bioinnovel Chapter 366 The Way of Cause and Effect
Chapter 366 The Way of Cause and Effect
The bottom of the well remained silent for a long time.
The crystal's dark red light flashed three times on the well wall.
"He thought he was a tool driven by my power, but what he sensed was not my power itself. My power was shattered by Pangu 30,000 years ago."
"What he sensed was the ancient cause and effect scattered in the chaos. They escaped and formed a field that could evolve on its own and instinctively devour others; this is the causal path you see."
"Those extraterrestrial gods sent the foreign laws they had captured here, injecting them into the well's mouth to maintain the seal at the bottom of the well."
"They are not my descendants, nor my creations; they are my guardians who bring me food. I cannot escape unless the seal is broken. If the food runs out, I will die."
Su Fan tightened his grip on the axe handle.
"It is not your creation, but those who guard you."
"They are not the ones guarding me, but Pangu. Thirty thousand years ago, Pangu used seven axe-like powers to shatter me and seal me at the bottom of a well."
"Fragments of my past karma scattered out, forming the Dao of Karma. Every three thousand years thereafter, new extraterrestrial gods are born in the chaos. Their instinct is to devour foreign laws and send them into the well to maintain the seal."
Su Fan looked down at the well opening.
There are dark red engravings around the edge of the well, densely packed, circling the entire well opening.
He hadn't noticed the marks before. Now, crouching down to look closely, he saw that the marks were made by an axe blade.
Each engraving is perfectly spaced, inserted three inches into the stone, with the slanted end facing inward. Seven engravings form a group, and there are a total of thirty groups at the entire wellhead.
There are 210 axe marks, each one made by Pangu himself 30,000 years ago.
"When Pangu shattered you, he used seven axe blows. Each blow struck your most important causal point."
"After splitting you in half, he sealed your fragments at the bottom of the well, using two hundred and ten axe marks to bite the outer shell of the well's laws."
"Those extraterrestrial gods outside keep pouring foreign laws into the well, not to replenish your power, but to reinforce this seal, because the seal needs foreign laws as an energy source to maintain itself. Once the pouring stops, the seal will loosen."
There was no denial at the bottom of the well.
"Did you already know all this when you came down?"
The sound from the bottom of the well remained flat and slow.
"I don't know," Su Fan continued.
"I deduced it by crouching down and seeing the engravings. Sealing is a technique used by every generation of weapon refiners in the primordial world."
"Pangu used an even more primitive method: he cleaved directly, without forging any artifacts, and used his axe intent to carve arrays. The essence was the same as when he used an axe to cleave the chaos and create the world. After cleaving, he used his will to lock the cracks and prevent them from closing."
He slammed the Pangu Axe to the ground. As the handle touched the ground, the azure light on the axe blade swept across the edge of the well, and the thinnest layer of law power remaining on the axe blade was absorbed by the axe mark.
The 210 engravings at the wellhead lit up for a moment simultaneously, emitting a very deep axe-like sound. The sound traveled down the well wall, hit the bottom, and bounced back.
"The intent of Pangu's axe can still resonate. You are indeed the one chosen by Pangu."
The sound from the bottom of the well began to ripple slightly for the first time.
"It wasn't selected. I chose it myself."
He opened his palm, and the dark gold scar left by his self-inflicted wound on his palm shone faintly with gold under the red light at the bottom of the well.
The golden lines of the Path of All Beings faded slowly on the back of my hand, but the lines of the scar remained golden.
"Thirty thousand years ago, Pangu used seven axe intents to cleave you. Later, I collected all seven fragments that were sealed inside the body of the extraterrestrial god and returned them to the axe blade. I have completed the contingency plan left by Pangu."
"Judging from the condition of the marks above, I can tell that the seal alone won't be able to suppress you for long. Some of the 210 axe marks have maintained their original appearance due to the continuous infusion of the extraterrestrial god, but the rest..."
He ran his fingertips along a chipped edge of a carving, looking down into the dark red depths.
"The wear and tear is nearing its limit. The black-robed men themselves are unaware of this, but every time they reinforce the wellhead, the injected external laws simultaneously flow through the dark red boundary layer beneath my feet and into your body."
The water level at the bottom of the well suddenly dropped, and a rumbling sound rolled through the inside of the well wall, causing the bone meal that had been deposited for 30,000 years to fall down in a rustling sound.
"Since you can see that the seal is about to break, why did you still actively wake me up? The black-robed men only need to inject external laws twice more to maintain the seal, and you can still live."
Su Fan ran his fingertip across the engraving on the wellhead.
A thin layer of dark red crystalline powder clung to his fingertip. He looked at the powder, then gently blew it away.
"Maintaining the seal does not mean eliminating you. You have been sealed for 30,000 years. Every time you consume a mouthful of the laws poured in by the extraterrestrial gods, you are assimilated by Pangu's seal."
"Although you've been suppressed for the past 30,000 years, your essence has been constantly being worn down by the axe. Now, only a few intact marks remain. If nothing unexpected happens, you'll be worn through in another 3,000 years."
"When the seal breaks, you will climb up the well. The entire extraterritorial territory will have been formed. Once the laws of cause and effect and the original cause and effect are recombined, not only will the primordial world be dragged to the bottom of the well, but the black-robed man and his own comrades will also be wiped out by the backlash. At that time, no one will be able to stop you."
There was a moment of silence at the bottom of the well.
"So you came to me to negotiate."
"Yes. I've come to negotiate with you. Thirty thousand years ago, Pangu was able to shatter you; you must have retaliated."
"You possess ancient karma at the law level. Even if it is shattered, your body will be able to slowly repair itself over 30,000 years."
"Now the seal that is holding you back is about to give way. Let's compromise. You seal the well and leave the Primordial World with your territory. I guarantee that the Primordial World will never again pursue the remnants of the extraterrestrial gods."
"Then what guarantees do you have?"
The sound from the bottom of the well was flat and slow.
Su Fan raised the Pangu Axe to his chest and brought it down on his left wrist. The blade sliced through the flesh, and golden blood gushed out.
Drop after drop fell into the Pangu axe marks on the edge of the well. Blood flowed down the grooves of the marks, seeping into the dark red causal crystal layer, each drop of blood revitalizing a dried-up old axe mark.
The wound on his left wrist, which he had cut open, slowly closed in the golden light, and the dark gold scar at the base of his thumb was completely connected to the new wound on his wrist.
"Pangu's blood is scattered throughout the primordial world, but I am not Pangu. This blood is my own, Su Fan's blood. My blood does not inherit the Heavenly Dao, but it can represent the will of all living beings in the primordial world."
"This well has swallowed countless external laws, but none of these laws contained the blood shed willingly by the primordial beings. Today, it has been shed. With millions of primordial beings watching me, as I slash my wrist, it is a gesture of sincerity."
He pulled his left wrist back and lowered his sleeve to cover the scar.
The Pangu Axe in his right hand was always held with the blade facing down, aimed at the well opening.
At the bottom of the well, a drop of golden blood seeped from the well wall to the bottom. The blood droplet fell into the well water, which neither repelled nor evaporated, but directly absorbed the blood.
For 30,000 years, this well has only absorbed the energy from external laws and the Dao of Cause and Effect, and has never absorbed the blood of a single living person from the primordial era.
After the well wall absorbed this drop of blood, the entire structure of the wellhead underwent a subtle shift.
In the sky above the Suspended Well World, all the extraterrestrial gods felt a low-frequency tremor emanating from the core of the well.
A low sigh came from the bottom of the well.
"Your blood knows you're not here to kill me; it knows this strike is a genuine attempt to negotiate. In all these millennia, no one has ever negotiated with the laws of the outer realms."
"Everyone only has two choices: be devoured by the extraterrestrial god, or fight back and kill the extraterrestrial god. You chose the third path."
Su Fan placed the Pangu Axe on his lap, blade facing outwards towards the well opening. He sat down on the edge of the well, leaning against the stone wall.
"I have retrieved all seven fragments of the Pangu Axe. Thirty thousand years ago, Pangu shattered your essence with seven axe blows. Today, if I exert all my strength to pour the seven axe intents into the bottom of the well again, you will not be able to withstand it."
"But I won't do that. Because if I kill you in the well, your original causal fragments will scatter and form new causal paths, even more violent than the black-robed man's. If you don't nip it in the bud, you'll always be beaten again."
The well calmly replied, "You've calculated it very clearly."
"I didn't dare come because I wasn't clear on the details. Are you willing to talk? My conditions are: you seal the wellhead, take your territory, and retreat to the deepest part of chaos. From then on, the laws of the outer realms will no longer approach the borders of the primordial world."
There was a moment of silence at the bottom of the well.
"I can agree to your withdrawal. But I can't just withdraw from the extraterritorial territory as I please. The man in black robes has established a complete system of cause and effect in the chaos, and the framework of cause and effect is now fixed in this chaotic region."
"Before I seal the well and take the territory, I need to do one thing: bring all the extraterrestrial gods back to the bottom of the well. Can you accept that?"
Su Fan sat by the well without moving.
The water began to churn at the bottom of the well, and the water level started to drop again, emitting a low, continuous rumbling sound.
"All extraterrestrial gods have reclaimed your Law Sequence, and the Path of Cause and Effect no longer exists. The extraterrestrial territories will then automatically collapse into chaos."
"Yes," said the person at the bottom of the well, "but by taking them back, I am essentially drawing back all the fragments of cause and effect that have been scattered over the past thirty thousand years."
"After I am drawn back in, I will be restored to my complete state from 30,000 years ago in a very short time, though only for a moment. In that instant, you must stand at the well's edge and press me down with the Pangu Axe."
"I won't chop, I'll just suppress. If I can hold out for that moment, the seal will close, and I'll leave your world forever. If I can't hold out, I'll devour Pangu's Axe, and no one in the primordial world will be able to stop me."
Su Fan lowered his eyelids and fell into thought.
Blood seeping from under his left wrist sleeve congealed into a small, dark gold scab in the hollow of his wrist. He stood up and straightened his body at the edge of the well.
"You'll win by eating all the fragments and becoming whole again. I'll suppress you without chopping you with my axe. Everyone, retreat three hundred feet. Great Sage, guard the crack and don't let anyone get close."
"I'm betting my life on this one last time with you. You can't swallow the Pangu Axe, and you can't digest the will that the Path of All Beings has filled in."
The last drop of golden blood at the bottom of the well has completely dissolved into the depths of the well water.
The consciousness at the bottom of the well trembled slightly and made its first solemn response in 30,000 years.
"I accept your bet. What are you going to do?"
"I'll first write a challenge to let everyone on the ground know that we're going to have a one-on-one showdown. After the challenge is written, you will recall all the extraterrestrial gods from the ground, and I will use the will of all living beings to suppress the well opening. Then you will swallow the Pangu Axe."
As Su Fan spoke, he activated the golden patterns on the axe blade, broke off a piece of dark red crystal from the edge of the well, and engraved three lines of text on the axe surface.
After carving, wipe the blood off your palm and cover it with the carving.
The handwriting, following the will of all living beings, pierced through the dark red mist, reaching the ground and into the minds of every soldier on the city wall.
Everyone on the ruins of the South Heavenly Gate simultaneously felt a tremor of the laws emanating from the depths of their souls.
Then, when he raised his hand, he saw three golden lines appear on the back of his hand. The three golden lines slowly rotated and continuously emitted a low hum.
Lao Jun looked at the three golden lines that had emerged on the back of his hand. What his Dao Heart transmitted was not only words, but also the warmth of Su Fan's blood.
When the blood returned through the causal communication, it still carried Su Fan's body temperature.
Yuanshi Tianzun stood up from his spine. The whisk threads had all turned gray, but he still stood up.
He stood up straight, his white beard fluttering in the dark red mist. Facing all the soldiers on the city wall, his voice was desolate yet clear.
"This chapter is a declaration of war between the Primordial World and the laws of the Extraterrestrial Realms. The one who made the covenant is Su Fan. The witnesses are everyone present. From this moment on, he will confront the Lord of the Well one-on-one."
"We will retreat three hundred feet, to where the will of the primordial world has not yet ended. If his axe blade has not fallen and the path of all living beings has not dispersed, then we will be victorious. If the well is broken and the golden light is extinguished, then we will follow him into this well."
No one spoke on the city wall.
Qingfeng gripped the broken sword tightly with his only remaining right arm, his knuckles turning white. His voice was low, just loud enough for those around him to hear.
"Laojun, shall we retreat or not?"
Yuanshi Tianzun did not answer.
Sun Wukong answered for him.
The monkey leaped down from the roof ridge, landing on the edge of the eaves, and slung his golden cudgel over his shoulder. He turned to look at everyone.
"Retreat. I, Old Sun, am not retreating. I, Old Sun, said that if he doesn't come back, I'll throw him into the well. Whether you retreat or not is up to you."
Qingfeng planted the broken sword into the ground.
No refund.
The human warrior used his broken sword to prop himself up from the edge of the crenellation.
No refund.
Gongsun Bao smashed the axe onto the city bricks.
No refund.
Ten thousand soldiers roared in unison atop the ruins, "We will not retreat!"
Sun Wukong looked at them, his monkey face expressionless. He lowered his golden cudgel from his shoulder, the tip pointing at everyone.
"He said to retreat. If you don't retreat, you're disobeying orders. If you don't retreat, I, Old Sun, will take my stick and make you retreat three hundred paces. Who else doesn't retreat?"
No one is backing out.
Sun Wukong slammed his staff into the ground, issuing a battle command.
"Then I, Old Sun, will be the first to stay here. I'm no longer the Great Sage Equaling Heaven from the primordial world; I'm the number one soldier in Su Fan's suicide squad. The rest of you, stand behind me and wait together."
The ten thousand men fell silent. Weapons were returned to their places, armor to their places, broken bodies to their places, and they stood in silent, orderly ranks behind Sun Wukong.
Su Fan, at the bottom of the well, sensed the will, and the back of his hand was illuminated by a golden light that gathered like a tide.
He turned to face the well opening, gripped the Pangu Axe tightly, and the bottom of the well began to shrink.
Every drop of well water is boiling. The karmic crystals that have accumulated at the bottom of the well over the past 30,000 years are being drawn back to their origin, layer by layer.
The engravings covering the well wall crumbled inch by inch, turning into powder that was swept into the dark red core at the bottom of the well.
The empty shells of all the extraterrestrial gods' laws in the depths of chaos shattered simultaneously, shrinking towards the main peak of their territories, even removing the causal liquid and broken armor one by one.
The outer territories began to collapse. The dark red mist rolled inward, peeling away in large swaths to reveal the primordial, chaotic gray behind it.
The city bricks beneath the generals' feet, which had been assimilated, gradually regained their original color, and the traces of the Heavenly Dao Repair Technique's exhaustion were quietly outlined again in the swirling gray mist.
The boundary, constantly crushed by the consciousness at the bottom of the well, is retreating away from the primordial wilderness.
The man in the black robe opened his eyes.
He stood beside the ruins of the archway, the layers of laws on his body peeling away layer by layer as the outer territory collapsed.
He looked down at the edge of the black robe that was turning to ashes and spoke calmly.
"This body of mine won't last much longer. Do you even know your own chances of winning this gamble with him? That axe in his hand has cleaved through cages and split through my clones, with all seven fragments returning to their original positions. The sincerity he showed when he cut his wrist to bleed was genuine. You won't last more than half a moment after swallowing his axe."
The voice from the bottom of the well resounded simultaneously to all the remaining extraterrestrial gods.
"No need to say anything more. Take all your comrades back to the bottom of the well. The 30,000-year watch is over. Whether you live or die, you are free."
The man in black robes turned and looked deeply towards the direction of the Southern Heavenly Gate. Then, he transformed into a dark red beam of light and retreated to the bottom of the well.
Countless fragments of the laws of extraterrestrial gods were collected layer by layer behind him, swirling together with chaotic gray mist and dark red crystals and pouring into the wellhead.
After the contraction was complete, the wellhead was sealed. There was no longer any trace of dark red on the well walls.
Only the two old scars on Su Fan's tiger's mouth and wrist still gleamed with a golden light.
Su Fan gripped the axe handle tightly, tilted his head slightly, and whispered something to the sky.
"Great Sage, if Pangu's Axe breaks, don't let them avenge me. Seal the well and retreat."
Sun Wukong's voice came from the farthest reaches of the sky, across layers of chaos.
"What the hell are you talking about? If the axe breaks, I'll just keep hitting you with the stick."
Su Fan's lips twitched slightly. He raised the Pangu Axe above his head, aiming it at the bottom of the well.
The golden patterns of the Path of All Beings instantly exploded.
The axe blade was illuminated by a triple glow: white light, blue light, and golden patterns. The underground cavity trembled frequently, and the wellhead seal made a deafening sound like tearing silk.
The master at the bottom of the well began to swallow the axe.
Without any tricks, the dark red entity surged up from the bottom of the well and directly bit the blade of Pangu's axe.
A white light illuminated the entire hollow dome. The moment the axe bit down, Su Fan's tiger's mouth split open. Golden blood flowed down the axe handle, into the well opening, and was reflected back by the well wall, splashing onto his own feet.
The floor tiles beneath their feet were soaked in blood. From the cracks in the tiles, a primordial blue light surged forth anew.
Su Fan stood rooted to the spot, gripping the axe handle with both hands and pushing forward. The golden patterns on his arms bulged from under his skin, the fine lines flowing beneath the skin and converging on the axe handle.
The immense force at the bottom of the well pressed down on the axe blade and pushed it outwards. Blood spurted from his palms, the backs of his hands, and the space between his thumb and forefinger. Every drop of blood that fell onto the edge of the well exploded into a cloud of golden mist.
The second instant. The aftershocks of Sun Wukong's calamity crashed into the void from the ground, and white arcs of electricity tore through the dark red dome, striking the surface of the Lord at the bottom of the well and blasting away a layer of its outer layer of laws.
Laozi's Dao heart pierced through the collapsed ruins of the outer realms, sending down the last bit of his Heavenly Dao perception.
Before being completely burned, Yang Jian's third eye pierced through the soil and marked the weak point of the law structure at the bottom of the well in Su Fan's sea of consciousness.
In the third instant, the will of ten thousand soldiers, pressing against the ruins of the city wall, surged past the edge of collapse and crashed into the well.
The pulse of all living beings converged into a single heartbeat, completely dyeing Su Fan's back golden.
The Lord of the Well paused for a fleeting moment during this third instant.
Its body rose completely from the bottom of the well, and under the combined illumination of the golden light of the will of all living beings and the three laws of Pangu's axe, it finally revealed its true form, which had been sealed for 30,000 years.
The dark red torso is covered with densely packed traces of past cause and effect. It has no facial features, no limbs, only a constantly pulsating dark red core, the surface of which is wrapped with thousands of fragments of causal chains.
"You are heavy."
Su Fan gritted his teeth and pressed the axe handle forward half an inch.
Blood from the split tiger's mouth flowed down his arm, filling his entire sleeve. Golden blood splattered from the cuffs and dripped onto the ground, each drop scorching a deep hole in the earth.
"This axe was forged from the will of millions of people. You can only swallow gold, not them."
The deep echo came from the well.
"You're right. I don't have your will; I only have the rules. This body, burdened with the karma of the past, was once the path that billions of people sought but could not obtain. So when I swallowed the axe, I wasn't swallowing you, Su Fan; I was swallowing the fact that your path had reached this point today."
The Lord of the Well rose completely out of the well opening, its dark red core pressed tightly against the blade of Pangu's Axe, and the stone walls around the well opening cracked in pieces.