bioinnovel Chapter 392 Seven Laws
Chapter 392 Seven Laws
The dark gold dot at the core of the light sphere stopped pulsating.
It hovered in front of Su Fan, the tremor of its laws slowly dissipating in the chaotic gray mist inside the membrane.
The golden thread in Su Fan's left palm was still facing it, and the will of all living beings continued to surge out from the thread, wrapping around the extremely thin clear light membrane on the surface of the light sphere.
For the first time in its 30,000-year slumber, the ancient law structure inside the membrane wall came into contact with the guardian will of the same frequency, vibrating slightly. The frequency of the vibration was so low that even the heart network of the Ruins could only detect a very faint trace of the law's aftereffects.
Sun Wukong squatted on a chaotic rock layer that had been flattened by the shockwave of the membrane wall law, with his golden cudgel across his knees.
The monkey's eyes reflected the dark golden light. He slammed the stick against the rock, wedging the end of the stick three inches into the crevice.
"It stopped jumping. It was looking for you just now, but now it won't even jump. Was it scared silly by your words 'Pangu is gone' or something?"
"I'm not scared out of my wits; I'm trying to distinguish between the will of all living beings in my palm and the original protective will of Pangu."
"Its law frequency is 70% of the same as that of the Path of All Beings. The remaining 30% is its own law structure, which has evolved into extremely complex law branches during its 30,000-year slumber. It is comparing the resonance points between those branches and the Path of All Beings."
"After the comparison is complete, it will make a choice: whether to take the realm of all living beings as the new mother, or to continue searching for Pangu."
Su Fan pulled the Pangu Axe from the edge of the membrane and stuck it at his feet.
"Looking for Pangu, but Pangu is gone. If you take the Dao of All Beings as the new mother, will it also cling to your axe like those three orbs of light before?"
Nezha, carrying the Fire-Tipped Spear, leaned against a very faint fold of law on the inner side of the membrane. That fold had been shaken out by the will of the Dao of All Beings when Su Fan cleaved the membrane earlier, and it had not yet fully healed. Through the fold, one could see the extremely dark void on the outer side of the membrane.
He inserted the tip of the spear into the folds, and the spear tip pierced through the membrane and probed into the depths of the void. When he pulled it back, the spear tip was covered with a layer of extremely fine gray-white law powder.
The powder evaporated spontaneously in the chaotic gray mist inside the membrane wall, leaving behind a faint trace of the ancient god's life law after evaporation.
"Something else is sealed inside the law-deposited layer on the outer side of the membrane. This powder is not what was left after the ancient god's remains were deconstructed; the powder from deconstructed remains is dark gold."
"This powder is grayish-white, and the residual life law sealed inside is at least one order of magnitude older than the remains of the ancient god, and its purity is about the same as the core fragments of the ancient god's body that Xu sensed deep in the ruins."
Nezha rubbed the powder from the tip of his spear onto the membrane wall. The law patterns inside the membrane wall flashed for a moment upon contact with the powder. After the flash, the powder was absorbed by the membrane wall, and the thickness of the membrane wall increased by an extremely fine thread at that point.
"The membrane is absorbing the powder. The powder wasn't drawn over by the shockwaves from the outside of the membrane; it was that sphere of light that had been sitting on the outside of the membrane for 30,000 years."
"The residual energy of its own law structure continues to erode the surrounding law sedimentation layer, and the debris that peels off after the sedimentation layer is eroded."
"These fragments are a tonic for the membrane. The remnants of the ancient god's life laws sealed inside are of the same origin as the chaotic life laws within the membrane."
"It stayed on the outside of the membrane for 30,000 years, and unintentionally transformed the surrounding law-deposited layer into the repair material for the membrane."
"It is not an enemy; it is a repair process left by Pangu on the outside of the membrane wall."
"Pangu left it there so that it could take 30,000 years to transform the law-deposited layer on the outside of the membrane into a backup repair layer for the membrane."
"The membrane wall has just taken shape, and the outer backup repair layer has been laid. It has all been transformed little by little over the past 30,000 years."
Xu pressed the pale gold line on his chest. After his heart's energy network had finished translating the received signals of the laws, he opened his eyes and looked at Su Fan.
"It's not looking for Pangu. It's handing over the work. After it completed the transformation of the last sedimentary layer in 30,000 years, it sensed the laws of the universe on the inner side of the membrane wall, and followed the signals of the laws to find someone who could receive its handover. Pangu is gone, and you are that person who will receive it."
The dark gold spot at the core of the light sphere began to pulse again.
It no longer emitted the tremor of laws, but instead unfolded the law patterns within its own law structure layer by layer, forming an extremely complex law projection in front of Su Fan.
The projected content is a real-time image of the entire law-based deposition layer on the outer side of the membrane wall.
The sediment layer has been completely transformed into a very light golden repair layer. The law structure of the repair layer is completely homologous with the membrane wall, and every law pattern is perfectly aligned with the law structure on the outside of the membrane wall.
As long as the membrane wall is subjected to external impact, this repair layer will automatically peel off and fill the gap in the damaged area.
The repair layer is thick enough that the membrane wall can self-repair thousands of times without any maintenance.
"This is the work it has done over 30,000 years. It has completed the task left to it by Pangu, and now it is handing it over."
After Xu finished speaking, he paused for a moment, and the heart of the Eastern Emperor in his chest skipped a beat.
"It also left a message. When it was transforming the deposited layer on the outside of the membrane wall, it sensed at least seven law signals that were in sync with it in the deeper part of the void."
"Those signals are doing the same thing. Transforming the surrounding layers of laws. They are all fragments left over from when Pangu separated the guardian will from the twelfth Chaos Stone Embryo."
"There are eight fragments in total, and this is just one of them. The remaining seven are scattered in the void deeper outside the membrane, each responsible for the transformation of the sedimentary layer in a certain area."
"Now that its transformation task is complete, seven more are yet to be completed. It asks—whether to accept the remaining seven."
Su Fan pulled the Pangu Axe from beside his feet and inserted it, blade down, into the edge of the membrane.
The will of all beings surged from the golden lines in his palm, flowing down the axe handle into the axe blade, and then spreading from the tip of the axe blade to the entire membrane wall.
The laws and patterns inside the membrane stopped flowing the moment they came into contact with the will of all beings, and then simultaneously deflected in the same direction—pointing to seven extremely distant locations deep in the void outside the membrane.
At each location, a very faint dark gold dot was pulsating, its rhythm perfectly synchronized with the thin golden line on Su Fan's left palm.
"Pangu left eight fragments of his protective will on the outside of the membrane. Each fragment is responsible for the transformation of a layer of law deposits. The transformation takes 30,000 years, and the timing is exactly the day when the chaotic laws cycle and the membrane is formed."
"He calculated the time with extreme precision—30,000 years, the membrane wall took shape, the transformation was completed, and the outer side of the first line of defense in the primordial world was automatically covered with a backup repair layer."
"But the fragments themselves are not only used to transform the sediment layer. After the transformation is complete, they will automatically gather together and form a complete barrier of original protective will on the outside of the membrane wall."
"This barrier and the laws of all beings on the inner side of the membrane resonate with each other through the membrane. The superposition effect of the laws generated by the resonance will increase the density of the laws on the membrane by at least 30%."
"The first fragment has been transformed, but the remaining seven are not yet complete. However, those fragments have been in the depths of the void for 30,000 years, and their law activity has dropped to an extremely low level. They cannot fly to this membrane wall on their own—they need someone to carry the will of all living beings to receive them."
"Just like that fragment from before, it flew at its own speed and broke through the weakest point of the membrane halfway through."
"The remaining seven fragments will all have the same problem. After sensing the Law of All Beings, they will actively move towards the membrane wall, but their law density is too high and their movement speed is too slow. With each step they take, they will leave extremely deep law indentations on the weak points of the membrane wall's law structure."
"Seven fragments approaching the membrane wall at the same time, the indentations will overlap and directly crush through the weakest area of the membrane wall."
"It's not a single fragment that's crushed through; it's the imprints from the seven fragments that overlap in the same area, creating a resonance that tears a permanent gap in the membrane."
"We must approach them from the outside of the membrane before the seven fragments reach the edge of the membrane at the same time, and use the will of all living beings on the Pangu Axe to actively activate the protective will fragments within them, so that they can be restored to their full strength."
"After they recover, they will fly on their own—they won't have to move slowly anymore, and they will be much faster than before, without leaving any marks on the membrane."
Su Fan slung the Pangu Axe over his shoulder and turned to face Sun Wukong and Nezha.
"We'll split into two groups. The Great Sage and I will leave the membrane and head deep into the void to retrieve the remaining seven fragments."
"When Nezha returns to the South Heavenly Gate, Laozi's Dao Heart can sense the real-time location of the law signal on the outside of the membrane. The mark of the Dao of All Beings on your left shoulder can sense the location of me and the Great Sage in the depths of the void."
"If the law imprints of the seven fragments overlap faster than expected, send a message from the South Heavenly Gate."
"I just ran back to the Ruins from the South Heavenly Gate with my gun, and you're making me go back again. I've made several trips back and forth already, and the flames of my Wind and Fire Wheels are almost extinguished by the density of the laws in the Ruins of Return."
Nezha slung his fire-tipped spear over his shoulder.
"You said it yourself—I've always been at the forefront of fights my whole life. This time, you're at the very back, the last line of defense."
"If the membrane wall is crushed, the foundation of Guixu will be the first to suffer. The heart network of Guixu and the law patterns of the foundation are interlocked. If the foundation is damaged, it will be the first to collapse. You will take its place."
Su Fan looked at Nezha.
Nezha was silent for a moment, then slammed his fire-tipped spear to the ground.
"Fine. I'll take it. But there's one condition—after you and the Great Sage receive the seven fragments deep in the void, bring back some void souvenirs. I've never been outside the membrane, so I have to bring back some souvenirs."
"A specialty of the void. That fragment just now transformed into a 30,000-year-old sedimentary layer on the outside of the membrane wall. During the transformation process, an extremely rare law crystal was produced."
"After the sedimentary layer was peeled off, the remaining fragments of chaotic laws and the lingering aura of the ancient god's life laws catalyzed each other in the void, condensing into a gray-gold law crystal."
"This crystal contains extremely pure fragments of the prototype of the chaotic life laws, with a purity even higher than those aggregates in the ruins. After the sedimentary layers on the outer side of the membrane were transformed, quite a few of these crystals should have been scattered out."
Xu removed his hand from his chest.
"Then let's pick up a few pieces. Nezha wants souvenirs, and Laozi wants to study the laws and structures on the outer side of the membrane wall, so let's bring a few pieces for him as samples."
Su Fan tucked the Pangu Axe into his waistband, walked to the front of the membrane wall, and positioned the axe blade at the center of the fold that had not yet fully healed.
The will of all beings surged from the golden thread in his palm, flowing down the axe handle and into the axe blade, condensing into an extremely bright golden beam at the tip of the blade.
The beam of light struck the wrinkled surface, and the laws and patterns inside the membrane retreated to both sides the instant they came into contact with the will of all beings, creating a narrow opening at the wrinkle that was only wide enough for one person to pass through sideways.
The cracked edges begin to heal slowly immediately after the crack appears, though the healing process is slightly slower than the first time.
Because if two openings are made in the same location consecutively, the healing ability of the pattern will be slightly weakened.
"The gap won't last long, quick."
Su Fan squeezed through the entrance and exit sideways, his feet landing on the extremely dark void outside the membrane wall.
There is no ground in the void; beneath your feet lies an extremely deep vacuum of laws.
The instant he stepped into the void, the will of all living beings automatically surged from the soles of his feet, condensing into an extremely thin layer of golden law membrane beneath him, supporting his weight.
The law-deposited layer on the outer side of the membrane wall has been completely transformed by the first fragment. Looking around, all that can be seen is a very faint golden repair layer, and the surface of the repair layer is filled with chaotic life law patterns that are the same as those on the membrane wall.
Sun Wukong squeezed through the entrance and exit, carrying his golden cudgel on his shoulder.
As his feet touched the void, the aftershocks of the calamity automatically surged from the depths of his spiritual platform, exploding into a circle of extremely bright white electric arcs beneath his feet. The electric arcs formed an extremely thin law-based stepping stone in the void.
He glanced down at the arc of electricity beneath his feet and grinned.
"This place is even emptier than the Chaotic Gray Mist Belt. At least in the Chaotic Gray Mist Belt, there are Law Stalactites to step on, but here there's nothing at all, you have to rely entirely on your own stepping stones. This is the first time in my life that I, Old Sun, have ever walked in the void."
"You'll get used to it. Before Pangu split the chaos, this kind of void was everywhere. After the creation of the world, the void was squeezed to the outermost layer by the laws of chaos and sealed outside the membrane. No one has stepped into it for 30,000 years."
Su Fan stepped onto the golden law membrane and walked into the depths of the void.
The three thin golden lines on the handle of the Pangu Axe at his waist activated on their own in the void, condensing into three very faint halos around the handle.
Although the three orbs of light had flown away, the law imprints they left on the axe handle remained. Inside the imprints were sealed fragments of the ancient god's body and portions of the law frequencies of the two larvae.
These frequencies spread spontaneously in the void, forming an extremely faint law beacon. The beacon pointed towards the seven fragments of guardian will that were slowly moving towards the membrane wall deep within the void.
Sun Wukong followed behind Su Fan, the tip of his golden cudgel holding a fragment of law that had been broken off from the folds of the membrane.
The fragment glowed on its own in the void, the light extremely faint, but enough to illuminate a distance of three feet in the pitch-black void.
He shone the fragment deeper into the void, revealing seven tiny, dark golden dots in the far distance ahead.
The light spots are arranged in a row, with extremely large intervals between them, and each particle is moving towards the membrane wall at an extremely slow speed.
The movement trajectory was extremely stable, but each point of light was surrounded by a very faint imprint of the law.
Indentations are natural law ripples generated when the light point's own law density moves in the void. When the ripples spread to the surface of the membrane wall, they leave extremely fine law indentations on the weak points of the membrane wall's law structure.
The ripples of the laws governing the seven light points have begun to show very slight signs of superposition on the surface of the membrane.
The overlapping area is precisely the weakest part of the membrane wall.
The superimposed imprints are still very shallow, almost invisible to the naked eye, but they are slowly deepening.
Based on the current rate of deepening, it is estimated that after a period of time, the resonance of the laws generated by the superposition of the seven ripples will tear the first crack in the membrane structure of that area.
"The ripples of law from the seven fragments have begun to overlap. The overlap point is directly above the area where we just created the breach."
"The membrane wall in that area has been breached twice in succession, and the healing ability of the law patterns has been slightly weakened, unable to withstand the simultaneous superposition of seven law ripples."
Su Fan stared at the slowly deepening indentation of the law on the membrane.
"Then let's prevent the seven ripples from hitting the same area at the same time. I'll use the aftershocks of the eon to lay a layer of law-based buffer on the outside of the membrane, dispersing the force of the ripples to different areas of the membrane."
"Once dispersed, each ripple hits the membrane wall individually, so there will be no superposition resonance. The indentation will still be there, but it will not deepen to the point of tearing the membrane wall."
Sun Wukong slammed his golden cudgel into the void, and the aftershocks of the great calamity on the cudgel exploded into a circle of extremely bright white electric arcs.
The electric arc split into countless extremely fine branches in the void, each branch precisely striking the weak points on the membrane surface that were being impacted by the ripples of the laws.
The electric arc forms an extremely thin white buffer film on the weak point surface. The buffer film evenly distributes the force of the ripples to the surrounding areas where the law structure of the membrane wall is more stable.
After being dispersed by the buffer membrane, the seven ripples no longer overlapped, each hitting a different location on the membrane wall, and the rate at which the indentation deepened was significantly slowed down.
"The buffer membrane won't last long. The aftershocks of the calamity decay faster in the void than in the chaotic gray fog."
"There are no fragments of laws in the void to replenish the energy of the electric arc; once the arc burns out, it's gone. We need to collect the seven fragments before the buffer membrane runs out."
Sun Wukong looked down at the electric arcs dancing on his staff; the arcs were now dimmer than before.
"Enough."
Su Fan quickened his pace.
The two continued walking a long way into the depths of the void.
The deeper you go, the fewer fragments of laws remain in the void. Eventually, even the faint golden repair layer becomes so sparse that it is almost invisible.
The transformation range of the first fragment only covered the area closest to the outer side of the membrane wall; further in, there was the original law deposition layer that had not yet been transformed.
The surface of the sedimentary layer is covered with extremely deep law-related grooves, and inside these grooves are countless fragments of chaotic laws that have been suppressed for 30,000 years by the shockwave of the Heaven-Opening Axe.
The fragments wriggled on their own in the ravine, moving at an extremely slow pace, so slow that they only flashed a faint, dark purple light once every few dozen breaths.
These fragments are remnants of the primordial laws of life that Pangu peeled off from the original body of the ancient god when he shattered the chaotic ancient god. The fragments still retain a very faint trace of the ancient god's will.
They remained sealed deep within the sedimentary layers for 30,000 years, untouched by the laws of chaos or transformed by fragments of the guardian will.
They remained sealed there, motionless, as if waiting for something.
"These fragments of the ancient god's life laws were not transformed. The first fragment only transformed the entire sedimentary layer closest to the membrane wall; the sedimentary layers deeper inside remained untouched. Why didn't Pangu allow the fragments to completely transform the sedimentary layers?"
Su Fan squatted down and placed his hand on the surface of the sediment layer.
The thin golden line in the palm of the left hand activated itself the moment it touched the sediment layer, and the will of all beings surged out from the line and poured into the sediment layer.
The fragments of the ancient god's life law sealed deep within the sedimentary layer jumped briefly upon contact with the will of all living beings, before falling silent again.
They did not recognize a master; they merely sensed a signal of the same frequency, briefly waking up before falling back asleep.
"Pangu did not allow the fragments to transform all the sedimentary layers. The repair layer on the outer side of the membrane only needs to be of a certain thickness; any thicker would be counterproductive."
"If the repair layer is too thick, the inherent structural laws of the membrane wall will be eroded by the external repair material, making the membrane wall brittle. So he left the remaining deposited layers unconverted, leaving them for later generations."
"The fragments of the ancient god's life laws sealed inside these sedimentary layers are of extremely high purity. If they can be activated by the will of the Dao of All Beings on Pangu's Axe, they will automatically fly towards the membrane wall following the guidance of the will of the Dao of All Beings, and merge into the law cycle inside the membrane wall."
"It's not used as repair material, but as a node of the membrane's laws. Each fragment is a small aggregate of chaotic life laws, which, once embedded inside the membrane, can accelerate the membrane's self-healing speed."
"However, activating them requires an extremely large amount of the will of all living beings, and your own willpower alone is not enough. You need to also connect the willpower network of the 10,050 remnant soldiers on the South Heavenly Gate city wall."
"The fragments of weapons in each of their hands still bear the imprint of the Law of All Beings. That imprint was left by you when you twisted the Law of All Beings at the South Heavenly Gate, and it has never faded."
"After connecting to the will network, the will of 10,050 people will be transmitted through the golden patterns on the city bricks of the South Heavenly Gate to the Ruins of Return, then poured into the flint root system from the larva deep in the foundation of the Ruins of Return, and finally injected into the depths of your spiritual platform along the heart network of the Ruins of Return."
"By then, the Pangu Axe in your hand will be able to release 10,500 wills of all living beings at the same time, enough to activate all the fragments of the ancient god's life laws in this sedimentary layer."
The pulse of laws emanating from the depths of the Ruins resonated deep within Su Fan's spiritual platform, intermittent yet extremely clear.
He placed his right hand on the pale gold line on his chest and used his heart's energy network to compress this information into a minimalist pulse of the law.
The message traveled outwards along the flint root system inside the larva deep within the Guixu foundation, and when it reached the depths of Su Fan's spiritual platform, each word seemed to be directly typed out of his mind.
"Ten thousand and fifty people. They are still on the Nantianmen city wall."
Su Fan stood up and glanced at the extremely faint golden light in the direction of the membrane.
That was the last wisp of flame trailed by Nezha's Wind and Fire Wheels in the void when he returned to the South Heavenly Gate; it had already dissipated to the point of being almost invisible.
"Yes. Qingfeng led them all; none of them left."
The last message from the laws of the Ruins was sent back, and then the signals from the direction of the Ruins completely subsided.
Xu transferred all of its sensory capabilities from the heart's vascular network to the connection between the Guixu foundation and the remains of Buzhou Mountain.
The deadline for the second month of docking vibration is approaching, and the mountain base sealed inside the foundation begins to adjust the density distribution of the law on its own in preparation for the docking vibration.
Su Fan withdrew his gaze, shouldered the Pangu Axe, and continued walking forward.
Sun Wukong followed behind him, the fragment of law that the tip of his golden cudgel was holding was about to go out, and he threw the fragment into the depths of the void.
The fragment exploded into a tiny, faint golden spark in the far distance, illuminating the outline of the nearest dark golden dot in front of it.
It was a fragment of the guardian will smaller than the first fragment, only the size of a fist, with extremely faint law patterns flowing on its surface, so faint that it was almost completely covered by the dark purple light of the sedimentary layer.
It is moving towards the membrane wall at an extremely slow speed, leaving a very shallow ripple of law in the void with each step.
When the ripples spread to the surface of the membrane, they were contained by the buffer membrane of Sun Wukong's aftershocks, and the force was evenly distributed, leaving no new indentations on the membrane.
"This fragment is even smaller than the first one. The patterns of the laws are also faint, and its activity has dropped to an extremely low level. It consumed too much law power to transform the sedimentary layer, and it has hardly rested for 30,000 years."
"The area it's responsible for is larger and has a thicker sediment layer than the first fragment. It's almost completely drained."
Su Fan walked to the front of the fragment, took the Pangu Axe off his waist, and aimed the blade at the center of the fragment.
The will of all beings surged from the golden thread in his palm, flowing along the axe handle into the axe blade, from which a faint golden light shot out.
As the light shone on the surface of the fragment, the protective will within the fragment was suddenly activated the moment it came into contact with the will of all living beings. The law patterns on the surface changed from extremely faint to extremely bright, and the rotation speed accelerated from once every few dozen breaths to once every three breaths.
After accelerating to its limit, the activity of the laws within the fragment recovered by at least 60%.
After recovering, it stopped moving slowly and began to drift towards Su Fan on its own, hovering next to the handle of the Pangu Axe and sticking together with the law imprints left by the three golden lines.
"The first fragment has also recognized its master. The remaining six fragments..."
Sun Wukong counted the remaining points of light in the void.
"Each of the six paths has a lower activity level than this one. The thicker the layer of laws deposited deep in the void, the more law power is consumed in the transformation of fragments."
"The last fragment is in the deepest part of the void, where the sediment layer is at least several times thicker than that near the membrane wall."
"After 30,000 years of transformation of that thick layer of sediment, its own law activity may have dropped to less than 10%. It will take the will of more sentient beings to activate it."
Su Fan carried the Pangu Axe and walked towards the next fragment.
Sun Wukong followed behind, and the aftershocks of the great calamity on his staff darkened even further.
The buffer membrane on the surface of the membrane wall also began to show extremely fine regular cracks.
The aftershocks of the great calamity decayed faster than expected in the void, and the buffer membrane could only last for less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.
The two quickened their pace.
The second fragment is activated, then the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth.
Each fragment, upon contact with the will of all living beings, would automatically float to the handle of Pangu's axe and stick together with the previous fragments.
The seven fragments formed a faint dark gold halo around the axe handle, each slowly rotating on its own, the rhythm of which was perfectly synchronized with the beating frequency of the Eastern Emperor's heart in Xu's chest cavity.
The last fragment remains in the deepest part of the void.
The law signal of that fragment was extremely weak, so weak that even the will of all living beings on Pangu's axe could only sense a very faint pulse of law.
The pulsation was located in the very center of the thickest sedimentary layer, where the sedimentary layer was several times thicker than that near the membrane wall. After the fragments had completely transformed this sedimentary layer over 30,000 years, their own structural laws were already close to the point of collapse.
The patterns of the laws were so dim that they were almost invisible, and the dark golden light at the core pulsed at an extremely slow frequency, so slow that it only pulsed once every long period of time.
It no longer had the strength to move towards the membrane wall on its own, so it just hung there in the very center of the void after the sediment layer had transformed, surrounded by the extremely faint golden repair layer left behind by its transformation.
"This is the last one. Its law activity has dropped to less than 10%, and it can't fly back on its own."
Su Fan walked to the front of the fragment, gripped the axe with both hands, and aimed the axe blade at the dark red dot at the core of the fragment.
The will of all beings surged from the golden thread in his palm, flowing down the axe handle and into the axe blade, from which an extremely bright golden beam of light shot out.
The beam of light struck the surface of the light spot, and the light spot trembled violently the moment it came into contact with the will of all beings. After the tremor, it began to beat again, with an extremely slow but very stable frequency.
The patterns on the surface of the fragments gradually relight, from dim to slightly bright, and from slightly bright to extremely bright.
The recovery process was extremely slow, so slow that Su Fan could feel the will of all living beings deep within his spiritual platform being gradually drawn away and poured into the guardian will that was about to collapse inside the fragment.
After receiving enough of the will of all living beings, the protective will within the fragment stabilized again, and the structure of laws was forcibly pulled back to a stable state from the brink of collapse.
The dark golden dot at its core resumed its pulsation, its frequency perfectly synchronized with the thin golden line on Su Fan's left palm.
The eighth fragment has been returned to its place.
The eight fragments formed a complete dark gold halo around the handle of the Pangu Axe, and the frequency of the laws within the halo was perfectly synchronized with the beating frequency of the Eastern Emperor's heart in the Xu's chest cavity.
The patterns of laws flowing across the surface of the halo are extremely complex, with each pattern being a fragment of a complete original guardian will.
When the eight fragments are pieced together, they represent all the remnants of the original guardian will that Pangu extracted from the twelfth Chaos Stone Embryo, except for the one in the axe handle.
They transformed the 30,000-year law-based sedimentary layer on the outside of the membrane wall, and now they have all returned to their original positions.
The halo slowly rotated around the axe handle for a moment, and then the eight fragments flew towards the membrane wall at the same time. Their flight trajectory was extremely fast, so fast that the naked eye could only see a very bright dark gold light piercing through the void and hitting the very faint golden repair layer on the outer side of the membrane wall.
After the fragment entered the repair layer, the eight laws inside the halo were activated simultaneously, spreading out on the outside of the membrane to form an extremely thin dark gold law barrier.
The laws governing all living beings within the barrier and membrane resonated with each other across the membrane. The superposition effect of these laws increased the density of the laws within the membrane by at least 30%, exactly as calculated before the Ruins.
"It's finished. All eight fragments left by Pangu have been put back in place, and the barrier on the outside of the membrane has been laid. Let's go back."
Su Fan hoisted the Pangu Axe onto his shoulder and turned to walk towards the membrane wall.
Sun Wukong followed behind him, the electric arcs beneath his feet leaving a long white trail in the air, which slowly dissipated behind them.
The narrow opening that Su Fan had cleaved in the membrane wall had mostly healed, with only a very thin fold of law remaining.
Su Fan squeezed through the entrance and exit, standing once again in the chaotic gray mist inside the membrane wall.
Sun Wukong squeezed in and looked back at the outside of the membrane. The dark gold barrier made of eight fragments shone brightly in the void. The law patterns flowing on the surface of the barrier were extremely stable, and the density of the law of the membrane itself steadily increased under the resonance of the barrier.
Nezha flew back from the direction of the South Heavenly Gate, carrying the Fire-Tipped Spear, and landed on a very faint fold of law at the edge of the membrane.
He saw Su Fan and Sun Wukong squeeze through the opening in the membrane wall and slam the tip of their spears against the membrane wall.
"Laojun sent a message saying that the density of the laws within the membrane is jumping, by 30%. The three ancient stars on the edge of Mars just flashed synchronously once, and then stopped."
"It must be because you sensed the barrier forming on the outside of the membrane. Did you pick up any void specialties while you were collecting the fragments outside?"
Su Fan took out a handful of gray-gold law crystals from his pocket. The surface of the crystals was filled with extremely pure fragments of the prototype of the chaotic life law.
He shoved the crystal into Nezha's hand.
"I picked up seven pieces scattered on the outer side of the membrane. One is for Laozi as a sample, one is for Xu to study, and the rest you can divide among yourselves."
Nezha took the crystal, glanced down at the flowing patterns of laws on its surface, and then tucked it into his robes.
The fiery wheels were relit and flew towards the South Heavenly Gate.
Su Fan carried the Pangu Axe and walked side by side with Sun Wukong through the chaotic gray mist.
After the density of the membrane wall law increased, the gray fog became even thinner, so thin that the faint golden light in the direction of the Ruins could be seen through the gray fog.
That was the pulse of law emanating from the larva deep within the foundation of Guixu, transmitted through the roots of the flintwood.
Its pulse was extremely steady, pulsating in sync with the dark gold barrier formed by the eight fragments, and perfectly in sync with the rhythm of the Eastern Emperor's heart in Xu's chest cavity.
Sun Wukong hoisted the golden cudgel onto his shoulder, took a few steps, then suddenly stopped and looked back at the direction of the membrane wall.
The dark golden light from the eight fragments pierced through the membrane and the gray mist, striking the newly grown pale gold patterns on the bricks of the South Heavenly Gate. The entire city wall shone brightly under the glow of gold and silver.
Sun Wukong withdrew his gaze, shouldered his golden cudgel, and continued walking forward, saying something that only Su Fan could hear.
"Pangu's scheme has come to an end. The eight fragments have returned to their places, the membrane barrier has taken shape, and the defense line is in place. We're done for now, time to go back to Flower Fruit Mountain and eat peaches."
"After eating the peaches..."
"Come back after you finish eating the peaches. Anyway, your 'we'll talk about it later' will definitely mean you'll have to come back again. First, connect the will network of those 10,050 people at the South Heavenly Gate to the Ruins of Return and activate the fragments of the ancient god's life law in the sedimentary layer."
"Once all the fragments are embedded in the membrane wall, the cycle of laws governing the membrane wall will be completely complete. Only then will this sky truly no longer need to be guarded."
Sun Wukong somersaulted and landed on the ramparts of the South Heavenly Gate.
The monkey's eyes reflected the golden light of Mars, and it grinned.