Chapter 871: The Paradox of the Great Dao

Silence fell over the Cosmic Cauldron.

Ding Huan and Ling Zhuzhen had both gained some insight into the true meaning of this universe, yet felt uncertain about the great Dao ahead. Hence the silence.

Jia Baihe, on the other hand, had no deep grasp of what Ling Zhuzhen had said, so she had nothing to add.

After a full half-day of silence, Ding Huan finally spoke: "Old Ling, if it's really as you say, do you have any thoughts?"

Ling Zhuzhen waited a long while before answering: "Perhaps only by breaking free of this universe can one hope to prove the great Dao.

I've heard there's a cosmic wall at the edge of the great universe too. Maybe passing through that wall is the only way to break free of this universe…"

There were more words he left unsaid.

He suspected that Ancestor Chang Yi and the fellows of Zhou Zhou Tian had followed those two, Mo Lan, through the cosmic wall and into the true center of the universe he had sensed.

Unfortunately, his relationship with those two was only middling; in fact, when contending for the universe's Dao Fruit, they had been on opposing sides.

Sigh…

Ling Zhuzhen let out a breath.

Both are Dao Ancestors—why is the disparity in their fortunes so vast?

Ding Huan did not respond to Ling Zhuzhen's words; he was mulling over something.

For Ling Zhuzhen, it was indeed true that only by passing through the cosmic wall and entering the chaotic heart of the universe could he hope to break free of this universe's shackles.

That had been his initial perception and belief as well.

Yet in his own perception, even if he found the center of this universe, it might not be the great Dao he had in mind.

It might even bring him closer to the maker of the Calamity of Measurements.

So Ding Huan was no longer all that eager to seek out the universe's center.

He had a different feeling now: the Dao he cultivated was entirely unlike anyone else's.

He possessed his own great-Dao universe.

Why must he prove his Dao in the outer universe?

Just as he had sensed—perhaps this outer universe itself belongs to someone else?

Even if this universe isn't someone else's, and truly is a chaos-symbiotic cosmos, does he necessarily have to prove his Dao in such a universe?

Why couldn't he prove his Dao within his own universe?

But the completeness and tier of his universe grew only in step with his own great Dao.

In other words, the tier of his universe world would always match his great Dao's tier, or even fall a notch below.

How, then, could he prove a Dao far higher than his own cultivation within his own universe?

This was a paradox.

Silence once again settled over the Cosmic Cauldron.

Another full day passed before Ding Huan finally let out a long breath.

Regardless, proving his Dao to the Creation Realm here was no problem for him.

If that's the case, why trouble himself over other matters?

The cart will find a way when it reaches the mountain; worrying now about things far beyond his reach would be like the man of Qi fearing the sky would fall.

"Old Ling, I'm planning to make a trip to the Tianmeng Clan…"

Ding Huan had barely finished the sentence when Ling Zhuzhen raised a hand to stop him: "Brother Ding, you absolutely must not be thinking of going to the Tianmeng Clan…"

Seeming to realize his tone had been a touch too urgent, Ling Zhuzhen deliberately slowed his voice:

"Back then, the Tianmeng Clan nearly wiped out the human race. Right at the brink of annihilation, the human race had not the slightest inkling—in fact, they didn't even register that a race called the Tianmeng Clan existed…"

Anyone hearing Ling Zhuzhen's words would surely find it inconceivable, even impossible.

After all, the other side was about to exterminate you—an entire race, no less—how could they possibly have been overlooked?

But the words spilled from Ding Huan's lips without hesitation: "The Dao Rule of Forgetting?"

The reason the Dao Rule of Forgetting was etched so deeply in Ding Huan's memory was that he had once fallen victim to it—it had come from the scroll.

Had Xing Jia not reminded him, he would never even have known he had been struck by the Dao Rule of Forgetting.

This time it was Ling Zhuzhen's turn to be surprised: "You know the Dao Rule of Forgetting?"

Ding Huan nodded. He not only knew the Dao Rule of Forgetting, he had even fused with part of the Law of Forgetting.

At the thought, Ding Huan's mind stirred, and a hazy river of law-stars instantly materialized around the outer edge of his Chaos Law Sea—precisely the River of Forgetting Law-Stars.

With the River of Forgetting Law-Stars in place, the next time he encountered such Laws of Forgetting, he would only need to comprehend and fuse them to fill his own River of Forgetting Law-Stars.

Ding Huan was certain that if the Tianmeng Clan even wielded a Forgetting divine ability, its tier had to be far higher than the Laws of Forgetting he had sensed before.

"I know a little. I must go to the Tianmeng Clan, and I have reasons for going." Ding Huan did not mention that he had once fallen victim to the Law of Forgetting.

Ling Zhuzhen's gaze at Ding Huan filled with even greater admiration: "Your experiences truly are unlike those of an ordinary person. Since you must go, then once you're among the Tianmeng Clan, you absolutely must be careful of their Dao Rule of Forgetting.

Back then, with the aid of the Universe Tree, the Tianmeng Clan laid down the Law of Forgetting throughout the great universe, causing everyone to overlook the very existence of the Tianmeng Clan.

If the human race hadn't also produced two formidable figures, I'm afraid the great universe's human race would have been wiped out by the Tianmeng Clan long before the Calamity of Measurements ever arrived."

"The Universe Tree is a chaos-symbiotic entity—why would it aid the Tianmeng Clan?"

"Presumably the Universe Tree believed the Tianmeng Clan was the race chaos was meant to harbor. To the Universe Tree, the human race was perhaps just an excess."

……

Ding Huan and Ling Zhuzhen chatted all the way until the Cosmic Cauldron plunged into the chaos.

He benefited immensely.

Perhaps Ling Zhuzhen's great Dao was not as profound as his own.

Yet Ling Zhuzhen's understanding of the great Dao, of the evolution of heaven and earth and all things, and of the universe's progression, was all extraordinarily deep.

Moreover, when Ling Zhuzhen discussed these matters with him, he held nothing back at all.

This made Ding Huan feel all the more that Old Jia was a poor friend—whenever they discussed the Dao, he was always evasive and half-hidden.

Ling Zhuzhen was completely stunned; he felt the chaos outside the Cosmic Pot, yet had never imagined anyone could control a flying treasure through chaos.

If he had possessed this ability back then, how could his Dao have been devoured by chaos?

This Ding Xiaotu is truly no ordinary person.

No matter what, he must cultivate a good relationship with Ding Xiaotu.

Back then, he had missed the chance to befriend Mo Lan, and ended up worse than even Qi Zhou Tian and Chang Yi.

"Ding Brother, chaos is called chaos because 'it is void within, and without boundary without.' In such a place, flying treasures cannot be controlled—why then…?"

Ling Zhuzhen simply could not hold back and asked.

Seeing that Ling Zhuzhen had opened his heart to him, Ding Huan had no intention of hiding anything:

"Old Ling, I've cultivated in chaos for tens of thousands of years, and gained a brand-new insight. The chaos we inhabit is not true chaos—it's pseudo-chaos."

"All things are entangled yet unseparated"—this describes the chaos we now dwell in, this pseudo-chaos."

"True chaos should resemble what you described: 'void within, boundaryless without.' No one has likely seen it, so no one can fully describe it."

"You've probably sensed it—that is, breaking free from the constraints of this realm and the cosmic plane, entering the universe's center. Perhaps that is where true chaos lies."

"Within this pseudo-chaos, everything follows patterns. If you master its chaos laws, you can walk here with ease."

"So that's how it is." Ling Zhuzhen nodded in sudden understanding.

He was no ordinary cultivator; back in his eighth step of the Dao, had it not been for cosmic limitations, he might now be at the ninth step.

So the chaos that devoured his Dao was merely pseudo-chaos.

If he had fallen into true chaos, would he still be alive?

Ling Zhuzhen sighed.

The eighth step of the Dao—the peak human cultivators can reach.

Now it seemed, it was nothing much.

He believed Ding Huan's words; during the Great Calamity in chaos, he too had felt something similar.

Only not as profoundly as Ding Huan had described.

Ding Huan's Cosmic Pot came to a stop.

Ling Zhuzhen and Jia Baihe watched as Ding Huan carved void-restriction patterns into the emptiness, and suddenly a space appeared around him.

Chaos scattered away.

"Perfect place." Ling Zhuzhen leapt down from the Cosmic Pot, gazing at the space existing within chaos, unable to suppress his awe.

If he had found such a place during the Great Calamity back then, how could his Dao have been devoured?

Ding Huan arranged the space within chaos, then said:

"Old Ling, I'll remove your devoured state. Rest here and regain your strength. When you wish to leave, use the teleportation talisman…"

"This is chaos—teleportation talismans probably won't work…"

Ling Zhuzhen fell silent.

Others' teleportation talismans might fail, but Ding Huan's? Not necessarily.

Ding Huan understood every law of this chaos and could control flying treasures within it—how could he not forge even one talisman capable of teleporting out of chaos?

Ding Huan pulled out a teleportation talisman and handed it to Ling Zhuzhen: "Don't worry—my talisman can still teleport out."

Many things are simply a thin layer of paper—once pierced, it's nothing.

Ding Huan, after ten thousand years of contemplating chaos laws, had formed a sea of chaos laws within his Dao world.

His sea of chaos laws was not yet complete—not because his Dao was weak, but because the pseudo-chaos lacked sufficient chaos laws to fully form it.

With his understanding of chaos laws, forging one or two teleportation talismans capable of moving within this pseudo-chaos was effortless.

Ling Zhuzhen's Dao, purple palace, consciousness sea, dantian, and spirit veins had all been devoured.

So much so that his Dao had collapsed.

But to Ding Huan, this was no issue at all.

In just a single day, Ding Huan removed every devoured law from Ling Zhuzhen's body.

As for the "Seven-Leaf Reincarnation Grass," Ding Huan didn't even use it.

As Ding Huan had guessed, Ling Zhuzhen's cultivation had returned to the Yanjie Realm.

Ling Zhuzhen knew his devoured state was resolved—his cultivation's return was merely a matter of time.

Unfortunately, most of his Dao veins had been stolen by Jie Gun—otherwise, he could have restored to the seventh step of the Dao within a century.

As for restoring to the eighth step of the Dao? That too was only a matter of time.

"Ding Brother, thank you. From now on, you are my sworn brother in life and death. If you ever need me, Ding Brother, just say the word."

Ling Zhuzhen's excitement was truly indescribable.

"Old Ling, focus on restoring your cultivation. I'll go to the Tianmeng Clan and gather some cultivation resources. You might need to help me someday," Ding Huan patted Ling Zhuzhen's shoulder.

If cultivation in the Great Universe truly peaked at the Creation Realm, Ding Huan would come back for Ling Zhuzhen—at the very least, he would need Ling Zhuzhen's help to search for the Cosmic Wall.

He had a feeling that to prove his Dao within his own world, he must break free from the constraints of this universe's wall.