253: Negative Core

The "Universe Arena" established by Li Dong was running well.

Those beings dominated by rage found the perfect outlet in that Domain of Law where only victory and defeat mattered, and life and death were indistinguishable.

The torrents of violent energy were channeled into the endless Void Realm through passages he had opened, while their violent wills were honed and consumed within the arena.

For a time, the entire blood-red galaxy unexpectedly presented a kind of eerie harmony.

Outside, the planets rotated quietly, and the nebulae flowed slowly; inside, the arena was torn apart by battles, with the light of Law flashing everywhere.

"Alright, the large-scale online fighting game server is set up, running stably, with a considerable number of daily active users."

Li Dong stood in the Void Realm, arms crossed, looking at his masterpiece, and commented with some self-satisfaction, "Now, it's time to find the source that gives all the players the 'Berserk BUFF' and pull its network cable."

The scrutinizing gaze from the "Hand of Order" remained, cold, objective, and devoid of any emotion, as if it were recording experimental data.

Li Dong ignored it, his figure flashing as he flew towards the deepest part of the galaxy, the central zone where the Law of violence was most concentrated.

The closer he got, the stickier the negative emotions permeating the space became.

If the violence on the periphery was boiling hot water, then this place was solidified asphalt.

Despair, hatred, fear, venomous resentment... various emotions were compressed to the extreme, forming a substantive pollution capable of directly interfering with the material world.

"Tsk, good grief, which sewer of the Universe did this poke into?"

Soon, he arrived at the source.

It was an ancient ruin suspended in the Void Realm.

Dilapidated halls and broken stone pillars silently recounted a forgotten history.

The entire ruin was wrapped in a layer of distorted Law barrier; any matter that approached would be eroded and assimilated by this surge of negative emotion.

Li Dong reached out and touched the barrier.

What came from his fingertips was not an impact of energy, but a bone-chilling malice, as if billions of voices were screaming, wailing, and cursing deep within his Soul.

"Interesting."

He withdrew his hand; this thing did not look like it was naturally formed.

It was more like... a landfill.

A landfill specifically used for piling up and processing negative emotions.

Was it the work of the "True Lord"?

Or a mess left behind by some more ancient existence?

Just as he was pondering, a sudden change occurred within the ruins.

"Oooo—"

Sharp wails rang out from all directions, and countless black shadows seeped out from the shadows of the ruins.

They had no fixed form, just clusters of energy condensed from pure negative emotions, twisting, struggling, and exuding disgusting resentment.

Wraiths.

They discovered Li Dong, this "outsider," and swarmed toward him.

These attacks did not act on the physical body but directly assaulted the Divine Soul.

Countless faces of pain and despair flashed before Li Dong's eyes, and shrill cries attempted to drag his consciousness into the same abyss of despair.

"So noisy."

Li Dong frowned.

He couldn't even be bothered to make a move; with a slight shift of his mind, the silent [ancient stone slab] on his chest grew slightly warm.

Hum—

An invisible, intangible, yet extremely pure ripple spread out from him as the center.

The feeling was like someone pressing the mute button in an extremely noisy KTV room.

All the wraiths that had lunged at him had the black resentment on them instantly purified and dissolved like snow meeting the blazing sun, turning into the purest non-attribute energy, dissipating into the Universe.

Those screams and wails stopped abruptly, and the whole world was quiet.

"As expected, to deal with mental pollution, you still need genuine antivirus software."

Li Dong took a step, passing directly through that layer of distorted Law barrier, and walked into the interior of the ruins.

The remaining wraiths retreated in fear, not daring to approach again.

Li Dong paid them no more mind; his gaze locked onto the center of the ruins.

There, a huge black vortex, interwoven from countless Law of negative emotions, was slowly rotating.

It was the "Singularity of Negative Emotions" of the entire galaxy, the source of all violence.

With a casual wave of his hand, a wraith that had just had most of its resentment purified and appeared somewhat dazed was drawn before him.

The [Law Scalpel] condensed at his fingertips, thin as a cicada's wing, yet sharp enough to sever Karma.

Ssh.

He gave a light slash, slicing open the wraith's illusory body.

There was no flesh and blood, no energy core.

In the center of the wraith, there was only a small piece of... memory fragment wrapped in dense negative emotions and shimmering with a faint light.

Li Dong extended his finger and touched the fragment.

Boom!

A memory that did not belong to him flooded into his mind.

It was a cerulean world that once had a glorious civilization.

But from some unknown time, despair began to spread.

War, plague, natural disasters...

In the end, in endless pain, the entire civilization self-destructed.

Their unwillingness, their hatred, their despair converged into a sky-high resentment.

Just as this resentment was about to dissipate into the Universe, an invisible giant hand descended from the Void Realm.

That hand, cold, grand, and devoid of any emotion.

It easily scooped up this massive surge of negative emotion, kneaded it, compressed it, and then, like throwing away trash, threw it into the ruins of this blood-red galaxy.

At the end of the scene, Li Dong saw the owner of that hand, or rather, felt its will.

Cold, precise, like a surgeon.

It was the "Hand of Order".

Li Dong's pupils constricted slightly.

He understood instantly.

This "Singularity of Negative Emotions" was not an accident at all, nor was it the legacy of the "True Lord".

It was the masterpiece of the "Hand of Order"!

It was maintaining the "balance" of the Universe.

When a world moved toward prosperity because of an excess of positive energy, it might guide its development;

And when a world was destroyed in negative emotions, it would collect this "waste," throw it into another place, and create a negative "balance," such as the violent galaxy before him.

Everything was a pawn, everything was data.

Prosperity and destruction, happiness and pain, in its eyes, there was no difference; they were all just tools to maintain the stability of the chessboard.

Li Dong laughed.

But in that laughter, the previous ease was gone, replaced instead by a bone-deep chill.

He raised his head, as if making eye contact with that scrutinizing gaze in the Void Realm.

"So, this is your 'balance'?"

"Using the ashes and tears of one civilization as a stimulant for another?"

"Pruning the wounds of the Universe as if they were a garden, just to make it look neat, never caring if it festers?"

"Truly... what an orderly morgue."

He slowly raised his hand, and in his palm, the light of the [Blade of Judgment] began to condense.

That light was no longer the gentleness of the previous Attunement, but carried a determination to sever everything.

The gaze of the "Hand of Order" seemed to fluctuate, transmitting a cold thought, not in language, but as a warning: [Those who disrupt the chessboard will be purged.]

"A chessboard?"

Li Dong sneered, "Sorry, I'm not a person who likes to play chess."

"I prefer... smashing the chessboard."

He looked at the Core of Negativity before him, which was constantly spreading pain and madness, his voice calm yet firm.

"I'll clean up your trash for you."

"As for your rules..."

"Today, I'll also change them while I'm at it!"

The moment his words fell, the light of the [Blade of Judgment] in his hand flared brightly, condensing the pure power of creation and purification,

turning into a heaven-shaking rainbow that tore through the darkness, slashing fiercely toward the very core of that Singularity of Negative Emotions!