Returning to Order
Then, Su Yao pointed with his right hand again, and a second crimson gold talisman flew out, still using the Heavenly Thunder Divine Ability "Rebuke the Disloyal"!
This time, the imperial edict was aimed directly at Ao Xiao.
The talisman dissolved in the air, like a celestial shackle, forcibly dragging Ao Xiao out of the lightning net.
For every foot the dragon's body was dragged, it shrank by ten feet, until it was finally pressed back into human form and slammed down like a dead dog beside the bronze cage in the southeast corner of the altar.
"Bang!"
Raven's chains bound Ao Xiao's entire body, pinning him to the iron cage, rendering him unable to move.
"I won't kill you," Su Yao sneered, "But you're not leaving today."
The Kuiwu was terrified at the sight.
Ao Xiao had already been captured; any attempt to escape would be futile. He gritted his teeth, a flash of mad determination crossing his eyes.
Divine Ability Reveal the Omen of Disaster reappear!
He bit his tongue, spitting out a Essence Blood. The illusory image of the calamity behind him suddenly expanded, like a setting sun about to explode. He was about to self-destruct his physical body.
Su Yao sneered upon seeing this:
"Can you self-destruct?"
He slowly raised his hand, crimson-gold lightning flashing like stars at his fingertips, pointing directly at the Kuiwu brow, and said:
"Receive the Thunder Edict!"
A beam of crimson-gold lightning transformed into celestial sound from Su Yao's mouth, entering the Kuiwu's ears.
The Kuiwu was struck dumb, his whole body stiffening as if by lightning.
He felt the Heavenly Chaos Qi circulating within his body freeze at the mention of that one sentence.
A bright mirror hung high on the altar, reflecting his mottled body, revealing it inch by inch like a spider web.
His Divine Ability, his Law Power, and his self-destruction were all sealed away by this thunderous decree.
"You..."
In the end, only fear remained in the Kuiwu's eyes.
No, no!
Su Yao remained expressionless as the final bolt of lightning descended from the sky.
"Oversee All Spirits!"
Crimson-gold lightning, like a sea, completely engulfed the Kuiwu.
"Boom!"
When the Heavenly Thunder struck, the Kuiwu physical body did not shatter into pieces like that of an ordinary cultivator.
He cultivates the Dao of Heavenly Chaos. This Dao is not about "disaster" at all, but about "change".
Heavenly Chaos signifies constant change and uncertainty.
The alternation of day and night is Heavenly Chaos; the changing of the four seasons is Heavenly Chaos; the gathering and scattering of clouds, the rising and falling of winds, the shifting of stars, and the changing of all things are all Heavenly Chaos.
This path cultivates the ever-changing principles of the universe, taking "change" as its law and "chaos" as its order.
This is why cultivators of the Heavenly Chaos Path are second only to cultivators of the Hazy Clouds Path in terms of survival.
Their physical bodies, Divine Ability, and destinies are all like drifting clouds and floating light, without fixed form.
Trying to break it by force is like trying to cut water with a knife; the knife will cut through the water and the water will flow back together.
However, in the universe, there is always a balance of elements, and one thing can always overcome another.
In the past, during the Investiture of the Gods, the patriarch of the Wisdom Light Dao Lineage, who cultivated the Way of Heavenly Chaos, suffered a great loss at the hands of the Heavenly Venerable who later took charge of the Thunder Bureau.
That patriarch was capable of all-encompassing transformations, able to appear and disappear at will, and to transform into all things; almost no one could control him.
But that person struck him with a single bolt of lightning, pulling him out of his myriad transformations and sealing Body Divine Ability.
This is not even the reason why the Heavenly Chaos Path is most afraid of thunder.
Legend has it that when the founder of the Wisdom Light Dao Lineage first began his cultivation, his temperament was extremely unpredictable. He would gain some understanding one day and lose some the next, his Daoxing level fluctuating like autumn grass in the wind, swaying aimlessly.
Seeing this, the Dao Ancestor Yuqing did not preach, but whenever the Daoist's mind was scattered and his behavior was uncontrollable, he would borrow the Five Thunders from the Dao Ancestor Highest Clarity and strike him down on the head.
Heavenly Thunder establishes the order, Zhen Thunder initiates new beginnings, Divine Thunder accumulates its power, Firmament Thunder enforces its punishment, Mystic Thunder returns to stillness.
This process was repeated repeatedly until the patriarch dared not act recklessly again. Only then did he calm his mind and focus on cultivating the Heavenly Chaos Dao.
From then on, the ancestral precepts of the Heavenly Chaos lineage included a new line. "When the Five Thunders arrive, all changes freeze."
The Five Thunders share a common origin, yet each has its own use. When combined, they form the most complete set of "Breaking Changes and Restoring Order" methods in the world. For cultivators who cultivate the Heavenly Chaos, these Five Thunders are like five heavenly laws, each more powerful than the last.
No matter how fast things change, they can't outrun lightning; no matter how unpredictable things change, they can't outmaneuver the intent of thunder; no matter how dense things change, they can't outmaneuver the net of thunder.
Cultivators of the Heavenly Chaos Path may be like mercury seeping into the ground, penetrating everywhere, but in the face of the Five Thunders, they are like snow melting in the sun, with no way to avoid them.
At this moment, the Thunder Bureau's Exorcism Court, through the altar, descended only one of the Five Thunders —Heavenly Thunder —but it was enough.
Heavenly Thunder, the might of heaven descends upon the world, all changes cease, and all phenomena return to oneness.
This is the most fundamental way for the Heavenly Thunder Dao to restrain the Heavenly Chaos Dao.
Moreover, Heavenly Thunder is the command of Heaven.
When the decree is issued, all things fall into a state of solemnity. No matter what changes or uncertainties occur, under the decree of Heaven, they can only remain still and return to their proper places.
Kuiwu's entire body resembled a ignited star map, with countless fine cracks appearing all around him, each crack radiating a crimson-gold light.
The Heavenly Chaos Qi within his body, which had been shifting and unpredictable like flowing clouds, was now being pinned down, locked, and dismantled inch by inch by the crimson-gold lightning.
Every time he tried to change, the lightning penetrated a little deeper; every time he tried to escape, the lightning tightened an inch.
"Ah!"
The Kuiwu looked up at the sky and howled in agony, his voice like tearing silk.
His spiritual body began to disintegrate.
That was an extremely bizarre way of dying.
First, his outline—that kind-hearted face, that slightly plump body, those "forms" he had constantly changed and adjusted over the centuries—blurred layer by layer in the crimson-gold lightning, like a painting soaked in water, the colors gradually spreading and the lines gradually dissolving.
Then came his "transformation." The power of endless transformation bestowed upon him by the Heavenly Chaos Dao erupted wildly at this moment, like a final burst of energy before death.
His form constantly changed amidst the lightning, sometimes transforming into an old man, sometimes into a boy, sometimes into a woman, sometimes into a ferocious beast, sometimes into a withered tree, and sometimes into a gust of black wind.
Each transformation was as fast as lightning, but each transformation was nailed down by the crimson-gold lightning the instant it took shape, and then dissipated.
In the end, Kuiwu could no longer maintain his human form. His entire body was like a swirling mass of ink, constantly churning and deforming in the Great Void, yet he could never escape the embrace of the crimson-gold lightning.
"I... I'm not reconciled..."
His voice changed, sometimes sounding aged, sometimes high-pitched, sometimes like a beast's roar, sometimes like the whisper of the wind, as if countless voices were being squeezed out of the same mouth at the same time.
"Heavenly Chaos reigns... Why must the Heavenly Thunder strike me down... Why must the heavenly decree bind me..."
Su Yao's voice came from the altar, calm and without a ripple:
"The Heavenly Chaos is ever-changing. Without restraint, it will bring endless calamity. Since you have cultivated the Heavenly Chaos, you should know that one day, the thunderbolts will come to settle your strife."
"No... no...!"
The Kuiwu's mournful wail exploded amidst the crimson-gold lightning.
His last remaining "form" was struck as if by ten thousand Heavenly Thunder at once, and finally could no longer maintain any form.
The chaotic, inky energy shrank smaller and smaller amidst the crimson-gold lightning, eventually transforming into a wisp of green smoke, which was swept away by the Heavenly Thunder and dispersed into nothingness.
There was no deafening roar of the Dharma body shattering, no gruesome scene of blood splattering.
There is only the end of a "change".
Like a cloud dissipating, like a breeze ceasing, like a shooting star streaking across the sky, it vanishes without a trace.
In the Great Void, the lightning gradually dissipated.
On the altar, Su Yao sat upright in the center, his face deathly pale, black blood streaming from the corner of his mouth, his breath as faint as a candle flickering in the wind.
"Take him back."
Su Yao pointed to Ao Xiao, who was bound to the cage by Raven's chains, and whispered.
Yang Nan stepped forward and lifted the powerless Ao Xiao from the ground.
"Return to Golden Ao."
Su Yao uttered three words softly, then with a gentle wave, first collected the Spirit Treasure that the Kuiwu had dropped, then the altar swept him up and quickly flew towards the Golden Ao.
Seeing this, Li Chaoxue and the other two dared not delay and quickly followed.