Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 359 - 334 Impermanence’s word spirit

Chapter 359: 334 Impermanence’s word spirit

With a bang, the ice ball hit the ceiling and never fell after that, sticking tightly above.

This kind of miraculous phenomenon is common for demon hunters, however, the expressions on Zhu Shi and Mr. Zhu’s faces were not the same.

They probably had expectations for my performance and must have heard about what Impermanence could do, yet they couldn’t hide their astoundment. I guess it wasn’t because I, as a Flame Ability User, could presumptuously manipulate water and gravity, but because there were no mana fluctuations involved in those phenomena. All the changes appeared as if they were natural physical phenomena.

"I can only do things at this level for now," I said.

"What do you mean ’only at this level’... Is it limited in scale?" Zhu Shi asked, confused.

"No, the scale can be greatly increased, only the reason I only gathered such a small water ball earlier was because I didn’t want to cause damage to the surroundings," I said after thinking, "What I mean is... I can only command nature to do anything. But this ’anything’ comes with certain limitations.

Simply put, if ’nature’ were likened to ’society,’ and I am the commanding ’Monarch,’ then I can of course order my ’subjects’ to carry out any command I can think of. For example, sending them to conquer a foreign tribe thousands of miles away, or retrieving an item from there for me.

But, I can’t make this subject kill ten thousand people in one second after I issue a command, nor can I make him move a whole mountain for me, it’s beyond his capacity.

The same goes for earlier, I can even command most of the water in an entire city to gather in one place, forming a lake, or summon a long and massive rainstorm, but nature needs some preparation time. It’s not like I give the command and such natural phenomena appear the next moment. The reason it could be done so quickly just now is that I limited the scope to this room.

Additionally, if it involves phenomena against the natural order, it’s hard for me to command nature to execute. It’s like asking an ordinary person to lift themselves by their hair... But it’s possible to do some rule-breaking things on a small scale, like the ’Gravity Reversal’ just now.

Apart from that, there are some things that I just can’t command nature to do... For example, the water ball I gathered earlier, I can’t command it to undergo nuclear fusion at room temperature, nor can I order the disappearance of electromagnetic and strong nuclear forces."

Zhu Shi was shocked: "Wait, have you actually thought about doing those things..."

She paused, but couldn’t help asking: "Why can’t you do it?"

"Well... It’s just a feeling, probably because nature can’t comprehend such commands. It’s not because the commands are too complicated for nature to understand. Rather, atomic theory and fundamental force theory are human interpretations based on their cognition of the natural world, nature itself might not possess that worldview." I said, "Asking nature to execute such commands is like asking it to change something that doesn’t exist.

Moreover, although I haven’t tried it yet, asking nature for an overly extreme change in its own climate probably won’t work."

"Why is that?" Zhu Shi struggled to understand, "I remember reading in past documents that Impermanence could indeed, using word spirit, either raise or lower the temperature of a region to levels unbearable for human survival..."

"That’s just ’unbearable for human survival’ though," I said, "I can also order the environment of the city I live in to maintain the torrid heat of the Sahara Desert or the cold of the North and South Poles, but I can’t make it as hot as the surface of Mercury or as cold as the surface of Uranus...

"I think it might be because such climate conditions exceed the natural understanding of this planet. I remember reading in science books that four billion years ago during the Primordial Era, the Earth’s surface temperature was supposed to be over two hundred degrees ... Is it because the concept of ’nature’ didn’t exist back then?

"Of course, if I were to pay my own powers without regard to the cost, actively unleashing my Fatian Xiangdi, then it would be another story. Although I don’t know to what extent I can change the extreme temperatures or how high I can raise the temperature specifically, if it’s just limited to Saltwater City..."

As I spoke, I suddenly became curious about what I really could achieve.

Meanwhile, Senior Brother Zhuang spoke with trepidation: "Zhuang... did you bring up some very outrageous examples?"

"Please, never try it!" Mr. Zhu hastily said.

"I was just giving examples, not actually going to try," I said.

Zhu Shi said doubtfully, "But I always feel like the expression on your face just now wasn’t saying that..."

"Anyway... this ability seems like it can do everything, but actually it doesn’t go that deep," I concluded, "It can’t turn fantasy into reality like Yinyue, nor can it rewind time, or summon different possibilities of myself...

"It just allows me to greatly facilitate many things in the natural world, essentially becoming a highly privileged individual within the natural world, even able to exceptionally grant the deceased the right to walk in the world of the living — provided the afterworld hasn’t closed yet. Although it has been said that long ago Impermanence could revive the dead, that can’t be done now.

"When I think about it, this ability seems somewhat unutilizable..."

Evaluating further, I began to ponder in what situations I would truly need to use this ability. It seems at least not necessary in battle scenarios, as the enemies I will face can’t be easily subdued by this power; and in terms of support outside of battle, it appears that ready-made solutions are mostly already at hand.

However, Zhu Shi retorted: "No no no, your expectations are too high, Senior Brother Zhuang. Are you too used to encountering outrageous superpowers? Your ability is already extremely powerful!"

I decided not to dwell on it for now; perhaps I will encounter scenarios in the future where this ability is necessary to overcome challenges.

For instance, the reason I, in the past, could allow Dong Che, who was essentially dead, to move outside of Mercury’s Fatian Xiangdi with just a word, was also due to unconsciously exercising this sort of "natural privilege."

Gua Tianshi resurrected Dong Che with a single sentence, using this ability too. At that time, Dong Che was merely "akin to dead," and his actual death had not yet truly arrived, so it was effortless for Impermanence to spare him.

"This is the situation, this ’natural privilege’ can also intervene in the consciousness of animals, after all, animals are part of the natural ecological circle. Hence, it can intervene in human consciousness as well. However, this intervention mainly targets the ’instinctual’ part, very crude and monotonous, and cannot solve the issues with Changan’s consciousness," I explained.

"Ultimately, Changan and Yinyue are essentially the same consciousness, and viewing them as two separate consciousnesses to save one of them... that is the biggest challenge. There might not even be a clear boundary between the two," Mr. Zhu pointed out the problem.

Suddenly, Zhu Shi decisively said, "No... there must be a boundary between them."

"Why are you so sure?" I focused my attention.

"I’ve been puzzled ever since hearing Zhuang Cheng speak. Since brother is originally Yinyue, why did my father... Ying Lingyun remove the demon bloodline’s seal before using brother as a live sacrifice to truly resurrect Yinyue?" Zhu Shi asked. "Wouldn’t this additional step increase the risk of brother escaping?"

"—Is it self-awareness?" I immediately realized.

Changan and Yinyue are the same soul, and even the same consciousness; the biggest difference is their self-awareness.

The live sacrifice for truly resurrecting Yinyue must be "another Yinyue." If Ying Lingyun needed Changan to believe he was Yinyue as a prerequisite to use him as a live sacrifice, this alone proves that Changan and Yinyue are two distinct entities.

My Flame Ability seems to have revealed this truth too. Several times in Yinyue’s Spirit World, Yinyue couldn’t suppress Changan’s ego, due to my flames significantly weakening Yinyue’s part earlier. In other words, my flames can differentiate between Changan and Yinyue.

However, Changan’s personality cannot detach from Yinyue’s personality; if the latter is the primary personality, then the former is a secondary personality.

Ideally, in my heart, the best method would be to weaken Yinyue to her most vulnerable state, allowing Changan to take control and become the primary personality.

Unfortunately, even the most vulnerable Yinyue cannot be suppressed by the mere personality of Changan, and the one previously appearing in Yinyue’s Spirit World was already in her most vulnerable state. Further weakening would lead Yinyue to death, and Changan would also be drawn into the darkness of death.

After I shared my thoughts, Mr. Zhu also nodded: "Between Changan and Yinyue, the density of their wills is different.

"What’s more important is, unlike that child Changan who desperately seeks recognition from his father and the outside world, Yinyue is very self-centered... or rather, she possesses a strong ’I-obsession.’"

As long as there is an unyielding will, even a minuscule consciousness can resist spiritual magic. I’ve witnessed this in the independent reality space in the past, and the young girl Lu Chan also explained this to me. Thus, no matter how much Yinyue’s consciousness is weakened, as long as her will’s density remains unchanged, Changan cannot oppose her. I am not unfamiliar with this concept.

But what exactly does "I-obsession" mean?

No, I’m not unaware of the meaning of "I-obsession." In Buddhism, it refers to the attachment to the self.

Although Buddhism represents subjective idealism, believing that all material phenomena in the world don’t objectively exist but are produced from the "I" mind; on the other hand, Buddhist scriptures advocate that even the "I" does not exist.

Thus, if mortals wish to become enlightened and achieve Buddhahood, they must realize "All Things Have No Self," i.e., the "non-existence of the self."

Only by recognizing the impermanence of all actions and the non-self of all phenomena can beings in the realm of suffering achieve the state of Nirvana Silence.

Suddenly, I recalled the words Yinyue had said.

"—Even our selves might just be fictitious..."

Her expression of fear emerged in my heart.

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