Shun finally returned to Taixu Mountain. As a cautious protagonist determined to become the Ten-Mile Slope Sword God, he had no intention of leaving the mountain before cultivating Taixu Sword Qi to the Taixu Realm.
Of course, he also had Gray Serpent keep an eye on the news. The moment any information about Raiden Ryoma's arrest appeared, Gray Serpent had to inform him immediately. As for Misteln, Gray Serpent said there was still no news.
Shun felt quite troubled about this. Misteln had gone missing because of him, yet there was very little he could do alone. In terms of searching efficiency, he was completely inferior to Gray Serpent, who had tens of thousands of avatars.
In the end, Shun had trusted Gray Serpent too much. Gray Serpent had always performed well, so Shun believed he wouldn't deceive him.
Who would have thought that Gray Serpent had actually been tracking Misteln's movements the entire time but simply refused to tell him. It could only be said that although Gray Serpent was loyal to Shun, he still had some other thoughts of his own.
After returning to Taixu Mountain, Shun found that the place still looked peaceful and tranquil. Fu Hua was still living as a shut-in, the Red Kite in the mountains remained the same, but Seele seemed different.
Seele, who originally had no interest in fighting, had actually started asking Fu Hua for guidance in martial arts. In the few days Shun was away, she had already begun learning Taixu Sword Qi.
Shun felt from the bottom of his heart that this was a good thing. After coming out of the Sea of Quanta, he had also advised Seele. After all, he couldn't stay with her every single moment; there would always be times when he couldn't take care of her.
But Seele had said she believed Shun would definitely protect her, so she never learned.
Shun was also worried that he had spoiled Seele too much. In the original plot, even if Seele wasn't particularly strong, after equipping the Black Seele armor she wasn't much weaker than the combat power measuring unit, "Wendy."
If he really spoiled Seele to the point where she couldn't do anything, his sin would be huge. Fortunately, during the few days he was away, Seele had figured it out.
When Shun asked for the specific reason, Seele simply smiled and said: "Because Seele doesn't want to see Brother go out on adventures again while Seele can only watch from the original spot."
After hearing Seele's explanation, Shun felt a bit embarrassed. He thought to himself: "Girl, I'm afraid it won't be long before I have to go on another adventure, and you probably still won't be able to follow me then."
If Shun brought Seele to Nagazora City, things would really develop in an unpredictable direction. Bronya and Cocolia would definitely go crazy.
As for the question of whether Cocolia was doing experiments to save Seele now that Seele had returned, wouldn't she stop the experiments?
No, bro. Do you actually believe Cocolia's bullshit? You might as well believe that I'm Qin Shi Huang. Today is Crazy Thursday, send me 50, and after I'm full I'll appoint you as Grand General that would be more reliable.
Cocolia is a madwoman who pursues power and strength. She may have some maternal love for the orphanage children, but not much. In any case, it's far less than her ambition for power and strength.
Therefore, even if Seele returned, Cocolia would not stop her experiments in Nagazora City. On the contrary, she would intensify them for example, wanting to kill Shun and take Seele back.
This was unacceptable to Shun, who planned to hide his identity and secretly observe the situation in Nagazora City.
Although it seemed he had been targeted by Otto, that was Otto. What the hell was Cocolia? Did she think she could sit at the same table and eat with Otto?
If Shun didn't currently know where Cocolia's lair was, and if the Third Honkai Impact really needed Cocolia to push it forward, he would have stormed her base long ago.
Although it sounded cruel, Shun had no intention of saving the millions of people in Nagazora City. He wanted to defeat Honkai in order for himself and the people he cared about to survive.
These random NPCs, passerby A and passerby B, were not within his consideration. If it didn't affect his plans, he would save them when he could this was to ease his own conscience.
But if they interfered with his plans or posed a threat to the people Shun cared about, he wouldn't mind "planting mushrooms."
Exchanging three million people for a Herrscher with humanity and keeping the Honkai outbreak confined to a single city was already the best outcome.
Just like what Cocolia was going to do, Shun also treated these people as so-called sacrifices. The difference was that instead of personally pushing them toward death like Cocolia, Shun would simply watch coldly from the sidelines.
"Taixu Sword Qi, Third Realm Mirror Realm." After re-examining his own heart, Shun had finally cultivated Taixu Sword Qi to the most difficult-to-breakthrough Mirror Realm.
To reach this realm in Taixu Sword Qi, one needed to have a clear conscience and remove all so-called inner demons.
Five hundred years ago, none of the Seven Taixu Disciples except Cheng Lingshuang had been able to break through to this realm, precisely because of the impact of killing their master.
However, after questioning his heart once more, Shun discovered that his own thinking was indeed a bit extreme.
Perhaps this was the self-cultivation of a Paradox Interactive war criminal. For some reason, Shun suddenly thought of Otto. He hadn't expected his own thoughts to overlap so highly with that person's.
Just as Otto could sacrifice the vast majority of people in this world for Kallen, Shun could also sacrifice the vast majority of people in this world for the few he cared about.
"Fuck, Otto is still chasing me." Shun couldn't help but sigh.
But it was also time to set off for Nagazora City again. Shun had already cultivated on the mountain for quite a while, yet Fu Hua told him that becoming a Sword God couldn't be achieved just by training desperately.
So Shun temporarily abandoned the idea of training to become the Ten-Mile Slope Sword God here. Judging by his current strength, he estimated he could probably only go 37-63 with Tatsumaki-nee at best.
Although he lacked the ultimate move of the Taixu Sword Qi system, he had Cosmic Juggernaut as a replacement. Moreover, the skill "Imaginary Renormalization" had also been learned by Shun thanks to his mysterious "Stigmata" and the boost from Cosmic Juggernaut.
As the only designated true damage in the Honkai world, although it didn't have mental attacks like the Sword God, Imaginary Renormalization was especially effective against Honkai-side beings particularly Herrschers, who were creatures born from Imaginary Space functions.
Shun stood up from the meditation cushion, patted the dust off his body, and decided to go find Fu Hua to say goodbye.
Before he could even walk out of the room, he heard a familiar voice and was forced to stop in his tracks.
"Old friend, long time no see. How have you been lately?" A voice that sounded extremely punchable came from the reception hall.
It's you! Otto! Fuck, you really chased me all the way here? I was just making a joke earlier why the hell did Otto actually spawn here?
"Otto? What are you doing here?" Fu Hua's ice-cold voice, completely impolite, rang out. Sure enough, even Fu Hua couldn't show any good expression toward this smiling tiger Otto.
"Old friend, you really make me sad. Can't I come here out of concern for your physical condition?"
"If there's nothing else, please leave. You are not welcome here." Fu Hua's tone was exceptionally firm. Even though she didn't have many memories, she knew the person in front of her was no good person.
"Sigh, old friend, you really can't take a joke. Fine, I'll be honest. I came here because I want to ask you for a favor."
Otto finally revealed his true intentions. Or rather, it was impossible for Otto to visit purely out of concern for Fu Hua's health. While it wasn't exactly a weasel paying New Year's greetings to a chicken, it was definitely not a visit without purpose.