bioinnovel Chapter 387 Hongjun's Envelope
Chapter 387 Hongjun's Envelope
When Sun Wukong carried the Golden Cudgel out of the main hall of Zixiao Palace, the characters on the dome of the main hall that had been worn away by the laws of time had all been restored.
Hongjun carved the words for 30,000 years, and the last line of the last sentence was completed by the Qingguang itself, with the last stroke completed.
The monkey glanced back at the dome, stuffed the fragments of the Creation Jade Tablet into its bosom, and leaped out of the law rift of the Purple Cloud Palace.
His feet were on the edge of the void layer above the Ruins of Return, and the golden light of Mars shone from the direction of the Ruins of Return, hitting the dark purple prototype on his chest.
The prototype was still beating, its frequency synchronized with the heart's pulsation network of the Ruins. Through the fabric, a very faint dark purple halo could be seen flickering between light and shadow.
He took the prototype out of his pocket and glanced at it.
The surface of the fist-sized sphere of light was covered with extremely complex patterns of laws. With each jump of the dark red dot deep within the patterns, the patterns of laws on the surface of the sphere would automatically recombine.
He couldn't understand the patterns of the reorganization, but he could sense that the dormant chaotic life law within the prototype was slowly awakening.
Unlike the original pattern in the left leg, the original pattern in the torso awakens much more slowly, only reconstructing its patterns every few dozen breaths.
It was sealed for 30,000 years, suppressed by Hongjun using the Jade Tablet of Creation as a barrier, but it had been suppressed for far too long.
"Of the three prototypes, the one in the left leg is awake, the one in the torso is still awake, and the one in the ancient battlefield ruins is either awake or asleep. I need to go back and tell Su Fan and the others. The countdown is less than a year, and the journey will take time."
Sun Wukong stuffed his original form back into his arms, then somersaulted towards the South Heavenly Gate, carrying his golden cudgel.
Su Fan and Nezha had returned to the ruins of the South Heavenly Gate.
Nezha placed his left leg, which was in its original form, on the city brick. The original form was suspended in mid-air and slowly rotated. The dark purple light flowing on its surface and the light gold patterns that had grown on the city brick complemented each other.
Xu stood barefoot to the side, his right hand pressed on the pale gold line on his chest. With each beat of the Eastern Emperor's heart in his chest cavity, the dark red light spot inside the prototype of his left leg beat in sync.
"The left leg prototype has been activated. It has identified the core as the mother, but the core's resonant frequency is translated from the heart network of the Ruins, so it essentially recognizes the heartbeat of the Ruins."
"The original torso was retrieved by the Great Sage. That original torso was the largest of the three, and it should have recognized the Chaos Stone Embryo Imprint on the Great Sage's staff."
Nezha took the stone core out of his bosom. The silvery-white crystal on the surface of the core had a stable brightness when it was close to the prototype of his left leg.
"The original form of the torso may not recognize the stone embryo mark. It was sealed under the Purple Cloud Palace for 30,000 years. The Jade Tablet of Creation barrier was set up by Hongjun himself, and the laws and environment inside the barrier are completely different from those of the Chaos Gray Mist Belt."
"The first aura of law it encountered after awakening was the clear light of the Jade Tablet of Creation. It might regard the clear light as its mother."
Su Fan planted the Pangu Axe at his feet, and the axe-shaped mark on his left palm became slightly hot as it approached the original shape on his left leg.
Sun Wukong landed on the ramparts of the South Heavenly Gate, slammed his golden cudgel on the ground, and pulled out his original torso from his robes.
The moment the prototype was exposed to the golden light of Mars, the flowing patterns of laws on its surface suddenly accelerated and reorganized, so fast that the naked eye could only see a blurry dark purple halo.
The frequency of the dark red dot in the very center of the halo increased from once every few dozen breaths to once every three breaths, perfectly synchronized with the beating frequency of the Eastern Emperor's heart in Xu's chest cavity.
"It didn't recognize the light. It recognized the heartbeat of the ruins."
Sun Wukong held the original form in his furry palm and looked down at the law patterns on the surface of the original form as they gradually stabilized after being rapidly reorganized.
The stabilized texture and the texture flowing on the surface of the left leg prototype are completely of the same origin. The two prototypes float above the city bricks, each slowly rotating, and the rhythm of their rotation is synchronized with the heartbeat of the ruins.
"The torso prototype also recognizes the Ruins. Of the three prototypes, two recognized the heartbeats of the Ruins. The one in the ancient battlefield ruins is most likely the same."
"The heart network of the Ruins grew from the fragments of the Eastern Emperor Bell and the roots of the flint tree. Its heartbeat frequency is completely consistent with the law density resonance frequency of the Ruins foundation. The prototype does not recognize the Ruins itself, but the new law frequency formed after the Ruins foundation merged with the mountain root."
Su Fan pulled the Pangu Axe from the ground. The chaotic primordial light on the axe blade shone on the surfaces of the two prototypes, and the dark red light spots inside the prototypes jumped simultaneously under the light.
"In other words, as long as Ruins is present, the prototype will automatically activate, without us having to do anything."
Nezha pulled his left leg prototype down from above the city bricks and placed it together with his torso prototype.
Two prototype particles float on either side of the stone core, each slowly rotating on its own axis.
"Activation is automatic, but how to get them to burrow into the remains of the ancient god after activation still depends on the primordial chaotic light on the Pangu Axe."
"Luo Hou said that the three prototypes must be activated simultaneously in front of the core remains of the ancient god at the deepest part of the ancient battlefield ruins, and then guided by the chaotic original light of Pangu Axe to find the empty remains of the ancient god."
"Once they find it, they will automatically burrow inside and begin absorbing the fragments of the Chaos Laws. The aggregate of the Chaos Life Laws will then take shape."
Su Fan slung the Pangu Axe over his shoulder.
Sun Wukong squatted on the edge of the battlement, took out the fragment of the Jade Tablet of Creation from his bosom, and the third branch of the rune on the fragment, facing downwards, was pointing directly at the ancient battlefield ruins.
At the end of the fork, a very faint dark red light was shining. Inside the light was sealed the distribution map of the law traps given by Luo Hou and the coordinates of the last thing left by Hongjun.
"Before I left Zixiao Palace, Luo Hou's body told me something. Next to the core remains of the ancient god deep within the ancient battlefield ruins, there is a letter left for you by Hongjun. It is engraved on the rib of the core remains of the ancient god."
"In his letter, Hongjun explained why he didn't kill Luo Hou directly back then. It wasn't because he couldn't kill him, but because he foresaw that the singularity of the Chaos Laws would arrive sooner or later. He kept Luo Hou alive so that we could extract these three original forms from Luo Hou's body."
"The old man's plan spanned 30,000 years. He calculated every single step, even the accelerated contraction of the Chaos Law density after we shattered Rahu's right arm. He calculated the countdown and that we would gather all three prototypes before the countdown ended."
"What else did he calculate?" Su Fan asked, looking at Sun Wukong.
"It's still within the countdown period. The six sleeping bodies of Rahu in the depths of chaos will all awaken."
Sun Wukong turned the fragment of the Jade Tablet of Creation over. On the back of the fragment was engraved a line of extremely small characters. The characters were very fresh, and the edges of the engraving were still covered with fresh powder. It was engraved by Hongjun at the last moment before Sun Wukong entered the Zixiao Palace.
"The right arm will awaken first, followed by the left arm. After the left and right legs are shattered, the remaining six parts of the body will be forcibly awakened under the stimulation of the accelerated contraction of the Chaos Law density. The order of awakening is: left eye, right eye, left palm, right palm, left foot, and right foot."
"After the six bodies awaken, they will not fight independently. They will automatically seek each other out and reassemble into a complete remnant of the Demon Ancestor. The remnant has no head, no torso, and no limbs."
"But after the six extremities are pieced together, Rahu's core of demonic laws will reform into a temporary core within the remains. The strength of the temporary core's laws is not as great as the original core, but it is enough to drive the remains toward the ancient battlefield ruins."
"Why is it flushing towards the ancient battlefield ruins? Is it trying to stop us from activating the aggregate?"
Nezha slammed his fire-tipped spear to the ground.
"It wants to devour the core remains of the ancient god before the aggregate takes shape. The core remains of the ancient god are the last remnants of primordial laws left behind after the death of the Chaos Ancient God, and they contain fragments of the ancient god's heart."
"When Rahu fought the ancient gods, the ancient gods lost, but before they died, the ancient gods sealed a fragment of their heart deep inside their core remains."
"If Rahu's remains can devour that heart fragment, it can use the ancient god's life laws to reshape its physical body. It will no longer be an aggregate of the demon ancestor's laws, but a complete, living Rahu. There's no need to wait for the three thousand years of sealing; it can be resurrected on the spot."
Sun Wukong stuffed the fragments of the Jade Tablet of Creation back into his robes and slammed his golden cudgel on the ground.
"So our time is even shorter than less than a year. How long will it take for the six bodies to reassemble into a fragmented form and rush to the ancient battlefield ruins after they awaken?" Su Fan asked.
"Let's leave it to the words carved by Hongjun. The first batch to awaken are the left and right eyes, within three days. The second batch are the left and right palms, within seven days. The third batch are the left and right feet, within half a month."
"After piecing together the remains, it will take another half month to reach the outer perimeter of the ancient battlefield ruins. A total of one month. If the aggregate does not take shape within a month, the remains will rush into the core of the ruins and devour the fragments of the ancient god's heart."
Sun Wukong counted on his fingers.
"One month. Laozi said that the connection between the Guixu foundation and the Buzhou Mountain remains would take three months. The first tremor had just passed, and the second tremor would occur a month later. The timing was exactly one month. When the second connection tremor occurred, the remains were almost at the outer edge of the ancient battlefield ruins."
Su Fan put the Pangu Axe down from his shoulder, the blade touching the ground. The axe-shaped mark on his left palm became slightly hot after he finished speaking.
"Then we'll split into two groups. The Great Sage and I will take the three original forms to the ancient battlefield ruins, while Nezha and Xu will stay at the South Heavenly Gate to hold the line."
"During the second docking vibration, Rahu's head will open its eyes again. He has already delivered the information he wanted to say, but if the remains rush to the outer edge of the ruins, the head may sense the law signals of the remains during the vibration."
"The heart network of the Ruins can monitor the real-time data of the docking vibrations, and the mark of the Path of All Beings on Nezha's left shoulder can sense the location of me and the Great Sage inside the ruins. In case the remains rush into the ruins faster than expected, you can send a message from the South Heavenly Gate."
Su Fan turned around and looked at Xu and Nezha.
Xu removed his right hand from the pale gold line on his chest, walked up to Su Fan, and reflected the chaotic original light on the Pangu Axe blade in his pale gold pupils.
"The larva deep within the Guixu foundation has completed the translation of the laws of life. After it took Guixu as its new mother, a very faint pulse of the laws of life appeared in the law density network of the Guixu foundation."
"This pulse resonates with the lingering life force within the remains of ancient gods in the ancient battlefield ruins. If the aggregate takes shape, the larva will be the first to sense it."
"After it senses it, it will transmit the signal to my heart network through the roots of the flint tree, and then I will transmit it to Laozi through the golden patterns on the city bricks of the South Heavenly Gate."
"Then it's settled. The Great Sage and I will go to the ancient battlefield ruins, while you guard the South Heavenly Gate. Within a month, the aggregate will take shape, the remnant body will be unable to devour the heart fragments, Rahu's resurrection will fail, and the singularity of the Chaos Laws will be reversed."
Su Fan slung the Pangu Axe over his shoulder.
Nezha stood up from the city bricks and stuck his fire-tipped spear into the ground.
"You two go to the ruins, while Ruins stay at Nantianmen to monitor the docking vibrations. As for me, this mark on my left shoulder can sense your location inside the ruins. If the remains manage to rush in faster than you, I'll go down with my gun to provide support."
"You stay at the South Heavenly Gate. In case your remains break through the outer defenses of the ruins, you will be the last line of defense." Su Fan looked at Nezha.
Nezha didn't say anything more.
He pulled the Fire-Tipped Spear from the ground, slung it over his shoulder, walked to the edge of the battlements, and with his back to everyone, the Law Mark on his left shoulder shone for a moment in the golden light of Mars.
The golden steam seeping from the edge of the mark condensed into extremely fine law patterns under the blessing of the pure yang talisman's warm current. The direction of the patterns was completely the same as the chaotic original color light on the blade of Pangu's axe.
Sun Wukong flipped down from the top of the stack, put the torso prototype into his bosom, and placed it together with the left leg prototype.
The two prototypes slowly rotated on either side of the stone core, their rotation rhythm synchronized with the heartbeat of the Ruins.
He slung the golden cudgel over his shoulder and walked to Su Fan's right.
"The entrance to the ancient battlefield ruins is at the very bottom of the chaotic gray mist belt, even deeper than the bottomless pool of law. The law trap distribution map given by Luo Hou marks the coordinates of the entrance to the outer perimeter of the ruins. It's directly below the Tai Sui rift, next to the pool of law sealed by the left leg. Go down a bit further from the edge of the pool, through a layer of law sedimentation covered by fragments of ancient god remains, and you'll reach the outer perimeter of the ruins."
"A sedimentary layer covered by fragments of ancient god remains?" Su Fan looked at him.
"After the ancient god was shattered by Pangu, his remains were scattered throughout the chaos, with the largest pile of fragments located on the outskirts of the battlefield."
"Those fragments were not completely disintegrated; extremely faint traces of the laws of life still remained within them. The fragments had accumulated for 30,000 years, and their surfaces were eroded by chaotic gray mist, forming an extremely thick layer of sediment."
"The density of laws in the sedimentary layer is extremely high, so high that even the aftershocks of my eons cannot split it. But the trap distribution map given by Luo Hou marks the only gap in the laws on the sedimentary layer."
"That gap was created by the ancient god using his last bit of life force before he died. The internal structure of the laws within the gap is extremely unstable and could collapse at any time."
Sun Wukong took out the fragment of the Jade Tablet of Creation from his bosom, and the coordinates of the gaps in the laws marked on the fragment were slowly changing.
The structure of the gap is unstable; its position is not fixed and it will slowly drift on the surface of the sediment layer.
"When will the gap stabilize?" Su Fan asked.
"Rahu said that the gap will stabilize every twelve hours, and each stabilization lasts for about a hundred breaths. We need to pass through it when it stabilizes. The next stabilization will be tomorrow."
Sun Wukong put the fragments of the Jade Tablet of Creation back into his robes.
"Tomorrow. We'll stay one more night at Nantianmen tonight and set off tomorrow."
Su Fan tucked the Pangu Axe into his waistband, turned around, and walked towards the gap in the city wall.
As night fell, the newly grown pale gold patterns on the city bricks of Nantianmen shone on their own under the golden light of Mars.
The breaches in the city wall have all been repaired, and the interlocking of the new and old bricks has achieved a complete closed loop under the dual blessing of the will of all living beings and the protective law of Pangu.
The pale gold patterns on the entire city wall form a net, with the Primordial Celestial Venerable seated cross-legged on the ridge at the very center of the net.
Gongsun Bao leaned against the edge of the battlement, holding a whetstone in his hand, giving the dull axe a final polishing.
The creases on the axe blade had mostly healed in the aftershocks of the laws governing the return of the gods, and the newly formed metal surface at the healed point was inlaid with a very faint layer of silver-white law patterns.
He pushed the whetstone back and forth on the axe blade three times, ran his fingers along the edge, tucked the axe into his waistband, and looked up at the human warrior sitting opposite him.
"Your Demon Emperor Spear still has three Demon Emperor heads embedded in its tip. After the ritual, the heads transformed into law crystals, which are now embedded in the spear tip. Would you like to remove them?"
"I won't take them. The three heads are the life marks of the three demon emperors. After they were exorcised, the demon souls within the crystals dissipated, but the crystals themselves possess a hardness greater than any metal. Embedded in the spear tip, the spear will become even harder. It will be useful when I stab Rahu's remains later."
The human warrior held the Demon Emperor Spear across his lap and used a piece of extremely fine sandpaper to wipe the law-scorched marks on the spear shaft.
New skin grew over the old scars of the two broken legs, and faint golden patterns of the Dao of All Beings flowed across the surface of the new skin.
Qingfeng leaned against a pillar of the city tower, a broken sword stuck at his feet.
The dark red law pattern on the sword shone slightly in the golden light of Mars, and it shared the same origin as the embers of flint in the pale gold line on Xu's chest.
He pulled the sword from the ground and wiped the blade with a cloth soaked in the liquid of the law.
After wiping it, he held the sword up to his eyes and looked at the old notch on the blade, cut by an extraterrestrial god.
The nicks have completely healed, and the new blade is even sharper than before.
Yang Jian sat cross-legged under his spine, with two pieces of broken mirror pieced together and resting on his knees.
The mirror surface reflected the real-time sealed state of the six physical bodies of Rahu deep within the chaos.
The seals on the left and right eyes are loosening rapidly, and the flow of the law fluid is at least 30% faster than during the day.
He turned the mirror towards Yuanshi Tianzun.
"The left and right eyes will awaken within three days. According to the deductions brought back by Hongjun from the Great Sage, after they awaken, they will move on their own towards the ancient battlefield ruins. Their movement route will pass through the outer edge of the Tai Sui Crack. The gatekeepers are still at the mountain gate."
"The guardian deity's stone heart is inside the Kunlun Mother Rock, and the mountain-protecting array has been restored. The left and right eyes are both extremities, and their strength of law is far weaker than that of the right and left arms, so they cannot break through the mountain-protecting array. However, after the six parts of the body are pieced together into a fragmented body, the strength of law will double. At that time, the mountain-protecting array will not be able to withstand it."
Yuanshi Tianzun placed his whisk on his lap and looked up at Mars.
The golden light of Mars was extremely stable, no longer flickering, and kept in sync with the newborn pulse of the larva deep within the foundation of the Ruins.
He switched the whisk to his left hand, and with his right hand drew a very simple law seal in the void. The seal flew out of the South Heavenly Gate and landed in the direction of the Tai Sui Crack, blessing the arms of the gatekeeper general.
The next morning, before the golden light of Mars had fully spread, Su Fan pulled the Pangu Axe out of the city bricks.
The chaotic primary light on the axe blade flashed briefly in the morning light, and the axe-shaped mark on his left palm simultaneously heated up.
Sun Wukong was already squatting on the edge of the battlement, his golden cudgel resting on his knees, a piece of dry rations in his mouth.
Seeing Su Fan carrying an axe and walking over, he swallowed his dry rations and slung the axe over his shoulder.
"Let's go. The breach will be stabilized in less than half an hour."
Nezha leaned against a pillar of the city gate tower, his fire-tipped spear stuck at his feet.
He didn't speak, but simply pressed the law mark on his left shoulder, and the warm current of the Pure Yang Talisman spread from the Tanzhong acupoint in his chest to his limbs.
Xu stood at the edge of the Ruins of Return, his right hand pressed against the pale gold line on his chest, and nodded to Su Fan.
The two leaped out of the South Heavenly Gate.
Sun Wukong somersaulted ahead to clear the way, his golden cudgel grew thicker, and the aftershocks of the great calamity on the cudgel exploded into a circle of extremely bright white electric arcs in the chaotic gray mist, the electric arcs clearing a straight path through the gray mist.
Su Fan followed behind, stepping on fragments of Kunlun mother rock floating in the void, with the Pangu Axe on his right shoulder. The chaotic original light on the axe blade cut out extremely narrow law vacuum zones on both sides of the passage.
Passing through the gray fog, through the chaotic depths directly below the Tai Sui rift, and through the solidified layer of law sediment at the edge of the left leg seal pool, the two landed in front of the pile of ancient god remains fragments on the outskirts of the ancient battlefield ruins.
The pile of fragments was enormous, so large that as far as the eye could see, there were layers upon layers of grayish-white skeletons.
The surface of the skeleton was covered with extremely deep grooves eroded by the laws of chaos, and within the grooves, there were still extremely faint remnants of the laws of life, flowing freely in the gray mist.
"The gap is just ahead. That piece of skeleton is the lightest in color, and has the lowest density of laws."
Sun Wukong took the fragment of the Jade Tablet of Creation out of his pocket. The coordinates of the gap in the law marked on the fragment had stopped drifting, and the light spot at the end of the fork was stable in a very light gray-white area.
He stuffed the fragments into his clothes, shouldered the stick, and walked in that direction.
Su Fan followed behind, the fragments of the remains under his feet making a brittle cracking sound.
The lingering life force within the fragment dissipated on its own beneath his feet, turning the fragment into extremely fine grayish-white powder.
The powder was swirled up by the gray mist, leaving a very faint trail behind the two people.
After walking about a hundred paces, Sun Wukong stopped ahead.
"We've arrived. The gap has just stabilized; we must get through within a hundred breaths. You go first, I'll cover the rear."
Su Fan did not refuse.
He switched the Pangu Axe to his left hand, pressed his right hand against the half-shattered mirror at his waist, and leaped into the gap.
The gap is extremely narrow, allowing only one person to pass sideways.
The law-deposited layers on both sides temporarily stopped crawling during the period when the gap was stable, but the law pressure inside the deposited layers could be felt to be extremely high, so high that even the sole membrane wall formed by the will of all living beings was pressed into extremely fine cracks.
He quickened his pace, passing through the gap in a few dozen breaths and landing on the ground outside the ruins.
The ground was covered with an extremely thick layer of law-based ash, making no sound when stepped on.
Buried beneath the ashes are countless fragments of the remains of ancient gods, which wriggle slowly within the ashes, still alive.
Su Fan looked up and around. The ancient battlefield ruins were enormous, so vast that they stretched as far as the eye could see.
A time rift stretches across the sky above the ruins, with the faint, ancient god's life laws emanating from within.
The law traps on the ground were clearly marked on the distribution map given by Luo Hou. Each trap was a law rift created by the ancient god with the last bit of life law before his death. The flow of time inside the rift was completely different from that outside.
Some cracks open quickly, some slowly, and some repeat in a cycle.
Following the safe path on the distribution map, Su Fan bypassed three rifts with extremely fast time flow and arrived at a very open and flat area.
Sun Wukong squeezed out of the gap and landed next to Su Fan. He slammed his golden cudgel on the ground, and the arcs of electricity from the aftermath of the calamity flickered on the cudgel for a moment before extinguishing themselves.
"There aren't many law traps on the outer perimeter, but they become denser the deeper you go. The core remains marked by Rahu are located in the very center of the ruins, and it will take at least half a day to get there from here. The remains won't reach here for less than a month, so there's enough time."
"It's enough, but the map of the law traps inside the ruins only marks the location of the traps, not the time flow offset inside them. Time moves much faster inside some traps than outside. If you accidentally step into one, only a few breaths outside might have passed, but several days could have gone by inside. We can't afford to waste a month's countdown."
Su Fan took the broken mirror from his waist, and the real-time image of the laws deep within the ruins appeared on the mirror's surface.
The image is extremely blurry, but the outline of the enormous core remains of the ancient god can be seen in the very center of the site.
The remains were enormous, so large that the mirror could not contain their entirety.
On the ribs of the remains was a line of tiny writing, which magnified on its own in the mirror. It was the letter that Hongjun left for him.
"Hongjun's letter is on the rib. After all three prototypes are activated, use the chaotic primordial light of Pangu's axe to guide them to fly deeper into the remains. Inside the remains are hundreds of empty ancient god remains, and the prototypes will automatically crawl into them. After the aggregate is formed, the collapse of the singularity of the chaotic laws will be reversed."
Su Fan put the broken mirror back into his waistband and took out the two original pieces from his arms.
The prototype of the left leg and the prototype of the torso hung above his palm, each slowly rotating, the rhythm of their rotation synchronized with the heartbeat of the Ruins.
The chaotic primordial light on the blade of Pangu's axe shone on the surfaces of the two prototypes, and the dark red light spots inside the prototypes jumped simultaneously.
"There's still that prototype deep inside the ruins that we haven't retrieved. The distribution map of Rahu marks its location. It's right below the core remains, sealed together with the last fragment of the Heaven-Opening Axe."
Sun Wukong took the fragment of the Jade Tablet of Creation out of his pocket. The third fork on the fragment was pointing directly at the center of the ruins.
The dark red dot at the end of the fork was extremely bright, far exceeding any previous brightness.
"Then let's go. First, retrieve the third prototype, then activate the aggregate."
Su Fan stuffed the two prototypes back into his arms, then carried the Pangu Axe and walked toward the center of the ruins.
Sun Wukong followed behind him, his golden cudgel slung over his shoulder. White arcs of electricity from the aftermath of the calamity exploded again on the cudgel, illuminating the ancient battlefield covered in ashes ahead.