248: Mother of Blight

Li Dong did not waste any more time.

His method of purifying the first Gravekeeper was simple and direct.

He made a hollow grasping motion with his left hand, and the power of the Eternal Prison silently unfurled; the power of Wither within that emaciated shell, as if encountering its natural predator, was instantly extracted and devoured.

He brought his right fingers together like a blade, carefully injecting a wisp of pure Origin power, precisely tapping onto the Soul fragment imprisoned by the black threads.

The process was so fast that it didn't even cause any energy fluctuations.

The black threads dissolved inch by inch, and that faint light regained its freedom.

It did not dissipate immediately but instead transformed into torrents of fragmented memories, surging into Li Dong's mind.

"...So tired... Eternal peace..."

"...Mother... grant us... silence..."

The memory images were chaotic and disorganized, but the core information was exceptionally clear.

This so-called Mother of Wither was not a deity at all, nor was it a remnant of the "True Lord."

It was more like an ancient "spore" that had existed since the beginning of the Universe.

It had no complex will, only two instincts: to devour vitality, and... to crave eternal peace.

These two instincts contradicted each other, preventing it from expanding crazily like the "True Lord," and also preventing it from truly falling into deep slumber.

Thus, after being accidentally awakened by the energy of the Universe's recovery, it chose this most "comfortable" way—parasitism.

It was like a picky patient who disliked normal food for being too "noisy," so it turned the entire world into a pot of slowly simmering medicine, sipping little by little at that "serenity" heading toward death.

"A Universe-level couch potato who is both hungry and sleepy?" This thought popped into Li Dong's mind, and he felt it was somewhat absurd.

He shook his head, cast aside this ridiculous thought, and looked at the remaining Gravekeepers.

The eerie green flames in their eye sockets flickered even more intensely; it was not hostility, but a resonance mixed with pain and expectation.

Li Dong did not hesitate any longer, his figure flickering repeatedly.

Each time he paused, a Gravekeeper was purified, and a Soul was liberated.

The entire process was smooth and fluid; rather than a battle, it was more like precise and efficient aftermath work.

When the last Soul fragment dissipated into the air, the entire world's Law network of Wither shuddered violently, as if someone had harshly plucked its strings.

"Waking me up... why...?"

A cold, decaying, and weary mental wave came from the depths of the Earth's core, directly washing over Li Dong's consciousness.

This power carried no murderous intent, but it brought a sense of despair that could cause all things to wither, as if telling him that all struggle was futile, and it would be better to just lie down and embrace eternal decay.

"Finally willing to speak?"

Li Dong was completely unmoved; for him, this level of mental pollution was no different from a gentle breeze brushing against his face.

The ancient stone slab within his body was too lazy to even react much; it merely resonated slightly, and that mental shockwave shattered quietly like a wave hitting a dam.

Li Dong even had the leisure to pack up that pure malice and return it along the original path.

"Ah—!"

A faint but sharp wail came from the depths of the Earth's core.

"Can't take it already?" Li Dong curled his lips, and following the source of the Law of Wither, his gaze penetrated the thick earth and rock layers.

He "saw" it.

At the very core of the world, a massive, twisted energy cocoon, woven from countless black Law threads, was pulsing weakly.

It was the true form of the Mother of Wither.

On the outer perimeter of the cocoon, the Law of Wither intertwined into an airtight defensive network, while simultaneously emitting a peculiar aura that made people feel serene.

It was a kind of "eternal peace" that could cool even the most fervent fighting spirit, tempting all living beings who approached it to give up resistance and sink into it together.

Unfortunately, Li Dong had long since seen through its essence.

Under his Void Eye, the internal structure of the cocoon was completely exposed.

At the center of that twisted energy, a small mass of World Origin emitting pure light was being tightly imprisoned by it.

That was the last bit of vitality in this world, and also the "rations" that the Mother of Wither relied on to maintain its own existence.

"...Please... do not disturb my slumber..."

A vague consciousness came again, this time carrying obvious begging and fear.

That was the voice from the remnant Soul of the Mother of Wither.

Li Dong had no interest in bargaining with a parasite.

He raised his hand, and the Law Scalpel condensed and formed at his fingertips, flickering with cold and pure light.

"Your slumber is too noisy."

He declared calmly, then prepared to act to completely excise this malignant tumor from the heart of the world.

"No—!"

Feeling Li Dong's undisguised intent, the Mother of Wither fell into complete madness.

It let out a scream that was sharp to the extreme, mobilizing all the remaining Law of Wither in the entire world.

In an instant, the earth cracked, and countless pitch-black vines burst from the ground. They were not physical entities but were condensed from the purest Law of Wither. Each vine carried the power to wither life, frantically entangling toward Li Dong from all directions.

Facing this world-destroying scene, Li Dong just casually waved the Law Scalpel in his hand.

"Swish!"

A glimmer of light flashed past, and those menacing vines of Wither, like butter cut by a red-hot knife, silently snapped, decomposed, and turned back into the most primitive Law fragments.

While severing these vines, Li Dong was also analyzing their composition.

"Hmm?"

He suddenly stopped his actions.

He discovered that the core of this Law of Wither was not the evil or destruction he had imagined.

If the Law of the "True Lord" was an overbearing "devouring," then the Law of this "Mother of Wither" was more like an extreme "laziness."

An inertia that made all matter, energy, and even the Law itself tend toward stillness, toward "nothingness."

It did not want to destroy the world; it just wanted the world to "stop" and accompany it in "sleeping."

"So that's how it is... This is not a problem that can be solved by simple excision."

Li Dong looked at the energy cocoon that was still attacking frantically but appeared fierce of visage but faint of heart, and suddenly smiled.

He had originally thought this was just a simple "surgical procedure," but now it seemed more like a "rehabilitation treatment."

To deal with this extreme "inertia," simple purification and excision would treat the symptoms but not the root cause.

Even if this "spore" were cleaned up, as long as this "inertial" Law existed in this Universe, sooner or later, a second or third one would be born.

The correct approach was not to destroy it, but to perform Attunement on it.

Injecting a just-right amount of "vitality" into this extreme "laziness," allowing decay and rebirth to reach a new balance.

Once this thought appeared, Li Dong felt his understanding of the identity of "Tuner" had reached a whole new level.

He put away the Law Scalpel and looked at the Wither vines dancing across the sky; there was no longer any murderous intent in his eyes, replaced instead by a keen interest, as if he had found a new toy.

"Don't be anxious, and don't be afraid."

He said softly to the cocoon in the depths of the Earth's core.

"I am not here to kill you."

"I am here... to wind you up."