Start from a baby to become a Taoist

Chapter 535 Right now!

Chapter 543

This power is the foundation of the Divine Court civilization, the culmination of their understanding of the universe and their articulation of all laws. Its essence is so profound that it is far beyond the comprehension of the Corrosion Tide, a chaotic creature that only knows how to devour and pollute.

Click!Click!
The countless fleshy tentacles wrapped around the ancient book, under the scouring of this "reason," were as if they had encountered their natural enemy, breaking off inch by inch and being purified into blue smoke!

"This is the moment!"

Xu Ran gave a low shout, and the beam of light, interwoven with gold and gray, had already arrived.

The gray power of the Ruins transformed into an invisible hand, isolating the mother nest from its final counterattack. The golden-red power of the embers, like a gentle thread, softly wrapped around the ancient book that had broken free of its restraints.

call out!
Without the slightest pause, the ancient book transformed into a streak of light, traveling back along the "Path of Annihilation" it had come from, flying back at a speed that transcended the concept of time and space. It directly pierced through the hull of the Pioneer, as if the two were in different dimensions, and the next moment, it was quietly suspended in front of Xu Ran.

Ancient books acquired!

"Roar--!!!"

The moment the ancient book was separated from its mother nest, a piercing scream filled with endless pain and rage resounded through everyone's soul.

Having lost its target for suppression and digestion, the Mother Nest descended into utter madness. Its enormous body began to expand and contract violently out of control, and an energy capable of destroying everything was brewing at its core.

It's going to self-destruct! It's going to drag this area, along with the enemy who stole its treasure, into an abyss of no return!

"Cangshi! Prepare for the jump! Now!" Xu Ran grabbed the warm, ancient book and shouted sternly.

"Yes!" Cang Shi was already prepared, his hands creating hundreds of afterimages on the array plate.

The engines of the God Throne-class Ark were pushed to their limits, and the space around the ship began to distort and fold again, about to vanish into nothingness.

However, at this critical moment, something strange happened!

The ancient book that Xu Ran was holding suddenly turned a page on its own with a "whoosh"!
The pages were blank, yet a cold, vast, and emotionless will flowed from them, directly imprinting itself deep into the minds of all living beings on the bridge.

That was neither sound nor divine thought, but a higher-level "declaration" based on information and laws.

"Warning: 'First Codex' has been separated from 'Seventh Storage Unit'."

"The storage unit has been detected to be highly contaminated by the 'Rust Disaster'."

“Execute the 'Final Cleanup Agreement'.”

"Objective 1 of the agreement: to clean up the contaminated area."

"Second objective of the agreement: Locate the carrier of 'Remnant of the Flame,' determine them as the 'highest priority variable,' and execute... erasure!"

This will is completely different from the iron will and protection of the Divine Court. It is more like a kind of emotionless, super-intelligent system that exists solely to execute some ancient command, or rather, an execution program of the "Heavenly Dao"!

The tide of rust is merely a parasite occupying an abandoned nest. But this will is the true… “jailer” of the Daoist Treasury!
boom! ! !
With the declaration of that will, the entire mother nest, which was about to self-destruct, along with the enormous Daoist temple, was instantly detonated from within by an indescribable, terrifying force.

But it was not a chaotic energy explosion, but an extreme "contraction" and "annihilation"!
In the center of the Daoist Hall, a singularity appeared, deeper than a black hole and purer than nothingness. A beam of white light, condensed to its extreme and seemingly capable of erasing all concepts in the world, burst forth from that singularity, locking onto the Pathfinder, which was becoming illusory, and shot towards it with overwhelming force!
Wherever that white light passed, everything—space, laws, and even the remnants of the rusting tide—silently "disappeared."

It wasn't destroyed, but completely erased from the level of "existence"!

"Oh no!" Xu Ran's pupils shrank sharply.

The terror of this attack has exceeded the scope of the Divine Fire Realm; even ordinary Divine Lords cannot withstand it!
This is a level of cleanup that's civilized!

"Jump!"

Cangshi roared, pushing the Ark's warp drive to the brink of collapse.

Just before the white beam of light arrived, the Pioneer's hull finally transformed into a phantom and vanished from the spot.

laugh--

The white light was ultimately a fraction too fast.

It precisely swept across the spatial afterimage left by the Pioneer before it disappeared, and also grazed the tail of the Ark.

……

A desolate, cold, unknown star field.

Space suddenly shattered like a broken mirror, and a dark golden spaceship, billowing smoke and blaring alarms, tumbled out in a sorry state.

boom!
The Pioneer crashed heavily into a massive, long-dead planet, carving a bottomless canyon before finally coming to a stop.

The bridge was in complete disarray.

Many kings and generals had blood coming from their mouths and noses, and their faces were pale. They had suffered serious injuries in the violent spatial tremors and the impact of the laws.

"Cough cough...we...we escaped?" Zhenshan struggled to his feet and asked, still shaken.

No one answered him.

All eyes were fixed on the rear of the Ark through the massive observation windows of the bridge.

There, a full third of the once sleek and massive stern of the Pioneer had vanished into thin air!
It wasn't the wreckage of a bomb, but a smooth, mirror-like surface, an absolute "nothingness." It was as if that part of the ship had never existed. The divine metal that made up the hull, the immortal Dao patterns, the complex arrays... everything had been completely erased, leaving no trace.

Such terrifying consequences from just a glancing blow!

Everyone felt a chill run from the soles of their feet to the top of their heads. If the jump had been even a fraction of a second slower, they would probably have become a non-existent "concept" in the universe by now.

"Then... what exactly is it?" Cangshi's voice was a little hoarse.

Xu Ran didn't speak. He slowly straightened up, his face somewhat pale, but his eyes remained focused. He looked down at the ancient book in his hand, which had closed again and returned to its original, rustic appearance.

"'Pioneer' mission: Seize the core of the Divine Court's Daoist Scripture."

"mission completed."

"Overall rating: Perfect (achieved the highest value objective at the lowest cost and successfully elicited the hidden threat)."

"Reward: The origin of the Guixu World is strengthened, and Dao Lord's comprehension increases by 50." "Unlock new Guixu ability: Dao Understanding (can consume the origin of Guixu to analyze and decompose the target at the law level, with a chance to permanently master some of its law characteristics)."

"New warning: You have been marked as a 'Category 1 Elimination Target' by 'Heavenly Principle Sequence'. Your coordinate system will be permanently locked. The difficulty of survival has been greatly increased."

The system notification sounded in his mind, and a huge surge of enlightenment and pure primal power flowed into his body, allowing him to quickly recover from the enormous mental and physical exhaustion he had consumed, and even making some subtle progress.

However, Xu Ran's heart was heavy.

The sequence of heavenly principles...

These four words seemed to possess a magical power that made words come true, causing him to feel an invisible shackle descending upon him from the depths of distant time and space.

What he took away seemed to be more than just an ancient book; it was a "trouble" so hot it could burn the heavens.

"My lord, what do we do now?" Zhenshan walked over, a look of bewilderment on his face. They had escaped the ruins of the Divine Court, but had also stumbled into a completely unfamiliar star field. Their divine ship was severely damaged, and they were being watched by an unknown and terrifying being. The road ahead was shrouded in uncertainty.

Xu Ran put away the ancient book in his hand and slowly scanned the faces of everyone on the bridge. He saw exhaustion, he saw lingering fear, but more than anything, he saw trust, a look in their eyes that entrusted their lives to him.

He took a deep breath, and the heaviness and confusion in his heart were replaced by a stronger will.

That is the responsibility and awareness of a "pioneer".

"Pass on my orders." Xu Ran's voice regained its composure and authority.

"First, Cangshi, immediately organize manpower to assess the damage to the hull, activate backup power, and do everything possible to repair the Ark. We need a safe harbor."

"Second, Zhenshan, you will lead the Hundred Kings to wipe out the planet we crashed on, explore the surrounding star system, and establish a temporary perimeter. I need to know exactly where we are and whether there are any new threats around us."

"Third..." Xu Ran paused, his gaze becoming deep and unfathomable, "Everyone, prepare yourselves. From today onward, we will not only face natural disasters in the universe and malevolent spirits in the ruins, but also... the 'order' of the former divine court."

His words sent a chill down everyone's spine.

But then, a strange sense of pride welled up from the bottom of their hearts.

To fight against the heavens, to fight against the earth, to fight against the "natural law" of a lost civilization! What a challenge, and what an... glory!

Failure means utter ruin; even the traces of your existence will be erased.

But if they succeed, they will be stepping over the corpses of a glorious civilization and embarking on a path never before trodden!

"I will obey my Lord's orders!"

Everyone responded in unison, the roar dispelling confusion and fear, leaving only a soaring fighting spirit.

With the order given, the entire Pioneer, this warship that had just suffered heavy damage, began to operate like a precise machine once again.

Xu Ran went alone to the top floor of the bridge. This was his private meditation room, and also the absolute core of the entire ship.

He sat cross-legged, and with a thought, the ancient book reappeared in his palm.

"The First Daoist Canon..." He stroked the warm, jade-like cover, "The Sequence of Heavenly Principles..."

He didn't rush to peruse it. He knew that the knowledge and secrets it contained were bound to be vast and complex, not something that could be deciphered overnight. Moreover, the warning from the "Heavenly Principle Sequence" made him wary. Who knew what the consequences would be if he rashly opened it?

What he needs to do now is to digest this gain and transform it into real strength.

"System, analyze new capabilities, 'Taoist Explanation'."

"'Dao Jie': An advanced application of the Dao of Returning to the Void. Returning to the Void is the endpoint of all Daos. The host can reverse this process, analyzing the endpoint to deduce the 'Dao' and 'Li' that constitute the target. When used on matter, it can be broken down into its most fundamental particles; when used on energy, its operational laws can be analyzed; when used on laws, its essence can be understood. Note: The Dao Jie process will consume a large amount of Returning to the Void origin, and when used on targets far beyond the host's current realm, the success rate is extremely low, and it may even result in backlash."

Xu Ran's eyes lit up instantly.

This is a divine skill tailor-made for him!

His path to the Void was inherently adept at devouring and ending. But that was more of an instinct—knowing what it is, but not why it is. "Understanding the Dao," however, provided him with a way to "know why it is!"

This means that when he encounters powerful enemies or wondrous creations in the future, he will no longer simply destroy or devour them, but will be able to "fully understand" them and transform them into his own foundation!
His gaze fell on a small, palm-sized, dark gold fragment that had been peeled off from the damaged part of the ship in the corner of the quiet room.

This is a fragment of the Pioneer's hull, bearing both the Dao patterns of the Void that he personally imprinted and the divine runes of the Divine Court that were naturally born after merging with the Undying Flame.

"It starts with you."

Xu Ran stretched out his hand, and a wisp of pure gray power of returning to the void overflowed from his fingertips, transforming into countless runes that were billions of times finer than a strand of hair, enveloping the fragment.

"Dao Jie, activate!"

hum!
That indestructible fragment, capable of withstanding a full-force attack from a Divine Fire Realm expert, began to be "peeled away" layer by layer from the most microscopic level at an extremely slow pace, enveloped by gray runes.

Its material structure, its energy circuit, the two completely different Dao patterns it carries... all this information turned into a torrent and surged into Xu Ran's mind.

Xu Ran's consciousness seemed to enter a microscopic world composed of countless lines of laws. He saw how the Ruins of Return devoured energy and led it to annihilation. He also saw how the Divine Court's runes constructed a stable protective stance and how they emanated immortal divinity.

At this moment, he saw clearly and distinctly two completely different "paths" in an unprecedented way.

In his mind, countless flashes of inspiration collided and burst forth.

His understanding of the Way of Returning to Nothingness is deepening.

He also gained a preliminary understanding of the Divine Court Path, the foundation of this once glorious civilization.

Time passed slowly during this period of deep seclusion.

Deep within this desolate and unknown star field, no one knows that a divine spaceship carrying the spark of a nascent civilization is silently licking its wounds.

No one knew that a pioneer, once hunted down by the "principles of heaven," was frantically absorbing nutrients at an alarming rate, accumulating strength for an even more magnificent voyage to come.

The road ahead is an abyss, but also... a stairway to becoming the Supreme Dao Lord!
The road ahead is an abyss, but also... a stairway to becoming the Supreme Dao Lord!
Inside the quiet room, all was silent except for Xu Ran's steady heartbeat, which resonated with the fate of this wrecked divine ship like an ancient, inextinguishable bell.

The gray power of the void at his fingertips had transformed into the most precise carving knife in the world, carefully probing into the depths of the dark golden fragment's origin.

(End of this chapter)