Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 384 - 357 Victory 2

Chapter 384: 357 Victory 2

Seeing Fa Zheng asking for my opinion, Divine Light smiled.

"How so? If he insists on killing Ming Zhuo, would you really join him in taking action?" Divine Light said.

"At the very least, Jian Feixian and I could keep you and Gua Tianshi out of the arena," Fa Zheng said. "After all, whether Zhuang Cheng kills him or not, Ming Zhuo will still die within ten years, and the drastic changes to the natural environment that will result from his loss will still occur."

Jian Feixian was noncommittal, seemingly entrusting the decision of how to act to Fa Zheng.

Fa Zheng probably still hoped that I could let matters rest for peace’s sake. After all, if my battle with Ming Zhuo continued, it would still cause other secondary disasters. However, he still put on a firm appearance of steadfastly standing by my side in public.

Even if it was just lip service, saying it and not saying it still made a big difference—a level of understanding that even someone with my not so high emotional intelligence could grasp.

And after the intense battle, as I had thought during the fight, I indeed realized that I couldn’t afford to spend the next ten years focused on killing Ming Zhuo.

Patience alone I could muster, but there were many obstacles and concerns. First, even if I had the patience to continuously kill Ming Zhuo for ten years, Fa Zheng and Jian Feixian might not be willing to focus their attention on intercepting Divine Light and Gua Tianshi for the same duration; second, in the next ten years, the Master of the Divine Seal might convene the Void Realm meetings several times, and I couldn’t guarantee that I wouldn’t be drawn into them during that period.

In the past, I was always dragged into the Void Realm during sleep, but sleep wasn’t a necessity for those of Great Impermanence Level and Great Success Rank. It was hard to imagine that besides Little Bowl and Number Seven, whose abilities are not clear, everyone else would also just happen to be asleep when pulled into the Void Realm. The possibility of being pulled into the Void Realm while awake objectively exists.

What’s more important is that it’s not guaranteed that Doomsday will definitely come after ten years—there’s also a possibility that it won’t.

With Ming Zhuo trapped by me, Mazao was completely free. As a transmigrator from the Doomsday Era, she could act as she wished, using her restored power of Great Success Rank to investigate the truth of Doomsday’s arrival and attempt to prevent it.

And in eight months, Zhu Shi will be able to master the power of Great Impermanence Level with Mazao’s help. She is also aware of Mazao’s true identity and Doomsday, and her inherently just and kind nature will surely join Mazao in a powerful alliance.

These two together might actually be able to influence whether or not Doomsday arrives.

It’s not that I necessarily want Doomsday to come... or to say, this kind of judgment has always been undecided in my heart. However, I can say for sure, whether Doomsday arrives or not in the end, I cannot accept missing out on a major event that could influence the fate of the world’s survival or extinction.

Compared to such an exhilarating major event, what’s Ming Zhuo?

Nonetheless, I also can’t just release Ming Zhuo like that. Doing so would only allow him to lurk back in the shadows, becoming a massive threat to Mazao’s life.

"I can spare Ming Zhuo," I said. "But, I need a guarantee—"

Ming Zhuo didn’t hesitate to say: "Agreed."

"I haven’t even said anything yet," I said.

"You want me to not lay hands on that little girl by your side in the future, right? I said it’s agreed," Ming Zhuo said coldly.

Divine Light unexpectedly gave Ming Zhuo a glance: "You’re quite straightforward. Isn’t that little girl the condition you need to open the Naraku Gate? Without opening the Naraku Gate, you’ll definitely die within ten years. Will you really be so nonchalant to let her go?"

Ming Zhuo snorted in humiliation.

And Gua Tianshi smiled and said: "It’s a simple matter. If he doesn’t let go, he would have to fight Zhuang Cheng again afterward, and he would be in a perpetual state of inability to escape for the next ten years until death.

"Even if Zhuang Cheng can’t fully suppress him for ten years, just a few years would be a fatal loss for him, who desperately needs to research the method to open the Naraku Gate. In comparison, whether that little girl can truly be used to open the Naraku Gate is still an unknown probability... only a possibility.

"It just doesn’t make sense to pay such a price for a possibility."

"That’s right. If you still feel uneasy, I can swear an oath," Ming Zhuo said looking at me.

As if worried I wouldn’t understand, Gua Tianshi specially added: "If a mortal swears an oath to Great Impermanence, their own fate will be bound. If they break it, they will suffer divine punishment."

"And if Impermanence himself, with the power of his word spirit, takes an oath, especially in the presence of several Great Impermanences as witnesses and against another Great Impermanence, it will possess immense efficacy, binding even Great Impermanence."

"I’m sorry, but I don’t believe in such oaths." I bluntly expressed my thoughts, "Since Impermanence is a god that can turn the impossible into possible, he should also be able to find a way to break an oath, right?"

Fa Zheng said: "The greatest use of this oath to you isn’t to bind him, but when he secretly violates the oath, you will be able to sense it. No one ever expected the power of the oath to punish him, but you possess the power to punish him personally."

"If that’s the case, I might consider it, but I have three additional conditions." I said, "First, he must not only refrain from harming Mazao, but also cannot harm anyone close to me; second, he may suppress, but not extinguish, the Xuanming Fire expanding within him, to avoid losing my means of punishing him;

"Third, I want to insert my own flame into his body and soul, so that if he breaks his oath, I can locate him immediately and kill him."

In other words, I was ensuring I could mete out life or death over Ming Zhuo in the future.

For Ming Zhuo, who could resurrect indefinitely within ten years, this power of life and death wasn’t so critical to his survival but more about ensuring I could punish him if he broke his oath. Also, I couldn’t demand Ming Zhuo do more things for me in ordinary times because it would still take up to ten years to truly kill him. Such a significant time investment meant that this method could only be a last resort for control.

That was my bottom line; I wouldn’t rest until it was reached.

"Don’t overdo it, Zhuang Cheng! You’ve already killed two of my Great Success-level subordinates, and now you have the audacity to make such claims for compensation?" Ming Zhuo said bitterly.

"Are you trying to say that if you hit me and I hit you back, we can call it even?" I said, "Don’t joke. If I don’t show my strength like this and make you feel pain, will you just let it go? You started this, and now that you find your losses growing, you want to play the victim?

"If you don’t accept this condition, then go die. Don’t think that relying on Divine Light and Gua Tianshi you can escape. From now on, every time I see you, I’ll kill you. When I’m bored, I will come after you and kill you for a few days or weeks to ease my boredom. As for whether you’re in a rush to do something, I couldn’t care less.

"After all, I don’t mind considering you my personal fitness equipment. Even though you have a shelf life of only ten years, that’s quite durable by gym equipment standards."

Ming Zhuo’s eyes wer’e about to split with rage as he roared: "Zhuang Cheng!!!"

The other Great Impermanences watched silently, not even Divine Light and Gua Tianshi spoke for him, just watching.

No matter what, Ming Zhuo had been defeated.

Although I’m not as reckless as before, willing to spend ten years just to kill Ming Zhuo, the others don’t know this, and my previous actions and displayed determination have been witnessed by everyone. So now, the one who must make concessions is Ming Zhuo the loser, not me.

Ming Zhuo clearly understood this too, he gasped for air and then said harshly: "Fine!"

Fa Zheng suddenly said: "Also, after you return, make a public acknowledgment at headquarters— that Ming Zhuo lost to Zhuang Cheng."

"What did you say?" Ming Zhuo asked very grimly.

"Not harming those close to Zhuang Cheng is not even the most basic compensation. It’s something you should do anyway. It’s like if you punched someone out of nowhere, you can’t just promise not to do it again and call it compensation to the victim. You must pay a price in other ways." Fa Zheng said, "As it happens, although Zhuang Cheng is a Great Impermanence, he’s different from us who accumulated a lot of karma in the abnormal world before becoming Great Impermanence.

"He hasn’t fully taken root in this world, and the bonds formed are still too few. He needs sufficient anchors to be stable. The quickest method is to quickly expand his influence. And to rapidly expand influence, one needs great fame.

"It would benefit us all if you, a veteran Great Impermanence, could serve as his stepping stone."

Ming Zhuo cursed again: "Go to hell with your ’benefit us all’!"

"That’s just part of the compensation. There can’t only be non-material compensation, right? There should also be some material compensation..." Fa Zheng pondered and then said, "I don’t know what Zhuang Cheng needs. You two can negotiate that yourselves afterward."

Ming Zhuo gasped for air again, taking a while before he grimly said: "... Fine!"

"I have no objections." I said.

Moments later, in the presence of the other four Great Impermanences, Ming Zhuo made an oath not to harm those close to me and dropped his mana defenses. I invaded his body and soul with my own flame and the sealing of the Xuanming Fire. Now, I could track him at any time and penetrate his seal on Xuanming Fire, killing him instantly if necessary.

The battle with Ming Zhuo, for the time being, drew to a close.