Looking up at the sky, it is currently early morning, still completely dark.

I try to sense the situation at Little Bowl. Being akin to a familiar, Little Bowl is a much more powerful signal source than "Firefly" and the thermal energy marker, so this time I can clearly grasp Little Bowl's state, even Gua Tianshi's hidden barrier cannot conceal it.

Soon, I will face Shan Liangyi, this formidable enemy who has occupied my heart for a long time, in a life-and-death confrontation. It's as if I am about to put a full stop to a long journey, feeling as if the curtain is about to fall. Although the decisive battle is imminent, my heart is becoming more settled.

After leaving the hiding place, I first visit various places I've been through in the past. The small woods where I first learned that Zhu Shi was a demon hunter, the half-ruined building I split in two, the old base of the Human Bureau where I met the girl Lu Chan and killed Chen Long and the Divine Spear, the cities I passed through while wandering with Mazao, and finally Moon Hidden Mountain City where I became Impermanence...

Countless nostalgic scenes surge in my mind.

I savor my inner feelings, like a volcano accumulating strength, then turn and head towards the location of Shan Liangyi.

Tai Sui's voice sounds in my mind.

"Zhuang Cheng, did you and Number Two conspire in some way?" he says lightly, "But now you should already know from Number Two why you cannot become the Master of the Doomsday Divine Seal without my permission...

"Even if you have a plan beyond my prediction, in the end, you can only reboot the world to its former state."

"..." I give no response.

No matter how many words Tai Sui said beside my ear, I ignore them all.

On a long time scale, Little Bowl's "End of the Divine Era" plan actually coincides with Tai Sui's wish, both aimed at returning to the worldview of the past.

So Tai Sui's point is not wrong; no matter how much one struggles, the Doomsday issue can only be resolved by changing the world.

The only difference is that Tai Sui wants a wholesale change all at once, while Little Bowl opts for a gradual change. It's like cutting the flesh with a blade, where the decisive difference lies between slaughter and surgery. If the world is likened to a ship, Tai Sui wants to replace the entire rotten and destroyed ship with a new one, while Little Bowl intends to make it a Ship of Theseus.

Whether the Ship of Theseus before and after is a completely different ship, opinions differ. I tend to believe it is not, so I can accept it. Especially in the future depicted by Little Bowl, people who inherit the destructive human history do not need to have their memories and personalities erased, forced to retrace their steps, but rather can walk through their lives carrying accumulated selves.

Future generations also do not need to inherit the negative legacy of destructive human history and can look forward to tomorrow unburdened.

Though I always say turning everything accumulated into "things that did not happen" is unacceptable, it's also undeniable that once a person dies, no matter how much valuable stuff is accumulated in life, it ultimately turns into the illusion of dreams.

That's why people pursue legacy, but I'm not particularly obsessed with that concept. It's naturally great if past things can be inherited; without it, one can still walk their path with head held high.

The point is not about dying or legacy, but whether one can die without regrets. I despise giving up halfway, backtracking, retracing, so I at least hope the world I live in doesn't end that way and wish people, at least at the moment of death, can carry everything they have accumulated thus far.

No one has ever asked me to do this, it certainly is self-centered, self-satisfying. I have always been a self-satisfied person, probably never introspecting even until my demise.

However, regarding the "End of the Divine Era" plan, just as Little Bowl pointed out, I cannot be completely satisfied with it. Especially after wandering through places experienced in the past, the feeling of discord with my true inner self becomes more pronounced.

The world a thousand years later will return to the same trajectory as the previous one—even though it won't necessarily circle back to the original place, I know this might already be the greatest common divisor between my baseline and realistic resistance, yet it is still somewhat hard to let go.

It's like a festival about to end, never to be held again, there is a feeling of loneliness.

Then, some vague ideas gradually rise in my heart.

Perhaps, I have found a way to fulfill Little Bowl's plan while also satisfying my expectations. This is not something beyond or against the plan, but rather can supplement it. I certainly have no intention of acting arbitrarily, even though it is just an idea, as vague as to be unformed, I am sure by organizing and sorting with Little Bowl, it can be made feasible.

But now it's too early to talk about those things. What I need to do now is not to allocate my thought resources to imagining the future, but to focus on the enemy before me. If I can't achieve victory, then nothing can begin.

I arrived at a verdant mountain range; Shan Liangyi gave me the location coordinates here. The moment I entered, I could feel from afar a gaze filled with murderous intent descending on me like a heavy, icy waterfall.

At the same time, from a very distant place, there seemed to be another eager gaze, looking forward to seeing the outcome between us.

I walked step by step towards the high ground, each step covering a long distance. Mana fluctuations emanated from my body, rising in sync with my movements. When I reached the highest point of the mountain range, I saw a figure with its back toward me.

The figure slowly turned around, and the mana fluctuations also reached an extremely high point.

The mana fluctuations between us clashed, and the mountains beneath our feet trembled as if in deep fear. The ground shook and quaked, and the sound of landslides came from afar. From within the mountain came the sounds of breaking and collapse; it should have already been on the verge of shattering, yet it unbelievably maintained its original shape, because neither of us permitted this place to collapse prematurely. With just an unintentional thought, the objective laws of physics submitted.

"Vermilion Bird... no, Zhuang Cheng." Shan Liangyi spoke my name for the first time, "I must admit, you have shattered my expectations completely.

"Not even Chen Long has ever shaken me to such an extent, perhaps not even the Old Fist God surprised me this much. I never expected that among my inheritors, someone could push open the Third Door like me, and another could prove their path to Manifestation, achieving the dream goal before I did...

"However, because of this, I am certain of one thing. Since 'Manifestation' appeared among the seeds I sowed, it means the path I tread is indeed not wrong. At the same time, I must utterly defeat you here."

"I am no longer the Vermilion Bird Inheritor," I said. "Even if you kill me, the Manifestation Realm will not transfer to you."

"I never expected that killing you would prove my path to Manifestation, but if I cannot even kill you, a former inheritor, how could I, the source, boast of proving my path to Manifestation?" Shan Liangyi said arrogantly. "After you, there's the Old Fist God; I will erase all of you stains and continue to accumulate my own power.

"Twisting the world, twisting the laws, twisting everything... Now I have already achieved an incomplete Manifestation, taking the most crucial step from 'zero to one'. After that, I just need to keep accumulating power, even if I am inherently unfit for complete Manifestation, I can prove it through strength."

The power of the Third Door has the omnipotence to twist even the laws of the world; Shan Liangyi's vision may not be entirely fanciful.

To this, I have only one response.

"You can't do it," I said, "because you will die by my hand."

"Foolish dreams!" Shan Liangyi showed a grim smile.

Yin Yang Black and White Magic Power burst forth from him, and the mountains beneath shattered instantly. This power shot towards me, but I chose not to take it head-on, instead moving up to evade this strike.

Fighting on Earth is not a wise choice; I wanted to move the battlefield to cosmic space, like the later battle between Shan Liangyi and the Old Fist God. But whether it was anticipation of my thoughts or a terrible coincidence, Shan Liangyi moved to a higher position before me—his body first disintegrated into a mass of black and white particles, then emerged and coalesced in human form above me.

This is the same principle of movement as my Flame Transmission, a signature skill achieved through innate Manifestation talent. However, because it is accomplished with Shan Liangyi's power, it should be called 'Liangyi Transmission'?

A vortex of Yin Yang Black and White Magic Power appeared in his hand, appearing as an attack prepared the moment the first strike appeared, and then this strike shot down like a comet.

For both the first and second strikes, he directly summoned Yin Yang Black and White Magic Power without the synthesis phase of Five Elements Mana. The Four Symbols and Five Elements Wheel, which usually appeared behind him, did not appear again this time.

The disappearance of the Four Symbols and Five Elements Wheel does not mean Shan Liangyi has weakened. On the contrary, it proves he's in perfect condition. The main function of that wheel, unsurprisingly, was to recover and absorb the Power Seeds. Thus, after the absorption was concluded, the wheel lost its significance. The Four Symbols Five Elements Power could directly manifest in the form of Yin Yang Black and White Magic Power.

During the battle with the Old Fist God, Shan Liangyi's Elementalization would first break down into Five Elements Power. Now it can directly break down into Yin Yang Black and White Magic Power, seemingly indicating that Shan Liangyi has completely adapted to all the properties of the innate Manifestation talent.

His power appears to have grown a bit compared to when he fought the Old Fist God.

Flames surged from my hand, transforming into a Flame Greatsword of extremely high density. I faced his Yin Yang Black and White Magic Power, slicing with one sword strike.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.