397: Chapter 397 Clumsy Craftsmanship Draws Laughter, Zhou's Comments Are Merciless

Violent energy storms raged in the center of the Great Furnace of Creation. Pure white Immortal Sword Qi and pitch-black demonic flames intertwined into a dense net of strangulation, with grayish-white Truth Rays piercing through, emitting ear-piercing tearing sounds. These three powers mixed together, sucking the surrounding air dry and forming a suffocating death zone.

Zhou Wannian stood at the very center of the storm. His faded blue cloth robe flapped wildly in the gale. Countless attacks, powerful enough to grind mountains into powder, struck the invisible barrier three feet around him, only causing ripples of fine light before vanishing without a trace, like a clay ox entering the sea.

He lowered his hands and casually brushed off non-existent dust from his sleeves.

“You call this the Return of Myriad Realms to the Source?”

Zhou Wannian's voice was not loud, yet it possessed a steadiness that pierced through all the roaring, falling clearly into the ears of the Suturing Grandmaster suspended in mid-air.

He raised his right leg and, facing the energy barrier capable of tearing space apart, took a steady step forward.

“Buzz—”

The moment his sole landed, the Absolute Mass granted by the Great Perfection Space Law poured out. The violent storm blocking his path was like hitting an immovable primordial divine mountain. The Immortal Sword Qi shattered inch by inch, turning into a rain of light; the pitch-black demonic flames were extinguished as if by an invisible giant hand, leaving not even a wisp of smoke. As for those rigid Truth Rays, their refraction angles were twisted by this mass, and they recoiled, slashing into the surrounding metal platforms and leaving behind deep, bottomless black cracks.

Just one step.

The great strangulation formation that the Suturing Grandmaster regarded as his trump card was completely turned into a floor of scattered energy residue beneath Zhou Wannian's feet.

The Suturing Grandmaster's body, suspended in mid-air, shook violently. The monocle set over his right eye flashed with a piercing red light, and a series of data representing “logical error” and “unable to parse” scrolled across the lens like a waterfall.

“Impossible! This formation integrates the supreme Laws of the Three Realms. Even if an Immortal Golden Immortal descended, they would lose a layer of skin! How could you, a mere flesh-and-blood body, crush it with just physical mass!”

The Suturing Grandmaster's stitched-together face twisted. The immortal-like grace on the left was long gone, and the Demon Race features on the right expanded wildly. Black Devilish Qi seeped out from the stitches on his face, emitting a pungent, foul stench.

Zhou Wannian stepped over the charred metal wreckage on the floor and walked unhurriedly to the edge of the platform. He looked up, his eyes deep as an ancient well, looking at the Suturing Grandmaster in the air with a hint of pity, as if looking at a fool.

“Because those so-called supreme Laws in your mouth are nothing more than a mess full of holes.”

Zhou Wannian folded his hands behind his back, his tone carrying a cold disdain.

“Your long speech just now sounded quite intimidating. Breaking Dimensional Barriers, Ultimate Completion. Unfortunately, you haven't even understood the most basic common sense of material operation, yet you're here dreaming of being a Creator.”

He extended his long, fair index finger and pointed at the Cultivation Pods suspended in mid-air, filled with pale green slime. The half-immortal, half-demon monsters inside the pods were twitching in pain, the sound of bones snapping echoing one after another.

“Do you think that by using Truth Realm codes to forcibly stitch Immortal Qi and Devilish Qi into a living being's body, you've achieved perfect Fusion?”

Zhou Wannian sneered.

“Immortal Spiritual Qi emphasizes light nourishment, while Demonic Path Evil Qi emphasizes heavy devouring. The micro-structures of these two energy Origins are completely opposite. You used cold code to forcibly cut off their rejection reaction. On the surface, it looks like you've squeezed them together, but you can't eliminate the thermal loss generated by the friction between these two energies at all.”

“Look at these things you've created.” Zhou Wannian casually pointed to several Cultivation Pods. “Their internal organs have long been burned to ashes by this invisible internal friction. You used code to lock their sense of pain and forcibly maintain the operation of their physical bodies, but as long as they leave this green water serving as coolant, within three hours, they will start to spontaneously combust from the inside. Not even bone fragments will remain. You call this eternal life?”

The Suturing Grandmaster was stunned. Zhou Wannian's words were like a sharp scalpel, precisely cutting into the experimental Bottleneck he had been unable to overcome for countless eons. The Half-step Deity Transformation monsters he created did indeed have fatal lifespan defects; as long as they left the nutrient tanks, they would soon explode due to energy rampaging.

But he had always thought it was just a matter of insufficient code optimization, never imagining it was a fundamental conflict of basic energy attributes.

Zhou Wannian did not stop. His voice echoed in this empty underground hall, each word piercing the heart.

“And your so-called Dimensional Stitching. You extract space fragments from low-dimensional worlds and weld them together with high-dimensional metal Materials. Do you understand what Space Curvature is? Low-dimensional flat space and high-dimensional 3D space—their curvature anchor points aren't even in the same coordinate system.”

Zhou Wannian shook his head, the disdain in his eyes growing heavier.

“Forcing them together is like using ordinary cotton thread to stitch a ball of fire and a block of ice. You think you can stabilize the situation with the Truth Realm's Space Freezing Technology? That will only increase the tension in this space, putting it on the brink of collapse at any time. This Immortal-Demon Great World of yours, from the foundation to the dome, is all shoddy construction.”

“Shut up!” The Suturing Grandmaster let out a hysterical roar. He could not bear his life's work, the creation technique he claimed surpassed the Heavenly Dao, being criticized as worthless by a Mortal scholar.

Zhou Wannian seemed not to hear his impotent rage and continued on his own.

“The most ridiculous thing is your blind worship of Truth Realm codes.”

Zhou Wannian's gaze became cold.

“Life is life because it is full of unknown variables. The frequency of breathing, the rhythm of the heartbeat, the fluctuations of emotions—these are all things that cannot be framed by rigid formulas. And you, yet you attempt to use absolute binary code to define a vivid Divine Soul.”

“You erase living intelligence and inject codes that only execute commands. What you've created is not some new species that rivals the Heavenly Dao, but a group of puppets in flesh-and-blood clothing with abacuses in their heads.”

Zhou Wannian looked at the trembling Suturing Grandmaster suspended in mid-air and gave his final evaluation.

“Taking a few buckets of low-quality glue and picking up a pile of rotten wood others threw away. Patching them together to barely build a doghouse that won't leak, then daring to jump onto the roof and point at the sky, saying you've built a Lingxiao Treasure Hall.”

Zhou Wannian dusted his sleeves.

“A clumsy bricklayer like you isn't even worthy of laying floor tiles in my courtyard.”

This merciless critique tore the Suturing Grandmaster's high-and-mighty disguise to shreds.

“I will kill you! I will cut this Physical Body of yours inch by inch to see if your mouth is just as tough!”

The Suturing Grandmaster's eyes were bloodshot, and he ground his teeth. His hands frantically formed seals in front of him, and the forcibly stitched immortal-demon power within him began to burn recklessly. The monocle on his right eye burst with a piercing blue light, attempting to mobilize all the backup energy of the entire Great Furnace of Creation to launch a mutually destructive strike.

Zhou Wannian looked at his frenzied opponent and felt only boredom.

Wasting words on such a fool who didn't even understand the Laws of heaven and earth's operation was truly a boring matter.

“If you want to kill me, you have to keep your broken pot first.”

Zhou Wannian did not meet the Suturing Grandmaster's attack. His gaze skipped past the figure in mid-air and fell directly onto the center of the black metal platform.

There, beneath the ruins where the Mechanical Optical Brain was originally placed, was hidden an obscure, heavy energy fluctuation. That fluctuation was like the heartbeat of the entire Creation Furnace, connecting to countless underground pipes transporting immortal and demon gases, and also maintaining the stability of those translucent Cultivation Pods.

That place was the Main Formation Eye of this great furnace, and even the entire Inner City's Core Formation.

Zhou Wannian slowly raised his right hand.

With his long, fair fingers, his index finger curved, and his thumb pressed against the pad of his index finger.

He didn't look at the overwhelming tide of Spells crashing down from the Suturing Grandmaster.

Facing the direction of the formation core hidden deep underground.

Calmly and indifferently, he flicked his finger.

"Zheng—"

A crisp sound of breaking air emanated from Zhou Wannian's fingertip.

This wasn't an external release of mana, but a sonic boom caused by pure Physical Body strength tearing through the air. A visible white wave of air exploded at his fingertip. The Absolute Mass granted by the Great Perfection Space Law was compressed into a singularity only the size of a fingernail, which shot out straight in the direction of his flick.

This mass singularity ignored all physical defenses along its path.

It easily pierced through the sky-covering Immortal-Demon storm unleashed by the Suturing Grandmaster without encountering the slightest obstruction. Then, it struck the floor of the black metal high platform.

The indestructible dark gray alloy floor rippled like water the moment it touched the singularity, and then a bottomless circular hole was silently dissolved into it.

The singularity drove straight in, heading directly for the hidden formation core deep underground.

"Crack."

A faint cracking sound echoed from deep underground.

The sound was very light, yet in an instant, it caused the entire massive Great Furnace of Creation to fall into a deathly stagnation.

In mid-air, the tide of Spells conjured by the Suturing Grandmaster suddenly lost the support of subsequent power less than a foot above Zhou Wannian's head, dispersing into a mess of Spiritual Qi.

On the Suturing Grandmaster's twisted face, his crazed expression froze completely, replaced by a fear originating from the depths of his Soul.

He felt it.

The core hub that maintained this furnace and his life's work had shattered.

"Rumble—!"

After a brief stagnation, a world-shaking collapse ensued.

Without the harmony and suppression of the formation core, the Immortal Spiritual Liquids and Nine Nether Demon Springs that had been forcibly siphoned and were surging through the underground pipes instantly lost their restraints. Two diametrically opposed energies collided violently within the narrow pipes.

Deafening explosions rang out one after another underground. Metal skeletons as thick as mountain ranges began to twist and break. The black platform split down the middle, creating a massive fissure from which scorching magma mixed with various corrosive toxic waters erupted.

Even more terrifying were the translucent Cultivation Pods suspended in mid-air.

The Truth Realm codes that maintained their stability ground to a complete halt with the destruction of the main formation core.

The energy conflicts within the half-immortal, half-demon monsters inside the pods could no longer be suppressed.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

A series of dense explosions echoed throughout the vast underground space.

The hard crystal pod walls were blown to pieces from the inside, splattering pale green slime mixed with a rain of foul-smelling blood everywhere. In their agonizing howls, the unformed monsters' bodies were torn to shreds by the two violent energies. Severed limbs danced in the firelight, and the smell of charred meat instantly overwhelmed the original scent of preservative fluid.

This was the price of defying natural creation. Once the forced intervention of external forces was lost, the torrent of backlash would completely swallow it.

"No! My masterpiece! My ultimate life's work of completion!"

Suspended in mid-air, the Suturing Grandmaster watched the Cultivation Pods exploding all around him and his creations, into which he had poured countless eons of effort, turn into piles of rotten meat. He let out a scream of extreme anguish.

His eyes were bloodshot, and two lines of bloody tears even welled up from the corners of his eyes.

"You destroyed my life's work! I will make you wish you were dead!"

Recklessly channeling his remaining internal power, the Suturing Grandmaster dove down from mid-air like a cornered mad dog, his hands transforming into pitch-black demonic claws as he lunged straight for Zhou Wannian's throat.

Zhou Wannian stood in the center of the collapsing ruins.

Around him were erupting pillars of fire and falling metal debris. An invisible barrier three feet around him kept all chaotic matter and energy at bay.

He paid no attention to the lunging Suturing Grandmaster.

His gaze was fixed intently on the depths of the massive fissure in the platform ahead.

That was where the Core Formation eye he had shattered with a single finger was located.

Amidst the ruins of the shattered formation core, the mechanical remains engraved with Truth Codes and the Immortal-Demon Spirit Stones emitting Spiritual Qi had all turned into charred powder.

But.

In the center of that pile of black powder, there was a strange light that appeared dazzling amidst the flames.

It wasn't the grayish-white cold light of the Truth Realm, nor was it Immortal Qi or Devilish Qi.

It was a pure, brilliant, and domineering golden light that seemed to hang high above the heavens, looking down upon the birth and death of all things.

Zhou Wannian took a step forward and casually waved his sleeve. An invisible wave of mass swatted the lunging Suturing Grandmaster away like a fly. The Suturing Grandmaster screamed as he crashed through a thick metal pipe and fell into a sea of fire, struggling to get back up.

Without stopping, Zhou Wannian walked to the edge of the massive fissure and looked down.

In the groove at the very core of the formation eye's ruins.

A single drop of liquid lay there quietly.

A drop of pure golden liquid, only the size of a soybean and perfectly spherical.

This drop of liquid did not seep into the ground due to gravity, nor did it evaporate in the surrounding high temperatures. It just suspended half an inch above the ground, its surface flowing with layer upon layer of extremely profound geometric formation patterns.

A powerful and peerless high-dimensional pressure slowly emanated from this golden liquid. Within this pressure was an unquestionable absolute will.

This was not just a condensation of energy, but a symbol of some identity.

Zhou Wannian's deep eyes narrowed slightly.

He smelled the aura emanating from that drop of golden liquid. It was a scent that mixed the smell of metallic machine oil with the blood of some ancient deity.

He recognized this thing.

While strolling through the void of endless dimensions years ago, he had once had a brief encounter with a faction that called itself the Cosmic Abacus.

This was the Blood of Truth.

The original token of the supreme Dominator of the Absolute Truth Realm, that ancient existence hidden behind countless mechanical stars and matrices.

To build these pieces of junk toys, you even went so far as to use your own master's blood as a formation core to stabilize space."

Zhou Wannian looked at that drop of pure golden Blood of Truth, a cold arc curling at the corner of his mouth.

The hidden plot had completely surfaced at this moment. The Immortal-Demon Great World was merely a front; the true behind-the-scenes boss of this Great Furnace of Creation was the Absolute Truth Realm, which sought to rewrite the Universe with code.

"That's quite a loud calculation they're making, reaching their hands into this gutter to stir up trouble."

Zhou Wannian extended his right hand and made a grasping motion in the air. The Great Perfection Space Law transformed into an invisible hand, drawing the suspended golden blood into his palm.

It felt icy to the touch and as heavy as Mount Tai.

Holding the golden Blood of Truth, he turned around.

Behind him, the Suturing Grandmaster, charred all over and with half his body burnt away, was dragging his mangled form out of the sea of fire. He looked at the golden blood in Zhou Wannian's hand, his remaining left eye showing a look of despair intertwined with madness.

"That is the Dominator's token... If you dare touch it... the fleet of Truth will trample every world you have ever walked upon..."

The Suturing Grandmaster's voice was hoarse and broken, his mouth full of bloody froth.

Zhou Wannian held the golden blood and looked at this mason who was still barking even as death approached.

On that handsome and easygoing face, an exceptionally brilliant smile blossomed.

"The fleet of Truth?"

Zhou Wannian tucked the golden blood into his wide sleeve and casually clapped his hands.

"Go back and tell your Tin-can Master that I've smashed the junk he left here for him."

Zhou Wannian set off, walking toward the Suturing Grandmaster amidst the continuously collapsing metal dome and the firelight filling the sky.

"As for his fleet."

His steps were steady, his green robe casting a long silhouette in the firelight.

"Tell him to wash them clean and leave them waiting in the port. When I'm passing by on a stroll, I'll just happen to need a few pieces of scrap metal to step on."

Before his voice had even faded, Zhou Wannian raised his right foot.

Facing the Suturing Grandmaster who was trying to fight back, he calmly and indifferently stepped down.