NOVEL NEXT Chapter 759: Old Fist God's Move
"Powerful souls can influence their surroundings. From the moment you push open the first door, the soul will have a significant impact on the societal level; after pushing open the second door, the soul will clearly influence the natural world," Liu Shuying said slowly. "The Impermanence that manipulates fire will bring drought, while the Impermanence that manipulates water flow will bring rain. If it's an Impermanence capable of foreseeing the future and manipulating destiny, it might even cause the future it predicted to manifest unchanged in reality...
"And once the third door is pushed open, the soul of Impermanence will become powerful enough to shake the world's background settings, even distort the worldview realized by the divine seal. This power of distorting the world with one's mind, though vastly different in scale and density, might just operate on the same principle as the divine seal realizing wishes — projecting the colors of the mind onto the real world to turn them into a real outcome.
"Essentially, it's a power that makes 'wishes come true.'
"Thus, the divine seal fell into the hands of the Old Fist God. Because he had a strong wish he wanted to realize, yet his power alone was insufficient to truly accomplish it. Therefore, this power shifted from 'directly realizing the wish' to 'attracting means that could realize the wish to his side.'
"Of course, the power of the Current World Divine Seal is bound to overrule the Old Fist God, so the actual situation might become like dragging a heavy object. If the weight exceeds one's limits, it won't be oneself dragging the heavy object, but one's own body being pulled towards the object. The result remains the same."
The Impermanence who pushed open the second door could forcibly contact the Divine Seal Fragment even without a connection, while Shan Liangyi, who pushed open the third door, could even snatch the Divine Seal Fragment held by the Void Envoy. This is a way of forcibly forming a connection with things one has no affinity with by relying on overwhelming force, and the Old Fist God probably instinctively follows the same principle.
"The Old Fist God does not possess the Seal Authority of the Current World Divine Seal, but he can forcibly drive the operations of the Current World Divine Seal with his power, thereby drawing some of its power," Liu Shuying said. "If it's just a confrontation with the Old Fist God himself, I'm not without a chance of winning, but if he also uses the Current World Divine Seal, I definitely cannot be his opponent at this stage.
"Therefore, I have to change my strategy, aiming to hone my power to a higher level before challenging the Old Fist God, while incidentally resolving the issue with Shan Liangyi.
"I have also considered the possibility that the Taoyuan Village Master may be unrelated to Shan Liangyi, yet even so, the 'Paradise' plan of the Taoyuan Village Master ranks very high in my list of priorities to handle in my mind. If left to complete unchecked, its threat would surpass that of Shan Liangyi and the Old Fist God. So I must nip it in the bud.
"As soon as mana fluctuations from the third door appear on Earth, they absolutely cannot escape the keen eyes of the Old Fist God. To avoid being targeted by the belligerent Old Fist God, I concealed my true power level."
To confront an enemy worthy of a battle, the Old Fist God spared no means. The Great Unpredictable Qilin of the past was killed by the momentarily excited Old Fist God. With such experiences to learn from, Liu Shuying must, of course, tread carefully.
Speaking truthfully, I don't believe the Old Fist God would use the power of the Current World Divine Seal in such a fight, but whether the enemy uses it is one thing, and whether one should prepare for it is another. I doubt Liu Shuying will risk his victory on the enemy's mercy.
"Except... in this step, I still miscalculated," Liu Shuying said regretfully. "During the assassination of the Taoyuan Village Master, both Huang Quan and Xu Gou joined in, aside from you and me. With five Impermanences clashing simultaneously, such an earth-shattering battle could not possibly fail to attract the gaze of the Old Fist God.
"To prevent an immediate response from the Luoshan Headquarters, the Taoyuan Village Master and Huang Quan prepared accordingly in advance, but such measures couldn't possibly block the perception of the Old Fist God. And while fighting against the Taoyuan Village Master, although I was earnestly concealing my true power level, the Taoyuan Village Master proved even more skillful than I imagined, and managed to force me to reveal some flaws.
"So, after the battle was over, I immediately moved out from Earth, to avoid being entangled by the Old Fist God who might be spying on the battlefield. Yet the situation slid once again towards the worst possible direction. The Old Fist God was indeed watching, and he pursued me.
"We fought fiercely in cosmic space. Luckily, even in the most critical moments, the Old Fist God did not use the power of 'external objects' in his battles. This might be his principle. I thus managed to preserve my life. And in the final moment, he punched me out of the real world.
"Since then, I've been wandering in the Void. Whenever I attempt to return, I can feel the power of the Old Fist God erupting from the direction of the real world, forcibly pushing me back."
Tai Sui let out a mocking voice: "You just said if you disregard the power of the Current World Divine Seal, you're not without a chance against the Old Fist God... but haven't you never actually fought him?"
Liu Shuying smiled indifferently, seemingly not intending to argue.
I, however, found something strange.
The Old Fist God... not only did he not kill Liu Shuying but actually exiled him?
Exiled, yet preventing Liu Shuying's return... as if he doesn't want to fight him again?
Is this really something the Old Fist God would do?
"Why would the Old Fist God do that?" I asked.
"This probably relates to the Old Fist God's goal. What he wants to do now should be pushing open the fourth door," Liu Shuying said. "Though I'm uncertain of his exact method — perhaps borrowing the power of the Current World Divine Seal, or maybe following his own theory of Great Renunciation... but once the fourth door is successfully opened, then the power to distort the worldview will likely undergo qualitative changes.
"Even as the creator of the New World and my teacher as the Master of the Doomsday Divine Seal, neither of us can know how powerful the force of the fourth door truly is. Perhaps simply possessing that power could unleash might matching the Complete Divine Seal, instantly changing the heavens and reshaping the world into a form that suits one's desires.
"Even if the power of the fourth door is not enough to accomplish this task... doesn't he still hold a piece of the Current World Divine Seal? Combined, it should be sufficient."
Tai Sui analyzed: "And you are the Master of the Current World Divine Seal, now possessing the power of the third door. As long as the location of the Current World Divine Seal is confirmed, you can use Seal Authority to make the Current World Divine Seal automatically return to your hands...
"Though the Old Fist God is currently suppressing the Current World Divine Seal with enormous force in his hands, just by your existence, it inevitably encounters additional disturbances... does he want you not to come and interfere with his business?"
Even if the Old Fist God doesn't need to use the Current World Divine Seal, to achieve his purpose, he probably wouldn't sit idle and let the Current World Divine Seal return to Liu Shuying's hands, hence exiling him to the Void first...
But in that case, why not just kill Liu Shuying straightforwardly? Or is the Old Fist God planning to battle Liu Shuying, the Master of the Current World Divine Seal, again after achieving his goal?
"According to what you said, the Old Fist God has some wish he wants to fulfill..." I asked after thinking, "What wish is that?"
Liu Shuying displayed a peculiar smile, saying: "— Take a guess?"
This person explained so much information yet becomes cryptic at such a crucial point... I once again feel his true character is as childish as mine used to be.
Speaking of the Old Fist God's wish, one cannot help but mention what he might be most dissatisfied with in reality, which is 'mana.'
In the Old Fist God's own account, what he despises most is when Shan Liangyi's Power Seed unexpectedly landed on him, transforming all his innate talents into the talent for mana manipulation. He used to be a formidable martial artist, with Supreme Martial Arts he pursued, but right when he was about to touch upon his dreamed techniques, they slipped away.
After that, due to the existence of mana, he couldn't properly pursue his martial arts. With just a bit of focus, immense power of the soul would erupt, a casual punch could flatten a mountain, a kick could propel him out of the atmosphere... but in some fantasy stories I've read before, there are martial arts masters who, upon reaching the later stage of cultivation, become like Super Divine Mages who destroy heaven and earth. Frankly, I think the Old Fist God need not worry so much about mana.
However, for concepts alike, everyone's understanding may not necessarily align. Though I don't know how the Old Fist God defines his ideal martial arts, apparently it's not what an outsider like me thinks. At the same time, he seems to have a very clear goal. It's said he once dreamt of a transcendent martial art and wanted to reach that realm, for which mana seemed excessive.
Then, the Old Fist God's wish, could it be 'to abandon mana'? Or similar to Tai Sui, wanting to reset the world to a state without mana?
Isn't it a bit challenging to bid farewell to one's mana in such a way? The power of the third door never disappears through time and space, even I myself don't know how to relinquish my mana. Even Shan Liangyi, who willingly divides his power, at most weakened himself, probably still retains the soul essence of the third door.
Moreover, if it were simply this, the Old Fist God wouldn't be considered as planning some earth-shattering ominous scheme by Gua Tianshi and Evangelical Institute Master Yan Mo. I don't think these two are chasing shadows; despite holding differing stances, they share the same opinion, hence I have no choice but to believe.
"Alright, let's stop here for now. After all, we are adversaries, sharing information so amicably seems improper," Liu Shuying said.