438: Chapter 438 Nine Thousand Chains Lock the Universe, A Moment's Mistake Opens the Gate of Death

In the subterranean tunnel leading to the deepest part of the Taiwu Ancestral Court, there was not a glimmer of light.

This was not merely the dimness of lacking a light source, but a void where the very concept of "light" had been thoroughly devoured. This abyss, sloping downwards, left behind by the frenzied excavation of the Truth Realm's main fleet, was rough and steep. On the cavern walls on both sides, there remained glass-like crystals left by the Fusion of rock from the deep blue cutting beams.

Zhou Wannian walked through this tunnel.

His spotless cyan cloth shoes stepped on the scattered metal fragments of warships, emitting a crisp "creak, creak" sound. This noise echoed back and forth in the deathly silent tunnel, traveling very far, carrying the dryness of metal fatigue and fracture.

The temperature in the air was plummeting.

This was not the cold of ordinary ice and snow, but a deathly chill that pierced straight into the bone marrow, as if it would freeze his Divine Soul into ice shards. The stench of burning engine oil could no longer be smelled; in its place was a thick, inseparable smell of dust and mold that had settled over countless ages.

Zhou Wannian walked with his hands clasped behind his back, his steps steady.

He did not walk fast.

Because his attention had, at this moment, completely shifted from the dilapidated ruins outside to the interior of his own body.

Deep within his Divine Soul, that dull, slow palpitation, like an ancient pendulum, was becoming clearer and clearer.

At first, it was only an imperceptible ripple. But as he walked deeper and deeper into this tunnel leading to the bottom of the abyss, that palpitation gradually evolved into a heart-thumping roar.

"Thump."

"Thump."

This sound did not come from the subterranean veins, but exploded directly in the deepest part of his Sea of Consciousness. Each roar was accompanied by a terrifying Absolute Mass, immeasurable by numbers, churning within his body.

Zhou Wannian stopped his footsteps.

He stood in the midst of darkness, surrounded by cold, rough rock walls.

He slowly closed those eyes, deep as an abyss.

His vision fell into absolute darkness, and immediately after, his Divine Soul's perception, like mercury spilling onto the ground, sank down towards his inner universe.

The inner universe, this was an absolute Domain belonging solely to Zhou Wannian. There were no stars here, no sun or moon, only a vast, boundless void.

In the center of this void, there lay ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine ancient chains, as thick as archaic azure dragons.

These chains were shackles he had personally woven using the Great Perfection Space Law back then to suppress the boundless Absolute Mass within himself. They crisscrossed, connecting end to end, forming a seamless closed-loop array.

In the countless epochs of the past, these chains had always maintained a cold, rigid state, presenting a dull, lusterless bronze color. They were like loyal guards, tightly locking that power capable of crushing the All Heavens and Myriad Worlds in the deepest depths.

But now.

Zhou Wannian looked inward at his Divine Soul; the scene before him caused that face, usually so calm and undisturbed, to tighten its lines in a rare display of tension.

A change was truly occurring within this inner universe.

On that ancient chain hidden in the deepest part of the array, the ten-thousandth one, that glimmer of bronze light which was initially only faintly flickering, was now like a prairie fire, spreading crazily in all directions along the thick texture of the chain.

Wherever the light passed, those originally cold and dead chains seemed to be injected with some kind of violent vitality.

They had come alive.

"Creak... creak..."

The piercing sound of metal grinding exploded continuously in the void of the inner universe.

Those chains, as thick as mountains, began to twist slowly and firmly. They squeezed and rubbed against each other, and the ancient patterns on their surfaces, representing the Space Law, erupted with large clusters of blinding sparks during the violent friction.

Zhou Wannian's Divine Soul vision was locked tightly onto the outermost perimeter of the array.

The ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-ninth chain.

That heavy shackle, used to close the entire sealing loop, was now undergoing a hair-raising change.

Under the roasting of the bronze light, the indestructible shell of this chain actually began to melt. The Great Perfection Space Law turned into drops of scalding, viscous golden molten iron, dripping down along the arc of the chain.

It was contracting inward.

It was actively approaching and adhering to the ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-eighth chain next to it.

Accompanied by a deafening roar, the two thick chains slammed into each other. The golden molten iron splashed everywhere at the point of impact, then quickly solidified and intertwined.

They were fusing.

This was not an external force forcibly melting them together, but a kind of fundamental metamorphosis in their own internal logic, as if two dragons fighting their own battles were about to merge into one at this moment.

The moment the two chains fused.

A surge of Absolute Mass, suppressed for countless epochs, was released without reservation along the node of Fusion.

"Boom!"

The void space of the inner universe, under the impact of this mass, rippled with visible, violent folds.

This fluctuation was too terrifying.

It was not confined within Zhou Wannian's body, but spilled out directly into the outside world along his limbs and bones.

Outside, in that pitch-black subterranean tunnel.

Zhou Wannian stood in place with his eyes closed.

He didn't even move a finger, nor did he trigger a shred of True Qi.

It was just a faint fluctuation that overflowed when the two chains fused, passing through his flesh and blood, rippling in this space.

The surrounding hard basalt cave walls, those bedrock that even the main guns of the Truth Realm warships would have to bombard for a long time to carve out a gap.

Within one ten-thousandth of a breath of contacting this fluctuation.

There was no sound of shattering, nor any movement of stones rolling down.

The rocks on the cave walls were like dry, shriveled sand sculptures that had weathered for thousands of years, suddenly encountering a gale.

Silently and soundlessly.

The hard rock within a hundred zhang radius directly turned into the finest dust. The diameter of the tunnel expanded dozens of times in this instant. Those dust particles suspended in mid-air didn't even have time to fall before they were crushed into a void black hole along with space itself under the pressure of the Absolute Mass.

The entire ruins of the Taiwu Ancestral Court, and even the dimensions above the ruins, let out a mournful sound that made one's teeth ache because of this insignificant fluctuation.

If this fluctuation were one-tenth stronger, the entire All Heavens and Myriad Worlds, countless Major Thousand Worlds, would all be instantly pulled off their original trajectories by this power, crashing headlong into the abyss of destruction.

Zhou Wannian opened his eyes abruptly.

In his eyes, deep as an abyss, two cold, biting rays of light pierced through the darkness ahead like substance.

He stood in the hollow cave that had been silently expanded, his chest rising and falling slightly.

The biggest variable was not some mechanical Mainframe of the Truth Realm, nor was it that "The Initial Circle" hiding behind the scenes drawing circles.

The true calamity had always been inside his own body.

That Absolute Mass of his, which was willful and boundless due to boredom.

After experiencing the accumulation of these long years, and after sensing the Aura at the very bottom of this "Withered Well" of the Taiwu Ancestral Court, it finally began an autonomous metamorphosis that even the Creator could not fully control.

The Fusion was still continuing.

Deep within his Divine Soul, the twisting of those ninety-thousand-plus chains became increasingly violent. They were like a group of Vicious Beasts awakened with primitive instincts, impatiently wanting to break their boundaries and fuse into an indescribable, terrifying whole.

Once these ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine chains were completely fused into one.

The Seal within Zhou Wannian's body would cease to exist.

To what extent would that mass expand?

Zhou Wannian did not know, nor did he want to try.

He took a deep breath of the cold air with a heavy smell of earth, forcibly suppressing the rare trace of unease in his heart.

In his mind, the half-human, half-mechanical face of Li Changge before his death, twisted by despair, and that hoarse roar, emerged once again.

"You are not sealing these ruins at all."

"You are locking up the thing hidden inside."

"You are locking up 'Him'!"

Zhou Wannian stood in the darkness, the corners of his mouth slowly curling into a cold smile filled with mockery and realization.

Li Changge was a madman, but he said one thing right, though it was also ridiculously wrong.

Back then, when Zhou Wannian passed by these ruins, he felt the Death Qi in this Withered Well was too smelly, so he casually pulled over ninety thousand Space Laws, twisted them into chains, and covered the mouth of the well.

He thought he had just added a well cover.

But he had forgotten, or rather, he had never cared about one fact.

These All Heavens and Myriad Worlds, this vast and boundless Universe, had long since become a dilapidated, teetering dangerous house riddled with holes.

Li Changge claimed the Universe was a leaking hourglass, that Spiritual Qi was drying up, and that everything was heading towards heat death.

That was the scene as perceived by mortal beings and high-dimensional machines.

In the vision of Zhou Wannian's Great Perfection Space Law, the essence of this Universe was even more dilapidated than a leaking hourglass.

It was a dilapidated wooden house whose load-bearing walls had long since been hollowed out by termites.

And the Taiwu Ancestral Court.

This place, known as the Forbidden Zone of Life, which gathered all ancient waste and the most intense Death Qi.

Was by no means a treasure vault hiding ultimate mysteries.

It was the rotten wooden post at the very bottom of this dilapidated wooden house—the most thoroughly rotted and also the most essential one.

It was the ulcer of the Universe, the "Death Gate" where all things return to zero.

Back then.

Disliking the stench emitted by this rotten post, Zhou Wannian had casually smashed down those ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine chains containing Absolute Mass.

He thought he was merely covering up the smell.

But the moment his limitless mass smashed into the very bottom of this dilapidated wooden house, a physical reaction occurred that even he had not anticipated.

Those ninety-thousand-plus incomparably heavy bronze chains, like a vast and boundless iron net, were nailed firmly to the very bottom of the Universe.

This Absolute Mass pulled downwards.

Instead, it forced this teetering, dilapidated wooden house—which had been on the verge of collapse—to tighten and hold firm.

Those Law threads on the verge of breaking, those dimensional barriers about to collapse, regained support thanks to this extremely heavy downward pulling force.

These ninety-thousand-plus chains.

Were by no means shackles used to Seal something away.

Over the long years, in corners unknown to anyone, they had quietly replaced the original rules of the Universe, becoming the load-bearing spine that kept these All Heavens and Myriad Worlds from collapsing instantly!

They hung above the abyss of the Taiwu Ancestral Court, one end connected to Zhou Wannian's Divine Soul, and the other pulling the weight of the entire Universe.

Li Changge had exhausted all the computing power of the Truth Realm, wanting to dig out the "Number Zero Constant" from underground to mend the sky.

He did not know.

This stone to mend the sky, this pillar to support the sky, had always been on Zhou Wannian's body, always spanning across above his head.

He had led his fleet to crazily excavate the ruins, even wanting to use a dimensionality reduction strike to raze this place to the ground.

It was like a blind man living in a dangerous house, swinging a sledgehammer, desperately trying to smash the only load-bearing pillar that was still struggling to support the roof.

It was stupid to the point of being laughable.

"So, that 'It' you spoke of."

Zhou Wannian raised his right hand, spreading his fingers in the darkness, and gazed at the intricate lines on his palm.

"It is not some primordial Vicious Beast hiding in the depths of the abyss, nor is it some ancient remnant Soul or will."

" 'It' is the collapse itself."

"It is the heat death where all things return to zero; it is the end point that this Universe is destined to reach as it dies."

Zhou Wannian lowered his hand, his eyes becoming deep and cold.

Now.

This load-bearing spine, these ninety-thousand-plus chains, had begun to fuse.

When those ninety-thousand-plus pillars attempted to fuse into one, the pulling force dispersed across the very bottom of the Universe would, in an instant, gather and shrink to an infinitesimally small point.

The dilapidated house, which had been held taut, would instantly fall apart due to the loss of balanced tension.

The Death Gate would, in that split second, swing wide open.

The endless ulcer and Death Qi beneath would no longer be obstructed, directly swallowing the entire All Heavens and Myriad Worlds.

And the catalyst triggering this Fusion...

Was precisely because he had just personally crushed that messenger of "The Initial Circle," releasing the reverberations of millions of worlds and breaking the long-standing, deathly balance of the Taiwu Ancestral Court.

Combined with the pull of that purest Aura of destruction at the bottom of the abyss.

This Absolute Mass, following the Universe's trend toward destruction, had begun an autonomous contraction, returning to zero.

"Using my hand to break the iron shell, and now coming to provoke the strength within my body."

Zhou Wannian sneered.

A trace of chilling stubbornness and arrogance hung upon his handsome face.

"In my life, I have always hated being told what to do. And I hate it even more when this thieving Heaven tries to scheme against me."

He did not go looking for any Heaven And Earth Treasure to suppress the abnormality within his body, nor did he sit cross-legged to circulate any mind-clearing Mind-Cultivation Technique.

Zhou Wannian simply stood there in the void passage.

His will, like a peerless, fire-tempered cold blade, slashed unreservedly and barbarically toward his own inner universe.

Deep within his Divine Soul.

Those ancient chains, still crazily grinding against each other and attempting to continue their Fusion, were suddenly met with an unreasonable, terrifying suppression.

It was Zhou Wannian's pure personal will.

He did not need to reason with this mass, nor did he need to conform to the trends of the Universe.

"Scatter, now!"

The calm command exploded within the void of his inner universe.

Those golden-yellow molten chains that had already half-fused emitted a shrill wail under the oppression of this will.

Zhou Wannian was using his own spirit to forcibly resist the limitless physical mass of his Physical Body.

It was a pain that tore at his Soul.

Yet Zhou Wannian did not even knit his brows.

Under his forceful intervention, the Fusion trend of the ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-ninth chain was finally forced to slow down.

The scalding molten metal re-solidified, turning back to a dull bronze color.

The thick chains ceased their frantic twisting; though they still trembled slightly, they had at least recovered their original, interlaced formation.

The crisis had been forcibly paused.

But this was merely a stopgap measure.

As long as he remained in the abyss of the Taiwu Ancestral Court, and as long as that Aura guiding the Fusion of mass continued to emerge endlessly from the ground, the breaking of this load-bearing spine was only a matter of time.

Zhou Wannian opened his eyes.

The frost in his eyes was almost ready to solidify into substance.

He did not retreat, nor did he flee this land of death.

Instead, he quickened his pace.

His spotless cyan cloth shoes stepped through the dark passage with steady, firm strides, carrying a tragic Aura of "slaying gods if they appear, slaying Buddhas if they block the way."

"You want me to let go and let this dilapidated house collapse?"

Zhou Wannian's voice echoed through the passage.

"Then I will go to the bottom first and rip out that spring that reeks day and night."

The darkness ahead gradually faded.

The passage finally reached its end.

Zhou Wannian stepped out of the exit of the passage.

Before him, it was no longer a cramped rock cave.

Instead, it was an infinitely vast, boundless, and deathly silent plain.

This was the true lowest point of the Taiwu Ancestral Court.

It was the bottom of that "Withered Well."

There were no architectural ruins on the plain, nor were there any fragments of Truth Realm warships.

There was only a thick layer of grey powder that reached his ankles. Stepping on it felt like walking on the weathered ashes of countless living beings.

And in the very center of the plain.

A faint, strange light, carrying a hint of vitality, shone abruptly amidst this absolute, deathly silence.

Zhou Wannian stopped in his tracks.

The hem of his cyan shirt hung quietly in the Death Qi.

He raised his head, his deep eyes locking onto that glimmer of light.

In the center of that deathly grey plain.

Stood a withered, stunted dead tree.

There was not a single leaf on its branches, and its bark had peeled away, revealing a charred, pitch-black appearance.

But at the base of the dead tree's withered, twisted roots.

In the center of a pile of grey Death Qi that resembled rotting mud.

A Paper Figure, crafted from low-quality white paper with two stiff red circles painted on its cheeks, sat cross-legged.

The Paper Figure held a worn, earthen tea bowl in its hands. Inside the bowl, there was no water, only a pinch of grey ash that was still slowly burning and emitting wisps of blue smoke.

The Paper Figure's hollow, ink-black eye sockets stared straight at Zhou Wannian, who had just stepped out of the passage.

It had no mouth.

But in Zhou Wannian's Divine Soul perception.

A dry, hoarse voice, permeated with endless antiquity and weariness, rippled quietly across the sky above the plain.

"An honored guest has arrived, yet the tea has already gone cold."

"Guest, do you dare to take a sip of this old tea from the bottom of the Withered Well?"