Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 353 - 328 Submerged Abyss Shrinking Land

Chapter 353: 328 Submerged Abyss Shrinking Land

It’s been a long time since I last closely observed the Yama Sword. Back then, I was ignorant of the wider world, without even a single experience in battling with others of the Great Success Rank. My power was mostly in a dormant state, and my Perception was as dull as if asleep. To me back then, the Yama Sword seemed no different from any common Evil Sword.

Now, revisiting this legendary Zhu family Magic Artifact, said to possess Impermanence’s power, I felt a distinct sensation.

This sword was like a mass of condensed power.

It was as if a blindingly white light was compressed infinitely until it turned into a solid form. For a moment, I couldn’t even see the original form of the Yama Sword; I only perceived a dazzlingly bright silver-white sword. In the past, Zhu Shi would often emit white Sword Qi or sword light from the Yama Sword in combat, which looked identical to the light I saw now.

Moreover, I developed a familiar feeling towards this phenomenon of power being compressed into a condensed form.

This sword was akin to the golden core of Water Navy Xuanwu, a kind of superweapon storing power in a certain form and releasing it when needed.

It might sound like the Yama Sword was copying the golden core of the Water Navy Xuanwu, but it could very well be the other way round. In terms of completeness, the Yama Sword of the Zhu family and the golden core of the Water Navy Xuanwu were worlds apart, making the latter seem like a poor imitation of the former.

Recalling the past, the fact that Zhu Yi, a Great Impermanence, seemed to have had an unknown friendship with the Water Navy Xuanwu suggests that the similarities between the Yama Sword and the golden core might not be coincidental.

In terms of total power, the mana contained within the Yama Sword far surpasses that of the golden core.

It may be hard to believe, but even as a Great Impermanence, the total energy of my full strike is actually inferior to the Xuanming Strike released by a broken golden core of Water Navy Xuanwu. Being hit by such a huge mass of energy, even I wouldn’t remain unscathed; to say it could injure a Great Impermanence is absolutely no exaggeration. The reason it lost so easily to me was merely that the Water Navy Xuanwu couldn’t effectively control that excessive power.

Since the Yama Sword has sealed such an unfathomable amount of power, fully mastering it would more than qualify me as a Great Impermanence.

Upon hearing my assessment, Mr. Zhu looked at the Yama Sword with a gaze that seemed shattered and forced to reassemble. Zhu Shi almost dropped the Yama Sword, quickly gripping it tightly, scrutinizing the familiar Magic Artifact back and forth, then blurted out naively, "No way, really? Am I going to be enhanced?"

"Speaking of which, isn’t the Yama Sword unable to freely hide and manifest like the Evil Sword? But I saw you just summoned it as if it was natural..." I asked Zhu Shi.

Mr. Zhu seemed to subconsciously reply, "...because recently I’ve been teaching her methods to further communicate with the Yama Sword. She’s learning very fast and has already grasped the trick..."

Zhu Shi continued, "That’s right... I now possess combat power at the achieved level."

Saying this, she seemed a bit proud, but upon seeing my status as the Great Impermanence and Mazao’s Great Success Rank, her smug expression immediately collapsed.

I curiously asked, "Since Zhu Shi and past generations of the Zhu family heirs have established connections with the Yama Sword, why has no one discovered the true power hidden within the Yama Sword?"

"It may be because... ’being imperceptible’ is one of the traits of Impermanence’s power," Mr. Zhu seemed to grudgingly accept this astonishing fact, "The ordinary demon hunters can’t perceive your mana fluctuations, at most they can perceive what is equivalent to your clone’s flame mana fluctuations. This is because when power reaches a certain magnitude, it becomes too immense and paradoxically difficult to perceive.

"An ancient saying goes ’great shapes are formless, great sounds are silent’, and also ’one cannot see the true face of Mount Lu because one is standing on it’... Great Impermanence and those qualified as such, being capable of altering the natural phenomena, exist beyond the mundane realm. Just as two-dimensional beings cannot perceive and intervene in the three-dimensional world, unless you intentionally lower your dimensional level, ordinary demon hunters cannot normally perceive your mana fluctuations.

"Of course, just like Elementalization can be mimicked, this trait of being imperceptible can also be copied. People who fought against you in the past definitely noticed they couldn’t perceive your mana fluctuations. Some may have realized the truth before dying, while others might have mistakenly thought you possessed the ability to conceal your presence...

"However, our Zhu family didn’t just believe the presence of Great Impermanence power in the Yama Sword because it washard to perceive. I always thought the reason such ’rumors’ spread was exactly because the power of Great Impermanence had that trait, which led some previous family members to harbor unrealistic delusions... yet it turns out the ’rumors’ are actually true."

"But even if our Zhu family couldn’t discern the true potential of the Yama Sword, other Great Impermanences should be able to, right? After all, Zhuang Cheng could," Zhu Shi questioned in confusion, "Are there no other Great Impermanences who have checked the Magic Artifact left by our ancestor Zhu Yi? Or even if they did look, did they refrain from acting on the Yama Sword for some reason?"

"What concern could Great Impermanences have? Likely, no Great Impermanence targeted the Yama Sword because they simply didn’t care," Mr. Zhu shook his head, "Firstly, the Yama Sword is a Magic Artifact that only ancestor Zhu Yi and Zhu family heirs could use, and the mana sealed within it is only accessible to us, so it would be useless for any other Great Impermanences.

"Secondly... Most Great Impermanences probably didn’t care if another Great Impermanence would emerge among the descendants of the Zhu family."

I think I can understand that mindset now.

The past Great Impermanences fundamentally lacked any ideology or stance, and were not emperors or chancellors manipulating political resources in the mundane world; they were transcendent individuals who were free and unrestrained between heaven and earth. In front of them, there was no cake to be divided, and no worry of ’having one more person to share the cake means getting less for themselves’.

Even now, I believe that Great Impermanences possess no particular ideology or stance – whether the idea of Extraordinaryism, Governance Ideology, or whether humans should be turned into their resources and consumables... Do humans even qualify to be resources and consumables for Great Impermanences? Human flesh, bones, and souls can indeed serve as powerful materials for many rituals and spells, but for Great Impermanences desiring to perform miracles, there’s no need for such roundabout procedures.

Standing from this new perspective, I couldn’t help but re-examine Governance Ideology and Extraordinaryism, as well as Impermanence who supported both sides.

What exactly do they plan to do?

Back to the point, the Zhu family certainly had people repeatedly test the true details of the Yama Sword before, but it’s estimated that due to the seal that contained the power of Great Impermanence within the Yama Sword being too strong, ordinary testing methods could not detect it, and no heir of the Zhu family over the generations had the talent high enough to push the communication with the Yama Sword to the ultimate level.

Speaking of communication, I once again thought of the Right Positioning Heavenly Phenomena that Zhu Shi once possessed and the weirdo maker’s evaluation of Zhu Shi.

"If one has the power to freely communicate with all natural elements... could one completely communicate with the Yama Sword and release all its power?" I asked.

"I don’t know, but theoretically, it should be possible," Zhu Shi replied, "Grandpa also said that if I still had my past talents, I could release all the powers of the Yama Sword. There’s even hope to strive to reach the Great Success Rank during my lifetime..."

Mr. Zhu said with a sigh, "If I had known from the start that the Yama Sword contained the power of Great Impermanence, no matter what Ah Jiu said, I would not have let my granddaughter from the past waste her time idly playing every day."

"Mazao, with your Power of Return, could you restore Zhu Shi’s ’Buzhou Mountain’ back to ’Right Positioning Heavenly Phenomena’?" I asked.

"Ah?" Zhu Shi was startled.

If it’s possible, it means Zhu Shi could have the chance to skip the Great Success Rank and ascend directly from the achieved level to the realm of Great Impermanence.

That would be equivalent to having an additional force of Great Impermanence Level on our side, undoubtedly a great boon. In case Ming Zhuo takes action against the Zhu family due to our hostile relations, the Zhu family could also exert great defensive and retaliatory capabilities.

However, Mazao thought very seriously and then said, "...My Power of Return can directly affect other people’s abilities themselves, even if the abilities have transformed, they should also be reset to their past state through my power... But, I am not sure if the Power of Return can also affect the Divinity talents of the descendants of Great Impermanence."

"If it fails, could it cause negative consequences for you and Zhu Shi?" I asked cautiously.

"No," Mazao seriously answered.

"Then we can give it a try," I said.

"Let’s find a more open space first," Mr. Zhu suggested, "The temper of the Yama Sword is very violent. If there is a problem with the communication, the power will leak out and cause damage to the surrounding environment."

The sword actually has its own temperament?

It seems, after all, most mana is the manifestation of spirit and soul power, so it’s not surprising that it would have tendencies and temperaments.

In that case, it’s not convenient to try this in a room with Zhu Jiu, the ’patient’. Moreover, although this villa has its own small garden, it is located in the wealthy district in the city center. If anything happens attracting undue attention, it’s minor; letting the power of Great Impermanence burst out in the city is not something to be taken lightly.

I remember a place where damage wouldn’t matter, so I reached out and grabbed Zhu Shi’s shoulder.

"I know a good place," I said.

"Oh, is that so... but why are you grabbing me?" Zhu Shi said, puzzled.

"That’s true," I thought for a moment then said, "Actually, ’grasping’ isn’t necessary."

With that, I unleashed a great amount of flames, enveloping everyone present except the unconscious Zhu Jiu.

In the brief moment before everyone could react, I stepped towards the north.

Immediately, the flames all around disappeared, and the surroundings underwent a huge change. This was no longer the villa room of the Zhu family, but the shattered Moon Concealing Mountain. It was noon, with blue skies and white clouds, the sunlight pouring down on the desolate and shattered mountainous terrain. Not only me, but Mazao, Zhu Shi, and Mr. Zhu had also arrived at this place over a thousand kilometers away from Saltwater City.