PSW - Chapter 175
Chapter 175
News of the world-saving deity walking among mortals unknowingly spread overseas. Unfortunately, since Zheng Yi didn't interact with those people, their faith and recognition didn't convert into Saint Points.
Fortunately, she was no longer short on Saint Points.
After learning that the one left behind was a puppet of Zheng Yi, the other bases rarely sought to purchase anything from it. Even during periods of extreme cold or heat, they generally wouldn't ask the puppet for help, instead relying on their own strength to overcome the hardships. The puppet not only required no sustenance but could also produce water resources daily, so it was still making a continuous contribution to the bases.
As for Yu Yinan, she had embarked on a journey alone. Intermittently, Zheng Yi would receive a trickle of Saint Points from completely unfamiliar names. These were likely contributions from Yu Yinan's efforts.
Two months later, the final meteor fragment also fell into Zheng Yi's hands.
"Has the world's incubation progress been completed?"
[Not yet, but because you've taken all the meteor fragments, the incubation progress is rising rapidly,] Zero One said speculatively. [I think that for the world to successfully incubate and avoid destruction, the threat of the zombies must be dealt with in addition to the meteor fragments. Whether you annihilate all the zombies or the bases develop a cure, the incubation progress will surely jump by a large margin! The next threat would be the mutated creatures. If it's still unstable after that, then it would be the intermittent threat of various natural disasters. Of course, the essence of these unstable factors is that humanity still lacks the strength to resist the danger of extinction.]
"This world's consciousness really loves humanity."
[After all, it evolved from the world of a book, so naturally, it prioritizes humans.] Zero One paused, then said with a laugh, [But there are also those fantasy novels with beastmen settings. When those book worlds evolve, the world consciousness will favor the protagonist's race.]
"So if the protagonist's race is wiped out, the world's incubation fails?"
[Yes. If the world consciousness is very devoted, it will fail directly and wait for the next incubation opportunity. If the world consciousness isn't so devoted, it might pick a race it likes from among the important supporting characters to favor,] Zero One explained. [If you're short on time and confident, you can undergo the lightning tribulation now. The chances of incubation failure are already very low; completing the mission is just a matter of time. I will handle everything for you here.]
[Ah, right, are there restrictions on gods? It would be even better if you could stay for a while after your tribulation. Also, when you undergo your tribulation, can I watch? Do you mind if I record it?] Zero One suddenly asked curiously. As it spoke, it opened its collection and flipped to the CG image of the meteor it had saved at the beginning of the apocalypse. Besides that, there was a top-down view CG of Zheng Yi running into the zombie horde to save people, a CG of her slaying the mutated wolf during the first extreme cold period, the "Silver Moon Over a River of Blood" CG, the Zhongshan Rainfall CG, the Chuanyang Ocean CG, the "Got You" CG, the "Deity Riding the Water Dragon" CG, the "Water Dragon Dance" CG...
Actually, Zero One felt that some scenes from before Zheng Yi and Yu Yinan got together were also very suitable for a CG, but unfortunately, it didn't have the guts and could only think about it.
"Do as you please." Zheng Yi didn't care about these things. She calculated the date of the tribulation, pondered for a moment, and then headed for the sea.
[By the way, your ability here is water, which puts you at a great disadvantage against a lightning tribulation. Perhaps you could exchange for a thunder-type ability? Or I could look for a special weapon of suitable quality for you... I can submit an application. After all, completing this mission is just a matter of time, so I can try to request the reward in advance.] Seeing Zheng Yi's direction, Zero One guessed she might be starting to prepare for her tribulation and said worriedly. As for requesting the reward... it had completed this mission by riding Zheng Yi's coattails anyway—a perfect completion with super-high efficiency that had broken multiple records! In its view, getting the reward or not didn't matter; Zheng Yi's tribulation was more important.
"No need."
Neither a thunder ability nor a suitable weapon would be of much use in dealing with the lightning tribulation. Given this negligible difference... refining pure water and pure ice would be more or less enough. This kind of divine tribulation's lightning primarily acts on the spirit, used for purifying and tempering the soul. Zheng Yi's true divine body was still outside this world, high in the clouds of the Myriad Star Realm.
"The lightning tribulation isn't dangerous. In the Myriad Star Realm... among all the gods, big and small, I've never heard of anyone dying during the final lightning tribulation." They usually die midway through their trials, or fail to reach the peak of power in the tribulation world, fail to regain their memories, and end up dying of old age like a native of that world.
[Saying something like that... sounds a lot like a flag.]
The moment Zero One finished speaking, it regretted it. However, there was no way to retract such a communication. As expected, Zheng Yi stopped responding to it.
Above the sea, a winding giant dragon of ice condensed inch by inch from the water. Zheng Yi landed on the dragon's head. The sea breeze blew past her on both sides, and she half-closed her dark eyes, looking somewhat content. Just then, a white dove descended from the clouds, arriving precisely beside Zheng Yi.
...What a coincidence. A little later, and this dove wouldn't have been able to get close.
Zheng Yi unhurriedly sat down on the dragon's head, took the letter, and unfolded it:
[Greetings.
I've killed people. I've killed many, many ability users. But I'm somewhat glad.
I'm glad that my attitude was too friendly when I visited the base. After all, if they had feared my strength and not harbored ill intentions toward me... I would never have known how many heaven-enraging, people-resenting things they had done in private. But I must say, I also killed a few female ability users. I don't regret it, but I feel sad for them, very sad. They shouldn't have become like that, yet they still helped those men lower my guard and drug me.
Among them was a pregnant woman. According to what they later said themselves, they used to wander outside using their status as pregnant women to lure kind-hearted ability users into the base... This should be the truth, as I used some unsavory methods. I don't know why I was so insistent on knowing these things, but I wanted to know.
I also saved many people. When they thanked me, I realized that I, too, could become a protector for others. It's wonderful, Zheng Yi. I have spread your name once again.
...Before, I admit I was a bit childish. It was hard for me not to get a response. I want to tell you that I have grown now. I am Yu Yinan. I have grown as you wished. I think I am independent, I can live on my own, which is why I didn't add a prefix to my signature. But today, I think I have truly grown.
I miss you so much. I have always missed you like this, not a single day has passed without it. I often toss and turn, fantasizing that after turning over, I could hold you in my arms, just like so many times before.
I hope this doesn't just exist in the past, nor is it confined to my fantasies. If possible, I want to go out to sea too, to follow in your footsteps, but unfortunately, I lack a large ship... I've written a letter to Chu Yi, hoping she has a way. Of course, I haven't placed all my hopes on her; I also wrote to Base Leader Feng in Zhongshan, hoping she can help. After all, her ability is truly suited for shipbuilding.
Yu Yinan, who would give everything for you]
Zheng Yi chuckled softly and put the letter away. Seeing that Zheng Yi still had no intention of replying, the white dove spread its wings and flew off, quickly disappearing into the clouds.
The next second, countless translucent ice pillars rose from the seabed, lifting Zheng Yi above the clouds. She spread her arms, and when she opened her eyes again, a glint of gold flashed in the depths of her black pupils. An endless aura and pressure erupted from her, spreading out in all directions!
In that instant, the mutated creatures hidden deep on the ocean floor fled the area as if they had gone mad. Even the mutated birds merely in the vicinity of this sea frantically flapped their wings to escape.
The azure sky and soft white clouds vanished in the next second. An endless, oppressive blackness descended upon the sky here, like an all-devouring vortex. Within the roiling black clouds, flashes of purple and gold lightning flickered!
"This journey ends here," Zheng Yi sighed, her face utterly calm. "I hope the next one is just as interesting."
In an instant, the countless ice pillars shattered. Zheng Yi stood gracefully in the air. The oppressive blackness suddenly pulsed, and a bolt of purple lightning struck down with a roar!
"What's happening?! A solar eclipse? No, it's not that fast!" The instant the first bolt of tribulation lightning struck, the entire world darkened. All living beings in this world seemed to hear a clap of thunder that echoed through heaven and earth. One by one, they gazed toward the horizon in fear or curiosity, as if they could glimpse that bolt of lightning descending from the sky.
At almost the same moment, Yu Yinan had not yet received the returning white dove. She was still at the base she had burned to ruins with her flames, settling the women she had rescued. It was nighttime, and she had been resting in bed when she suddenly felt uneasy. Just as she was about to get up, a sky-shattering thunderclap rang in her ears.
Zheng Yi? Zheng Yi!
Panic seized her heart. Despite being an ability user, she stumbled and fell to the floor after getting out of bed. But Yu Yinan paid it no mind. In an instant, she knelt in the direction of the thunder. She closed her eyes, and as tears streamed down uncontrollably, she began to pray and offer her faith with frantic devotion.
It wasn't just Yu Yinan. Those ability users and ordinary people who had once provided Zheng Yi with high amounts of Saint Points, who had once believed in her, were jolted awake even from deep sleep. Though they didn't understand what was happening, a voice in their hearts seemed to be guiding them. No matter where they were or what they were doing at that moment, they dropped everything, closed their eyes, and began to pray with all their hearts.
For the Saint, the god of salvation.
The first bolt of purple tribulation lightning passed through her body. Countless serpents of lightning emerged from her. She let out a long sigh and relaxed her body, feeling the spiritual numbness and pain.
The owner of this body had long since died and been reincarnated, so Zheng Yi naturally didn't care. A golden light appeared in her eyes. One bolt of purple lightning after another struck down in an instant, piercing straight through her, yet they couldn't knock her down into the ocean.
After nine bolts of purple lightning, countless golden lights suddenly appeared around Zheng Yi, converging on her like a golden ocean. Zheng Yi was stunned for a moment. As the next bolt of lightning fell, this golden radiance abruptly hung above her head and blocked the tribulation lightning! The numbness and pain were filtered out, and streams of pure, purifying power surged into Zheng Yi's soul, into her sea of consciousness.
The power of faith? Merit? Or something else?
Zheng Yi frowned slightly and raised her hand to wave the golden light away, but in the next instant, the radiance spontaneously shot up into the sky, intending to block the thunderclouds directly. Bolt after bolt of purple lightning was directly intercepted. A continuous stream of energy poured into Zheng Yi's spirit. The golden light in her eyes grew ever more brilliant and divine, and even her skin began to glow with a pearlescent white light.
After blocking more than twenty bolts of purple tribulation lightning, the radiant barrier finally dissipated. However, the pain brought by the subsequent bolts of purple lightning was far less than before.
"Really now..." Zheng Yi sighed softly and stopped letting herself float in the air. She raised her hand and condensed a ten-thousand-zhang-long halberd from the seawater, and in the next instant, hurled it straight at the tribulation lightning in the sky!
A brilliant golden light erupted from Zheng Yi's body. Her boundless sea of consciousness instantly condensed into a spike. Her entire being shot upward, following right behind the long halberd, and plunged fiercely into the thunderclouds.
BOOM!
The thunder boomed like an explosion. The thundercloud seemed to be thoroughly enraged at this moment. It suddenly expanded several times in size, and the roiling purple lightning within vanished in an instant, replaced by the power of pure, golden lightning! This lightning directly devoured and pulverized the piercing halberd, then pounced like a ferocious beast, opening its cavernous maw to swallow the charging Zheng Yi in one gulp!
Zero One, who had been watching and recording the entire process, constantly saving highlight moments with the intention of later picking the best one for a CG, was completely dumbfounded! What was this? The tribulation was going just fine, so why did she get angry when the difficulty was lowered?!
Just as Zero One was at a loss, even considering frantically harassing the main system for help, the giant thundercloud that had just swallowed Zheng Yi suddenly bulged for an instant.
[This...]
A speck of golden light shone from the center of the thundercloud and then began to expand. Like shattering glass, dense golden cracks appeared on the thundercloud, then spread across its entire body.
A silent explosion.
In that instant, the sky-blotting oppressive blackness vanished without a trace. Blinding sunlight shone down on the figure in midair. The background was a blue sky with white clouds, and the azure ocean that met the horizon...
And that figure, bathed in splendid golden light, had not a single scratch on her. She looked down upon the world from midair, her pair of golden eyes seeming to hold both joy and sorrow, love for the world, and pity for all living things. Yet none of these emotions reached the depths of her eyes, which held only a hint of nonchalance.
A god? Zheng Yi?
For a long, long time, Zero One couldn't make a sound.
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