Outside the cavern.
As the black mist surged before his eyes, Shifazi's left knee finally gave way under the pressure, and he knelt with a thud into the observation chains laid out by the Great Record.
The old monster faced the earth veins, a wave of sweetness rising in his throat. He forced back the mouthful of stagnant blood he hadn't had time to swallow, but he dared not look up.
For if he raised his eyes even slightly, he would suffer a solid beating in the simulated deductions of ten million world lines.
Song Heng's sword edge sliced across his shoulder, Baicang's spells bored through his back, and Qin Wuwang's great seal smashed into his chest. Every sensation of pain was fed back with absolute reality, yet he was, after all, a great cultivator of the late Fifth Realm.
“Every Dao has a crack, and every crack can be entered.”
The words his master had left him on his deathbed surfaced in his mind once more. Finally, he found an opportunity!
The thousands of world lines currently loading and deducing around him suddenly collapsed, turning into silver-grey debris that drifted through the air.
He spat out the stagnant blood in his chest with relief and slowly straightened his back.
“Gu—Cheng—ming—!!”
He roared in anger, venting the frustration he had suffered. Before he could even move, the black mist churning around him seemed to activate an auto-pathing function, surging into the cavern entrance ahead of him.
The old monster tucked his hands back into his wide sleeves and stepped forward, arrogantly striding over the remnants of the observation chains on the ground.
“A mere Third Realm brat, whose ancient methods are all borrowed from external objects.” He spoke hatefully, “I shall see how much of your borrowed assets you have left.”
...
Gu Chengming quickly calculated in his mind.
The Unborn Lotus had less than thirty percent of its energy left; forcing the birth of the Dao Throne and intercepting the Great Record had already consumed most of it.
The combo of the Tenfold Sword Array and the Entanglement Sword Intent was certainly useful, but the old monster Shifazi had already suffered from it. Using the same trick again on a late Fifth Realm great cultivator would surely yield diminishing results.
The Laboratory of Love's panel output was staggering, but his opponent was a peak late Fifth Realm expert. A direct confrontation was no different from a mantis trying to stop a carriage; conventional means were insufficient.
He lowered his eyes, his gaze falling on the newly unlocked CG.
【CG: Infinite War God, Come Out!】
【Effect: Summon a physical phantom of any cultivation technique within the host's body that has reached the "Until Death Do Us Part" affection level. The duration depends on the technique's affection level and the host's spiritual energy reserves. The phantom possesses full combat power and shares battlefield perception with the host.】
【Currently summonable: Hundred Bones Resonating, Huiyuan Sword Manual, Zhou Rites Heavenly Rectifying Art, Qingxin Art】
Gu Chengming looked at the several techniques capable of summoning a phantom.
“Infinite War God...”
【Hundred Bones Resonating: Emperor Gu! This Emperor sensed it! Is that new CG calling for this Emperor to come out and fight?!】
“Come out!”
【Hundred Bones Resonating: Good, good, good!】
A flash of white light suddenly erupted in the void at the center of the cavern.
A figure with white hair and golden eyes stepped out from the curtain of light. Crimson blood qi exploded along her meridians, making her white training robes translucent with its glow.
She stood on one foot with the other leg slightly bent, hands on her hips, and her chin held high.
In contrast to her majestic Emperor's posture—
“Emperor Gu, should this Emperor start with an entrance line?”
Gu Chengming felt a bit helpless. “How about Emperor Bai waits until after the fight?”
“Oh, alright.” Hundred Bones Resonating turned her head and asked expectantly, “Is there a reward after the fight?”
Hearing this, Gu Chengming suddenly felt a phantom pain in his pelvis, but he still said decisively, “As much as you want!”
The moment his words landed, the space outside the cavern let out a sudden, unbearable screech.
The light screen that had originally sealed the entrance shattered like fragile withered leaves in the void.
...
The black mist, like the flooding waters of the underworld, carried the unreserved, violent killing intent of a late Fifth Realm cultivator, melting a massive hole into the giant boulders at the cavern entrance.
The surrounding temperature plummeted, and the air became thick with the pungent smell of rust.
The remaining rock layers on the stone walls rapidly withered and peeled under this frigid pressure, turning into foul-smelling black water that dripped down.
The "corroding intent" ground over a hundred years overbearingly corroded all life within the cavern; even the light seemed to be devoured by this power.
Shifazi stroded in, the bluestone beneath his feet turning to dust inch by inch. “Gu Chengming!”
“You severed the foundation of my path. Today, even if the Heavenly Emperor himself protects you, I will pull out your tendons, skin you alive, and scatter your ashes!”
Gu Chengming didn't even raise his eyelids as he pressed his right hand onto his sword hilt. “Senior, why don't you look behind you?”
The old monster sneered repeatedly, the ink-colored compass in his palm spinning frantically.
“At death's door, and you still dare use the tricks of a three-year-old to deceive me?”
The black mist turned into thousands of bared-clawed ghost hands, crushing toward Gu Chengming from all directions.
The late Fifth Realm corroding intent covered the sky and earth, specifically seeking out the gaps in the flow of spiritual energy, intending to strip away Gu Chengming's aura in an instant.
At that moment, alarm bells rang in the old monster's heart. As if he had eyes in the back of his head, he sensed a crisis and hurriedly dodged to the side, barely avoiding a strike.
With a thunderous boom, a large hole was smashed into the spot where he had been standing.
The white-haired girl stood proudly in the hole, rubbing her fists.
Shifazi was astonished. Where did this helper come from? Upon closer inspection, she didn't have the slightest hint of a living aura.
He had thought it was a savior the boy had called, but now it seemed it was another of his endless strange methods!
How could this brat have so many trump cards!
Envy and hatred flared in the old monster's heart, and he let out a cold laugh. “No matter how heaven-defying your methods are, you must leave your life here today!”
He swept his sleeves, and the black mist pressed down on the white-clad figure, each strand of mist containing the true meaning of "corroding law," specifically gnawing at weak points in her aura.
In the next instant, before the black mist could even get close, it was shaken into complete dissipation by the power of her blood qi.
“Primal Emperor Qi!” Hundred Bones Resonating threw a punch that missed, sending crimson flames splashing in all directions.
Shifazi immediately used his techniques to observe this uninvited guest, but his pupils shrank in the next moment. Why were there no cracks?!
“Absurd!” He squeezed out a few words through gritted teeth. “What kind of evil technique is this?”
“Evil technique!” Hundred Bones Resonating instantly bristled. “This Emperor is the Primal Boundless Sovereign of Myriad Daos, Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, Supreme of the Universe Emperor Art, Hundred Bones Resonating!”
The old monster was about to speak when he felt a sudden chill on his back.
“Ssh.”
The crisp sound of the Tenfold Sword Array closing came from behind him, and the old monster immediately became alert.
Relying on his late Fifth Realm cultivation, he hadn't taken this Third Realm sword array seriously. But just now, his entire mind had been occupied by that white-haired girl. The ten flying swords took advantage of the gap opened by Hundred Bones Resonating to weave frantically, and with every strike, they applied a layer of Entanglement Sword Intent to him.
The old monster's heart tightened, his hatred deepening.
This trick again?!
He had suffered from this trick before, yet the opponent still dared to try it again. It was pure fantasy...
Before the thought could settle, the white-clad figure had already turned into an afterimage, a punch shattering the black mist barrier on his left. The flying swords took the opportunity to strike, adding another layer of Entanglement.
Stack. The sword light flashed again.
Stack, stack, stack, stack.
Ten layers, twenty layers, fifty layers.
The old monster nearly crushed his molars. How the hell did he fall for it again?!
He forcibly operated his cultivation technique, trying to purify it, but was shocked to find that this sword intent didn't care about spiritual power strength. No matter how high his stats were, once it hit, it forced a slow. His movements showed a visible sluggishness.
Right at this moment—
“Emperor Bai, next move, I attack, you defend.”
“Okay!”
Hundred Bones Resonating stepped back from the front, and Gu Chengming's figure surged forward. His left hand gripped the Unborn Lotus, and golden light erupted. The Entanglement Sword Intent that should have required time to stack was forcibly severed of its karmic flow by the Unborn Lotus, fast-forwarding directly to the final result.
Hundreds of layers of Entanglement Sword Intent crashed down. Shifazi froze, the spiritual power within his body feeling like it had fallen into a quagmire.
This freeze was a death sentence.
“Emperor Bai!” Gu Chengming thrust out his right fist.
In mid-air, Hundred Bones Resonating's right fist struck out side-by-side with his.
The Primal Emperor Qi and the white-gold brilliance of Hundred Bones Resonating of Love climbed up their forearms, finally twisting into a tight knot at the tips of their fists.
That ball of light was even more blazing than the Love Infinite Gu Chengming had struck out alone before.
This time, it was the combined effort of two Hundred Bones Resonatings—one the materialized phantom of the original, and the other the residual consciousness integrated into his bloodline, forming the fist's edge.
Two Emperors who should have been the same person were now exerting their power together on the same fist.
The old monster's vision was filled with nothing but white-gold. His "corroding law" soul, ground over a hundred years, was frantically searching for a crack on the edge of the fist.
Even a crack as thin as a hair would do. His master's deathbed words echoed repeatedly in his mind: “All things have cracks, and every crack can be entered.” He had believed this for a hundred years, ground for a hundred years, and because of it, he had severed the path to heaven for three late Fifth Realm great cultivators. He had never failed with these words.
Until today, when there truly was no crack to be found in this ball of light.
It wasn't that his eyes were poor, but that this ball of light had completely jumped out of the framework of "rules." It did not touch karma, did not follow spiritual veins, and did not obey the common sense of the Heavenly Dao.
A thing that did not follow logic naturally had no logical cracks to be found.
His roar of frustration slammed into the white-gold fist energy and was torn apart.
Hundred Bones Resonating fell heavily from above the black mist, her fists clenched together as she smashed the ground. The white-gold shockwave forcibly tore a gap in the black mist, and Gu Chengming cut through.
The old monster stood right at the end of the gap.
“I've found it!” the old monster laughed wildly, pressing his hands together into a sword finger, aimed straight for Gu Chengming's heart.
Gu Chengming neither dodged nor avoided. “You found the wrong thing.”
Hundred Bones Resonating had somehow already flashed behind Gu Chengming, her palms firmly pressed against his back. White-gold array patterns layered beneath their feet.
Gu Chengming punched out, and the old monster's fingers struck Gu Chengming's fist surface.
“Crack.”
His finger bones shattered instantly. A powerful counter-shock surged upward, breaking his forearm, his upper arm, and completely shattering his shoulder blade.
“Ah—!” The old monster screamed as he flew backward, crashing heavily into the dust. He struggled desperately to raise his head.
“Boom—”
The fist edge entered through his chest and pierced through his back. The old monster's Dao foundation, nurtured for a hundred years, collapsed from top to bottom the moment it touched the fist edge, like a magnificent tower with its support pillars removed.
The "grinding" Dao foundation inherited from the last head of the Kuyan Sect was like a piece of soaked mulberry paper before the white-gold fist energy—it shredded at the slightest pull.
The old monster's features were twisted to the extreme, his eyes filled with terrifying bloodshot veins.
“Ab... absurd!”
He squeezed out his last breath of true essence to hiss.
“—What kind of evil technique is this that ignores the Heavenly Dao?!”
“This is love.” Hundred Bones Resonating peeked half her head out from beside Gu Chengming, her white hair flying wildly in the air currents. “It is Emperor Gu's love for this Emperor, and this Emperor's love for Emperor Gu.”
“I don't believe it! I don't believe it!” The old monster's face twisted as he glared at Gu Chengming. “You defy the natural order! This is an evil technique! You will certainly die a horrible death!”
“Are you finished with your last words?” Gu Chengming raised his right foot.
“You—”
Gu Chengming stepped down.
“Bang.”
The skull was crushed.
The old monster's century-old Dao foundation completely vanished with his final breath.
Before his soul completely dissipated, the last scene fixed in his vision was—
Hundred Bones Resonating snuggling comfortably in Gu Chengming's arms, looking up at him.
“Emperor Gu, how was this Emperor's performance just now?”
“Emperor Bai is mighty.”
“Then...”
“A kiss.”
“...”
“Wow, Emperor Gu is the best.”
【Huiyuan Sword Manual is jealous: Chengming owes me a kiss too!】
【Flowing Cloud Following Moon: Disgusting.】
【Qingxin Art couldn't help but facepalm: What a sappy couple.】
【Zhou Rites Heavenly Rectifying Art also watched with considerable envy, but still sighed and said: Where there is deep emotion, the rites shall not be an obstacle.】
...
Hundred Bones Resonating stood contentedly by Gu Chengming's sleeve. In the center of the cavern, the fragments of the old monster's Dao foundation were still slowly dissipating.
Just as Gu Chengming intended to close the array and take a moment to rest...
Deep within the earth veins of the cavern, a sudden, heavy boom echoed, powerful enough to make the entire Cuiping Mountains tremble.
“Dong.”
It was not spring thunder, nor an earthquake. Gu Chengming's brow twitched violently.
【Red Dust Phantom Step suddenly became grave: Daoist Gu! This tremor is not natural!】
The air in the cavern instantly stagnated, and Hundred Bones Resonating also noticed. Her back tensed immediately, and she stepped back from Gu Chengming's arms, her eyes scanning in all directions with vigilance.
“Emperor Gu, that noise!”
“It's coming for us.”
Gu Chengming looked up. The originally dark rock layers on the cavern ceiling were slowly seeping with strands of dim silver-grey light patterns. The light was not dazzling; it even carried a hint of decay. Yet every time a strand appeared, it was accompanied by waves of tremors deep within his sea of consciousness.
【The Great Record's narration arrived late, sighing: This is the sign of a Heavenly Dao Calamity.】
Gu Chengming's brow furrowed tightly.
“What kind of calamity?”
【On the Heavenly Dao chessboard, an unborn Dao Throne was meant to be placed as a piece. That piece was a ten-thousand-year fixed outcome of the Cuiping Mountains' abyss, incorporated into the Heavenly Dao's gate and life track a thousand years ago. However, you just swallowed that piece.】
【The situation is in chaos. The Heavenly Dao has noticed.】
“And then?”
【And then the Heavenly Dao will set about erasing this error. It will either pull that Dao Throne from your body and drag it back to the chessboard to return it to its original owner, or it will erase you along with every bit of karma involved in "swallowing the Dao Throne," treating it as if it "never happened."】
Hundred Bones Resonating was furious. “Let the Heavenly Dao come! This Emperor will shatter the Heavenly Dao with a single punch!”
Gu Chengming sighed inwardly. Although he had guessed that something big might happen after seizing the Dao Throne, he hadn't expected even the Heavenly Dao to get involved.
In a sense, this could be considered his first direct contact with the Heavenly Dao.
The last indirect contact was during Hundred Bones Resonating's bond mission, when the voice of the Dao entered his body.
The Great Record likely hadn't expected this situation either. It had probably intended to deceive him and then take the opportunity to seize the Dao Throne to escape him. Now, not only was the Dao Throne gone, but even he was going to suffer along with it. The Great Record was likely in utter despair.
Just as Gu Chengming thought, the Great Record was indeed filled with a sense of hopelessness.
To think that she, a remnant of the old world, an eternal observer who had witnessed the birth and death of ten million life tracks, had even survived the end-of-the-world calamity when heaven and earth collapsed.
She had spent ten thousand years to finally nurture an unborn Dao Throne in this world, hoping to use it as a springboard to perform a cicada-shedding trick and reshape her true body.
Who could have expected that he was an anomaly who even dared to swallow a Heavenly Dao Throne in one gulp? Her carefully laid plans had actually pushed her into a dead end.
【The Great Record stared at the ceiling of the sea of consciousness, lacking even the strength to continue providing narration and complaints.】
She sighed with utter helplessness, feeling that her "cultivation technique career" was now devoid of light.
Had she known that such an illogical fellow as Gu Chengming was out there, she should have stayed asleep at the bottom of the Cuiping Mountains' abyss ten thousand years ago. Why bother rising from the dead only to land herself in such a dead end that couldn't even be salvaged?
Wait, there seemed to be a way!
The Great Record suddenly seemed to realize something and turned her attention toward the Laboratory of Love...
...
Outside the cavern, the remnants of the black mist had not yet dispersed. The auras of Qin Wuwang, True Monarch Baicang, Song Heng, and Daoist Don't Know were all pinned in place by this heavenly anomaly. Forget moving; even breathing required immense effort.
The four men were suspended in mid-air, none of them daring to move recklessly.
True Monarch Baicang was pale, the jade tablet in his sleeve trembling violently.
“This is... the Heavenly Dao?!”
Song Heng's thick brows were locked, his sword intent held back but not released. “I have lived for several centuries, yet this is the first time I've seen such a sight.”
Qin Wuwang ground his teeth. “Who is this debt going to be settled with?”
True Monarch Baicang: “...In any case, it shouldn't be us.”
Daoist Don't Know stood by, a rare bitter smile appearing on his weathered old face.
That kid's appetite was truly beyond limits.
He thought to himself that his idea of recruiting him into the Myriad Thief Sect would have to be temporarily shelved. If the kid really turned the tables, anyone could sit on the throne of the Myriad Thief Sect Master, except him.
After all, if he sat there, even the 'Sky-Connecting Branch' left by the patriarch would probably be swallowed by him in one gulp.
He let out a long sigh. What a pity... what a pity.
...
Inside the cavern, Gu Chengming bore the brunt of it, facing this irresistible, magnificent heavenly might.
He looked up, staring fixedly at the silver-grey light patterns slowly pressing down from the ceiling, feeling as if something were following the karma of his devouring the Dao Throne, erasing the traces of his existence in this world bit by bit.
Gu Chengming gritted his teeth, cold sweat seeping from his temples.
He knew that resisting the Heavenly Dao was no different from a mantis trying to stop a carriage. The only way to break the situation was to firmly hammer his own karmic life track into this world before the Heavenly Dao's rules could completely "correct" him.
However, the aftershocks of the Heavenly Dao Calamity already made it difficult for him to hold on. Relying on his strength alone to straighten out the chaotic spiritual mechanisms in his body and stabilize his state of mind in an instant was pure fantasy.
Just at the critical moment when he was prepared to risk everything, the techniques deep in his sea of consciousness gave their response first.
【Qingxin Art: Everyone, do not lose your composure. First, stabilize your state of mind. Chengming has his own plan.】
【Zhou Rites Heavenly Rectifying Art: This Emperor is willing to use the 'Rites' technique to stabilize Chengming's foundation. Everyone else, perform your respective duties.】
【Red Dust Phantom Step: I will go cover the gaps where his aura is leaking.】
【Huiyuan Sword Manual, though anxious, still said: I—I'll help too!】
“...Thank you. You really are a big help.”
Gu Chengming took a long, deep breath. For now, he had to completely stabilize his own karmic existence to anchor himself firmly in this world, preventing the Heavenly Dao from treating him as an "anomaly" and erasing him in passing.
This required him to draw all his mental focus to coordinate the suppression of the various techniques. He closed his eyes.
His spiritual energy and techniques resonated violently, driving his life track into the rules of heaven and earth like a nail.
Above him, the silver-grey light patterns began to slowly press down.
The silver-grey light patterns did not crash down suddenly. Instead, they were like a drop of ink soaking into clear water, strands slowly rippling out, each flow carrying the intent of correction. It was the Heavenly Dao's attempt to excise the error from this world.
【Qingxin Art: Chengming, just focus on keeping your heart steady.】
A strand of clear true meaning flowed from between his brows, steadily supporting his slightly trembling divine sense under the pressure of the Heavenly Dao.
【Zhou Rites Heavenly Rectifying Art: Rites are the order of heaven and earth. With the Rites technique, I shall fix your position among the Three Talents.】
An ancient inscription suddenly appeared around his body, running from his head to his feet, connecting to the sky above and the earth below.
With this definition in place, if the Heavenly Dao wanted to erase Gu Chengming as an anomaly, it would first have to bore through this rule of Man.
The silver-grey light patterns on the ceiling officially pressed to within three feet of Gu Chengming's head. With a soft sizzle, they touched the "Man" inscription held up by the Zhou Rites Heavenly Rectifying Art.
The inscription trembled slightly but did not break.
He had held on.
Gu Chengming's heart relaxed slightly, knowing this was only the first wave of testing.
Sure enough, in the next instant, the silver-grey light patterns intensified by thirty percent, and the entire cavern ceiling seemed to sink.
Gu Chengming let out a muffled groan, suddenly realizing that defense alone was far from enough. Relying on the concealment and support of the various techniques could at most delay for a moment. To truly get the Heavenly Dao to let him go, he had to make the Heavenly Dao acknowledge that he belonged to this world.
But he was precisely an anomaly; the fact that he had swallowed the unborn Dao Throne had truly happened.
Then...
He suddenly opened his eyes and whispered to himself, “The Heavenly Dao is looking for a piece that fits the chessboard. Then I will make it so it cannot find the empty space that original piece should have occupied.”
Hundred Bones Resonating was stunned. “Emperor Gu, what do you mean?”
Gu Chengming did not answer. Instead, he raised his left hand, and a very faint white-gold light pattern slowly lit up in his palm.
That was the aura he had received from Hundred Bones Resonating of Love—the source of Love Infinite.
The punch that had destroyed that old monster just now had relied on this.
“I remember what the Great Record said before.” Gu Chengming's divine sense sank into his dantian. “She said the Heavenly Dao wants to claw back the empty space the unborn Dao Throne should occupy from me. But what if that empty space has already been filled by something else?”
“Filled?” Hundred Bones Resonating was startled for a moment, then her eyes lit up. “Emperor Gu, you're so smart!”
“Hold me tight.”
“Okay!”
The white-haired girl wrapped her arms around Gu Chengming's waist, her cheek pressed against his back, as her white-gold Emperor Qi poured down without reservation.
Gu Chengming's mind sank into the deepest part of his sea of consciousness. The unborn Dao Throne that had just been swallowed by the Laboratory of Love was turning into a CG, slowly floating in the center of his vision. This was what the Heavenly Dao wanted back.
He quietly guided the white-gold aura injected by Hundred Bones Resonating to this spot, overwriting the karmic patterns on the Dao Throne that originally belonged to the Heavenly Dao, inch by inch, with the white-gold aura.
What the Heavenly Dao wanted was not the Dao Throne itself, but that set of karmic bones. If he could make those true bones grow the flesh and blood of Hundred Bones Resonating, when the Heavenly Dao identified it again, it would only find a mass of something it didn't recognize at all.
The Heavenly Dao could certainly sense the anomaly.
But the Heavenly Dao was a rule, not a person. What a rule avoided most was encountering an existence outside of the rules.
Once it could not find the object it was supposed to erase, it could only settle for the next best thing: re-adapting this world to the current situation.
Gu Chengming's heart skipped a beat. He dared not be distracted. The process of Hundred Bones Resonating's aura overwriting the Dao Throne was surprisingly smooth, as if the Dao Throne had originally been born for this.
The silver-grey light patterns on the ceiling had pressed to within an inch of his brow, held back firmly by that layer of the Man inscription.
Gu Chengming took a deep breath, and the final strand of white-gold aura was slowly embedded into the center of the Dao Throne.
Hum—
The entire Dao Throne turned from dim to a glowing white, with a very faint golden glow surrounding the framework. The mark of the Heavenly Dao on its surface was completely masked.
In that instant, the silver-grey light patterns on the ceiling rapidly receded like a tide, as if they had never been there.
All the techniques let out a collective sigh of relief.
【Qingxin Art let out a long breath: Chengming is truly wise.】
【Zhou Rites Heavenly Rectifying Art leaned back and sighed: I almost couldn't hold on...】
【Red Dust Phantom Step laughed: Fortunately, it's over.】
【Huiyuan Sword Manual cheered: Chengming is so amazing!】
Gu Chengming slowly opened his eyes, a thin layer of cold sweat on his forehead.
He wiped it away with his sleeve and said softly, “Thank you, everyone.”
Hundred Bones Resonating behind him was the same as ever, looking up with her small face. “Emperor Gu, this Emperor did a lot of work this time.”
Gu Chengming smiled. “I should thank Emperor Bai too.”
“Then a kiss.”
After everything had completely settled.
Only then did Gu Chengming realize a new problem...
Where... did the Great Record go?
...
At that very moment, inside the Laboratory of Love.
A strand of silver-grey residual consciousness had quietly slipped in through the karmic crack torn open when the unborn Dao Throne was swallowed just now.
The Great Record had calculated that all of Gu Chengming's focus would be taken by the Heavenly Dao, and his monitoring of this place would surely show a flaw.
She hadn't intended to take such a risk, but a flash of inspiration had just occurred. The Laboratory of Love could swallow an unborn Dao Throne, which proved its status was far above that of a Dao Throne.
If she could infiltrate this place and seize control, it would be far more magnificent than the "mirror" she had painstakingly planned for ten thousand years.
Perhaps... she could use this to achieve a supreme Dao Throne in one go, with a status transcending eternity. Observing herself would finally no longer be a dream.
At that time, the dead end of "the sea-observer cannot observe themselves" would be shattered by her.
She floated at the entrance, making her final decision. She feared being noticed by Gu Chengming and also feared being backlashed by the unknown existence within.
But if she succeeded, her ten-thousand-year obsession would be resolved in an instant; the odds of success outweighed the risks.
She settled her mind and decided to risk everything.
The residual consciousness drifted toward the depths of the laboratory like a slow thread.
The interior of the Laboratory of Love was far more silent than she had expected.
There was no Dao here, no laws, no cause, and no effect. Only a pure white field. She had once glimpsed a similar scene in the remnants of the vanishing laws at the end of the old world line.
At the time, she had thought it was an illusion. Now it seemed it was not an illusion, but a deeper truth.
The Great Record's heart stirred. Her residual consciousness followed the pure white field step by step, needing to be wary of Gu Chengming's divine sense returning midway with every step she took.
However, on the other side of his sea of consciousness, there was only the chaotic roar of operation. Gu Chengming was exhausting his effort to stabilize himself, completely unaware of the fire in his backyard.
This was a god-given opportunity!
She immediately accelerated her pace.
The pure white field was empty. The Great Record became increasingly certain that the foundation of this place was far deeper than her ten-thousand-year deductions.
If she could use this to reshape herself, even that unborn Dao Throne could be discarded like a worn-out shoe.
She could directly use this as an axis to reshape a "true form vessel" that suited her, resolving her ten-thousand-year paradox!
Her residual consciousness finally reached the curtain of light. At the critical moment—she suddenly realized that she was not the only living thing here.
Three zhang away from the light curtain sat a person. That person was sitting cross-legged, her hands resting casually on her knees, her white hair falling loosely over her shoulders and back. Her eyes were quietly staring at a corner of the light curtain, as if she had been waiting for ages.
The Great Record's residual consciousness suddenly stalled. She recognized this face.
Wasn't this exactly the appearance of the technique Hundred Bones Resonating, whom Gu Chengming had summoned using the CG evolved from that Dao Throne?
At the thought that it was just that inferior technique that shouted “This Emperor” in Gu Chengming's sea of consciousness all day, the Great Record couldn't help but sneer inwardly.
A mere inferior technique that didn't even have a shadow ten thousand years ago—what did she have to fear? Even if she possessed that "unfathomable resonance of laws," she was at most a freak nurtured by this world.
How could she, a remnant of the old world line and an observer who had sat for ten thousand years, fall at the hands of a fledgling body-tempering technique?
The white-haired woman slowly raised her head, her eyes reflecting the silver-grey residual consciousness of the Great Record, and let out a soft sigh.
“Sigh.”
“I was hoping to hide for a bit longer.”
“...”
The Great Record was suddenly stunned. Why did she feel this tone was wrong?
“Hundred Bones Resonating” slowly stood up and casually patted the hem of her white training robes.
“Since this deity integrated into Emperor Gu's body, I have been hiding here, thinking I could slack off until the next stage.”
“Since you've stumbled upon me...” She casually moved the joints of her wrists. “Then I can only act according to the rules.”
For some reason, the Great Record's residual consciousness immediately felt the urge to retreat.
The intuition she had accumulated over ten thousand years of observation was warning her: this place was extremely dangerous and not to be stayed in!
But she had been too focused when she infiltrated; her path back had long been slowly closed off by the white-clad woman with profound and mysterious laws!
Like a fly stepping into a spiderweb, by the time she realized it, every direction had become a dead end.
“Don't be in a rush.” The Hundred Bones Resonating of Love smiled with curved eyes. “This deity won't take your life.”
“Emperor Gu will still have a use for you later.”
“It's just...”
She slowly raised her right fist.
“I must give you something to remember.”
After hearing these words, the Great Record only felt that things had gone horribly wrong!
Damn it, it seems I've fallen into a trap again!
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