Meng Ke's fleet did not leave immediately, but instead anchored at the edge of the Critical Star Domain. The Vanguard Battle General, along with three core members of his race, followed Qing He aboard the Star Patrollers flagship, beginning their first formal contact.
The meeting was held in an auxiliary compartment of the Memory Core, where the walls were projected with diagrams of the laws of two universes—the diagram of the heavens was like an interwoven galaxy, with colors such as silver, emerald green, and inky black flowing in balance; while the diagram of the Destruction Universe was a glaring dark red, with energy lines like steel wires stretched to their limit, exuding the danger of breaking at every turn.
"This is the current state of our universe." Meng Ke's voice was deep, his fingertips tracing a massive crack on the dark red diagram. "Ten years ago, the ' Core of Destruction ' developed its first crack, our laws began to spiral out of control, planets exploded indiscriminately, and even the most robust 'Armor of Destruction' was gradually crumbling."
He paused, a flicker of pain in his eyes. "We once thought 'absolute power' could solve everything, until the cracks spread to the point of no return, and then we realized... power without a 'foundation' is like a tree without soil, destined to collapse sooner or later."
The leader of the Star Patrollers retrieved observational data from the Destruction Universe. Blue light marked several red dots on the graph. "The laws of these regions are completely disordered, and energy is in a state of 'meaningless consumption.' Unlike the 'absolute nothingness' of Return to Silence, this is self-destruction caused by 'excessive existence.'"
Qing He looked at the diagram thoughtfully. " Return to Silence is the extreme of 'nothingness,' and destruction is the extreme of 'existence.' Essentially, both are the collapse of balance. Your ' Core of Destruction,' perhaps, like the Return to Stillness Core, needs to be infused with the power of 'neutrality.'"
Meng Ke suddenly looked up, a glimmer of hope flashing in his dark golden eyes. "You really can repair the Core of Destruction?"
"It's not repair, it's guidance," Qing He corrected, activating the operational model of the Chaos Anchor. "Just as the Power of Chaos harmonizes existence and Return to Silence, we can help you implant 'balance nodes' into the Core of Destruction, allowing your power to 'gather' and 'release' in a cycle. But this requires you to abandon the concept of 'absolute power supremacy' and accept the diversity of laws."
These words were like a boulder thrown into Meng Ke's heart. The civilization that Destruction Universe had continued for hundreds of thousands of years, and the belief that "might makes right" was deeply ingrained in their bones. To ask them to accept "balance" was tantamount to denying everything from the past.
The talks reached a stalemate. Meng Ke's people began to argue in hushed tones, and an elder clad in bone-spike armor roared, "Balance? That's the excuse of the weak! We'd rather perish together than relinquish the glory of the Law of Destruction!"
Meng Ke raised his hand to stop the argument, his gaze falling on the memory stream on the cabin wall—where it was playing scenes of the heavens fighting against the Return to Silence: the moment Xiao Yan fused with the Return to Stillness Core using the Seed of Chaos, Qing He's resolute use of Memory Sword Intent to resist the gray mist, and A Yao's tearful appearance as she held the withered Samsara Flower King...
"The people in these scenes are fighting for 'protection,' not for power." Meng Ke's voice carried a hint of bewilderment. "It seems our battle has been heading in the wrong direction from the very beginning."
Just then, the cabin suddenly shook violently. The Star Patrollers's alarm sounded urgently, "Warning! The rift in the Destruction Universe is expanding! A high-intensity energy burst has been detected!"
The group rushed to the observation platform and saw that from the purple rift in the Critical Star Domain, dark red light surged, and an energy pillar a hundred times thicker than before shot into the sky. The energy pillar contained countless fragments of broken planets and spewed towards the heavens.
"It's the ' Destruction Tide '!" Meng Ke's expression changed drastically. "The cracks in the Core of Destruction are widening, and energy is leaking out uncontrollably!"
Wherever the energy pillar passed, the Power of Balance of the Critical Star Domain was instantly shattered, the starship's shields emitted piercing alarms, and even the gray-gold light of the distant Chaos Anchor fluctuated.
"Activate the 'Diversion Array'!" Qing He decisively declared. " Star Patrollers, guide the energy pillars towards the area of Return to Silence! A Yao, establish resonance between the Memory Core and the Tree of Chaos, using the Power of Memory to buffer the impact!"
The moment the command was given, the Star Patrollers flagship released countless silver-white beams of light, weaving a massive energy net in the void. This energy net, like a flexible ribbon, forcefully deflected the trajectory of the dark red energy pillars, directing them towards what had previously been an absolutely blank area.
The light of the Tree of Chaos shone simultaneously, its verdant branches unfurling in the air. Countless fragments of memory flew out like fireflies, attaching themselves to the energy pillar. The ideas of "protection," "sacrifice," and "continuation" contained within those fragments caused the raging energy pillar to momentarily stagnate.
" Meng Ke!" Qing He looked at the Vanguard Battle General, "Only you can appease the Power of Destruction! Use your primal will to tell it, 'Destruction is unnecessary!'"
Meng Ke took a deep breath, then ripped open his chest armor, revealing the pulsating dark red core within. He let out a long howl, but instead of his usual ferocity, it carried an almost pleading sense of "stability," which traveled back into the Destruction Universe along the energy pillar.
A miracle happened.
The ferocity of the crimson energy pillar gradually subsided, and the shattered planetary debris, enveloped by fragments of memory, began to slowly reassemble, forming small, stable celestial bodies. When the energy pillar finally fell into the Return to Silence remnant area, it did not cause an explosion, but instead merged with the inky afterglow there, forming a Star Domain interwoven with crimson and inky black—two extreme forces, in the aftershocks of the Chaos Anchor, achieved a brief balance.
Silence reigned inside the cabin. The Meng Ke's people gazed at the Star Domain, their eyes shifting from shock to confusion, and finally to a hint of wavering.
"This is... the power of balance?" an elder murmured. He had always believed that "destruction is truth," but now he was witnessing firsthand that "not destroying" could actually create a new existence.
Meng Ke retracted the core from his chest and bowed deeply to Qing He: "Please help us. We are willing... to try to accept the Law of Balance."
Over the next three months, the Heavens and the Destruction Universe engaged in deep cooperation. Qing He led a team composed of cultivators, Star Patrollers, and researchers of Power of Chaos through the purple rift and arrived at the core region of the Destruction Universe.
The scene before them was horrifying: the sky was dark red, the earth was riddled with bottomless ravines, and out-of-control energy particles floated in the air, even light was distorted into sharp fragments. The Core of Destruction hovered in the center of the continent; it was a dark red crystal with a diameter of a thousand miles, its surface covered with spiderweb-like cracks, each crack flowing with destructive energy.
"It's more serious than observed." A Yao held a pot of improved Samsara Flower; its petals trembled slightly under the impact of energy particles, but did not wither. "This energy is too 'impatient'; it needs to be neutralized with 'resilience'."
She placed the Samsara Flower beside the Core of Destruction, and the flower's roots immediately secreted a grayish-gold sap that seeped into the core along the cracks. Wherever the sap passed, the flow of dark red energy noticeably slowed, and the expansion of the cracks temporarily ceased.
"This is a ' Resilience Flower ' cultivated using pollen from the Tree of Chaos," A Yao explained. "Its root system can absorb violent energy and transform it into gentle 'life force,' like wrapping cotton thread around a taut steel wire."
Meng Ke watched as the Resilience Flower took root beside the core, a look of relief appearing in his eyes for the first time. He turned to his people and ordered, "Dismantle all 'forced energy extraction devices' and construct a ' Circulation Array ' around the core according to the blueprints provided by the heavens."
Resistance was not absent. Some die-hard clansmen attempted to destroy the formation, viewing it as a betrayal of their destroyed civilization. However, when they saw the Resilience Flower stop the core cracks from expanding and the out-of-control energy become docile within the Circulation Array, the voices of opposition gradually subsided.
Three months later, the first " Balance Array " was completed next to the Core of Destruction. At the array's eye, a " Resilience Core," fused with the remnants of the Chaos Anchor and the Power of Destruction, slowly rotated. Its gray-red light rose and fell like breathing, guiding the core's violent energy to the surrounding land—the once barren land began to grow dark red moss, imbued with a resilient vitality.
When leaving the Destruction Universe, Meng Ke personally saw them off at the rift entrance. On the Vanguard Battle General's armor, there was a new gray-gold pattern, the mark of the Law of Balance.
"Once the core is stable, I will bring my people to the heavens to learn." He grasped Qing He's hand, his dark golden skin no longer cold. "What we owe you, we will repay with 'protection'—not only protecting our universe, but also protecting the balance of this rift connecting the two worlds."
Qing He nodded, looking at the dark red sky behind Meng Ke that was gradually regaining its vitality. "Balance is never a one-sided gift, but a mutual achievement. Perhaps one day, we can open up a ' Co-Prosperity Zone ' in the Critical Star Domain, allowing the laws of the two universes to freely merge here."
The starships passed through the purple rift, once again enveloped by the grey-gold light of the Critical Star Domain. The Chaos Anchor in the distance continued to rotate silently, as if smilingly accepting everything.
Qing He stood in front of the porthole, gazing at the gradually stabilizing crack, and then looked towards the heavens—the branches of the Tree of Chaos stretched out in the void, extending its balanced greenery towards the distant starry sky.
She knew that the extension of the Law of Balance was never a simple replication, but rather, like the roots of Resilience Flower, it took root in different soils and bloomed flowers that belonged to that place.
Those things that were once seen as "threats"—the Return to Silence black and the shattered crimson—will eventually become indispensable colors in the balance of the spectrum.
The journey of protection is forever one of "acceptance" and "integration," leading to a broader and more distant future.