Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo

"Tai Sui, you talk as if you're different. Is your heart not filled with your own desires?" I countered.

Tai Sui seemed surprised by my retort. "Me?"

I said, "In this new world, let's not delve into discussing those demon hunters first. I imagine you can't empathize with them anyway. But in their original world, they also had social identities and interactions with ordinary people. And a substantial part of the ordinary people living in the world of common sense now, must have had various social relationships with them in the original world..."

"That's certainly true," Tai Sui replied. "So, as long as we return to the original world, those severed connections and feelings can also be restored to their original state..."

"But those are different people. Different relationships, different memories, different personalities. From the perspective of those in the current world, doesn't that equate to killing themselves and replacing them with strangers?" I asked, "Or do you think only people from the previous world deserve to live, and the people of this world are meant to die?"

"... I am honest with you, though I don't think they deserve to die, but perhaps I indeed unconsciously looked down upon them. At the same time, I must also acknowledge their right to life," Tai Sui said solemnly. "But do not forget, this world was already beyond saving, destined for destruction. Rather than ending up with nothing, it's better to reboot everything in advance. That is the true responsibility towards human civilization."

"But I will fight in this world to the last moment," I said. "Tai Sui, you seem to think that without your permission, I can't become the Master of the Doomsday Divine Seal...

"Have you forgotten that even now, I can easily simulate the nature of a Divine Son, plus with the qualification of a Void Envoy... or the Seal Authority, I can totally replace you and become the new soul of the divine seal."

"Immediately" might be an exaggeration, but as long as I am united with Little Bowl and acquire three pieces of the Divine Seal Fragment from her, the fragments I hold will exceed half of those of the Doomsday Divine Seal, and my Seal Authority will also rise to more than half. As someone who can inhabit the Seal, having such an advantage is enough to shake Tai Sui's position.

Tai Sui must also realize this. Therefore, I say this not to show my claws but to probe Tai Sui's inside story.

Tai Sui remained unmoved and said lightly, "You cannot inhabit the divine seal."

"Is this related to the terrible compatibility between me and the Divine Seal Fragments?" I asked. "Is this a safeguard setup by you?"

Tai Sui did not respond, which seemed to imply acknowledgement.

Something might be off. The compatibility problem with the Divine Seal Fragments did not just appear after my enlightenment and manifestation; the truth might involve other reasons. However, this doesn't hinder the fact that compatibility remains Tai Sui's defense.

I immediately had another question: Even if the compatibility issue prevents me from mastering the divine seal, it doesn't stop Little Bowl. So if Little Bowl manages to acquire over eighteen Divine Seal Fragments, she could still threaten Tai Sui's position. Hasn't Tai Sui prepared for this possibility?

This strategy itself is very simple. He would definitely be aware and have set up corresponding safeguards in advance. Unfortunately, my rhetorical skills are insufficient to extract this information from him.

"Before the end truly arrives, you still have plenty of time to experience the hopelessness of this new world. But I advise you to make the decision early. That way, at least, there's a chance to preserve the lives of those important to you," Tai Sui said.

"Didn't you say you wouldn't pressure me again? Just sit in the audience seat quietly and don't waste any more breath," I replied.

Tai Sui sighed deeply, then his voice turned grim, "Remember: if, until the last moment, you persist in going your own way and refuse to inherit my will, to become the new Master of the Divine Seal... we will have no choice but to determine life and death in another form."

After saying this, he fell completely silent.

I landed back on the ground, sensing Little Bowl's position.

Little Bowl carries my "firefly" with her and is marked with my thermal energy signs, and we are also connected through blessing power. Yet, bizarrely, I can't track her exact location; I can only confirm her existence.

In this world, only Shan Liangyi and Old Fist God should be able to block my tracking sense. Old Fist God has no motive for doing this, so is it Shan Liangyi? Was Little Bowl really taken hostage?

No, that doesn't seem right... I can sense a force disrupting my tracking of Little Bowl's location. Sometimes it feels like she's miles away; other times, it feels like she's close by, with a sly and whimsical sense. Although Shan Liangyi has the cunning vibe of a schemer, they also possess a proud and ambitious nature, with a blend of yin and yang. These two images don't quite match.

Lacking tracking clues, I'm somewhat inclined to rely on the broom star power again.

Speaking of the broom star power, there's a change that must be mentioned. After pushing open the third door, I felt the repulsive force on a fateful level that kept me from contacting this Impermanence and abnormal world disappear.

Tai Sui mentioned that if Impermanence pulls strange forces like a regular demon hunter, the stronger the power, the more it would attract anomalies, resulting in the extinction of all anomalies worldwide.

But if that was it, Seal Master Liu Shuying didn't need to transform the attraction into repulsion; he could have simply canceled the attraction on Impermanence. Although Tai Sui did not explicitly state this, I could infer the subsequent reasons.

Because there's still Fa Zheng in this world, who is committed to proactively eliminating disasters, he might take the initiative to attack the world's anomalies.

That's why Liu Shuying wants things related to the abnormal to automatically escape Impermanence. This repulsive force is a setting in the New World, and Impermanence, who opens the third door, can twist and overcome it.

Furthermore, I can even make the attraction reappear on myself and further strengthen it. The Old Fist God can "luckily" pick up the Current World Divine Seal by relying on his strong desires, so of course, I can also rely on my strong desires to let clues related to Little Bowl's location automatically gather around me.

This power of "wish fulfillment" in attracting event clues is even no less than Mazao's broom star power.

Now, I just need to do other things while maintaining this strong intention, and let the clues come to me on their own.

Then, I moved to the place where the teleportation door to the post-mortem world on Luo Mountain once was.

The residential area originally built on this site now even lacks ruins; it has become a bottomless abyss. I hovered above the abyss, simulating the Power of Return of Little Bowl to restore the earth.

It was as if an invisible eraser appeared, instantly wiping away the scene of the abyss. What was re-presented was not blank but the original residential area. I landed between the apartment buildings and continued to activate the Power of Return. This time it was not for repair, but for investigation.

The ability of Mazao to investigate time history records is something I can now also use. A large number of historical scenes emerged in my mind; soon, I found the moment of destruction.

About a month ago, on the day Weichi saw us off. He closed the teleportation door from this side as agreed, then checked various settings of the teleportation door to ensure it was in a state where it could be successfully opened by us from the other side. Around him, the demon hunters patrolled as usual, preventing any suspicious people from sneaking into this place.

After the inspection, Weichi went to a nearby house to rest and surf the internet to pass the time. Unexpectedly, not long after, a mana of such power that it could burn mountains and boil seas descended on this place.

This was the power of Shan Liangyi.

The overwhelmingly powerful mana created the effect of "being in the mountain and not knowing the mountain". In the dimension where Weichi and the others resided, they could not perceive this destructive mana fluctuation. The attack landed at the location of the teleportation door, and all the demon hunters present, including Weichi, died under the sudden destruction before they even realized death was upon them.

What remained on-site was only a Divine Seal Fragment.

This was a Divine Seal Fragment originally bound to Weichi, which floated in this position after his death. Then, a hand stretched over, reaching across an unknown vast distance of space-time to grab it and take it back. This was Shan Liangyi's hand, and he took Weichi's Divine Seal Fragment.

Originally, I had judged incorrectly earlier; Shan Liangyi wasn't someone who returned to the real world and destroyed the teleportation door to avoid my pursuit. From the very beginning, he destroyed the teleportation door. The reason was probably to prevent me from escaping to the real world when chasing me in the post-mortem world. Without recovering the Vermilion Bird Seed, he didn't want to do anything in the real world that would attract the attention of the Old Fist God.

As for destroying the teleportation door, since he was going to enter the post-mortem world right after doing it, he didn't care whether he would be caught by the Old Fist God or not.

However, I did not sense any intent to kill Weichi from Shan Liangyi's mana.

He seemed originally unaware of, or rather indifferent to, whether Weichi was near the teleportation door; he just wanted to destroy the teleportation door first. Although, if he left Weichi alive, the teleportation door could possibly be reconstructed a few days later, Shan Liangyi merely wanted me to be unable to return to the real world in a short time; he didn't care whether Weichi lived or died.

Fa Zheng and I, the Impermanence who entered the post-mortem world, have a profoundly thorough understanding of the Doomsday Chaos Space-Time. Our Fatian Xiangdi has the effect of suppressing post-mortem world chaotic time flows according to our comprehension. Even if the connection to the real world's timeline broke, the difference would not grow significantly in a short time. As long as it doesn't enter void areas, situations where the connection breaks one second and immediately reestablishes the next, while actually a significant time has passed on the other side, are unlikely to occur... Evidently, Shan Liangyi has all this intelligence in his grasp.

Weichi was merely a collateral damage. In Shan Liangyi's eyes, the Divine Seal Fragment must be an unexpected gain.

Fortunately in the misfortune, because Weichi was incidentally implicated, I have the chance to revive him.

Altering history is not an option. If Weichi didn't die, Shan Liangyi wouldn't have gotten that Divine Seal Fragment. I cannot alter history involving Shan Liangyi. However, besides altering history, there are many ways to resurrect someone.

To resurrect someone like Weichi of the Great Success Rank, it is essential to meet extremely harsh conditions and employ mana exceeding that of ten or more Impermanence. Ying Lingyun had in the past exhausted himself, remaining focused through countless hardships to gather these conditions required to revive Yinyue.

But for me, capable of distorting world order and possessing immense mana, such a task is a piece of cake.

I pointed my finger towards the place of Weichi's death, and the Power of Return gathered there like an invisible vortex. Light contracted and twisted, slowly sketching out a phantom of a male figure.

Subsequently, the figure transitioned from virtual to real, taking on the appearance of Weichi.

The Power of Return receded and vanished, and Weichi stood vividly before me.

He opened his eyes in confusion, and at first glance, he saw me.

"Ah... Zhuang Cheng?" he asked foolishly, "Weren't you in the post-mortem world?"