From the end of the world

Chapter 518 The Great Demon Arrives
I hadn't even introduced myself yet, but this mysterious woman in front of me actually told me my name.

After a brief recollection, I realized that when she was following us, Youhun and Tanxiang had not called out my name. Could it be that during my communication with Yuchi, they had called out my name in order to "wake me up", and the other party heard it? I glanced at the two of them.

Tan Xiang was confused by my action, but Youhun seemed to understand and shook his head, then frowned and looked at the mysterious woman opposite.

I didn't really show the magical power of the Great Impermanence just now, and the mysterious woman knew my name and surrendered so easily. It can be seen that she knew my true identity and level, and therefore judged that there was no point in continuing to fight.

The change in her attitude seemed to be the turning point when she saw my appearance clearly, but she had been secretly observing us for such a long time before, and she even asked who I was when we first spoke. It was impossible that she only recognized my true identity through my appearance now.

The real turning point should be the moment when I showed my fire.

The power of fire is not rare no matter where it is placed. The characteristic of "being able to manipulate fire" alone is far from enough to determine my true identity. However, if it is through the fluctuation of mana, the matter is different. Any demon hunter who has seen my fire once can do this.

But I have only been in the apocalypse for a short time, how could someone familiar recognize me just by the fluctuation of mana? Even if there are other apocalypse survivors who can "recognize" me, most of them will recognize the Great Demon of Disaster like the little girl next to the cartographer last time.

If it was Xiaowan, it would be another matter. She had seen my flames and should be able to identify the fluctuations of mana in them. Although she had never seen my specific appearance, the information from this fluctuation alone was enough for her to confirm my true identity. In my plan, I also intended to rely on this method to achieve recognition.

In the apocalypse, it is possible to meet your past or future self; similarly, it is also possible to meet acquaintances from the past or future. It is impossible that the mysterious woman in front of me is "the grown-up Xiaowan"?

The moment I thought of this section, I suddenly realized another possibility.

If I remember correctly, I had another "acquaintance" in the doomsday era besides Xiaowan, and that was No. 7.

Yes, it is very likely that No. 7 is also in the Doomsday Era. This was confirmed by Yuchi's technology. Yuchi once told me that when he tried to locate the Little Bowl through the fragments of the Divine Seal, he was greatly disturbed by the different eras; and when he tried to track and locate No. 7, he also encountered the same kind of interference. Although it is still in the inference stage, Yuchi and I both believe that No. 7 and Little Bowl are in the same situation.

And when the virtual world was destroyed, No. 7 also saw my fire. So when I met her in the doomsday era, it became extremely reasonable that she could not recognize my true identity by my appearance, but only by the fluctuations of my flame magic power.

“——Are you number seven?” I asked directly.

"..."

After hearing my address, the mysterious woman did not show any surprise or confusion, but remained silent, as if she was weighing what kind of answer she should give. It was difficult to tell whether this was a tacit agreement, or an attempt to avoid my question, or a denial.

I reconsidered my reasoning and found that there were other inexplicable contradictions. First, assuming that this mysterious woman was number seven, she should have been able to identify me as number three in the virtual world at most. Why did she know that my name was Zhuang Cheng?

Yuchi and Xugou knew that "No. 3 is Zhuang Cheng" because they were both from the modern world. With a little investigation, they could easily narrow down the identity of No. 3 to "Zhuang Cheng, the new Great Impermanence of Luoshan". However, No. 7 was not from the modern world, had no intelligence channels in the modern world, and had never communicated with other Apostles of the Void Realm.

In addition to the mysterious woman being number seven, are there other possibilities that can explain the current situation? It seems that there are some.

For example, the mysterious woman first met me at a certain time in the future, and then had a conflict with my present me. The reason why she couldn't recognize my appearance was because her memory in this regard was vague; it is also possible that she knew somewhere that "the predecessor of the Great Demon of Disaster was Zhuang Cheng", so when she saw someone with "the same magic power fluctuations as the Great Demon of Disaster" but who looked like a human, she could accurately match it with the information in her mind.

"I remembered."

Just when the mysterious woman and I were in a stalemate, the wandering soul suddenly spoke, and he spoke to the mysterious woman opposite, "You are the demigod who has always followed Tai Sui, Tai Sui's confidant, and the most respected right-hand man... right? It turns out that you are not dead yet.

"Although I forgot your name, I must have met you more than once before. Of course, a big shot like you probably wouldn't take a small character like me seriously..."

The mysterious woman who might be number seven glanced at Youhun and spoke again: "I remember you, you are Youhun. You are still as gloomy as before... Could it be that you are the one who wants the Three Lives Stone to be scattered?"

"It's me." Youhun said in a humble tone, "You... No, you should have been a senior executive in charge of the Tai Sui Gospel Institute, and you know this place very well. I don't know why the Three Lives Stone Powder appeared in the Tai Sui Gospel Institute, and I don't know why you are staying in this destroyed place now... But if you know any clues..."

The mysterious woman did not respond to the wandering soul, but looked at me and asked, "Is this what you mean? You want to find the Three Lives Stone Powder for him?"

"Yes," I said. After receiving this reply, the mysterious woman took out a small object from her arms and threw it towards me.

I reached out and grabbed it, then looked down. It was a paper bag only half the size of my fist, with something that looked like sand inside, and it faintly gave off a smell reminiscent of Chinese medicine.

"This is what you want." The mysterious woman said, "It's only enough for one person, just take it with water."

Is this the Sansheng Stone Powder? I felt the wandering souls around me showing surprise and surprise. Although I really want to verify it, I don’t know what the Sansheng Stone Powder looks like. Unless I take it, there is no way to confirm it.

"Is this your compensation for surrendering? Or do you plan to use this item to trade something with us?" I asked.

"It's an apology, but I do have something I want to communicate with you." The mysterious woman seemed to be choosing her words, "Zhuang Cheng, can you tell me...how did you leave your original time and space and come to this place?"

As soon as she asked this question, I was basically certain that she was number seven.

"I was banished to the void by Huangquan. When I tried to return to the modern world, something went wrong and I accidentally came to the apocalyptic era," I said.

"Yellow Spring? Exile? Accident?" The mysterious woman seemed to be in a strange state of anxiety. "Didn't you come here on your own initiative for number two? I mean... you don't even know how you got here?"

"I don't know," I said.

The mysterious woman took a deep breath and said, "I understand. Then, Zhuang Cheng, let me ask you a question first. Do you want to return to your original time and space?"

I asked back without comment: "Do you have a solution?"

The mysterious woman nodded and continued, "Yes, I have a way. However, I don't have the power necessary to fulfill the conditions. I must rely on your power to do this.

"But before that, we'd better talk somewhere else. This place is too dangerous, especially for you..."

For me? I was confused.

But it would be better to talk somewhere else. Assuming that the mysterious woman is No. 7, her attitude here seems to be that she does not want to discuss any topics related to her virtual realm identity in front of Youhun and Tanxiang, so I will change to confirm her identity in private.

As soon as she finished her words, something unexpected happened, interrupting the communication.

Based on the mysterious woman's cold attitude, Youhun and I suspected that there might be some dangerous monsters here. Considering that the mysterious woman has the ability of the Great Perfection level, she can judge that the monsters that are the source of the threat are at least at a level that cannot be easily solved by the power of the Great Perfection level. I was mentally prepared for this. But I didn't expect that the threat would easily crush my expectations the moment it appeared.

The enemy that appears this time is definitely not a doomsday monster that only has special abilities but does not possess sufficient power.

The fluctuations of mana that reached the realm of gods exploded from afar and ravaged here like a tsunami.

For a moment, I even had a strong hallucination, as if the whole world was submerged in dark sea water, and I was immersed in the abyss thousands of feet below.

The mysterious woman seemed to have a similar hallucination. She lost her strength and fell to the ground, hugging her body in pain, as if her body was being pressed down by invisible "water pressure" from the outside, and her body was inexplicably cracked and wounded.

Youhun and Tanxiang, on the other hand, were completely unharmed; they obviously didn't feel anything.

"How can it be so fast... Xuanwu..." the mysterious woman said with all her might, "...Run... The great demon Xuanwu is coming--!"

Then, from beneath the ground in the atrium, an overwhelming force exploded and rose up like a volcano.

(End of this chapter)