From the end of the world

Chapter 420 Ancient Proclamation

The destruction of the virtual world is a world-shaking event for the apostles of the virtual world, but to the outside world it is an imperceptible storm occurring in another dimension.

In Luoshan, Yuchi and I were the only ones who knew about this incident at the first time. Most demon hunters knew about Shenzhao's death at the first time.

As a god-like Great Impermanence, even if the main body dies, the reward body can still remain in the world, and believers can gain strength by offering sacrifices to the reward body. However, this reward body does not have the function of continuing the life of the main body or replacing the main body. It is more similar to the meaning of the common sense world's later generations praising thinkers: "Even if the body dies, the spirit is still passed down from generation to generation."

When the Great Impermanence dies, believers can get corresponding feedback through meditation and prayer. Therefore, that night, Luo Shan set off a storm of public opinion.

The sudden death of the Great Impermanence was a rare event. Generally speaking, even if the Great Impermanence disappeared from the sight of the demon hunters, it was mostly a loss. In the history of Luoshan, it was not even possible to see one confirmed dead in a thousand years. It was literally a once-in-a-lifetime event. In the first half of this year, Fu Hongchen was killed by Xuanming; now, even Shenzhao was killed by Xuanming.

Yes, "killed by Xuan Ming" - this was Luo Shan's initial judgment on the cause of Shen Zhao's death.

After Shenzhao died, his subordinate Wuchang, who was at the Great Perfection level, immediately broke into the room where he usually meditated and witnessed the death scene. There was a criminal declaration written in flaming characters by Xuanming:

"By order of the Lord of the Divine Seal, the fourth apostle of the Void Realm, Xuanming, slays the Great Impermanence God of Luoshan here."

This piece of flaming writing even exudes Xuan Ming's own unique magical fluctuations.

Mana fluctuations can be faked, but since there is technology to fake, there must be technology to identify the authenticity. Luo Shan quickly identified that this was indeed the real mana fluctuation of Xuan Ming himself.

Yuchi and I both know very well that it was not Xuanming who killed Shenzhao, but the Lord of the Divine Seal. However, this happened inside the Void Realm, and even if we tell others about it, we can't produce any actual evidence. Xuanming deliberately left this thing at the scene of Shenzhao's death, and no matter how you think about it, he is trying to drag the Lord of the Divine Seal into the water.

He probably couldn't forge the traces of the Lord of the Divine Seal. After all, Luo Shan had never obtained any physical clues related to the Lord of the Divine Seal. Even if he forged the traces, Luo Shan couldn't compare them. That's why he would use this roundabout way to increase Luo Shan's hostility towards the Lord of the Divine Seal. This approach would definitely increase the hostility of Luo Shan's Great Impermanence towards him, but he didn't seem to care about that.

I just don't know how he managed to sneak into Luoshan headquarters in such a short time and leave the flames at the scene of Shenzhao's death. Maybe just like the Lord of the Divine Seal can use the power output by Shenzhao to make a reverse tracking and summon the ownerless Divine Seal fragments left in the real world into the virtual world, Xuanming also did something similar.

At the scene of Shenzhao's death, there was a magic circle set up with the help of Yuchi, which used the power of the fragments of the ownerless divine seal. Perhaps there was an invisible connection between the fragments of the ownerless divine seal and the magic circle, and Xuanming used this connection to reversely transmit the power in the virtual realm to the scene of Shenzhao's death. Luoshan naturally had no way of knowing this, and could only assume that Xuanming himself had sneaked into the Luoshan headquarters.

Yuchi also found me that night and asked me what I was going to do next. I generally supported Xuanming's intention. Whether it was destroying the virtual world or making enemies for the Lord of the Divine Seal, it was ultimately to hinder the Lord of the Divine Seal and put pressure on him. I also had similar intentions, but I never came up with a good method, nor did I have the time and energy to conceive and execute it.

I even have some respect for Xuan Ming. In the last virtual meeting, from Shen Zhao's assassination to Xuan Ming's destruction, I could only passively face the changes. Although I finally got the privilege of exercising magic power in the virtual world, I didn't have time to show it, and the virtual world fell. At most, I just used this power to protect Xiao Wan from Xuan Ming's hands.

Of course, I also have negative emotions towards Xuanming's actions. Not only because he attacked Xiaowan, but also because after destroying the virtual world, I lost the channel to contact Xiaowan. Apart from the virtual world, I can't think of any other way to contact Xiaowan again.

There is one person whose negative emotions are probably more intense than mine, and that is the Dog.

He finally got the second fragment of the divine seal, and was only one step away from initiating a transaction with the master of the divine seal, but he was interrupted by Shen Zhao and Xuan Ming one after another. In the end, even the virtual realm trading platform disappeared, and he missed the realization of his wish. It stands to reason that since they are all great impermanence, their luck should not be so bad. Who said that the two people who interrupted him were also great impermanence? This is not something that can be simply evaluated by good or bad luck.

The next day, Ma Zao, Zhu Shi and I gathered in a room in the mansion.

Shenzhao's funeral was not held immediately. On the one hand, it took time to prepare. The funeral of Da Wuchang should not be rushed. On the other hand, although Shenzhao was dead, who knew if he was really dead. Maybe he would come out on his own in a few days? - Many demon hunters have this idea. Since the murderer is the Lord of the Divine Seal, I can be sure that Shenzhao has no chance of making a comeback. While the outside world was discussing Shenzhao's death, I told Ma Zao and Zhu Shi everything that happened in the virtual world.

As expected, Ma Zao showed a shocked expression and said, "From now on...from now on there is no way to contact Xiao Wan?"

“Not necessarily.” I said, “The Void Realm was originally created by the Lord of the Divine Seal. Even if it was destroyed once, it can be recreated. As long as the Void Realm is really important to him, he will definitely do this.”

I tried to sense the connection between myself and the fragment of the divine seal.

The connection itself still exists, but after being burned by the fire of clarification, the connection has become distorted and deteriorated, just like a plastic rope that has been burned black by the flames. This distortion and deterioration does not seem to affect the state of the connection between me and the fragments of the divine seal, but based on the feeling when the virtual realm was destroyed last time, it will definitely affect the state of the connection between the fragments of the divine seal.

In other words, this is a negative change specifically imposed to prevent the establishment of the virtual realm.

It is probably not realistic to permanently block the Lord of the Divine Seal by this method, but since Xuan Ming has taken action in a serious manner, it means that this change can at least last for a long time.

I just don't know if the Lord of the Seal of God will choose the old Apostles of the Void Realm in the next created Void Realm. Xuan Ming will probably be excluded from the list by the Lord of the Seal of God, and Xuan Ming himself probably won't want to enter the Void Realm again. I still have a strong interest in the Void Realm, and I hope to establish contact with Xiao Wan again.

While worrying about Xiaowan, Ma Zao made a confused sound: "I don't understand...why would Xuanming suddenly attack Xiaowan?"

"In the mythological era, the son of God who was born with the ability to master the laws of heaven and earth was not only a natural saint, but also the highest standard of sacrifice offered to heaven and earth, and had supreme value." Zhu Shi said, "Although I don't know what Xuanming has in mind, he may have taken a fancy to this point.

"The purpose of his sudden attack was not necessarily to 'kill' but to 'capture'."

As she spoke, she seemed to feel that something was wrong and began to talk to herself, "But, I heard that Xuanming was known for his virtue in the past. Would he really do such a thing..."

"There may not necessarily be a contradiction between the two," I said.

The definition of morality will also change in different value contexts.

It is said that in the Shang Dynasty, there was a rich culture of human sacrifice. When the kings and nobles gathered to celebrate, they would kill a few human sacrifices at will to please the gods. After death, they would take their close ministers and wives and concubines with them to be buried together with themselves. Human sacrifices were also buried in the foundations of palaces, temples, city walls and other buildings to pray for the blessings of the gods and ancestors. Even some ordinary people would buy human sacrifices after building their houses and bury them underground as objects to ward off evil spirits. At that time, human sacrifices were a common social activity.

In our time, sacrificing an innocent little girl in exchange for great public welfare is a classic moral dilemma; in an era when human sacrifice is seen as a daily scene, it may be a good deed without hesitation. Even the victims who try to resist and escape may not necessarily think that such sacrifice is immoral, and may even admit that their resistance to escape is immoral.

As the founder of the Shang Dynasty, Xuanming accumulated virtues in an era that was even more ancient and barbaric than when the Shang Dynasty was established. Just because he looks easy to talk to, we cannot really regard him as a good person in the sense of modern civilized society.

If we measure Xuan Ming with the modern moral system, we might end up judging him as a demon who is cruel and tyrannical beyond imagination.

(End of this chapter)