From the end of the world

Chapter 434: Zhuang Cheng's Blade 1
The uninvited guest was not Zhu Shi.

He was a strong man wearing a black Impermanence uniform and black iron brass knuckles covered with blood-red runes on his hands. He was surrounded by magical fluctuations that were slightly stronger than those of the "Preacher". It was obvious that he was a mature Impermanence.

Considering the time and place of his appearance, as well as his direct attack on the "Preacher", I have reason to believe that this person's true identity is Luo Shan Wuchang, who disappeared in the last half month and is responsible for the security of Xianshui City and several surrounding cities.

After the head-on collision, the suddenly appearing Wuchang and the "Preacher" were ejected in different directions. As soon as the "Preacher" landed, he entered the shadow below, and then quickly emerged from the shadow behind Wuchang, grabbing Wuchang's head and heart with both hands at the same time, trying to cut off his head and dig out his heart.

With the power of a monster of level 1, not to mention a human head and heart, even the strongest armored tank would be torn apart like paper.

The powerful attack penetrated Wuchang's body without any hindrance.

"We got it!" The Preacher growled.

However, things were not that simple. The torn body of Wuchang did not burst out blood plasma and flesh, but disappeared like white mist in the wind.

Wuchang's figure appeared behind the Preacher like a ghost. The Preacher seemed to sense the murderous intent coming from behind him, his face changed drastically, and he tried to turn around, but it was too late. Wuchang's iron fist hit the Preacher's back.

"That's an afterimage." This impermanence also said something that could be ranked in the top ten lines I wanted to say the most after I learned how to manipulate light.

At the same time, it seemed as if magic power was injected into the iron fist, and a huge explosion occurred at the location where the iron fist hit the "Preacher", blowing the "Preacher" into pieces.

Unfortunately, he was not able to really succeed. The body of the Preacher also did not burst into blood plasma and flesh, but turned into black shadow substances like countless splashes of water and scattered on the ground. The Preacher once again teleported out from the shadow behind Wuchang and launched a fatal surprise attack.

The two humanoid chariots, which seemed to have infinite backup plans, moved and collided at lightning speed, producing more than thirty collisions per second, and each collision was like a bomb detonating in this space. The endless sound waves and shock waves turned this floor into a place where mortals could not survive. Even if they succeeded occasionally, the opponent would be turned into an afterimage or shadow matter, and then enter the cycle of exchanging attacks again.

I was not in a hurry to intervene in this battle. The sudden appearance of Wu Chang seemed to be just an episode of this "farce", an intruder who caused unexpected changes, but in fact it is not easy to define it so arbitrarily. I don't think that the other party's seemingly timely appearance is just a coincidence.

Or, objectively speaking, it might really be a coincidence, but since it was a coincidence that occurred in the event that Ma Zao had attracted for me, I am willing to believe that there must be some kind of revelation, some kind of fateful connotation in this incident. I need to observe it.

Compared to the weird "Preacher" who can manipulate the power of shadows, this Wuchang is more like a character who specializes in physical enhancement and close combat. His afterimage is not a special spell, but just an effect produced by light and shadow and the illusion of the naked eye. Rather than being a demon hunter who masters spells, it is better to say that he is a martial artist with an extremely strong body.

Moreover, he used traditional martial arts that conformed to certain stereotypes, with many movements that seemed fancy and exaggerated.

I don’t know what the specific practical significance of these actions is in ordinary combat environments, but they do make sense in the field of mysticism. These “performance actions” are actually a kind of “spell”.

The essence of language is the expression of will, and using mana to influence the outside world is also the act of expressing one's own soul will. Therefore, in the world of demon hunters, language and mana are always inseparable.

The form of language is not only sound and words, gestures and dance are also languages ​​expressed by body language, and even changes in facial expressions and eyes can become forms of language. In ancient times, when humans were still eating raw meat and drinking blood, they would offer sacrifices to heaven and earth and ghosts and gods, and they would often dance during the sacrifices. Body movements are the most primitive language of human beings, and dance is the most primitive spell.

With the power of dance, humans in ancient times were able to achieve all kinds of incredible miracles. When humans added dance to primitive hunting and fighting, "dance" became "martial arts". The mysterious dance elements that frequently appear in many ancient martial arts and seem redundant and funny are the most primitive hunting magic.

Speaking of martial arts, it is inevitable to think of Luoshan's most powerful old boxing god Wuchang. Could this suddenly appearing Wuchang be related to the old boxing god, or is he a follower of the old boxing god?

I think it's probably not. Although the old boxing god is the Great Wuchang who excels in martial arts, his martial arts do not have the elements of dance and sacrifice. It is better to say that he has always wanted to remove magic power from his martial arts, so he would not allow his martial arts to have any mystical elements.

Moreover, the old boxing god is not a great impermanence who stands for the supernormal. According to Zhu Shi, the person in charge of Xianshui City and several surrounding cities should be a supernormal impermanence.

"what……"

Xiao Qiao froze in place, she held my arm tightly, not daring to move. I used my own strength to protect her, and at the same time, I separated more flames, which turned into shields to protect those who were caught in the shock wave and sound wave not far away. I couldn't let those people die under my nose, it would be bad if Zhu Shi got angry.

However, even though I had done so much here, the two people fighting over there still didn't notice my presence. Although I consciously wanted to hide and watch the battle, it felt weird to be ignored like this. I suddenly thought, would those Lost Great Impermanence be similar to the state I was in temporarily?
Even if a miracle is performed on the spot, it is still not recognized by others. The traces left at the scene may be discovered, but they are more likely to be regarded as the result of natural phenomena. Maybe the "Tunguska explosion" that occurred at the beginning of the last century, which I saw in many magazines introducing mysterious events, was also something done by a lost great impermanence when he was bored. The battle between the "Preacher" and the impermanence seems to be coming to an end.

In the fierce battle, Wuchang's physical strength did not decline at all, but became more and more courageous, and the strength of his attacks and the speed of his movements also increased. He did not immediately convert his extra strength into a direct attack on the enemy, but instead took advantage of every opportunity to add one or two seemingly meaningless performance-like movements into his movements.

These movements were like the extra slings to make the sling more powerful, making his movements more powerful and faster. At the same time, the movements that seemed to be offering sacrifices also really called upon mysterious power. I felt that this impermanent mana fluctuation became more powerful, and there was a vaguely familiar taste.

The next moment, probably after some kind of sacrificial ritual was completely completed during the battle, the fluctuations of impermanent mana suddenly expanded, and invisible energy spread out in waves around.

Now I can identify that familiar smell. The mysterious power bestowed on him is very similar to the life turbidity. In other words, the object of his martial arts sacrifice is the life turbidity.

This process of calling for power reminds me of the way those who believe in me intend to call on my power through prayer. Although the external manifestations are different, in my intuition, the core of them is similar.

It turns out that this impermanence is a believer in the turbidity of life.

The "Preacher" followed the energy of impermanence and jumped to a nearby place.

"That's it, Emissary from Taoyuan Township." Wu Chang said, "For the past half month, I have been concentrating on tracking your clues. It took a lot of effort to catch you, and I don't want to waste any more time on you. Now you have nowhere to escape, so just die here."

Hearing this, the Preacher smiled mysteriously and said, "That may not be the case."

As he spoke, he raised his right hand, and the other person's face changed. At some point, a large knife appeared in his hand - in fact, I looked carefully and saw that the knife had just been spit out from the shadow behind him, and he quickly picked it up.

There are many patterns on the blade that look messy but actually have a certain unity.

I suddenly felt that those patterns looked so familiar.

Wu Chang looked at the sword in the enemy's hand in disbelief, gnashing his teeth and saying, "Could it be that... could it be that the blade is..."

"Yes, it's just as you think." The Preacher said confidently, "Since I already knew that Luo Shan Wu Chang, who is in charge of this city, is a believer of the god Ming Zhuo, how could I not prepare in advance?
"Even this location is the burial place I specially selected for you. Because here, the power of this knife will be even greater."

When Xiao Qiao heard the words of the "Preacher", she looked confused and said, "This place...?"

"And this weapon is also a killer weapon specially prepared to deal with you, a believer of Fate Turbidity." The "Preacher" pointed the big knife at Wuchang, "This big knife has undergone countless ritual baptisms, and it contains the power of a god who once defeated Fate Turbidity. According to the mythological restraint relationship, the power of that god can restrain the power of Fate Turbidity in you. Even you yourself will be involved in this fate and become a dead soul under the knife.

"If you still have hope in your heart, then I will tell you directly here. The name of that god is the god who controls fire - 'Zhuang Cheng'!"

As soon as he finished speaking, an orange-red flame suddenly burned on the blade out of thin air.

When Xiao Qiao, the schoolgirl hiding behind me, heard this, she was stunned for a moment, then made a silly sound: "——Ah?"

"what?"

I couldn't help but make a similar sound, and then carefully distinguished the familiar pattern carved on the big knife. It turned out that it was not a pattern, but a lot of words.

Specifically, the name "Zhuang Cheng" was densely engraved on the blade.

(End of this chapter)