AWB Chapter 1554 Cause and Effect
Chapter 1554 Cause and Effect
This primordial fire is different from Lu Chen's Great Dao primordial fire.
The former refers to the origin of fire, one of the five elements, while the latter refers to the world's origin fire in the Tianyuan Continent.
In order to repair the dimensional barrier of Tianyuan Continent, Lu Chen contributed his eight original sources, but unexpectedly he comprehended the power of the Great Dao's origin.
At this moment, the fire of the Five Elements, like a wanderer who has been traveling for billions of years, has finally found its way home.
The flame leaped gently into Lu Chen's palm, then sank along his meridians into his dantian.
There is a world of golden pearls, eight-colored pearls formed from the power of the Great Dao's origin, and Lu Chen's primordial spirit.
After the primordial fire entered the dantian, it actually merged into the bead formed by the power of the Great Dao's origin.
Lu Chen could sense something dormant awakening deep within his dantian, but he didn't have time to examine it closely.
Because the rune array on the stone platform, composed of three interwoven copper coins, began to collapse the moment the flames disappeared.
It's not collapsing, but contracting.
Countless rune lines collapsed inward, eventually coalescing into a palm-sized, black, neither gold nor jade, broken monument.
The surface of the stele was as smooth as a mirror, but there were no words on it. Lu Chen reached out and touched it.
The instant his fingertips touched the surface of the monument, a deep, weary voice, filled with endless vicissitudes, resounded directly from the depths of his consciousness:
"The fact that you can see this photo means that the primordial fire has recognized its master."
"Well then, it's time to tell you the truth."
Immediately afterwards, a picture appeared on the surface of the monument: a scroll slowly unfurling, which was the list of those who would be conferred titles of sainthood.
That legendary supreme artifact was floating in the void. Even though it was just a phantom, it exuded a suffocating pressure.
In the scene, countless powerful figures fought fiercely around the Saintly Conferment Ranking. Gods, demons, humans, monsters, and even strange races that Lu Chen had never seen before, all shed blood in the starry sky in their struggle for this supreme treasure.
Then, the scene changes.
A slender hand reached out from the void and grasped the Investiture of the Saints List.
The owner of the hand slowly turned around; it was the old Taoist priest.
No, it wasn't the old Taoist priest Lu Chen knew. That person was younger and sharper, with no signs of vicissitude in his eyes, only an almost obsessive fanaticism.
He addressed the void, and also to Lu Chen, who would witness this scene countless years later, uttering each word with deliberation:
“Severing the three corpses, proving the primordial state, and relying on the list of saints, this is indeed the fastest way to attain the Dao.”
"But no one has told you where the severed three corpses went."
He raised his hand, and three wisps of black mist appeared in his palm.
Three wisps of black mist twisted, struggled, and changed shape, with the outlines of human faces vaguely discernible.
“They are not dead.” The old Taoist’s voice was calm, yet chilling. “They have simply found a different way to survive.”
"Good intentions have transformed into an obsession with 'perfection,' and for billions of years, we have been searching for the 'key' to repair the world across the myriad realms."
"Evil thoughts, transformed into a desire for 'destruction,' lurked in the shadow of the epochal catastrophe, feeding on despair."
"And obsession—"
He paused.
“Obsession has become the embodiment of evil.”
The old Taoist priest in the picture, or rather, the embodiment of the old Taoist priest's obsession, is looking down at his hands.
“I thought I could control them. The Conferred Saint List, the Three Corpses, the Dao Proving Primordial Chaos... I thought I was the master.”
"Later I discovered that I was just one of the three corpses, what a tragic fact."
"Good and evil thoughts have been laying the groundwork for thousands of years outside, while I... I am in this body, thinking that I am the real one."
He smiled, but his smile was full of bitterness.
"Isn't it ridiculous? A defective product that can't even tell who it is dares to dream of repairing the world and saving all living beings."
"But both good and evil intentions overlook one thing."
"Although it is an obsession, it is also the purest desire for the word 'protection' that was cut off from the Heavenly Dao."
He looked up, staring directly into the void, and at the same time, staring directly at Lu Chen outside the frame.
Do you know who the Heavenly Dao is?
"He is the creator of the Conferred Saint List, and one of the strongest Primordial Chaos cultivators in ancient times."
"And the only true culprit in this tragedy that has lasted for countless ages."
The scene abruptly shattered at this point.
Lu Chen was struck dumb, staggering back a step, because this information was truly too shocking.
Seeing this, Fang Xinyi quickly helped him up: "Lu Chen?"
"I'm fine." Lu Chen's voice was a little hoarse.
He looked down at the black, broken stone tablet in his palm.
The surface of the monument was blank, as if the images and sounds from just moments ago were nothing but illusions.
But he knew it wasn't; it was the old Taoist's obsession.
Good intentions are the obsession to repair the world, evil intentions are the obsession to destroy the world, and the person who calls himself an old Taoist priest is the one who is most persistent in "protecting" among the three.
They all believed that they were the true entity.
Actually neither.
The true Way of Heaven is nowhere to be found, or rather, it has divided itself into three parts, each existing in the world in its own way.
Good intentions have been laid out over millennia to cultivate the "key" to repairing the world.
Evil lurks within the epochal catastrophe, waiting for the opportunity to devour and reshape everything.
His obsession manifested as an unkempt, tea-loving, and talkative old Taoist priest who wandered through the myriad realms, searching for someone to inherit his legacy.
He found Lu Chen.
Then, he placed all the cause and effect, all the hope, and all the guilt on Lu Chen, and possibly on Laozi as well.
“Old Taoist priest…” Lu Chen murmured, but the broken stele did not respond; it had already completed its mission.
The monument began to crumble, turning into fine black powder that flowed through Lu Chen's fingers.
What remained was a faint, almost invisible wisp of light.
The light threads gently wrapped around Lu Chen's little finger, like an unbreakable thread of cause and effect.
Lu Chen remained silent for a long time, then hid the causal thread in his storage ring and turned to look back in the direction he had come from.
“Let’s go,” he said.
"Where to?" Nezha asked.
“Go find Shan Nian.” Lu Chen’s voice was calm, yet carried an undeniable firmness. “Tell him that the path that Zhi Nian has chosen is not wrong.”
As for evil thoughts—
He paused.
"Wait for it to come to us on its own."
Fang Xinyi looked at him, wanting to say something, but in the end she just nodded.
Nezha grinned and gripped his Fire-Tipped Spear tightly: "That's more like it! I'm so tired of being stuck in this godforsaken place all day!"
Gu Tingyuan stood at the back of the group, silent, as he followed the others on their journey home.
The points of light in the heart of Nirvana Pool slowly converged into a galaxy behind them.
The remnants of those ancient powerful beings watched the departing figures, like countless lamps finally able to rest in peace.
And in the depths of the pool, unseen by them, the broken sword stuck in the stone platform trembled slightly.
The red string has come undone, and the copper coin is lost.
But the countless nicks on the blade still silently tell the story of that unfinished battle millions of years ago.
Then, a barely audible sigh dissipated into the surging sea of laws.
"Those who come after..."
"Take care of yourself."………………