End and Rebirth

The northern wind and snow howled, and heaven and earth were black as ink. Yu Xiaogang stood atop Soul Severance Cliff, cracks spreading through the ice beneath his feet as though the entire world trembled before the coming upheaval. The Dao Seed Stele clenched in his hand glowed with interwoven dark blue and golden-red light—the sign that Dao Seed fragments from the Douluo Dalu I World and Douluo Dalu II World were resonating.

"Yang Jun... you really came?" he murmured, his gaze piercing the snowstorm toward the faint red streak on the distant horizon.

He could not understand it. Yang Jun had not undergone the Dao Seed Empowerment of the Far North Thunder Valley, nor had he mastered the complete method of Soul Transference Technique. By all reason, the two worlds had been completely cut apart by temporal barriers. Only holders of Dao Seeds could use the stele's inscriptions and Runes to tear open the void.

Yet last night, the Dao Seed Stele had suddenly begun to hum on its own, and a line of ancient seal script had appeared upon its surface:

Suddenly, the southern sky seemed to tear apart, revealing a crimson rift. From within it, a figure streaked forward like a meteor. The figure held an enormous hammer and scythe, radiating dazzling light.

As the figure gradually came into focus, Yu Xiaogang discovered in astonishment that it was Yang Jun! How had he appeared here? Yu Xiaogang's heart was filled with questions.

Yet when he examined Yang Jun closely, he finally understood. Yang Jun had not crossed time and space through Dao arts, but through the power of his unwavering Dao heart.

Yang Jun had always worried for Yu Xiaogang's safety, while also carrying the fate of the Soul Workers in his heart. This deep obsession had unexpectedly resonated with the Dao Seed Stele, allowing him to use the power of the Hammer and Scythe Gate to forcibly tear open a rift and cross into this world.

"So that's how it is..." Yu Xiaogang murmured. "A Dao Seed has never been merely a kind of power. It is also a belief." He raised his head to gaze at the sky, determination flashing in his eyes.

"Yang Jun, you're here." Yu Xiaogang's voice carried a trace of relief. "Since you're here, then let us reignite the spark of hope for this world together."

Deep within the underground altar of the Soul Worker Organization, Yu Xiaogang and Yang Jun finally reunited. Their gazes met, and each could feel the other's determination and faith.

The altar had been built from ancient Soul Crystals, its walls carved with erased history: Soul Masters shackled in chains, using Soul Power to drive massive machines and construct the Sky Soul Palace for the nobles; children branded with the mark of "Soul Worker" before even awakening their martial souls, condemned to lifelong labor.

"What you see is three thousand years of darkness." Yang Jun pointed to the statue at the center of the altar—a gray-robed man holding a hammer and scythe, standing amid wind and snow with countless awakened Soul Masters behind him. "He was the first person to say, 'Soul Masters are not tools.'"

He plunged the Dao Hammer-Scythe into the statue's base. In an instant, the Runes flowed like blood, and the entire altar lit up. A holographic projection appeared—

The gray-robed man threw back his head and roared. His Soul Power transformed into a hammer and scythe, splitting open the heavens and raining down showers of light. A voice rang out from the sky:

Yu Xiaogang was shaken. "This... isn't a martial soul. It is the manifestation of the Collective Will of Soul Masters!"

Yang Jun nodded. "I used the blood of a thousand Soul Workers as the catalyst to open the Hammer and Scythe Gate. They gave this weapon to me."

He explained that when the Soul Workers had shouted together, "We are not tools," their Soul Power had gathered in the air and formed this Dao Hammer-Scythe. It had no fixed soul rings, yet it could evolve according to its wielder's will: into a warhammer to crush enemies, a scythe to reap the authority of oppressors, or a shield to protect the weak.

"So the hammer and scythe were never the martial soul of any particular world." Yang Jun said, "They are the embodiment of the collective will of all oppressed Soul Masters, the Dao Seed's projection in different worlds."

Yu Xiaogang finally attained enlightenment. In the Douluo World, the Dao Seed had become the art of Soul Bone Return to Origin, redeeming Spirit Hall; in the world ten thousand years later, it had become the Soul Worker martial soul, awakening enslaved Soul Masters. The hammer and scythe were the embodiment of that will—not tools, but symbols.

At that moment, the heavens trembled.

The King of Scepters' remnant soul had not perished. Using a secret art, it summoned the Eye of Divine Punishment—the final power of an evil god's lingering will. It floated high in the sky, golden lightning coiling around it like dragons. Within the thunderclouds appeared an enormous phantom, like a god descending.

"You think a broken tool can overturn an order that has lasted a thousand years?" the King of Scepters' phantom roared. "Soul Masters are meant to be slaves! That is the Heavenly Dao! That is order! That is divine law!"

Yu Xiaogang sneered. "The Heavenly Dao? Your so-called Heavenly Dao is nothing but a fig leaf for the strong to enslave others. The true Dao is Soul Master Equality."

He stepped into the void. The Dao Seed Stele hovered above him, its surface Runes flowing as it resonated with the Hammer and Scythe Gate, forming a Dao Seed barrier that shut out the pressure of the Eye of Divine Punishment.

Yang Jun followed close behind, raising the Dao Hammer-Scythe high as he declared:

In an instant, the Soul Power of countless Soul Workers converged, becoming a crimson pillar of light that shot into the heavens. Using the Dao Seed Stele as a guide, Yu Xiaogang condensed that power into the Dao Soul Blade, merging it with Yang Jun's Dao Hammer-Scythe.

"Cleave—!"

With a single slash, the Eye of Divine Punishment shattered. The evil god's lingering will let out one final wail before being utterly annihilated.

The heavens split open, and showers of light descended. The chains of the Noble Soul Hall snapped one by one, while the dungeons imprisoning the Soul Workers collapsed with a thunderous crash.

Three days after the Noble Soul Hall fell, a new order was established.

Upon its former site rose the Soul Dao Deliberative Council—jointly governed by Soul Workers, reformist nobles, and scholars of Soul Tool Technology. At the center of the council hall stood an enormous Soul Master Stele Forest, every stone stele engraved with the name of an awakened Soul Master.

Yu Xiaogang stood upon the high platform, his voice carrying across the west:

The crowd erupted in earth-shaking cheers.

Yang Jun stood beside him and said softly, "This is the true meaning of the Dao."

Several days later, the Dao Seed Stele trembled once more.

The temporal barrier between the two worlds was about to close. Yu Xiaogang and Yang Jun stood before the Hammer and Scythe Gate, looking at each other.

"Can you return?" Yang Jun asked.

"The Dao Seed Stele will take me back." Yu Xiaogang smiled. "But you..."

"I'll stay." Yang Jun looked toward the awakened Soul Masters in the distance. "This place needs an heir to the Dao Seed as well. If the Dao Seed exists in only one person, it will eventually be extinguished. Only the heartfire of the masses can spread into a prairie blaze."

Yu Xiaogang nodded and gently split the Dao Seed Stele in two:

He gave one half to Yang Jun and kept the other for himself.

"From this day forth, Dual Inheritance of Dao Seed, Myriad Realms Shine Together." Those were his final words before stepping into the rift.

Douluo Dalu I World, the former site of Solitary Cultivation Hall.

Yu Xiaogang returned and embedded half of the Dao Seed Stele into the stone foundation. Upon its surface, the Runes of the hammer and scythe still shone. Whenever the moon was full, a line of small words would appear upon the stele:

Meanwhile, in the Douluo Dalu II World, Yang Jun stood before the newly erected Soul Master Stele Forest as thousands of Soul Masters held hammers and scythes and swore in unison:

The wind rose, and the hammer and scythe fluttered fiercely.

The spark had become a prairie fire.

One night, a youth picked up a Dao Seed fragment from the ground, a glimmer flashing through his eyes.

He whispered, "Soul Masters... are not tools."

In an instant, the fragment became a streak of light and entered his brow.

A new Dao Seed was sprouting.