Chapter 2876: The Loophole in the Sequence Command Divine Pattern

It is already no small feat for the Emperor to secure them even a brief respite.

Mingke Immortal bowed his head to administer emergency first aid and staunch the bleeding, his heart heavy. The Emperor's life-fire had already been extinguished; even with countless spirit pills and elixirs, it would merely be adding fuel to a dead hearth, impossible to reignite.

Yet the Emperor's complexion was pale and composed. Given such a physical state, could he possibly still have other plans?

"What are your plans?" the little stone figure urged him, "What should we do next?"

It knew Jiǔyōu was gravely wounded and could not hold on much longer, but the necessary questions still had to be asked, not a single one omitted.

This is the question on everyone's mind. How could Jiǔyōu the Great Emperor possibly have no countermeasure?

Having endured countless trials and tribulations before, when had he ever not relied on ingenious stratagems to turn the tide from desperation, ultimately transforming peril into safety?

"We cannot, sit and await death." He Lingchuan replied, "I will enter the Panlong World with my soul-form, where I will surely find a turning point..."

His vision darkened, he could not catch his breath, and only after several labored gasps could he barely speak:

"I hope you can hold out until I return from the Panlong World. If not..."

He turned to the Earth Mother, his expression grave: "You must take the Great Square Vessel and flee, absolutely not allowing it to fall into the hands of the Heavenly Demons."

The Earth Mother started in surprise. Was this Jiǔyōu leaving his last words?

Lingjin Bao was also greatly surprised, for the Great Square Vessel and Panlong Ancient City were inseparable, and Panlong Ancient City was itself embedded within the Earth Mother's plains. How could the Earth Mother possibly isolate and separate the Great Square Vessel on her own?

But since the Emperor had proposed it, the Earth Mother offered no objection, seemingly believing there was still a way.

Mingke Immortal then knelt on one knee before He Lingchuan, declaring his resolve: "We shall fight to the bitter end, buying more time for the Emperor."

Four years ago he was still a carefree immortal of the wild clouds and cranes, his greatest wish merely to wander freely between heaven and earth; four years later, he had come to regard himself as a subject of Cāngyàn, even willing to share life and death with this land.

This transformation, he himself could not explain why.

But he was glad, he was willing, he consented.

The potent medicine Mingke Immortal gave He Lingchuan began to take effect, and the latter's complexion actually slowly improved, showing two shades of ruddiness, appearing also to have greatly improved in spirit.

Yet Lingjin Bao and the Earth Mother felt no joy, for this was not improvement, but the fleeting vigor before death!

How could He Lingchuan himself not know? But for the present, a feigned improvement in condition and stabilized breathing was hardly a bad thing. He drew a deep breath, his speech becoming much more coherent:

"Listen well, when the Sequence Command Divine Pattern of Jiālū Heaven erupts, its power is unparalleled, even the Lingxū Holy Venerable must avoid its edge. Yet this divine pattern is actually incomplete, or rather, Jiālū Heaven's grasp of the Sequence Principles is not complete."

Under heaven, there are truly few qualified to critique Jiālū Heaven, but Jiǔyōu the Great Emperor is certainly among them.

After today's battle, his words sound entirely natural.

Even the Earth Mother felt curious:

"Incomplete, how so?"

"The evolution of Jiālū Heaven's Sequence Command Divine Pattern mainly manifests as a process from order to disorder. The rotation of the triangle does not represent an increase in order, but the accumulation of chaos. In other words, it is the growth of disorder. This growth continues to a certain extent, at which point the triangle's clockwise rotation stagnates, reaching the critical point. And the eruption at this critical point is the end of order."

All nodded, able to follow.

He Lingchuan continued: "You see, the process from order to disorder has just run its course. So, how is the next cycle to begin?"

Mingke Immortal interjected: "Again, from order to disorder, of course. Chaos must re-accumulate, so the triangle initially moves especially slowly."

"Not only that." He Lingchuan shook his head, "Since it is called the Sequence Command Divine Pattern, what it evolves is not merely from order to disorder, but also a more important stage, namely, from disorder to order!"

From disorder to order.

Mingke Immortal turned these words over in his heart several times, and suddenly attained sudden enlightenment.

Exactly so, from disorder to order, the Sequence Command Divine Pattern still cannot deduce it! This cannot escape the Emperor's divine eye.

"You see Jiālū Heaven's Sequence Command Divine Pattern, the so-called 'cycle' is merely the repetition of from order to disorder. As for the most difficult part, from disorder to order, that is, from chaos to stability, it still cannot deduce it. Precisely this is the quintessential core of 'order,' which I term 'establishing order.'" He Lingchuan continued, "At this stage, Jiālū Heaven merely glosses over it vaguely, but the crux has never been resolved."

"The causal cycle is broken in half—this is the Sequence Command Divine Pattern's greatest loophole! Therefore my Fate Divine Pattern can exploit this opening, disrupting its operation."

The Fate Divine Pattern was aimed precisely at this loophole. Everyone saw the triangular sigil entwined by a small snake, merely a concrete manifestation of two laws intertwining.

The Fate Divine Pattern concerns causality, while Jiālū Heaven's Sequence Command Divine Pattern cannot make sense of causality, naturally leaving a weakness for it to strike.

What the Emperor said was nearly Daoist in nature; Mingke Immortal, for a moment forgetting the dire situation, humbly asked: "Does Jiālū Heaven have any countermeasure?"

"If there is a loophole in the divine pattern, does He not know it himself? For tens of thousands of years past, it has never been patched; it is impossible to patch it today." He Lingchuan saw clearly, "From nothing to being, from chaos to governance, from bad to good—this requires infinite mighty power and heaven-defying fortune, not something that can appear merely because one wishes it. Thus the Sequence Command Divine Pattern cannot emulate it."

Not subject to human will.

Lingjin Bao whispered: "Just as the Emperor unified Shanjīn, establishing the Cāngyàn Empire?"

Everyone could not help but nod.

The emergence of Cāngyàn was precisely the process of Shanjīn Plain going from great chaos to great order. The Shanjīn people waited a thousand years, and only then did they await a Jiǔyōu the Great Emperor. Were it not for this person appearing out of nowhere, Shanjīn would still be mired in chaos, poverty, and strife.

From chaos to stability, with such strong randomness, even lacking an inherent 'necessity,' how could the Sequence Command Divine Pattern possibly deduce it?

But 'sudden,' 'random,' and 'disorder' are originally part of fate itself.

Viewing from the angle of fate, only then do we have what ought to be and what has not yet come to be.

"Alas, Jiālū Heaven's own cultivation is too strong; even while entangled by the power of Fate, that triangle will continue to rotate." In the end, it is not that the Fate Divine Pattern is inferior to the Sequence Command Divine Pattern, but that the power gap between the two divine pattern masters exists.

At this moment He Lingchuan had the Earth Mother lift him again, walking toward the blessing pool before the pagoda. Along the way, He Lingchuan continued: "Moreover, the severed fate-lines between him and his subordinates will shortly be restored. I hope that before His Sequence Command Divine Pattern fully replenishes its energy, I can find a turning point in the Panlong World."

Reaching the pool's edge, the Earth Mother followed his instructions, supporting him as he sat cross-legged in the spring water.

(End of Chapter)