sui is attempting to interfere with the void domain... or even attempt to interfere with me?

The gray mist was spreading in my direction, partially confirming my premonition. The motive was unclear, whether it was out of goodwill or malice was unknown. Although it was unclear if contacting Tai Sui at this point was good or bad, I had no intention of turning around and fleeing. This sudden new change piqued my interest greatly. Besides, it's not certain that I am not a match for the Master of Divine Seal now.

After careful consideration, I decided to actively move closer, reducing the distance between myself and the gray mist.

Despite the gray mist seeming to be right in front of me, it was either my movement being too slow or the actual distance being quite far that made it appear close due to the lack of reference points. It took me quite a while to reach the mist. During this process, the gray mist itself seemed to be continuously growing larger, and it was hard to tell if it was expanding on its own or appearing larger because I was getting closer.

When I arrived, the mist had turned into an immensely huge wall of fog, with no end in sight in any direction. I stepped right into it, and the surrounding turned into a very familiar, fog-filled space.

Thinking back, the first time I entered the Void Realm in the basement of the fifteenth floor and after regaining the qualification of a Void Envoy, the gray mist also seemed to emerge from a backdrop of absolute darkness. I once thought it was the darkness of consciousness, as the Void Realm can be seen as a common dream for the Master of Divine Seal and all Void Envoys. Now it seems, whether this common dream-like space might originally be set up in the ubiquitous void itself.

I looked down to confirm my own body. In the past, entering the Void Realm, my body presented as a silhouette-like black figure, but now it was entirely different. The clothes I wore, the color of my skin, the touch of my hair, nothing had changed. I was still myself. It's likely the power of the third gate with its property of maintaining one's essence in any world that is taking effect.

As for my powers, in this region of the Void Realm, I felt using my powers seemed more strenuous compared to in the void domain. I was acutely aware of a brimming will in the surrounding space, filled with animosity towards Mana and the outlandish, a vehement rejection of supernatural power.

This was the will of Tai Sui, the Master of Divine Seal.

What Tai Sui pursued was the world before the divine seal was altered. A world without demon hunters, without outlandish beings, and without chaotic supernatural powers. Perhaps even if the old world had concepts unexplored by science, like the soul, the majority of magical concepts today are seen by him as brought by the divine seal, being the source of the apocalypse.

In such a case, it's no surprise past Void Envoys couldn't directly exert their powers in the Void Realm. This place is governed by Tai Sui's worldview, only those who have opened the third gate can naturally ignore it.

However, just like the Doomsday Divine Seal, Tai Sui is in a fractured and weakened state now, and this rigid worldview doesn't seem stable enough. Although conditions are stricter than in the void domain, the binding here is still at a level I can completely break free from with a bit of effort. Even beings like the Impermanence—Divine Light and Xuanming who haven't opened the third gate, or myself during the Innate Manifestation period, could find some hidden loopholes to 'legitimately' unleash powers not belonging to this 'universe'.

Having checked my state, I moved deeper into the Void Realm.

Before long, I entered a more familiar area, the rock chair section of the Void Realm. Seven rock chairs stood vacant, indicating this was not a summons for all remaining Void Envoys, but a special invitation just for me. Across from me, on the largest rock chair, Tai Sui, the Master of Divine Seal, sat as usual like a giant statue.

"—Zhuang Cheng," he pronounced my name.

"Is there something particularly important about this invitation?" I asked, "Or do you again want me to hand over all the Divine Seal Fragments."

"That is the primary reason," Tai Sui stated.

"Then you can now start with the secondary reasons," I replied.

"No need to refuse so hastily," Tai Sui remarked, "you now should have a change of heart."

"What makes you say that?" I countered.

With seriousness, Tai Sui stated, "I saw your battle in the Post-mortem World."

As expected, because I entered the Post-mortem World possessing a large number of Divine Seal Fragments, Tai Sui was also able to observe changes over there.

Those Divine Seal Fragments were kept in tiny embryonic Void Forms, not completely following into the Post-mortem World, so perhaps Tai Sui also couldn't unconditionally know most things about the Post-mortem World... but it should still be easy for him to know things occurring centered around me.

Being secretly monitored in the shadows by someone was truly unsettling. Although I did that often too, I am a double standard holder, so I won't accept these.

"What do you want to convey?" I inquired.

"The past you, like my student, harbored a reckless ideological tendency to pursue your desires at any cost. Be it the important possessions you hold, the important people around you, or even the whole world... you could disregard them all. This is a path of demonic ways, no matter how you adorn it with words, it remains fundamentally evil," Tai Sui said, "Thus, I was highly wary of you as a person, despite having a request towards you, I couldn't trust you thoroughly.

"Yet, perhaps I also harbored a tiny hope for you... maybe individuals like you can indeed reform, only it was my fault for making a mistake in the past, failing to fulfill my responsibilities as a teacher, thereby losing the chance to prevent the calamity..."

"Such arrogant speech should be reserved for your student," I interrupted him, "I'm not anyone of yours, don't project such peculiar empathy onto me. It's time to get to the point, isn't it? You invited me over, not just to narrate your mental journey, right?"

With a sigh, Tai Sui then slowly stood up.

It's my first time seeing him stand; the majestic statue-like body was imposing as it stood before me. In contrast, standing in front of him, I seemed like a toddler just learning to walk, my body barely reaching above his knees.

The massive rock chair behind him crumbled and dissipated, turning into countless gray mists, scattering through a burst of sudden large wind. Following that, his enormous body also crumbled, turning into countless gray mists and vanishing.

What appeared in its place was an old man, hair and beard all white.

Unlike many frail old men, he seemed to maintain a habit of intense exercise, with a body more robust than mine, someone of a younger age, and slightly taller as well. His demeanor was elegantly reserved, giving the impression of an intellectual.

Only his mental state appeared not well, seeming deeply entrenched in negativity and gloom, reminiscent of a guilty person trapped in past mistakes without redemption, continuously tormenting himself.

Clearly, this old man was Tai Sui in his true appearance.

This act of presenting himself in his true form, was likely intended to further show his sincerity.

"Perhaps you still do not trust me, but I believe we have a common enemy," Tai Sui said, "and now, I will tell you his true identity."

"You mean... the Seal Master?" I said, "So you didn't really not know this information last time, but deliberately concealed it?"

As I spoke, I emulated the ability of the Divine Son to see through all lies.

"Yes," Tai Sui admitted, "Because your previous mindset was so similar to that of the Seal Master, I was very worried that if you confirmed his true identity back then, the unwillingness to cooperate with me would be the least of concerns, there was even a possibility you would collude with him."

Setting aside whether I would truly have defected to the Seal Master at that time, at least if the Seal Master didn't intend to stop Doomsday or harm those important to me, I would have no reason to oppose him.

From an observer's standpoint, the Seal Master and I indeed seemed kindred spirits, despite a term called "like repels like", it couldn't be denied we might have an "odor of a feather."

Past interactions with Little Bowl flashed in my mind, the most likely candidate for the Seal Master emerged slowly.

"At least there is one thing I didn't deceive you, and that is I truly can't directly identify the Seal Master's true identity using the Doomsday Divine Seal's power. Hence, when I initially became the Master of Divine Seal, I truly did not know the Seal Master's identity as well. However, even without direct methods, I am not hindered from using indirect methods," Tai Sui said, "Having known that the Seal Master was most likely an Impermanence or a candidate for the position, then by using the elimination method, the correct answer could be deduced.

"This answer, you and No. 2 probably had many discussions over it, perhaps you already have an idea."

After a pause, Tai Sui then said the name, "—Liu Shuying, is the Seal Master."