306: Imprisoned Spiritual Vein

Stepping into the cave.

A conceptual sense of "emptiness" rushed toward him.

This was not darkness, but "absence of light."

It was not deathly silence, but "absence of sound."

The Devilish Qi permeating the air was less like energy and more like an informational virus, frantically transmitting the same message to Li Dong: give up, stagnate, return to nothingness.

On both sides of the passageway, twisted runes were carved into the stone walls, resembling countless faces of agony screaming in silence.

Creak—

In the shadows ahead, several humanoid stone Puppets stood up.

Their bodies were covered in thick black crystals, and cold runic light flickered at their joints; these were Demon Suppression Puppets eroded by Devilish Qi.

Their program core had only one directive: erase all "living things."

"Directive: High-activity Variable detected."

"Execution: Eliminate."

The mechanical voice echoed through the hollow corridor as the five Puppets closed in from five directions in a stiff yet swift manner, sealing off all paths of retreat.

Their attacks were precise and efficient, devoid of any superfluous movement; they were killing machines existing purely for "obliteration."

Li Dong stopped in his tracks.

He didn't even raise his hand.

[Attunement].

An invisible ripple, centered on him, swept gently across the area.

This was not a confrontation of energy, but a rewriting of logic.

The movements of the five charging Demon Suppression Puppets suddenly stalled.

The runes flickering in their eyes began to flash frantically and chaotically.

"Alert! Core logic conflict detected!"

"Redefining 'Variable'..."

"Definition complete. Highest priority target: Absolute Stasis."

The next instant.

One of the Puppets suddenly twisted its body; its fist, capable of splitting stone, did not strike at Li Dong, but slammed fiercely into its companion's chest.

Crack!

The chest of the struck Puppet collapsed, but it backhanded with a claw, tearing apart half of the attacker's body.

The remaining three Puppets also simultaneously locked onto each other as attack targets.

Their programs had been "fine-tuned" by Li Dong.

In their twisted logic, the "Stasis" attribute originating from "Absolute Equilibrium" on their companions was the "Variable" most in need of elimination!

A silent and efficient slaughter ensued before Li Dong.

Within three breaths, the five indestructible Demon Suppression Puppets had become a pile of shattered parts, their runic light completely extinguished.

Li Dong didn't even look at them and continued walking deeper.

Passing through the corridor, the view suddenly opened up.

A subterranean cavern, massive beyond imagination.

In the center of the cavern, a heart was suspended.

A heart, incomparably huge yet dim, was struggling for the last time—the Spiritual Vein Core!

It should have been radiant, with Spiritual Qi like an ocean.

But at this moment, it was tightly bound and pierced by countless thick, grey-black chains made of pure Law.

One end of those chains was deeply embedded into the Spiritual Vein Core, while the other end vanished into the surrounding Void Realm, as if rooted in the "death" concept of the entire world.

They were not physical entities; they were the embodiment of "Withered Order."

They were bloodsucking!

Frantically extracting every bit of vitality from the Spiritual Vein Core, and then pumping the transformed, deathly Devilish Qi back into it.

Deep within Li Dong's Divine Soul, he could "hear" the most painful wails of billions of living beings coming from inside the heart.

These were the mountain spirits and plant Souls that had once guarded this Spiritual Vein; they had been imprisoned together, drained dry over endless years, their Souls turned into fuel to maintain the operation of this cage.

How cruel.

Li Dong reached out, his fingertips gently touching one of the Law chains.

Hum!

A dust-laden memory, belonging to this world, surged into his consciousness.

He "saw" it.

Centuries ago, the ancestors of the Demon Suppression Division discovered that the Spiritual Vein was being eroded by a power of "Stasis" they could not understand.

Out of fear, and also out of the responsibility to protect the world.

They utilized the most ancient and powerful "Absolute Seal" technique, attempting to completely Seal off this polluted Spiritual Vein to stop the spread of "Devils."

They succeeded.

But they also failed.

This foolish method of using "Stasis" to combat "Stasis" was like trying to extinguish a fire occurring beneath the ice with ice cubes.

Their Seal not only failed to isolate the "Stasis," but instead perfectly fused with the "Stasis" Law, forming a more solid, more perfect cage, completely cutting off any possibility of the Spiritual Vein healing itself.

With their own hands, they had crafted the most perfect breeding ground for this world's "cancer."

[Foolish, yet tragic.]

The "The Chess Player," who had long been silent, commented in a tone that was almost a sigh.

[They attempted to use a lock to lock away the concept of 'nothingness,' and in the end, they only locked themselves in as well.]

Li Dong withdrew his finger.

He did not need pity, nor did he need to judge history.

All he needed to do was correct this mistake.

[Blade of Judgment].

An illusory Blade of Judgment, as if composed of starlight, condensed in his hand.

It had no earth-shattering sharpness, only the absolute concept of "severing all connections."

He swung gently at the "Withered Chain" closest to him.

There was no sound.

No sparks.

The chain made of Law severed silently from the middle.

It did not shatter, but like a line of deleted code, it was erased from the underlying logic of the world and turned into nothingness.

"Awoo—"

A roar originating from the conceptual level exploded within the cavern.

With the breaking of the first chain, "Withered Order" sensed a threat, and the Laws of the entire cavern began to riot!

An invisible storm swept over; this was not a physical attack, but a conceptual assimilation.

Wherever the storm passed, space "withered," time "decayed," and everything was forcibly given the ending of "death."

It wanted to turn Li Dong, this "Variable," into a handful of withered dust as well!

Li Dong's expression remained unchanged.

Deep within his Divine Soul, that ancient stone slab lit up slightly.

[ancient stone slab]!

All the "Withered" concepts rushing toward Li Dong were absorbed by the slab as if rivers returning to the sea, without causing a single ripple.

Moreover, countless fine patterns began to emerge on the surface of the slab, rapidly analyzing the underlying logic of "Withered Order."

"Extraction..."

"Transformation..."

"Return to deathly silence..."

Li Dong saw through its essence.

The curve of his lips carried a hint of playfulness.

He swung the [Blade of Judgment] again, severing over a dozen chains in a row!

The light of the Spiritual Vein Core grew visibly stronger by a fraction!

The backlash came even more violently!

But this time, Li Dong did not let the slab absorb it passively.

He actively opened his hands and faced the conceptual storm.

[Dynamic Equilibrium · Reconstruction]!

"Your code is too inefficient."

Li Dong whispered softly.

His will, like an invisible hand, forcibly seized the underlying code of "Withered Order" and began to violently rewrite it!

Forcibly twisting [Extract Vitality] into [Guide Vitality]!

Forcibly reconstructing [Return to Deathly Silence] into [Cycle of Nourishment]!

Tampering with [Imprisonment] into [Protection]!

Boom!!!

The entire underground space underwent an incredible reversal!

Those severed chains that had not yet disappeared lit up again, but no longer in grey-black, but in a brilliant emerald green!

They reconnected to the Spiritual Vein Core, but were no longer extracting; instead, they were gently transporting pure energy transformed from the Void Realm back into it!

The [Blade of Judgment] in Li Dong's hand turned into thousands of streamers, tracing beautiful arcs in the air.

With every flash, a Withered Chain was severed and reconstructed!

The cage was turning into a cradle!

The bloodsucking conduits were turning into oxygen-supplying umbilical cords!

When the last chain was reconstructed.

Hum—!!!!

The entire Spiritual Vein Core let out a joyous cry that shook the heavens and earth!

It had come alive!

A vast, peerless pillar of life-force, indescribable in words, shot up from the cave into the sky!

The pillar of light tore through the earth, pierced the firmament, and swept away the dead, silent black fog that had hovered over the Despair Mountains for centuries!

Long-lost sunlight shone upon this cursed land for the first time.

Tender shoots emerged from the cracked black soil at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Dead trees sprouted new emerald green branches.

In just a few breaths, the entire Despair Mountains transformed from a dead zone into an oasis vibrant with life!

Outside the cave.

That silver Law curtain, in the face of this majestic torrent of life, was as fragile as a soap bubble and shattered instantly.

The three silver-armored Demon Suppression Division members gazed up in a daze, watching the pillar of life that connected heaven and earth, watching the world around them frantically reviving.

The silver-masked person leading them, for the first time, showed a crack in his eternal, unchanging posture.

His masked hand trembled uncontrollably.

The Order runes flowing on his armor flashed and flickered frantically, like garbled code.

Defined by the Demon Suppression Division as a "terminal illness."

Deemed "incurable" by generations of ancestors.

Viewed by the entire world's order as a source of withering that must be "isolated"...

Before his eyes.

It had been healed.

No, that was not healing.

That was a... creation of a higher dimension!

A miracle that they could not comprehend even by exhausting their imagination!

The iron Laws they had guarded for a thousand years, the meaning of their existence, their entire worldview... at this moment, were completely shattered by that pillar of green light!

Meanwhile.

Beyond the dimensions, on that indescribable chessboard.

A chess piece, originally tightly entangled by the black Qi of "Stasis," suddenly erupted with unprecedented, brilliant light.

A cold, majestic, and grand will, far surpassing the "Adjudicator," slowly awakened.

Its gaze crossed endless dimensions and accurately projected onto that chess piece, which was undergoing violent "evolution."