One Against Four
Black and White Vortex stirred up a hundred-mile-long shockwave above the Star Core fragments, its edges shimmering with a bluish-black light. Each surge caused violent fluctuations in the gravitational field of the surrounding Star Realms. The blood-red petals of the Reverse Life Tree were over ten feet wide, their edges swirling with the golden light of Chaos Fire. When they collided with the dissipating black mist of the Dark Sky Walker, the resulting Stardust streaked across the void like a meteor shower. Where the Stardust fell, tiny spatial folds appeared out of thin air. These Stardust condensed into rice-grain-sized points of light at the center of the vortex. Within these points of light, not only were the outlines of mountains and rivers visible, but also nascent clouds flowing among the mountains and streams rushing through the valleys—this Chaos Realm Prototype had quietly acquired the foundation for a complete ecological cycle.
The remnants of souls peeled away layer by layer in the vortex. As the blood faded from the armored warrior's remnant soul, the armor scales turned into stardust. The stardust fell into points of light, piling up to form a continuous mountain range. The shape of the main peak of the mountain range was exactly the same as the sacred mountain that the warrior had guarded in his life. The staff of the staff-wielding cultivator shattered into a rain of light. The rain of light fell into points of light, turning into a winding river. Tiny runes floated in the river, which were the essence of the Water System Spells that the cultivator had studied all his life. The remnant soul of a child stretched out its limbs in the blue light, turning into the first ray of dawn in the points of light. When the dawn swept across the "mountain range", it actually gave birth to several tender green grass sprouts at the "foot of the mountain". Ren Xiaoyao used the Chaos Origin as a guide to wash away the resentment accumulated over billions of years into the purest Life Factors. He not only injected them into the new world, but also allowed these factors to continue their meaning of existence in the new balance, carrying their own "obsessions".
"No! My billions of years of foundation!" The Dark Sky Walker's roar shattered into dust within the vortex, each grain transforming into a hideous demonic face, only to be instantly smoothed over by the Black and White Qi within the vortex. His dark purple eyes flickered three times in a row: the first flash showed the scene of him devouring the first star system, the second the moment he betrayed the Sky Walker Inheritance, and the third the figure of Ren Xiaoyao at this moment—like a sigh of unwillingness, or a belated repentance. His last wisp of essence was twisted into threads by the Black and White Qi, which wrapped around the thirty-seventh branch of the Reverse Life Tree, condensing into a half-black, half-green leaf. As the leaf unfurled, the ancient seal script characters "Life and Death" revealed at the veins began to circulate on their own. When the character "Life" lit up, three new leaves appeared on the tree; when the character "Death" lit up, three old leaves turned into specks of light and fell, causing the tree to tremble slightly, as if paying homage to a new balance through its own withering and flourishing.
Ren Xiaoyao raised his hand to retract his stance, the Black and White Qi in his palm receding like flowing water, leaving faint traces of light in its wake. These traces lingered, outlining the shape of Tai Chi Symbol in the air. He stared at the strange leaf, and when his fingertips were three inches from the leaf, it suddenly oozed a dark liquid. The liquid dripped onto the Star Core fragment, but instead of evaporating directly, it corroded a fine Rune Formation Diagram on the rock surface. The moment the array lit up, three twisted black shadows surged out from the array's eye. As the shadows landed, the temperature of the surrounding void plummeted below freezing, even light was frozen into icicles. In the images refracted by the icicles, countless Dark Celestial Bodies were collapsing, revealing unfathomable Void at their cores, from which countless eyes could be Void seen peering.
"How dare a mere newly Equilibrium Master meddle in the origins of the Heavenly Walker?"
The first dark figure suddenly expanded, transforming into a three-zhang-tall Bone Armor Giant. His head was half Dragon Head Skull, golden claw marks remaining where the dragon's horns had broken off, clearly old wounds inflicted by a powerful being. The Ethereal Blue Ghost Fire flickering in his eye sockets were no ordinary matter, but were refined from the core essence of ninety-nine stars. With each flicker of the flames, a star in a distant Star Realms instantly extinguished. The Black Mucus seeping from the cracks in his skeletal armor carried a strong, sweet-smelling stench; the Star Core rocks where the drips fell not only melted but also transformed into black worms. The worms devoured each other, instantly growing into giant pythons several zhang long. Just as the pythons were about to pounce on Ren Xiaoyao, they were gently blown away by the Chaos Current flowing around him, turning into wisps of smoke and dissipating. Most terrifying was the Battle Axe in his hand, its blade engraved with Destruction Map of ninety-nine star systems, the systems in the map visibly heading towards their end; within the Ethereal Blue Ghost Fire embedded in the axe blade, countless creatures could be seen struggling in the fire—this Battle Axe itself was a mobile Purgatory.
"Black Prison War Lord, by the Order of World Destruction, I shall take your soul!" The moment the giant stepped forward, fragments of the Star Core beneath his feet exploded, creating a bottomless abyss. Within the abyss, not only did Black Lava erupt, but shattered remnants of star rings floated and sank in the magma. Wherever the Black Lava passed, the newly formed Chaos Current was frozen into Black Ice Crystals. The struggling Spiritual Energy Particles within the Ice Crystals were not colliding randomly, but rather enacting the final lament of the Galactic Civilizations destroyed by the Black Prison War Lord.
The moment the Battle Axe swept across, the void was torn apart like brocade by immense force, emitting a piercing tearing sound. Millions of chains emerged from the black shockwave, each chain formed from billions of Dark Runes, their barbs shimmering with Corrosive Laws capable of directly disintegrating the basic structure of Spiritual Qi and matter. As the chains pierced towards Ren Xiaoyao, the Chaos Current flowing around him emitted wisps of green smoke, within which countless tiny phantoms of life emerged—the remnants of life corrupted by the chains.
Instead of retreating, Ren Xiaoyao advanced. The illusory image of the Chaos Cauldron in his left palm swelled a thousandfold, Black and White Qi emanating from its mouth formed distinct layers: Black Airflow at the bottom and white energy at the top, their flow exhibiting a rhythmic alternation of sun and moon. Within the hundred-zhang-diameter "Tai Chi Vortex" that condensed before him, the illusory image of the Reverse Life Tree rose from the ground. The patterns on its trunk perfectly matched the cracks in Ren Xiaoyao's Chaos Cauldron within his dantian. Crimson petals rained down like a storm, landing on the Black Chains with a hissing sound. The sound caused fine cracks to appear on the surface of the chains—those chains, built on destruction, came into contact with the life force within the petals, and the Dark Runes inside began to crumble. As the barbs shattered into dust, countless tiny points of light flew out from the dust, which were the Life Origin devoured by the chains. When the chains themselves transformed into Black Soil to nourish the roots of the tree shadow, countless small white flowers bloomed on the roots, and in the stamen of each flower, a saved soul slept peacefully.
"Snap!"
The instant the Tai Chi Vortex collided with the Battle Axe, the Bone Armor Giant's Dragon Head Skull jerked backward, his jawbone dislodged in shock. His prized World-Destroying Battle Axe was riddled with spiderweb-like cracks, from which seeped black liquid—the resentment of the countless lives devoured by the Battle Axe. The Ethereal Blue Ghost Fire on the axe blade were extinguished one by one by the azure light within the vortex. The extinguished flames did not dissipate but transformed into starlight, merging into the Chaos Realm Prototype behind Ren Xiaoyao. The exposed grayish-white bone body was riddled with fine holes, each containing scorch marks from the backlash of its own Dark Energy —this Battle Axe, proud of destruction, revealed its already corrupted nature before the power of "Life-Death Balance."
What horrified him even more was that the Origin Power infused into the Battle Axe was flowing backward along the handle. Wherever it passed, the black energy beneath the bone armor sprouted tender green shoots. These shoots weren't growing forcefully, but rather taking root in the black energy in a bizarre "symbiotic" manner: the shoots absorbed the Destructive Energy within the black energy while simultaneously nurturing a sliver of life, calming the black energy's rage. In the blink of an eye, the vines had covered the giant's entire body. The Flower Buds that swelled at the nodes of the vines suddenly bloomed, revealing black flowers. The nectar dripping from the center of the flowers onto the bone armor, which was as hard as Star Core, melted away like ice and snow, revealing the veins beneath flowing black energy. Purified by the green light of the vines, these veins were gradually turning from black to a bluish-gold color, and the energy flowing within them was beginning to take the form of Chaos Current.
Ren Xiaoyao's right palm, wielding a scythe-like phantom, slashed through the void. The flowing cyan-gold patterns on the jet-black blade, upon closer inspection, revealed countless tiny "birth and death" runes cycling endlessly. The instant the blade flashed past, there was no earth-shattering roar, only an eerie silence—even light and sound were temporarily swallowed by this strike. The Black Prison War Lord's body dissolved into countless wisps of smoke within the blade's light. Half of these wisps were dissipated black energy, and from where the black energy vanished, countless sighs of liberation echoed; the other half were drifting down... A cyan seed, the moment it falls to the ground, grows into a miniature forest on a fragment of the Star Core. In the forest, Spirit Deer, carrying dew-kissed flowers, leaps across a stream. As its hooves ripple across the water, the image of the Black Prison War Lord in his youth emerges—before he fell into darkness, still a warrior Star Realms. On the lotus leaves floating in the stream, each drop of dew reflects a newly born star system, its orbit perfectly filling the cosmic void left by the Star Realms he destroyed.
"The second one." Ren Xiaoyao's gaze fell on the second dark figure. His voice was heavy with the Chaos Current. When he finished speaking, the Star Core fragments trembled, as if heaven and earth were bearing witness to this declaration.
The dark shadow twisted into a whirlwind, from which came the sound of countless ancient books turning. The whirlwind dissipated, revealing an old man in a purple robe. The old man's face was withered like an ancient tree, and tiny Black Crystal were embedded in the wrinkles on his skin—the remnants of Star Core he had corroded. The blood flowing from the cover of the ancient book in his hand was no ordinary substance, but rather the condensed Essence Blood of billions of living beings. As the pages turned, the faces of those beings before their deaths could be seen floating in the blood. Countless wailing souls squeezed out from the seams of the book, each soul dragging a long Black Chains, the other end of which was connected to a page of the ancient book—these souls were the very foundation of the Dark River.
Dark River stretched across the starry sky, its surface thousands of feet wide. The river's water was solidified Dark Energy, so dense that even light could not penetrate it. Floating on its surface were the Star Skeletons, each once a brilliant star. Faint light lingered in the gaps between the skeletons, the last vestiges of their life force. The decaying aura emanating from these skeletons could directly erode the very foundation of the Principle. Wherever this aura passed, the Space Barrier that Ren Xiaoyao had just erected crumbled away like weathered rock.
"I am the Star-Eating Witch Venerable, your Path of Balance is nothing but a joke before the absolute Corrosive Laws!" The old man pointed a withered finger, and the skin at his knuckles instantly peeled off, revealing bones flowing with black energy beneath. The Dark River suddenly reversed course, lunging at Ren Xiaoyao like a giant python. The Star Skeletons in the river opened their jaws, spewing out Gray Mist. The Star Core fragments that the mist touched not only turned into Void, but also left behind the imprint of the Principle of "never having existed" in the Void —this was no longer simple corrosion, but a denial of "existence" itself.
A dual phantom of the Chaos Cauldron and the Scythe appeared around Ren Xiaoyao, with Black and White Qi weaving a flowing Light Membrane on his body. On this Light Membrane, Ancient Runes originating from the light barrier and the Life Patterns of the Reverse Life Tree intertwined to form a net. Tiny Tai Chi Pattern, constantly being born and annihilated at the meshes of the net, were a microscopic manifestation of the "Life-Death Cycle." When the Dark River surged in, the Light Membrane suddenly unfolded, and the "Beginning of Chaos" phenomenon became increasingly clear: the Pure and Turbid Energies cleaved through the darkness like Giant Axe; the clear yang energy rose to become the heavens, transforming into a dazzling Star River, within the Star River one could see the complete process of Planets birth; the turbid yin energy sank to become the earth, solidifying into a thick continent, with magma surging deep within the continent, mountains rising and collapsing, enacting the cycle of geological evolution; between heaven and earth, a seedling broke through the soil. When the seedling's roots entered the Dark River, it did not forcibly absorb the energy, but rather followed the flow of the river, capturing a trace of forgotten life from the gaps in the Destructive Energy.
The saplings quickly grew into towering trees. Where their canopies covered, the dark river water ceased its corrosive influence, transforming into fertile black Fertile Soil. From this Fertile Soil, white mycelium sprouted, connecting to the Star Skeletons at the riverbed and converting the decaying bone matter into nutrients for the trees. The Star Skeletons on the river's surface reassembled within the tree's shadow, with verdant branches and leaves growing from their crevices. Tiny fruits formed among these branches and leaves, and when the fruits split open, tiny insects carrying starlight flew out. These insects soared into the starry sky, eventually coalescing into new stars in the distance. The white light emanating from the star rings intertwined with the blue light of the tree's shadows, creating a wondrous halo in which the Principle of "decay" and "rebirth" danced in harmony.
"You... you're reversing the Principle!" The ancient book in the hands of the Star-Eating Witch Venerable suddenly trembled violently, and the Blood Characters on the pages peeled off, transforming into Blood-colored Butterflies that flew towards the giant tree. The butterflies landed on the leaves, and the Blood Characters were covered by azure light, transforming into four seal characters. "Birth, Growth, Harvest, Storage." After the seal characters merged into the veins of the leaves, the leaves began to experience a complete growth cycle: from tender green to dark green, then to golden yellow, and finally falling to become fertilizer—this was the ultimate interpretation of the Principle "corrosion": corrosion is not the end, but the prelude to rebirth.
What terrified him even more was that tender green buds sprouted from the cuffs of his purple robe. These buds did not devour his body, but rather used his Dark Energy as "soil" to grow leaves with black patterns. The patterns on the leaves were clearly the Life Magic runes he had studied in his youth. With each wisp of darkness he absorbed, a new leaf would grow from the bud. As the new leaf unfolded, the long-sealed memories in his mind began to resurface—those initial aspirations of protection and creation that had been swallowed by darkness.
Ren Xiaoyao pointed his fingers like a sword, the Black and White Qi gathering at his fingertips transforming into fine, hair-like threads of light. The surfaces of these threads shimmered with the dual luster of "time" and "space." As the threads passed through the Dark River, the water automatically parted, and the Dark Energy on either side began to arrange itself in an orderly fashion, forming a double helix structure similar to DNA. The threads landed precisely on the cover of the ancient book. With a "whoosh," the Dark Ancient Books, containing countless secrets of destruction, transformed into countless paper butterflies. The Blood Characters on the butterfly wings were covered by a blue light, revealing runes brimming with life. These runes circled three times in the air. The first circle repaired the Star Core fragments corroded by the Dark River; the second circle awakened the dormant energy nodes in the nearby Star Realms; and the third circle merged into the Chaos Realm behind Ren Xiaoyao. Within this realm, the nascent vegetation instantly grew hundreds of feet tall, and fruits imbued with the Power of Principle sprouted from their trunks.
As the ancient text dissipated, the Star-Eating Witch Venerable let out a piercing scream, a scream half of pain and half of relief. His body became transparent in the azure light, and in the transparency, one could see countless phantoms of the beings he had devoured departing, ultimately transforming into a Black Seeds. The seed was blown by the wind to the roots of a towering tree, and the moment it fell into the Black Soil, it made a crisp "crack." From the cracked fissure, not only did tender green shoots emerge, but a Soul Threads of white Soul Threads also drifted out, flying towards the distant starry sky—the direction of the homeland he had protected in his youth.
The third dark figure remained suspended a hundred feet away, like an amorphous wisp of mist. The mist's density remained constant, neither expanding nor contracting, as if it existed independently of this space-time. From within the mist came countless overlapping voices, like the whispers of millions simultaneously. These voices included the laughter of children, the sighs of elders, the shouts of warriors, and the chants of cultivators—the voices of all the beings devoured by the Dark Sky Walker: "Interesting... the Path of Balance has evolved to such a state. It's a pity that the secret of the Life and Death are of the Same Origin should not be grasped by a weakling like you."
The mist suddenly contracted, transforming into Black Robed Man bore a striking resemblance to Ren Xiaoyao. His facial features were identical, but his skin was as pale as paper, and his eyes held no swirling stars, only an unfathomable Void. Void, a glimmer of light would flash within that void, representing all the moments of "loss" Ren Xiaoyao had experienced. The instant he raised his hand, the surrounding spacetime began to reverse: shattered fragments of the Star Core automatically pieced themselves together, the cracks at the joints gleaming with the gold of time; the remnant souls of the Black Prison War Lord and the Star-Eating Witch Venerable reunited, their reunited souls carrying the peace of liberation; even the Tai Chi Vortex that Ren Xiaoyao had just retracted was forcibly pulled out, and as it swirled back, the vortex no longer contained Black and White Qi, but pure "possibilities"—all the possible future scenarios in which Ren Xiaoyao might fail.
"This Shadow Annihilation is a mirror Mirror Image of the Dark Sky Walker." The Black Robed Man chuckled, his voice identical to Ren Xiaoyao's, down to the slightest pauses in his tone. "The balance you've mastered is nothing but a mirage before ' Absolute Void '."
Before he could finish speaking, Ren Xiaoyao felt a sharp pain throughout his body. The newly merged Black and White Qi clashed violently, and two completely different scenes appeared in the meridians at the point of conflict: on one side was a vibrant grassland, and on the other was a desolate desert; the dark golden aura of the Chaos Cauldron and the pitch-black aura of the Dark Judgment clashed with each other in the meridians, and the flesh at the point of conflict was sometimes regenerated and sometimes decayed; even the golden light in his sea of consciousness dimmed a bit, and where the golden light dimmed, all the doubts and wavering in the depths of his heart surfaced.
Ren Xiaoyao groaned, forcibly suppressing the metallic taste in his throat. The blood contained not only the Death Qi, but also a trace of his own wavering on his Dao Path. He looked at the shadowy figure that resembled himself and suddenly understood the other party's methods— Shadow Annihilation was not attacking his body, but rather materializing the "imbalance" in his heart, trying to make him believe that his Dao Path was merely self-deception, ultimately leading him to repeat the mistakes of the Dark Sky Walker.
"Void?" Ren Xiaoyao's lips curled into a cold smile. The golden light in his sea of consciousness suddenly surged, incorporating all his experiences and insights. "If there is no 'existence,' how can there be 'nothingness'? Your so-called Absolute Void is itself a kind of imbalance—because you deliberately reject the existence of 'existence.'"
He suddenly spread his arms wide, and the golden light in his sea of consciousness merged with the Black and White Qi within his body, forming a Yin-Yang Fish Totems with a diameter of a thousand feet on his body. The black part of the Totems was dotted with golden light spots, which was proof of "existence arising from non-existence"; the white part was distributed with black lines, which was the interpretation of "non-existence originating from existence". The moment the Totems rotated, the Space-time Reversal caused by Shadow Annihilation suddenly stopped, and countless tiny nodes appeared in the void at the point of stagnation. Each node was connected to a Causal Lines - the "past" and "future" that Shadow Annihilation was trying to tamper with.
The remnants of the reunited souls disintegrated once more amidst the Totems's radiance, transforming into black and white streams of energy. Half of them merged into the Chaos Realm behind Ren Xiaoyao, where the nascent continent not only grew mountains and rivers but also gave birth to tiny creatures that followed the Balance Law. The other half drifted toward the Reverse Life Tree, giving birth to Seven-Colored Flowers. When the flowers bloomed, their fragrance could soothe all souls Dark Corruption.
"Impossible! Void cannot be assimilated by any power!" For the first time, Shadow Annihilation's voice trembled, carrying a fear he himself was unaware of. The mist around him churned violently, trying to break free from the Totems's restraints, only to find that his Power of Void was being slowly transformed by the Totems —with each wisp of mist dissipating, a star the size of a grain of rice was born on the spot. Though small, the star fully experienced the cycle of "birth-growth-aging-ending-rebirth," and the vitality contained within this cycle was precisely the "resilience" that Void could not devour.
Ren Xiaoyao stepped into the center of the Totems, facing Shadow Annihilation directly. He clasped his hands together, and the phantoms of the Chaos Cauldron and the scythe merged in his palms, transforming into a Black and White Intertwined Tai Chi Symbol. In the diagram, the dragon and phoenix were no longer simply circling, but rather the dragon darting into the black realm and emerging from the white realm, and the phoenix flying into the white realm and rising from the black realm, demonstrating the "Life-Death Alternation"; the stars were no longer simply born and died, but rather new stars were born where stars extinguished, and Nebula were conceived where new stars Annihilation, interpreting the "cycle of repetition"—this was his ultimate interpretation of "balance" at this moment: balance is not static equality, but dynamic circulation.
"You've got it backwards." Ren Xiaoyao's voice was calm yet carried the majesty of the Principle, each word seeming to emanate from the Cosmic Origin. "It's not that Void encompasses everything, but rather that everything gives birth to Void in the process of creation and destruction. Just like this Tai Chi Symbol, without the flow of black and white, how can there be overall balance? Your deliberate stripping away 'existence' and leaving only 'nothingness' is itself a betrayal of the Principle."