Chapter 573 The Meaning of the Strong, Part 2 (7600, Thanks to Alliance Leader "Vacation Replay"!)

In the pitch-black night, in a remote Japanese town, a man in a dark brown leather coat was walking alone among the somewhat dilapidated buildings, carefully searching for strange clues.

He held a small hanging lamp in his left hand, wore a monocle treated with secret rituals on his face, and had various strange gadgets and medicine tubes hanging from his waist, as well as powder packets. A large crucifix pendant on his chest released a crystalline glow, and faint talisman patterns flickered on the peach wood sword on his back.

The town was silent, but in the spirit world, it was incredibly noisy. The yellow light projected by the dim streetlights attracted mosquitoes, making the deserted streets particularly lonely.

The compass in his hand indicated an intermittent signal. The man narrowed his eyes and looked up at a small, unrenovated house in the distance.

He walked slowly, pushed the door open, and casually threw a triggered mine at the entrance, along with a talisman. At that moment, he heard a female voice, filled with sorrow, seemingly crying, yet also giggling.

——The first thing to do is to determine the type of 怪异 (guaiyi, monster).

The man raised the hanging lamp in his left hand, blew lightly on it, and reached to his waist with his right hand, pulling out an old-fashioned shotgun with a deliberately shortened barrel.

Instantly, the hanging lamp, which had almost gone out, shone brightly, illuminating the entire hall of the small house—instantly, countless layers of bloody handprints appeared in every corner of the house, sealing all doors and windows like a formation.

At first glance, these bloody handprints looked like cherry blossom branches and flowers, eerie yet strangely beautiful.

The light from the hanging lamp made them visible, melting them, and countless blood began to flow down the corridors and walls, releasing an aura that made the soul tremble.

Not ghouls or yaksha, nor妖兽 (yao shou, demon beasts) that had gained sentience, it should be the spirit or怨灵 (yuanling, vengeful spirit) of a cherry blossom tree.

But they shouldn't be this strong. The 怪异 (guaiyi, monster) that made Master Zhendu and Master Nakajima disappear shouldn't be this simple.

Recently, old people and young men had been disappearing in Fengqi Town. It sounded like just another unremarkable怪异 (guaiyi, monster) incident that had been happening for the last ten years or so. But after several well-known exorcists from Japan disappeared here, this ordinary little thing became serious.

Sensing an unusual aura, and invited by a familiar friend, an unknown, mysterious exorcist was invited to take action and came to a region far from his hometown.

But now it seemed that things were far more troublesome than he had imagined.

He took two small steps back, avoiding the cherry-colored blood that seemed to be flowing towards him intentionally. The man hung the hanging lamp on a hook pre-installed on his chest, then pulled out a light purple potion from his waist, skillfully filling it into two special shotgun shells.

This was Fierce Soul Water, fermented and extracted from the凶牙草 (xiong ya cao, fierce tooth grass) that grew on ancient battlefields. Although poisonous, it could be used to strengthen the soul and physical strength of the user in a short period. Now, combined with the sacred silver powder built into the bullet, it was perfect for destroying soul-like enemies.

The woman's laughter was approaching, and the blood flowing on the walls and floor began to coalesce, transforming into shapes like tree roots. Silently, these roots had already circled behind the man, intending to launch a surprise attack and pierce the man's internal organs.

Then the mine was triggered. The huge explosion mixed with the rapidly spreading kaiguang (开光, consecration) talisman ash spread throughout the small house. The originally mournful, giggling female voice instantly turned into a shrill scream. The man skillfully rolled to avoid the explosion, and using his ability to identify direction by sound, he held the gun with one hand and fired at the direction the sound came from.

The purple light flashed, and the reaction between the Fierce Soul Potion and the exorcism silver powder was very intense, like acid-base neutralization. It released an unbelievably high heat for spiritual beings. The vengeful soul that appeared because of the talisman ash was pierced the moment it was forced to show itself, and countless corrosive holes appeared on its pale and beautiful soul body.

But even so, the vengeful soul did not dissipate. It turned its head, its soul body constantly healing. On its beautiful face, the dark eye sockets without eyeballs stared intently at the man who fired the shot, causing him to gasp.

In normal eyes, there was only a chaotic mass of mist, but in the monocle, there was a beautiful, but resentful woman.

According to the locals, this should be a female college student who had been abandoned by someone in recent years, and eventually died in her rented house with her newborn child. The man understood why the other party had turned into a 怪异 (guaiyi, monster), but it was a little difficult for him to understand why the other party's power was so strong.

To take a shot from an exorcism shotgun and still be able to heal, even the Ghost Buddha he had exorcised at Liangshan Temple didn't have this much vitality—of course, the Ghost Buddha was also much bigger, that guy was a full five stories tall.

No, where did the vengeful soul get its vitality from? All that supported them was obsession and soul power.

Another roll, a flashbang grenade with lightning strike wood powder was thrown out, temporarily forcing back the妖 (yao, demon). The man hung the shotgun back on his waist, then pulled out the peach wood sword and slashed at the blood roots that were constantly wrapping around him—he remembered from the intelligence that the female student liked plants very much, and often raised potted plants and succulents.

Could it be that it's not a vengeful soul, but a plant?

The vengeful soul had already begun to charge, its speed surpassing the speed of sound. The man could only pick up the hanging lamp again and blow on it—the dazzling light shone, and the power in this ancient lamp, once enshrined in an Egyptian pyramid, was temporarily exhausted. As a result, the vengeful soul let out another scream and was forced to retreat. He also noticed that a shadow remained unchanged under this dazzling light.

That was a small potted tree located behind the living room of the small house.

"Holy!"

Shouting a sacred word, the man did not hesitate to tear off the large crucifix necklace on his chest and throw it in that direction—that thing was a treated radioactive material explosive. The crystalline light was not holy light, but radiation in the truest sense.

And now, the radioactive explosive, activated by the password, exploded, and the chaotic magnetic field completely shattered all the surrounding怪异 (guaiyi, monster) phenomena. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the man took out the white phosphorus he had prepared and threw it all in the direction of the small potted tree, then shot it with a gun.

Boom, a raging fire burned, and the妖 (yao, demon) tree turned to ashes in the incandescent flames. The vengeful soul's scream slowly faded away.

Although less than fifteen seconds had passed from entering the house to now, the man was covered in sweat and felt exhausted.

"怪异 (guaiyi, monster) are getting stronger and stronger… I don't know what methods will be used in the future to solve these monsters…"

He sighed, staggered out of the small house that had begun to burn, and pulled a chocolate bar from his waist, muttering somewhat indistinctly, "Why did they suddenly appear? There must be a source behind this, but it's been more than ten years, and I can't find any clues."

The man didn't smoke or drink, those things would affect the speed and accuracy of chanting sacred words, although no one knew which great god would respond to those prayers, perhaps that was also some extremely powerful 怪异 (guaiyi, monster).

But using 怪异 (guaiyi, monster) to deal with 怪异 (guaiyi, monster) was what every exorcist in this world excelled at.

"This time, I have to make them pay more—it's always these kinds of tasks, I'm going to live at least twenty years less."

Slowly chewing the chocolate bar, with his back to the burning small house, he prepared to go to the Northeast for a few months of vacation and have a good rest at the Liaozhou Bathhouse, which was comparable to the ancient Roman baths. After four super-evolutions, the Northeast Bathhouse had long been a well-known high-end resort in this world, and was the first choice for all exorcists to relax and vacation.

Although he knew that 怪异 (guaiyi, monster) were everywhere, and he would definitely encounter several incidents even on vacation, the man's desire to vacation was stronger than diamonds.

But, as rustling sounds rang out, the sensitive man suddenly realized that the fire behind him, which should have continued to burn, was now gradually dying out.

In the sound of the sea, as if the tree sea was being blown by the evening breeze, a cold shadow began to spread.

"...No way?"

The man, with his back to the fire and shadow, froze in place. He forced himself to calm down and slowly turned his head to look behind him.

Then, he saw a huge, pale white cherry blossom tree slowly emerging from the center of the town.

——Iya, iya~

A cheerful nursery rhyme sounded, the voice of the giant tree was innocent.

But, in contrast to that voice, countless skulls, either withered or fresh, hung on the huge cherry blossom tree, and at its roots, countless corpses, either ancient or recently captured, were gathered together like团包 (tuan bao, dumplings) —there were also several men inside who were familiar, the figures of well-known colleagues from Japan, but now they were obviously all dead.

Obviously, the giant tree was neither good nor evil, it just absorbed from people's hearts, the methods that humans used to treat humans.

Then.

It used these methods to treat humans in the same way.

Perhaps this 怪异 (guaiyi, monster) even thought this was the way to make friends—look at those corpses, how close they are.

Fengqi Town was probably an ancient battlefield or some other place where many people had died. The moment he saw this怨魂 (yuanling, vengeful spirit) tree, the man roughly understood why this 怪异 (guaiyi, monster) had appeared, and the other party's principles of action. But what was the point of knowing?

"Crap."

Now, even he could only subconsciously utter this exclamation. The man turned around and ran without hesitation, but the huge怨魂 (yuanling, vengeful spirit) tree behind him had no intention of giving up—instantly, accompanied by the frantic dance of branches and twigs, bloody rain began to cover the entire Fengqi Town, and countless roots composed of blood howled as they attacked.

……

"Why does the supernatural exist? Why do monsters appear out of thin air? There must be a reason for all of this, I want to find it, understand why, and then end it."

Decades later, the old, one-armed exorcist said in a low voice to his young apprentice: "I once exorcised the Twilight Demon that devours hope in an empty city, I once sealed the Resurrected怨魂 (yuanling, vengeful spirit) God Tree in a small Japanese town, I once fought against the Ghoul tribe in the frozen soil of North America—all of this has brought me fragmented clues, making me aware that behind all 怪异 (guaiyi, monster), there is a source called 'Greatness'."

"But that's all. My life is coming to an end, the last meaning of my life is to pass on this knowledge, tell you, let you continue, find out the truth."

"But, Master..."

In front of the old man, kneeling obediently on the ground, among the many apprentices, a white-haired girl asked with some confusion: "Doesn't the textbook say that the reason why 怪异 (guaiyi, monster) are 怪异 (guaiyi, monster) is because their existence itself exceeds logic?"

Now.

The areas where humans can survive, apart from a few large cities on the surface protected by holy sites, are only a series of large underground settlements, and a series of space cities in space.

And the surface of the earth has almost been completely occupied by countless abnormal怪异 (guaiyi, monster).

In order to open up the connection between space and the underground, in order to find the truth about the 怪异 (guaiyi, monster), no matter how dangerous the work of the exorcist is, there will always be someone who will persevere—but not everyone is willing to pursue the truth behind the 怪异 (guaiyi, monster), but merely to carry out their work.

"Listen, humans can never give up asking 'why'."

But, at this moment, the girl heard the old man's calm reply.

Sitting upright in his seat, the white-haired old man narrowed his eyes.

He stretched out his only hand, staring at the lines in his palm—those were the alternating, rotating Ouroboros, the concentric circles spreading in the mist, the radiant God Tree, the broken golden ball, and the radiation lines extending to the distance.

There were many more lines, these were all the trophies he had taken from the unknown and the 怪异 (guaiyi, monster) in his life. He was not angry because of the girl's statement, but patiently taught her.

"Because, asking 'why' about things you don't know, things you don't want to admit, and then intending to change it, is the most essential desire of human beings."

"In fact, the truth is not important, what is important is the process of finding the truth, of finding what you want, that is the meaning of life."

In the old man's gentle narration, some girls heard it.

She heard a man's confusion and determination, like a fire burning in the abyss, even if it could be extinguished at any time, it was still determined to burn.

The flame flickered, perhaps it had many different shapes, different colors, but what remained unchanged was its light, its temperature, and the essence of burning and inheritance.

Another brand new spark of fire was ignited.

Another person understood what a wish was, what responsibility was, and what a seeking heart was.

【——Flame of Quest.】

In the pitch-black soul space, there were many more flames.

The flame wanted to continue to float, but it was covered by a hand, covering all the light and shadow.

A cyan-purple soul light flickered, Su Zhou raised his head and silently looked at the golden light.

【Do you want to save them?】

There was such a voice, gentle, sweet, compassionate, with kindness: 【Although they were once you, they are not completely you, their fate has not been determined, if you are willing, you can go to save them.】

"Save."

After a moment of silence, a sigh-like voice rang out.

"Save."

Repeating this word, Su Zhou laughed, the young man's voice said lightly: "Save? Where do we start?"

"I don't see anything that needs to be saved."

So, confused thoughts came.

He seemed to be puzzled, puzzled why Su Zhou would have such a reply.

The young man closed his eyes, and his mind was filled with the three lives he had just seen, which he might encounter.

The first, the Great Seal was broken, but the Great Existence did not escape, a world where spiritual energy was revived.

The second, the Great Seal was not broken, the Great Existence continued to be sealed, a world where spiritual energy was revived.

The third, both the Great Seal and the Great Existence were normal, and even spiritual energy was not revived, only various derived Great Existence information gradually derived worlds.

The three lives all had their imperfections.

In the first life, he was a lone star, fighting alone to the end; in the second life, in order to achieve his goals, he did not hesitate to become the Way, and become the Heavenly Punishment; in the third life, although there was nothing imperfect, and he was not unhappy, he was still seeking until the end of his life, and could not find a way to fulfill his wish.

Yes, they were indeed not very perfect, not very happy, if they had to be distinguished by good or bad, they were obviously not "happy endings."

So Perfect came to ask.

If possible, would Su Zhou go to save these possibilities, and change all of the 'good and bad' in the multiverse by half.

This was His path.

He sent an invitation to Su Zhou.

And Su Zhou's answer was 'no'.

"I am me, Su Zhou is Su Zhou, they may have the same name and surname as me, in your Great Existence's perspective, there may be the same origin - but they are not me, but independent lives."

With such a reply, facing the golden light flashing in front of him, the young man replied seriously and earnestly: "I know, Perfect, you love everything, and hope that everyone will live a 'perfect' life, with a 'happy and beautiful' story and ending."

"I admire and even like your path very much. But."

Shaking his head with a smile, Su Zhou's tone was a little accusatory: "If you were asking the other Su Zhou himself, that might make a little sense - only they are qualified to make a decision - but why are you asking me?"

"Do I have the right to deny other people's lives?"

【They are you. And the current you, as the most powerful individual among all of you at this moment, can undo those tragedies.】

Perfect's voice rang out, calm and benevolent:: 【Do you like those destinies? Don't you want to change the direction of those dark tributaries?】

"Don't like it... but, I won't 'deny' it."

Slowly sitting cross-legged on the ground, Su Zhou supported his chin with his hand, he fell into deep thought, and then said softly: "Everyone is working hard to live, burning like a flame, this is not light, but it is not darkness... how can I easily deny it, and judge the struggle of all human beings in another world as a 'unsuccessful' tragedy?"

"I know, they are very miserable, many people die, even in another time and space, just watching my heart seems to be clenched, if it were me, I would never accept such a fate, I must rise up and resist, I must change everything..."

"But precisely because of this, precisely because of this, if I, who has not experienced these tragedies, arbitrarily judge all of this... then I am too arrogant."

【Arrogance is the meaning of the existence of the strong.】

With a soft sigh, the voice in the golden halo carried incomprehension: 【If the strong don't do these things, don't judge, then what is the point of the existence of the strong?】

【If the strong don't change fate, don't change the established trajectory, then who can do it?】

So stated, Perfect's voice seemed to come from a distant other side: 【See, be moved, then save. Arrive, witness, then change.】

【Arrogance is the responsibility of the strong, the meaning of the strong, we should change all the multiverses, save everything - to me, that is it.】

"Change, there are two directions, one is to deny, completely change, and add one's own determined correctness. And the other is to acknowledge, on the basis of the original, correctly stack correctness, and improve it."

"In addition to denial, the strong can also acknowledge—although I am not yet considered strong, but I want to do this."

Closing his eyes, the young man said in a deep voice: "I will not arrogantly judge what is a tragedy, and then take action to tamper with it - the strong are evil, because they arbitrarily change everything to conform to themselves, if I want to become a good existence, I must learn to acknowledge outside of 'denial'."

"Save? Where do we start? They are shining in their own lives, even if they are in depravity, it is only their own choice, they only need help, opportunity, but do not need saving."

So said, Su Zhou slowly got up, he calmly said to the halo in front of him: "I will only bring 'variables', so that they themselves become more in line with the beauty in their hearts."

【...But this is still pursuing 'perfection', isn't it?】

"It's more perfect. Rooted in the already existing myriad things, acknowledging laughter, and acknowledging suffering, 'more perfect' than yesterday. This is the true meaning of innovation, innovation never denies mistakes, but acknowledges mistakes and corrects them."

【Then, you as a strong person, if you encounter suffering happening before your eyes, if you don't offer salvation, what will you do?】

"Help, and then bless."

【Good.】

After hearing such a decisive and unhesitating answer, the light faded away peacefully.

【Although, it is still far from 'correct', but, one can perceive 'mistakes'.】

A distant voice came, and then gradually faded away: 【Su Zhou, the Covenant Keeper of Chaos... I look forward to that day coming.】

And Su Zhou looked at the departing light, the soul space behind him returned to its original state, the spirit of the Tree of Wisdom and the souls of many evil spirits sprouted into souls of spiritual herbs swaying in the darkness.

And in front of him, there was an ordinary-looking book left behind, opening the pages, the stars were shining, as if endless light and power were sleeping in it.

That was the gift left by Perfect.

"..."

Without understanding too much about the ability of this book, the young man silently closed the book, after Perfect left, he closed his eyes and sensed the injuries in his body.

The Dao injuries caused by the Heavenly Star Return to One Harmony Dao Law had been mostly healed, partly due to Su Zhou's own recuperation, but a large part was also due to the aftermath of Perfect's giving him a big dream... the serious injuries that originally required several years of recuperation could probably be fully recovered in just ten and a half months.

After all, the physique of people cannot be generalized, Su Zhou can of course knock the Heavenly Emperor into the Guixu Black Hole in a state of extreme anger, and then eat a Dao injury without dying, but other people may not even have the opportunity to heal themselves.

And at this moment, Yala's lazy voice suddenly rang out, interrupting the dull atmosphere in the soul space at this time.

"How is it, Su Zhou, can you understand the good of meeting me now?"

The snake spirit's tone was filled with obvious complacency, and a feeling of 'come over and thank me', which immediately made Su Zhou's expression change slightly, and he couldn't help but say: "Then I really thank you - but Yala, I never said that meeting you was a bad thing, how did you put yourself in the bad column?"

So ridiculed, and Yala was obviously indifferent: "Don't care too much about Perfect's words, this silly bird's head is not very bright, otherwise, when I exchanged one for one, no one would help him - this kind of popularity can be imagined."

"Now, I'm starting to suspect that among you Great Existences, is there anyone with better popularity... um, the Lonely Lord and the God Tree seem to count?"

"They also have their own mortal enemies, let's not talk about this, compared to these, what are you going to do next, just rest?"

The snake spirit waved its tail, and after thinking for a while, the young man slowly shook his head.

"No."

Su Zhou replied so, his eyes burning with a vigorous ambition: "Although the picture that Perfect showed me cannot guide me to yearn for His path... but it has further stimulated my motivation to become stronger."

"The meaning of the strong is not that they can decide other people's lives, but that they can decide their own future—so, taking advantage of this opportunity, I want to try some new forms, explore my own possibilities, and make myself stronger."

So said, the young man lowered his head, staring at his palm, he clenched his fists, and said with a chuckle: "Until now, whether it is the universe battle form, or the naval battle form, or the divine bird form, I am only imitating, improving... but innovation should also create something new—汲取 (jiqu, absorb) all the nutrients, and give birth to something that is similar but different."

"Then let's do it."

In this regard, Yala laughed heartily, the snake hanging on the Tree of Wisdom encouraged without hesitation: "With your immortal strength, it is entirely possible to open up a new path."

Su Zhou did not reply.

His will returned to his body.

Then, some kind of change happened.

Lunar surface.

Around the huge coffin that suddenly stood up, majestic spiritual energy swirled, like flying snow, creating scattered spiritual light particles.

The abnormal magnetic field even created a layer of visible light arc around the entire back of the moon, reacting with the distant sunlight.

The Celestial Immortal-level anomaly made all the Earth's powerhouses who were still on the moon carefully retreat hundreds of kilometers, leaving only the temporarily reinforced radiation-resistant autonomous robots to broadcast remotely.

"What exactly happened?"

This was the question in everyone's mind, and until now, no one had answered it.

However, at this moment.

They saw it.

In the distance, in the crater, that huge, sleeping coffin... now, in a burst of blazing light, was undergoing a violent transformation!

Boom, rumble!!

Accompanied by the sound of metal rubbing, it echoed in the vast spirit world, the original square giant healing coffin, at this moment, began to self-deconstruct, self-recombine—countless totems and divine patterns were twisted in this violent change, and then transformed into a new look!

In the cyan-purple fire that suddenly lit up, the silver-gray heavy metal began to deform, elongate, and then transform into a slender frame, the divine patterns of Nine Dragons and Five Phoenixes climbed up, and then...

Condensed into a battleship.

Or rather, a divine tree that looked like a battleship!

There, a sapling that looked like a cosmic battleship was slowly sprouting!

The Nine Dragons transformed into roots, rooted in the earth on the back of the moon, absorbing matter from the star, and the Five Phoenixes transformed into branches, spreading their wings at the crown of the tree, absorbing energy from the universe.

The slender structure in the middle, in this way, under the cultivation of roots and branches, visibly transformed, corrected, and self-replaced and improved!

Nine Dragons pull the coffin, Divine Phoenix leads the way!

And now, the coffin has taken root, transforming into a divine tree battleship!

At this moment, all the major forces and alien ambassadors who were paying attention to Su Zhou saw this scene in the crater, and then were shocked and speechless.

【What is this, Zhuzhou, what exactly is Zhuzhou?!】

At this moment, even Yan Sheng almost crashed on the spot, his dataized body disintegrated into a cloud of blurred electrons on the spot, and then slowly condensed back: 【How can I round up the mythological legends I fabricated before?!】

No one could answer his question.

Even Su Zhou himself couldn't.

In just less than an hour, the news of Su Zhou's return spread throughout the entire Earth world.

The whole network was shocked.

Second update, ask for a monthly ticket!