At the edge of West Wasteland, heaven and earth were ink-black.
Here, there was no wind, no sand, no passage of time—only a rift cleaving the void, bottomless, swallowing light and sound alike.The Abyssal Eye.Legend said: when the Great Dao collapses, all things return here—to dissolve back into primordial chaos.Xie Wuchen stood at the cliff's edge, the jade casket pressed to his chest, a phantom blue lotus shimmering around him like armor.The thirty-six divine chains that had hunted him across realms shattered one by one as they neared the abyss.
This place truly was blind to Heaven's sight."You've come."An ancient voice rose from the depths of the chasm.A stone stele slowly ascended—pitch-black, bearing no inscription, yet its mere presence threatened to tear the soul apart."The Stele of Defiance," Bai Ying emerged from the shadows, her black robes dust-streaked. "Your father used his soul as ink to carve it. Heaven's Dao dares not destroy it—for within lies a flaw in the Way itself."Xie Wuchen stepped forward.In an instant, visions flooded his mind:He saw his father standing here—white robes drenched in blood, holding a wooden sword identical to his own.
Above, nine golden-armored generals descended, thunderbolts raining like judgment.His father did not flee. He laughed."You claim Heaven's Dao is eternal? Have you ever asked the living if they consent?"He swung his sword—not at his enemies, but at the sky itself.
The blade tore open a gash in the heavens…Revealing behind it a colossal bronze mechanism—cold, intricate, turning without mercy.
Engraved upon its wheel:"Order is Harvest. Stability is Cycle.""So… Heaven's Dao isn't a god," Xie Wuchen whispered. "It's a machine."Bai Ying nodded."Long ago, the ancients discovered the truth: what we call 'Heaven's Dao' was forged by the first rebels—as a system to enforce stability.
It consumes karma, erases emotion, all to prevent the world from collapsing into chaos…
But it forgot—from chaos comes rebirth."Suddenly, the stele blazed with light!Blood-red characters appeared upon its surface:**"My son Wuchen—
If you read this, the Great Dao is already sick.
Do not seek ascension.
Ask the people instead:
Are you willing to burn as fuel for eternity?"**Xie Wuchen's heart burned like fire.He finally understood: his father hadn't failed.
He'd planted a spark—and waited for his son to fan it into flame.BOOM—!The sky split open.A golden titan descended—ten thousand zhang tall, faceless, wrapped in chains of cosmic law.
The Chief Shepherd of Heaven's Dao."Seed of Rebellion," its voice roared like ten thousand thunderclaps, shaking the foundations of reality, "surrender the Core of Remembrance. Offer the blue lotus.
And I shall grant you eternal life."Xie Wuchen said nothing.
Slowly, he drew his wooden sword.Its surface reflected the abyss—and the unquenchable fire in his eyes."You ask if I'm willing to be fuel?" His voice was calm, yet echoed through every realm.
"Then hear the answer—from all living beings:
We refuse."As he spoke, the jade casket erupted in radiant light!His mother's soul transformed into a blue lotus, merging with the wooden sword.
From his sleeve, the jade flute-bird sang—Luo Qingyi's final essence flooding his meridians.
The Stele of Defiance trembled, and his father's long-dormant sword intent surged into the heavens!Three generations of defiance—mother, beloved, father—converged into a single strike.Xie Wuchen soared upward, sword pointed at the sky:"Today, I—Xie Wuchen, mortal flesh and bone—question the Great Dao:
You devour humanity…
dare you devour me?!"His sword-light became a dragon, piercing straight toward the Shepherd!The Shepherd sneered, summoning nine spectral cauldrons—their maws exhaling gray mist, ready to refine him into ash.But where the sword passed… cracks spiderwebbed across the cauldrons!"Impossible!" the Shepherd bellowed. "A mortal blade cannot break the vessels of Heaven's Dao!""You're wrong," Xie Wuchen laughed through bloodied lips.
"This isn't a mortal blade.
It is my mother's love, my senior sister's tears, my father's bones, and the unyielding will of all who suffer!
You've devoured every cause and effect in existence—
yet you never learned this truth:
The sharpest thing in the cosmos isn't law…
it's the human heart."The sword pierced the Shepherd's chest.The golden titan shattered—dissolving into a rain of luminous petals.And in that falling light, Xie Wuchen saw countless scenes unfold:—A child in Linhe Town finally weeping without fear;
—an old man in Willow Creek Village cradling his grandson beneath the stars;
—at Qingming Sect's gate, Sect Master Xuanwei quietly tearing up the Demon-Slaying Edict…The people were waking.Bai Ying knelt, bowing deeply."Hail… the dawn of the New Dao."Xie Wuchen landed. His wooden sword plunged into the earth. The blue lotus circled him, unwavering.He gazed toward the horizon and whispered:"Qingyi… do you see it?
The aurora… has begun."Across the sky, a ribbon of violet-blue light unfurled—like a lotus blooming in the heavens.And in a dimension unseen by mortal eyes,
that cold, ancient bronze wheel—
for the first time in eons—
began to rust.(End of Chapter Ten)