Chapter 655: The Circulation of All Things, the Unchanging One is Only Change Itself

Chapter 655: Chapter 12: The Circulation of All Things, the Unchanging One is Only Change Itself

“As expected of the Chairman!” “This is like casting a long line; all threats are kept within a controllable range!” “Those people from the Undying Sect think they escaped on their own, little knowing they’re still trapped, just in a different fish tank!”

‘Amidst those voices of praise, I actually felt a brief flicker of pride. Yes, sacrificing a few to benefit the many… It’s a last resort, a necessary sacrifice. There’s no other way.’

‘All I have to do is keep creating enemies. Let them emerge from time to time to wreak havoc in some region, kill a few unruly borderland ruffians, and sow fear. Then, I can dispatch official troops to win the hearts of the people. This way, the Tianzheng Alliance’s cohesion will grow stronger, and the people’s loyalty will deepen.’

‘What a brilliant method. Why didn’t I think of this before?’ With this doubt in his heart, Zhou Buyi had ended the meeting amidst a chorus of flattery and agreement. ‘It’s just a few lives. If I don’t do this, there will be other troublesome rebels in the future, and even more people will die.’

But soon, that giddy self-satisfaction vanished when he returned home and saw his firstborn son still in his cradle. It was replaced by a wave of terror. ‘Those who were sacrificed… they must have had parents and children, too. They were people, just like anyone else. It’s one thing for me to harden my heart and sacrifice them. After all, someone has to make these calls. As long as I’m not powerful enough to bypass such choices, someone will always have to choose based on the cold calculus of life and death.’

‘But how could I feel pride from this? How could I feel smug, or a sense of triumph from holding the lives of others in my hands? I’m supposed to be the one who ushers in an era of great peace. If I continue to disregard the people, to disregard life, won’t I one day become an Evil Ghost like the Emperor of the Anx Dynasty, leading beasts to prey on humanity?’

You can make mistakes, but you can’t dress them up as a ‘necessary right.’

‘The heart doesn’t lie. When you’re ready to compromise, you compromise. And in that moment, Zhou Buyi had indeed compromised.’

All the glory he felt for his achievements, all the pride and respect he had for his diligent work—in that instant, it all turned to shame in Zhou Buyi’s heart.

It was a shame, a pain that others could never comprehend. The man who wanted to be a Hero knew that from that day forward, he could never again face his dream. Every time he tried, he would remember that fleeting moment of smug satisfaction—that instant of arrogance when he had viewed human lives as mere tools.

But in the ninth second, Zhou Buyi, still burning in the Fire of Sin, rallied. He roared, swinging a branch to shove Su Zhou away. Though covered in wounds and charred black, he still had strength left.

—In all the universe, the only thing that does not change is change itself.

If you make a mistake, you must return to the Righteous Dao. You must walk that path even in shame. The only eternal, unchanging thing in this world is eternal change itself. People aren’t stones; they can become arrogant and complacent. But an ‘unchanging’ heart doesn’t mean one that is always calm, always rational, and never errs. It means a heart that, even after succumbing to arrogance, can find its way back to its original purpose, back to the Righteous Dao.

Had he been a truly evil person, the power of the Fire of Sin might have made him suffer for far longer. But Zhou Buyi had, after all, fought his entire life for world peace. The Desire Power of the Divine Wood World that he carried was even vaster than Su Zhou’s, and this allowed him to seize an opportunity to break free from the Divine Technique.

“Thank you, Su Zhou! You’ve truly knocked some sense into me, and I’m incredibly grateful—but the battle is just getting started!”

He gathered the Spiritual Power within him—he still had more than half left that he hadn’t had a chance to use—and began to repair his injuries. Zhou Buyi roared and charged at the Giant Dragon before him. He could see that Su Zhou’s Spiritual Power was nearly depleted. ‘I might not only survive the ten seconds,’ he thought, ‘I might even be able to turn this around and defeat him!’

And then came the tenth second.

“No. The battle is already over.”

Having uttered his final words, Su Zhou held his breath, clenched his fist, and unleashed a punch like a meteor. It smashed into the struggling Zhou Buyi, right onto the part of the tree trunk that should have been his face.

Amidst a flurry of charred splinters and bursts of flame, he silently threw a second punch, then a third, a fourth… three hundred and seventy-four in total.

Each punch was thrown with full force, carrying a terrifying impact and heat that rivaled his earlier Dragon Breath. The breathless barrage lasted no more than a second, yet it felt like an eternity. It ended with a simple, unadorned Rising Dragon Fist. The terrifying force launched Zhou Buyi’s Divine Wood body into the air, sending it flying out from underground and crashing back down onto the surface.

Then, just like that, he reverted from his True Body, remaining underground and gasping for breath.

“You went easy on him, didn’t you?”

The small, red snake emerged from Su Zhou’s clothes, clucking its tongue. “You didn’t even use your Celestial Human Cycle to its full extent. If you had, that final, full-power burst would’ve been enough to blast that Divine Wood kid to smithereens. Though, he’s pretty tough himself, to take a nine-second beating from a freak like you and still have the strength to fight back. A normal Monster would’ve been toast in the first second.”

“Went easy on him, my ass! I was just being fair. Who knows how many avatars that Zhou Buyi guy has out there? If he were really going all out, all his avatars would have merged with his main body to form his complete self. I, Su Zhou, am always fair and just. I don’t let my emotions get the better of me. Why would I take advantage of him here?”

Su Zhou cursed irritably, then sat down amid the dripping lava underground, waving a hand in exhaustion. “Besides, that really *was* everything I had. My continuous, seven-second full-power Breath… if I had swept it sideways, I could’ve burned down half a city, no problem. The fact that he could block it for so long just means my firepower is still lacking. I’ll have to upgrade it next time.”

The Snake Spirit rolled its eyes. ‘Aside from the Divine Wood and a few Celestial God’s Favored Clans that specialize in Defense Power, I don’t know a single Monster that could survive that kind of earth-scorching Breath for even one second.’

“So now what?” it asked. “He survived. What are you going to do?”

“What else is there to do? The narrative is simple: a powerful, unknown enemy launched a sudden attack and was defeated by Director Zhou Buyi of the Demon Suppression Bureau, who fought with all his might. Even so, the Director was gravely injured. After something like this, would the internal factions of the Tianzheng Alliance really be thinking about infighting? Or would they be scrambling to consolidate their power and find out where that powerful enemy came from?”

Catching his breath, his Spiritual Power already half-restored, Su Zhou sneered. “And if some freaks really do try something, that’s not my problem. In any case, if I come across anyone preying on the common folk, I’ll kill every last one of them. As a ‘Knight,’ that’s about all I can do. The specifics of how to handle it are up to the ‘leader,’ Zhou Buyi.”

“After that, I’m obviously going to continue my vacation here with Qiming. And I’ll have Zhou Buyi foot the bill.”

“You beat the hell out of the guy, and now you’re going to make him pay for your vacation? Su Zhou, you really are a Demon.”

“I beat him up, and he’ll have to thank me for it!”