473: Chapter 472 The colossal behemoth finally collapsed, its fragments turning into countless stars.

The million-zhang-wide giant rift, like an unhealable scar on the Universe, spanned across the dark green dome that once represented an absolute closed loop and absolute heat death.

Zhou Wannian stood quietly on a piece of metal debris that was rapidly weathering and dissipating, his hands folded leisurely behind his back. His washed-out cyan cloth robe snapped loudly in the high-dimensional deep space turbulence pouring in from outside the rift.

"Ka-la-la... Ka-la..." The teeth-aching sound of metal tearing did not cease because of the rift's formation. On the contrary, this sound was spreading frantically at an incredible speed along the opening, in all directions, towards the entire boundless outline of the copper coin.

If someone could stand in the higher-dimensional Void Realm and look down at this moment, they would discover a scene of extreme shock.

This dark green, rusty copper coin, large enough to imprison hundreds of millions of Major Thousand Worlds within its square hole, was now like a block of ice pierced at its core by a naughty child with a red-hot iron rod. That drop of turbid wine, carrying the sour smell of distiller's grains, the earthy scent, and the sound of Old Shopkeeper's mercenary abacus, not only burned away the logical hub maintaining the closed loop of the dead end, but was also like an unanalyzable "living" virus, penetrating without hindrance into every inch of its physical structure along the dense, aged bronze rust textures inside the coin.

The absolute rational System encountered the most unreasonable street-level variable.

It tried to calculate the mass of this drop of wine, tried to deduce the kinetic energy of that dog's bark, but the result was only an infinite System crash and overload of its underlying code.

"Ka-cha—!" Another earth-shattering roar.

This sound was no longer the dull friction of metal, but as crisp as top-grade mutton-fat jade being smashed in mid-air by a heavy hammer.

In this loud noise, the copper coin's inner square cliff face, representing "square rules," finally could not withstand the internal expansion of chaotic logic and completely collapsed.

Large chunks of dark green metal cliff faces, thousands of miles thick, fell away from their original positions like peeling old wall plaster. They lost the tether of gravity and Law in the Void Realm and began to present a state of chaotic free fall.

Immediately following was the outer circular outline representing the "absolute boundary." The million-zhang rift that tore out from the inside, with an irresistible force, surged forward all the way, violently crashing into the perfect arc on the periphery.

"Beng!" An extremely dull sound, like a bowstring tightened for billions of epochs suddenly snapping, exploded at the very bottom of the entire Universe.

Without the inner square, the outer circle lost its meaning of existence.

The dead end of the outer circle and inner square, at this moment, welcomed its complete termination on a physical level.

That boundless dark green copper coin outline, which had shrouded All Heavens and Myriad Worlds for endless years, began to erupt with continuous, deafening, crisp cracking sounds from the intersection of the cracks.

"Ding-ding-dang-dang... Ka-cha ka-cha..." The sound was as dense as a torrential hail hitting glazed tiles.

The giant copper coin disintegrated.

It did not, like that previous black whetstone, turn into a rain of black-gray Death Qi that corroded everything during its internal collapse; nor did it, like the main brain of the Truth Realm, whip up an energy frenzy that destroyed dimensions in an explosion.

Because of that drop of turbid wine. Because of the purest and most tenacious vitality and obsession belonging to the Mortal world contained in that drop of wine.

When this copper coin, representing absolute dead silence, disintegrated into countless large and small dark green fragments and exploded in the Void Realm like a grand metal avalanche, an incredible miracle quietly unfolded under Zhou Wannian's gaze.

A dark green, aged bronze rust fragment as large as a hundred galaxies tumbled down towards the All Heavens and Myriad Worlds that had once been shrouded in Death Qi. It was originally cold and dead, carrying the Law of heat death that could assimilate everything.

However, in the process of its fall, a trace of extremely faint, warm yellow light leaked out from inside the fragment.

That was the vitality belonging to Zhou Wannian's Jade-ified giant tree that had seeped into the copper coin along with the wine aroma, and also the "living breath" contained in that inferior yellow wine.

This trace of warm yellow light was like a spark falling into a pile of dry firewood.

"Chi-la." There was no oxygen, no medium for combustion. Yet, this cold dark green fragment began to "burn" on its own in the Void Realm.

It was not burned to ashes, but from the inside, a violent transformation of physical properties occurred. Those deathly bronze rusts that had accumulated for billions of epochs, those desperate Death Qi condensed to the extreme, upon contacting this unreasonable vitality and the aura of worldly life, were like encountering the perfect catalyst.

Life arises from the extreme of death. Things turn into their opposites when they reach the extreme.

The dark green rust faded away in a few breaths, the volume of the fragment rapidly shrank and collapsed under the interweaving of high temperature and vitality, and finally, it turned into a huge sphere emitting a gentle, mellow light.

This was not an ordinary star.

In the light it emitted, there was none of the violent radiation that could roast a Mortal into charcoal. Its light presented a hue like that of the dim yellow oil lamp in an old tavern—lukewarm, gentle, yet revealing a warmth that could dispel the chill in one's bones.

It was no longer a fragment of destruction. It had become a newborn star carrying the aura of worldly life. And this was just the beginning.

"Weng—Weng-weng—" In the Void Realm, with the lighting up of the first new star, it seemed to trigger a kind of wonderful chain resonance.

The collapsed giant copper coin turned into trillions of fragments. As large as galaxies, as small as dust.

At this moment, in the process of falling, these fragments were all ignited by the lively aura permeating the Void Realm.

One. Ten. A million. Trillions!

The bottom layer of the Universe, originally dark and deep, suppressed by the dead-end copper coin so that not even a trace of starlight could shine through, was at this moment completely illuminated by an unprecedented "star rain"!

The dark green fragments filling the sky, like fireworks blooming one after another in mid-air, shed their masks of coldness and death, turning into new stars emitting various gentle lights.

Some appeared crimson, very much like the red-hot iron anvil in a blacksmith's shop; some appeared water-blue, revealing the clarity after spring rain washed the bluestone slabs in Jiangnan Small Town; others were the purest warm yellow, carrying a reassuring warmth like firewood burning in a stove.

These new stars did not crash into those fragile lower worlds, but under the guidance of the free Law that broke the dead end, they floated steadily and scattered in every corner of All Heavens and Myriad Worlds.

They replaced the heavy square hole that pressed on everyone's heads, becoming a brand new sea of stars that was truly vast, brilliant, and boundless.

In those countless Major Thousand Worlds that had once been completely frozen by the gray-white Death Qi.

Those Cultivators and Mortals who had originally closed their eyes, despairingly waiting for the arrival of heat death.

Suddenly felt that the absolute deep cold that had frozen their Meridians and solidified their blood had disappeared.

They opened their eyes blankly and looked up.

In the sky, the gray-white haze of Death Qi that covered the sky and sun was torn open as if by a pair of invisible hands.

What met their eyes was no longer the suffocating inner wall of the dark green copper coin.

But a newborn starry sky that was brilliant to the extreme and warm to the extreme.

The light of those new stars sprinkled down, shining on the dried-up Spiritual Plant fields, and tender green Spiritual Plant sprouts emerged from the soil visibly to the naked eye; shining on the frozen rivers, the thick ice made a crisp cracking sound, turning into rolling spring water flowing east; shining on the cheeks of those Mortals frozen purple, bringing a trace of long-lost warmth that made people want to shed tears.

The shackles were broken.

The dead loop that treated All Heavens and Myriad Worlds as a dead ledger, calculating every bit of vitality consumption, completely collapsed.

The Universe, finally in this hibernation that was despairingly long, was forcibly awakened by a mouthful of sour inferior wine, welcoming its true rebirth.

And in this cosmic reshaping that was grand to the extreme.

The idle scholar who had personally broken this dead end.

Was standing quietly in the center of the most brilliant sea of newborn stars.

Zhou Wannian looked up, his deep gaze watching the new stars that kept lighting up in the Void Realm, watching that truly boundless high-dimensional deep space.

On his handsome face, there was not much wild joy of saving All Heavens and Myriad Worlds, nor the arrogance of a powerful being bestowing favor upon the masses.

He just felt that the air here was finally a bit better to smell. The pungent smell of copper and rotting corpses was dispersed by the faint warmth and the faint aroma of distiller's grains emitted by these new stars.

Just at this moment.

A wonderful, unprecedented feeling of lightness spread from the deepest part of Zhou Wannian's Divine Soul without warning.

"Weng—" A sound of crisp, ethereal, clear ringing, revealing a sense of complete liberation and joy. Resounded leisurely in his inner universe.

Zhou Wannian lowered his head slightly, closed his eyes, and sank his perception into his body.

Those were the 99,999 Jade-ified Chains in the depths of his Divine Soul.

These chains had existed in his body since he comprehended the Great Perfection Space Law and obtained that Absolute Mass without an upper limit.

Initially, they were cold and heavy bronze chains. Their function was to Seal. It was to suppress that terrifying mass that could crush the Universe at any time, to allow Zhou Wannian to walk in All Heavens and Myriad Worlds like a normal person, and not to turn everywhere he went into a collapsing black hole.

They were a pair of shackles. Although Zhou Wannian put them on himself, they were ultimately a heavy burden.

Later, under the Withered Well of the Taiwu Ancestral Court, after experiencing the absolute backlash of Death Qi and the transformation of vitality, these bronze chains shed the color of ordinary iron and turned into moist mutton-fat jade.

They changed from "Seal" to "Anchoring." Zhou Wannian used them to forcibly anchor his "existence," propped open the dead end of the Universe, and even used them to turn into towering trees that propped open the copper coin.

But no matter how they changed. They were still distinct chains, still a physical medium spanning between Zhou Wannian's Divine Soul and that Absolute Mass.

Because, in that old Universe where rules were tightly set by the closed loop of the copper coin, Absolute Mass was not allowed to exist freely. It had to be bound by a rule.

But now.

The broken copper coin that set the rules had been smashed.

The dead loop that could not tolerate infinite variables had turned into stars filling the sky.

This Universe had been completely "intoxicated" by that drop of wine aroma, opening a large gap, reconnecting with the infinite high-dimensional Void Realm.

The rules were gone, the upper limit was broken.

This world was finally vast enough to naturally accommodate Zhou Wannian's Absolute Mass.

"Ding... Ding-ding-dang-dang..." In his inner universe, those ninety-plus thousand Jade-ified Chains emitted a joyful symphony like wind chimes.

They were no longer tight, no longer tightly intertwined and pulling each other.

In Zhou Wannian's perception, the surface of these Jade-ified Chains emitting moist warm light began to present a melting water ripple texture.

They were not collapsing, but dissolving.

Just like icicles in spring, encountering the warmest sunshine.

The chains turned inch by inch into the purest, warm yellow jade liquid light.

These light flows did not dissipate outwards, but along the outline of Zhou Wannian's Divine Soul, along his cluster of True Spirit emitting faint golden light, they gently and unhinderedly penetrated into it.

Fusion. This was an ultimate leap in life level that could not be described in words.

Without the barrier of the chains, that Absolute Mass without an upper limit was no longer an external force that needed to be suppressed and anchored.

It was completely fused with Zhou Wannian's True Spirit, with his flesh and blood, with his will.

Indistinguishable from each other. He was the mass itself, and the mass was his every thought and action.

Zhou Wannian felt that his body at this moment was heavy to the extreme, and also light to the extreme.

To say it was heavy was because every breath he took now truly carried that terrifying weight capable of crushing dimensions; to say it was light was because he no longer needed to spare a single bit of mental effort to maintain the chain cage that suppressed the power.

That feeling was like an ascetic monk who had walked for countless epochs carrying a heavy burden, one morning, suddenly discovering that the burden on his back not only disappeared, but turned into endless strength in his legs.

"Hu—" Zhou Wannian opened his eyes and exhaled a long breath of turbid air.

This turbid air blew through the Void Realm, surprisingly causing several newly formed stars in the distance to sway, their light flickering as if bowing and paying tribute to him, the variable who broke the cage.

He lowered his head and looked at his hands. His palms were still fair, slender, and bony. The skin on the back of his hands faintly revealed a layer of moist jade-like luster, but this luster was fleeting, and it returned to the original flesh and blood appearance of a Mortal scholar.

He moved his fingers casually. There was no longer the sluggish feeling of the space letting out a cracking wail as long as he used a little too much force.

Now, even if he fully released that Absolute Mass, this boundless Universe that had opened its heart could support his existence without a ripple.

"The chains have dissolved..." Zhou Wannian raised his head, and on his handsome face, the corners of his mouth slowly pulled up into an unprecedented, relaxed-to-the-bone idle smile.

He touched the collar of his washed-out cyan robe, and patted his empty waist.

The earthen gourd containing inferior yellow wine had been thrown into the nothingness by him during the previous game.

Although he had broken the dead end and felt light, after the taste of distiller's grains in his mouth faded, it actually stirred up a long-lost craving.

"This job, not only wore the soles of my shoes thin, but didn't even leave a drop of wine to moisten my throat." Zhou Wannian shook his head, his tone carrying a bit of street-level complaint, but in those deep-as-an-abyss eyes, there was an incomparably bright shimmer.

He turned around, with his back to the brilliant sea of stars turned from copper coin fragments, facing the huge rift a million zhang wide that led to the boundless high-dimensional deep space.

There, it was no longer a dead end of a closed loop.

It was a vast world that was unknown and not framed by any rules.

"However, since the roof has been lifted and the door has been opened."

Zhou Wannian folded his hands leisurely behind his back, and his spotless cyan cloth shoes took the first step steadily in the Void Realm.

His figure, under the reflection of the stars filling the sky, appeared tall and composed.

"I should go for a stroll on the streets of this new place and see if there is any wine shop that brews yellow wine even more sour than that in Jiangnan Small Town."

Cyan robe fluttering, the idle scholar walked towards the boundless deep space, unhurriedly, taking a step out.