201: Chapter 201 Battle Against the Demon God's Thoughts (Part 3)

The green lotus fragment glowed in his arms, brightening and dimming like breathing.

Lu Mingyuan continued forward, his pace slightly slower than before. It wasn't because he was tired, but because the wounds on his body were aching. The collapsed area of his chest hadn't fully healed, and several ribs were broken; every step felt like someone was stabbing him with a knife. Yet, he endured it without a sound. Crying out was useless; no one in Chaos could hear him. Bai Ze could hear him, but it would not advise him to stop. Because it knew he could not stop.

The tree in his Dantian was growing slowly—nine feet five, nine feet six, nine feet seven. It was very slow, crawling like a tortoise. But it was growing because his heart was growing. For every inch his heart grew, the tree grew an inch. For every inch the tree grew, his Qi increased by a fraction. For every fraction his Qi increased, his injuries healed a bit more.

As he walked, he felt something again.

It wasn't light, but a vibration. Chaos was vibrating like an earthquake. But there was no ground in Chaos; what vibrated were the Daoist principles. Something was churning Chaos, disturbing the Daoist principles and unsettling All Manifestations.

Bai Ze's fur stood on end.

"The pangu axe," Bai Ze said, its voice kept very low.

"What?"

"The pangu axe. The Divine Artifact of splitting the heavens, the axe Pangu used to split Chaos. After the creation of heaven and earth, the axe shattered, and its blade, handle, and body were scattered throughout Chaos. The axe blade is the sharpest part, containing the edge that split the heavens. You previously obtained a green lotus fragment, which is the power of creation. Now, an axe blade fragment is just ahead; that is the power of destruction."

"Destruction?"

"Yes. Pangu used the axe blade to split Chaos, breaking through the darkness and ignorance. Destruction before construction; first break, then build. Without breaking, there is no building. Without the axe blade's splitting of the heavens, there would be no Green Lotus's creation of the world."

Lu Mingyuan understood. The Green Lotus represented creation, while the axe blade represented destruction. Destruction was not the goal, but the means. Breaking before building; breaking was for the sake of building. Just as he transcended the Demon Gods, first breaking their resentment and then mending their deficiencies. Breaking and building were two sides of the same coin.

He quickened his pace and walked toward the direction of the vibration.

---

The closer he got, the stronger the vibration became. It was so strong that his bones rattled as if they were about to fall apart. He gritted his teeth and circulated his Wanxiang True Qi to steady his body. The tree in his Dantian glowed, and the light enveloped his bones, Meridians, and flesh. The light was weak, but it was resilient—so resilient that even the sharp edge of the pangu axe could not cut through it.

The purple mist dissipated, replaced by a chaotic vacuum. No mist, no light—nothing. Only a void, as empty as death. In the very center of the void, a fragment floated. It was tiny, no bigger than a fingernail. Yet the light it emitted was brighter than the sun. The light was golden, like molten iron.

A fragment of the pangu axe blade.

Lu Mingyuan stared at it, his eyes stinging. It wasn't because the light was too strong, but because the edge was too sharp. The fragment was imbued with Pangu's will from when he split the heavens—unstoppable and indestructible. Anything standing in its way would be split apart. Chaos, Demon Gods, the Heavenly Dao—all would be cleaved.

He wanted to walk over, but he couldn't lift his feet. It wasn't that he didn't want to, but that he couldn't move them. Pangu's will pressed down on him like a mountain. No, it was heavier than a mountain. A mountain has a peak, but this had none. Pangu's will was boundless, infinite, and absolute.

"Bai Ze, help me."

Bai Ze unfurled the bai ze map, and a brilliant golden light erupted. The light shone on Lu Mingyuan, helping him shoulder some of the pressure. But Bai Ze was also trembling because it too could not withstand Pangu's will. It was not Pangu; it was only a Divine Beast. No matter how strong a Divine Beast was, it could not surpass the God of Creation.

Lu Mingyuan took a deep breath and took a step forward.

When his foot landed, Chaos opened The Rift beneath his feet. It wasn't that Chaos had split, but that his will had collided with Pangu's, striking The Rift. There was no light or darkness in The Rift, only 'nothingness.' But that 'nothingness' was quickly filled by the sharp edge of Pangu's will.

He took another step.

This step was even heavier, so heavy that his knees buckled. His bones creaked and cracked as if they were about to break. But he didn't kneel, because if he did, he wouldn't be able to get back up. If he knelt, he would never obtain the axe blade fragment. If he couldn't get it, he couldn't mend the heavens. If he couldn't mend them, those guarding the outposts would have waited in vain.

He gritted his teeth and straightened his back.

Third step, fourth step, fifth step.

With every step, the pressure doubled. By the tenth step, blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. Golden blood dripped into the Chaos and onto Pangu's will. Wherever the blood fell, the pressure lightened slightly. Because his heart was in his blood, and his Dao was in his heart. His Dao was not inferior to Pangu's, and his heart was not inferior to Pangu's.

By the twentieth step, he was only ten feet away from the fragment.

But he could no longer move. His legs were shaking, his hands were shaking, his whole body was shaking. The tree in his Dantian had shrunk to eight feet because it had used all its nutrients to support his body. Eight feet—it was as short as a blade of grass. But it was still alive; the roots remained, the trunk remained, and the heart remained.

"The last step," Bai Ze said. "Take this step, and you'll have it."

Lu Mingyuan looked at that ten-foot distance. Ten feet—three steps. No, for him, it was thirty steps. Because with every step, the pressure doubled. By the third step, the pressure would be four times what it was now. He couldn't withstand it; if he couldn't, he would shatter. His Physical Body would shatter, his Primordial Spirit would shatter, and his true spirit would shatter. He would turn into dust and scatter in Chaos, just like those Demon Gods.

But he still had to walk.

It wasn't that he wasn't afraid of death, but that even if he died, he would die on the path forward. Retreating meant living, but living would be more painful than death. Because he would remember—remember that he had retreated, remember that he had been afraid, remember that he hadn't finished those three steps.

He lifted his foot.

Just then, a dark shadow rushed out from the side and pounced toward him. The shadow wasn't aimed at him, but at the axe blade fragment. It also wanted the fragment to strengthen itself.

Lu Mingyuan dodged to the side, and the shadow missed. It landed next to the fragment and revealed its true form. It was a giant beast, shaped like a lion but with three heads. The left head was black, the right head was white, and the middle head was gray. It had six eyes, all red—red as blood.

"The Three-Headed Yayu," Bai Ze recognized it. "A Vicious Beast from the Ferocious Beast Great Tribulation that lives by devouring Daoist principles. It should have died long ago, but it swallowed too many principles and has been floating half-dead in Chaos. Now it has sensed the pangu axe blade fragment and wants to swallow it."

"Can it swallow it?"

"It can't. Pangu's will will tear it apart. But it doesn't know that; it only knows how to swallow. Swallowing is its instinct."

The Three-Headed Yayu's six eyes stared at the axe blade fragment, its drool covering the ground. The drool was black, and where it dripped into the Chaos, it corroded pit after pit. It reached out a claw to grab the fragment. Just as the claw touched the fragment, a flash of golden light occurred, and the claw was severed. The cut was clean, as if sliced by a knife.

The Yayu let out a miserable cry, all three heads screaming together, the sound sharp and ear-piercing. It retreated a few steps, looking at its severed claw, its eyes filled with fear. But fear was quickly replaced by greed. It wanted the fragment, even if it meant losing its claws.

It opened its three mouths and simultaneously spat out black flames. The flames weren't aimed at the fragment, but at Lu Mingyuan. Because it knew Lu Mingyuan also wanted the fragment. If it got rid of him, the fragment would be its.

Lu Mingyuan didn't dodge. It wasn't that he didn't want to, but that he couldn't. His body was too weak—so weak that even lifting his foot was an effort. But his heart was not weak; if his heart was not weak, there was a way.

He held up the oil lamp.

The wick flickered, the light so weak it was like a firefly's glow. But when that light shone on the black flames, the flames stopped. They weren't extinguished; they were frozen. They were fixed in the Chaos, motionless.

The Yayu was stunned. It had never seen such a lamp. It spat again, even more fiercely this time. The black flames surged like a flood, covering the sky and the earth.

Lu Mingyuan took the green lotus fragment from his bosom and placed it next to the oil lamp. The green light shone on the black fire, and the fire began to change color. From black to gray, from gray to white, from white to transparent. The transparent fire was no longer fire; it was light. The light fell into the Chaos, illuminating everything.

The Yayu became afraid. It turned to run, but it couldn't. Because Lu Mingyuan's light shone upon it—on its resentment, on its deficiencies. It tried to swallow the light, but the light could not be swallowed. Light is not a Daoist principle; light is the heart. How can one swallow the heart? If you swallow the heart, the heart still remains. If you swallow the heart, the heart becomes a part of you. You become the heart, and the heart becomes you.

The Yayu's three heads began to melt. They weren't melted by heat, but by being mended. Once the deficiency was filled, there was no need for three heads. One was enough; one heart was enough.

Its black body began to brighten, from black to gray, from gray to white, from white to gold. The golden body glowed in the Chaos like a lamp. The Yayu's eyes turned from red to gold, no longer filled with greed, but with peace.

It knelt down before Lu Mingyuan.

"Thank you," the three heads said simultaneously, their voices no longer sharp but soft.

"You're welcome."

"I have swallowed countless Daoist principles and harmed countless living beings. I deserve to die, but I couldn't. Now that you have mended me, I can die."

"You don't have to die. Live, but in a different way."

"Can I still live?"

"Yes. As long as your heart remains, you can live."

The Yayu's golden body began to shrink, transforming from a giant beast into a small cat. It was tiny, no bigger than a ball of yarn. It crouched in the Chaos, looking at Lu Mingyuan with a childlike innocence in its eyes.

Lu Mingyuan smiled. He crouched down and stroked the kitten's head. The cat was soft, like cotton. It rubbed against Lu Mingyuan's hand and purred.

"Follow me," Lu Mingyuan said.

"Okay."

The kitten jumped onto his shoulder and crouched next to Bai Ze. Bai Ze looked at it, huffed, but didn't drive it away. Having another companion in Chaos wasn't a bad thing.

Lu Mingyuan stood up and walked toward the axe blade fragment. This time, the pressure was less. It wasn't because Pangu's will had weakened, but because his heart had grown stronger. He had mended a Vicious Beast and saved a life. Pangu's splitting of the heavens was also to save lives—to save all things and all living beings. When hearts were in sync, the pressure lightened.

He reached out and grasped the fragment.

The fragment was scorching, hot as fire. But he didn't let go, because he knew this was Pangu's temperature. When Pangu split the heavens, he held the axe and cleaved through Chaos. At that moment, his hand must have been very hot too. But he didn't let go; if he had, he wouldn't have been able to split it. If he hadn't split it, heaven and earth would not have emerged.

Lu Mingyuan placed the fragment in his bosom alongside the green lotus fragment. The two fragments touched, making a crisp sound. Green and golden light intertwined, illuminating his face. There was no smile on his face, but his eyes were smiling. It was a very light, faint, and warm smile.

The tree in his Dantian grew from eight feet to ten feet. It didn't grow slowly but shot up suddenly. Because his state of mind had changed, becoming stronger, steadier, and brighter. Ten feet was still short, but it was two inches taller than eight feet.

The oil lamp glowed in his hand, its flame flickering. The green lotus fragment and the axe blade fragment glowed in his bosom, one green and one gold. The three lights converged, illuminating the Chaos. The light was so bright it was like a small sun.

The kitten purred on his shoulder, and Bai Ze closed its eyes to nap. Three lives walked through the Chaos, heading deeper into the abyss.