235: Final Judgment

The moment Li Dong tore open the spatial rift and stepped inside, the entire world fell silent.

No, there was no world here.

There were no directions, no passage of time, not even the concept of "existence" itself.

There was only a "Nothingness" of extreme purity, and a devouring will seeping out from every corner of this "Nothingness" that made even the Soul freeze.

This was the lair of the "True Lord," the ultimate abyss constructed from endless wreckage and twisted Laws after it had devoured billions of worlds.

At the edge of Li Dong's perception, a "thing" that could not be measured by any scale occupied everything.

It was like a living, constantly squirming black heart; every beat made the entire Void Realm contract along with it.

It was also like a dark, ancient tree rooted upon the corpses of the Universe, with countless thick "roots" that seemed to be composed of solidified malice extending from its main body, piercing into the distant and invisible other side of the Void Realm, where it connected to world after world that was being drained dry.

This was the true form of the "True Lord."

An ugly, bloated, and extremely greedy lesion of the Universe.

"You have come."

A grand and ancient voice resonated not through the air, but directly within the depths of Li Dong's consciousness.

At this moment, those countless "roots" connecting to other worlds were pulled back from the Void Realm in unison, curling up like startled tentacles, and all power began to converge toward that massive black heart.

It was afraid.

No, it was making a desperate gamble.

"Variable, you have won." The voice resonated again. This time, it was no longer condescendingly majestic, but instead carried a strange temptation that seemed capable of analyzing the ultimate truth of the Universe. "But you cannot kill me. I am this Nothingness, and Nothingness is me. You cannot kill Nothingness."

"Stop your pointless struggle and join me."

"You crave power, I will give you power that transcends everything. You crave immortality, I am eternity itself. We shall jointly be the Dominator of the life and death of all things, becoming the true and only will of this Universe."

"Otherwise, you will be completely assimilated by me in this Nothingness. Your consciousness, your power, your existence will all become a part of me, sinking here for all eternity."

The voice was full of temptation, as if one only needed to nod to obtain everything.

Li Dong listened, but his face remained expressionless; he even had the leisure to size up this so-called "True Lord."

"Are you done?" He spoke, his voice sounding exceptionally clear in this abyss where even light could not exist.

"If you're done, it's my turn."

Li Dong raised his hand, palm facing upward.

In his left hand, the pitch-black vortex of the Eternal Prison slowly emerged, within which it seemed as if thousands of worlds were collapsing and being destroyed.

In his right hand, the ancient, simple-looking ancient stone slab floated quietly, with billions of runes circulating on its surface, recording the mysteries of the beginning of the Universe.

"First, you have misunderstood one thing." Li Dong looked at that massive black heart, his tone as calm as if he were stating a fact. "You are not the Void Realm; you are just a tumor that grew inside the Void Realm, a lesion that should have been excised long ago."

"Secondly, your 'eternity' is merely a lingering existence built upon endless death. You devour all things, yet you have never created anything. To put it bluntly, you are just trash that only knows how to eat."

"Finally..."

Li Dong smiled, but there was no mockery in that smile; instead, it carried a hint of indescribable pity.

"Who told you that I came here to kill you?"

"I came here to cure you."

The moment his words fell, he slammed his hands together!

The devouring power of the Eternal Prison and the analytical power of the ancient stone slab collided and underwent Fusion in an unprecedented way in an instant!

Darkness and light, destruction and creation—two diametrically opposed Laws were now forcibly combined into one in Li Dong's hands.

"Hum—"

The phantom of a long blade slowly condensed and took shape in his palm.

One half of the blade was as black as ink, devouring all light; the other half was as pure white as the beginning, emitting a faint glow of the Origin. The black and white colors intertwined and swirled on the blade, forming a perfect spiral.

This was not a weapon; this was Li Dong's ultimate understanding of all the Laws of this Universe.

The Blade of Judgment.

"You!"

For the first time, true panic appeared in the will of the "True Lord," as it sensed the power on that long blade capable of threatening its very foundation.

"Join me! Otherwise, it is destruction!" The final temptation turned into a frantic roar.

"Noisy."

Li Dong could not be bothered with any more nonsense. He gripped the Blade of Judgment in his hand and simply swung it forward toward that massive black heart.

There was no earth-shattering momentum, no sharp edge tearing through the Universe.

This slash was silent and soundless.

However, the "True Lord's" incredibly massive true form emitted the most shrill wail that transcended matter and Soul.

"Ahhhhh—!"

Countless tentacles that had just been retracted twisted and twitched frantically, turning into billions of blades of Law that stabbed at Li Dong from all directions, wanting to tear him to pieces.

But all of this was futile.

The power of the Blade of Judgment was too pure; it did not slash matter or energy, but the very "Law" that maintained the existence of the "True Lord"!

Before this slash, all counterattacks were like a slow-motion movie, sluggish and powerless.

"Pfft."

As if a sharp blade were cutting into rotting flesh, the Blade of Judgment sank deep into the core of that black heart without any hindrance.

Li Dong's consciousness, along with this slash, saw the deepest secret of the "True Lord."

Within that dark core, it was not empty.

A fist-sized sphere radiating infinite pure light was being tightly bound by countless layers of filthy chains of Law, imprisoned at the very center.

The "True Lord's" massive body, its instinct to devour all things... were actually all for the sake of maintaining the operation of this "prison," preventing the pure power inside from leaking out!

It was itself a contaminated prison!

What it imprisoned was an ancient, extremely pure... Origin of the Universe!

"So that's how it is..."

Li Dong understood completely.

Just at this moment, the ancient stone slab in his hand suddenly trembled violently. It was no longer a cold stone slab, but like a wanderer who had been away from home for many years, feeling the call of home.

It broke free from Li Dong's palm, turned into a stream of light, and rushed toward the imprisoned sphere of light without hesitation.

It was not some Divine Artifact, nor was it some key.

It was itself a part of that "Origin of the Universe" that had split off with its last ounce of strength before being imprisoned; it was the most desperate distress signal it had sent out to the entire Universe!

And Li Dong was the one who had heard this signal and walked all the way here.

The moment the stream of light transformed from the ancient stone slab merged with that sphere of light.

"Boom!"

Blinding light erupted from the wound at the core of the "True Lord," instantly illuminating the entire endless abyss.

"No—!"

The "True Lord" let out one last unwilling roar.

Its filthy body, massive enough to cover a galaxy, began to disintegrate rapidly under the illumination of the pure light. It was not crumbling, but being purified.

The thick darkness faded, turning into the purest power of creation. The twisted Laws were smoothed out, returning to the original harmony of the Universe.

That malice that devoured everything melted away in the light, replaced by endless vitality and warmth.

Li Dong stood quietly in place, bathing in this newborn power. He could feel his cultivation and his life level leaping toward a brand new, indescribable Realm under the baptism of this power.

He did not stop it, nor did he absorb it.

He just watched quietly, watching that abyss that once represented ultimate despair now blooming with the most magnificent light of creation in the Universe.

The war was over.

No, perhaps from the very beginning, this was not a war.

This was just a long... treatment.

Li Dong looked down at his hand. The black and white intertwined Blade of Judgment had dissipated at some point, and in its place was a handful of warm and bright light in his palm.

He smiled, feeling unprecedented peace and satisfaction in his heart.