CHAPTER 664: 622 IMPERFECT TRUE SPIRIT

"Why are you so sure?" Mazao asked, puzzled.

After some thought, I said, "Firstly, there is a principle as a major premise... True spirits should only be susceptible to harm by true spirit power."

Upon hearing this, Mazao was even more perplexed.

She must be thinking, if true spirits can only be harmed with true spirit power, then I couldn’t possibly have been harmed by Impermanence. In actuality, my true spirit is in a state where it was harmed by Great Demon Qilin, who clearly does not possess true spirit power.

I intended to resolve this issue and continued, "Currently, whether it’s perception or the control of power, I possess the ability of a veteran Impermanence. That is to say, I can essentially achieve what a veteran Impermanence is capable of doing.

"According to this logic, just as Ming Zhuo and Huang Quan could harm my true spirit, I should also be able to harm another’s true spirit.

"However, I can directly conclude—I still can’t do this."

"Why is that?" Mazao asked, surprised.

"Because being able to do this would be even more unreasonable," I said.

In this world, perhaps everyone’s true spirit is the same true spirit, what is referred to as the "Great True Spirit." According to what I previously knew, the Great True Spirit is the ultimate mystery, the root of all things, the origin of the universe. If there truly exists an omniscient and omnipotent God, or the first cause, the prime mover, then without a doubt, it refers to the Great True Spirit.

Since ancient times, self-proving of true spirit has been the most mysterious realm among legendary realms.

Not to mention mere Impermanence, even beings like Old Fist God and Shan Liangyi, who have opened the third door, cannot reach that domain—that might be a realm unrelated to strength in the conventional sense, where being powerful doesn’t guarantee mastery. Even opening the fourth door might not lead to understanding, while an ordinary person living a mundane life might have a tiny chance of comprehending it. It’s difficult to imagine that merely being an Impermanence allows one to affect that level.

Yet, my true spirit is easily harmed, and now even Little Bowl can repair it as if mending clothes. Unconsciously, I’ve begun to casually speak of "how my true spirit is," as if true spirits can be talked about lightly.

Ultimately, does such a thing truly have the concept of damage and repair? The true spirit should be what remains after shedding extraneous things like thought, memory, instinct, emotion; it’s the one thing that symbolizes "me," existing only in a state of being or non-being, not subject to terms like light or severe injury.

"My state after my body and soul are eradicated should be an unfinished true spirit form," I said, "If it were a complete true spirit form, it would encompass the universe, surpassing an individual’s existence. I should be able to perceive every corner of the universe and affect any place. Due to excessive vastness, no one can correctly observe me, nor interfere with me."

"Of course, in that state, I would be equivalent to the self-proven true spirit, a state of inevitable death, so it’s also a state of being unable to perceive anything, unable to affect anything. And I cannot be certain if such transformation truly occurs."

"An unfinished true spirit form, on the other hand, allows the perception of the scene at the time of one’s eradication and the ability to influence that scene again, such as summoning power to reconstruct one’s body. Conversely, those present in the scene can perceive and affect me as well. Observation and interference are always mutual—the logic is simple, right?"

"That said, even an unfinished true spirit form can’t be perceived by just anyone, let alone interfered with—it should only be achievable through true spirit power."

Little Bowl curiously asked, "Given that, why can those Impermanence do it?"

"Because they’re too powerful," I said. "Sufficiently formidable power can overturn common sense, even for the unfinished true spirit form, creating an exception. Although they can merely perceive indistinctly, harm clumsily, repeated attempts can ultimately kill me."

"However, even ’power of exception’ is ultimately not true spirit power. Though it may indirectly cause harm at the true spirit level, it’s not ’true damage,’ nor can it result in ’true death.’"

Mazao suddenly understood and said, "Therefore... this unfinished true spirit form is unique to Zhuang Cheng. The Impermanence of the past couldn’t unravel Naraku Undying Body by harming true spirit, because they couldn’t ever reach Ming Zhuo’s true spirit? But Zhuang Cheng, equipped with true spirit power, could achieve this?"

"I think that’s likely," I said.

Little Bowl pondered and then said, "...There’s also another possibility, that Ming Zhuo also has an ’unfinished true spirit form’, but he’s able to repair his true spirit in real-time."

Mazao was baffled by her sudden perspective.

"The more intricate a machine, the harder it is to repair; the larger a machine, the same difficulty applies. So, attempting to resurrect a powerful being is always more challenging than reviving a weaker one." Little Bowl might be analyzing based on Zhu Jiu and Zhu Shi’s knowledge, "Especially at the level of Impermanence, trying to resurrect a deceased Impermanence is impossible; there’s never been a case throughout history.

"Even if there’s some contract with Naraku’s Will, Ming Zhuo shouldn’t be able to resurrect easily after death, let alone have the capability for unlimited resurrection.

"As far as I know, most so-called Undying Body abilities follow the same underlying logic—they aren’t truly about dying and reviving but rather a form of regrowth. For instance, cutting off a small part of the body or soul and storing it far away, and after the main body dies, reviving from that severed part; or being utterly destroyed but as long as a drop of blood, or even a single cell, remains, regeneration is possible...

"These abilities require the user to have ’some living part’ when activating them, no matter how many times they die. Even Mr. Ghost’s fake Undying Body lets a false identity die in place, using the preserved real self that’s stored mystically to achieve resurrection.

"Ming Zhuo doesn’t need such a prior preservation; even if the body and soul are completely annihilated, he can still resurrect. Complete obliteration of the soul means a profound death experience that forms a terrifying toxin, but presumably, an Impermanence like Ming Zhuo can withstand it. Yet even in this state, there must still be ’some living part’ remaining.

"Considering all those who’ve tried to kill Ming Zhuo have eliminated other options for us, we can directly conclude—that part is the True Spirit, or rather, an incomplete True Spirit form."

After meditating deeply, Mazao said, "...However, isn’t this where the problem lies? If Ming Zhuo also has a True Spirit that can be killed, why couldn’t past Impermanence kill Ming Zhuo?"

"It’s simple. Since an incomplete True Spirit form can be exceptionally harmed by overwhelming force, it can naturally be repaired by exceptional means. Naraku Undying Body may possess such power," Little Bowl explained.

"Isn’t there a different nature between harm and repair?" I asked, "While overwhelming force can aimlessly harm the target, can repair also occur aimlessly?"

"The repair isn’t done by Ming Zhuo himself but by the power of Naraku’s Will," Little Bowl remarked, "Naraku’s Will is the collective unconsciousness of humanity, a product formed by the link of millions of human minds... Brother Zhuang Cheng, doesn’t this sound familiar?"

I immediately understood, "Are you saying... ’Paradise’?"

"The complete form of ’Paradise’ thoroughly integrates all human consciousness inside, forming an ultimate existence that is both the whole and the one. This ultimate existence is viewed by Huang Quan as a mimicry creation of the Great True Spirit," Little Bowl explained, "Although human collective unconsciousness isn’t that ultimate existence, it might, in a certain sense, approach the True Spirit level. The Naraku Undying Body obtained through contract from there might possess the power to repair incomplete True Spirit forms.

"From Brother Zhuang Cheng’s experience, it is evident even seasoned Impermanence cannot entirely wipe out an incomplete True Spirit form in one strike. Naraku Undying Body’s mechanism can indeed be immune to forces insufficient to fully annihilate it."

Conversely, as long as the power is strong enough to completely obliterate the incomplete True Spirit form, it likely can kill Ming Zhuo even without True Spirit Power.

I gained a new understanding of the phrase "sufficiently strong power can overwhelm everything."

"As for whether this repair mechanism contains True Spirit Power, or whether it poses any defense against Brother Zhuang Cheng’s True Spirit Power, I think this is not something to overly worry about," Little Bowl added, "Even Great Impermanence Fa Zheng had to rely on Brother Zhuang Cheng to personally kill Great Demon Ksitigarbha and Great Demon Yu Lei, to ensure the demons wouldn’t resurrect again. This shows that the Human Dao Divine Weapon defending human destiny cannot elicit True Spirit Power, let alone Naraku Undying Body.

"Of course, it might simply be because Naraku’s Will is in a dying state. Though it’s uncertain whether a sound and conscious Naraku’s Will could support True Spirit Power, its lack of integration and mere status as a power resource clearly cannot support it now."

Ultimately, Naraku Undying Body is not Ming Zhuo’s own power, but Naraku’s Will’s power, inevitably influenced by Naraku’s Will state.

Perhaps I don’t have the superior standing to mock Ming Zhuo either. The Flame Power I obtained from the Vermilion Bird Seed split by Shan Liangyi might also face inevitable judgment at some destined moment.

"Therefore, Ming Zhuo cannot defy ’True Death’," Little Bowl concluded.

The discussion ended here.

Approaching dusk, Little Bowl concluded the repair process for my True Spirit, restoring my spirit to a fully vigorous state.

At that moment, a familiar face not seen for a while visited the residence.