Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 403 - 376 Assassination Plot Against the Master of Divine Seal 1

Chapter 403: 376 Assassination Plot Against the Master of Divine Seal 1

It seemed that Shenzhao wanted to use his remark as an eye-catching opener, but neither Weichi nor I reacted particularly.

Seeing this, he said puzzledly, "Aren’t you at all surprised?"

"Surprised about what..." Weichi said, "Didn’t you already attack the Master of Divine Seal as soon as you entered the Void Realm? You just didn’t succeed."

That opening line wasn’t surprising, not when it came from Shenzhao, nor from most Void Realm Envoys.

Among the existing seven Void Realm Envoys, excluding number seven whose stance is uncertain, you have people like me and Little Bowl who never intended to serve the Master of Divine Seal and may even oppose at certain points; people like Xuanming and Xu Gou who are already slandering the Master of Divine Seal outside; and then Shenzhao, who openly wants to kill the Master of Divine Seal.

Even for Weichi, I feel his attitude is more like "whether the Master of Divine Seal lives or dies doesn’t matter, but it’s more convenient if he’s dead," and honestly, I think Little Bowl may have similar thoughts.

It seems that these are not seven envoys of the Master of Divine Seal, but six traitors and one ambiguous figure.

If I were the Master of Divine Seal, I might already be considering whether to replace them with a new team.

"Hmm... alright then." Shenzhao said, "If that’s the case, let’s proceed directly to the specifics. But before that..."

As he spoke, he reached out and summoned a lidded wooden box from nowhere.

He casually opened the lid, and at the same time, I felt a slight tremor in the Divine Seal Fragments within my consciousness.

Inside the wooden box were three Divine Seal Fragments.

Shenzhao looked at me.

"I wonder if you remember, last time in the Void Realm I promised that anyone who found me at the Luoshan Headquarters before the next Void Realm gathering would receive a Divine Seal Fragment. If it was you, I would give three." Shenzhao raised his head and said, "Although you probably didn’t come to the Luoshan Headquarters specifically to find me, and this meeting wasn’t initiated by you, I’m not a petty person, and my promise won’t be discounted for that reason.

"I’ve already given Weichi’s Divine Seal Fragment to him, so now it’s your turn. Take it, this is your share."

Besides the one I accidentally picked up in the basement on the fifteenth floor, making me a Void Envoy, I’ve only ever gotten another Divine Seal Fragment from Dr. Silver Mask at the Human Bureau’s secret base. And now, there are three Divine Seal Fragments right before me, which I can take without any effort.

There’s no such thing as a free lunch, and the more it seems this way, the more caution is needed.

I didn’t reach out immediately, instead, I examined them carefully and asked, "These three Divine Seal Fragments aren’t bound to you?"

"No. We ’Void Realm Envoys’ automatically bind to ownerless Divine Seal Fragments upon contact; conversely, as long as contact is avoided, they remain unbound," Shenzhao said, "The Master of Divine Seal surely isn’t naive enough to think that by offering trades of knowledge and intelligence for Divine Seal Fragments, he could retrieve all of them from us.

"He is most likely planning to forcibly collect all the Divine Seal Fragments we hold at the final stage through the binding connection. I suggest that when you get these three Divine Seal Fragments, you don’t bind all of them, at least leave one or two just in case."

"I will." I continued observing the three Divine Seal Fragments.

Shenzhao, looking at my cautious attitude, went on, "Are you feeling unearned and reluctant to accept my gift? Then consider it as my apology and compensation for previously interfering with your affair in Ming Zhuo.

"Truth be told, I didn’t personally collect these three Divine Seal Fragments. They were transferred to me by Ming Zhuo. He was once robbed of a Divine Seal Fragment by Xuanming, perhaps thinking that holding surplus fragments might invite disaster, he simply transferred all his remaining fragments to me. I’ve already owed him in everyone’s eyes, thus had to assist him back then."

He appears to have a sense of pride and seems to want to mend our relationship.

Honestly, I no longer care much about what happened back then, and if he hadn’t brought it up, I might not even have remembered it.

"A complete divine seal can lift the lifespan constraints of Ming Zhuo... and yet he was willing to transfer all his Divine Seal Fragments?" I asked.

"With so many collecting Divine Seal Fragments, he probably knows he can’t obtain all fragments from other Great Impermanence within ten years; we wouldn’t give him a chance to get a complete divine seal just to extend his lifespan." Shenzhao said indifferently, "In fact, there’s a huge internal debate on who should be the one to make a wish with the complete divine seal at the final stage.

"If it were someone foolish like Fa Zheng, it might still be considered or even Gua Tianshi, albeit reluctantly... but Ming Zhuo, forget it."

It seems Ming Zhuo isn’t very popular among the Great Impermanence, yet Fa Zheng’s evaluation from Shenzhao is surprisingly high, suggesting these two should ideologically be at odds.

Gaining many allies, losing few... I feel I have an understanding of this old saying in a new light.

"Alright then, I won’t be polite."

After careful observation and thought, I accepted the three Divine Seal Fragments.

Though these three fragments might reflect Shenzhao’s intentions of mending our relationship, that can’t be the whole story. Such matters aren’t enough to warrant this high of a price. He’s likely paving the way for some upcoming request, such as inquiring how I managed to invade the Void Realm single-handedly.

As the saying goes, "He who takes the king’s coin must render the king his service." I can’t ignore such a gesture outright, though I’ve already prepared my draft response. Whether he’d be satisfied with my reply is up to him.

As Shenzhao suggested, I didn’t touch the Divine Seal Fragments directly but grasped the wooden box, sealing the lid over it first.

"So... how do you plan to kill the Master of Divine Seal?"

Weichi finally joined the conversation. He didn’t use particularly respectful language but stared directly at Shenzhao and asked, "Although you can use mana in the Void Realm, wasn’t your last attempt a failure?

"The Master of Divine Seal seems like a super being above the Great Impermanence. Using our terms, he’s at least someone who has opened the third door, like the Old Fist God. According to his reaction last time when you questioned him, he seems to be aware of the existence of the fourth door and knows how to break through it. How can one kill such a monster?"

I also asked, "I’m quite concerned, and also... how did you manage to use mana in the Void Realm?"

"I’ll answer Zhuang Cheng’s question first," Shenzhao said, "The answer is quite simple: ’Right Positioning Heavenly Phenomena.’"

Hearing that, I immediately thought of Little Bowl.

Other Void Realm Envoys are unable to use special powers in the Void Realm. Besides Shenzhao, only Little Bowl can do it. While it’s more accurate to say Little Bowl could only perform special perceptions, even being able to conduct special perception in that eerie Void Realm where I couldn’t even use my thermal sense is extraordinary enough.

And Little Bowl does possess the Right Positioning Heavenly Phenomena.

"I see..." Weichi seemed to grasp the concept.

Shenzhao added, "Strictly speaking, it needs to be combined with the Power of Divine Seal Fragments, but since the Power of Divine Seal Fragments is something we all can use, it doesn’t need further elaboration."

No, I still can’t use it... I voiced in my mind, while Weichi nodded in understanding.

"Initially, I didn’t know how to use mana in the Void Realm until I saw that number two," Shenzhao said, "I noticed that she seemed to have a special perception, and coincidentally, I have a deeper understanding of Right Positioning Heavenly Phenomena than most, so I immediately deduced where her perception came from and thus found a direction.

"Right Positioning Heavenly Phenomena is different from our Great Impermanence’s Heavenly Earth; the latter forces the world to respond to us with our immense power. Actively using it can even forcibly dominate the locale. It’s the path of the strong exploiting the weak, so when in a ’stronger environment’ that doesn’t abide by it, it becomes ineffective.

"However, the former is closer to the original meaning of Heavenly Earth terms. The so-called Right Positioning Heavenly Phenomena emulates the heavens, mimicking the earth—it’s a survival path of the weak adapting to the environment. While it is far inferior to Great Impermanence’s Heavenly Earth, it can do what Great Impermanence’s Heavenly Earth cannot when facing a ’stronger environment.’"

"But how are you able to use Right Positioning Heavenly Phenomena?" I asked, puzzled.

Both Great Impermanence Heavenly Earth and Right Positioning Heavenly Phenomena are forms of Heavenly Earth, and out of curiosity, I did attempt to see if I could use the Right Positioning Heavenly Phenomena, but failed. Right Positioning Heavenly Phenomena, being a path for the weak, or rather a force of humanity, might not be something one can learn after becoming as powerful as the divine-like Great Impermanence... that’s what I originally thought.

Now it seems, maybe I’ve got a shot at it too?

"Is Right Positioning Heavenly Phenomena something that can be learned through training?" I inquired.