Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 571 - 536 Master of Divine Seal Tai Sui

Chapter 571: 536 Master of Divine Seal Tai Sui

Hearing the guide say this, Little Bowl also showed a slightly speechless expression.

As long as nothing goes wrong on the way... if Zhu Shi were here, I’m afraid he would complain, "Don’t casually set up such a terrible flag."

Having often hung out with Mazao in the past and suffered from the power of the unfortunate star, Little Bowl probably also has first-hand experience with such "crow’s beaks."

It’s quite funny that this invited guest, me, arrived at the mysterious woman’s place faster than she did, but after all, the mysterious woman is not like Little Bowl, who is the Divine Son with the Right Positioning Heavenly Phenomena. Even if she has the blessing to guide her smoothly back to this Tai Sui Army stronghold, she can’t be as swift as us.

The cartographer still needs to use the blessing lamp, and in terms of "directional guidance," Little Bowl is way more formidable than the cartographer.

After walking through a few corridors, the guide led Little Bowl and me to a room and politely said, "This is the room we’ve arranged for you, please rest here first. Later, we will bring you some food."

I nodded, and Little Bowl obediently thanked them on my behalf. The guide turned and left, and I pushed open the door to enter, with Little Bowl following closely behind.

It was a very clean single guest room equipped with a dedicated bathroom. Compared to the cartographer’s safe house, it’s much more orderly and complete, quite an excellent setup in the Doomsday Era. The only limitation is that, probably not anticipating me bringing a companion, there’s only one bed in the room.

The guide seemed to have forgotten this as well. The personnel responsible for receiving guests were temporarily acting as doormen, making things seem quite haphazard. It’s not so much about a lack of sincerity than it is a lack of experience in hosting visitors.

Little Bowl pressed down on the bed with both hands and then sat on it, seemingly quite satisfied with the mattress’s firmness.

Then, she looked at me, slightly adjusting her tone, and said, "Brother Zhuang Cheng, what do you think of the leader of the Tai Sui Army... of Lady No. 7?"

Although we haven’t officially met yet, she has already assumed that the mysterious woman is Lady No. 7. In fact, I pretty much share the same view.

Not that this judgment won’t be overturned later. Even if it turns out wrong, I wouldn’t be too surprised. Thinking the other person is A but actually being B or C—surprises at that level are not a first for me, and by now they hardly move me.

Before everything settles, any judgment could be reversed.

"What do you mean by ’what do you think’?" I asked.

"Lady No. 7’s real identity; in the past, she was a confidant following the Tai Sui God, and now she is the leader of the Tai Sui Army, but we all know her identity goes far beyond just that," Little Bowl said, "she is also the seventh Void Envoy, and the most mysterious among them.

"When we were still utterly ignorant about the Void Realm and the Master of Divine Seal, she showed not the slightest sign of panic or curiosity, as if she already had some degree of understanding of the Void Realm, and had a permissive and compliant attitude toward the Master of Divine Seal’s every word and action.

"We might suspect that she has a certain degree of connection with the Void Realm and the Master of Divine Seal. And this connection might be somewhat reflected in her real-world background."

It’s not just some "certain degree of connection;" I even suspect whether Lady No. 7 is actually one under the Master of Divine Seal.

After a little thought, I said, "Are you suggesting... the true identity of the Master of Divine Seal is the Tai Sui, who seems to have died in the outside world?"

Upon hearing this, Little Bowl fell into a great hesitation, and after a long time, she finally said, "...I think we should first define what ’Master of Divine Seal’ means."

"Your way of speaking now is like a forum user stuck in an online debate mire," I said.

Simultaneously, Little Bowl’s face showed a confused expression, as if asking "What is the internet" and "Why do I know what the internet is," and then she helplessly said, "I can’t help it, because ’Master of Divine Seal’ is indeed an undefined concept at this stage..."

I only mentioned it casually and then quickly brought the conversation back on track, "I understand what you mean. The Master of Divine Seal we’ve been encountering all along is, in your perception, not ’the one who controls the divine seal,’ but ’the divine seal itself.’

"Yes, this is what I observed on the eve of the Void Realm’s destruction, at the same time Mr. Six... Great Impermanence God Zhao attacked the Master of Divine Seal," Little Bowl said, "That Master of Divine Seal is simply a role that has transformed from the essence of the divine seal. This is also the main reason why Great Impermanence God Zhao couldn’t sever the bond between it and the divine seal... because they are essentially inseparable."

"Under such circumstances, it raises an inescapable riddle of ’Where is the true Master of Divine Seal’—’the one who controls the divine seal,’" I continued, "This character must exist because it was this ’Master of Seal’ that, long ago, divided the world of common sense and the abnormal world... For convenience, let’s call him the ’Seal Master’ from now on.

"Although it’s unknown whether this Seal Master is dead now or hiding behind the scenes controlling everything, the first thing we can be sure of is that he is currently in a state where he cannot influence our world through the power of the divine seal."

In the midst of analysis, I recalled a sentence from a Ming Dynasty fate study document I had come across in the past as an enthusiast of mysticism reading through various ancient texts.

—The Tai Sui is the ruler of the year, the leader of all gods.

As the bearer of the divine seal, if one wishes to achieve something, there’s no need for manipulation; a single thought can turn the tide and make the world operate in their desired manner.

Whether it’s creation or destruction, summoning doomsday or saving the world from it, are all tasks lighter than lifting a finger.

Thinking this way, if the Human God Tai Sui was indeed this Seal Master, being killed by Evangelical Institute Master Yama becomes perplexing.

Even if we take a step back, say there’s something unusually suspicious about this battle—such as Tai Sui not actually dying but feigning death to execute some unmentionable conspiracy—it still doesn’t stand. The real Seal Master simply has no need to resort to such convoluted means, nor the need to manipulate schemes, as they can directly realize their intended goals.

It’s akin to a gamer using a cheat code who doesn’t need to laboriously defeat monsters to level up; they can directly set their level to the desired standard. Nor do they need to exhaust themselves completing main and side quests; they can immediately adjust the game’s plot progression to its completed state.

This is the true meaning of "absolute power."

Under absolute power, all methods and schemes are meaningless.

Of course, considering the divine seal has shattered at some unknown time, it is understandable that the Seal Master cannot wield omniscience and omnipotence to their whims. However, this raises another question—why would someone with all-knowing and all-powerful abilities be unable to prevent losing such powers?

Moreover, even in a state where the divine seal is shattered, it’s hard to imagine the past "true Master of Divine Seal" could be killed by Evangelical Institute Master Yama, someone who is merely a "human god."

Ultimately, why would Evangelical Institute Master Yama want to kill Tai Sui?

"Putting aside why things would develop to this stage, assuming the Seal Master is Tai Sui, then Lady No. 7 probably isn’t a subordinate of the Master of Divine Seal, but rather a subordinate of the Seal Master; she might share an equal standing with the Master of Divine Seal..." I pondered.

"But does the Seal Master in this hypothesis act unnecessarily?" Little Bowl said, "From an outsider’s perspective, we, the Void Envoys, are the pawns pushed to the forefront by the Master of Divine Seal, while the Master of Divine Seal is the manipulator hidden within the Void Realm. If the Seal Master also hides in the rear, then it becomes the manipulator behind the manipulator.

"This isn’t to say such behavior wouldn’t have its benefits. If powerful Void Envoys like Brother Zhuang Cheng and Xuanming were to rebel together, the Master of Divine Seal pushed to the forefront could serve as a scapegoat. But if I were the Seal Master, I wouldn’t allow the divine seal to birth its own consciousness in the first place.

"Even if a series of regulatory methods could theoretically ensure absolute loyalty, it is still theoretical. Allowing such an almighty Divine Artifact to develop its own mind is, in itself, taboo."

I attempted to speculate: "Perhaps the divine seal never truly developed its own consciousness, and it’s the Seal Master in the shadows manipulating it like a marionette, or maybe there are some stakes involved that we are unaware of."

Little Bowl pondered and then said: "Is it possible... that there was never a Seal Master to begin with, and the one dividing the common world from the abnormal world in ancient times was the ’Master of Divine Seal’ we now encounter?"

This hypothesis has a significant flaw, and I believe Little Bowl is aware of this; she might be hoping to get an alternative perspective from me to test her thoughts, so I cooperatively said: "That seems impossible. Divine Light mentioned that the Master of Divine Seal is quite unfamiliar with utilizing their powers, much like a mortal who accidentally acquires a powerful Magic Artifact...

"And although this logic is somewhat strained, we might just barely explain it as: the divine seal’s consciousness was born not long ago, so there are many gaps in wielding its powers, like a newborn still unskilled at using its limbs.

"But if this consciousness existed since an ancient era, then its unfamiliarity in wielding power becomes inexplicable."

Based on this theory, the Master of Divine Seal who appeared to us, the Void Envoys, in the past is also unlikely to be directly manipulated by the Seal Master from behind the scenes like puppetry, as it similarly cannot explain its unfamiliarity.

This isn’t to say there’s no room for the Seal Master’s theatrics here but there’s no visible motive for them to do so.

And Little Bowl keenly caught the discord in my earlier words and then queried: "’Although this logic is somewhat strained’—why would Brother Zhuang Cheng think so? Is there perhaps an aspect in this logic that remains difficult to explain?"

I carefully said: "Rather than difficult to explain... I just feel that, given Divine Light’s perspective as an experienced Great Impermanence, he should be able to distinguish between ’a mortal who accidentally acquires a powerful Magic Artifact’ and ’a newborn consciousness still unskilled at using its limbs.’

"But this is just my supposition, and it’s possible that he simply didn’t think in that direction, thereby making an erroneous judgment."

Hearing this, Little Bowl displayed a pensive expression.

"The Seal Master most likely wouldn’t allow the divine seal to develop its own consciousness, yet the fact that the divine seal has its consciousness is evident..." Little Bowl contemplated seriously, "Simultaneously, Lady No. 7, a close associate of Tai Sui, showed a certain degree of submission to him, coupled with the scenario in which Tai Sui is regarded as dead in the external world..."

"...Considering these factors, might it be that the Master of Divine Seal and the Seal Master are actually one entity, and as the Seal Master, Tai Sui’s consciousness attached itself to the fractured divine seal after being killed by Evangelical Institute Master Yama?"

"Wouldn’t that still fail to explain the Master of Divine Seal’s unfamiliarity with power?" I said, "Tai Sui is a human god, not a regular person who accidentally acquired a powerful Magic Artifact."

Little Bowl glanced at me, then startlingly said: "What if Tai Sui was actually just a regular person who accidentally obtained the divine seal?"