Enlightenment in the Sacred Hall, Longevity Dao Rhyme Evolves Myriad Laws

At the deepest part of the Hongmeng Sacred Hall lay a quiet chamber for enlightenment, utterly unlike the clamor outside. Its four walls were built from Hongmeng Origin Stone. Their surfaces were not smooth, but naturally engraved with densely packed Chaos Runes and Evolutionary Runes. Faint streams of light drifted slowly through the rune patterns; these were phenomena born from the Longevity Dao Rhyme nourishing the stones over countless years and merging with the origin within them. At the center of the chamber sat a three-foot-square Green Stone meditation cushion, covered by a Dao Carpet woven from Chaos Silk. Between its warp and weft lay miniature Dao Rhyme trails invisible to the naked eye. Sitting cross-legged upon it was like being immersed in the chaos of the universe's birth, allowing one to clearly sense the rhythm of the Great Dao's flow.

Before the impassioned echoes of the Council Hall of the Ten Thousand Races had fully faded, Shen Hao had already appeared in this quiet chamber. He had shed the magnificent Dao robe symbolizing his status as the common sovereign and wore only plain-colored clothes, spotless and free of dust. Only at the hem was a pale golden lotus embroidered, formed from condensed Longevity Dao Rhyme. The lotus was still a bud, faintly carrying an air of endless vitality. He walked slowly to the Green Stone cushion without the slightest hesitation, bent his knees, and sat down cross-legged. The instant his eyes slowly closed, the faint aura surrounding him abruptly withdrew. His entire being seemed to merge with the chamber, with the runes on its walls, with the trails upon the Dao Carpet, and with the Great Dao of this world, reaching a nearly perfect harmony.

After the Ten Thousand Races had settled upon the strategy of jointly resisting the