Start from a baby to become a Taoist

Chapter 506 The Power of Desolation
Chapter 514

"Outsiders..."

"It carries the scent of the 'Reaper'..."

"Get out!"

A grand will, transformed into a mental storm, crashed fiercely against Xu Ran. This will contained an overwhelming hatred for the "Cleansers"... or rather, the "Reapers."

Xu Ran's divine body trembled violently, and the rainbow-colored halo on his body from the "Cleanser" emitted a mournful cry under the impact of this will.

Clearly, this star giant regarded him as an enemy.

"I am not your enemy." Xu Ran's will was equally firm. He did not back down, but faced the terrifying storm of will and conveyed his message, "I am also their prey."

As he spoke, he deliberately dispersed the divine power emanating from his body, revealing his dilapidated primordial body, which was filled with the aura of impending doom. At the same time, he showed the other party the memory of how he pried open the "Zero" seal and killed the "Cleanser" without reservation.

The giant starlight's massive body suddenly froze.

The starlight in his eyes flickered even more intensely, as if trying to discern the truth or falsehood of Xu Ran's memories.

Xu Ran waited quietly. He knew that any lie would be futile in communicating with this being. Only truth could make communication possible.

After a long while, the overwhelming hatred and murderous intent gradually subsided.

"The 'seed'... has awakened..." The Star Giant let out a long sigh, his voice filled with weariness and sorrow, "But it's too late... it's all too late..."

“Seed? You mean ‘Zero’?” Xu Ran keenly grasped the word.

"'Zero,' that's the number they gave you. In our time, we called ourselves... 'Wallbreakers.'" The Star Giant's voice carried an endless sense of vicissitude.

“We are the first batch of ‘experiments’. In the very beginning, the ‘high-dimensional matrix’ was not for ‘harvesting’, but for seeking true ‘eternity’ and ‘transcendence’. They created the universe, sowed the seeds of ‘wallbreakers’, and hoped that we could grow and eventually break through the barriers of dimensions to bring them the answers.”

"We... succeeded."

The voice of the Star Giant carried a hint of undisguised pride, but it was quickly replaced by a deeper sorrow.

"The strongest among us successfully broke through the barrier and entered that higher-dimensional palace. However, what he saw was not truth, but... greed."

“Our success showed them another path. A faster and more tempting path than seeking the elusive ‘eternity’—that is, ‘harvesting’.”

"From the birth of a universe to its peak and then to its annihilation, all its laws, all its life, and all the 'information' of existence will condense into a single... 'Source Fruit of the Dao' during the final 'Great Collapse'."

"This fruit is an unparalleled tonic for higher-dimensional life. To devour it is to plunder the entire essence of a universe."

"Therefore, the purpose of the experiment changed."

"They no longer expect us to 'break through the barrier,' but rather see us as a 'catalyst' for the maturation of the universe. Our existence will accelerate the evolution of the universe's laws, allowing the universe to reach its peak more quickly. And the 'dust of the end' is the scythe they wield, used to harvest the fruit the moment it ripens."

"The Watchers are merely tools for guarding the orchard. The 'Breakers,' you so-called 'Zeros,' are the most crucial 'seeds.' Your existence determines the quality of the 'Source Fruit of the Dao.' When you awaken and unleash the power to break down barriers, it means that this fruit has reached its peak of maturity and is the best time to harvest it."

The words of the Star Giant resounded like thunderclaps in Xu Ran's mind.

He finally understood.

Everything is clear!
The so-called "watching over" and "protecting" were, from beginning to end, a complete scam!

He is not a guardian, he is a sacrifice!

His feat of slaying the "Cleanser" and his breaking of the "Zero" seal's defiant act not only failed to buy life for the universe, but instead... rang the bell for dinner!

He personally pushed himself and this universe towards a true... dead end!
An extreme chill ran from the soles of Xu Ran's feet straight to the top of his head. He felt like a clown performing on stage, while the audience behind the scenes was ready to come on stage and tear him and the entire stage apart.

"Why are you telling me all this?" Xu Ran's voice was terribly hoarse.

“Because I see in you… a look similar to his.” The Star Giant gazed at Xu Ran, a hint of reminiscence appearing on his blurred face. “The strongest person of our era, the first to ‘break through the barrier,’ had the same look in his eyes when he stepped into the high-dimensional hall and saw the truth.”

“Resentment, anger, and… madness enough to burn the heavens.”

"He failed, killed by the 'high-dimensional matrix,' even the trace of his existence was erased. As for me, as his follower, I took some of his remains and will and hid in this 'coffin of the burial path,' barely surviving at the end of this universe, waiting for the next 'wallbreaker' to appear."

"I've waited for so long...so long that I've almost forgotten the meaning of waiting."

The Star Giant stretched out a hand made of stars and pointed it at the ancient stone coffin.

“I am about to dissipate. This coffin of the burial path, along with the last trace of his ‘unyielding will’ within it, is the last legacy I can leave you.”

"Use your flesh and blood to bear it. Use your will to ignite it."

"Perhaps... you can finish the journey he didn't finish."

As soon as the words fell, the towering star giant began to dim, turning into specks of starlight that slowly drifted away and merged back into the chaotic sea of ​​energy.

Only that lingering sigh remained, echoing in Xu Ran's ears.

“Be careful… of the 'Matrix'… 'Zeroing' protocol…”

Xu Ran stood silently in place, speechless for a long time.

In his heart, there was no anger, no resentment, only an extreme, icy calm.

The truth is often more hurtful than the cruelest lie.

He slowly walked towards the "coffin of the burial passage." When his hand touched the cold, rough surface of the stone coffin...

boom--! ! !
An indescribable torrent of will surged into his mind!
That wasn't memory, it wasn't information, but a pure, unadorned... "fighting spirit"!
A resolute determination to wield the sword against a higher dimension, even at the cost of utter destruction! A madness to do what is known to be impossible, to go against the tide of a thousand men!

Xu Ran saw a blurry figure from behind.

That figure, alone, faced an incomprehensible "high-dimensional matrix" composed of countless torrents of data. He swung his fist, each attack causing the entire matrix to tremble. His path was domineering, pure, and filled with destruction and rebirth.

In the end, he was exhausted, pierced by countless chains of causality, and overwhelmed by annihilating code.

But in the instant before he was completely "deleted," he turned around, as if traversing countless ages, and met Xu Ran's gaze.

He uttered two words silently.

"Live..."

The next moment, the "coffin of the burial path" made a crisp "crack" sound, and a crack appeared in the middle.

A drop of golden "blood," as if time had frozen, slowly floated out from the crack.

This single drop of blood caused the surrounding chaotic energy to submit, and even caused the gravity of the colossal black hole, capable of devouring everything, to momentarily halt!
That was... the original blood of the first "Breaker"!

Xu Ran reached out his hand, and the drop of golden blood seemed to be drawn to him, gently falling into his palm.

There was no earth-shattering energy eruption, no resonance of laws.

That drop of blood, silently, seeped into his body.

At this moment, Xu Ran's "divine body" and the alien Dao principles belonging to the "Cleanser" within him began to melt and purify rapidly, as if encountering ice and snow, a natural enemy!
And his own origin, the ancient power belonging to "Desolation," began to revive at an unprecedented speed under the influence of this drop of golden blood!
Bathed in golden light, his flesh and blood were visibly becoming fuller and more crystalline, brimming with explosive power. Every inch of his skin, every cell, seemed to transform into a miniature universe, breathing and evolving!

The process of reshaping the flesh and blood of the Holy Body began in a way he had never imagined!

However, at this moment.

The entire dying universe trembled violently.

Whether in the Land of Ruins or at the edge of the distant Star Sea, whether among the creatures barely clinging to life or the apathetic "Ruins Beasts," all felt at the same time a fear emanating from the depths of their souls!
The boundary of the universe, that gray-white area being eroded by the "dust of the end," suddenly stopped spreading.

Instead, an absolute, pure "nothingness" is contracting inward from outside the universe at a speed billions of times faster!
It was as if an invisible giant hand was about to crush the entire "petri dish," along with everything inside, completely!

That cold, aloof "high-dimensional matrix" finally lost all patience the moment it realized the "blood of the wallbreaker" had reappeared in the world, and the moment it realized the "seed" had begun to merge with the "legacy".

It no longer needs "harvesting" or "the source of the Tao".

All it has to do now is to eliminate this uncontrollable "variable" completely, at all costs!

"Zeroing Protocol...Activated."

A voice devoid of any emotion resounded in every corner of the universe, in every dimension, and in the mind of every living being.

it's dark.

It's not darkness where light is swallowed up, but a kind of "conceptual" darkness.

The entire universe is being crossed off the list of things that "exist".

Reset to zero, the process begins.

It was not the disappearance of light, nor the depletion of energy. It was a more fundamental, more terrifying "stripping".

The concept of "light" itself is being erased from the fundamental laws of this universe. As a result, all stars and all burning flames of the Dao have lost the right to "shine." They still burn, but they can no longer illuminate even the slightest bit of darkness.

The definition of "distance" is being erased. Thus, the distant edges of galaxies and the cores of collapsing nebulae are logically forced to converge at the same coordinate point. Spacetime loses its scale, becoming meaningless, like a crumpled piece of waste paper.

The phenomenon of "life" is being denied. In countless star fields, those creatures that are barely surviving, regardless of their cultivation level or form, are not extinguished, but rather their very existence is being extinguished. Their bodies have not decayed, their souls have not dissipated, but they have simply become still, turning into lifelike sculptures that have forever lost the attribute of "living".

This is the "zeroing protocol".

It's not destruction, but erasure. Like a programmer deleting an entire partition on a hard drive, along with the data, formatting, and any traces of its existence, all reduced to the purest "nothingness."

This Gengchen universe is being "unloaded" in a way that is incomprehensible and irresistible.

At the core of the collapsing nebula, before the cracked coffin of the burial path, Xu Ran stood silently. The golden blood within him was reshaping everything about him in an unparalleled and domineering way.

The alien laws belonging to the "Cleanser" within the body of the divine remains were not even qualified to struggle before this drop of golden blood. They were crushed into dust by the "wall-breaking" will contained within it, and then devoured by the primal power of "Wilderness," transforming into the purest nourishment.

This is a complete and utter crushing defeat.

If the "Cleaner's" way is the "editing" and "formatting" of lower dimensions by higher dimensions, then the will contained in this drop of golden blood is the first blade of resistance wielded by lower-dimensional life against the higher-dimensional world! It may not be powerful enough, but its "status" and its "meaning" are enough to confront the will of the "Matrix" head-on!

Xu Ran's Dao bones were being reforged. Every broken inch was filled with golden divine light, and new runes, full of resistance and indomitable spirit, were imprinted on them. His flesh and blood were regenerating, no longer a cold aggregate of Dao principles, but full of warmth and vitality, as if every cell was breathing and shouting.

His essence is recovering rapidly, even surpassing its previous level!

The ancient power of the "wilderness" and the indomitable will of the "wallbreakers" began to resonate and merge in a wondrous way during this cosmic funeral.

Xu Ran's consciousness was clearer than ever before. He could "see" the entire universe's web of laws being pulled away one by one. He could "hear" the silent lament of all things before their existence was erased.

He felt no anger, no fear. When the truth was revealed in the most brutal way, when despair materialized and overwhelmed everything, all that remained in his heart was a desolate, icy wasteland.

(End of this chapter)