Chapter 502

Even if it were merely an ordinary Great Being, reversing cause and effect was merely basic—first fabricating a Mount Tai Lord to receive the fruits of the Grand Rite, then allowing oneself to be born—nothing worth extraordinary alarm…

Ruan Mei was also a Great Being; she found nothing strange about the Mount Tai Lord being capable of such a thing.

But.

“My Lord of Cosmic Order, Itachi…”

Ruan Mei’s gaze flickered slightly, a thread of doubt quietly settling at the bottom of her eyes: “Something seems off…”

Hearing this, Hermes’s expression first stiffened slightly, then after a moment, a smile curled at the corner of his lips as he nodded: “Indeed, it does.”

“I sought to forge a Multiversal Supreme-level Mount Tai Lord, and the complexity involved was far greater than I had imagined…”

At this point, Hermes seemed to recall something amusing, his lips lifting in a smile: “This state of mine reminds me of the old Scholar-King…”

In plain terms, it’s like elbowing your own left brain with your right.

My instinct tells me not to do this, yet my reason finds it strangely more intriguing…

“My Purity, Origin, and Infinity have already formed a supremely perfect, harmonious multiversal cyclical structure—this triune instinct rejects the possibility of a Mount Tai Lord emerging and joining it, yet in my calculations, the birth of the Mount Tai Lord seems to hold unique significance, perhaps allowing me to glimpse some higher-level mystery…”

“Ordinary cosmic truths, even multiversal truths, cannot shake me in the slightest—but at this critical juncture of fundamental Daoic transformation, my own instinct has erupted in rebellion.”

The logic is simple.

A cultivator, no matter how powerful, attempts to forcibly alter their own Daoic foundation?

It is tantamount to suicide!

Even for a Great Being of Cosmic Truth level, attempting such a thing risks triggering a spiritual metamorphosis and inviting the calamity of Self-Loss.

Even Hermes himself, for a moment, felt his spirit tremble…

So… the Scholar-King was me all along?!

Hermes internally joked to himself.

“I think I understand.”

Ruan Mei lowered her gaze, her clear eyes dimming slightly as she carefully pondered these words.

“My Lord of Cosmic Order, Itachi are not troubled by the issue of sacrifices—or perhaps, Itachi were never troubled by sacrifices at all?”

“More precisely, Itachi seem indifferent to whether the Mount Tai Lord is born or not—Itachi appear more interested in the process itself?”

Though her Lord of Cosmic Order seemed somewhat incoherent, Ruan Mei still sensed something beneath his words, speaking with subtle implication.

“Perhaps…”

To Ruan Mei’s seemingly unfinished remark, Hermes gave no definitive answer, his expression returning to calm.

The closer he drew to the final moment, the stronger the fluttering within Hermes grew.

Simultaneously, he grew ever more eager to attempt something—

Because if he did not seize this opportunity to attempt change, once the final moment fully arrived, he would never again have the chance.

The Mount Tai Lord may well be the product born of this very thought.

The Mount Tai Lord himself is not truly important.

What matters is that he might seize this chance to see something clearly…

Perhaps…

I should… first go and encounter the other Multiversal Supremes, meet the other beings’ multiversal aesthetics?

The multiversal primordial chaos where Chen Minghe resides?

If one seeks a place where Multiversal Supremes cluster, this bizarre multiversal realm is unquestionably the foremost.

That place has no idea how many Pangu Great Celestial Lords are piled together.

And as long as those Pangu-combined Weak Multiversal beings fail to fully cultivate their own unique Pangu Dao Fruit, this overcrowding of Pangu Lords will never end…

Naturally, there is no shortage of fellow practitioners to exchange with there.

But…

“Forget it, forget it—I’ll take a peek there once my Daoic achievement is complete.”

As for now?

He had no desire to sit shoulder-to-shoulder with those lunatics who dream endlessly of perfecting their Dao Fruit, have rebooted the primordial chaos server countless times, and have become twisted old schemers and master actors.

It would make him feel as if he himself had truly become Lao Mo—he was, after all, in the prime of youth, and could not, like the prematurely aged Morax, adopt the demeanor of a retired official while still young…

The Principle of the Circle?

With a thought, Hermes faintly sensed a mysterious principle—seemingly expanding endlessly—being stirred.

Infinite causes and visions, the magical girls’ enduring longing, prayers, hopes, despair, and yearning that spanned the entirety of the multiverse…

Beneath this tangled, inextricable web of causality, under this impossibly coincidental yet fated wish, the Miracle Principle surged forth at this moment—a tidal wave sweeping across the multiverse…

“Not yet…”

Hermes whispered softly, suppressing the fluttering in his heart; as his gaze shifted, he quieted his thoughts—far, far away, in another world, he sensed something, and the ripples stirred by the Principle of the Circle began to gradually subside.

“What exactly has happened?”

Akemi Homura materialized at one end of the Principle of the Circle, her expression grave.

The surrounding laws churned violently, strange phenomena erupted, terrifying waves of power nearly shook the entire cosmos—but her gaze swept every corner and still found no trace of that familiar figure.

Her heart sank; her face instantly turned ashen, her clenched fists trembling slightly, all her long-suppressed anxiety and unease surging forth.

“With such commotion, why isn’t Setsuna here?”

She gazed downward again, her will merging into the Principle of the Circle; after scanning every corner, the last shred of hope within her shattered—Setsuna was still gone!

Her face turned instantly ashen, her eyes swirling with fury and terror; the accumulated dread from countless cycles exploded in this moment.

“Setsuna… could Setsuna’s will have finally broken, dissolving completely?”

No!

Impossible!

I’m still here! I’ve transformed into a Demon and done my best to balance Setsuna’s divinity!

If Setsuna were in trouble, I, as this [Demon], could never remain completely unaware.

So…

“Perhaps my [Demon Nature] is no longer sufficient to balance Setsuna’s divinity—the Principle of the Circle is beginning to destabilize?”

As the Demon of Flame, Akemi Homura’s understanding of the Principle of the Circle had long since surpassed its former state; she knew precisely where it originated and what its core truly was.

Rather than saying the Principle of the Circle was created ex nihilo by Setsuna’s single wish, it was better to say it had existed since before heaven and earth—eternally ancient.

Setsuna’s existence was merely the finishing touch, unlocking the primordial, boundless power and activating the grand causal visions of countless magical girls spanning past, present, and future…

Under this once-in-a-millennium convergence of cosmic timing, terrestrial advantage, and human harmony, it achieved complete dimensional transcendence.