Inside the Purple-Gold Gourd, within the Chaos Palace, Li Yunjing sat cross-legged on the central meditation cushion.
The fragment of the Dao Trace Stone floated before him.
He drew a deep breath. Visions of chaos first opening and the Life and Death of Thunder flashed through his eyes.
"Chaos is undying; all arts return to their origin."
"Let me see what secrets you hide within this Remnant of the Dao!"
He slowly extended his right hand, gently touching his index finger to the dim, flickering point of light at the center of the Dao Trace Stone fragment.
The instant his fingertip touched the light-
Buzzzz!!!
Li Yunjing felt as though hundreds of millions of thunderbolts had exploded simultaneously within his sea of consciousness!
Endless streams of "Dao" and "principle," chaotic and heterogeneous yet holding the most fundamental mysteries of heaven and earth, surged madly into his soul like a flood bursting through a dam!
Bizarre scenes beyond imagination flashed before his "eyes," shattering and reforming-
He seemed to witness heaven and earth opening, the clear and turbid separating, only to return to chaos in an instant-
He saw stars being born, evolving, declining, turning into brilliant nebulae, then condensing into black holes-
He saw life sprouting, flourishing, struggling, and withering; the sparks of civilization igniting, sweeping across the plains, and dying out-
He saw the long river of time flowing endlessly, yet twisting, reversing, and branching in certain places-
He saw dense threads of karma connecting all things, only to snap violently at certain junctions, triggering cascading collapses-
Chaos!
Disorder!
Contradiction!
Yet all of it contained an indescribable "principle" that stood above everything!
Pfft!
Li Yunjing's body shook violently, and his face instantly turned deathly pale. Blood surged up his throat, but he forced it back down. Merely making initial