Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 363 - 338 Without Distance

Chapter 363: 338 Without Distance

Luoshan Headquarters was established in a vast wilderness forest somewhere within the country, officially designated as a national park by government forces, where ordinary citizens are not allowed to enter.

At the same time, even if ordinary citizens tried to sneak in, they would have no chance of catching a glimpse of Luoshan Headquarters. Mr. Zhu told me that in the past, Luoshan Headquarters was located in a Different Space, with only the entrance and some external facilities located within the national park. Due to the rebellion by Xuanming six months ago, the confrontation between Xuanming, Ming Zhuo, and Fu Hongchen caused the Different Space to shatter, thus exposing Luoshan Headquarters to the real world.

Since then, Luoshan Headquarters has temporarily been enclosed by Gua Tianshi’s grand barrier. This too is a barrier similar to a Different Space; although Luoshan Headquarters is still within the real world, one must use the official channels to enter inside the barrier—otherwise, even conducting a carpet search throughout the entire national park would yield no evidence of Luoshan Headquarters’ existence.

The so-called official channels are several special stations established across the country. These special stations are not open to the general public and are specifically for the use of demon hunters.

Near Saltwater City, such a special station had not been established, so we had to travel to a different area. This phase of the journey was completed in an instant, just like when I previously took those around me to the Moon Concealing Mountain, the moment Mr. Zhu pinpointed a location on the map, I transported everyone directly to one of the special stations.

The special station looked no different from a standard subway station; entrants needed to show their identification to the officers dressed as security personnel at the security check in order to get a ticket and pass through the turnstile. There were no checks for controlled items or flammable and explosive substances.

Following Mr. Zhu’s advice, I showed the credentials from Fa Zheng to the staff, who immediately displayed the shocked reaction of a low-tier employee suddenly encountering a high-ranking national officer, and then respectfully handed us tickets for the luxury compartment.

We went to the platform to wait for the train’s arrival, surrounded by hundreds of people dressed as demon hunters. So many demon hunters heading towards Luoshan Headquarters might be related to the gathering at Luoshan Headquarters to discuss matters concerning the Void Realm forces. Thinking that I was also part of this so-called "Void Realm forces," and being regarded highly to this extent, my heart was both complex and fiery.

I turned to look at Zhu Shi and Mazao. Since we were not indoors, Zhu Shi wore a deep brown long-sleeve jacket over her white blouse, and replaced her black knee-length skirt with a longer skirt.

And Mazao changed into autumn and winter clothes as per Zhu Shi’s suggestion, wearing a black hoodie with white cat-paw prints, and replaced her short-skirt with black mid-thigh shorts trimmed with white fur, her slim legs now enveloped in thick black thermal stockings. This was my first time realizing that mid-thigh shorts could even come in padded versions for autumn and winter.

Although Zhu Shi had switched her questioning of me to less stressful questions, I had not forgotten the initial question that was the most intense.

If Mazao accidentally lost her Broom Star Physique, then my affection for Mazao would fade, which I must admit. At the same time, I would still like her, which is something I could guarantee.

But if the decision whether Mazao would lose her Broom Star Physique was left to me, if I had the chance to eliminate the Broom Star Physique from Mazao... Would my decision ultimately lean towards Mazao’s safety, or towards my own desires?

This was a choice of one over the other. Once one is chosen, it is tantamount to abandoning the other. And I was even unable to imagine myself opting for the former scenario.

Mazao likely did not hear my conversation with Zhu Shi before. Although she was on the second floor, the conversation in the living room would have sounded almost next to her ear given her hearing abilities. However, now, if I’m unwilling in my heart, the conversation between others and me won’t leak to third parties’ ears, which is also part of Impermanence’s natural privileges.

Similarly, even if our conversation involves other Impermanences, or even discussions on how to deal with them, they would not sense it from afar.

It wasn’t long before the train arrived, and we boarded the luxurious compartment at the very front. From the outside, the arriving train looked no different from a regular subway train, but the interior decor of the luxury compartment was quite substantial. The space seemed to have been expanded with supernatural power, looking like a hotel’s luxurious suite.

The other compartments appeared not bad either; through the open doors, one could see that most compartments were thoughtfully furnished single or double rooms. Probably because there were not many demon hunters using this train normally, maximum efficiency was not considered.

There was a sizeable TV in the luxury compartment, but none of us turned it on. Mazao curiously observed around the room and then returned to Zhu Shi to help her cultivate during their free time.

We had discussed earlier that in order to help Zhu Shi master the great Impermanence power of the Yama Sword as soon as possible, whenever there was free time, Mazao would use the Power of Return to reset Zhu Shi’s talents, allowing her to communicate with the Yama Sword while in a state compliant with Right Positioning Heavenly Phenomena. Although restricted to a maximum of fifteen minutes per day, accumulating over nine to ten months would allow Zhu Shi to gain power startling enough to shake the heavens and move ghost gods.

Moreover, it’s not that Zhu Shi would remain unchanged during this time. Based on her own prediction, it would only take a few days for her power to advance to the Great Success Rank through communication with the Yama Sword. In a sense, it could also somewhat determine the vast gap between the Great Success Rank and great Impermanence.

Since they were working hard, I of course could not sit idle. During the train ride to Luoshan Headquarters, I was also trying to familiarize myself with some of the new changes in myself.

I sat on the sofa in the luxurious carriage, closed one eye, and looked towards the glass kettle placed five meters away on the coffee table, then reached out my hand.

Then, my palm, ignoring spatial distance, grasped the handle of the glass kettle.

The sense of distance visually is achieved by the crossing positioning of two eyes, hence monocular individuals often have a poor grasp of distances. Though it can be compensated by the brain’s image processing abilities, such as using the principle of closer being larger and the relationships with other reference objects to mentally conceive a sense of distance, and two-dimensional drawings also employ these techniques to represent the proximity relations of objects, there are still some inherent disadvantages.

Therefore, by closing one eye, one can relatively easily imagine in one’s mind that "objects far away are within reach". That being said, imagination is after all an imagination, it doesn’t mean that by closing one eye, objects would truly become within reach.

However, such common knowledge does not apply to me now.

I feel like I’m gradually beginning to understand the world as seen by Yinyue. The more I touch upon the metaphysical concepts, the more I sense the illusory nature of the material world. In my current perception, even time and space seem like illusions. And since they are illusions, they can’t affect my real actions.

No mana needed, just by making this gesture, I can do many things that seem impossible to normal people. It’s probably because, for me, time and space are like illusions, so ordinary humans, bound by time and space, seem to be in an abnormal state instead.

And what I can do is not limited to just grasping distant objects regardless of spatial distance, I feel I could even transcend the boundaries of material and spirit, and directly touch some entities in the Spirit World with my hands. I’m just not very proficient yet, and need more practice.

This is also why I say I could use a stone necklace to seal the consciousness of Yinyue. Although the stone necklace isn’t specifically made to seal consciousness, my hands are initially not capable of touching the Spirit World either. Just by crossing the boundary between material and spirit, forcefully putting the stone necklace onto Yinyue’s spirit would work.

The problem is the subsequent battle with Ming Zhuo...

Whatever I can do, Ming Zhuo can do all of it. He can only do more. The so-called "entering the realm of Impermanence" is not about reaching the peak of the mountain, but leaping out of the well to a new realm. In this new realm, Ming Zhuo has traveled a much longer distance than known, while I am merely still standing by the well observing the surroundings.

Simply put, my power is already sufficient, but my skills are severely lacking.

This isn’t the first time I’ve felt a significant deficiency in my skills.

In the past, I had only one way to solve this problem, which was to continue enhancing my own power. Even if I find my power insufficient in a battle, I could continue to unleash more power through the pressure and crisis brought by the enemy. What does it matter if the enemy can use minimal effort to exert a great force, as long as I elevate it to ten thousand pounds on my side it would suffice.

But now I have reached my limit, all potential has been converted into strength, I can no longer continue being willful.

Out of interest, I also sought some basic spell knowledge from Mr. Zhu in the past, but didn’t master any. I originally thought this was because I concentrated more on enhancing and unleashing my power, hence lacking achievements in other areas.

However, even the method of using Fake Water Moon to achieve "telepathy" taught by Mazao, I learned it clumsily. In the world of demon hunters, "telepathy" seems to be a very basic and simple skill, ideally, one should learn it right away, it shouldn’t be that difficult.

Now I have understood where the problem lies.

It’s the Vermilion Bird Seed impeding me.

I can’t solve the problem with the Vermilion Bird Seed for the time being, and in order to better fight Ming Zhuo, even if I am grasping at straws, I need to make some progress. Although new spells and skills are unlearnable, the deep mastery of my inherent power seems not to be hindered by the Vermilion Bird Seed. So, I turned to Mr. Zhu for guidance, wanting to start from scratch with the mana usage techniques of ordinary demon hunters.

Mr. Zhu has always been quietly observing what I do; now seeing me seek guidance, he pondered seriously for a moment, then spoke his views.

"Right now, you don’t need to learn any demon hunter spells, skills, or techniques to manipulate power," he said.

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