With this oath from the depths of his heart, the newly formed Break Delusion Sword Intent deep within his sea of consciousness suddenly surged beneath the extreme pressure and the catalyst of his conviction! Though still weak, it now possessed an unprecedented resilience and an indomitable sharpness! It could no longer merely "break delusions"; it carried a trace of Cheng Xi's own "rebellious intent"! At the same time, the Jianmu Fragment in his arms erupted with a gentle yet steadfast emerald green glow, while the Xirang Crystal sent out a heavy, steady pulse. The three faintly resonated with one another!
Lord Tongtian silently watched him, watching the faint yet incomparably dazzling light of will bursting forth from this tiny mortal. The complex meaning deep within those ancient-well-like eyes grew clearer. There was scrutiny, inquiry, reminiscence... and in the end, it seemed to turn into an extremely faint... acknowledgment?
"No regrets... defy Heaven... prove the Chaos..." Lord Tongtian repeated the words in a low voice, his calm tone betraying neither joy nor anger. He slowly raised his right hand and lightly pointed toward the spirit pool below, shrouded in dense vitality.
Buzz!
At the center of the spirit pool, the enormous blue lotus flower with buds yet to bloom suddenly released a gentle, sacred blue radiance! Its petals slowly unfolded, and even purer, more majestic Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi mixed with a pure, holy aura that cleansed the soul spread outward, instantly enveloping the entire stone cavern. The waters of the spirit pool moved without wind, rippling with shimmering waves as though they had come alive.
"This is a phantom formed from a strand of the World Purifying Green Lotus's origin. The pool water is the essence of Innate Ren Water." Lord Tongtian's voice returned to its usual calmness. "Meditate upon this Lotus Platform and use the pool water to cleanse your body. It can heal your wounds and also help you..." His gaze swept across Yan Lingji. "Temporarily suppress the baleful aura and corruption within your body."
At his words, a fierce light of survival erupted in Yan Lingji's eyes, and she looked gratefully toward the Lotus Platform. Cheng Xi also steadied himself inwardly. A gift from a Saint had to be a supreme healing treasure.
Yet Lord Tongtian's next words made both their hearts tighten.
"However, after your wounds have healed..." Lord Tongtian's gaze locked onto Cheng Xi once more. Those calm eyes seemed to transform into two invisible swords, piercing directly into his Soul Origin!
"Since you harbor the ambition to 'defy Heaven' and wish to inherit my Dao of 'Seizing Heaven'... then you must first pass my Heart Questioning Tribulation."
"This tribulation has nothing to do with mana or divine abilities. It questions only your heart!"
The instant his words fell, Lord Tongtian's figure seated cross-legged atop the blue lotus seemed to completely merge with the entire grotto-heaven, with the blooming blue lotus, and with the wordless stone tablet, turning into an eternal imprint of the Dao! A vast, boundless will, as though bearing the ages of the primordial world and the aura of countless calamities, crashed down upon Cheng Xi like an invisible tide!
This was not an attack, but an interrogation! An ultimate inquiry originating from the Great Dao Origin and directly targeting the foundation of his Dao Heart!
Cheng Xi only felt the scene before him change in an instant! The stone cavern, blue lotus, spirit pool, stone tablet... all material things dissipated like smoke!
Replacing them was an endless Chaos!
There was no above or below, no past or future! Only roiling, boiling Chaos Qi that birthed both destruction and creation! Countless phantoms of Chaos Demon Gods howled, fought, and perished within the currents! The edge of the giant axe that created the world flashed and disappeared! A magnificent tableau of the primordial world's birth slowly unfolded! Then came the savagery of the Dragon-Phoenix Calamity, the tragedy of the Witch-Demon War, the blood weeping of countless immortals in the Investiture of the Gods Calamity... scene after scene of primordial epics rushed toward Cheng Xi's tiny soul like a surging river, carrying the overwhelming momentum of heaven and earth and endless joy and sorrow!
Within this torrent of Chaos and epic history, countless voices exploded simultaneously in the depths of Cheng Xi's soul, like the cries of billions of beings intertwined with the whispers of the Heavenly Dao:
"What is the Dao?"
"Following Heaven? Defying Heaven?"
"To Seize a Thread of Life—is that the merit of stealing from Heaven, or the courage to break the deadlock?"
"The Myriad Immortals Formation was broken, and the Jie Sect withered. Was that Heavenly Dao's Injustice, or was there a flaw in my Dao?"
"Is your Chaos the foundation of transcendence, or the source of destruction?"
"To inherit my Dao, can your heart... remain steadfast? Remain sincere? Remain... without regret?"
Every question struck Cheng Xi's Dao Heart like a bolt of chaotic divine lightning! They carried the weight of primordial epics and the majesty of the Heavenly Dao! They interrogated his conviction, shook his foundation, and forced him to find his own unwavering "Dao" amidst the Chaos Torrent and the grand momentum of heaven and earth!
This was not an illusion. Lord Tongtian had used supreme divine power to invoke the Great Dao Origin and directly cast Cheng Xi's consciousness into the torrent of the "Dao" for the most direct tempering and interrogation! If his Dao Heart failed and he lost himself in that torrent, then at best his Dao foundation would be destroyed and he would become a cripple; at worst, his soul would scatter and his true spirit would fall forever!
Cheng Xi's soul was instantly submerged within the boundless torrent of Chaos and epic history, like a small boat in raging waves! That newly born Break Delusion Rebellious Intent Sword Intent was as faint as firefly light before such questioning by the Great Dao!
"Argh—!" Cheng Xi let out a soundless howl of agony from the depths of his soul, his consciousness instantly scattered into fragments! Jianmu's vitality, Xirang's solidity, the System's existence... every reliance seemed so pale before this torrent of the Great Dao! He felt as though he were about to be completely torn apart and assimilated by the endless "questions" and overwhelming "momentum"!
However, just as his consciousness was about to sink completely and be assimilated by the primordial epic—
In the deepest part of his soul, that tiny Chaos Imprint of rebirth, that Chaos Origin Point bearing the essence of an otherworldly soul and containing the "variable," suddenly lit up with an imperceptible yet incomparably tenacious misty gray glow beneath the extreme pressure of the Great Dao!
At the same time, the dormant System Core, upon encountering this Great Dao Origin impact beyond comprehension, seemed to have touched its most fundamental logic. It forcibly broke through a trace of the Saint's suppression and issued a cold, mechanical, yet incomparably clear notification, branding itself into Cheng Xi's consciousness on the verge of collapse like a final anchor:
[Core logic... hold fast... define... Chaos... neither following... nor defying... but... a variable... the source of... breaking the deadlock...]
A variable! The source of breaking the deadlock!
This cold prompt was like thunder in the darkness, like the last straw grasped by a drowning man, causing Cheng Xi's consciousness, which was about to scatter, to abruptly gather into a trace!
I... am not a chess piece!
My Chaos... is the chance to break the deadlock!
Even if I am shattered to pieces... I... will not regret it!
A weak yet incomparably steadfast thought, carrying unyielding rebellious intent and an understanding of the "variable," lit up stubbornly within the Chaos Torrent like a candle in the wind! It began arduously resisting the endless interrogation of the Great Dao and the washing tide of primordial epics!
Upon the Lotus Platform, Lord Tongtian's figure, fused with the Dao, moved slightly. Deep within his eyes, which reflected the Chaos Torrent, an exceedingly faint, almost imperceptible... expectation? Quietly appeared.
The Heart Questioning Tribulation had only begun. Only when the Dao Heart was tempered would true gold reveal itself.
Before you continue