Start from a baby to become a Taoist

Chapter 544 I Choose...

Chapter 552

"Cangshi, full power, charge towards that crack!"

"Yes!"

With a roar, the Pioneer roared, its engines running at full power, transforming into a streak of light as it charged madly toward the cosmic scar it had come from!

However, it's too late.

That enormous metal claw, named "Prison Suppressor," appeared slow, but in reality, it moved faster than the concept of time and space. It simply gripped lightly!
Click!

The entire space of the Cage Starfield seemed to have become a fragile piece of glass, which it crushed and then reshaped!

The huge rift that originally led to the outside world was forcibly "repaired" with this one grasp!

Moreover, throughout the entire star field, all the metal debris began to move and recombine, transforming into a colossal, layered, and desolate metal labyrinth filled with deathly silence and despair!
One dead end after another, paved with the remains of civilization, unfolded before them.

They are trapped!

"My lord... the way out... has vanished!" For the first time, Cang Shi's voice was filled with despair.

"Daojun System, deduce the path to survival!" Xu Ran roared in his sea of ​​consciousness.

"Deduction in progress..."

"The target 'Prison' has fully awakened and is constructing the 'Epochal Cage'..."

“Cage completion rate: 17%...34%...58%..."

"Analysis result: No way out."

"...re-analyzing...and discovering the only variable..."

"Variable source: Xuan Tian Dao Armor".

Xu Ran's gaze sharpened as he looked at the enormous tortoise shell in his hand.

"Using 'divination' to counter 'imprisonment'?"

He had a sudden inspiration and frantically poured the power of the Reincarnation Dao Lord, which he had just acquired and which was fused with the power of destiny, into the Xuan Tian Dao Armor!

hum-

This ancient tortoise shell, which had been dormant for three eras, finally unleashed its true power under the full urging of a Reincarnation Dao Lord!
On the tortoise shell, those ancient patterns lit up once more!
This time, it's no longer about predicting the future, but about deducing the only... path to survival in this labyrinth of certain death!
Countless forks in the road and countless dead ends flashed by on the tortoise shell.

Ultimately, all the patterns pointed to the depths of the maze, in an inconspicuous direction.

"There!" Xu Ran pointed in that direction without hesitation. "Full speed ahead!"

The Pioneer immediately turned around and frantically traversed the labyrinth made up of countless remnants of civilizations.

Behind them, the giant metal claw called "Suppressor" had fully emerged from the black hole, crushing down on them with a terrifying power that could obliterate everything!

This is a race against death!
Just as the Pioneer was about to plunge into the path of survival guided by the Xuan Tian Dao Armor.

The space in front of them suddenly began to distort without warning.

An ancient, sighing voice, seemingly spanning countless ages, resounded directly in the souls of Xu Ran and the others.

"Alas... Reincarnation has begun, and changes have occurred... The tranquility of the 'cemetery' ends here."

"However, the 'key' has not been obtained, so you... cannot leave yet."

With that sigh, a tree, an ancient tree whose entire body was made of light, and whose branches and leaves seemed to be hung with countless stars and universes, silently grew out of nothingness and stood right in their way.

This tree exudes an aura completely different from that of "Prison Guardian".

It was an ancient, upright, and peaceful atmosphere, yet it carried a hint of compassion and helplessness.

But its appearance caused Xu Ran's pupils to shrink to their limit!

Because he saw that on the trunk of the tree, there were thick silver chains made of "Heavenly Principle" runes...
The tree's roots pierced deep into the void, and at the other end, they seemed to connect to... that terrifying "Prison Suppressor" giant claw!
"Unknown life form detected: ???"

Threat Level: ??? (Far exceeding the current analysis limit)

"Warning! Warning! 'Primordial' level information response detected!"

For the first time, the Daojun System has encountered unresolved garbled text!
A mysterious ancient tree blocks their path ahead, while the Grim Reaper of Hell pursues them from behind!

Xu Ran, who had just stepped into the Dao Lord realm, and his newly established "Reincarnation Palace" were instantly plunged into a more desperate... dead end than when facing the Holy Arbiter.

Xu Ran, who had just stepped into the Dao Lord realm, and his newly established "Reincarnation Palace" were instantly plunged into a more desperate... dead end than when facing the Holy Arbiter.

Dead silence.

A deathly silence more suffocating than the vacuum of the starry sky.

The crushing force of the Prison-Suppressing Giant Claw is a "finality" on a purely physical and legal level. Wherever it passes, spacetime turns to ash, the Great Dao collapses, and all existence is ground into the most primitive particles. But the ancient tree of light that appears out of nowhere in front of you has a completely different pressure. It does not want to destroy you, but to "deny" you.

It was as if, in the face of its existence, all of Xu Ran's struggles, all his principles and laws, had lost their meaning. Before you even made a move, you were already destined to be defeated; before you even set off, you were already destined to go astray.

These are two completely different kinds of despair, yet they are strangely connected by roots and chains rooted in nothingness, forming a net that is truly insurmountable for even a Daoist master.

"My lord..." Zhenshan's voice was hoarse. His hand gripping the halberd trembled slightly, not from fear, but from the instinctive shudder of his body under the combined pressure of the two extreme forces. He wanted to die for Xu Ran, but tragically discovered that he didn't even have the right to rush forward. "Shut up, concentrate, guard your true self!"

Xu Ran's voice exploded like a thunderclap in everyone's minds. There was no despair in his voice, only a cold fighting spirit that ignited after being pushed to the limit!

He stood at the bow of the ship, his black hair flying wildly, the scene in his eyes terrifying. His left eye churned with chaos, his right eye was deathly still, and deep within his pupils, the azure divination essence belonging to the Xuan Tian civilization, which he had just devoured, was transforming into billions of streams of light, frantically calculating!
His "causal observation" was pushed to its limit at this moment!

In his vision, the giant claw of the Prison Suppressor, which was chasing after him, was wrapped in pure, blood-red threads of cause and effect, representing "end" and "execution." It had no self, no emotions; it was the executioner's hand of the enormous machine of the "Graveyard," the most loyal extension of the will of Heaven.

The cause and effect of that ancient tree of light was so complex that even Xu Ran was alarmed.

Its main trunk is an ancient, untraceable golden causal line, filled with the aura of "primordial" and "beginning". However, this golden line is tightly bound by countless silver chains representing "heavenly principles", each chain representing the suppression and imprisonment of an era.

What shocked him even more was that the tree's countless roots had transformed into countless intricate threads of cause and effect, connecting every remnant of civilization in this "graveyard"! It was both a prisoner and a jailer! It and the giant claw that guarded the prison were two sides of the same coin, together forming the core of this era's cage!

“The ‘key’ is not yet available, so you… cannot leave.”

That ancient sigh echoed once more.

Xu Ran suddenly raised his head, staring intently at the ancient tree of light, and asked, word by word, "What is the 'key'?"

He didn't ask who you were, or where you were. On the brink of life and death, he asked the most crucial question!
The ancient tree of light seemed to have never expected that a creature driven to the brink of despair would still have such a state of mind. It remained silent for a moment, and the light between its branches and leaves flickered slightly.

"Using the era as fuel and civilization as charcoal, ignite the fire of all paths and refine the supreme fruit... This is the wish of 'Heavenly Principle'."

"However, when the fuel is exhausted, the fire goes out and the fruit is hard to come by. Without a single 'catalyst', one can contain all paths, reverse life and death, and open a new beginning from the end... This is the 'key'."

The ancient tree's voice, devoid of any emotion, struck Xu Ran's heart like a heavy hammer!
He understood instantly!

This so-called "cemetery" is not a garbage dump at all, but an unimaginably huge... alchemy furnace!

After reaping the harvest of one era after another, the Heavenly Principle Sequence threw all the most essential remnants of the Dao principles of these civilizations into this alchemy furnace, hoping to refine a legendary "Supreme Dao Fruit"!
The Holy Arbiter is the medicine boy responsible for harvesting the materials! The Prison Suppressor is the puppet who guards the furnace!
But this furnace, burning for countless eons, never succeeded. Because it lacked the most crucial ingredient!
One can perfectly integrate all the mutually reinforcing and mutually restraining, completely different paths of civilization, and give birth to "new life" from "destruction"!

The key concept here is "reincarnation"!
As for Xu Ran, this variable who has cultivated the Dao of Reincarnation, when he stepped into this place and displayed his Dao Lord power, it was as if he had actively sent that bitter and hard-to-find medicinal ingredient into the alchemy furnace!
"So, you want to refine me to complete the 'Supreme Dao Fruit' of Heavenly Principles?" Xu Ran's voice turned cold, and the Reincarnation Dao Seal slowly rotated behind his head, exuding an aura that defied everything.

“No.” The ancient tree swayed gently, its light shimmering. “The path of Heaven’s principles has gone astray. It seeks ‘fruit,’ absolute control, and a single, definitive outcome. But what I see is the ‘key,’ infinite possibilities, and a brand new beginning.”

“I am the ‘spirit’ of this furnace, and also the first ‘firewood’ to be burned in it. I have witnessed the rise and fall of too many civilizations, and too many brilliant talents who ultimately turned into a wisp of smoke in the furnace.”

“Your ‘reincarnation’ is the only variable throughout countless eras. But… your path is too weak.”

For the first time, the ancient tree's voice carried a hint of emotion—regret.

"Your cycle of reincarnation only controls birth and death, without seeing the beginning or the end. Your Dao domain is incomplete and its logic is not solidified. You are merely the prototype of the 'key,' a fragile key that breaks with the slightest touch. If we release you now, you will be instantly obliterated by the laws of nature, and this only hope will be completely extinguished as well."

"So, you stopped me just to tell me I'm doomed?" Xu Ran laughed, a laugh tinged with an untamed madness.

“No.” The ancient tree’s voice became solemn and dignified. “I will give you a… choice.”

Rumbling--

The colossal claw of the Prison Suppression was already within reach, and its world-destroying pressure caused the Pioneer's hull to emit a piercing wail, with large patches of the runic armor on the ship's surface peeling off and disintegrating!
"My lord! We can't hold on any longer!" Cang Shi roared, having pushed the energy core of the Pioneer to the brink of explosion.

Xu Ran seemed not to hear, his entire mind focused on the ancient tree of light.

"What choice?"

"Choose one," an image appeared on the branches of the ancient tree. It showed Xu Ran piloting the Pioneer, breaking through the cosmic rift, and returning to the vast sea of ​​stars. But the next moment, a silver cross, ten thousand times more powerful than the Saint Arbiter γ-7, descended from the sky. Without struggle or resistance, the Pioneer, along with Xu Ran, instantly vanished into nothingness. "I can open a path for you to escape this place. But your karma has been anchored by the laws of nature. Within three days, a superior being from the 'sequence of laws' will come to eliminate you. With your current strength, you are doomed."

"Option Two," the ancient tree's branches shifted again, and in the scene, the giant claw of the Prison Suppressor slammed down, but was blocked by a layer of soft light. Immediately afterward, the entire metal mausoleum began to shrink and collapse violently, transforming into a singularity of energy, and Xu Ran was at the center of this singularity. "Stay here, enter the furnace core. Use the entire 'Civilization Cemetery' as your whetstone, the 'Prison Suppressor' as your opponent, and the myriad remnants as your resources… Either you are burst apart by this torrent of myriad energy, your soul and spirit annihilated, becoming another handful of ashes in this furnace. Or…"

The ancient tree paused for a moment, then shone brightly, its voice filled with an unprecedented anticipation.

"...You have forged your own 'Path of Reincarnation' into a true, complete key, capable of bearing all paths and reversing the universe...the supreme key!"

"At that time, you will no longer be a fugitive, but... the one who breaks the deadlock!"

silence.

On the bridge, Zhenshan, Cangshi, and the others heard these words and were all shocked, standing there dumbfounded.

One life is a chance for ten to die.

One may die, but there is a glimmer of hope.

What kind of choice is this? This is a dead end!

Entering the heart of the furnace? Taking the Prison Suppressor as an opponent? That's a terrifying existence that can easily crush even a Dao Lord! Using the remnants of ten thousand Daos as resources? One wrong move and your Dao foundation will collapse under the strain of the alien Dao Laws, and your body and soul will be destroyed!

Is this a nine-out-of-ten chance of death? No, it's ninety-nine chances of death, with life hanging by a thread!
However, Xu Ran's answer surprised everyone.

Without the slightest hesitation, a fanatical smile even appeared on his face.

"Hahahaha...Good! What a fine alchemy furnace! What a brilliant person who can break the deadlock!"

"I, Xu Ran, have been cultivating the Dao all along, and I have always walked a path that defies the heavens! If I am afraid of wolves in front and tigers behind, and I am timid and hesitant, what kind of cultivation is this, and what kind of defiance is this!"

"If Heaven wants to use me as a medicinal ingredient, then I'll overturn its alchemy furnace!"

"If you want me to be the key, then I'll take control of the lock as well!"

His lofty ambitions transformed into rolling waves of sound, echoing throughout this desolate star field. That unwavering, resolute will, even unto death, caused the oppressive force of the Prison-Suppressing Giant Claw to momentarily falter!
"I choose two!"

(End of this chapter)