Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 486 - 456, The Last Trace of Scar

Chapter 486: 456, The Last Trace of Scar

Mazao and I returned to the Luoshan Headquarters to discuss how to proceed with our future activities.

Although we talk about investigating Taoyuan Village, that’s just a general direction, and specifically how to implement it is what troubles us. Luo Mountain holds a dominant position in the world of demon hunters, and naturally, as an adversary, Taoyuan Village cannot openly establish itself in the light. Its various strongholds are far more hidden than those of the Human Bureau, and the Taoyuan Village Master himself is as elusive as a dragon, rarely revealing his whereabouts unless he chooses to appear himself.

Xuanming is no different. No matter how openly and fairly he usually acts, he must remain in a state of concealment in the face of the threat posed by several Great Impermanence at Luoshan. If he rashly shows himself, he would face merciless destruction.

During our discussion, I also took the opportunity to confirm another matter with Mazao.

That is regarding the Great Impermanence of the Doomsday Era.

In the Doomsday Era, the Great Impermanence is often referred to as "human gods." Mazao naturally couldn’t answer how many human gods exist in the Evangelical Institute, nor could he provide a specific number for the total of human gods and Great Demons in the Doomsday Era. However, even an approximate answer would suffice, such as whether there are more than ten, more than twenty, more than thirty, and so on...

Of course, saying more than thirty would be too much, as even combining all the strong individuals from the modern world and the Doomsday Era at that level would not likely exceed thirty...no, not necessarily. I remember Mazao mentioning too that in the Doomsday Era, the phenomenon of the lost did not exist. This means historically lost Great Impermanence would likely return during the Doomsday Era.

As Zhu Shi might put it, could this be called "combat power inflation"? This thought inexplicably crossed my mind.

And regardless of whether those lost Great Impermanence return as human gods or as Great Demons, they will inevitably cause great turmoil in the Doomsday Era. Such individuals, with a presence so strong, should leave a deep impression, even for survivors of the Doomsday Era who tend to easily forget things.

As a result, Mazao gave an unexpected answer.

"The number of existing human gods and Great Demons in the Doomsday Era combined probably doesn’t exceed ten...no wait, the term ’existing’ might be problematic, perhaps it should be ’up until the time I crossed over’?" Mazao said uncertain, "As for the number of human gods in the Evangelical Institute, although I can’t accurately recall, it certainly wasn’t as many as Luoshan’s...from my vague impression, probably at most two or three? If you say there are four, five, six, that contradicts with my impressions...

"And while I have said before that the number of Great Demons in the Doomsday Era doesn’t exceed ten, it seems that some of them have already been hunted down...probably by the united efforts of the Evangelical Institute’s human gods? I can’t say specifically how many have been hunted, or even if there have been definitive cases at all.

"Moreover, in my impression, Great Demons seem to be immortal, even if their bodies and souls are eradicated, they would mysteriously reemerge at some point in the future. However, I can’t remember where I learned this; it might have been something I learned at the Evangelical Institute.

"As for whether lost human gods or Great Impermanence return—is something I have no impression of. Even before coming to the modern world, I had never heard of the concept of ’lost’, let alone ’beings returning from being lost’.

"The ’combat power’ doesn’t seem to have inflated as expected...listening to Mazao’s words invoked this thought path once again in my mind. After talking to Zhu Shi so often, it’s as if there’s a Zhu Shi living in my head responsible for making sarcastic comments."

If I believe Mazao’s ambiguous narrative, temporarily, I could come up with three possibilities: First, in history, the lost Great Impermanence did indeed return, but most perished in the great calamity of the Doomsday Era;

Second, which also presumes that the lost Great Impermanence did return, they chose to flee into the depths of the universe facing the doom descending upon this world.

Third, although the phenomenon of being lost disappeared in the Doomsday Era, that only means there will be no further Great Impermanence getting lost in the future; it doesn’t mean past lost Great Impermanence could return smoothly—much like a law in a civilized society generally not applied retrospectively—I don’t know if this analogy is correct.

Oh, and there’s another possibility, that the Doomsday Era is not the future, but the afterlife.

If that’s the case, then those who haven’t died, only got lost, obviously wouldn’t appear in the Doomsday Era Mazao went through. However, with this possibility, the supposed Catastrophe Demon transformed by Xuanming or me, as well as the Great Demon Xuanwu, definitely transformed from Water Master Xuanwu, become inexplicable.

I’m not in a hurry to get answers right away, anyway, as long as I keep following the clues of Taoyuan Village and the Evangelical Institute, answers will eventually reveal themselves. With many mysteries and anticipation of the answers, walking upright into danger and facing enemies boldly is precisely the path I hope for.

As we communicated further, I noticed a faint look of distress appear on Mazao’s face. While others may not observe her subtle expression change, having been with Mazao for a long time, I can easily perceive it, something I take a bit of pride in. Subsequently, I delved into Mazao’s concerns.

She confessed to me honestly.

"—You feel you can’t become stronger anymore?" I asked.

"Yes...recently I’ve been trying in every way to become stronger. Although I’m not expecting to become a Grand Impermanence overnight, I hope to at least reach a level where I won’t distract you on the battlefield," she said. "But no matter what I do now, I can’t become stronger, as if something heavy is tying me to the spot."

"Could it be that you’ve encountered the second door?" I speculated.

The second door, the demon hunter’s second limit, the chasm between Great Success Rank and Grand Impermanence, theoretically impossible to break through.

"No, I don’t feel I’ve reached the limit of the soul." Mazao said, "People like Water Master Xuanwu and Great Evil Silver Moon—those of Great Success Rank, they are the ones who have touched the second door, right?

"Although I am confident that I can defeat Chen Long and Divine Spear in a direct battle, even if they join forces, I’m not without hope, but compared to the one demon and one human, I still fall far short."

Previously, I had shared a part of my memory with Mazao using the ability of Fake Water Moon, letting her personally experience the power of Water Master Xuanwu and Silver Moon, so she has quite a clear understanding of them.

"I think... though it is just speculation, the problem probably lies with my soul," Mazao continued. "The Shen Gui Spirit Pill from Water Master Xuanwu healed my soul to be almost perfect, but not one hundred percent. I can feel there are still imperceptible scars in my soul.

"Although this scar doesn’t affect my life and battles in any way, it blocks my possibility of further growth. I have also consulted Zhu Shi about this issue; she says I may have harmed the foundation for cultivation.

"I’ve heard that after the Great Success Rank, to advance further, every centimeter of progress is like moving a mountain, requiring the willpower to extract potential even if there is none. Under such circumstances, even this extremely tiny damage becomes a decisive obstacle."

"I see..." I then found it hard to come up with solutions.

Previously, I also consulted Lu Chan and Mr. Zhu about how to completely heal Mazao. Now that I am a Grand Impermanence, I have access to vast resources, and theoretically, I should have more means available to treat Mazao. However, things are not that optimistic.

With a vision now broadened beyond comparison to before, I have truly understood how rare the Shen Gui Spirit Pill handed over by Water Master Xuanwu is, and how immense its value is.

In short, it is truly a spirit pill at the level of Grand Impermanence.

If Silver Moon rivals Grand Impermanence in the field of illusion techniques, and Weichi rivals them in the field of arrays, then Water Master Xuanwu rivals Grand Impermanence in the field of alchemy. To produce a spirit pill more effective than Shen Gui Spirit Pill, unless Water Master Xuanwu becomes a Grand Impermanence, or a Grand Impermanence specialized in alchemy comes forth.

Such Grand Impermanence existed in Luoshan’s history but all got lost. Water Master Xuanwu is the current top of the realm in the Alchemy Dao.

Arrays or other methods can also be used to heal the soul, but their effects are not as good as the alchemy.

"If necessary, go and ask Weichi. He can use the Power of Divine Seal Fragments, which might accomplish what Shen Gui Spirit Pill cannot. If that’s still not viable, then try other methods, maybe quantitative changes can lead to qualitative changes," I said. "Mazao, do you have more knowledge regarding healing of the soul? As long as it’s safe, we could try them one by one."

After pondering, Mazao shook her head: "No, I don’t have much knowledge in this aspect. Moreover, in the Doomsday Era, people rarely needed such knowledge or skills."

"Why is that? In the Doomsday Era, do Blessed Monks, even if their souls are harmed, not need healing?" I asked surprised.

Harming the soul is not an uncommon attack method; in fact, simply by injecting the intent to harm the enemy’s soul into mana, even demon hunters of the Residence Level can easily achieve that. Even those at the Bad Level have many curses designed specifically for harming enemy souls, and there’s no shortage of bizarre things that threaten the soul itself.

Surely soul damage isn’t rare in the Doomsday Era?

"No, it’s not that. The reason is that in the Doomsday Era, like Sin Demons, Blessed Monks possess the power of Soul Refining," Mazao said. "Blessed Monks can automatically devour the souls of those they have killed, repairing their own souls and thereby growing stronger."

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