Start from a baby to become a Taoist

Chapter 497 Liberation
Chapter 505

It was still that lonely figure, but the feeling it gave off was completely different.

He no longer possessed the texture of flesh and blood; his body seemed to have been kneaded from the deepest night sky and the most brilliant stardust in a contradictory yet harmonious way. A chaotic, faint light flowed across his body, like a supreme Taoist robe.

What tormented Lei Zhu the most were his eyes.

What kind of eyes are those?
It defies description.

As those eyes unconsciously swept across their direction, the Thunder Lord felt his "Thunder Path," the very foundation that supported him in becoming an unparalleled giant, like a newborn infant facing the universe itself that created it.

That wasn't fear, but a kind of "surrender" that originated from the very essence of life.

It was as if with just a thought from the other party, his Great Dao would be directly erased from the level of "existence" and restored to the most primitive "principle".

"What...what has he become..." Thunder Lord murmured to himself, a crack appearing in his Dao heart for the first time.

Wen Xi wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, her eyes filled with an extremely complex expression. There was shock, confusion, awe, and a trace of... a deep sense of powerlessness.

She spoke softly, as if answering the Thunder Lord, or perhaps telling herself.

"He neither chose to pass on the torch nor to return to the void."

"He...surpassed them."

"He embarked on a completely new path, one that no living being had ever set foot on before."

"From today onwards, the guardians of the border sea dike may... no longer need the 'gift' of the torch."

……

Daoxu is walking.

His world is different from that of any other living being.

In his eyes, the embankment beneath his feet was no longer a cold, blood-soaked ancient stone.

Instead, it is a ceaselessly flowing "river of time".

Every brick and stone of the dam is engraved with the tragic song of an era. He can "see" that countless eras ago, a peerless swordsman fought and died here. His last sword strike before his death turned into an indelible sword mark, which still mourns deep within the fortress to this day.

He could "hear" that in an even more ancient era, there was an unparalleled array emperor who used his own body as the array's core, merging his divine soul and the Great Dao into this dam, transforming it into an eternal divine array that guards the fortress. Its indomitable will still roars to this day.

He could "touch" the deepest "obsessions" left behind by all the powerful who had died in battle, perished, or been corrupted, all of whom had given everything to protect this "existence".

These obsessions, in the past, were lifeless and cold.

But at this moment, as Daoxu passed by, these obsessions that had been dormant for countless ages seemed to sense the presence of their kind and a faint "warmth" arose within them.

They were welcoming him.

Welcome to this fellow traveler, who, like them, has dedicated everything to this dam...

Dao Xu's "Dao Body of Ruins" responded to all of this.

The primordial power of chaos within him flowed out naturally, like a gentle spring breeze and nourishing rain, silently soothing these undying obsessions.

The mournful sword wound gradually subsided.

The roaring divine array slowly fell silent.

He did nothing, but his very existence was a source of comfort.

Because of him, he understood their "way" and also their "tragedy".

In this way, step by step, he traversed thousands of barriers.

Along the way, all the "abnormalities" and "pollutant residues" were naturally "corrected" after he passed by, restoring the dike to its original "order".

He is like a mobile "source of purification," a walking "benchmark of the Tao."

Finally, he stopped.

A completely different scene appeared before him.

That was on the 20,000th barrier.

There, there were no grotesque, polluted growths, nor any terrifying rifts of decay.

Instead, it's a... well.

A colossal, bottomless "black well".

The wellhead spans three entire sections of the wall, and inside lies a darkness even deeper than the Ruins of Guixu, where even time seems to be swallowed up.

A hazy, grayish "dust" permeated the area around the wellhead.

That is not the dust of matter, but "the ashes of time".

Dao Xu can "see" that every grain of dust is a universe, a civilization, from its birth to its peak, and then to its final heat death, collapse, and nothingness... a complete microcosm.

The "end" of countless universes has been compressed into this gray "dust of time," drifting here.

Any being with a concept of "lifespan" will be subjected to countless epochs of "aging" in an instant once it is tainted by this dust, even if it is an unparalleled giant. It will exhaust all its lifespan and turn into a skeleton, and then even the skeleton itself will weather into dust.

This is the "Well of Sorrow in the Epochs".

It is a forbidden land formed by the last "echoes" and "resentments" of countless universes that have come to an end or been destroyed in the Boundary Sea, like rivers flowing into the sea, drawn together, accumulating and settling.

It is not a direct creation of the Ruins, yet it is more dangerous than many breaches in the Ruins.

Because what it attacks is not "Tao" or "Law", but "Time" itself.

"Woo...Woo..."

It was as if billions of worlds were simultaneously emitting their dying cries from within the well.

The sound, though not harsh, reached the deepest part of the soul, awakening in all living beings the most primal fear of "end" and "death".

It was a kind of "spiritual plague" that could plunge even the most steadfast Dao heart into eternal despair.

Dao Xu stood quietly by the well, letting the "Dust of Time," which could instantly kill a giant, drift down onto his "Dao Body of Ruins."

The dust settled without causing any ripples.

Because the Dao Ruins themselves have already transcended the constraints of "time".

His left eye is the "beginning" of all things.

His right eye is the "end" of all things.

He himself embodies the entire concept of "time." How can these "ashes of time" erode "time" itself?
His murky eyes gazed into the depths of the well.

In his view, the well was not completely dark.

Instead, it is an endless cycle of tragedy.

He witnessed a technological civilization that had reached its pinnacle; their fleets could traverse the stars, and their creations rivaled those of gods. But ultimately, faced with the cold, hard laws of the universe, their star extinguished, their world entered an eternal winter, and the last of their kind, in endless darkness and solitude, let out a defiant cry before finally dissipating into a wisp of cold consciousness.

He saw a world of cultivation, where powerful beings could sever galaxies with a single sword strike and shatter the sun and moon with a single palm strike. But when the "Great Calamity" descended, heaven and earth collapsed, all laws ceased to exist, and no matter how powerful one's supernatural abilities were, one could only watch helplessly as everything one protected, along with oneself, turned to ashes.

He saw an elemental plane, a magical empire, an abyssal worm hive...

Billions of different worlds, billions of different civilizations, are all enacting the same ending in different ways—"destruction".

These moments of destruction are frozen in time, like a nightmare from which one cannot awaken, repeating itself over and over again. They are "stuck."

It is stuck between "existence" and "non-existence".

Unlike a normal universe, it cannot completely return to "nothingness" after extinction, thus making room for new "being".

Their "pain," their "resentment," and their "despair" formed a viscous "poison of obsession," blocking the normal operation of this dam.

This is a huge "cosmic-level knot in my heart".

Dao Xu's face remained expressionless.

There was no pity, no sorrow.

Because he knew that these emotions were meaningless in untying this "knot".

He saw the "cause of the disease".

The order of the torch gives them meaning to "exist," allowing their history and civilization to be remembered.

The nothingness of the void should have granted them the peace of "end," allowing them to be liberated after destruction.

But here, the two forces have become "disordered".

The "remembering" of the torch has turned into "imprisonment".

The "end" of Guixu turned into "torture".

This is a "mistake".

An error that needs to be "corrected".

Dao Xu slowly extended his right hand toward the bottomless black well.

That hand, composed of the primordial chaos and seemingly not of this world, gently probed into the abyss of despair, composed of the "ends" of billions of universes.

Om-!
When his hand touched the viscous "despair" inside the well, the entire Well of Sorrow in the Epoch boiled violently!
The billions of moments of “destruction” unfolding seemed to have found an outlet, surging wildly toward Dao Xu’s palm!
"Kill! Kill! Kill! By what right! By what right must we be destroyed!"

"I'm not reconciled! I'm not reconciled! My people, my love, my world..."

"Pain... endless pain... who will... end all of this..."

"Destroy! Destroy everything! Since we cannot live forever, let everything... perish with us!"

Countless chaotic, insane, and tyrannical wills, like a flood bursting its banks, surged along Dao Xu's arm, threatening to engulf his soul, tear him apart, and assimilate him into this endless despair.

However, what they faced was the Dao Ruins.

It is a monster that feeds on "existence" and "non-existence" and is built upon "order" and "chaos".

Dao Xu's will is like an ancient, unmoving mountain, remaining steadfast no matter how the torrent of despair crashes against it.

At this moment, his murky eyes shone with an unprecedented light.

The chaotic nebula that was spinning clockwise in his left eye suddenly accelerated!
A powerful, vast force, filled with the meaning of "creation" and "affirmation," flowed from his left eye, through his arm, and into the Well of Epochal Sorrow!

"I witnessed your existence."

A grand yet calm voice did not emanate from Dao Xu's mouth, but resounded directly within the core of the will of all the "Echoes".

That voice carried an undeniable sense of "reason".

With the injection of this power, those crazy and violent wills miraculously calmed down.

They no longer roared, no longer struggled.

They saw it.

Guided by that force, their entire lives, the history of their civilizations, the glory of their world, all their loves and hates, all their honors and struggles... were all "acknowledged".

They are no longer cold, soon-to-be-forgotten "data," but rather great epics imbued with "meaning," representing something that "once existed."

Their "unwillingness" was "affirmed" at this moment.

Their "suffering" was "understood" at this moment.

However, simply saying "yes" is not enough.

That will only make them more fixated on the "past" and unable to move towards the "future".

Just then, the chaotic nebula that was rotating counterclockwise in Dao Xu's right eye also moved!

A completely opposite force, filled with the meaning of "ending" and "judgment," followed closely behind and surged into the deep well!
"I grant you a peaceful end."

That grand voice rang out once more.

This time, it brings not "affirmation," but a supreme "liberation."

If the power of the left eye is to enable them to "lift" [the weight/capture]...

So, the power of the right eye is to make them "let go".

Under the influence of this force, the remnants of civilization that had been "affirmed" began to "dissolve" in an incredibly peaceful way.

The echoes of that technological civilization, which cried out in defiance in the cold universe, transformed into a dazzling starlight, shimmering slightly in the direction of the Dao Ruins, as if in gratitude, before completely merging into nothingness.

The immortal cultivation world that turned to ashes in the great calamity, its lingering echoes transformed into a satisfied sigh. All the resentment and bitterness vanished, returning to the "annihilation" that it was meant to go to.

The magical empire transformed into countless elemental specks of light.

The abyssal insect nest transformed into the purest source of life.

In Daoxu's hands, countless "stories" have all found their most perfect "endings".

He neither destroyed them nor saved them.

He merely acted as a "witness" and "ferryman," allowing them to complete the final step that they were supposed to take.

Life should be as vibrant as summer flowers.

Death should be as serene and beautiful as an autumn leaf.

This is the "Dao" of Daoxu.

It was also the "reason" he brought to these trapped souls.

With the last echo of civilization, it vanished into nothingness, carrying contentment and peace.

The "Well of Epochal Sorrow," which had boiled for countless years and was filled with despair and lamentation, has now become completely calm.

The darkness inside the well was rapidly receding.

That huge "black well" is slowly "healing" at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The "knot" in the dam's heart has been untied.

Dao Xu slowly withdrew his hand.

His expression remained calm.

But deep within those chaotic-colored eyes, the two swirling nebulae appeared even more solid and profound than before.

(End of this chapter)