After three life-and-death battles, Huang Quan finally died by my hand.
If the Catastrophe Demon was the first Divine Demon level monster I killed, then Huang Quan was the first human god, Impermanence I defeated. In this deadly fight, I even destroyed the Great Demon Xuanwu, a powerful enemy considered a natural foe. A huge sense of accomplishment surged and expanded in my heart, filling me with the urge to burst into song.
The question of whether there was a genuine mentor-student relationship between Huang Quan and Mazao—this might become a mystery I can never unravel, leading to endless reflections in the future. However, this query is not enough to affect my current serene state of mind.
I turned around, planning to leave this devastated and unbearable battlefield. And just at that moment, an unexpected change intervened in my mindset.
It was a vision. An image that suddenly appeared in my consciousness. As if a part of my mind started to operate on its own for some reason, sketching out a distant scene with inexplicable imagination. Although I didn’t know the specifics, my intuition suggested it was most likely related to my killing of Huang Quan.
Through the scene conjured in my vision, I saw a towering mountain standing in the boundless night, with an enormous tree on its summit—it looked like a peach tree.
The branches of this peach tree grew wildly and spread, their length far exceeding that of the trunk itself, with countless numbers, enveloping the entire mountain in this intricate magical plant, making the entire peak resemble a giant beast wrapped in layers of fishing nets.
Some branches formed an extremely large "archway" where the peach tree stood, and beneath this archway stood a man dressed in black. His clothing was filled with a style intended for ancient religious ceremonies, appearing elaborate and solemn.
It seemed as if he noticed my gaze, for his shoulder moved slightly, and then he slowly turned around, looking over in my direction.
He appeared to be able to see me directly.
"True Spirit Power... Divine Seal Fragment?"
At first, his tone was calm, like overlooking from a height, carrying a cold emotion of analysis and scrutiny.
Soon after, as if he had figured something out, his tone underwent a drastic change.
"—You killed Huang Quan?"
He exuded a distinct and cold killing intent, at the same time extending his hand towards me.
Even though this scenario was unfolding in my mind, the man’s actions made me feel an intense danger, as if his outstretched hand could actually seize my real self, bringing upon me a fatal blow.
The scene must correspond to a real space somewhere else. I immediately tried to cut off the observation of that scene, but found myself seemingly unable to do so. Even though it was my consciousness "imagining" that scene, I couldn’t stop it. It was as if my brain was a running computer, and this scene was a virus, one I couldn’t freely halt.
I roughly understood why I could automatically observe that scene, possibly related to the True Spirit Power. Maybe there was a hidden key to Huang Quan’s resurrection there, and the True Spirit Power, by destroying that key while killing Huang Quan, allowed me to see that scene as an ancillary.
As for why I couldn’t stop observing now, it’s not actually the True Spirit Power’s fault; it’s because that man was using an incomprehensible power to remotely hijack my soul.
After reaching the domain of God, time and space, imagery and abstraction, reality and illusion... these concepts were no longer absolute. So even if an attack was launched from my imagination, that man could still truly harm my physical self.
Unfortunately, since the blessing of the Little Bowl has not switched back to the mode suited for regular Flame Power, and I’m not in the Eclipse form, I am truly lacking in maturity and robustness for such domain confrontations. I can be sure that this man’s power is much stronger than Huang Quan’s, and just as I can’t sever his soul-hijacking, in this state, I have no hope of confronting him head-on.
Therefore, I simply cut off my observation in the most violent way possible.
What should a computer do when hijacked by hackers with a virus? The simplest way is to unplug the network cable directly. I self-destructed the part of my soul that was invaded and hijacked.
This would be unimaginable for normal monks, or even regular human gods; only someone like me, who doesn’t care about soul damage, could remain undaunted while doing so. And when I completed the self-destruction, sure enough, the images in my mind suddenly became fuzzy, distorted, and flickering; the man temporarily couldn’t manage to turn illusion into reality, revealing a look of astonishment.
I was also a bit surprised. I thought the images would immediately disappear, but they continued. It seems that unconsciously, more parts of my soul have been invaded by the opponent’s power, and the tendrils of the opponent’s power might have unknowingly completed the invasion of all parts.
What a terrifying technique. As a fellow Impermanence, human god, if I hadn’t done the Manifestation, it could be said that with just a glance, merely imagining the opponent in my mind, I’ve been utterly defeated from the inside out!