“Now that the overall situation is set, I wonder if you two could spare some time from your fight to answer a few questions for me?” Feng Bujue said leisurely.

“What’s with that tone of yours, like you’ve got everything in the bag…” Dian Que Wang replied unhappily.

“Heh… it means I’ve *already* got everything in the bag.” Feng Bujue shrugged and smiled back.

Since that answer sounded like complete nonsense, he immediately added, “Right now, you don’t have the strength to interfere with my five companions’ actions. Once they complete the main quest, I can join the battle. With the combined attacks of Zun-ge and me, you’ll undoubtedly be defeated.” He paused for a moment, then continued, “To avoid that scenario, you only have one option, and that’s to defeat Zun-ge before my teammates finish the quest, but you know very well… that’s absolutely impossible. Forget a few minutes, even if I gave you a few hours, you might not be able to do it.”

“Oh? You can even see that?” Zhuan Jie Zun replied with a smile, dodging an elbow strike from his opponent.

“What’s so difficult about that? It’s just observing and analyzing the fighting styles and data strengths of you two.” Feng Bujue replied calmly. “Since the three of us can see the ‘Truth Sequence,’ I’ll be blunt… Dian Que Wang, I don’t know how strong your true form is, but your current strength… is only slightly stronger than Zun-ge’s.”

“Hmph… that’s because the host body is limiting my power.” Dian Que Wang replied darkly. “If I could use my full power… you two wouldn’t last ten seconds against me…”

“Stop talking nonsense.” Feng Bujue interrupted. “Zun-ge isn’t at his best either, is he?” He smiled, “To take a step back, if what you say is true, why bother with ‘brain invasions’ and ‘body snatching’ tricks? Just beat Zun-ge directly, wouldn’t you?”

“Tch…” Dian Que Wang spat unhappily when he was exposed and gritted his teeth, continuing his attack.

However, how could Zhuan Jie Zun, who had resolved to focus on defense and stalling, be so easily defeated… Jue-ge’s previous words, while seemingly provocative, were actually subtly hinting at what strategy Zun-ge should use.

As of now, as Feng Bujue had said—the overall situation, was set.

“Oh, right.” After a minute, Feng Bujue spoke again, as if he had suddenly thought of something, “I have a suggestion, you might want to hear it…”

“Another conspiracy brewing…” That was Zhuan Jie Zun’s first reaction upon hearing that.

“Dian Que Wang, in the face of an inevitable outcome, your struggle is meaningless, why not…” Feng Bujue continued, “You two stop fighting for now, and the three of us can discuss a deal…”

As soon as he said this, Dian Que Wang’s expression immediately changed. The ancient god who had been trapped into an impossible situation, was overjoyed.

“Are you kidding me?” Zhuan Jie Zun scolded, “I’m already guaranteed to win, why should I negotiate with him?”

“Are you misunderstanding something?” An evil smile appeared on Feng Bujue’s face. “Whether you or it wins or loses, the decision is in my hands.” He straightened his collar and tilted his head, “I can help you, and naturally, I can help it too.”

“You…” At that moment, Zhuan Jie Zun felt a chill running through his bones. He then realized that the one truly controlling the situation—was Feng Bujue.

“Dian Que Wang, continuing the fight will only be a futile waste of everyone’s time.” Jue-ge looked at Dian Que Wang, “Only by making a deal with us… will you have a chance of survival.”

After speaking, he paused for half a second and looked at Zhuan Jie Zun, “Zun-ge, the current situation is a very typical ‘Romance of the Three Kingdoms-style relationship.’ I’m the Lord, you’re the loyal subject, and it’s the traitor. To sum it up… if I die, you die too; if I help you, you win; if I help it, you still die, but I’m fine. So… I hope you listen to my suggestion.”

“Heh…” Zun-ge smiled bitterly and replied, “Looks like I have no choice.”

“Then stop fighting…” Dian Que Wang stopped attacking when he saw that the other party had agreed, and with a flash, retreated several zhang.

“That’s right.” Feng Bujue continued, “Everyone is a civilized person, let’s talk calmly and try to solve the problem… that’s the right way.”

“What kind of trick do you have up your sleeve? Just say it.” Dian Que Wang replied unhappily.

“Before I tell you my idea…” Feng Bujue replied slowly, “You’d better tell me first…”

“Alright, I know what you want to ask.” Dian Que Wang interrupted, “Hmph… you’re asking the right person (god), no one is more qualified than me to answer this question.” He said quickly, “[*Nan Zhi Ru Yin* (Difficult to Know as Yin)], is the ‘Fighting Demon’s’ third eye.”

“Oh…” Feng Bujue responded very calmly, and continued, “Actually… I didn’t want to ask you that. I just wanted to know, who are you? What do you do? How did you get into Zun-ge’s head, etc.… in order to formulate the content of the transaction.” He shrugged, “Of course, I’ll have to ask about the true nature of that item sooner or later… It’s good that you can tell me in advance.”

“You brat…” Dian Que Wang’s face was flushed with anger when he heard this, because he felt that he had been tricked by Jue-ge again…

“Hehe… don’t get angry.” Zhuan Jie Zun, who was on the side, smiled and smoothed things over, “It was your own fault for speaking before you finished hearing the question.” He waved his hand, “At this time… you need to take a deep breath and calm down…”

“How the hell am I supposed to breathe?” Dian Que Wang cursed in frustration, “Can’t you see that my host body is a dead spirit?”

“Oh… a *zongzi* (Chinese sticky rice dumpling wrapped in bamboo leaves).” Feng Bujue replied, touching his chin.

“What kind of slang is that?” Dian Que Wang stared at Jue-ge with a puzzled look on his face.

“Don’t mind the details…” Feng Bujue replied with a smile, and brought the topic back on track, “In short, you have to tell me about yourself first, so that we can formulate a plan that is acceptable to all three parties, right?”

“I am Dian Que Wang, an ancient god, don’t you already know that?” After calming down a little, Dian Que Wang replied in a more relaxed tone (in fact, his tone when he was angry was not scary at all, after all, it was a child’s voice).

“What else?” Feng Bujue continued to ask, “Why did Zun-ge say that you two are both ‘Watchers,’ and why did he say that you betrayed your mission?”

“Mission? Ha! Hahahaha…” Dian Que Wang laughed loudly, but the laughter was full of sorrow, “Do you know what I’m actually guarding? You ignorant human…”

“Let me guess…” Feng Bujue combined what the other party had just said and instantly came to a hypothesis, “Fighting Demon?”

“Then do you know what those two words mean?” Dian Que Wang continued.

“I would like to hear the details.” Feng Bujue politely raised his right hand at this moment, signaling the other party to continue.

“In the ‘previous era,’ there were no Four Pillar Gods at all, nor was there our current Zhuan Jie Zun, nor were there any interdimensional travelers or derivatives…” Dian Que Wang replied, “That was a black-and-white, pure world…” A few nostalgic glimmers seemed to flash in his eyes, “The entire universe only contained two supreme beings who were far beyond other lifeforms…”

“That is… the ‘Overseer God’ who represents light and order, and the ‘Fighting Demon’ who represents darkness and chaos.” Zhuan Jie Zun recited, continuing the other party’s words.

“You know quite a lot…” Dian Que Wang glanced at Zun-ge.

“Part of the ‘knowledge’ I guard is about records from the ‘ancient’ period.” Zhuan Jie Zun said, “Your name… is also among them.”

“Then why don’t you explain it?” Dian Que Wang said, “I’ll supplement it if there are any inaccuracies.”

“Okay…” Zhuan Jie Zun responded, and then turned to look at Feng Bujue and said, “In the ancient period, the Overseer God and the Fighting Demon were like the yin and yang sides of the Taiji, maintaining the balance of the entire universe. As time went on, as the universe expanded, they naturally needed some subordinates to help them manage it. Therefore, they each used their own power to create some lifeforms, which later became the… ‘God Race’ and the ‘Demon Race.’”

At this point, Zhuan Jie Zun waved his hand and pointed at Dian Que Wang: “Dian Que Wang, is a survivor of the God Race. In ancient books, he is called—the Ancient Devil Guard.”

“Wait…” Even Feng Bujue heard the problem, “Why is a member of the God Race called a demon?”

“Because I betrayed my race.” Dian Que Wang answered this question himself.

“Oh? What’s going on?” Feng Bujue touched his chin, “Hmm… let me guess… this must be related to some girl, as expected, it’s because the demon girls are more…”

“I never said that I sided with the demon race.” Dian Que Wang immediately overturned Jue-ge’s delusions and said in a deep voice, “I just raised some objections to certain practices of my race, and as a result, I was put on trial. But I didn’t sit still and wait for death, I killed the executioner and escaped from the territory of the God Race… Since then, my compatriots have called me a demon. Over time… even the demon race has regarded me as a demon.”

“I see…” Feng Bujue nodded, “Can I ask… what is the ‘objection’ you mentioned?”

“I forgot.” Dian Que Wang replied without thinking.

“Huh?” Even Feng Bujue suspected that he had misheard.

“There’s nothing strange about it, who would remember that kind of thing after so long?” Dian Que Wang replied, “It’s like you committed a crime and were sentenced to thousands of years in prison. When you’re released… you’ll at most remember the charge, how could you still remember the details of the case.”

“Okay… I understand.” Feng Bujue continued, “Then what is your ‘charge’?”

“Raising ‘objections’ itself is a charge, the content of the objection is not important.” Dian Que Wang replied, “The so-called ‘order’ of the God Race is the strangulation of all free will. They use a meticulous and unchanging system to manage everything under their rule.” He explained, “For example… the God Race is like a group of people who control a large amount of water during a drought. Even if others die of thirst in front of them, they will not share a drop of water, because that is the ‘rule.’ Their hands have not been stained with a drop of blood, but they are dirtier and more efficient than any executioner. And they firmly believe that what they are doing is correct and noble, at least much more clever than those libertarians who advocate humanity.”

“I understand…” Feng Bujue responded, “From your remarks, I think you should defect to the great communist…”

“How that kind of thing turns out is fine.” Dian Que Wang interrupted Jue-ge, “Don’t go too far.”

Zhuan Jie Zun also said, “Yes, I was only halfway through…” He paused slightly, and then continued the previous content, “After many years, a catastrophe suddenly descended. No one knows why this happened, perhaps… just because a certain creature of a higher dimension had a whim, our world ushered in its end…”

“Hmph… it’s just Woody’s doing…” Feng Bujue thought in his heart. Hearing this, he basically confirmed that… the so-called "Ancient Era" was actually the "destroyed, original version of Thriller Paradise" that Zero had mentioned.

“After the catastrophe, our universe was reborn.” Zhuan Jie Zun’s narration continued, “The Four Pillar Gods were the first four beings born in the new universe. After them, I and some other high-ranking beings appeared…” He raised his head, looking at the ceiling thoughtfully, “I don’t know who my creator is, I only know that from the moment I was born, I have possessed almost infinite knowledge and an indelible sense of mission. My ‘mission’ is to guard the ‘knowledge’ in the Reasoning Club until I, or this universe, is destroyed again.”

Zhuan Jie Zun took a few steps, then lowered his head and stared at Jue-ge: “If… I am the guardian of ‘knowledge,’ then Dian Que Wang, is the guardian of ‘power.’” He cast a complex expression at the latter, “According to the records, just before the destruction of the Ancient Era, the Overseer God launched a challenge against the Fighting Demon… In the end, he exhausted all of his divine power to seal the Fighting Demon into the [Gate of Emptiness]. And he made a special lifeform with both divine and demonic characteristics into the key to the seal. From then on, that lifeform was called the ‘Ancient Devil Guard.’”

“Heh… I’m afraid the Overseer God never imagined that his actions would instead allow the Fighting Demon to survive.” Dian Que Wang sneered and continued, “And he himself, due to the extreme depletion of his divine power, died in the catastrophe not long after.”

“Then… next, let me explain how you sneaked into my brain.” Zhuan Jie Zun looked at Dian Que Wang, his tone slightly changed.

“Isn’t it obvious…” At this time, Dian Que Wang had put on an attitude of being unafraid of anything, “I relied on the little bit of demonic energy that seeped out of the Gate of Emptiness to constantly accumulate my power, and after a long period of time, I finally escaped.” He paused for a moment, then continued, “The Overseer God’s seal is indeed powerful, it is almost impossible to break it with external force, but fortunately, I myself am part of the seal, and the power I have acquired from the Fighting Demon over the years is also very vast, that’s why…”

“Wait a minute…” Feng Bujue stretched out a hand and made an Er Kang face, “…According to your meaning, now that the seal has been broken, then… isn’t the Fighting Demon…”

“No, not yet.” Zhuan Jie Zun replied, “That seal will not be destroyed so easily. Even if the Devil Guard leaves, there is a way to remedy it.” He then pointed to Dian Que Wang, “As long as you catch it back before the overall seal collapses, you can restore it.”

“Don’t dream! Even if I die… I won’t go back!” At this moment, Dian Que Wang showed a look of horror mixed with madness, “Over the years… it’s not just demonic energy that has seeped out of the Gate of Emptiness…” Speaking of this, countless terrifying experiences involuntarily flashed through his mind, “There’s also… ‘Nothingness.’”

“What kind of stuff is that?” Feng Bujue asked casually.

“It’s hard to explain it clearly in words.” Zhuan Jie Zun replied, “You can regard it as a ‘substance’ with physical form, or you can regard it as an empty ‘power,’ or even say… it’s just a ‘concept.’”

“With the spiritual power of you humans, as soon as you come into contact with ‘Nothingness,’ your divine consciousness will collapse and you will be wiped out.” Dian Que Wang continued, “Even I… after coming into contact with a small amount of ‘Nothingness’ that seeped out of the door, I felt pain beyond compare. That terrifying feeling… is unforgettable forever…”

“Oh… I seem to know what you’re talking about.” Feng Bujue replied calmly, “Basically, it’s the kind of thing… that makes you lose all your senses, as if you are in eternal darkness, and makes you question your existence, right?” He shrugged, “I also experienced it when I was in the Gate of Emptiness, it was quite uncomfortable.”