Start from a baby to become a Taoist

Chapter 536 Ten Deaths Without Survival
Chapter 544

"The Daoist understanding..."

Xu Ran focused his mind and spirit, his consciousness sinking into an unprecedented microscopic realm.

This is not a simple decomposition, but a reverse deduction at the conceptual level. He seemed to see a great river rushing into the sea, and what he had to do was to follow the end of this great river upstream to trace back to the first drop of snowmelt.

boom!
His soul jolted violently, as if he had been dragged into a dazzling world woven from countless rays of light and runes.

Among them were thick, deep gray lines, exuding an aura of ending and annihilation—the familiar Path of Return to Nothingness. They were like a giant net devouring all things; any energy or matter that approached would be assimilated and ultimately lead to nothingness. This was the foundation of his power, domineering and pure.

On the other side, however, lay a completely different scene. Countless intricate, resilient, and shimmering golden divine runes, intertwined, formed miniature yet impregnable temples of order. They represented protection, eternity, and an unquestionable "reason." This was the Way of the Divine Court, a magnificent law that pushed "existence" itself to its ultimate limit!

In the past, Xu Ran merely integrated the power of the Flame into the Void and forcibly controlled it. But now, under the "Dao Understanding," he saw for the first time so clearly the essential differences and inner logic between the two Great Daos.

Returning to the Void is the end, subtraction, and returning everything to chaos.

The Way of the Divine Court is construction, addition, and the establishment of order from chaos.

Yin and Yang, one end and one beginning, are inherently opposed, yet they achieve a wondrous coexistence on this small fragment.

"So that's how it is... The power of the flame is not simply energy; it's more like a 'glue,' a bridge of 'Tao.' With a will of 'inheritance' and 'creation,' it forcibly links two opposing laws together..."

Countless flashes of inspiration struck Xu Ran's mind. His understanding of his own Dao was deepening at an unbelievable speed. If before he was merely a mortal wielding a divine weapon, now he was attempting to comprehend the method of forging that divine weapon.

This kind of profound understanding is a billion times more precious than mere energy accumulation!
However, just as he was immersed in this mysterious state, an invisible wave quietly descended from the depths of distant time and space.

It was a cold, ruthless, and utterly impersonal sense of being locked in place.

It was as if an eye spanning an endless sea of ​​stars was slowly opening at the other end of the universe. Its pupils contained no stars, only cold chains of laws composed of "0" and "1".

Heavenly sequence!

It has begun to lock onto these coordinates!

Xu Ran felt a chill run down his spine, jolting him out of his deep reverie. He knew that his time was running out.

"My lord."

Outside the quiet room, Cang Shi's deep, resonant voice interrupted his thoughts.

Xu Ran composed himself, and the fragment that had been partially deciphered solidified again. He slowly stood up and opened the door to the meditation room.

Cangshi and Zhenshan stood solemnly outside the door, both with extremely grave expressions.

"Speak," Xu Ran said succinctly.

Cang Shi handed over a jade slip containing a detailed damage report of the Pioneer. He said in a deep voice, "My lord, the situation is worse than we anticipated. The part of the stern that was 'erased' is not just the hull, but also a third of our main space array. This means that we have lost our ability to perform long-distance jumps."

"Lost the ability to jump?" Zhenshan's pupils shrank as he listened from the side.

In this unknown and desolate star field, a Shenzhou spacecraft that cannot perform space jumps is like an eagle with broken wings, trapped in one place, waiting for the hunter to arrive.

Cang Shi nodded and continued, "Not only that, the 'erasure' law contained in that attack still has remnants, like maggots clinging to bones, eroding the foundation of the ship. I have to devote most of my power to suppressing it, causing the backup energy to be consumed ten times faster than normal. At this rate, in at most thirty star days, the Pioneer will completely lose all power and become a cold steel coffin."

One piece of bad news after another struck everyone's heart like a heavy hammer.

Xu Ran took the jade slip, scanned it with his divine sense, and frowned slightly. The situation was indeed serious, but he didn't show the slightest panic. He looked at Zhen Shan and asked, "What about your side? Any discoveries?"

Zhen Shan stood ramrod straight, his imposing figure clasped in a fist and said, “My lord, I have led the royal general’s squad to conduct a preliminary exploration of this planet. This… is not an ordinary dead star.”

He paused, seemingly organizing his thoughts, a hint of shock flashing in his eyes.

"This is a cemetery. A metal cemetery that has buried countless warships of civilized civilizations!"

"Metal Cemetery?"

"Yes," Zhenshan said solemnly. "The entire surface of this planet is covered with endless metal debris. Some of the warship wreckage is larger than mountains, bearing the marks of civilizations we've never seen before. This place seems to be the final battlefield of some ancient era, where all the participants were buried. We even discovered the skeletons of some war behemoths forged from divine metal; their aura in life was probably no weaker than that of a god!"

This news sent a chill down Cang Shi's spine. A battlefield where a God-King level war behemoth was buried? What exactly happened in this star field?
“However,” Zhenshan changed the subject, “this place is also full of strangeness and danger. A peculiar creature has been born in this metal cemetery, which we will temporarily call the ‘Gold-Eating Ghost’.”

"They are pure energy entities, formed from the endless resentment, unwilling fighting spirit, and dense, impenetrable metallic aura on this battlefield. They have no physical form, can ignore most physical attacks, and feed on high-grade metals and energy. One of our reconnaissance squads, carrying divine metal weapons, was devoured by several ghosts in an instant. If we hadn't retreated in time, we probably would have been drained of our divine power and died."

"Most importantly, these ghosts seem to have some kind of hierarchy. We've only encountered the outermost wandering spirits, but deep within the cemetery, we sensed several extremely terrifying auras. The resentment and malevolent energy there have condensed into a storm!"

After hearing the two men's reports, the bridge fell into a deathly silence.

Ahead lies the pursuit of the "Heavenly Principle Sequence," behind lies the crisis of running out of energy, and the only foothold beneath their feet is a perilous and dangerous place.

This was a hopeless situation with no chance of survival.

All eyes were once again focused on Xu Ran. They had grown accustomed to the fact that, in any desperate situation, as long as this man was still standing, they still had hope.

Xu Ran remained silent for a moment, his fingers tapping rhythmically on the control panel in front of him. He was thinking, weighing his options, searching for the only way to break the deadlock.

Metal Cemetery...Gold-Eating Ghosts...

Energy crisis... ship repair...

Keyword after keyword collided and recombined in his mind.

Suddenly, his tapping fingers stopped.

“A crisis can also be an opportunity.” Xu Ran spoke slowly, his voice not loud, but it carried a power that could calm people’s hearts.

He raised his head, his gaze sweeping over the green stone and the mountain. In his deep eyes, instead of despair, a blazing light burned.

"Since this metal cemetery can give birth to ghosts that feed on divine metal, it proves that there must be a massive amount of high-level metals and energy sources here that we cannot even imagine!"

"Our Pioneer is a warship forged from divine metal. These are exactly what we need to repair it!"

Cang Shi was taken aback, then understood Xu Ran's meaning: "My lord, you intend to... use what's available?" "That's right." Xu Ran nodded, "Passive waiting only leads to death. To survive, we must take the initiative and carve a path to life for ourselves from this desolate wasteland!"

"Since the Gold-Devouring Wraiths are energy entities, their essence must be a combination of resentment and the metal element. Resentment can be subdued by returning to the Void. The metal element is precisely what we need!"

He stood up, and a powerful confidence and an air of dominance emanated from him.

“They feed on divine metal, so let’s do the opposite and feed on them!”

These words struck like a thunderbolt, resounding in everyone's hearts.

Feeding on those eerie and terrifying ghosts? What a bold and insane idea!
But for some reason, when Xu Ran said it, it sounded so natural.

Zhenshan felt his blood boiling. He clasped his hands in a fist and his voice boomed, "My lord, give the order! Zhenshan is willing to be the vanguard and raze this mausoleum to the ground for my lord!"

"No." Xu Ran waved his hand. "This time, I'll go myself."

He looked at the distant, metallic land shrouded in gray mist, his gaze becoming distant and sharp.

"I not only want to seize resources, but I also want to 'see' clearly the true nature of this cemetery and the origin of these gold-devouring ghosts. Perhaps they can tell me some secrets about this star field."

His new ability, "Dao Jie," is a supreme divine skill for exploring the origin of all things.

……

An hour later.

Beneath the massive hull of the Pioneer, a gate slowly opened.

Xu Ran, dressed in black, stood at the forefront. Behind him followed Zhen Shan and ten kings whose auras were the most solemn and imposing.

They are the elite among the Hundred Kings, each of them having been tempered by blood and fire, their will as firm as iron.

The moment I stepped out of the ark, an aura of utter desolation, deathly silence, and tragic grandeur swept over me.

Looking around, the world was a desolate gray.

The earth was formed by layers upon layers of crushed warship wreckage. Twisted metal mountains pierced the sky shrouded in gray dust. An unimaginably massive starship, severed in half, lay silently across the horizon, its clean, mirror-like fracture, like the corpse of an ancient god or demon.

A faint smell of rust filled the air, along with a chilling coldness that seemed to penetrate the very soul.

There is no life here, only death. There is no sound, only eternal silence.

“What terrifying resentment…” one of the kings couldn’t help but mutter.

They are beings who wield punishment and slaughter, and are extremely sensitive to negative energy. The resentment here is so intense that it seems to have materialized into a tangible ocean, constantly washing over their minds. If it weren't for the protection of the Divine Throne of Military Law, ordinary deities would likely have their Dao hearts corrupted if they stayed here for too long.

"Form ranks and remain vigilant." Zhenshan shouted in a low voice, and the eleven kings instantly formed a small reincarnation battle formation. Dark golden military law chains appeared and disappeared around them, keeping the pervasive resentment at bay.

Xu Ran, however, seemed completely unaffected.

His Eyes of Return to Nothingness had already been activated. In his eyes, the scenery of this world was completely different.

What he saw was not wreckage, but strands and clusters of unyielding will rising into the sky. They gathered in the heavens, forming an invisible black ocean of hatred and despair.

Beneath the earth, the energy cores buried deep within the wreckage, which had not been completely extinguished, and the ship keels forged from immortal divine metal, were emitting wisps of extremely pure, iridescent metallic primordial energy.

Resentment is the soul, and origin is the food.

The mystery of the birth of the Gold-Eating Ghost has been laid bare in Xu Ran's eyes.

“Let’s go to the place with the most concentrated energy reactions.” Xu Ran determined a direction and started walking.

The group followed closely behind, walking through this graveyard of colossal creatures. They were as insignificant as ants, each step treading upon a forgotten, tragic chapter of history.

"His-"

Suddenly, a piercing shriek came from the engine of a collapsed warship ahead.

Immediately afterwards, more than a dozen semi-transparent, twisted human-shaped gray shadows suddenly pounced out of the shadows!

Gold-Eating Ghost!

They moved with lightning speed, ignoring the obstacles of the terrain, and pierced directly through the thick metal deck, heading straight for the two kings at the front.

"Hmph! A mere grain of rice dares to shine?"

Those two kings were seasoned warriors, and their reactions were incredibly swift. Instead of retreating, they advanced, and behind them, dark golden military thrones suddenly appeared!
"Military law is as firm as a mountain, enforce it!"

hum!
An invisible force of law spread out, and the movements of the dozen or so Gold-Devouring Wraiths suddenly froze, as if they had sunk into a quagmire. Their illusory bodies, under the suppression of the military will, actually began to solidify.

"cut!"

Another king swung his halberd, and golden divine light pierced the sky, accurately striking a ghost.

laugh!
The ghost let out a shrill scream, its body was cleaved in two, and it vanished in a wisp of green smoke, leaving behind a small clump of silvery metallic powder, about the size of a grain of rice.

"It works!" The generals were invigorated.

However, more ghosts, drawn by the stench of blood, surged in from all directions. Hundreds upon hundreds, densely packed, their shrieks converged, forming a terrifying mental storm that assaulted everyone's souls.

"Reincarnation Battle Formation, Annihilation!"

With a roar, Zhen Shan stood at the heart of the formation, his throne radiating its most dazzling light. A hundred-zhang-tall phantom of a military divine general rose from the ground, wielding a giant sword made of chains of law, and swept it out with tremendous force!

Boom!

(End of this chapter)