Chapter 127 A Cosmic Reshuffle

As soon as Feng Bujue spoke, Zhuanjiezun and Dianhe Wang exclaimed in unison, "You've been through the Door of Emptiness?"

"Ah... I've been there once," Brother Jue replied in a calm tone. "But... I didn't stay in there for long, and at the time, I didn't know where I was, let alone that the voice communicating with me in the darkness was actually Dou Mo."

"You've even conversed with Dou Mo?" Dianhe Wang's surprise was understandable. As it had just said, under normal circumstances... once a life form like a human entered the environment of "Nothingness," its consciousness would instantly collapse and perish. Even if there was some freak with extraordinary talent (like Brother Jue) who could stand within the Door of Emptiness without dying, it would be impossible to have any "communication" with Dou Mo. Because Dou Mo's favorite way of communicating was—destruction. It would unhesitatingly destroy all creatures other than the Demon Race, without needing any reason... Compared to it, the God of the New Era, the head of all demons, was practically a gentleman.

"Yes, but unfortunately we didn't get anything significant out of the chat," Feng Bujue replied. "However... thinking about it now, many things have become clear..." As he recalled the scene when he first used [Dou Mo Descends], he murmured, "First of all, the flow of time inside the Door of Emptiness... is significantly different from the outside. My consciousness stayed inside for several minutes, but only a split second passed outside. In other words... the actual time Dou Mo has been imprisoned is much longer than you think. One day outside might be several months or even a year for it." He turned to look at the two gods. "Can you two imagine? It has spent tens of thousands, even millions of years in 'Nothingness'..."

"I can't..." Zhuanjiezun interjected, "and I don't want to think about it..."

"Heh... I feel the same way," Feng Bujue laughed. He paused slightly, then continued from his previous statement, "Secondly, Dou Mo has forgotten who it is, and who its enemies are... In fact, it doesn't even remember where it's being held, or why it was imprisoned."

"Hmm... if it really has been in 'Nothingness' for more than ten thousand years, that's not surprising..." Dianhe Wang muttered, beads of cold sweat trickling down.

"Perhaps it's because it's been locked up for too long (loneliness), but when I visited, that ancient demon king showed me a great deal of compassion and patience," Feng Bujue added. "It answered all my questions as much as possible... although it really didn't remember much anymore... In addition, it actively urged my 'consciousness' to leave quickly, lest it be unconsciously devoured. " At this point, he spread his hands. "And when I stated that I was there to receive 'Demonification,' it very readily helped me out—by breathing on my 'consciousness'."

"And you didn't lose your soul?" Dianhe Wang asked in surprise.

"The fact that I'm standing here proves everything," Feng Bujue tilted his head and smiled. "Of course... the experience of the first 'Demonification' wasn't pleasant. That extreme physical pain... surpassed the dual limitations of the body and mind, even making me feel like I had broken free from the shackles of time. Compared to that torture... sticking your hand into a lawnmower would be as comforting as playing."

"Feng Bujue... you certainly have your merits," Dianhe Wang said in a deep voice, looking at Brother Jue. "As a human, being able to maintain your sanity in the Door of Emptiness is already a miracle. I didn't expect... that you could survive the Demonification bestowed by Dou Mo itself. It seems... that the strength of your soul has far exceeded the limits of your race."

"Ah... maybe," Brother Jue replied, then changed the subject. "Let's stop talking about my one-sided encounter with Dou Mo... it's not really relevant to what we need to discuss now." He took a few steps forward and looked at Dianhe Wang. "Let's talk about you..." He paused for a moment, then quickly continued, "Although you've told us something about your situation, I don't think you've explained everything clearly..."

"Hmph... you really are astute," Dianhe Wang said, his tone slightly sarcastic.

Feng Bujue didn't take it to heart and continued, "You're quite a strategist, so you wouldn't fight an unprepared battle. Besides... being trapped in a seal, you have plenty of time to think. Therefore, before breaking the seal, you must have already planned your escape." He supported his right elbow with his left hand, and gently stroked his nose with the index and middle fingers of his right hand, then slightly raised his chin and pondered. "Over the years, you've accumulated a lot of power by absorbing the demonic energy that seeped out from the 'cracks' in the seal. But you know very well that having the power to break the seal alone is not enough, you must save some strength for self-preservation... Otherwise, even if you escape the seal, this 'freedom' won't last long."

At this point, Brother Jue's tone changed slightly, and he continued, "However, things didn't develop as you planned... During the process of escaping the Door of Emptiness, there must have been some kind of accident that caused the 'surplus power' on your body to be far lower than you expected."

"Hmm... logical and reasonable," Zhuanjiezun, who was not far away, stroked his beard and murmured.

"Alright, alright... I'll tell you," Dianhe Wang had nothing to hide at this point, so he simply confessed, "Let's say, for example, I originally prepared ten parts of strength, four parts to break the seal, and six parts to keep for self-preservation. In my calculations, with those six parts of strength, even if I encountered the Four Pillars Gods, I would still have a way to retreat unscathed." He shook his head. "But... the seal set by 'Du Shen' has its own mysteries... He had long considered the possibility that the seal might be broken, so he left a safeguard on it. Fortunately, I was well prepared enough to eventually break the seal, but... those ten parts of my strength had been used up by eight parts..."

"I see..." Zhuanjiezun understood at this point. "With only two parts of strength left, you knew you were powerless to fight the strong people who came to hunt you down, so... you came up with a plan and hid in a place where no one could find you in a short time..." He pointed his finger at his temple. "...inside my mental world."

"If everything goes smoothly, you can hide here until the seal is completely ineffective. By then... Dou Mo will have already been born, and it will be meaningless to catch you back, then you will be free," Feng Bujue continued Zhuanjiezun's words. "In addition... you can also use your unique 'parasitic' ability to complete the 'seizing' of Zun-ge, and obtain all of his power."

"Hmph... objectively speaking, your plan is indeed a high-level strategy of killing two birds with one stone," Zhuanjiezun sneered. "Being able to do this with the remaining two parts of strength after the 'accident' happened... is admirable." At this point, his tone changed. "However... as the person involved, I can only evaluate... that this is a 'poisonous plan'."

"For me, there is no such thing as poisonous or not," Dianhe Wang replied. "The strong prey on the weak, survival of the fittest. In this matter... I am not targeting you, or anyone. I just did what I had to do to regain my freedom and survive. There are no 'likes' or 'dislikes' or 'grudges'. Even if I succeed, I will not have feelings of 'guilt' or 'satisfaction'." As he spoke, he glanced at Zun-ge. "In fact... those emotional things are commonly possessed only by the creatures in your 'New Era'. From the perspective of the sequence of truth, we, this generation of creatures, are much simpler than you."

"Simple, pure, powerful, is this the original version..." At this time, Feng Bujue murmured in his heart. "Well... there are advantages and disadvantages... Of course, I personally prefer this more complex and humane new version."

[Current mission completed, all main missions have been completed]

The sudden system notification pulled Brother Jue's thoughts back.

"Hmm... that was pretty fast." Feng Bujue opened the game menu and glanced at it. The mission [Solve the mystery of the juniper tree's curse without harming "me"] had been checked off, and the team bar showed that all five of his teammates had survived.

Immediately afterwards, came the sentence: [You have completed this script, 180 seconds later... later... *static*...]

This sentence from the system voice couldn't even finish...

"I cancelled your automatic teleportation countdown, I hope you don't mind." Zun-ge immediately said to Feng Bujue.

"Ah, it's okay, I was just about to ask you to do that," Feng Bujue replied with a normal expression. "I've already thought about the content of the transaction, three minutes is really not enough time to say it all..."

"What do you want?" Dianhe Wang asked.

"Yes... Feng Bujue." Zhuanjiezun also said, "I am also very curious, what are you planning?"

"Hehehe... don't be nervous," Brother Jue grinned, revealing a chilling smile. "I just want to... give the major forces in this universe... a reshuffle..."