The blood-red veins spread far faster than anyone could have imagined.
In just a few breaths, the Black and White Jade Disc that had only just appeared—the artifact that governed the balance of Heaven and Earth—was already covered over most of its surface in densely packed, blood-red cracks. Its once pure, translucent glow, suffused with the rhythms of yin and yang, was slowly swallowed and obscured by dark, bloody light.
The crisp hum gradually warped, turning hoarse. What had begun as the grand sound of the Dao that balanced Heaven and Earth became a cacophony of countless sounds filled with resentment, grief, and screams.
Billions of years.
Countless generations of living beings had been born in ignorance and offered up in ignorance. They had labored all their lives, passively nourishing the Heavens Chess Game, never knowing until death that they were merely kindling for their ancestors' schemes, mere sustenance for the Heavens to devour.
Their unwillingness, despair, and hatred; the life they had never gotten to live, and the fate that had led them to die unjustly—all of it had never faded. The Balance Jade Disc had secretly collected it all, letting it settle in the deepest reaches of its origin.
The ancient sages had believed they could suppress this resentment forever and slowly resolve it once the day came to turn the tables.
But they had never imagined that, after countless ages, at the very moment their trump card appeared, the resentment of all living beings, accumulated over countless years, would completely break free under the dual provocation of the Heavens' pressure and the aura of Chaos.
Resentment awakened, and balance collapsed.
An inaudible, chilling cold spread through the air, instantly covering every corner of the ruined land.
The surviving creatures, whose vitality had been stripped away by the divine light of the Heavens and whose souls had been tormented by the marks of their contracts, now convulsed violently. Fear and confusion had vanished from their eyes, replaced by a frenzied malice born of countless cycles of reincarnation.
Every remaining trace of life in Heaven and Earth unconsciously responded to the Jade Disc's rampaging resentment.
"Something's wrong!"
Kallen's expression changed drastically. His Purple Saiyan Battle Qi exploded around him as he tried to drive away the chilling malice clinging to his body. "This isn't an invasion by an outside enemy. It's the origin of all living beings in our world turning against itself!"
A Saiyan's combat instincts were exceptionally keen. He could clearly sense that the Dao rhythms of this land had fallen into utter chaos.
The rules of Heaven and Earth, which had once stood in opposition and balanced one another, had completely collapsed. The origin that had protected living beings no longer endured. In its place was an extreme madness that sought to destroy and avenge everything. To be alive was a sin; to reproduce was a mistake. The pain that had endured for countless ages would drag the entire world down with it.
Frieza's pale Emperor Energy surged rapidly around him, firmly keeping the swirling bloody malice at bay. For the first time, a hint of apprehension appeared in his usually cold eyes.
He had seen star rivers collapse, civilizations go extinct, and Chaos bring about the end of the world, but never had he witnessed a disaster so strange.
The Heavens' slaughter was judgment by the rules; Chaos's annihilation was devouring without order. But the calamity of resentment before them was the accumulated despair of countless generations of living beings—a self-destruction rooted in the very foundation of the universe. It made no distinction, offered no balance, and left no way out. Once it fully erupted, this universe would shatter from within, leaving not even the slightest fragment of its dimensional foundation.
"The ancient sages won their wager on the grand scheme, but lost their wager on the hearts of the people," Frieza said, his voice low and icy.
They had poured the lives of countless generations into forging a supreme treasure that could turn the tables. It seemed like a grand scheme, but in truth, it had been doomed from the very beginning. The blood and tears of countless innocents could never be suppressed forever. If they were forcibly used as bargaining chips in a game, sooner or later they would bring about a devastating backlash.
The Golden Super Saiyan strode through the air, unfurling a vast barrier of golden origin power to temporarily hold back the rampaging blood-red resentment over a wide area. His eyes, weathered by countless ages, held only boundless sorrow and regret.
"They wanted to turn the tables on the Heavens and end Chaos's hegemony at the smallest possible cost. But in the end, their greatest enemy was never the Outer-Domain Supreme or the Chaos Royal Clan. It was the fate of the living beings they had sacrificed for countless ages."
Human schemes could never defy the cycle of Heaven's Dao.
The hope they had bought by sacrificing all living beings had ultimately become a calamity that would bury them all.
Above the heavens, the Seven-Colored Supreme Avatar hovered in the air, coldly surveying the chaos below. His tense body relaxed completely, and the apprehension in his eyes gave way to mockery.
"Cleverness turned into disaster."
His cool divine voice pierced through layer upon layer of bloody malice and echoed across Heaven and Earth.
"I haven't even brought my full strength to bear, and your own trump card, kept hidden for countless ages, has already destroyed you. The ancient scheme was meticulously planned for ages, yet in the end it failed because of the resentment of the very ants it had always scorned. How laughable, how pitiful, how hateful."
For the Supremes of the Heavens, this was the best possible outcome.
They would not have to expend their supreme origins or fight a bloody battle across dimensions. This universe would be swallowed and destroyed by the resentment it had accumulated itself. The threat would vanish on its own, the game would end on its own, and the granary they had relied on for countless ages would collapse by itself, cutting off every possibility of revolt.
Nearby, the Chaos King's massive shadow slowly unfurled, and a greedy light flickered in his hollow eyes.
The rampaging resentment of all living beings, the broken and unbalanced origin of balance, the universe's crumbling foundation of the Dao—all were the purest sustenance for disorder.
The Chaos Power, once restrained by the Balance Dao Rules, now completely broke free of its suppression. It poured through the boundless bloody malice, seeping in, devouring, and growing stronger.
"The universe is in chaos, and its origin is scattered," the Chaos King rasped. "It won't be long before this world becomes an ownerless wasteland. All the remaining origin, resentment, and shattered Dao rules will belong to Chaos."
The Heavens waited to reap the harvest, while Chaos stood ready to devour the remains.
Resentment devoured the world from within, while two overlapping calamities watched hungrily from without.
In just a few moments, the Fate Defier's game, which had only just glimpsed the light of dawn, plunged into an abyss. The situation was more hopeless than ever.
At the center of the formation, Lin Chen stood motionless for a long while, his heart weighed down by an overwhelming heaviness.
He was the only one who knew every secret in full: the ancient sages' courage and selfishness, the innocence and sorrow of all living beings across countless ages, and both the power and hidden danger of the Balance Jade Disc.
He had been enraged by the injustice of fate and unwilling to accept that generation after generation had been used as sacrifices. He had wanted only to topple the Heavens Chess Game and break the Chaos Shackles.
But at that moment, he suddenly understood that this game, which had spanned countless ages, had never had a true victor.
The sages had won the groundwork for their grand scheme, but lost the hearts of the people. The Heavens had won their harvest across the ages, but lost the ultimate balance. Chaos had seized its chance amid the calamity, but remained bound forever.
Only the countless ordinary living beings had been sacrifices from beginning to end.
"We can't let this keep spiraling out of control."
Lin Chen abruptly lifted his head. All the sorrow in his eyes faded, leaving only utter resolve.
The blood-red resentment was still rampaging, and the Balance Jade Disc's origin of balance was rapidly draining away. If things were allowed to worsen, the entire Earth would shatter first in less than half an hour, severing the foundation of this universe's Dao. By then, every act of resistance, every scheme, and every hope would turn to nothing.
He stepped out from the center of the formation, and his ancient golden bloodline surged to its full power. The Ancient Universe Origin flowing through him resonated faintly with the Jade Disc's origin in the Earth Core Secret Realm.
As the only person in this era to unlock the complete memories of antiquity and inherit the universe's origin, he was the only one who could touch the Jade Disc's resentment, restrain it, and soothe it.
"You three, keep the Heavens' avatar and the Chaos King occupied. Guard the four directions and don't let outside forces interfere with me," Lin Chen said gravely. His voice cut through the countless cacophonous sounds and reached all three clearly. "The Jade Disc went out of control because of the sacrifices made across countless ages. We, the Fate Defiers of this generation, must clean up the mess ourselves."
There was no hesitation and no retreat.
The troubles left by those who came before, the unfinished game they left behind—the next generation had to carry it on.
"Leave it to us!"
Kallen answered at once, his purple battle aura surging into the sky as the Saiyan Clan's ironclad fighting spirit blazed to life. "We won't let the two Outer Realm factions disturb you!"
Before his words had even faded, he shot through the air to face the Seven-Colored Supreme Avatar in the heavens. His fists, wrapped in power capable of shattering stars, struck first. The Saiyans' pride, tempered by countless ages of restraint, erupted completely. He no longer defended passively, but fought the enemy head-on.
Frieza's Emperor Energy surged to its limit. A pale curtain of light spread across half the sky, and his icy killing intent locked onto the Chaos King. "The world I guard isn't a place for Chaos trash to covet the remains. Today, I'll settle the debt for your devouring over countless ages once and for all!"
The Golden Super Saiyan's gaze was resolute. He unleashed his ancient origin power to its fullest, spreading a golden barrier to hold back the rampaging resentment and stabilize the world's crumbling foundation of the Dao, silently securing the last pocket of safety for Lin Chen.
The four supreme origins once again took up their separate roles, fighting desperately to protect a world on the brink of destruction.
Lin Chen drew a deep breath and completely calmed his mind.
He cast aside every distracting thought and fully unfurled his soul. Following the ley lines, the universe's origin, and the threads of fate that had connected countless ages, he linked himself completely to the rampaging Black and White Jade Disc.
In an instant, billions of shattered images flooded his soul.
There was the grief of common children dying young, the resentment of cultivators who had spent their lives in bitter cultivation only to become sustenance, the despair of geniuses who had broken through their limits only to have the rules steal the fruits of their efforts, the sorrow of flourishing civilizations perishing in an instant...
Across countless ages, innumerable fragmented, bitter, despairing obsessions had piled upon one another, gathering into an endless ocean of resentment.
This resentment did not hate the sages for their schemes, nor did it hate the Heavens for their plunder.
It hated only that they had been born as pawns, that being alive was a sin, that their continued existence meant sacrifice—that they had never been given a choice, never been granted freedom.
"I know your pain. I know your resentment. I know the despair of being unable to control your own fates, life after life."
Lin Chen spoke softly with his soul, his voice gentle yet firm as it carried across the entire ocean of resentment.
"Our ancient predecessors used you as kindling for their game across countless ages, robbing you of freedom and life for generation after generation. Today, I won't make excuses, whitewash their actions, or shirk responsibility."
"But in the name of the Fate Defier of this generation, I swear that no future generation will be reduced to pawns, that this world will no longer be turned into a granary, and that this tragedy will never repeat itself through the ages."
"Every backlash, every sin, every unfinished mess today—I'll bear it all myself."
His soul power became a gentle golden light, tenderly enveloping the wildly surging blood-red resentment.
A miracle quietly unfolded.
The blood-red veins, which had been raging and devouring the origin, slowed their frenzy ever so slightly upon hearing his vow. The overwhelming resentment and malice began, faintly, to subside.
The Black and White Jade Disc's violent trembling gradually eased. The balance origin tainted by blood showed the first signs of a slow recovery.
But just as the situation was about to stabilize—
Crack!
From the depths of a distant Outer Realm dimension came a thunderous sound, as if the walls between worlds had shattered across the Heavens.
The Seven Supremes' dimensions, which had sent down only a single avatar projection, suddenly split open to reveal seven enormous divine chasms stretching across countless ages!
Seven utterly different supreme auras, each powerful enough to crush the multiverse, pierced through the dimensions and locked onto this ruined universe.
The avatars sent earlier had only been a test, a threat, and a prelude to retribution.
At that moment, all seven Supremes of the Heavens arrived across dimensions in their true forms!
At the same time, the Chaos King's shadow expanded violently. The ultimate Chaos origin, suppressed by contracts for countless ages, was completely unsealed. A black torrent of destruction filled the entire void, and he fixed a cold stare on the arriving Seven Supremes.
The ultimate calamity of Chaos, held back for countless ages, and the ultimate battle with the Supremes of the Heavens would now erupt in full upon this world, which had only just managed to regain a sliver of life.
The resentment of countless ages, which Lin Chen had only just partially calmed, instantly went berserk again beneath the terrifying pressure of the two ultimate powers!
An even more terrifying wave of blood surged violently from the Black and White Jade Disc.
Most deadly of all, deep in his soul, among the obsessions of countless living beings he had just received, an unfamiliar wisp of thought that belonged to none of them quietly took root. It clung silently to the deepest part of the Jade Disc's origin, lying in wait as it secretly devoured it.
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