Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 382 - 355 VS Ming Zhuo 6

Chapter 382: 355 VS Ming Zhuo 6

On Earth, there are places where heat can be obtained almost endlessly, such as the volcanoes scattered around the world. However, for the goal I aim to achieve, the power with which volcanoes release heat is still insufficient. I must find a more efficient source of heat, deep underground.

Yes, underground...

Ming Zhuo misunderstood one thing; it’s not only stars in the universe that can endlessly release heat, but Earth can too. Tens of kilometers beneath the surface, past the Earth’s crust, lies the mantle—a layer filled with terrifying magma that has been scorching hot since the birth of the planet, billions of years ago.

With advanced technology and theories, human civilization has gained immeasurable knowledge of the stars, yet our understanding of the ground beneath our feet is minimal. The Earth’s mantle, an integral part of its structure, only exists in theory and through indirect exploration; it has never been directly observed. The deepest drill designed by humans to explore underground only reached a depth slightly over 12,000 meters, while the average thickness of the continental crust is 33 kilometers. Such drilling is still a very initial stage of piercing through the Earth’s crust.

In just a second’s time, I easily drove Ming Zhuo more than 34 kilometers deep underground, breaking through the boundary between the crust and the mantle, commonly known as the "Moho interface." Despite the increasing density of the rock layers as we descended, they could not buffer the momentum of my penetration.

During this process, I conveniently killed Ming Zhuo a few more times. By now, I’ve become experienced at this; as long as I don’t tear his body and soul to pieces, he will resurrect right on the spot using his intact corpse, conveniently allowing me to push him into the mantle layer.

Now, our surroundings have turned into a sea of extremely dense molten lava. Although lava is a fluid, its density here is even higher than that of solid rock, featuring not only extreme high pressure but also temperatures exceeding a thousand degrees. No protective measures created by human technology could ensure survival in such an environment of extreme pressure and heat.

It is said that the mantle accounts for two-thirds of the Earth’s mass, meaning that two-thirds of the Earth consists of such high-temperature, high-pressure magma. Here, I can easily meet my thermal energy needs. Even though Ming Zhuo said that killing him until his old age would require the sacrifice of the entire world, he was merely referring to the world on the surface, the realm where humanity lives, which is negligible compared to the Earth’s mantle layer.

Upon realizing where he had been brought, Ming Zhuo’s expression twisted suddenly, showing discomposure for the first time and he even swore loudly: "What the fuck... where have you brought me!?"

"The mantle," I said, "You do know what that is, don’t you? Well, let me explain what the mantle is to you..."

"I know what the mantle is!"

He burst out in an unbearable shout, trying to retaliate but was killed again by me using the Xuanming Fire. At the same time, I absorbed the heat from the mantle, fully restoring my strength.

It seemed he really hated this place, not because it hindered his survival, nor did it seem to affect the performance of his powers. Could it be that this place has other special significance, such as being quite bad on the level of mysticism?

That made me think. In the worldview of Buddhism, there is talk of eight great hells, which are sometimes crudely equated with the eight hot hells, and the deepest of these hells is the notoriously known "Avīci Hell."

"Avīci" is a transliteration of a Sanskrit word, meaning "interminable." Avīci Hell is the "Interminable Hell." This deepest of hells lies exceedingly far beneath the Earth in the Buddhist perspective, its vast scale beyond human imagination, filled with terrifying fires and molten lava throughout.

Beings that fall into Avīci Hell have no hope of liberation; they will be continuously boiled and stirred, their skin, flesh, bones, and blood becoming one with the magma, suffering and despairing endlessly without respite, hence the name "interminable."

If Avīci Hell truly exists in this world, perhaps it is this very place we’ve reached. With this in mind, I found myself sensing a chill amidst the scorching heat of the locale.

Between death and resurrection, in the face of ultimate survival, Ming Zhuo let out a fierce roar, briefly breaking free from my restraint, and in an instant, he moved to the crust layer tens of kilometers away.

"Thinking of running?"

To think he could escape my grasp with such an attempt was simply disregarding my declaration to burn him until old age. With just one Flame Transmission, I was in front of him again, killing him with the Xuanming Fire and, by the way, drawing heat from the Earth’s crust as fuel.

I wanted to drag Ming Zhuo back into the mantle again. Perhaps realizing that I was indeed taking steps to fulfill my declaration, and recognizing that he seemed truly unable to escape, Ming Zhuo appeared exceptionally anxious and restless.

"You’re fixating on me here... Are you not afraid that the outside world will change? Do you have no concern for Doomsday?" he shouted in anger.

"Doomsday?"

Hearing this keyword, I involuntarily slowed down my actions, and Ming Zhuo burst forth at high speed, escaping to the sky above the Earth’s surface. I caught up again and killed him over and over.

"Within ten years, Doomsday will arrive. Don’t tell me you’re unaware of this prophecy!" Ming Zhuo spoke between life and death, "Although many in Luo Mountain regard it as an unreliable rumor, you should know it’s not fictitious, right?"

"Why do you say that?" I asked noncommittally.

Seeming to see an opportunity to shake me, Ming Zhuo spoke swiftly: "Isn’t it obvious? Any Great Impermanence can sense that their Fatian Xiangdi aura has become subtly discordant compared to the past. This world is gradually brewing chaos. Although I don’t know how the timeline of ’within ten years’ came about, if this continues, the world’s order will undoubtedly collapse..."

I actually hadn’t sensed anything discordant with my Fatian Xiangdi, but I could probably guess why. It’s likely because I’ve only recently become a Great Impermanence, and other Impermanence-level entities can judge if there’s anything abnormal about their Fatian Xiangdi based on experience, while mine has been influenced by discordance from the beginning, making it impossible for me to discern any issues by comparison.

I had thought that his judgment on my knowing Luo Mountain’s Doomsday prophecy was not a false rumor stemmed from his intrusion into Mazao’s dreamscape, where he’d seen the vistas of the Doomsday Era. But now, seeing his attitude, it seems he hasn’t realized that what Mazao’s dreamscape showed was the Doomsday Era.

So why was he so shocked back then? Was Mazao’s dreamscape, in his view, not the Doomsday Era but the afterlife? Or is the Doomsday Era actually the afterlife?

"Doomsday is incoming within ten years, and my life at most has ten years left. If you waste all your time on trying to kill me until I die of old age, you’ll certainly miss many more important matters. Are you sure you want to do this?" Ming Zhuo said, "Don’t you want to investigate the cause of the world’s end? Don’t you want to prevent the advent of Doomsday, or find a way to survive amid the catastrophe?"

Without a second thought, I said: "Not really."

"What!?" He cried out in disbelief.

I had been hesitating on whether or not I should prevent Doomsday, but now with the pretext of defeating Ming Zhuo, I no longer had to worry about that.

In the ten years before Doomsday strikes, numerous events of foreboding significance might happen, and missing them would indeed be regrettable. But such vague and indescribable events, how could they compare to defeating an Impermanence-level enemy that’s close at hand?

"Right now, my enemy is you, and besides killing you, I don’t really want to think about other things. Don’t make such unsympathetic commentary, hurry up and think of a way to escape from me," I said, "You’re an Impermanence after all, a ground God who can turn the impossible into possible. Truth be told, I don’t actually think that by relying on such monotonous tactics, I can surely suppress you for ten years.

"The reason I’ve been able to suppress you time and again relies not on overwhelming power, but on outsmarting you. Since it’s about outsmarting, there are bound to be loopholes. Only overwhelming power can be flawless.

"You can surely come up with more strategies to escape or even turn the tables and kill me. This is also a challenge, an adventure. Whether it’s you or I who dies, the outcome is not truly determined. So this is not the end, it’s merely the beginning. Isn’t that right, Ming Zhuo?

"Alright... I’ve cheered you on this much. If you keep putting on such a downcast look, don’t blame me for actually killing you."

Unable to endure any further, Ming Zhuo roared: "You f*cking are killing me, over and over!"

Yet within his unceasingly angry voice, I detected an unfettered tremor of fear.

He was afraid.

He was fearing me.

This might not be a good sign. His fear of me was exciting yet alarming at the same time. People can explode with greater strength when under fear; someone being chased by a wild beast would run faster than they would in a regular sprint.

In this scenario, his fear and focus could essentially be seen as synonyms; what I might face next could be an exceptionally performing Ming Zhuo.

Just what I wanted.

Before he could continue cursing, I killed him once more with Xuanming Fire, thwarting the rest of his words.

Still, I felt some regret in my heart.

I actually wished to defeat Ming Zhuo by my own strength, yet now I had to rely on Xuanming Fire. Of course, I wasn’t so self-righteous as to forsake my method just because it felt like an unfair advantage; besides, the outcome of this battle wasn’t just about me, it also involved Mazao. Faced with real crises, I would use every method I could think of. This has always been my approach.

I won’t stubbornly pursue a "perfect victory." That’s what the strong, at ease with themselves, have the privilege to chase. Because what I truly sought was an adventure that left me no room for ease, so I would accept an imperfect victory as well.

Acceptance is one thing, regrets are naturally still present.

Just as I was about to take Ming Zhuo back to the mantle, a Great Impermanence Level of mana fluctuations erupted some tens of kilometers away.

Reflexively, I looked over in that direction, only to see a huge white beam of light shot towards us.

Ming Zhuo had just revived and not even had time to react when the sneak-attack beam struck him.

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