...
At the hillside manor.
Li Yunshou helped his father back to Baopu Tower. Li Xiurui said, "You can treat what he said tonight as nonsense. When your grandfather made me the head of the family, he said that the responsibility of the head of the family was heavy and that no one but me could do it. Later, I always thought, what bullshit about no one but me, he was just playing with me... Yunshou, although I don't know what you saw or what he wanted you to do, you can actually choose your own path."
Li Yunshou smiled and said, "No need to trouble yourself, Father. I am very satisfied with my ending."
...
...
In the parking lot of the Central Royal City.
Xiao San looked at Xiao Jin and suddenly felt a lump in her throat: "I'm sorry!"
After saying that, he pulled out a pistol from his waist, grabbed Xiao Jin's head, and pulled the trigger.
With a bang, Xiao Jin died without struggling.
"Those who are alive, let me see this new world." The mistress took a deep breath, pointed the gun at her chin, pulled the trigger again, and collapsed in the dimly lit parking lot.
...
...
This is not just Qing Chen's memories, but also the spiritual resonance he forcibly plundered from the world's will when he sneaked out of the inner world's will!
Qingchen kept his head down in this world of consciousness.
Only at this moment did he finally understand what Li Shutong had once said.
But you must understand, my friend, we cannot deal with darkness with gentleness, we must deal with fire!
Qing Chen opened his eyes and said softly, "I'm back."
Xiao Qi was stunned, Luo Wanya was stunned, they almost thought they had misheard!
The crowd fell silent and then erupted in cheers because of this one sentence!
The next moment, Qing Chen simply looked up, and the long night vanished. It was as if the sky had been forcibly torn open, and the sunlight shone unrestrainedly on the battlefield!
Not only on the battlefield, but the whole world was as bright as day. Cities 10, 22, the Central Royal City... all the residents of the cities came out of their homes and stared blankly at the strange phenomenon in the sky.
They looked at the stars still hanging in the sky, and at the sea that had not yet dried up. No one knew that all of this was because someone had woken up.
Qing Chen said softly to everyone, "Thank you. You've all finished your work. Now it's my turn."
If this long night won't pass by itself, then I'll part it with my own hands.
Zong Cheng stood on the ridge, looking at the sunlight streaming down, and sighed softly, "It's over. I was still a step too late. The world is so unfair. I prepared for so long, but the moment you woke up, I could only be a supporting character."
Amidst the voices.
The divine has reappeared in the world.
But this time, the divine cut was completely different from the previous one.
It was as if a new world had been born, bathed in sunshine.
Qing Chen leaped into countless rays of light, his dazzling divine slash cleaving through heaven and earth.
The stars in the sky shift and turn, like the moon rising in the east and setting in the west countless times, a second lasting a thousand years.
The countless gods and Buddhas that rushed to attack could only turn into dazzling fireworks in the air; not a single one was spared.
The puppeteer had meticulously prepared for over a hundred years, yet it all vanished like smoke.
The moment Qingchen became a true god, all things were born and perished.
When the dazzling light shone through, the fire god Zhurong, the water god Gonggong, the twelve Chen family painters, and the thousands of laborers all vanished.
It felt like a moment had passed, yet also like a thousand years had gone by.
Qingchen emerged from his divine state and slowly landed on the ground. He embraced Yangyang and then turned to look at the devastated world.
In the blink of an eye, green grass sprouts on the battlefield and wildflowers bloom in the mountains.
Everyone had a smile on their face.
Luo Wanyi said from the side, "Boss, say a few words. This is where our comrades rest in peace. They can hear what you say."
Qing Chen remained silent for a moment:
If winter will always pass, and spring will always come, then I wish that everyone in this world can find a good partner, a place to settle down, dumplings for the winter solstice, zongzi for the Dragon Boat Festival, and mooncakes for the Mid-Autumn Festival.
But if we can never meet again, then I wish that the world would be at peace, with weapons stored away and horses grazing freely.
I wish children could fly kites in the park, and old men could practice swordsmanship in the park.
I wish you could find soy milk and fried dough sticks as soon as you go downstairs, and that you could remain a youth even after decades of wind and rain.
Postscript (I)
applause.
Qing Chen looked toward the source of the applause and saw that it was the puppet master Zong Cheng in his true form walking down the mountain ridge: "Congratulations on your final victory. I was deeply moved by how hard you all worked while watching."
Zong Cheng, dressed in a black suit, didn't look like a loser at all; he looked more like a guest attending a victory celebration.
The parents looked on warily, while Qing Chen responded calmly, "You don't seem to have the frustration of a loser."
Zong Cheng explained with a smile, "If you fail too many times in life, sometimes you won't feel that failure is anything special. You'll just get used to it."
Zong Cheng continued, "If we're talking about our original intentions, we both wanted to eliminate the conglomerates. Now you've definitely done better than me, so I should naturally be happy. When you were having your final battle, I had a very pleasant conversation with the old man at Ginkgo Mountain, and that's when I told him my thoughts."
Qing Chen said thoughtfully, "On the contrary, I think you have already found a new way out, a way out that will satisfy you even more."
Zong Cheng smiled wryly and said, "Don't always be so wary of me. If I could turn back time, I might choose to be an ordinary person and experience family, friendship, and love. It would be great to do so. Don't always think of me as so evil."
Qing Chen smiled and said, "No matter what you say, I will eliminate all your puppets as soon as possible."
"Then I'll just wait and see." Zong Cheng smiled and took a step back. The young puppet bled from all seven orifices and collapsed to the ground, dead.
Qing Chen looked at the giant prophet: "How many giants of the giant race still possess the talent of telepathy?"
The prophet replied, “Three hundred and seventy.”
Qing Chen nodded: "Once we have buried the corpses on the battlefield, we will immediately begin a reckoning with the entire Federation."
Luo Wanya, who was standing to the side, said, "Boss, we have suffered heavy losses. There are still 200,000 puppet troops in the Central Plains. I'm afraid we will need to recuperate for a while before we can recover our lost territory. At least we will have to wait until everyone's injuries have healed."
At this time, the Qing clan's modern military equipment was exhausted, and only more than 10,000 parents remained, while the giants had only 4,000 left, all of whom were injured.
Even if Qing Chen is incredibly capable, he cannot liberate the entire Federation in a short period of time, even if the enemy is a rather incompetent puppet army.
Qing Chen looked at the battlefield.
The battlefield was much cleaner than before; the ferocious legions of the dead had all turned to ashes, and there were hardly any corpses left.
They didn't even manage to preserve the remains of the parents' association members.
Qing Chen felt a pang of melancholy. What good would victory do? All those vibrant lives were still lost.
"If I had regained my mental will sooner, I might have been able to save more people," Qingchen said.
At this moment, it was the Northwest Army's heroic spirit, the great swindler, who came over and comforted him, saying, "This kind of thing is not up to you. Even during the decisive battle, Ren Xiaosu only recovered part of his memories and failed to regain his spiritual will to become a god. He only became a god 28 years after the war."
"Hmm?" Qing Chen looked over: "Then how did you win?"
The conman chuckled and said, "Of course it's thanks to the collective strength of our Northwest Army... and of course, Qing Zhen. If we were to wait for Ren Xiaosu, the world would have been ruled by Zero long ago!"
Everyone on the battlefield was astonished. They only knew that Ren Xiaosu was a god, so they thought that the final battle was won by Ren Xiaosu. But now, according to what the big liar said, Ren Xiaosu at that time should only be at the demigod level.
Xiao Qi suddenly asked curiously, "Now that our boss and Ren Xiaosu are both gods, who is more powerful?"
The conman pondered for a moment: "It's impossible to compare them. If you insist on comparing individual combat abilities, then Qing Chen is more powerful because he possesses a unique skill like Divine Cut. But Ren Xiaosu also has aspects that Qing Chen cannot match, which is the strength of his abilities."
As Zero said, gods are just humans with higher levels of power, so there are different abilities among gods. Becoming a god does not mean having omnipotent abilities.
Qing Chen asked in confusion, "What is Ren Xiaosu's ability?"
The conman laughed and said, "May all your wishes come true."
After Ren Xiaosu's bone marrow was transplanted into Yan Liuyuan, Yan Liuyuan gained the ability to make wishes. Ren Xiaosu could copy the abilities of others he saw, and whatever weapon Ren Xiaosu wanted, that weapon would appear.
He wanted the black dagger, and so he obtained it.
I wanted a black sniper rifle, and so I got one.
He feels guilty when others take the blame for him, and in turn, he feels guilty towards those others.
Before Ren Xiaosu became a god, his spiritual will was sealed away, and only a small part of it was revealed and was usable, just like the little bit of knightly cloud aura that Qing Chen revealed in advance.
It wasn't until Ren Xiaosu became a god that this ability to make one's wishes come true was fully realized.
If Qing Chen is an undefendable top-tier assassin, then Ren Xiaosu is more like an all-around mage. While Qing Chen can conquer the world with a single Divine Slash, Ren Xiaosu possesses hundreds or even thousands of skills.
Qing Chen was even more puzzled after hearing the explanation: "Then he can replicate my Divine Cut."
The conman shook his head: "The world is fair. The abilities he can copy can only go up to demigod level, so if it really comes down to a fight, he might not be able to beat you."
Qing Chen pondered, "I understand, but his ability seems more interesting."
The conman took out a black thumb ring and said, "You might need this."
Qing Chen was taken aback: "What is this?"
The conman said, "During the decisive battle, the Northwest Army suffered countless casualties. In order to save us, he replicated the power of the Temple of Heroes. Now, I'm entrusting this Temple of Heroes to you; you need it more than ever."
Qing Chen didn't touch the black thumb ring: "Wait a moment, I need to confirm a few things."
At this moment, he asked Qing Ji to bring the pinky ring called 'Power'. He touched it lightly with his hand, and the pinky ring turned to dust.
Before he regained his spiritual will, Qing Chen could touch forbidden objects, and even needed a little strength to annihilate the forbidden objects in the old monster's hands, and could also pass through the Shadow Gate. But now all forbidden objects are unusable in front of him, and even shatter at the slightest touch.
At this moment, Qing Chen can be considered a true god.
He could no longer use the forbidden items from the Inner World, nor could he use Ren Xiaosu's, because the Inner World, Ren Xiaosu, and Qingchen were already three independent worlds.
Qing Chen shook his head at the conman: "Ren Xiaosu and I live in separate worlds with conflicting rules. I could use it before, but not now."
The conman paused for a moment, then asked, "What should we do?"
At this moment, Zheng Yuandong stepped forward: "Can I give it a try?"