274: The Law of Parasitism

[Law Scalpel]. At a thought, it appeared.

An invisible blade, condensed to the extreme, was held in his hand.

He did not aim at the tidal mist, but instead slashed gently at the seemingly empty Void Realm before him.

Ssh—

Space was not torn; instead, like a piece of warm butter, it was precisely and silently sliced open by the Law Scalpel, creating a neat incision.

On the other side of the incision lay that grotesque, alien dimension.

This strike did not sever any matter; rather, it precisely cut through the "seam" where two Universe Laws intersected, collided, and were most chaotically entangled.

He stepped inside. It was as if he had stepped directly from an operating room into a heavily contaminated biochemical laboratory.

Hum!

An indescribable sense of dizziness rushed straight into Li Dong's Divine Soul.

There was no space here, or rather, the "space" here was alive.

Beneath his feet was not solid ground, but fleshy passages that constantly writhed and contracted, resembling biological intestines. The walls were covered with slowly opening and closing iris-like structures, each pulsation spitting out viscous, grey-green mist that carried corrosive concepts.

The air was filled with a nauseatingly sweet smell of rust, as well as the scent of some kind of... "decaying" concept.

Li Dong's Divine Soul was immensely powerful; resonating with the [heart of the universe], he was himself the Incarnation of Universe order.

Yet here, he felt like a foreign object that had intruded into the body of a massive organism.

From all directions, the "flesh" of the entire maze was using a greedy, hungry "will" to repel him, examine him, and attempt to digest him.

"Warning! Host, your 'existence' is being parsed!"

The Observer's voice carried unprecedented gravity; within the seven-colored data stream, that sickly grey-green was expanding at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"The Law here itself is a 'digestive System'!"

Before the words fell, the writhing flesh on the "walls" of the maze suddenly twisted frantically, and clusters of grey-green "living graffiti" seeped out from within.

They had no fixed form; at times they were twisted human faces, at times screeching beast heads, and at times a tangled mass of tentacles. They were the "Parasites."

They were monsters condensed from the purest concepts of "parasitism" and "assimilation."

They made no sound, but within Li Dong's Divine Soul, billions of sharp shrieks erupted!

"Outsider!"

"Assimilate!"

"Become us!"

Dozens of "Parasites" transformed into invisible streams of light, ignoring the protective Law flowing over Li Dong's body, and lunged directly at his conceptual Origin!

This was not a physical attack, nor was it an energy impact.

Like a virus rewriting code, they intended to "parasitize" directly onto Li Dong's Law, twisting [Attunement], [Creation], [Judgment]... twisting everything about Li Dong into their own grotesque, sickly image!

Li Dong's eyes remained without a ripple.

Facing this unheard-of method of attack, he did not even bring out the [ancient stone slab].

Instead, a cold arc curled at the corner of his mouth.

"Want to eat me?"

"Do you... deserve to?"

[Anti-Devour]!

In an instant, Li Dong's body seemed to transform into a black hole singularity that devoured everything!

Those grey-green conceptual streams that lunged at him were like crashing into an invisible wall—no, into a pulverizer running at full power!

The power that had originally attempted to "parasitize" was instantly captured, torn apart, and crushed by a more tyrannical, unreasonable force of "devouring"!

Ssh, ssh, ssh!

The grey-green concepts were broken down into the most primitive information streams, surging wildly into Li Dong's Divine Soul.

[Parsing...]

[Conceptual composition: Forced assimilation, twisted proliferation, malicious parasitism...]

[Unknown 'pollution source' imprint discovered...]

Li Dong closed his eyes, savoring this power.

Just like a top-tier sommelier tasting a glass of highly toxic, vile wine mixed from countless impurities.

"So that's how it is."

He instantly grasped the essence.

These "Parasites" were not independent lives at all.

They were like cancer cells, extensions of some larger, more terrifying entity. The only meaning of their existence was to serve as "probes" and "pawns," "infecting" and "transforming" every Law System they came into contact with into a "hotbed" suitable for the host's survival.

Their goal was to parasitize the entire Universe!

Meanwhile, at the edge of the Universe.

At the edge of the rift, which had been made larger by the "Hand of Order," the [Void Furnace] transformed from "nothingness" had, under Li Dong's will, turned into a churning sea of darkness.

It greedily devoured the grey-green mist pouring from the rift, attempting to convert it into the purest potential.

However, this time, the conversion became exceptionally difficult.

"Nothingness" could devour anything, but the "parasitism" Law was like a maggot on the bone; while being converted, it was also frantically attempting to "infect" the [Void Furnace] itself!

The dark furnace and the grey-green mist formed a distinct tug-of-war line at the edge of the rift, temporarily blocking the spread of pollution, but anyone could see that this was only a stopgap measure.

Inside the maze, Li Dong opened his eyes.

He no longer paid attention to the "Parasites" that were continuously surging toward him.

As they lunged, they were crushed by the [Anti-Devour] Law, turning into nourishment for Li Dong to parse the enemy.

His gaze pierced through the layered obstacles of the living maze, looking straight toward the deepest point.

All the "Parasites" flowed out like streams from a common source.

Li Dong flashed, ignoring the maze flesh that attempted to block him, and charged straight toward the core.

Soon, an unimaginably huge space appeared before him.

In the center of the space floated an indescribable object.

It was a colossal "tumor" that was still slowly pulsating.

Its surface was covered with countless twisted, broken Law fragments, which seemed to be forcibly stitched together, exuding an aura of pain and malice. Li Dong could even see traces of Laws belonging to his own Universe—familiar yet strange—that were the remains of the previous exploration ship and its crew after being "assimilated."

This tumor was the "heart" of this living maze, the mother body of all "Parasites"!

And the moment Li Dong gazed at it, an ancient, evil will, filled with endless greed and possessiveness, awakened from the deepest part of the tumor, piercing into Li Dong's Divine Soul like a cold, poisonous needle!

"New... Universe..."

"New... nutrients..."

"You... are delicious..."

The will called itself the "Devourer." There was no desire for communication in its words, only the ecstasy and greed of a diner discovering top-tier ingredients.

"Offer up everything you have."

"Become a part of me, become the cornerstone of my eternal expansion; this is your supreme glory!"

Li Dong laughed. Since he began wielding [Attunement], whether it was the "Void Predator," the "Void Dominator," or even the "True Lord," all had viewed him as food.

It seemed that every self-righteous ultimate existence possessed the same impoverished imagination.

"Attunement."

Li Dong softly uttered the two words.

He decided to give this newcomer a chance to correct its mistaken perception.

The supreme Law containing "Dynamic Equilibrium" and the "Song of Creation" transformed into a harmonious, beautiful halo, gently covering the massive tumor.

This was power sufficient to make a "True Lord" reach Nirvana and cause the Universe to undergo Rebirth.

Logically, no existence could resist such guidance toward returning to harmony and perfection.

However, the next second, Li Dong's expression shifted slightly.

The moment his [Attunement] power touched the tumor, it not only failed to provide any guidance or purification, but instead acted like clear water dripping into concentrated sulfuric acid!

Ssh— The harmonious light of the Law was instantly "infected"!

The beautiful "Song of Creation" was twisted into a "Song of Proliferation" filled with blasphemy and madness!

The power originally intended to create "Dynamic Equilibrium" was forcibly "assimilated," becoming a catalyst that accelerated the tumor's proliferation and birthed more "Parasites"!

[Attunement] had failed! No, it was worse than failure.

It had been "eaten" by the enemy and then converted into the enemy's power!

This guy calling itself the "Devourer" had Laws that were too pure—pure to the point where only the single instinct of "parasitism" and "assimilation" remained! It was like an absolute black hole; any action attempting to change it would ultimately be devoured and become a part of itself!

"Hahahaha... Delicious! Truly unprecedentedly delicious!"

The "Devourer's" will erupted in a roar of ecstasy.

"Your 'existence' is the most perfect 'host' I have ever seen!!"

Boom!!! The entire core tumor began to expand violently!

Its volume expanded several times over in an instant, and countless stronger, more solid "Parasites" surged out from within frantically!

This time, their target was no longer Li Dong's Law. It was him—Li Dong!

This unique "existence" itself, named "Li Dong," who had been targeted by the "Devourer"!

Bzzzz—!!! The [ancient stone slab], which had been silent all this time, emitted an unprecedented, heart-wrenching, and violent alarm at this moment!

On the surface of the slab, those ancient patterns flickered frantically, as if trying with all their might to resist an ultimate pollution capable of erasing the concept of "existence" from the root!

The crisis escalated abruptly!