237: Homecoming and Changes

This speed is truly no joke.

Li Dong felt as if he were light itself; no, he was even faster than light.

The "express lane" paved personally by the Universe Origin allowed him to experience what it truly meant to have the world at his fingertips.

One second it was dead, silent darkness; the next, an entire recovering galaxy had already flashed before his eyes.

Those worlds that had once been sucked dry by the "True Lord" were now like land receiving sweet rain after a long drought.

The withered surfaces of the planets were tinged with specks of green, and the sparks of life were reignited within their dried-up cores.

He could even "see" that on a planet where oceans had just been born, the most primitive single-celled life forms were happily dividing and combining, beginning a magnificent epic of evolution.

"Not bad, not bad. This Universe after-sales service is pretty good." Li Dong felt satisfied.

Having personally ended the darkness and witnessed the beginning of new life, this sense of accomplishment felt even better than a massive surge in cultivation.

He sped along the path of light, feeling as if he were patrolling his own backyard.

"Hmm? What is that?"

His Divine Thought swept over a coordinate, and he paused subconsciously.

It was a world that once possessed an Advanced civilization; one could tell its former glory from the remaining outlines of its architecture.

At this moment, this world was also bathed in the light of rebirth, the Origin energy so dense it was almost becoming tangible.

But the problem lay in this "too dense" part.

Li Dong immersed his perception into it.

On the streets, the surviving beings were not cheering with joy because of the abundant energy.

Their bodies were undergoing terrifying changes.

They looked like over-inflated balloons, their limbs twisted, blinding light flowing beneath their skin, and their once-clear eyes were occupied by madness and pain.

They were no longer intelligent beings, but monsters whose bodies had been burst by the energy, left with only instinct, attacking and devouring each other in the ruins.

"...Too much of a good thing?" This thought popped into Li Dong's mind.

It was like someone who had been starving for three days; you couldn't just stuff a whole roasted lamb down their throat, or something would go wrong.

He frowned and continued moving forward.

Soon, he discovered more things that were not right.

A vast nebula, which should have been a cradle for new stars, had now become a source of chaos.

Countless pure energy condensed there into translucent "Law crystals." These crystals seemed to have a life of their own, crazily absorbing all surrounding matter and energy, self-replicating, and expanding to form a "crystal storm" that swept across several light-years.

Wherever it passed, everything was assimilated and crystallized, becoming a part of them.

This was not a good sign either.

Li Dong stopped, his Divine Thought sweeping through the Void Realm, capturing some older, weaker traces.

Those were... the auras of Seniors.

Those "Variables" who, like him, had once fought against entities at the "Boss" level.

Their trajectories had also changed after the "True Lord" was purified.

One aura, the moment the light of rebirth descended, vanished instantly like snow exposed to the scorching sun, returning completely to nothingness.

Another aura seemed to have been "polluted" by this pure energy, becoming violent and twisted, eventually turning into a mindless chaotic energy flow, crashing aimlessly throughout this newborn Universe.

"Survived the darkness of the old era, but couldn't welcome the light of the new?"

Li Dong fell silent.

So, this Universe-level "treatment" was, for some existences, a more lethal "poison" in itself.

Their Law, their power, had long adapted to struggling for survival in the darkness; when the light descended suddenly, they could not withstand it.

"Hey," he said to the Void Realm, as if speaking to someone, "Your side effects are a bit much; it wasn't written in the manual."

The warm consciousness that permeated the Universe transmitted a fluctuation, carrying a hint of... confusion and innocence?

Li Dong understood.

The Universe Origin was like a newborn baby; it only knew how to use the purest and most immense goodwill to repair everything, but it did not understand "gradual progress" or "teaching according to aptitude."

He tried to reach out, the Attunement mark on his palm glowing slightly, and a gentle force probed toward the nebula where the "crystal storm" was occurring.

He carefully combed through the chaotic Law there, trying to guide the overly violent energy to calm down.

It was effective.

The expansion speed of the crystal storm slowed down significantly.

But that was all.

Those Law crystals that had already formed had become part of the cosmic order; he could prevent them from worsening, but he could not completely reverse or erase them.

"Treating the symptoms, not the root cause..." Li Dong withdrew his hand. "This workload is a bit beyond my pay grade."

He had thought he was the hero who ended the war, but it turned out he had only transferred from "lead surgeon" to "head of rehabilitation" and "all-Universe immune System."

What kind of situation is this?

Meanwhile.

In the distant home world.

At the top of the high tower, Lin Yue stood against the wind, her white robes whiter than snow.

She closed her eyes, feeling the earth-shaking changes of the entire world.

Spiritual Qi, no, that energy which was more Advanced than Spiritual Qi, was nourishing all things in an unprecedented manner.

The mountains and rivers became more majestic, the plants and trees were full of Spirituality, and even the lifespan of Mortals was invisibly extended.

She knew that Li Dong had succeeded.

That vast and warm pulsation coming from the deepest depths of the Universe was the best proof.

Joy surged in her heart, but immediately after, a hint of indescribable unease quietly emerged.

It was as if an imperceptible discordant note had mixed into a perfect piece of music.

This unease did not come from the world itself, but from... outside the world.

She opened her eyes and gazed at the deep starry sky, as if she could penetrate the endless space to see the person who was returning.

"Are... are you okay?"

In the Void Realm, Li Dong's heart skipped a beat.

It was Lin Yue.

He felt that familiar worry.

"Could it be that at home..." A bad thought arose.

His own world, although it had a good foundation, was not much stronger than those ancient worlds he had seen along the way.

With such immense energy being poured in, would it also suffer from "being too weak to absorb the nutrients"?

Could the three Grand Elders and Li Qingxuan handle it?

He was eager to return home.

At this moment, all his feelings of patrolling the Universe and being filled with emotion vanished, leaving only one thought—go home!

"I'm taking annual leave first; whatever the matter is, it can wait until I get back!"

He shouted into the Void Realm, not caring if the Universe Origin could understand, and directly merged himself completely with the path of light.

"Give me more speed, faster!"

Hum—!

The speed of the stream of light surged suddenly, the galaxies along the way were stretched into brilliant bands of color, and everything became blurred.

In Li Dong's consciousness, only the increasingly clear coordinates of his home remained.