Thirteenth month of death

Chapter 269 New Beginnings
Li Daosheng stood on the edge of a collapsing world, watching countless lives vanish silently.

His body no longer exists, but his consciousness is becoming increasingly clear.

Every time the world collapses, he is thrown into another corner that is being destroyed, witnessing more despair and annihilation.

"How long are you going to watch?"

The voice rang out again, this time very close.

Li Daosheng suddenly turned around and saw Wudao standing behind him—no, it wasn't Wudao, it was himself.

A being with the same face as him, but much more weathered.

“You…” Li Daosheng’s voice echoed in the void.

"I am your other half..."

Li Daosheng looked down at his translucent palm, and memories flooded back like a tide.

The Dao created him, giving him a physical body; the characteristics of the twelve worlds shaped his soul; and now, he seems to be transforming into something else.

"What's wrong with me?" he asked.

“You possess a heart,” he—or rather, a part of Li Daosheng—said softly. “Stone spirits have no heart and do not understand human suffering. But you, Li Daosheng, have felt love and hate, and experienced life and death. Only such an existence can truly understand what needs to be protected.”

The surrounding scenery suddenly changed; they were standing in a starry sky, with twelve worlds floating around them like bubbles, each collapsing in a different way.

“Look,” he pointed to those worlds, “He is devouring all the origins. When the last world disappears, He will be fully revived and become an unstoppable force.”

Li Daosheng saw familiar faces struggling in each world—Ren Ou fighting amidst mechanical ruins, Yang Ya leaping through digital swirling motions, Cheng Xue praying in a withered garden…

And then there was Su Moshi, standing on the ruins of the Mountain and Sea Realm, the light of the bronze mirror growing fainter and fainter.

"What should I do?" Li Daosheng asked, his voice finally becoming more resolute.

As soon as he finished speaking, the phantom images of five magical treasures appeared in his palm—the Blood Jade Bead, the Frost Marrow Needle, the Rose Sword Hairpin, the Lifeless Seal, and the Mysterious Heaven Mirror.

"Wu Dao has already told you to gather the power of all the protagonists of the worlds and record their true names in the Book of Fate," he said. "Then, use these five magical treasures as keys to open the portal to His core."

"The protagonist of the world is the channel through which He steals the core of the world, and this channel... naturally connects to His core as well."

"Understand."

Li Daosheng's eyes suddenly lit up!
"And then what? What should you do after entering His core?"

“I don’t know,” he shook his head. “The Way of No Path has not progressed to that point, and no one in this world has ever reached that point. Only you can decide what to do next.”

Li Daosheng was taken aback, and he lowered his head and pondered for a long time.

Until he felt the Book of Destiny within his body begin to heat up, the pages moved on their own without wind, and each name shimmered with light.

The figure that looked exactly like Li Daosheng then smiled and said, "It seems you've made your decision."

“Remember,” his voice became ethereal, “to defeat Him, you must be stronger than Him. He is a god of the outside world; any power is insignificant to Him. You must find… something He does not have…”

"Do you... understand...?"

"Explain yourself!" Li Daosheng pressed, but the figure had already begun to disappear.

“I can’t explain it clearly. He knows everything about Him. You just have to figure it out yourself.”

The final words were like a sigh.

"I hope... you succeed."

Li Daosheng took a deep breath, even though he didn't need to breathe in this void.

He looked at the collapsing world, at the vanishing lives, and at the familiar figures struggling in various worlds.

"I don't have my own world..."

"But perhaps I can protect everyone's world."

In an instant, the phantom images of five magical treasures flew into his brow, and the long mark burst forth with unprecedented light. The Book of Fate fully unfolded, projecting the phantom image of the corresponding person for each name.

Li Daosheng felt power surging within his body, and the characteristics of the twelve worlds fused into his soul.

“Come on,” he said to the void, “I will end all of this.”

Li Daosheng's consciousness spread in the void, like ink dripping into water, gradually spreading out.

He felt himself disintegrating, yet also seemingly reassembling—each drop of "ink" carrying a part of his memories and emotions, drifting towards the twelve collapsing worlds.

On the grasslands of the Huangzhong Human Realm, Su Moshi's bronze mirror suddenly trembled violently.

The mirror no longer reflected her image, but rather Li Daosheng's blurred face.

She looked up in astonishment and saw a golden crack appear in the sky, with countless points of light falling like rain.

The realm of mountains and seas, the ruins of the Supreme Heaven of Separation from Hatred.

Li Daosheng's figure stepped out of the void, his feet resting on a dried-up pool of blood. He bent down and picked up a broken tile, on which half a talisman was carved. As his fingertips traced the carvings, the tile suddenly turned to dust, from which a faint golden thread floated out.

"As expected, some residue remains..."

He formed hand seals, and the phantom images of five magical treasures swirled around him.

The red light of the blood jade bead lit up first, drawing the golden thread into it.

Immediately afterwards, the blue light of the Cold Marrow Needle, the cyan light of the Rose Sword Hairpin, the black mist of the Lifeless Seal, and the white ribbon of the Mysterious Heaven Mirror intertwined to form a net, enveloping the entire ruins.

The ground began to tremble, and countless fine golden threads seeped out from all over the ruins, like a swarm of awakened snakes, converging on Li Daosheng.

Meanwhile, in the mechanical city, another Li Daosheng was standing atop the central control tower.

Beneath his feet lay an army of puppets and machines, flames turning the night sky orange-red.

Renou's name is flashing on the pages of the book.

With a light tap of his finger, Ren Ou's name grew brighter and brighter, eventually transforming into a streak of light and disappearing into deep space.

Ren Ou on the battlefield below suddenly paused, a hint of shock flashing in his mechanical eyes.

The same scenario is playing out in various worlds:

—Yang Ya looked up amidst the deluge of data and saw Li Daosheng step out from the screen.

—In Cheng Xue's garden, every withered petal reflects his image.

—Feng Hui stood on the edge of the tall building, and heard familiar footsteps behind him…

When the last name was recorded in the Book of Fate, all twelve worlds froze for a moment.

All the crashed processes were suspended, as if someone had pressed the pause button on time.

In the pure white void, the real Li Daosheng opened his eyes.

A fully unfolded Book of Fate floated before him, with projections of twelve worlds surrounding it.

The five magical treasures had merged into one, transforming into a crystal key that was slightly warm in his palm.

"let's start."

The key suddenly flew toward the book of destiny and precisely inserted itself into the keyhole in the center of the cover.

With a crisp "click," the pages of the book turned rapidly without any wind.

Each page projects a beam of golden light, which intertwines in the air to form a three-dimensional outline of a door.

Beyond the door lies His core.

(End of this chapter)