"I can also contact the Supreme Sea Abyss. However, Hai Ming's situation is special. The Supreme Sea Abyss is devoid of joy or sorrow, and has no vague will. So I can only try to see if I can find a stronger being willing to join forces. Essentially, because there is no supreme will, Hai Ming is mostly a disorganized mess, with each member acting independently. There is no universally accepted answer as to who the strongest being is," Zhang Xinfan said gently.
Lin Hui had also learned about this before. It was precisely because of its special characteristics that Hai Ming had a large number of powerful individuals. Because the Supreme Sea Abyss operated on its own, it had very little constraint or erosion on the powerful individuals inside. This free environment attracted more powerful individuals to actively participate.
But as Zhang Xinfan said, this also leads to an overabundance of strong individuals, making the situation chaotic and unpredictable. Many even prefer to live in seclusion and remain aloof from worldly affairs, so there's no definitive answer as to who is stronger.
"Speaking of which, did the three Annihilation you brought over, Brother Zhang, achieve anything?" Lin Hui asked proactively.
"Yes, but not much. The two powerful figures fought so fiercely that the entire realm was shattered into pieces..." Zhang Xinfan sighed. "Regardless, based on this battle, Annihilation should be equivalent to the fifth ring level of the Endless Divine Clan. Next time, I will at least connect with twice that power."
"Alright, next time, I 'Sect Master ask the teacher for help." Seeing that both of them had given specific plans to prepare for their next collaboration, Lin Hui also made a promise.
Now, all three parties have made their statements, except for the Cold Night Matriarch Extreme Cold and Cold Night.
Instantly, three pairs of eyes focused on her.
5
... The Cold Night Matriarch also wanted to promise to bring even stronger forces next time, but... she was the strongest in the Extreme Cold, where could she find more experts to join her?
As for the will of the Extreme Cold... that vague, chaotic consciousness only has a general tendency or bias. It is a vague consciousness that controls the entire power of calamity, and it will not exist outside of the Extreme Cold. It is completely incapable of fighting.
Facing the gazes of several people, the Cold Night Matriarch took a breath.
"I will try my best to cooperate with the three of you."
"Then it's settled." Lin Hui clapped his hands, finalizing their next collaboration. This time, they would exclude Hell altogether.
"Same as always, I'll decide the time, place, and timing, is that alright?"
"Can."
"Then I'll have to trouble Lord Lin."
"Can."
The three of them readily agreed.
Clearly, the immense power of the Endless Divine Clan forced them to accept reality: without combined efforts, it would be extremely difficult to extract even a single piece of meat from this delicious feast...
Without further ado, everyone dispersed and returned to their respective domains.
Lin Hui then left to seek guidance from Seven Extinctions.
Seven Extinctions was sitting cross-legged on the central floating plaza, cultivating with his eyes closed as usual.
The massive blue Disaster Energy materialized into tangible blue smoke from Four Faces, converging and entering his nostrils.
"I heard your conversation. Just do what you want to do. Don't worry about me. In our Nine Heavens Gate, only the two of us are left to truly carry on the tradition. If you need anything, don't forget to seek my help."
Seven Extinctions didn't even open his eyes and said calmly.
"Thank you, teacher!" Lin Hui was moved. Although he was a bit dangerous and neurotic at first, after absorbing the knowledge, Seven Extinctions almost always protected him.
As a mentor who was paid to do something in return, he has indeed done everything he was supposed to do.
Thinking about this, Lin Hui felt even more determined to forge a path of evolution that would prevent the Fusion Faction from being corrupted.
Not just for myself, but also for my teacher.
"Teacher, do you know the full strength of the Endless Divine Clan?" Lin Hui thought for a moment and asked again.
These words only conveyed their literal meaning on the surface, but Seven Extinctions understood the hidden meaning within them.
"Rest assured, the Endless Divine Clan have indeed sensed an existence stronger than yours, but it's not something they can't handle. After all, we are the Calamity Fusion Faction, immortal and indestructible; they can't outlast us," Seven Extinctions smiled.
"Understood." Lin Hui nodded, paused, and was about to take his leave when he suddenly thought of a question.
"Speaking of which, teacher, do you know exactly how many powerful individuals there are in our Wind Disaster? What is the size of the entire Wind Disaster region?"
"I don't know." Seven Extinctions laughed. "Your question is like asking a small fish living in the sea how big the ocean is, or how many big fish are in all the oceans of the universe?"
"Has the teacher never encountered this before?"
"We've encountered this before. Let's start with the map of Wind Disaster. The essence of Wind Disaster is a natural cyclical mechanism, a supreme calamity that recycles everything and rushes into the grand cycle. Therefore, it's ubiquitous; given the right conditions, it will appear out of nothing. The Wind Disaster torrent we inhabit is merely a larger ocean formed by the convergence of countless Disaster Energy. Just as dry wood, when mixed with combustible gas, will inevitably burn, this mechanism is fixed and adheres to the fundamental principle that it will not disappear in any realm. This is also a characteristic of Source Disaster."
The explanation of the Seven Extinctions.
"Therefore, Wind Disaster don't have a fixed map, because they can be everywhere. Of course, I can tell you how big the Wind Disaster area we're in is."
He reached out and drew a huge blue ellipse in front of him, then continued.
"See this circle? We're here now."
With a gentle tap, a bright white dot appeared below the blue circle, which was the size of a bathtub.
"This is our current location, encompassing the realms of the Endless Divine Clan. It appears as a small dot, but its actual volume is enormous. In terms of your understanding, it's equivalent to a range of approximately 100,000 light-years."
Lin Hui vaguely remembered learning in his first life that the diameter of the Milky Way was about 100,000 light-years.
This is undoubtedly an extremely large space.
"The most crucial thing isn't actually the number itself, but rather that the area of Source Disaster changes with external circumstances. It spans time, dimensions, and even dimensions, so simply calculating its size using a three-axis coordinate system is incomplete," Seven Extinctions said with a smile.
"Teacher, you've also read about scientific systems?" Lin Hui blinked.
"That's natural. Science is a way of thinking. We only care whether the goal can be achieved, regardless of the specific system used in the process," Seven Extinctions replied.
"I see... So, does that mean the Source Disaster could reverse time and infect the realms of the past and future?" Lin Hui frowned and asked another question.
"Time is merely an artificial concept describing change. It does not exist in itself. The past is a record, the future is a possibility. What we can truly grasp is only the present. Therefore, reversing time is simply reversing back to a previous state, back to a situation where all things are changing. This statement itself is meaningless, because the Source Disaster has existed in every moment of time from the very beginning," Seven Extinctions replied.
"So, unless I actively reverse all tenses, the past simply doesn't exist? Only the present and the upcoming future exist?" Lin Hui frowned.
"Exactly, as long as you reverse time, the Source Disaster will follow. As I said, they are a mechanism, omnipresent. There are many so-called Great Merit techniques for reversing time, but in reality, the specific method of implementation is to control all things within a certain range to return to a certain time before, and then remain unchanged. This is essentially self-deception, using violence to control external things to play house with oneself," Seven Extinctions laughed.
"Yes, that's true. What's past is past. On the surface, we can go back to that time, but in reality, something deeper and elsewhere has changed forever." Lin Hui understood.
He had once thought that he could master the Great Yin Yang Time Reversal Sword Technique to its highest level, and then reverse everything and return to his first life. But now, Seven Extinctions's answer made him realize that even if he went back, the so-called return to the past would only be a matter of forcefully controlling external things to cause a new round of changes, turning the future into the past, and deceiving himself.
"Child, the past is experience, traces, and incompleteness. The future is expectation, possibility, and has not yet happened. Only the present is the most complete, and it is the only thing we can grasp." Seven Extinctions Mie earnestly guided him, seemingly trying to teach Lin Hui some unspoken truths.
Lin Hui seemed to have thought of something, but he couldn't quite grasp the fleeting inspiration in his mind.
He stood there, lost in thought, but to no avail.
*
*
*
The calamity war that erupted in a corner of the Endless Divine Clan caused a slight tremor throughout the entire God Clan.
The shock was mainly due to the large number of the God Clan casualties, reaching tens of thousands.
Apart from the war with Dragon Court Swallow Fort, the Endless Divine Clan had never suffered such a large loss of population at once.
Soon enough, the name of the main adversary in this war appeared in the intelligence channels of various forces.
Hell, Hai Ming, Ashes, and Extreme Cold – the names of the four great calamities were successively added to the security screening list according to their level of danger.
In fact, the power of Ashes had appeared before, but it was all superficial infiltration and exploitation. This is the first time that such a large-scale invasion of the divine realm has occurred.
The Endless Divine Clan's divine army quickly established a relevant calamity countermeasures department and formed emergency response teams to address these four calamities.
Meanwhile, Lin Hui, having accomplished his goal, returned to the human realm as if nothing had happened, to the Red Crescent Red Pattern Star Red Bend Star System, and continued to attend classes, study, and cultivate diligently.
The eldest sister, Ding Luo, had already returned home, and the second brother, Ding Yi, followed her back. The two of them didn't even change their identities; they simply returned to their daily lives as ordinary people.
"So, big sister, you've been given an internal pardon?"
In the Lin Family's living room.
Ding Yiran opened her eyes wide and looked at Ding Luo, who looked exhausted.
"Well, as one of the very few survivors of the Cataclysmic War, I proactively uploaded a large amount of relevant intelligence, documenting the entire process from the emergence of the calamity to its end. Therefore, my previous transgressions were overturned. However, because this situation is rather special, I'm no longer suitable to serve as a city administrator, so..." Ding Luo shrugged, "I'm no longer in any position; I'm just an ordinary person now."
"What about Qin Qin, Mo Sha, and the others?" Ding Yiran asked again.
"It's all alright. This calamity war was too big a commotion. It's said that the Divine Army Seven Chimes were mobilized, the Bloodthorn Bird was dispatched, and even an Avatar of the warlord made a move from afar... There were too many casualties..." Ding Luo couldn't help but feel a little downcast when he thought of the ordinary people within the God Clan who were just living their lives quietly.
"It's a stroke of luck amidst misfortune..." Ding Yiran sighed. For him, the fact that his older sister was alright, and that Qin Qin and the others who had helped him were all safe, was enough. It was a happy reunion for everyone.
"By the way, where's Xiaolin?" Ding Luo asked again. "Does he know...?"
"He knew the situation, and he knew I went to the Divine Realm, but... when I asked him to come with me, he not only refused, but also mocked me for being stupid..." Ding Yiran was furious just thinking about Ding Lin's face back then.
"He's right," Ding Luo said calmly. "Although I'm moved by your determination, ultimately, it's useless for ordinary people like you to enter the God Realm."
Click.
Suddenly, the sound of a lock being opened came from the door.