The moment the Seed of Chaos began to circulate steadily within the Heart of the Flame Realm, the entire All-Heavens Hub felt a strange fluctuation—neither the warmth of existence nor the coldness of Return to Silence, but a "neutralizing" power that encompassed all things. The light of the Memory Core thus became even softer, and even the Emissary of Returning to Silence at the edge of the Absolute Blank Zone experienced a brief pause.
"This is... the power of chaos?" Qing He stared in amazement at the gray-gold aura surrounding Xiao Yan. Where the aura passed, the blank spaces left by the erosion of Return to Silence on the Star Patrollers flagship began to slowly recover. Although it could not be completely restored, it left a faint mark of "having existed before".
Xiao Yan nodded, and with a flick of his wrist, a wisp of gray-gold energy condensed into a miniature star in his palm. Within the star, the silvery-white Order and the inky-black Return to Silence swirled like yin and yang fish, both restraining and nourishing each other. "It neither destroys Return to Silence nor condones its existence, but merely maintains the two in a 'dynamic balance'."
He looked out the window at the absolute emptiness. "The crack in the Return to Stillness Core will heal in less than three days. We must arrive before then."
The Star Patrollers leader's crystalline head glowed blue. "According to calculations, at maximum speed, the ' New Journey ' and the Star Patrollers flagship will need two and a half days to reach the Return to Stillness Core. However, the disordered laws within the blank area may cause the space jump to fail."
"No need to leap," Xiao Yan said calmly. "We need to walk steadily, leaving a mark of 'existence' with every step, allowing the power of the Seed of Chaos to permeate in advance, paving the way for the final fusion."
On the eve of their departure, A Yao gave Xiao Yan a dried Samsara Flower Reincarnation Flower. Although the petal had lost its vitality, it firmly locked the memory imprints of countless living beings, and a trace of the ink of Return to Silence remained on its edge—the trace of her forcibly merging "existence" and " Return to Silence " with her last bit of primordial power.
"Take it with you." A Yao's voice was filled with reluctance. "The Flower King said it might help you stabilize the Seed of Chaos."
Xiao Yan took the petal, feeling its familiar warmth on his fingertips. He put the petal into his storage bag, then looked at Qing He: "The protection of the Balance Tower and the Memory Core is now entrusted to you."
"Don't worry." Qing He gripped the reforged longsword, the blank spaces on its blade now shimmering with a faint gray-gold hue. "As long as I have a breath left, I won't let the Emissary of Returning to Silence get even a step closer to the core."
The consciousness of the Blazing Sun Realm Lord also drifted over, its flames burning even hotter than before. "I will lead the Vanguard Battalion to deploy defenses Outer Realm, buying you time."
Looking at his comrades-in-arms, Xiao Yan felt a surge of warmth in his heart. He knew that this journey was not a solitary one; it was supported by the beliefs and memories of countless lives.
The following morning, a small fleet consisting of the " New Journey " and the Star Patrollers flagship slowly sailed into the completely empty area.
Unlike last time, this time the fleet was not hindered by the Emissary of Returning to Silence. The blank area was eerily quiet, so quiet that even starlight could not penetrate it. Only the gray-gold light emitted by the Seed of Chaos created a safe zone around the ship. Wherever the light passed, the "absolute nothingness" rippled slightly, as if some dormant attribute had been awakened.
" The Power of Chaos is activating the latent laws within the 'void'," the Star Patrollers leader exclaimed. "According to the detection, the space here is slowly 'recovering.' Although it is still nothingness, it has gained the attribute of 'potential existence.'"
Xiao Yan stood on the bridge, feeling the resonance Seed of Chaos and the Return to Stillness Core. The resonance grew stronger and stronger, like a call, yet also like a resistance. He could "see" the cracks in the Return to Stillness Core healing rapidly, the dark primordial power surging like a tide, attempting to completely devour the purple-gold Power of Existence.
"One more day," he said in a deep voice. "Speed up, charge straight for the weakest point in the core."
The fleet tore through layers of nothingness, speeding toward the center of the blank area. The closer they got to the core, the greater the pressure of the surrounding laws became. The surface of the ship kept appearing blank and then returning in a cycle. The cultivators barely held on by relying on the imprint of the Memory Core. Everyone's face was tired, but their eyes were unusually firm.
When the massive and oppressive outline of the Return to Stillness Core came into view, the crack was reduced to a single, barely visible fissure, on the verge of complete healing. The figures of the Three Lord of Return to Stillness hovered around the core, their inky mist even denser than before, clearly indicating their readiness.
"You've arrived." The Lord of Return to Stillness in the center spoke, a subtle fluctuation in his voice, "You, the one who has lost the balance of chaos, must ultimately return to your 'destiny'."
"I'm not here to return." Xiao Yan's voice echoed across the empty area through the fleet. "I'm here to find a true balance between 'existence' and ' Return to Silence '."
He leaped out of the starship, the power of the Seed of Chaos erupting within him. Gray-gold light spread out like a peacock's tail, creating a vast domain in the absolute void. Within the domain, silver-white order and Return to Silence began to flow naturally, forming a perfect cycle.
"Wishful thinking!" roared the Lord of Return to Stillness on the left, his dark light mist condensing into countless sharp claws that reached out to grab Xiao Yan.
Xiao Yan did not dodge, but instead pushed the power of the Seed of Chaos to its limit. The gray-gold light transformed into a huge vortex, engulfing the claws. The claws struggled and annihilated in the vortex, eventually transforming into strands of pure energy that merged into the cycle.
"This is impossible!" The Lord of Return to Stillness roared in unison in shock. They had never imagined that the Power of Return to Quiescence could be "transformed" rather than "annihilated."
Ignoring their shock, Xiao Yan slowly flew towards the Return to Stillness Core. With each step closer, the resonance Seed of Chaos and the core grew stronger. He could feel the obsession deep within the core that yearned for "absolute nothingness," and he could also feel the unwilling pulsation of the purple-gold Power of Existence.
"Existence and Return to Silence should not be opposites," he said softly, his voice seemingly transcending time and space. "Just as life is the beginning of death, and death is the continuation of life, you are two sides of the universe, neither of which can be dispensed with."
The Lord of Return to Stillness attacked frantically, trying to stop him from getting closer. Inky light mist, the law of annihilation, the will to erase... they used every conceivable means, but all of them were neutralized and transformed by the domain of the Seed of Chaos.
When Xiao Yan finally arrived at the Return to Stillness Core, only the last crack remained. He could clearly see inside the core, where the dark and purple-gold colors were engaged in their final battle.
He took a deep breath, took out the Samsara Flower given to him by A Yao, and pressed it onto the crack in the Return to Stillness Core. The moment the petal touched the core, it burst forth with a dazzling light, and countless memory imprints surged into the core like seeds, temporarily stabilizing the healing process.
"Now!"
Xiao Yan leaped into the air, gathering Seed of Chaos in his body into his fists, and slammed them fiercely towards the Return to Stillness Core!
There was no earth-shattering explosion, only a long, drawn-out "hum." The Seed of Chaos, like a key, precisely embedded itself into the crack in the Return to Stillness Core. Grayish-gold light instantly spread throughout the entire core, and the inky Return to Silence Origin and the purple-gold Power of Existence, like an awakened river, began to flow slowly along the spiral patterns of the Seed of Chaos.
"No--!" The Lord of Return to Stillness roared in despair, feeling their connection to the core being severed, their obsession with "returning to the singularity" being neutralized by the Power of Chaos.
But it was all too late to undo the damage.
Enveloped in a gray-gold light, the Return to Stillness Core began to slowly shrink and deform, eventually transforming into a massive gray-gold sphere. Inside the sphere, inky black and purplish-gold colors rotated eternally like yin and yang fish, neither devouring nor annihilating, but rather forming a new, dynamic balance within the embrace of chaos.
The three figures of the Lord of Return to Stillness twisted painfully around the sphere, eventually transforming into three wisps of dark energy that were absorbed into the sphere, becoming part of the balance.
The area of absolute emptiness began to tremble violently. Under the influence of the Power of Chaos, those "absolute nothingness" gradually began to glow with starlight, as if countless sleeping stars were awakening.
Xiao Yan hovered before the gray-gold sphere, his body becoming transparent from exhausting his source energy. He looked at the sphere, a symbol of the "balance between existence and Return to Silence," and a slight smile appeared on his lips.
He did it.
There was no return to the singularity, no eternal existence, but rather the finding of the most fundamental balance in the universe.
In the final moments before his consciousness faded, he seemed to see A Yao holding a new seed of Samsara Flower, smiling beside the Memory Core; he saw Qing He standing atop the Balance Tower, the light of her longsword illuminating the starry sky; he saw countless beings laughing and running amidst the newly formed nebula...
These images, like the warmest memories, enveloped his final consciousness as he sank into eternal chaos.
The gray-gold sphere slowly rotated in the void, becoming the new "original anchor point" of the universe. It neither emits light nor heat, but silently maintains the balance between "being" and "non-being," allowing birth and death to continue endlessly in the cycle.
And the story of All Heavens and Myriad Realms continues.
Those memories that are remembered, those unyielding beliefs, those lives that blossom in balance, will be forever etched in the fabric of the universe, telling an eternal legend about "existence" and "protection".