Literary Dao's First Cry, Defusing Killing Intent

The purple Dao talisman, bearing the fierce killing intent of the newly formed Heavenly Dao, was already at his brow!

Wherever it passed, space froze like glass, time slowed like a mire, and the nascent academy wenhua around Wanhua was effortlessly torn apart and annihilated.

This was the judgment of Order, the rules erasing an "Anomaly," carrying an absolute will that permitted neither doubt nor defiance!

There was nowhere to evade, nowhere to retreat!

Within Wanhua's pupils, that streak of purple rapidly enlarged, reflecting the terrifying sight of laws collapsing and all things returning to the Return to Void.

His Primordial Chaos Dao Body instinctively sounded an alarm. His Literary Heart trembled at an unprecedented frequency, warning him of the destructive power contained in this strike.

Meet it head-on? He had only just entered the Primordial Chaos Realm, and his power had yet to become fully harmonious. How could he possibly withstand this Heaven-sent killing talisman, unleashed in fury?

Yet after his initial grimness, Wanhua's gaze swiftly cleared, even carrying a trace of eager curiosity.

"Heavenly Dao Order? The judgment of rules?" he sneered inwardly. "My Confucian Dao also speaks of Order, also establishes rules!

"But my Order is not the cold and heartless Heavenly Law. It arises from the heart and is bounded by reason—the ethical principles of humanity!"

In that flash of lightning, he abandoned the thought of mobilizing vast Literary Qi to confront it head-on.

That would play straight into Hongjun's hands, amounting to admitting that he was a heretic who needed to be "suppressed" by the power of the Heavenly Dao.

He chose a path more suited to the essence of the Confucian Dao, and far more perilous—using "reason" to break "law"!

He raised two fingers like a brush. Yet instead of pointing them at the talisman, he rapidly traced through the void before him.

In the wake of his fingertips, there was no dazzling Divine Light, no surging Literary Qi. Only characters condensed from the purest intent emerged from thin air—Formless and Intangible, yet seemingly as weighty as mountains:

"Heaven's movement is vigorous; thus the noble man strives unceasingly to strengthen himself!"

"The earth's disposition is receptive; thus the noble man bears all things with abundant virtue!"

"The benevolent are human!"

"Righteousness is what is fitting!"

"..."

These words were not attacks, but explanations! Definitions!

They were Wanhua's own understanding of the principles of the Dao, the foundational ideals upon which the Confucian Dao stood in this world!

Interweaving, they formed an invisible, miniature "Chapter of Reason," blocking the purple Dao talisman.

The Heavenly Dao's killing rules borne by the talisman crashed into this domain composed of humanistic principles.

A bizarre scene unfolded!

The Dao talisman, which had originally surged forward without resistance and could tear apart a Quasi-Saint, abruptly slowed!

The cold Runes flowing over the talisman, representing "Heavenly Law," "precepts," and "punishment," collided violently and soundlessly with the conceptual Runes Wanhua had written—"benevolence," "righteousness," "self-strengthening," and "abundant virtue"!

This was not a contest of exhausted energy, but a conflict and debate on the level of rules!

The rules of the Heavenly Dao were cold and absolute, representing "what is" and "what must be."

The principles of the Confucian Dao, meanwhile, carried warmth and flexibility, explaining "why it is so" and "what ought to be."

The intent of "punishment" struck the generosity of "the benevolent love others," and its pure killing nature seemed to be invisibly Neutralized;

The severity of "precepts" encountered the willing responsibility of "where righteousness lies," and its external coercion appeared somewhat pale;

The Order of "Heavenly Law" faced the inner drive of "unceasing self-strengthening," and its lofty authority was actually shaken by a fraction!

The Dao talisman continued advancing, but with every inch it moved forward, the purple radiance upon it dimmed by a fraction, as did the pure Heavenly Dao killing intent it contained.

It was as though the seemingly gentle yet immensely Resilient "Chapter of Reason" continuously analyzed, diluted, and even... to a certain extent, "persuaded" it!

Wanhua's Dao Body swayed slightly, and an unnatural flush rose to his face.

Having only just entered the Primordial Chaos Realm, he was forcibly using his own principles to twist and dissolve an attack containing the power of Saint Hongjun and the Heavenly Dao Will.

This placed an immense burden upon both his Literary Heart and his Primordial Chaos Dao Foundation. It was no different from dancing on a knife's edge, walking beside a cliff!

Yet he held on. The light of his Literary Heart did not diminish, but instead grew brighter, while more characters of reason flowed from his fingertips and merged into that invisible chapter.

"Subtle Words, Profound Meaning—reason commands all laws!"

At last, he employed the embryonic form of this core divine ability, one that touched upon the level of rules!

Yet he did not use it for direct confrontation, but to amplify the "paradox" and "disharmony" arising from the clash between his own principles and the Heavenly Dao's rules!

In an instant, exceedingly subtle distortions and ripples appeared in the space surrounding the purple Dao talisman.

It was as though two different kinds of "Order" were fighting for the right to define this region—one cold and vast, the other warm and Resilient.

Sizzle—!

Like ice and snow cast into a roaring furnace, like a sharp blade slicing through brocade. After a faint strange sound that struck directly at the level of laws, that incomparably mighty purple Dao talisman—

Less than three inches from Wanhua's brow, it seemed to have been stripped of all power supporting it.

It gave a violent shudder, then turned into countless tiny purple motes, like fireflies in the night sky suddenly flickering out, silently dispersing into nothingness.

There was no earth-shattering explosion, no raging torrent of energy.

Only a wisp of an imperceptible breeze, carrying an icy aftertaste, brushed across Wanhua's cheek and stirred a few strands of hair at his temples.

Blocked!

In an almost "literary duel" fashion, relying on his profound understanding and application of "principles."

Combined with the wonder of "Subtle Words, Profound Meaning," he had forcibly dissolved Hongjun's wrath-fueled Heavenly Dao killing sigil into nothingness!

Above the East Sea, frozen space resumed its flow, and slowed time returned to normal.

Only the lingering, barely perceptible traces of a Sage's fury and the aftermath of clashing laws proved that the heart-stopping scene just now had not been an illusion.

Wanhua slowly withdrew his finger and gently exhaled a breath of turbid air. The Literary Qi roiling within him gradually settled.

Though he had successfully neutralized this attack, he also clearly recognized the gap between himself and an established Sage—especially Hongjun, who wielded the Jade Disk of Creation and had progressed in merging with the Heavenly Dao—in terms of control and accumulated power.

"Fellow Daoist Hongjun," Wanhua said, his gaze calmly fixed in the direction of Jade Capital Mountain, his voice not loud.

Yet it echoed clearly upon a certain plane. "This manner of receiving a guest cannot be called hospitality, can it?"

His tone was mild, as though that life-and-death clash had merely been an ordinary spar between friends.

Yet these bland words carried more force than any furious roar, clearly conveying a single message—

I, Wanhua, have attained Primordial Chaos! I have taken your move! And I took it in my own way!

Across the Primordial Era, those Great Powers secretly watching this place suffered another tremendous shock to their minds.

They had originally believed that this Wanhua, who had suddenly emerged from nowhere, would be severely wounded even if he did not die beneath Sage Hongjun's wrathful strike—at the very least, he should have been left in a wretched state.

But what had they seen?

That Heavenly Dao killing sigil which made their souls tremble had actually been, through a method unheard of and unseen before, casually... "spoken" out of existence?!

This was not a contest of brute force. This was the victory of principle! It was another kind of "order" challenging the order of the Heavenly Dao—and it had, for the time being, gained a foothold!

Wanhua, the Literary Dao, the Myriad Dao Celestial Tome... these names now bore an incomparably heavy weight in the hearts of every Great Power.

Upon Jade Capital Mountain, Hongjun's face remained expressionless. Sage radiance flowed around him, concealing all joy and anger.

Yet deep within those profound eyes, vast as a sea of stars, a thread of ultimate coldness and killing intent settled ever deeper, like ice that had endured through countless ages.

Their first clash had seemed evenly matched, with Wanhua perhaps even gaining a slight advantage through cleverness.

But the true storm was clearly only beginning to gather.

Wanhua no longer paid heed to the startled and doubtful gazes cast upon him from all directions through unseen means.

He turned and looked down at the three immortal islands beneath him, wreathed in immortal light and magnificent in their myriad aspects—Penglai, Fangzhang, and Yingzhou.

It was time to establish a dojo of his own and let the light of the Literary Dao truly take root in this Primordial Era.

With a sweep of his sleeve, Primordial Chaos Literary Qi surged forth. He proclaimed in a ringing voice that carried across the four seas:

"Three islands, unite!"