Chapter 180: Mirroring the Eternal World, the Master Emerges
Although the terrifying intervention at the Falling Star Plain, skillfully channeling destructive energy into the endless void and preventing the immediate collapse of the Falling Star Plain and even the wider region, Ye Li and Qin Yixuan, as the leaders, endured unimaginable backlash and pressure. Their sacred essences were shaken, their spirits felt like they had been struck by a heavy hammer, and their aura was weakened, clearly damaged to the core. Having demonstrated enough power to influence the course of the battle and temporarily deterred the frenzied Saints and Demons, the coalition forces refrained from seeking quick success and advancing rashly. Instead, they cautiously and with the utmost vigilance, orderly evacuated the scorched earth, its spatial structure still fragile, and retreated to the Xuanyun Sect's territory for emergency rest and recuperation.
After that historic, near-annihilating clash, the battlefield of the Falling Stars Plains had descended into a delicate and fragile stalemate. The Temple's pristine fortress of order and the Abyss's roiling lair of chaos remained locked in a veiled standoff, but the main forces of both sides had clearly lost the will and resolve to launch a decisive battle. The heavy casualties, the mysterious spatial collapse in the core area, and the catastrophic uncertainties posed by the sudden emergence of the "Balance Faction," displaying unimaginable tactics, forced the Temple's cardinals and the Abyss's demon lords to temporarily suppress their seething murderous intent and retreat to their camps. While licking their deep wounds, they reassessed the suddenly complex situation with a more cautious, even tinged with uncertainty.
Yet, deep within the Xuanyun Sect's secret realm, recovering from their wounds, Ye Li and Qin Yixuan felt no sense of relief. Quite the contrary. The cold, indifferent gaze from the depths of the endless void, as if observing an experimental specimen, and the hunger and greed emanating from the disturbed consciousness of the "Void Devouring Beast," like two invisible, fate-severing blades, hung heavy over the entire spirit world and the countless beings in all its dependent and derivative worlds, bringing a sense of ultimate oppression that penetrated deeply, almost suffocating the breath. It was the ultimate torment of knowing the butcher's knife was about to fall, yet not knowing when or how.
After returning to the Xuanyun Sect, they didn't even have time to carefully regulate their chaotic energy or repair their damaged sacred essences before they entered the core secret retreat beneath the Qingtian Hall, a place meticulously cultivated by generations of sages and securely guarded by layers of ancient formations. The spiritual energy here was so dense it had transformed into a misty liquid, and every breath was filled with the rhythm of the Dao. The ground was paved with warm, primordial Chaos Stone, and the surrounding walls were naturally imprinted with faint lines of the Great Dao. This was the foundation of the Xuanyun Sect and one of the most secretive and secure locations in the spiritual world.
"We must understand what we're facing. What's the relationship between the 'Lord of Annihilation' and the 'Void Devourer'? Are they two sides of the same coin, or manipulators and the manipulated? What role does the secret contact between the Temple and the higher-ups of the Demonic Abyss play in this catastrophe? If we don't unravel these mysteries, we'll be like blind men touching an elephant, completely helpless." Ye Li sat cross-legged at the anode of the largest Chaos Stone in the center of the secret realm, naturally forming a Tai Chi pattern. Her tone was so solemn it seemed as if water could drip from it. The mark of the Samsara Mirror between her eyebrows emerged on its own, emitting a hazy and profound chaotic glow, resonating and interweaving in an incomparably mysterious way with the Chaos Stone beneath her feet and the aura of the entire secret realm.
Qin Yixuan sat at the pinnacle of the negative pole, pure starlight flowing naturally around her like moonlight spilling over a clear spring. Far from repelling Ye Li's all-embracing aura of samsara, it blended seamlessly, forming a powerful force field of yin and yang, a stable and harmonious harmony that bound their minds together. "Indeed. Our previous clues, speculations, and malicious whispers are like glimpsing a leopard through a tube. We can never piece together the complete truth, let alone find a glimmer of hope against this apocalyptic crisis. Now, only by harnessing the unbroken power of the Samsara Mirror, tracing back the origins of the universe, and reversing the course of time, can we personally glimpse the origins and conspiracies, eons buried in dust and lies, to dispel the clouds and find that possible... chance of victory!"
The two said no more, took a deep breath at the same time, slowly closed their eyes, and completely immersed all their minds and wills into the deepest part of their own sea of consciousness, discarding all distractions, and in the most pious and focused state, communicated and activated the already perfect Samsara Mirror that contained the ultimate truth of the birth and death of the universe.
Ye Li's consciousness, like a skilled diver, cautiously plunged into the seemingly calm, yet in reality, boundless ocean of the Samsara Mirror. The full Samsara Mirror's implications far surpassed those of ordinary magical instruments. It was more like a living history book, written on the pages of laws and inked with time, recording every major and minor event in the universe from its birth to its possible end. She carefully guided her consciousness, imbued with the essence of samsara, and actively embraced and integrated it with the pure and resilient will of the Star Guardians transmitted by Qin Yixuan. The two complemented each other, transforming into a more condensed and stable shuttle of exploration, seemingly capable of piercing all illusions and the barriers of time.
This shuttle of spiritual consciousness, along the causal thread spontaneously provided by the Reincarnation Mirror, which is connected to the mystery of the origin of the universe, began to go against the endless flow of time, rolling forward, towards the ancient past that was deliberately buried by endless dust, time faults and powerful will, and sealed for countless epochs, struggling and determined to go back!
The initial stage felt like traversing a nebula filled with chaotic noise. Countless fragments of shattered, distorted, and illogical images and information, like the background radiation of the early universe, flooded their minds frantically. Stars crumbled to dust in silent explosions, life took its first steps in the primordial ocean, brilliant civilizations abruptly shattered at the height of their power, and indescribable ancient beings whispered in the cracks of dimensions... These streams of information flew by in a chaotic, swift procession. Even with the strength of their sanctuary spirits, they could only grasp vague images, unable to immediately grasp their deeper meaning. Instead, they felt a swelling pain and dizziness on the surface of their souls.
As they continued to rewind, the resistance to moving upstream grew stronger, as if fighting the inertia of the entire universe's forward progress. But the light of the Samsara Mirror grew ever brighter, illuminating their path. The surrounding scene gradually became clearer and more coherent, yet also more grand, more ancient, and more deeply rooted in the core secrets of the universe. Their divine consciousness "saw" it—a primordial divine realm of indescribable splendor and ultimate prosperity!
The laws of heaven and earth were perfect and flawless, and spiritual energy was so abundant and rich that it manifested itself in a variety of auspicious and exotic forms, soaring freely. Sacred mountains towered majestically, piercing multiple dimensions; the celestial river hung inverted, flowing with the liquid essence of the stars. Countless powerful innate gods and acquired beings roamed the earth and the sky, their gestures resonating with the laws and unleashing boundless magical powers. It was a true golden age, where power and order, creation and life danced in harmony. At the pinnacle of this glorious divine realm, a few supreme rulers ruled over all. Among them was the God King of Light, who wielded order, light, and a portion of the power of creation!
His radiance was gentle and majestic, unlike the cold and overbearing power of the later Holy Temple. His oracles guided the divine realm towards greater prosperity and order. The Star God governed the movement of the celestial bodies, while the Mystic Lady presided over the purification of life and partial creation. Each fulfilling their respective roles, they jointly maintained the balance and evolution of the universe. It was a scene of peace and boundless possibility.
However, the shadow of prosperity often stems from an excessive desire to explore the unknown. The incident unfolded during a forbidden exploration of the "Realm of Nothingness," the most remote and desolate region of the universe, considered the beginning and end of all things. Seeking to transcend the realm of the Supreme God, to understand the ultimate mystery between "existence" and "nothingness," the essence of the universe, the God of Light, with supreme power and immense courage, united with several like-minded ancient beings and forcibly tore through the tranquil surface barrier of "Nothingness," attempting to glimpse its core essence.
But "Nothingness" wasn't the simple emptiness or chaos they imagined. It was the absolute opposite of "Existence," the dark side of the universe, possessing a cold, pure, emotionless instinct to devour and assimilate all "Existence"! The God of Light's divine power and will, imbued with vitality and order, was like the first flame ignited in absolute darkness, instantly becoming the most conspicuous target, triggering the ultimate greed for "Existence" at the core of "Nothingness," a consciousness dormant for longer than the concept of time itself!
A scene that made Ye Li and Qin Yixuan's souls tremble, as if they were there in person, unfolded clearly before their "eyes" through the Samsara Mirror: In the desolate reaches of the universe, in a realm where colors and concepts blurred, boundless brilliance, pure light imbued with infinite creative possibilities, and absolute darkness that devoured everything, wiping out even the concept of "existence" itself, like two ancient dragons, violently and unpretentiously collided and entangled! The body of the God of Light, constructed from the pure laws of order, began to disintegrate and melt under the erosion of the power of "nothingness". His crystal-clear godhead was forcibly penetrated, tainted, and rewritten by the cold, twisted devouring will like dirty ink! The Divine King roared through the ages, filled with utter agony, resentment, and rage. He mobilized his lifelong cultivation, drawing upon the primordial power of the divine realm, attempting to resist and expel the encroachment emanating from the very origins of the universe. However, the power of that "nothingness" was too strange, too fundamental, and too powerful, as if it had been created specifically to restrain "existence"...
Ultimately, the boundaries between light and darkness were completely broken, blurred, and blended. A new, twisted existence, filled with contradictions and despair, was born like a nightmare from the forced fusion of the God of Light's shattered body and tainted godhead with the greedy consciousness at the core of "nothingness"!
That is - "The Lord of Nirvana"!
His form defies common sense, light and darkness interweaving in a constantly shifting, sickening, and distorted pattern. He still retains some of the wisdom of the God-King of Light and his obsessive understanding of "order," but this order has been utterly distorted and alienated. In his new and twisted understanding, all "existence" in the universe—whether matter, energy, laws, consciousness, emotions, even time and space itself—is imperfect and flawed, the root cause of strife, suffering, chaos, and imbalance. Only by completely devouring and disintegrating all "existence," ultimately returning it to absolute "nothingness" can he achieve ultimate "purity" and "perfection," attaining the lifeless, unchanging, and distorted "ultimate balance" and "absolute order" he seeks!
He, from being the guardian of order, has fallen into a destroyer of order who uses "nothingness" as a means to pursue the destruction of all "existence"!
The truth, like a storm carrying absolute zero cold air blowing from the cosmic ice field, instantly swept through Ye Li and Qin Yixuan's minds, completely freezing and dissecting the eternal fog!
"So... the rigid and exclusive 'absolute order' that the Temple is now fanatically pursuing, its ideological roots actually come largely from the residual influence of the distorted will of the God of Light? And the 'chaos and nothingness' that the Demon Abyss believes in is more directly and primitively influenced by the devouring instinct of 'nothingness' itself?" Qin Yixuan's consciousness conveyed uncontrollable shock and a sudden yet horrifying enlightenment.
"It's more than that! It's far more than that!" Ye Li's consciousness became heavier. She endured the shock brought by the truth and continued to guide the power of the Samsara Mirror to trace back to the deeper and darker core of the conspiracy.
The images continued to flow, revealing the long-term planning behind the birth of the "Lord of Annihilation." Although possessing terrifying power and a twisted will at its inception, it did not immediately begin to devour the universe on a large scale. The wisdom it inherited from the God of Light taught it that directly confronting the entire "existence" camp with violence would inevitably be met with instinctive and fierce resistance from all living beings and all worlds, potentially even triggering a backlash from the very foundations of the universe. Thus, an extremely lengthy, vicious, and elaborate plan was quietly formulated and implemented—the "Eclipse Plan," and its core, the "Heaven Stealing Plan"!
He used his twisted wisdom and profound understanding of the hearts of living beings (which also stemmed from the God-King of Light) to sow the seeds of chaos and corruption throughout the vast universe. He sought out those with inner flaws, discontent with the existing order, and an unnatural thirst for power (such as Ling Hao, Xuan Cong, Mo Shang, and others). He used various methods to contact, seduce, and bewitch them, granting them fragments of contaminated power and forbidden knowledge. He deliberately provoked strife within civilizations and confrontations between factions, even... creating massive forces like the Temple and the Demonic Abyss, whose philosophies were fundamentally opposed, as if destined for a life-or-death struggle!
The images from the Samsara Mirror clearly revealed that the protracted war between the Temple and the Demonic Abyss, which had lasted for millennia and seemingly stemmed from fundamentally opposing ideologies, had actually been fueled by the invisible hand of the "Lord of Annihilation," secretly fanning the flames, even providing precise guidance and manipulation at crucial historical junctures! He was like a cold-blooded playwright, composing a script of blood and fire, with countless beings from both the Temple and the Demonic Abyss becoming actors on the stage.
What is the purpose? It’s terrifying to think about it!
One is consumption: through endless wars that sweep across many worlds, the power of creatures, the foundation of civilization, and the number of strong people in various worlds are continuously consumed, and the overall comprehensive strength and resistance potential of the "existence" camp are continuously weakened, clearing the obstacles for the final devouring.
The second is to collect: the massive amount of extreme negative emotions such as despair, fear, hatred, anger, destruction, etc. generated during the war and the chaotic energy that is released as a result are the favorite "food" and "tonic" of the "Lord of Nirvana". They can greatly accelerate his recovery from the weakness in the early days of his birth, and continue to grow and strengthen his own twisted origin.
The third is experiment: through long-term observation of the confrontation, infiltration and evolution between the two extremes of the Temple (representing the distorted order) and the Demon Abyss (representing the original chaos and nothingness), further improve and verify His theoretical system of "ultimate order" that will ultimately return all things and beings to "nothingness" and "perfect".
Fourth, they search for the "key": The complete Samsara Mirror, possessing the supreme power to interfere with reincarnation and connect to the origin, is considered one of the key "keys" to launching the "Heaven Stealing Plan," fully unleashing the power of the "Void Devouring Beast," and accurately devouring the spirit world and even the vast star field! Ye Li's parents, bearing the special "Mark of Samsara," are believed to be another "key" to resonate with the Samsara Mirror and stabilize the "channel" or "coordinates"!
At this point, many previously seemingly isolated clues were connected. The struggle for the core fragments of the Falling Star Origin, seemingly a struggle for strategic advantage, was in fact likely part of the "Lord of Annihilation"'s plan, intended to further intensify the conflict between the Saints and Demons, gather the final, most concentrated "feedstock" of despair and destruction, and use this opportunity to test the reactions and strength limits of the current top powerhouses of the Spirit Realm (especially Ye Li and Qin Yixuan).
What chilled them most was the secret contacts between the high-ranking officials of the Holy Temple and the Demonic Abyss... Although the Samsara Mirror's tracing could not directly "hear" the specific conversations of those secret meetings due to powerful interference, it revealed one fact with uncanny clarity: the deepest source of power of the leaders of both sides involved in those contacts, whether representatives of the Holy Temple or the Demonic Abyss, was faintly yet unmistakably entwined with a common, extremely hidden, twisted aura belonging to the "Lord of Nirvana"! This meant that within the highest decision-makers of both the Holy Temple and the Demonic Abyss, there were likely already some who, over the eons, had been seduced by its power, corrupted by its will, or actively surrendered to it, becoming its puppets, followers, or collaborators! The so-called millennia-long bloody war between light and darkness, order and chaos, could, to some extent, be a carefully orchestrated double act at the highest levels, designed to paralyze all beings and achieve ulterior motives! What a tragic irony!
Just as this terrifying, mind-numbing truth finally surfaced, revealing its full, hideous form, the Mirror of Samsara's tracing power seemed to collide with an invisible, intangible, yet indestructible barrier! A will far older, purer, colder, and more vast than that of the Lord of Annihilation, a will that seemed to represent the ultimate destination of the universe, like a dormant ancient beast, was startled by this prying eye!
A final, ultimate picture filled with extreme ominousness and foreboding of destruction forcibly broke through the barrier, carrying the heaviness of crushing all hope, and fiercely imprinted on the deepest part of Ye Li and Qin Yixuan's minds -
In the deepest, darkest depths of the endless dimensional void, in an absolute darkness where even the chaotic light of the Samsara Mirror could barely penetrate, where even the concept of "light" seemed to have been swallowed up, a vague outline, indescribable in words and forms, vast beyond the scale of time and space, pulsed slowly and with a breathtaking rhythm like an ancient heart that had slumbered for eons. The outline emanated an aura of "nothingness" that shared its origins with the "Lord of Annihilation," yet was even more ancient, purer, more essential, and even more terrifying! That... was the true form of the "Nothingness Devouring Beast"! The "Lord of Annihilation" was more like a "tentacle," a "port," or perhaps an "incarnation" specifically designed to carry out its devouring mission, extending into the universe of "existence."
At this moment, as the Samsara Mirror traced and trembled, the pulsation of that incredibly large outline was becoming increasingly powerful and clear at a perceptible speed! The endless power of "nothingness" surrounding it began to surge and roar violently, boiling like a cold ocean of red-hot boulders!
An extremely clear, emotionless warning message, like the final judgment issued by the laws of the universe itself, passed through the Samsara Mirror and echoed in the sea of consciousness of Ye Li and Qin Yixuan like a long death knell:
"The true form of the 'Lord of Annihilation,' the portal of consciousness for the awakening 'Void Devouring Beast,' has gradually emerged from its eons of slumber... The day it fully awakens will mark the moment when all 'existence,' centered around it, in the spiritual world and the countless surrounding worlds... returns to eternal silence!"
The scene abruptly stopped, as if forcibly severed by an invisible giant hand. The Samsara Mirror's immense power of tracing back, like the receding tide, quickly withdrew from the distant past, returning to its depths. Within the secret realm, only the lingering sound of warning remained, like chains of icy cold, entwining the two men's souls.
Ye Li and Qin Yixuan suddenly opened their eyes, the reflection of the ultimate dark outline still lingering in the depths of their pupils. Their foreheads and temples were already completely soaked with cold sweat, and their faces were pale without a trace of blood. This was not only because of the huge consumption of their spiritual power, but also because of the desperate truth that was revealed, which was enough to make anyone's mind collapse, and the ultimate crisis that was imminent, as if they could already hear the countdown ticking.
"Lord of Annihilation"... "Void Devourer"... the ultimate black hand behind the war between the Holy and the Demonic... the ultimate goal of devouring all "existence"... betrayal and double-act at the highest level...
All the clues, all the mysteries, all the sacrifices and struggles, ultimately point with incomparable clarity and coldness to the only, unquestionable destination that represents the end of all things.
They stared at each other in silence, the air heavy as lead. But in the depths of that dead silence and despair, two pairs of eyes, like stars rekindled from the ashes, gleamed with the same thing—a resolve that transcended fear, transcended life and death, and stemmed from the most primal and tenacious nature of life itself...
There is no time to hesitate or waver, and no room to worry about gains and losses.
The final battle has long transcended personal grudges and faction concepts. It is about the meaning of "existence" itself and the right of all living beings to continue to "exist"!
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