Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 317 - 296 Bifang 1

Chapter 317: 296 Bifang 1

The figure emerging from the mountain forest didn’t look like a human but rather a large bird.

This large bird had quite a distinctive appearance, as if it had naturally grown only one foot, adorned with green feathers mottled with red, and a white beak. To say it walked out is less accurate than to say it moved through space with a power similar to thought-induced object movement.

I had never seen or heard of a bird species like this in reality, yet I felt as if I had come across similar descriptions somewhere. Was it mentioned in urban legends or rural strange tales? I should remember, but at the moment, I couldn’t make the connection. Regardless, this must be a form of a strange being.

Though that’s what I said, I found it difficult to sense the aura typically associated with strange beings from it. The Ancient Moon God and Yinyue, no matter how human they appeared, I wouldn’t hesitate to identify them as strange beings; whereas this bird in front of me, let alone resembling a human, didn’t even resemble a normal animal, and yet, somehow, it emitted an aura as if it were of the same kind as myself.

It, or rather he, is most likely a monstrous image mimicked by a human.

On top of that, I could feel an enormous presence emanating from him.

This monster stood about two meters tall, which of course was quite large for a bird, yet it bore no comparison to the enormous aura it conveyed. I even thought that if its essence could be turned into a physical form, it would definitely be much larger than Moon Concealing Mountain.

The same feeling, I had experienced from Xuanming, Divine Light, and Ming Zhuo. Unconsciously, it turns out I had encountered so many Impermanences, and this bird-like creature before me was undoubtedly the fourth one I had met.

Dong Che called him "Master," which meant he must be Gua Tianshi.

So Gua Tianshi had really appeared at Moon Concealing Mountain!

"Mazao!" I immediately shouted.

Mazao could only initiate the Power of Return according to our agreement, withdrawing from my side, and I stayed behind to confront Gua Tianshi.

With Gua Tianshi’s capability, he probably could have stopped her, but he just watched Mazao withdraw into the distance and then said unhurriedly, "The girl just now must be the target of Ming Zhuo. From what I see, she seems to be burdened with an extraordinary destiny. It’s quite cruel for such a young girl."

I sensed the thermal energy marker on Mazao and found that she had already transported herself to the other side of Moon Concealing Mountain. Honestly, I wish she could retreat to a more distant place, even all the way back to Saltwater City wouldn’t be too much. For now, it was barely acceptable. Maybe she wanted to stay where she could feel our mana fluctuations to take action as the situation warranted, perhaps intending to return to the battlefield to retrieve me if I were unable to turn the tides.

"Gua Tianshi, do you need something from me?" I asked directly.

"I know what you’re worried about, Zhuang Cheng."

Gua Tianshi indeed knew me, and he didn’t comment on the youthful form I was using now. He just chuckled, then said, "First of all, I’m not a partner of Yinyue, nor do I intend to stand with Ming Zhuo and kidnap your girl."

"You’re not on the same side as Ming Zhuo?" I inquired.

"I’m not."

Gua Tianshi didn’t put on airs of aloofness but explained patiently like a teacher instructing a disciple, "To many grassroots Demon Hunters, Ming Zhuo and I are both Extraordinaryists, so we should be in it together. But this so-called ’Extraordinaryism,’ ’Governance Ideology’... are nothing more than rhetorical tactics started by Fa Zheng.

"My fundamental ideology is different from that of Ming Zhuo; we are simply bluntly categorized together by Fa Zheng. In reality, there are no deep-binding interest relations between us."

I listened seriously then asked, "So... what is your purpose?"

"I have come to visit Moon Concealing Mountain for three matters," he said calmly, "First, I am here to take away my foolishly endearing disciple."

Saying that, he stretched out a wing and gently waved it as if beckoning. Dong Che disappeared from my side and reappeared next to him.

I expressed no opinion on this. Dong Che is his disciple, and when it comes down to closeness of relationship, he certainly has a closer connection with Gua Tianshi than with me. It’s as if a parent has come to pick up their child.

Although Dong Che himself might not be so willing. To better establish himself in the Governance Ideology faction, he seems reluctant to always be associated with his mentor. On the other hand, he appears to have significant respect for Gua Tianshi. Even after defecting to Governance Ideology, he hasn’t spoken ill of his mentor in front of others.

Regardless of good or bad, he now couldn’t express any opinions. He stood there dazed, his sense of self seemingly becoming more indistinct, as if asleep with his eyes open, with the glow around his body becoming more pronounced, like fuzzy radiance, and his face gradually showing a cadaverous, pale blueness.

"I want to thank you for saving Dong Che," Gua Tianshi began by nodding to me.

"I haven’t saved him. He’s in a state of death right now," I said.

Hearing my words, Gua Tianshi laughed with a hint of humor, "Death?"

"Master..."

Dong Che seemed to also have a reaction, and he asked in a daze, "Am I dead now?"

"You are alive, without a shadow of a doubt," Gua Tianshi responded calmly.

Upon hearing this, Dong Che’s body, which shone like fluff, immediately lost its glow, and his deathly pale complexion turned rosy and vibrant as if life had returned to him.

He looked as though he had been through an exhausting activity, his whole body limp, collapsing to the ground unconscious.

Although he was out cold, it didn’t seem to be because he was in peril. On the contrary, it was as if he had relaxed too much after escaping a life-or-death situation. Perhaps all he needed was a good sleep, and after that, he might recover entirely.

Without previous comparison, it would have been okay, but now seeing him in this state, I even felt that this was the first time I had seen Dong Che truly alive. Even back at Fufeng Base, he had never seemed as lively as he did now.

I couldn’t help but recall some of the strange tales from the countryside. It is said that animals with advanced cultivation who wish to transform into human form must first walk on two feet and act very humanlike. Then, they must ask real humans whether they look human. If they receive oral validation confirming this, they can transform into human form. This is what’s known as "oral validation."

The acknowledgment of humans can make mystical beings transform into human form, and the acknowledgment of Impermanence can even reverse time and space, alter reality, and resurrect the dead.

Life and death are unpredictable, yet in the presence of Impermanence, even the illusory and unpredictable death seems to be decided in a single sentence.

Gua Tianshi gently flapped his wings once more, and Dong Che’s figure completely disappeared, seemingly transferred by the Space Transfer ability to a place outside the realm of Moon Concealing Mountain.

"How did you do it?"

I posed the question to Gua Tianshi, naturally, I was asking about the method he used to revive Dong Che.

"You’ve already guessed it, haven’t you? Our language is powerful; as long as you formally enter the realm of Impermanence, you can do the same. No training or preparation is required, just needing to speak the words as I did just now," Gua Tianshi said, "In fact, you’ve already done something similar to him before."

"Something similar, you mean..." An idea crossed my mind.

"You must have wondered why Dong Che, who by all accounts could only move within the mist as a deathly apparition, was able to appear outside the mist and meet you at Fufeng Base."

Gua Tianshi seemed to see through all my past actions without hiding anything and continued, "The truth is simple. It was because at Fufeng Base, he had asked you if he looked like a dead person, and you gave a negative answer.

"Just because of that simple sentence, he somewhat returned to the realm of the living and gained the right to continue existing in the Living World.

"However, the same cannot be said for others in that mist. They have long been dead, their souls nowhere to be found. If we were still in an era where the Living World and the afterlife were connected, we Impermanence could revive them with a single word, but not now.

"And Dong Che, because his time of death had not truly come and his soul was still momentarily intact, could be resurrected through the power of the word spirit."

I thought it probably was as such, but there were still some parts I couldn’t quite grasp.

Since Gua Tianshi did not seem to display any malice, I continued to inquire: "His appearance in the outside world came first, my denial of his death followed. If my denial of his death was the prerequisite for his appearance in the outside world, then he wouldn’t initially be able to move outside the mist and could not possibly have met me, right?"

"But suppose he could be active in the outside world, then he could receive your word spirit. Even within hypothetical realms, possible realms, and other non-actual realms, the power of Impermanence can still penetrate," Gua Tianshi explained quite amicably, willing to answer even the most nuanced questions, "Just as you, who are clearly not yet an Impermanence, merely a potential future one, are already manifesting part of the powers that belong to Impermanence... You’re not completely clueless about this, right?"

What he was referring to was probably the phenomenon of my mutual repulsion with strange beings, as well as Fatian Xiangdi.

Fatian Xiangdi... I repeated the term in my mind. I had not forgotten what he said when he first appeared. He mentioned that the abnormal fog, which spread like air pollution throughout Moon Concealing Mountain and the neighboring towns, was Yinyue’s Fatian Xiangdi.

But how could Yinyue perform Fatian Xiangdi?

"Is Yinyue also a candidate for Impermanence?" I asked.

"She is not. However, it is not necessary to have the qualifications for Impermanence to become one," Gua Tianshi said, "Throughout the long river of history, there have occasionally been extremely rare cases where one without the qualifications of Impermanence still became an Impermanence. For example, the Old Fist God, Liu Shuying, King Zhuanlun, and Zhu Yi of the Zhu family ancestors... And I believe Yinyue may also become one of these special cases.

"This is the second purpose of my visit, I intend to invite Yinyue to join Luo Mountain."