Chapter 207: Who Writes the Heavens?

The atmosphere inside the Five Dragon Heavenly Palace was strange.

Zheng Fa stood to the left with Zhang Shijie.

Yuan Sect Master and Pang Shu stood to the right.

Between them sat a bronze coffin, beside which stood Lin Bufan, his face filled with deep unease.

A cluster of blue-golden flame burned at the bottom of the coffin.

This flame was Yuan Shijie's life flame; she now sat cross-legged on the ground, attempting to melt the deceased coffin elder's relics.

"Though this bronze coffin is a Nascent Soul magic treasure, the coffin elder is dead, and the artifact is ownerless," Zhang Shijie said. "Yuan Shimei's life flame is also extraordinary; according to our original expectations, it should have been enough to melt this coffin."

Zheng Fa nodded.

An ownerless magic treasure, if it has not yet developed sentience, is like a lamb awaiting slaughter—far weaker by more than a margin.

Yet in the eyes of the four, dense silver runes slowly emerged upon the coffin within the flame.

As the runes appeared, the coffin trembled slightly, and hundreds of black, withered hands reached out from within, grasping at the spiritual flame.

Accompanying these hands was a chilling, bone-deep coldness.

The temperature in the hall plummeted; the blue-golden flame at the coffin's base no longer flickered, as if frozen solid.

Yuan Shijie opened her eyes and shook her head toward Zheng Fa and the others, signaling she could do no more.

"Is this… what you meant by the secret of the Great Freedom Demon Sect?" Pang Shu asked. "What does this prove?"

He, unlike Zhang Shijie and Zheng Fa, had not exchanged closely with Zheng Fa and was unfamiliar with many of his investigations.

"You know about the rune seals, Master Pang," Zhang Shijie glanced at Lin Bufan. "His blood, besides being usable for rune seals, contains special runes. According to the Three-Child Rune Theory, one category of child runes is identical to those now appearing on this coffin."

Zheng Fa looked at the coffin, then at Lin Bufan.

He had just confirmed: the runes on the coffin, if classified topologically, fell into two types—the same two child runes found in Lin Bufan's blood.

"So what does that prove?" Pang Shu still didn't understand. He glanced at Lin Bufan. "Does it mean if you roast him over fire, he won't die?"

"…."

Cold sweat instantly broke out on Lin Bufan's face.

He glanced at the coffin beside him, as if sensing it was made for him…

Honestly, Master Pang had a knack for extrapolation and a strong experimental spirit.

Zheng Fa shook his head, then suddenly extended his hand—a five-colored divine light swept toward the coffin.

The coffin trembled twice, as if resisting, but after the five-colored light brushed it twice, it yielded reluctantly, as if shyly accepting the caress.

Yet Zheng Fa seemed insatiable today; one sweep of divine light was not enough—he ruthlessly swept the coffin three times.

Had the five-colored light not drained so much of his spiritual power and soul energy, he likely would not have stopped.

"Younger brother?"

"This coffin still has an owner."

After three sweeps, Zheng Fa carefully reflected on the sensation and suddenly concluded.

"An owner?" Pang Shu stared. "The coffin elder isn't dead?"

"He should be utterly annihilated," Zhang Shijie affirmed.

"When I used the five-colored divine light, I felt someone contesting control of this treasure. The sensation seemed to come from…" Zheng Fa looked upward, as if seeing through the roof of the Five Dragon Heavenly Palace to the sky beyond, his gaze tinged with confusion. "The heavens."

"The heavens…"

All looked up, their expressions varied.

"You mean…" Zhang Shijie understood Zheng Fa's hypothesis: "This person is the Great Freedom Demon Ancestor?"

"Yes," Zheng Fa murmured. "Now I believe these two child runes refer to the Great Freedom Demon Ancestor."

This theory had long existed.

When they first discovered these two identical child runes within Lin Bufan, he had two possible directions.

One: these child runes pointed to Lin Bufan.

The other: these child runes pointed to the Great Freedom Demon Ancestor.

Now that these same runes appeared on the coffin, the first option was eliminated.

This was also why Zheng Fa had never dared study these runes in the modern era: if he truly awakened the Great Freedom Demon Ancestor, things would get very interesting.

What Zheng Fa had just done was merely verification.

…

Zhang Shijie and Zheng Fa's faces were grim.

The others remained confused.

"What are you two whispering about?" Yuan Shijie, thoroughly baffled, pressed.

"It's not a riddle—it's just an idea too shocking. When the Three-Child Rune Theory was first proposed, we speculated that one category of child runes corresponded to all things in the world… one rune for a drop of water, one for a stone…"

Since the Xuanwei Realm had no concept of molecules or atoms, Zheng Fa explained in terms they could grasp.

The others nodded slowly.

"But now… if these two runes correspond to the Great Freedom Demon Ancestor," Zheng Fa's voice grew heavy, "then the question arises: what of the other similar runes? Do they each correspond to different Demon Ancestors—or other great beings?"

"In other words, are the runes we've mastered created by those great beings?"

"Then… what distinguishes us from the Great Freedom Demon Sect?"

"Where are those great beings? And if the Great Freedom Demon Ancestor has already created his own child runes, what level of power must he possess?"

Zheng Fa's questions were simple, yet they plunged the hall into a deathly silence.

"You mean…" Even Yuan Sect Master's face had gone stiff: "These runes—and even the laws of this world—are… man-made?"

"I'm not certain, but I cannot rule out this possibility," Zheng Fa said cautiously.

"…It does seem plausible," Pang Shu suddenly spoke. "After achieving Nascent Soul, we've all felt it—something above is guiding us, drawing us, even—shaping us."

At this, Yuan Sect Master and Zhang Shijie nodded.

Zheng Fa had heard this feeling from Zhang Shijie before.

"We've always assumed this sensation was enlightenment…" Pang Shu continued slowly. "But what if the thing drawing us… is a person?"

The atmosphere in the hall grew three degrees colder.

"Are you saying… someone up there is watching us?"

Yuan Shijie stammered.

A chill ran down Zheng Fa's spine.

"No, there's another possibility: the runes were created by a person, but whether that person still exists is another matter," Zhang Shijie suddenly said. "Zheng Shidi, I've reconsidered your experience in the Heavenly Stele Realm—especially that so-called 'Immortal and Divine Absence.'"

Zheng Fa froze.

He had never connected the Heavenly Stele Realm with the Xuanwei Realm before—but now, with Zhang Shijie's reminder, he realized—

The two might not be unrelated.

"Immortals, gods…" Zhang Shijie voiced her theory. "If they created this second category of child runes, then they… may no longer exist, at least not able to influence our world."

Zheng Fa slowly nodded.

The group exchanged glances, a faint comfort in their expressions—even though Zhang Shijie's words were merely speculation.

But a dead great being was better than one watching you.

As they left the hall, Zheng Fa could not help but look up at the sky again.

The sky was a clear blue, the sunlight bright and gentle.

Zheng Fa turned and saw Zhang Shijie and the others also gazing upward. He knew they were all asking the same question in their hearts:

"Who writes the heavens above?"

…

Modern era.

"You mean the second category of child runes doesn't refer to matter itself, but to… some immortal or god?"

In the nursing home, hearing Zheng Fa's words, Old White's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Possible," Zheng Fa nodded. "We've never found patterns for the other two categories of runes—perhaps because they don't represent matter, but entities."

"Wait, let me think," Old White frowned. "Spiritual energy controls matter, right?"

"Yes."

"Now you're telling me one category of runes isn't natural—it was created by someone, no, some entity, who established rules."

"Yes."

"Then…" Old White shivered. "What are we? Bacteria in a petri dish?"

Zheng Fa shook his head. "I thought the same at first—but later, I had another idea."

Two things kept Zheng Fa from despair:

First, the Great Freedom Demon Ancestor.

If the legends weren't distorted, the Great Freedom Demon Ancestor was from the Xuanwei Realm. His ability to create his own child runes implies one thing:

Cultivators do not merely follow others' rules—they can create their own as their cultivation advances.

These are fundamentally different.

A lab mouse cannot suddenly become the scientist conducting the experiment.

At least for now, the path of cultivation does not exclude you from becoming a rule-maker.

Second, the current state of the Heavenly Stele Realm.

As Zhang Shijie said, if immortals and gods are rule-makers, then the "Heavenly Court's Defilement" and "Immortal and Divine Absence" he heard in the Divine Enthronement Hall might mean they're now incapacitated.

At least, unable to influence the Heavenly Stele Realm.

The Xuanwei Realm now appears to be of a higher "level" than the Tianbei Realm, seemingly even harder to influence, and it doesn't even have a term like "god."

In the modern era, it's even more peculiar—without Zheng Fa, the modern world has no spiritual energy at all.

"What idea?"

"I was thinking, if we regard the world as a computer, like Tang Lingwumin does, then these spiritual talismans seem—more like programs written by human hands?" Zheng Fa summarized the current situation: "The programs are still there, but whether the programmers still exist is uncertain."

"We must even explore how to use these programs, or whether they're useful at all."

As Zheng Fa spoke these words, he felt a strange sensation—this thing truly was a trademark.

The others nodded upon hearing this.

This made them feel a bit better.

"So you're saying," the old white-haired man stared blankly, "I, a cultivator, have suddenly become a programmer?"

"More than that," Tang Lingwumin's expression grew grim. "We're programmers facing a legacy codebase of ancient, uncommented garbage."

"..."

(End of Chapter)