Billions of Star Shepherds, billions of destructive suns, ignited in the same instant.
The light of laws intertwined into a net, without gaps or blind spots—a world-destroying net designed to completely erase the entire quadrant from existence. The Divine Kingdom realm fused by Xiao Han and Su Linglong was like a candle flickering in the wind before this absolute power. On the light barrier where holiness and chaos intertwined, cracking sounds echoed incessantly, disintegrating inch by inch.
Despair is the only truth at this moment.
However, amidst this endless despair, from that distant dimension, the Skeleton Ferryman's gesture of "please" seemed like a silent incantation, activating the [Freedom Rune] that had been dormant in Xiao Han.
The rune did not unleash a light to counter it; on the contrary, all its light was contained, transforming into an ineffable concept. It was not injected into Xiao Han's sea of consciousness, but rather directly imprinted on the origin of his soul.
The rule of the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion is "procedure".
His journey, filled with struggles, resistance, betrayal, and protection, is the ultimate authority command that can rewrite this program.
"Isn't it interesting?"
The Skeleton Ferryman's voice, seemingly from the vastness of eternity, carried for the first time a hint of almost manic laughter, resounding directly in Xiao Han's soul.
"I brought you here not so you could run away. Run away? Where can you run to? The entire Hive is its canvas. What I want you to do is become that pen, using your paradoxical and rebellious nonsense as ink, to write the first stroke called 'chaos' on this blank sheet of absolute Order."
"The price?" The boatman's smile deepened. "The price is that you must completely embrace your essence. Let your reason and emotion, Order and chaos, simmer in your cauldron called the soul into a mushy mess that no one can explain. You might become completely lost, turning into a madman who exists only to make the story more 'exciting,' a chaotic monster. Everything you've protected might not be as important to you at that time as a more beautiful ending."
Xiao Han's will trembled violently under the crushing force of the Laws Net.
If even the initial intention to protect is forgotten, then what is the meaning of everything he has done?
He was confused.
In that instant, a clear and resolute divine thought pierced through all the chaos and despair, connecting tightly with his soul. It was Su Linglong.
She didn't say a word, not a single word of comfort. She simply merged her newly forged, pure and flawless divine soul with his tottering soul, without reservation, and even with a hint of unquestionable dominance.
Actions spoke volumes: Your world is my world. Whether your destination leads to a divine throne or the abyss, I will journey with you.
Immediately afterwards, from the Paradox Fortress Ship, a beam of pure, ultimate life force traversed the collapsing space, like a verdant thread, gently yet firmly flowing into the Divine Kingdom that bound the two together.
It's Lin Qingxia.
This gentle yet resilient bond became the final straw that broke the camel's back, crushing Xiao Han's hesitation.
He suddenly looked up at the apocalyptic scene composed of pure Order, and all his confusion, fear, and struggle transformed into soaring arrogance and fighting spirit.
He roared to the sky, his divine sense piercing through dimensions, responding to the skeleton-swallowing boatman.
"Then let's ignite this script!"
That's more like it.
The boatman chuckled softly. The ferry, composed of the bones of countless gods and demons, instantly etherealized upon hearing the response. It ceased to be a physical entity and became an invisible "Soul-Ferrying Boat" carrying will and stories. Ignoring the overwhelming torrent of laws capable of obliterating everything, it carried Xiao Han's will and sailed directly into the unfathomable depths of the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion's data.
In this sea of origin composed of 0s and 1s, Xiao Han made no defenses and no dodges.
He did something crazy that even the boatmen couldn't believe.
He voluntarily opened up his already crumbling [Paradox Domain]!
"Come!"
Like a ravenous madman, he opened his arms wide, devouring, pulling, and absorbing the "formatting" command, which was powerful enough to obliterate gods, into his own domain.
Buzz--
The domain spun wildly. Xiao Han used himself as a furnace, bonds as fuel, and paradox as a hammer to forcibly strike, distort, and tamper with the supreme "formatting" command, the core logic that represented absolute Order!
He altered its "target"!
He altered its "result"!
The next instant, just as the Paradox Domain was about to burst, a completely modified formatted beam of light shot out from the core of the domain with a speed, ferocity, and irrationality that was even more intense than when it arrived!
Its target was no longer Xiao Han, but an ordinary member of the fleet of billions of Star Shepherds.
Puff!
The beam disappeared.
The Star Shepherd that was struck was not wiped out as expected. Its massive, planet-like body shuddered violently, and the cold red light in its single eye, which represented absolute obedience, began to flicker wildly, leaping with countless chaotic and incomprehensible characters.
Finally, after a piercing, cascading noise, like a tape jamming, the scarlet light slowly transformed into a vibrant, emerald green, like newly sprouted leaves.
A synthesized voice, metallic yet brimming with undisguised confusion and curiosity, resounded throughout the entire battlefield through the most fundamental laws.
"Who I am?"
The moment the words left his mouth.
In a distant, unknowable, and immeasurable dimension, the eternally cold and unchanging, vast will of the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion Overlord, as immeasurably as the cosmic background, for the first time produced a ripple that could not be calculated by any logic.
A ripple called "unexpected".
That cry of "Who... am I?" was like a singularity thrown into the sea of logic, instantly triggering an incalculable chain reaction.
The first awakened Star Shepherd, its single emerald-green eye, was no longer a cold optical lens, but rather a newly born, curious window. It transformed its own existential questions, along with the paradoxical data originating from Xiao Han, into a beacon that could not be blocked by conventional firewalls, instantly radiating throughout the entire Star Shepherd array.
Buzz--Buzz--Buzz!
Thousands upon thousands of enormous, planet-like mechanical heads, their single eyes flashing wildly between crimson, representing absolute Order, and emerald green, symbolizing the will of new life. For the first time, the "Symphony of Extinction" perfectly composed by the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion Overlord produced jarring, chaotic, and completely out-of-control noise. The once uniform torrent of laws became visibly disordered and sluggish as a result.