198: Chapter 198 Demon God's Remains
Deep within Chaos, that light drew closer and closer.
Lu Mingyuan walked for an unknown amount of time before finally seeing the source of the light. It wasn't the Seven Saints Evolution of the Way, nor a shattered world, but a skeleton. A skeleton so unimaginably massive that it lay across Chaos like a mountain range, a Great Wall, or a fallen star.
The skeleton was pitch-black, its bones covered in ancient patterns. These patterns weren't carved but had grown there, like tree rings, river tributaries, or cracks in the sky. A black liquid flowed within the patterns—not blood, but resentment. It was the resentment of those fallen during the Heaven-Opening Great Tribulation, the hatred of the Three Thousand Demon Gods for Pangu, the fury at the injustice of the Heavenly Dao, and the fear of their own extinction.
The resentment was as thick as ink and as black as it was shiny. That blackness wasn't a color, but a "void." A lack of heaven, a lack of earth, a lack of the Dao, a lack of existence. The Demon Gods were slain by Pangu, their bodies turning into skeletons and their true spirits scattering into Chaos. Yet their resentment did not dissipate; it clung to the bones, waiting for the day their true spirits could reunite to fight Pangu once more. But Pangu was already dead, having transformed into the world. The object of their hatred was gone, so their hatred became empty. Empty hatred was more terrifying than hatred itself, for it had no target, no end, and no release.
Lu Mingyuan stood before the skeleton and looked up, unable to see the top. The skeleton was too large for his eyes to take in. He could only see a small section, a small segment, a small fragment. It was like an ant standing at the foot of Mount Tai, unable to see how high the mountain was, only seeing the rocks.
"Bai Ze, which Demon God is this?"
Bai Ze unfurled the bai ze map, and golden light flickered, illuminating the skeleton. The characters on the map began to dance as if they were alive. Bai Ze's eyes lit up, the way they looked when it was reading information.
"This is 'Shi.' One of the Three Thousand Demon Gods in Chaos, who controlled the entity_type. It could devour everything—matter, energy, space, time, and even concepts. During the Heaven-Opening Great Tribulation, Pangu split Chaos with a single axe strike. Shi was struck by the blade's edge; its true spirit shattered, and its body fell into the depths of Chaos. Its resentment did not dissipate, clinging to the skeleton and becoming a tribulation within Chaos."
"The entity_type..." Lu Mingyuan murmured to himself. "It's a bit like An."
"It's different. An is a void, it is passive. Shi is devouring, it is active. An waits to be filled, while Shi actively devours. One is internal, the other external. One is the result, the other the cause."
"But they are both manifestations of 'void.' When there is a void, one must devour. Once devoured, there is still a void. With a void, one devours again. It can never be filled, never be enough."
Bai Ze looked at him with approval in its eyes. "You are understanding more and more."
Lu Mingyuan did not smile. He stared at the skeleton, at the black resentment, at the ancient patterns. He felt Shi's pain. Not physical pain, but the pain of a shattered true spirit. A complete life had been split into fragments. Those fragments were scattered in Chaos, never to be pieced back together. It wanted to be whole, but couldn't. It wanted to live, but couldn't. It wanted to die, but couldn't die completely.
"I want to transcend it," Lu Mingyuan said.
"Transcend it? It is a hundred times stronger than the previous Demon God skeleton. The last one was just an ordinary Demon God; this one was a powerhouse among the Three Thousand Demon Gods. Its resentment is thicker, its hatred deeper, and its void larger. Can you transcend it?"
"I don't know. But if I don't try to transcend it, it will never happen. Only by trying is it possible."
Bai Ze did not object. It knew that once Lu Mingyuan decided on something, no one could stop him. If it couldn't stop him, it would support him. If it couldn't support him, it would accompany him. By accompanying him, even if he failed, he wouldn't be alone.
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Lu Mingyuan sat cross-legged in Chaos, before Shi's skeleton. He closed his eyes and circulated his Wanxiang True Qi. The Qi surged from his Dantian like a river, flowing toward the skeleton. The river water was light, warmth, and restoration. Light was to illuminate the darkness, warmth was to melt the cold, and restoration was to fill the void.
When the river water touched the skeleton, the black liquid on the bones began to churn. It wasn't melting; it was resisting. Shi was resisting, resisting being restored. Because it was Shi, it only knew how to devour, not how to accept. To accept was weakness, and weakness was death. It would rather hold on with resentment, even if holding on was painful, exhausting, and bitter, than be restored.
Lu Mingyuan felt that resistance. It was intense, like a wounded beast baring its teeth at anyone who approached. It was afraid—afraid that once it was made whole, it would be gone. Without its resentment, it would have nothing. Resentment was its existence, its meaning, its everything.
"I am not trying to destroy you," Lu Mingyuan said. "I am trying to restore you. To fill your void, to fill your emptiness, so that you no longer need to devour. You have devoured for so long, but what have you gained? You have devoured nothing. Chaos is empty; no matter how much you devour, it remains empty. The more you devour, the emptier you become, and the emptier you become, the more you devour. This is a death loop you cannot escape."
The skeleton did not respond, but the churning of the black liquid slowed slightly.
"I will help you escape. Not by destroying you, but by transforming you. I will turn your resentment into compassion, your hatred into love, and your void into wholeness. You will no longer need to devour, because you will be whole. Once whole, there is no void. Without a void, there is no devouring."
The black liquid stopped churning. It became still, like a pool of stagnant water. But beneath that stagnant water, something was moving. It was the fragments of Shi's true spirit, touched by Lu Mingyuan's words. It wanted to believe, but didn't dare. It had been deceived too many times, hurt too many times, abandoned too many times. Pangu had abandoned it, the Heavenly Dao had abandoned it, and Chaos had abandoned it. Everyone had abandoned it—why should it believe a stranger?
Lu Mingyuan did not give up. He continued to circulate his Wanxiang True Qi, letting the river water flow into every pattern on the skeleton. The water moved very slowly, like a snail crawling. But it flowed, and as it flowed, it began to seep in. The black liquid in the patterns started to fade, turning from black to gray, from gray to white, and from white to gold.
Gold was the color of restoration. When the previous skeleton was restored, it had also turned gold. But that gold had been faint, like autumn leaves. This gold was richer, like summer sunlight. Because Shi's resentment was deeper, the light after restoration was brighter.
Sweat began to bead on Lu Mingyuan's forehead. It wasn't from exhaustion, but from consumption. Restoring Shi required too much Qi, and his Wanxiang True Qi was draining rapidly. The tree in his Dantian began to shake. Its trunk, thirty-eight feet tall, was being drained of nutrients, and its leaves began to yellow.
"Bai Ze, help me."
Bai Ze unfurled the bai ze map, and golden light flared brilliantly. The light shone upon Lu Mingyuan, upon his Dantian, and upon that tree. The tree stopped shaking, and its leaves turned green again. Bai Ze was using its own power to help him, though its power was not infinite either.
One man and one beast worked together to restore a Demon God.
Time had no meaning in Chaos, but consumption did. Lu Mingyuan didn't know how long he had been sitting there; he only knew that his Qi was nearly depleted. The tree in his Dantian shrank from thirty-eight feet to thirty feet, and then from thirty feet to twenty feet. It was getting smaller because it was giving all its nutrients to the skeleton.
But the skeleton was brightening. From black to gray, gray to white, and white to gold. More and more gold appeared, and less and less black remained. The liquid in the patterns was no longer black resentment, but golden light. The light was so bright it was like the sun.
Suddenly, the skeleton shuddered.
It wasn't a physical vibration, but a vibration of the true spirit. Shi's true spirit fragments were being restored. Those fragments, scattered in Chaos, were drawn by the Wanxiang True Qi and gathered once more. They pieced themselves together into a complete true spirit. Though very weak, like a firefly's glow, it was complete.
"Thank you," a voice echoed in Lu Mingyuan's mind. The voice was ancient, as if from before the opening of the heavens. It was weary, as if it had traveled billions of miles. It was gentle, like a spring breeze.
"Are you Shi?"
"I am. And I am not. Shi is already dead; I am but a remnant shadow pieced together from its true spirit fragments. I will soon dissipate, but before I do, I wanted to say thank you."
"No need for thanks. I only did what should be done."
"What should be done... In this world, nothing is 'should be done.' You did it because you wanted to. You wanted to do it because you have love. You have love because there is light in your heart. That light is called compassion."
Lu Mingyuan did not speak.
"Pangu opened the heavens, and we stood in his way. He killed us, and we do not resent that. For the strong prey on the weak; that is the Law of Chaos. What we resent is that he killed us but gave us no explanation. The heavens opened, the earth was formed, and all things were born. But what of us? We became dust, skeletons, and resentment. We had no place to stand, no reason for existence, and no recognition from the Dao."
"Now, you have restored us. Though it is only a remnant shadow, it is enough. It is enough, and we can rest in peace. No more resentment, no more hatred, no more void."
The golden skeleton began to shatter, turning into golden dust that drifted into Chaos. The dust was beautiful, like stars. The stars shone in Chaos, their light weak like fireflies. But they did not go out, for they were resentment made whole, hatred transformed, and a void filled with love.
Lu Mingyuan stood up, his legs a bit weak. He had consumed too much; the tree in his Dantian had shrunk to fifteen feet. But he smiled, for he had filled another void. This void was a hundred times larger than the last, yet he had still filled it. With it filled, Chaos was a little cleaner. And being a little cleaner, the heavens could be mended a little more.
"Are you alright?" Bai Ze asked.
"I'm fine. Just a bit tired."
"Take a rest."
"I can't rest. We must keep going. Time doesn't exist in Chaos, so there's no difference between resting and not resting. Instead of stopping, it's better to keep moving. As I walk, the tiredness will fade."
Bai Ze looked at him with heartache in its eyes. But it didn't try to persuade him, for it knew it couldn't. Once this scholar made up his mind, he would see it through to the end. To the end, until death.
Lu Mingyuan set off, continuing forward. He was not rushed, not agitated, not obsessed. He walked slowly, steadily, and softly. Behind him, the golden dust still drifted. As it drifted, it dispersed. Once dispersed, it was gone. And once gone, Chaos was a little cleaner.
In his heart, that little tree had shrunk to fifteen feet. It was short, like a shrub. But it was still alive; its roots remained, its trunk remained, and its heart remained. As long as it lived, it would grow. And when it grew, it could support an even greater sky.
The oil lamp in his hand glowed, flickering like a heartbeat. That light was a beam in Chaos, weak like a firefly. But the light did not go out, for Zhao Sanniang had given him her heart, and he had brought that heart into Chaos. Shi had been restored, the golden dust had drifted away, and Chaos was a little cleaner.