Chapter 572 The Meaning of the Strong, Part 2 (6000)

A person, besides their essence as a unique individual, is also the sum of all their social relationships.

As social animals, humans are destined to be related to other humans, first influenced by others, and then influencing others.

Even if this person is strong, special, and extraordinary, it is still the same.

Su Zhou is no exception.

Different people, at different times, coming into contact with different existences, will create different experiences, and thus different destinies.

For Su Zhou, encountering Yala during his summer vacation at the age of seventeen was perhaps the biggest 'change' he had faced in his life, besides his birth.

He also embarked on a chaotic and boundless path, with no one knowing where it led.

And now, the great existence—Perfection—lit a fire in the young man's pitch-black soul space.

The brilliant golden flames drifted uncertainly amidst countless phantoms, like grains of sand floating in the sea. It penetrated time and destiny, displaying dreamlike, bubble-like possibilities, allowing Su Zhou to see the future that the entire 'Earth Universe' might have welcomed, had he not encountered Yala—or rather, due to various factors.

So, the young man saw his first destiny.

In July of the 14th year, the Shan Country's Holy Serpent Prayer Society held a ritual to summon the 'Holy Serpent Spirit', but because the ritual was flawed from the beginning, the ritual, which was originally supposed to exchange a drop of 'immortal blood' through the sacrifice of a large number of divine artifact fragments and the blood of wisdom, turned into a large-scale self-destruction.

This self-destruction destroyed the entire ancient altar of the seven-headed serpent god beneath the ground, and annihilated most of the Prayer Society's backbone members, causing this organization, which was originally the most active, most mysterious, and strongest in terms of soft power among the three major mysterious organizations, to weaken instantly.

As for the numerous hostages who were affected by the self-destruction and died… it was just an unfortunate accident.

When the special operations forces of the Zheng Country and the Shan Country hurriedly arrived at the ritual site, the first thing they saw was not the heavily injured Prayer Society members, but a young man with a dazed expression and blood on his face.

Beside him were several well-known dangerous Prayer Society members, all of whom had broken necks, or even had their spinal cords ripped out, their deaths were tragic.

"...Raise your hands!"

The captain of the Zheng Country Security Bureau's special operations team sensed the dangerous nature of this unknown young man. He did not approach rashly, but led the entire team to surround him with guns, and then asked in a deep voice, "A serious Void sacrifice has just taken place here, who are you?! Why are you here?!"

"As expected."

Blood dripped from his palm, and the young man muttered to himself in a daze.

He looked around at the special operations teams that were gradually approaching. He did not resist, but whispered, "This world, as expected, has supernatural power…"

"But, but…"

"But why… can't I be happy at all…"

At this moment, in the young man's eyes, faint cyan-purple dragon pupils emerged.

The young man, who was taken back to Zheng Country by the Security Bureau's operations team, was detected to have awakened the 'Yinglong' (responding dragon) inheritance that had been lost in Zheng Country for a long time. His identity was quickly investigated—his name was Su Zhou, from Hong City, Hong Zhou. His family had been working as patrol inspectors for several generations, and he himself went to Shan Country because he was traveling with friends.

And that friend of his happened to be one of the victims of the ritual.

Su Zhou felt endless guilt. He did not protect his friend, and when he accepted the Security Bureau's various investigations and returned to Hong City, he heard the news that Aunt Wen had passed away due to excessive grief… Even if all other factors were discarded, the relationship between the Shao family and the Su family could not possibly return to the past. The young man had no face to face Uncle Shao and Shao Shuangyue, he decided to join the Security Bureau directly, and use his talent and strength to protect them secretly.

From then on, the young man, who was originally cheerful and a little naive and innocent, became taciturn, and devoted all his energy to the cultivation of supernatural powers. Su Zhou indeed had excellent talent for cultivation, and he was also able to calm down and cultivate diligently. Even the many geniuses who had received supernatural training from a young age were surpassed by him.

But his personality was a major hidden danger, which could be seen when performing various tasks against mysterious organizations and supernatural criminals who did not abide by the rules—Su Zhou's methods were extremely ruthless as soon as he made a move. Unless the task target had to be left alive, the other enemies basically could not survive.

Especially when facing the major mysterious organizations, Su Zhou's methods could be said to be more like a villain than the other party. No matter what traps, ambushes, or even various sinister schemes, he could use them without hesitation.

Being heavy-handed was certainly not a shortcoming, but being heavy-hearted, and wanting to torture and kill whenever there was a chance, was.

Having lost a friend who could understand him, and was willing to understand him, Su Zhou began to be feared by his own people. After all, not everyone could accept a monster who could crush a person's skull without saying a word sitting next to them eating lunch, and eating bloody steak as if nothing had happened.

However, if given some time, Su Zhou, whose true personality was not so aloof, should have been able to gradually re-establish contact with others—he was, after all, a talkative and cheerful person. As long as someone was willing to talk to him, they would soon discover the young man's essence.

But the turmoil in the world did not give Su Zhou and others time to adapt to each other.

The Descending Spirit Society's health products containing Celestial God factors, which were distributed all over the world, the hidden rural sects that were spreading in remote rural areas around the world, and the various natural and man-made disasters created in cooperation with allies in various places who intended to obtain the favor of 'Great Existences', created a large number of extremely evil incidents. While causing panic among the global population, these crazy guys also harvested a large number of Celestial God factors.

Soon, the leaders of the Descending Spirit Society, whose strength had broken through to the peak of the Transcendental level, established huge nest bases in their respective lairs, and began to spread the number of 'Celestial God's' dependents—this triggered turmoil in a large number of small countries, and the global situation was extremely severe.

At the same time, in addition to the 'demon disaster' originating from the Descending Spirit Society, the invasion from the Typhon Realm and the Beast God Realm, the 'beast disaster', also arrived at the same time, causing great chaos in Europe and Asia.

The East Sea Battle, the Mother Nest Extermination Battle, the Beast God Realm Sealing Battle, the Shepherd Extermination Battle, the Fourth Central Asia Assault Operation…

The continuous battles were breathless.

As the leader of the new generation, Su Zhou's team had been on the front line fighting against all kinds of demons and beasts—he himself was strong and could survive, but his teammates were not necessarily so. As time went on, no one dared to become Su Zhou's next teammate, and he became tired of seeing one strange face after another appear by his side, and then disappear by his side, so he began to act alone.

And during that time, after a difficult and exhausting battle with the Silent Ones, Su Zhou received news that he could not even sigh at.

Because of the extreme weather created by the Descending Spirit Society around the world, Hong City encountered a once-in-a-millennium flood and aquatic monster raid.

"...Did anyone survive?"

"..."

"Okay, no need to answer, I understand."

"Don't worry, I'm fine."

--Since things have come to this, nothing will happen anymore. No one can destroy something that does not exist, and neither can monsters.

Hmm…what kind of feeling is this…what does it taste like?

Before this bitter emotion could ferment, the movements of the Deep Space Callers began again—an incomparably powerful one-person mysterious organization, a true monster that could contend against the supernatural forces of the four permanent member states of the United International alone, appeared in Antarctica.

As soon as he appeared, he caused the collapse of half of the Antarctic ice sheet, and countless bizarre, shapeless beings rampaged, dissolving glaciers, causing global sea levels to rise, and most coastal cities were invaded.

Then, there was the hard battle, the pursuit, the trip to the moon, the annihilation, and the news from the aliens.

Is that all?

No, far from it.

On Earth, there were also space-time realms that were reviving and opening, and what appeared from them was not just friendly or harmless spirit beasts, but also many intelligent alien races, and even celestial demons.

Internal and external troubles were not enough to describe the焦灼situation. In addition to facing attacks from outside the stars, Earth's humans also had to face all kinds of natural disasters and attacks from other worlds—many mysterious organizations had already spread their power to other worlds, and they had never been completely eliminated, but had always been like a scabies, creating all kinds of troubles.

Qingqiu Celestial Demons, Xuanmo alien races, Twilight Plague, Krolo Fleet, Seven-Day Descending Spirit Grand Ritual…

Faced with all of this, the only thing that humans could do was fight, fight, and fight until the end.

Even if the Earth was beaten to the point of ecological imbalance, and most of the people were forced to enter the electronic underworld, and their data souls were preserved in the 'Nine Netherworlds' and 'Tartarus' servers located on the moon and Mars; even if the humans who preserved their bodies had to be forced to carry out eugenics and special bloodline and cybernetic transformations to become 'inhuman' in the traditional sense; even if in order to welcome the war, even if technology and supernatural powers became more and more powerful, the quality of life of all humans became worse and worse, and they even lost the dignity of being human.

Even if the future of mankind seemed to have nothing but fighting, and the hope of victory was extremely slim.

Even if, mankind seemed to have lost everything.

But there would always be someone who would still choose to believe in the future, and then fight on.

Su Zhou was like that.

The Jupiter Battle, the Krolo Homeworld Assault Battle, the Xuanmo World Counterattack Battle, the Space-Time Realm Sealing Battle…

He crossed countless wars, experienced countless dangers, surpassed countless despairs, and lost countless things that should have been grasped, and finally obtained the right to stand in the 'future' and know the truth.

"Ambassador Celastia… are you saying that all of this was brought about by the 'Otherworld Evil Gods'?"

In the distant galaxy, the Zheng Tian Yinglong and Celastia's ambassador walked on the corona. They looked down on the brilliance of the star, and then looked up at the dim galaxy in the distance.

[That is indeed the case. I didn't expect that your Earth is also a disaster area invaded by the Otherworld Evil Gods, just like our former home star system… Also, Marshal Su, are you sure you want to make this decision?]

The Celastia elder, like a steel mountain, nodded slightly, with a solemn tone: [Go to the Twilight Star Territory and try to seal the 'Great Rift' together with our most elite exploration team…]

"Well, after solving the enemies on Earth and sealing the last few space-time gates, I will go with you to the 'Twilight Star Territory' to see… I want to know, what kind of existence are those evil gods who bring suffering to this world just by existing."

[Your courage surpasses 99% of the transcendents in this galaxy group, but I must remind you that even the Ω-level Venerable of our former Cenostia people fell in that great battle… Marshal, you are indeed an immortal α Manifest Lord, but you don't have to risk your precious life in this kind of place…]

Listening to the words of the huge steel humanoid in front of him, the middle-aged man with white hair and eyebrows closed his eyes.

He raised his head, and then opened his eyes to the starry sky.

The Yinglong's pupils could see through the distant sky and reach the end of the distant starry sky—the stars were bright and magnificent, but the dark and deep space was the majority of the entire boundless universe.

Staring at the sea of stars, the man said calmly: "The desperate war is over, the arduous road has been traversed, and the missions that should be done have been completed."

"From now on, there will always be a showdown, won't there?"

"This is the meaning of my fighting until now."

Spiritual energy revives, and the world changes.

The stars tremble, and demons are resurrected.

This is the world located in the center of all worlds. The great existences have never descended into the world, but the seals are broken, and the spiritual energy is revived. The aftermath of the information, coupled with the desires of the human heart itself, is enough to make all living beings fall into suffering, and countless civilizations are disturbed by this.

But precisely because of this, there are existences who vow to fight against all of this, and who are determined to bear all of this.

[--Zheng Tian Yinglong]

Glory flickers.

In the soul space, the flames burn, like a nirvana brilliance, and like countless wisdom-filled patterns.

Light and shadow appear in it. Su Zhou just walked out of a flame, and saw another floating mist halo.

In this, there is another possibility of destiny.

If just now, it was the possibility that Yala did not descend, but the Great Seal was on the verge of breaking.

And now, it is a world where the Great Seal still exists, the information of the Great Existences continues to be blocked, but the spiritual energy is revived.

Su Zhou's destiny rises and falls in it.

"There should be a power in this world that prevents the strong from doing whatever they want, and allows the weak to live in peace… The strong are also transformed from the weak. I just want to ensure that all the weak have the possibility of becoming strong."

"Qiming, can this be done?"

There was such a voice, flashing in the fire.

"Then just become the strongest, A'Zhou. If you become the strongest, and then you don't do whatever you want, wouldn't that be fine?"

There was such a voice, answering in the fire.

Then all the light and shadow became clear.

Everything was about the same as now—there were no great existences, the strength of the mysterious organizations was weaker, and in Shan Country, Su Zhou saved Shao Qiming, and the various disasters on Earth were not so terrible. The official authorities of various countries suppressed all signs of disturbance.

In this possible tributary, Su Zhou got his wish and became a member of the Security Bureau.

On the surface, he was an ordinary and excellent cultivator, but secretly, with the help of his friend, Su Zhou used his awakened Yinglong bloodline as his trump card to become a hunter walking in the night.

Hunting down members of mysterious organizations, punishing evil criminals, and recycling one by one the strange objects that parasitized strange powers.

Of course, the most important thing was to take action and kill the 'monsters' that were inconvenient to kill with the Security Bureau's identity, and use private刑天誅punishments to punish those guys who thought they could escape the sanctions of 'justice'.

Yes, this was indeed a crime, and it was not something that a good person would do, but Su Zhou never thought he was a good person, so he never felt any guilt when doing it.

In fact, there would even be pleasure.

Soon, the 'Hunter' itself became an important target of the Security Bureau, and Su Zhou, who had already risen to a senior executive in the Security Bureau, was the main person in charge of hunting down the 'Hunter'.

Hunting himself was a pretty interesting job, but when he had done this job for more than ten years, when the dark night hunter who had hunted evil people for more than ten years discovered that no matter how he acted, how he punished, there would still be endless evil people and monsters appearing, the man began to get tired of his two identities.

"Whether it is the Security Bureau or the Hunter's identity, I have personally captured and punished a large number of evil people—I remember every evil person's name and their crime clearly, deeply, and none of them are innocent. I can guarantee this."

"But why can't I always catch them all? Whether it's a patrol inspector or a hunter-errant, it's the same… There are always people who rely on their power to oppress others, and there are always people who want to satisfy their desires by harming others."

In the office at the top of the Shao's Building, the hunter took off his night clothes, and he sat wearily on the sofa, whispering to his friend sitting on the other side: "I thought it was cool and handsome to be a侠客xia ke(knight errant) at first, but after being one for a long time, I hope that there are no侠客xia ke(knight errant) in this world. The source of acting chivalrously is because there is injustice in the world, and the reason why侠客xia ke(knight errant) exist is because this world is full of darkness… I just hope the world is a little brighter, a very simple wish…"

And the friend on the other side smiled softly, and he shook his head slightly: "A'Zhou, this is human nature. In the genes of humans, there is the essence of the weak worshiping the strong and the strong ruling the weak. This is the origin of human social animals."

"The monkey group thinking remaining in the genes of the hairless naked ape makes the monkey king not allow the appearance of a second monkey king. It's that simple."

Then, there was a long silence.

"There should be a power in this world that prevents the strong from doing whatever they want, and allows the weak to live in peace… The strong are also transformed from the weak. I just want to ensure that all the weak have the possibility of becoming strong. Then, whatever the strong want to do has nothing to do with me."

"Qiming, can this be done?"

"Then just become the strongest, A'Zhou. If you become the strongest, and then you don't do whatever you want, wouldn't that be fine?"

The story had just begun.

Five years later, Su Zhou ascended to the highest position in the Security Bureau, and then became the strongest Saint Seat. He was indifferent, ruthless, and powerful to the point of being feared. His will covered the entire Asia, implementing iron-fisted rule and popularizing extremely strict laws.

He used iron-fisted methods to integrate the mountain strongholds in the major academies that had existed for three hundred years, and rectified the order within the entire Zheng Country.

Then, he went to war with the major supernatural forces around the world, and finally fought against the Allied Forces of the United International and the rebels within Zheng Country on the moon.

Who would win in a battle of one person against the whole world?

At least here, in a fierce battle that almost shattered the moon, one person won.

But what he did next exceeded the expectations of all supporters and opponents.

"Su Zhou, what are you doing?!"

Facing Su Zhou, whose body was gradually becoming illusory, and every cell, every basic particle, was beginning to transform into an 'formation' that enveloped the entire Earth-Moon system and continued to spread and self-replicate and expand, his friend, who had been supporting him from behind, roared in shock and confusion: "Stop it, the battle is over, you are already the strongest!"

And from the 'formation' that enveloped the entire Earth and was constantly spreading towards the entire solar system, a calm voice came.

[Qiming, I'm just doing what you taught me to do.]

"I just told you that if you become the strongest, you can make the rules—I just said that if you want, you can be an emperor or a leader, so that you can better create the world you want—that's all!"

[But that's not enough. Emperors and leaders are ultimately still part of human society. How can the self refer to itself?]

[I must become an existence and power that transcends humans, and even transcends immortals and gods—I must become a morality, a rule, a law… a natural phenomenon that is enduring and indestructible.]

[I want to become the Heavenly Tribulation and the Heavenly Punishment, and become the retribution of all evil.]

[This is the meaning of me being strong.]

Under the action of incredible power, the broken moon was healed together, only the crack that split from it was still clear, like a dragon's eye that was always watching the earth and the starry sky.

The law that transcended the stars was still spreading, it was leading humanity forward—wherever humanity went, that was where the law arrived. The principle of heavenly punishment was like a natural phenomenon that spread with the scope of human activity. It existed for such a long time that in the death and birth of generations, the new generation of the entire galaxy regarded it as a natural phenomenon like the rules of the universe.

Even if human civilization split, even if the definition of human beings blurred, the heavenly punishment did not change.

No one would ever harm others again, and no strong person would oppress the weak, because above the heads of all existences, there was a sword of Damocles called heavenly punishment hanging.

It was the greatest harm, the greatest oppression, the greatest injustice and oppression, and the strongest and most evil justice and goodness.

No one dared to resist.

So.

When the wind forgot its voice, when the sand forgot its origin.

After a long time of mountain and sea changes and star shifts.

The brand new 'Heavenly Law' was achieved.

Its name is…

[--Eternal Tribulation of Heavenly Punishment]

To be continued.