Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 50 - 47 Outer Path Impermanence 1

Chapter 50: 47 Outer Path Impermanence 1

"Joining Luo Mountain..."

Zhu Shi let out a sigh after a moment of stunned silence.

"So it’s still not possible?" I asked, feeling concerned.

"It’s not that it’s not possible. If you really possess such incredible power, whether you want to join Luo Mountain or do anything else, I have no reason or right to stop you."

"Then, do you think I’m faking or exaggerating my own power?" I thought her reaction was entirely understandable.

But she shook her head, "I have no doubts about your description of the previous battle."

I wish you would doubt it a bit.

I had even planned to demonstrate it on the spot.

"Before, I thought you had serious deficiencies in combat, that’s why I opposed your joining Luo Mountain; now, on the contrary, being powerful has its own drawbacks." Zhu Shi seemed to be preoccupied with something and looked towards the scattered remains on the ground, showing a sorrowful expression, "I will explain the detailed reasons to you later. For now, let’s deal with the aftermath of the Fallen Demon Hunter."

Agent Kong appeared to be an acquaintance of Zhu Shi, and seeing an acquaintance turn evil and die must have been very complicated for her.

"I’m sorry, I didn’t intend to kill him," I said.

"You don’t need to apologize to me. I know it wasn’t you who killed him, but some other unknown cause. Even if it was you, the mistake lies with Agent Kong, not with you." As she spoke, a look of shame crossed her face, "Besides... I am the Demon Hunter responsible for this area. It was my duty to bear the karma of killing."

I had initially felt somewhat illogically sorry for causing the death of Zhu Shi’s acquaintance, but now she was the one feeling guilty towards me. I then remembered that Agent Kong had told me one of the reasons Zhu Shi didn’t want me to join Luo Mountain was because she didn’t want me to kill.

That statement likely wasn’t just something Agent Kong said offhandedly; Zhu Shi genuinely had a very naïve side.

Agent Kong wasn’t killed directly by me, but his death was undoubtedly related to me. Unlike the previous Fallen Demon Hunter, my impression of Agent Kong had always been that of a human. I should perhaps feel guilty for taking a life, yet my heart was unfazed.

Instead, I felt even more regret that with the death of Agent Kong, many truths I did not understand were now buried in darkness.

Clearly, there were still many mysteries surrounding the Fallen Demon Hunter incident. Where did Agent Kong get this power from? Why did he suddenly self-destruct and die in the end? Why did the last Fallen Demon Hunter recognize me? What was the deal with the ritual array in the 15th-floor room and the cave? It felt like I had rushed through a game only to find that I had missed many collectible items, and with real life unable to rewind, it seemed I could only throw myself into the next adventure.

Not being able to enter the Shadow World through Agent Kong again was truly regrettable.

I can’t describe the inner workings of the Shadow World with human language, nor could I even be clear about what it felt like to be there. If I had to put it into words, if my existence were likened to a software program, then entering the Shadow World was like trying to open a video file with text editing software, almost turning me into nonsensical gibberish.

So I had to endure and maintain my existence and thought in that place.

When Zhu Shi first heard me describe this, the look she gave me became even stranger, as if she couldn’t understand what I was talking about at all. I didn’t understand it myself, I was just going with the feeling.

I had planned to observe more while I was there, but I feared that Agent Kong might escape in the meantime, and I could still capture him to open the passage again, so I hurried back. But I didn’t expect...

After bidding farewell to Zhu Shi, I found other pieces of Agent Kong’s shattered body nearby. These were not large chunks, just fingers that had scattered in the explosion and were charred by flames. I picked them up and carried them away, filled with a sense of loss. Perhaps because they were charred to cinders before his death, they still retained the appearance of the Fallen Demon Hunter, which made them somewhat commemorative in value.

Calling it a "souvenir" might seem morbid of me, and I may encounter many more bizarre incidents in the future. Compared to those, this charred finger certainly wouldn’t count for much. However, at least for me at the moment, it still meant something.

-

A day later, this morning, I met with Zhu Shi in a park near the university.

Perhaps she had done something because despite the significant commotion I caused by slicing the unfinished building in half, official personnel hadn’t come to talk to me, or perhaps she was the official agent meant to speak with me.

She was still dressed in a white women’s blouse and a black pencil skirt, carrying a large black guitar case, looking like a band girl.

Compared to yesterday, her complexion was much calmer; she seemed to have dealt with the emotional turmoil of a friend turning evil and dying, or maybe she had simply buried it all deep inside her heart.

There was no one else around, so we could talk freely. Now, as the Luoshan Demon Hunter, she was going to formally discuss my future with me.

First, she asked me to actually demonstrate my ability to transform my body into flames. I did as asked, and she walked around me, observing and wearing an expression as if she had seen a ghost.

"Although I never doubted what you said and had mentally prepared myself but... Are my eyes okay? Am I not dreaming?"

"Is this skill really that incredible?" I asked curiously.

"It’s not just about being incredible, it’s a divine technique," she evaluated, "to freely transform one’s body into natural elements. In the world of demon hunters, this is considered ’Manifester’s Might,’ commonly referred to as ’Elementalization.’ This skill is regarded as a characteristic of Gods or Immortals by demon hunters. Although there are other methods that can forcibly mimic this divine technique, they usually come with certain conditions or prices to pay, or have limitations. It is not possible to do it as naturally and effortlessly as you."

"So what you’re saying is, I’m a God or an Immortal?" I replied, with a sense of unreality.

"... That depends on how you master Elementalization," she seemed to find that a bit far-fetched.

Upon hearing this, I recalled my past experiences and explained them to her.

The process for me to learn Elementalization—or what might be called my "second form"—wasn’t complicated.

Zhu Shi and Agent Kong seemed to believe that Flame Ability Users, compared to ’Transcendents,’ are more like ’mortals wielding powerful weapons,’ and indeed I felt the same way in my normal state.

In the past, I always felt an invisible barrier between myself and the flames. When I was manipulating flames, it felt like issuing commands to subordinates, there was always a gap from when "I gave the order" to when "the flames received the order." No matter how much I practiced, it seemed like I was cultivating a tacit understanding with the flames rather than truly being one with them.

In theory, my flames should be my spirit, and there should be no such inexplicable delay. So I had to establish this hypothesis, that "my own spirit" and "the spirit that has transformed into flame" were different.

Furthermore, it occurred to me that if I couldn’t manipulate the flames as an extension of myself, it was because I was still human, not the flame itself. So why not become the flame?

And to put this idea into action, I chose a very simple and brute-force method.

I set myself on fire with the flames.

Unless I intended it, the flames wouldn’t harm my body. I could fill every crevice inside my body directly with fire, experiencing the sensation of becoming one with the flames.

Until one day, I finally became indistinguishable from the fire.

I myself had turned into flames.

The process was a blur, even to me.

After listening to my story, Zhu Shi was dumbfounded.

"This method of yours..." It took her a while to say with difficulty, "I can only say that real Gods and Immortals are very clear about their own process of achieving Elementalization, even though they might not be able to describe it in words to others. For the former, it’s an innate state; for the latter, it’s the result of enlightenment.

"As for your situation where you took an incomprehensible idea and suddenly mastered it with practice... based on my knowledge, there’s no precedent for your method."

"I see..."

It seemed that I really had no connection to Gods and Immortals. However, as a supernatural power user, I was clearly very special.

I didn’t know whether I should be happy about my "uniqueness." This peculiarity seemed to mean it was harder to find other reference cases, increasing the difficulty of exploring the reasons behind my own awakening of superpowers.

"I think I also understand why you never encountered anomalies," she said with a sense of closure. "Anomalies attract other anomalies, but to the extreme, an opposite effect occurs. Your power is so great that anomalies would actively avoid you. It’s not just intelligent anomalous beings that would steer clear; even phenomena-based anomalies seemingly can’t interact with you for some reason.

"And this is normally a special phenomenon that happens with most of the Impermanence and a very few excessively powerful demon hunters."

I heard a new term and couldn’t help but become curious: "What is ’Impermanence’?"

"The so-called Impermanence are the strongest demon hunters who reign at the peak of Luo Mountain," she explained. "They are powerful and few in number; there are less than ten Impermanence stationed at Luo Mountain now."

"You say they are powerful... how powerful are they, specifically?"

As I asked, I also made guesses. Considering that an organization like Luo Mountain hadn’t become the ruler of this country or left its own records in history, the power of the Impermanence should not exceed that of ancient armies, and at most, not surpass modern military forces.

However... Even I was confident that I could defeat an ancient army. Could the strongest demon hunters really not do that?

Or was I underestimating the military, which throughout history had the ace up its sleeve to suppress supernaturals like me?

What Zhu Shi said next was astonishingly ludicrous:

"Excluding certain special cases that might have existed in history, to my knowledge, the Impermanence generally possess the power to single-handedly destroy an entire country."

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