Records of Mysterious Things in the Southern Dynasties

Chapter 549 Fusion of the Divine Core
In the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Ren Yuan and Wu Gu arrived in Xuzhou with Lan Jing and Wu Gu.

Although Xuzhou had been occupied by the Eastern Wei, the Lan clan still remained there.

"Go." Ren Yuan descended from the clouds.

Lan Jing knelt on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly to Ren Yuan.

"Thank you so much, Immortal Master, for saving my life! Thank you so much, Immortal Master, for helping me avenge myself!"

"It's all by chance, no need to be so polite." Ren Yuan waved his sleeve and told him to get up.

Lan Jing knelt down again and continued to kowtow, saying, "I beg the immortal to accept me as his disciple. This disciple is willing to serve him like a dog or a horse, only asking to be able to serve the immortal by his side."

"I am not a person of this place, and I will be leaving soon," Ren Yuan said, shaking his head.

"This disciple is willing to follow the immortal master, even to the netherworld or the heavens!" Lan Jing kowtowed repeatedly.

“You can’t go where I’m going.” Ren Yuan sighed softly. “Never mind, we’re destined to meet. Now it’s time for the revival of Taoism and the recruitment of disciples. Go and become a disciple of Tao Hongjing.”

After saying that, he disappeared, but Lan Jing now had a jade pendant in his hand, engraved with two ancient seal characters, "Shangqing".

"This disciple thanks you greatly, Immortal Master. I will certainly not let you down!" Lan Jing shouted to the heavens in gratitude.

Ren Yuan's mind was no longer on him. He returned to Wu Gu's side, hesitant to speak.

"What do you want to say?" The witch looked at him warily.

"Can I ask you something? When do you change shifts?" Ren Yuan coughed lightly.

"Who am I with?" the witch asked deliberately.

“Lingzhi,” Ren Yuan said frankly, “I haven’t seen her yet.”

"I thought you'd forgotten about my silly little sister," the witch chuckled. "She thinks about you every single day."

"Then you should quickly find someone else," Ren Yuan urged.

"Is this how you beg for help?" The witch snorted, arms crossed, her tone condescending. "Call me sister."

"..." Ren Yuan's eyes widened, his old face flushed, and he said in a muffled voice, "Sister."

"Hehehe..." The witch laughed so hard her body trembled. "Hey, dear brother, turn around..."

"..." Ren Yuan turned around awkwardly. After a moment, he was hugged from behind by a soft, boneless body. Chen Lingzhi pressed against his spine and began to sob.

~~
After returning to Jiankang City and saying goodbye to everyone, Ren Yuan disappeared from this world.

Thinking about Ren Yuan's return, she felt even more out of reach. A Yao's feelings were incredibly complex; she was happy for him, but also sad for herself. If things continued like this, she would be completely unable to help Ren Yuan at all…

"Little girl, do you feel that your strength is not enough?" The witch's skirt swayed as she approached her.

"None of your business." Ayao turned her head away, refusing to look at her.

"I can help you improve," the witch said with a smile.

"..." Ayao quickly turned back, looking expectantly at the witch. "Help me."

"What should you call me?" the witch asked with a smile. "Sister..." A-Yao replied obediently.

"Oh." The witch smiled and patted her smooth face, saying, "That's a good girl. You should get along well with her from now on."

~~
At this moment, Ren Yuan was already in the Chaos Sea.

In this vast and boundless space, thick, inky mist churned, and dark purple lightning occasionally tore through the void, emitting deafening roars. In the distance, a massive chaotic vortex slowly rotated, as if absorbing the power of heaven and earth.

This is Yinglong's lair, and now it belongs to him.

He sat cross-legged in the center of the chaotic sea, his hands outstretched, revealing two divine cores in his palms.

The shattered core of the ancient god emitted a faint yet terrifying blood-red light. Its surface was covered with fine cracks, and from time to time, overwhelming killing intent would surge forth, enough to plunge even a god into the Asura realm.

The other, smaller divine core was perfectly intact. Although it also glowed with a bloody light and exuded killing intent, it also carried an aura of aloof kingship.

With a thought, two balls of divine fire appeared in his palms. Golden light could be faintly seen within the purple flames, and the intense heat caused the surrounding chaotic mist to boil.

Ren Yuan took a deep breath, circulating the immense divine power within his body, guiding the divine core and divine fire to slowly approach each other.

Divinity is solitary, so divine cores and divine fire are mutually repelling. Although divine cores with similar divine natures repel each other less, only divine power can bring them closer.

Just as the four were about to make contact, the Chaos Sea suddenly trembled violently. The shattered core of the ancient god burst forth with dazzling light, and streams of light shot out, intertwining and colliding with Gao Cheng's core. Divine fire, like two fire dragons, circled around the core, enveloping it.

Fine beads of sweat appeared on Ren Yuan's forehead. His brows were furrowed as he focused intently on controlling this raging power. The powerful repulsion between the divine cores surged like a tidal wave, each carrying its own will and pride, frantically assaulting his soul—

Fragments of ancient god memories flooded into Ren Yuan's mind like a tidal wave. They included the slaughter god Qiongqi, and the ancient battles, glories, and falls. Gao Cheng's divine core also contained Xing Tian's anger, indomitable spirit, and pride, its intensity no less than that of the ancient gods...

Ren Yuan's body began to tremble uncontrollably, the veins on the back of his hands bulged, and the sweat on his forehead instantly evaporated into chaotic energy.

But his Dao heart had long been tempered to be as hard as iron, and he was not affected by his own condition at all. He simply watched calmly as water, and whether it was destruction, anger, or madness, it was all irrelevant to him.

At the same time, he continued to strengthen his divine power, pressing the two divine cores tightly together and burning the two balls of divine fire intensely, gradually melting the outer shell of the divine cores.

As the divine cores softened, the two divine cores that were pressed together finally showed signs of fusion.

Strange phenomena suddenly arose in the chaotic sea. Ancient and mysterious runes appeared in the sky, radiating brilliant light. On the ground, chaotic mist condensed into various strange shapes, resembling dragons and phoenixes, immortals and demons, roaring and dancing wildly.

Ren Yuan remained unmoved. He had entered the Daoist state of nothingness and emptiness, and even if all things were to perish, it would not affect his Daoist heart.

Heaven and earth are ruthless, treating all things like straw dogs; the sage is ruthless, treating the people like straw dogs.

Between heaven and earth, is it not like a bellows?

It is empty yet unyielding, and its power only grows stronger with each movement.

Too much talk leads to exhaustion; better to remain steadfast in the middle!
~~
In the chaotic sea, there was no sun or moon. Ren Yuan remained still and guarded the center. After an unknown period of time, he finally fused the two divine cores into a blood-red nebula-like Destruction Godhead before the two divine flames were exhausted!
That is the source of destruction that arose at the beginning of creation! It is the authority that controls all destruction in the world!

Ren Yuan immediately and without hesitation revealed his divine core and threw it into the blood-red nebula!

Other divine cores would be destroyed by the absolute concept of destruction once they enter the nebula. However, Ren Yuan's Chaos Divine Core itself contains the divine essence of creation and destruction, but his position is insufficient, so it is incomplete.

The power of creation and the power of destruction are two sides of the same coin in the state of chaos. Just as Pangu created all things and also brought the primordial chaos to destruction when he separated heaven and earth, the incomplete Destruction Godhead within Ren Yuan's Chaos God Core awaits the completion of the source of destruction!
(End of this chapter)