Warhammer Cultivation: Cultivating the Tao Te Ching in the 40K Universe

Then... it exploded!

There was no sound, no light.

Within that newly formed nascent dantian universe, born simultaneously from absolute "nothingness" and absolute "being," Hector Kane's consciousness, which had long transcended the boundaries of the mortal world, was quietly "observing" this creation of his own world from an unprecedented, almost "divine" perspective.

He "saw" that in that newly formed, chaotic primordial universe, the two energies of Yin and Yang, like two intertwined and playful dragons, were slowly differentiating.

Those heavy material foundations, originating from Ferrus Manus's "material steel," representing "reality" and "existence," like the first stardust to cool after the Big Bang, slowly sank, attracted and condensed with each other, and finally transformed into the most stable and substantial "earth" in this dantian universe.

The land was not desolate, but rather filled with a logical and orderly network of mountains and rivers, like a perfect crystal lattice, indestructible.

Those light, primordial runes, originating from Magnus's "pride of knowledge" and representing "exploration" and "possibility," rose and stretched slowly like a nascent nebula, eventually transforming into the most vast and profound "sky" of this dantian universe.

In that sky, there was no sun or moon, but instead flowed countless rivers of wisdom light, composed of pure data and laws, that never ceased to flow.

Those fragments of law, born from Loka Aurelion's "devout devotion" and imbued with the meaning of "cohesion" and "protection," fell like the first gentle rain of creation, descending from the "sky" of wisdom to the solid "earth." The rain fell silently, yet its nourishment was profound.

Nourished by the golden rain and dew, for the first time, "life" was born between the hard crystalline mountains—not ordinary plants, but a peculiar life form between energy and information, full of "meaning" and "faith".

Finally, the first driving force, originating from Horus Lupecal's "fire of glory" and representing "rule" and "responsibility," transformed into the sun of this newborn universe.

A platinum sun that is not burning, but radiates a warm, orderly, and harmonious light! Its light shines on every corner of this microcosm, neither scorching nor dazzling, yet it brings the most fundamental "direction" and "law" to this newly born world.

Heaven and earth, light and darkness, life and death, the Way and the instrument...

A complete "microcosm," possessing its own independent laws and capable of self-circulation, suddenly took shape within Hector's dantian!

This is the first "fruit" of his unique "path" that integrates the wisdom of two civilizations!

Chapter 125 Dao Body (Breaking Update 1)

It was not a physical pill with a tangible form, as the legends described.

It is a perfect, self-circulating "Tao Seed" constructed from pure "Tao," its interior seemingly reflecting the slowly rotating Tai Chi diagram that he had given to Fulgrim!

The Golden Elixir is complete!

At the moment this "Dao Seed" took shape, a brand new energy that was billions of times larger and billions of times purer than any other time in the Foundation Establishment stage erupted from that "singularity" like a torrent of creation!

That energy is no longer simply energy, but rather something substantial, existing somewhere between energy and matter, containing fragments of laws, a higher-dimensional existence!

"boom--!!!"

This primordial torrent, without the slightest pause, instantly burst forth from the "boundary" of that dantian universe, and along Hector's already dried-up and even collapsing meridian network, began the most thorough and domineering reshaping!

His mortal body, on the verge of collapse, began a dramatic reversal from the most basic particle level under the influence of the Golden Core True Essence, which was filled with the power of "creation" and "order"!

Those cells that were about to be completely annihilated by the "Darkness Realm" law were as if they had been injected with the life essence of the gods. Instead of dying, they were reborn in a more perfect and resilient way!

It is no longer a fragile organic matter, but has been given an additional layer of a microscopic force field, as warm as moonlight, constructed from pure energy!

His spine, which had been nearly smashed to dust by the "Law Shock Hammer," was not broken under the nourishment of the Golden Core True Essence. Instead, it was as if the greatest craftsman had reforged it with the toughest alloy in the universe!

Between each vertebra, tiny, twinkling energy nodes light up, connected by their energy flow, forming an indestructible "dragon vein" that runs through the entire body!

His left arm meridians, which had been severed and disappeared after being pierced by the "Spear of Laws," miraculously "grew" back under the cleansing of the Golden Core's true essence! The newly formed meridians were no longer just fragile biological tissue, but were composed of pure, flowing light, and their energy conduction efficiency was more than a hundred times stronger than before!

His body is undergoing an "evolution" that cannot be explained by any science!

He is no longer a mortal!

He is condensing that which exists between energy and matter, impervious to water and fire, and unharmed by any magic...

In the outside world, there is the "Star Chart Museum of All Realms".

Orionus's shrunken, human eyes had long since lost all patience.

He looked at the few Starbound Warriors who were still futilely trying to dismantle the invisible barrier with their "Wall-Breaking Cones," and a cruel and impatient expression appeared on his constantly "melting" face.

His icy voice echoed in the minds of every surviving noble and warrior: "A bunch of useless trash armed with the most advanced dark technology couldn't even break through the last struggle of a 'corpse'."

He slowly rose from the empty throne that represented his supreme authority. His body, somewhat hunched due to genetic mutation, exuded a terrifying, overwhelming pressure that could make even the surrounding crimson stars tremble!

"It seems that this 'surgery' still needs to be performed by me, the 'chief surgeon'."

His enormous, black gem-like third "Navigator's Eye" erupted with an unprecedented, dazzling light powerful enough to tear the real universe apart!

He wants to take action himself.

He intended to use his internal spiritual energy, which could directly distort reality, to forcibly tear the last, laughable "Daoist" force field of this mortal before him, along with his "container" filled with secrets, into pieces!

"Let's go, let's walk!"

Orionus let out a roar filled with the arrogance of a victor!

His enormous third eye, the slowly rotating nebula, stopped spinning in an instant! In its place, absolute darkness descended.

A black torrent of psionic energy, indescribable in any language and constructed from pure "distortion" and "nothingness," instantly traversed the distance of space and slammed into the center of the crystal platform, where the figure still stood "in silence"!

However, just as that destructive torrent of laws, powerful enough to completely erase a mountain from the real universe, was about to touch Hector's "Dao Body" undergoing a transformative metamorphosis—

Those eyes, which had long been lifeless, suddenly opened!

What kind of eyes are those?

Black pupils that were no longer those of an ordinary person, but filled with emotion and desire.

That place contains the "universe".

In his left eye lay a deep, tranquil, black hole-like eternal night, seemingly capable of absorbing all light and heat, representing "yin".

In his right eye was a warm, brilliant, platinum sun, like the first star at the beginning of creation, representing "Yang," which seemed to bring vitality and order to all things!

Yin and Yang, life and death... Existence and non-existence give rise to each other, difficulty and ease complement each other, long and short define each other, high and low incline towards each other, sound and voice harmonize with each other, front and back follow each other.

All opposing laws achieve the most perfect and breathtaking harmony in these eyes!

The moment those eyes opened, an equally vast and powerful will, like a creator god awakening, erupted from the "Dao Body" that was being reshaped!

That's a higher-dimensional "law"...coverage!

When Orionus's black torrent of laws, filled with "distortion" and "nothingness," came into contact with the Daoist aura emanating from those eyes, which was full of "harmony" and "balance," it seemed to have encountered its natural enemy, emitting a silent, fearful wail!

Its violent inner structure, which had been trying to drag everything into the abyss of chaos, was instantly "unlocked," just like the Punishers who had been standing a moment ago but were now ashes!

All those "distortions" were smoothed out by that absolute "order"!

All that “nothingness” was filled with the “vitality” of creation!

The terrifying attack, less than a meter away from Hector's newly formed "Dao Body," vanished silently, like a shadow illuminated by sunlight.

Chapter 126 The Guardian's Spear (Bonus Chapter 2)

There was no explosion, no shock wave.

There was only a chilling, deathly silence.

Outside the platform, the smiles on the faces of the old nobles who were originally preparing to cheer for the upcoming "victory" froze completely.

Orionus, the patriarch of the ancient family of navigators, whose arrogant expression was full of victorious pride, was for the first time completely replaced by an emotion he had never experienced before called "fear"!

His enormous third eye was filled with bloodshot veins of utter terror!

What did he see?

He saw that the mortal who should have been "dead" long ago slowly rose again from the "annihilation" he himself had created!

His body, which had once resembled a dried-up mummy, was now as if it had been re-sculpted by Martian craftsmen using the purest moonlight and the toughest obsidian!

His skin had a warm, jade-like luster, as if flowing with an invisible radiance composed of pure energy. Although his body was still slender, every muscle and every line was filled with an impeccable, harmonious beauty that followed the natural order!

His black suit, which had long since turned to ashes, was rewoven back together by an invisible energy formed from the true essence of the Golden Core!

It was a gray Taoist robe, simpler yet more "authentic" than any he had ever worn before. The robe was devoid of any decoration, except for a small, barely visible Tai Chi symbol embroidered on the collar and cuffs with pure energy threads composed of black and white energies.

On his handsome, East Asian face, all weariness and scars had vanished. Only a profound, enlightened, and serene tranquility remained.

He is no longer the ordinary person who needs to rely on "skills" to get by.

He is a true being, possessing an indestructible "Dao Body" and an ever-renewing "Golden Core"...

—A cultivator!

"This is not the death of the body, but the return of lead and mercury to their origin."

Hector slowly raised his head, his strange eyes—one like eternal night, the other like a star, filled with a contradictory yet harmonious beauty—calmly gazing at the ancient navigator who was already consumed by fear.

His voice, though not loud, was clear and resonated throughout the cage constructed of laws.

"No...impossible!"

Orionus let out a shriek filled with disbelief and hysteria!

He couldn't understand it!

He couldn't understand it with his ancient bloodline, which had been passed down for tens of thousands of years and could directly see through the nature of the warp!

The mortal before them had clearly been completely "erased" of all life characteristics under the crushing force of the laws of the "Darkness Realm"!

His physical body was clearly as withered as a mummy that had been dried for tens of thousands of years! The flame of his soul had clearly been completely extinguished in that raging tide of annihilation!

Why...why was he able to stand up again?

Why did his eyes become so terrifying? One eye seemed to be the ultimate nothingness that devoured all light and hope; while the other eye radiated a creative vitality capable of giving birth to a whole new universe!

This is no longer "psychic energy"! This is not even any known "law" that he can understand!

This is a kind of existence that he has never seen before, yet it makes him tremble from the deepest part of his genes—a higher-dimensional existence!

"Kill him! At any cost! Kill him!!!"

Orionus's terrifying roar echoed in the minds of the old noble representatives behind him, who were already terrified! He knew he had no way out!

Today, either he will completely crush this "new person" who has just been reborn from oblivion and is full of infinite variables; or he, along with the ancient bloodline and privileges he represents that have continued for tens of thousands of years, will be completely purified by the new light emanating from this "seed of the Dao"!

His enormous, black gem-like third "Navigator's Eye" once again erupted with an unprecedented, dazzling light powerful enough to tear the very fabric of the universe apart! Within that light, there was no longer any human emotion. Only the purest, most ancient power accumulated through bloodlines, the power to directly see through the very essence of the warp!

This time, he gave it his all!

He poured his entire soul—a soul so vast it was nearly the size of a Primarch—that he had coexisted with the storms of the warp for centuries, into this final, and most powerful, strike as fuel!

He intends to detonate the entire "Star Chart Museum of Myriad Realms," along with the folded real universe space within it! He will use the most thorough and irreversible "law zeroing" to completely erase this "anomaly" that instills ultimate fear in him from this universe!

Put aside the family's goals for now. As long as Hector can be destroyed, the Navigator will remain irreplaceable and will last for generations!

An indescribable torrent of spiritual energy, like a divine punishment from another universe, instantly traversed the distance of space and slammed into the center of the crystal platform, at the figure who had just reshaped his "Dao Body"!

However, just as the attack was about to strike—

"boom--!!!!!"

A golden roar, far louder than any thunderclap, descended from the sky without warning!

That was not a sound.

That was a... light.

A phantom of a guardian spear, hundreds of meters long, constructed entirely of pure, solidified golden light!

It seemed to be responding directly to some supreme call, tearing apart the boundary between reality and myth, and descending fiercely from a higher dimension called "loyalty"!

“Sizzle——!!!”

The golden spear shadow, with an unparalleled force and imbued with the meaning of "purification" and "judgment," slammed fiercely into the law barrier of the "Dark Realm"!

The entire "Myriad Realms Star Chart Pavilion," that indestructible cage of laws transformed from relics of the dark technology era, groaned in agony, like shattered glass, under the onslaught of this absolute "order" from the outside!

That crimson, distorted sky, which the Navigator family was so proud of and which could shield them from all the prying eyes of fate, was forcibly and brutally torn open by this golden spear shadow, like a fragile piece of parchment pierced by a red-hot iron. A huge, hideous crack, constantly spewing out golden light of order, was torn open!

"Do not!!!"

Chapter 127 Reconnection (Bonus Chapter 3)

Orionus let out a shriek filled with despair and disbelief! His torrent of black law, which was capable of destroying everything, was like a river whose source had been cut off after losing the "home ground" of the "Darkness Domain". Its power instantly decreased by more than half!

The golden spear shadow, after tearing through the cage of laws, did not diminish in power. Like a divine punishment, it continued downwards, precisely meeting the black torrent of destruction!

"Boom—Rumble—Rumble—!!!"

Gold and black, order and chaos, protection and nothingness!

Two diametrically opposed laws, originating from the most fundamental principles of the universe, clashed directly and violently within this small star chart museum!