200: Chapter 200 Battle Against the Demon God's Thoughts (Part Two)

Chaos was boundless, but Lu Mingyuan knew he was heading in the right direction.

Not because he saw a signpost, but because the light in his heart grew brighter. That light wasn't Zhao Sanniang's oil lamp, nor was it the golden light of the bai ze map; it was a different kind of light. Very faint, as faint as moonlight. Yet it shone, deep within Chaos, like a star.

He walked toward the light for an unknown amount of time. The tree in his Dantian slowly grew back from one zhang—one zhang and one chi, one zhang and two chi, one zhang and three chi. It was slow, crawling like a snail. But it was growing because his heart was growing. For every inch his heart grew, the tree grew an inch.

Bai Ze suddenly looked up, his nose twitching a few times.

"What do you smell?"

"Nothing. There are no scents in Chaos."

"But I smell something. Not a scent, but a feeling. There's something ahead, something very strong. Stronger than Shi, stronger than the Resentment Vortex. Much stronger."

Lu Mingyuan stopped and looked ahead. Chaos was still Chaos, hazy and empty. But he felt it, just as Bai Ze did. Something was ahead, and it was breathing. Not with lungs, but with the laws of the Dao. With every breath, Chaos trembled.

"What is it?"

Bai Ze unfurled the bai ze map, and golden light flickered. This time, the light reached far, illuminating the edge of that thing. It was only an edge, but it was already terrifying. The thing was massive, so large that the bai ze map could not reveal its entirety. Its shape was irregular, like a shattered boulder or a withered flower.

"The chaos azure lotus." Bai Ze's voice was trembling.

"What?"

"The chaos azure lotus. Before Pangu opened the heavens, an azure lotus was nurtured within Chaos. Pangu was inside the lotus; he broke out of it and created the world. The lotus shattered, and its fragments scattered throughout Chaos. Every fragment contains the power of opening the heavens and is a Chaos Supreme Treasure."

Lu Mingyuan's eyes lit up. Not out of greed, but because he knew a Chaos Azure Lotus fragment could help him in Mending the Heavens. The power of opening the heavens was the power of creation. The power of creation was the power of Mending the Heavens. Finding a lotus fragment meant finding the key to Mending the Heavens.

But he also knew that such a supreme treasure would surely be guarded. Remnants of the Demon God within Chaos and the resentment from the Great Tribulation would gather around the lotus fragments. They craved the power of opening the heavens, longing to use it to reshape themselves.

He continued forward. As he walked, Chaos changed. The hazy gray mist turned into a purple mist, as purple as grapes and as thick as syrup. Lightning flickered within the mist, crackling like countless slithering snakes.

"Be careful," Bai Ze said. "This is the aura emitted by the lotus fragment. The power of opening the heavens is not gentle; it is violent. It can create worlds, but it can also destroy them."

Lu Mingyuan nodded and circulated his Wanxiang True Qi. The tree in his Dantian began to glow, the light seeping from the trunk and enveloping his entire body. That light was his Dao law, his protection. No matter how violent the power of opening the heavens was, it could not harm him. His heart was still, so still that even the power of opening the heavens could not shake it.

He stepped into the purple mist.

---

Inside the purple mist, he saw a flower.

No, not a flower, but a fragment of one. A massive azure lotus had shattered into countless pieces, and this piece was as large as a millstone. It suspended in Chaos, entirely azure and crystal clear, like a piece of jade. Light flowed within the jade—not golden, not white, but the color of Chaos. It was hazy, yet within that haziness lay infinite possibilities.

That was the power of opening the heavens.

Lu Mingyuan reached out, wanting to touch the lotus fragment. But before his hand could make contact, a dark shadow lunged from behind the fragment toward him. The shadow was fast, so fast it was invisible. But Lu Mingyuan felt it; his heart felt it.

He dodged to the side, and the shadow brushed past him. It was a claw, a massive claw covered in black scales. The claw had five fingers, each like a blade. The edges of the blades were stained with a black liquid—resentment, corrosion, and death.

"A Remnant of the Demon God!" Bai Ze shouted.

Lu Mingyuan took a few steps back and saw the shadow clearly. It was a massive monster without a fixed shape. Its body constantly changed, appearing like a Dragon one moment, a tiger the next, and then a human. But no matter how it changed, its eyes remained the same. They were a pair of red eyes, as red as blood, as red as fire.

"Who is it?"

"I don't know. It could be a Demon God who fell during the Heaven-Opening Great Tribulation, or a mass of resentment born from the tribulation. It has attached itself to the lotus fragment, absorbing the power of opening the heavens and growing stronger. You cannot let it continue, or it will become so strong that even a Saint won't be able to handle it."

Lu Mingyuan took a deep breath. The tree in his Dantian was only one zhang and three chi tall, and his Wanxiang True Qi was at less than forty percent of its peak. But he had no way back because the lotus fragment was right before him. If he got it, he could succeed in Mending the Heavens. If he didn't, he would never reach the depths of Chaos.

He took a step toward the monster.

The monster roared, so loudly that Chaos trembled. It opened its mouth, which was filled with black flames. The flames spewed out, burning toward Lu Mingyuan. This was no ordinary fire; it was the fire of resentment. It could burn through Dao laws, through a Primordial Spirit, through everything.

Lu Mingyuan did not dodge. He held up the oil lamp, its wick flickering. The light was weak, like a firefly's glow. But when it shone on the black flames, the fire retreated. It wasn't extinguished; it was transformed. Black turned to gray, gray to white, and white to transparent. The transparent flames were no longer fire, but light.

The monster was stunned. It had never seen anything like this. A broken oil lamp could actually block its fire of resentment. It grew furious, its body suddenly swelling until it became a massive black Dragon. The Dragon's scales were black, as black as an abyss. Its eyes were red, as red as blood. Its claws were golden, as golden as the sun.

Lu Mingyuan recognized that gold. It was the power of opening the heavens, absorbed by the monster and turned into its own strength. It used the power of opening the heavens to reinforce itself, making itself stronger, larger, and more terrifying.

"You cannot do this," Lu Mingyuan said. "The power of opening the heavens is not for devouring; it is for creating. By swallowing it, you turn it into destruction. Turning creation into destruction is wrong."

The black Dragon did not answer. It knew nothing of right or wrong; it only knew strength and weakness. It was strong, so it would devour. By devouring, it would become stronger. Being stronger, it would devour again. A cycle that would continue until it had devoured everything.

It lunged, its claw slamming down toward Lu Mingyuan. Lu Mingyuan didn't meet it head-on; he dodged to the side, circling behind the black Dragon. His speed wasn't fast, but his movement technique was exquisite. It was the sword steps learned from Mount Qingcheng, the lightness skill from Wudang Mountain, and the movement technique from the Tang Clan. The Fusion of the three teachings, the unification of martial arts.

The black Dragon turned, its tail sweeping across. The tail was thick, like a pillar. Lu Mingyuan leaped, stepping onto the tail and using the momentum to spring toward the black Dragon's head. He drew his qingni sword in mid-air, his Wanxiang True Qi coating the blade. The Qi was golden, as golden as sunlight.

He thrust the sword toward the black Dragon's eye.

The black Dragon closed its eyes. Its eyelids were thick, like city walls. The qingni sword pierced the eyelid, but only went in an inch. To the black Dragon, a one-inch wound was like a mosquito bite. But that inch was enough.

Lu Mingyuan injected his Wanxiang True Qi into the wound. The golden Qi flowed like water into the black Dragon's body, into its Meridians, and into its Dantian. The black Dragon's body began to glow—not with black light, but with golden light. It was being transformed, being mended.

The black Dragon roared in agony. It didn't want to be mended; it wanted to remain a demon, to continue devouring, to continue growing strong. But Lu Mingyuan gave it no choice. Because a demon is also a deficiency, and a deficiency must be mended. Once mended, it would no longer be a demon.

The black Dragon struggled, trying to shake Lu Mingyuan off. But Lu Mingyuan gripped the qingni sword tightly, refusing to let go. His fingers were bleeding, and the blood was golden. As the golden blood dripped onto the black Dragon's scales, the scales began to brighten. Black turned to gray, gray to white, and white to transparent.

Bai Ze unfurled the bai ze map, and golden light erupted. The light shone on the black Dragon, on its resentment, and on its deficiency. Once the deficiency was illuminated, it was no longer a deficiency. For light is mending, and mending is light.

The black Dragon's body grew brighter and more transparent. It stopped struggling because it felt the change. It wasn't pain, but liberation. It had been trapped in resentment for countless years, devouring and devouring, yet never satisfied. Now, it was filled, it was mended. No longer deficient, it no longer needed to devour. No longer devouring, it was free.

The black Dragon's body shattered, turning into golden dust. Within the dust, an azure fragment drifted out, floating in front of Lu Mingyuan. It was a Chaos Azure Lotus fragment, swallowed by the black Dragon for untold years, finally seeing the light of day again.

Lu Mingyuan reached out and caught the fragment.

The fragment was light, as light as a feather. Yet it was heavy, as heavy as a world. Because it contained the power of opening the heavens and the possibility of creation. He placed it in his robe, alongside the oil lamp. The light from the lamp shone on the fragment, and the fragment began to glow. The light was azure, as azure as spring leaves.

"You got it," Bai Ze said, his voice sounding relieved.

"I got it."

"But you're even more heavily injured."

Lu Mingyuan looked down at himself. His fingers were bleeding, his chest ached, and the tree in his Dantian had shrunk to nine chi. Nine chi—less than one zhang. It was as short as a newly planted sapling. But it was still alive; the roots were there, the trunk was there, and the heart was there.

"It's fine. It will grow back."

He stood up and watched the golden dust disperse. Within the dust, a face emerged. It was a very old face, appearing as old as the time before the heavens were opened. The wrinkles on the face were deep, like ravines. But the eyes were bright, like stars.

"Thank you," the face said.

"Who are you?"

"I am the past life of this black Dragon. During the Heaven-Opening Great Tribulation, I was a Dragon in Chaos. When Pangu opened the heavens, I was struck by the edge of his axe, and my life and Dao were extinguished. My resentment did not dissipate and turned into a demon. I drifted in Chaos for countless years until I found the lotus fragment, swallowed it, and became even more demonic. Now, you have mended me, and I am liberated."

"You're welcome."

"The lotus fragment is yours; you will be able to use it well. Use it for Mending the Heavens, use it to create, use it to save people. You have achieved what I could not."

The face smiled—a very light, faint, and warm smile. Then it dissipated, along with the golden dust. Once gone, it was truly gone. And with it gone, Chaos became a little cleaner.

Lu Mingyuan took the lotus fragment out from his robe and looked at it repeatedly. The fragment wasn't large, but it was beautiful. Beautiful like a dream, like hope, like the future. He put it back and continued walking forward.

The tree in his Dantian was slowly growing—nine chi and one inch, nine chi and two inches, nine chi and three inches. It was slow, crawling like a snail. But it was growing because his heart was growing. For every inch his heart grew, the tree grew an inch.