Chapter 245: The Younger Generation's Resolve

Wang Zhitao looked at the three figures in the prison cage who had completely lost their reason, leaving only instinctive twitches and wails, then glanced at his brother beside him who seemed to have become utterly unfamiliar in an instant; his throat felt a little dry.

"Brother..." he wanted to say something, but found any comforting words now sounded pale and powerless.

Wang Zhize's words "The game has just begun" were like an icy needle piercing his heart. It was not a declaration of victory, but more like a curse etched deep into his soul.

"Do you think I... am cruel?" Wang Zhize did not turn his head, his gaze still locked on the splendid yet cruel prison cage he had personally built.

"No." Wang Zhitao shook his head, walked to his side, imitating his gesture, reached out his hand, but stopped just before touching the black-gold energy barrier. He could feel that flowing upon it was his grandfather's aura—warm, yet carrying an unquestionable dignity.

"I just... I just feel..." Wang Zhitao's voice lowered, "Grandfather he..."

"He's still here." Wang Zhize interrupted him, his tone calm.

At that very moment, the black jade slip that had long lain dormant in Wang Zhize's mind suddenly burst forth with unprecedented light and heat, without any warning.

This was not a physical sensation, but a surge at the level of soul and spirit.

If what the jade slip had previously conveyed to him was a manual on how to "borrow" and "communicate" with this spatial law, then now what flooded his mind was this space's "source code"!

Countless incomprehensibly complex law lines, spatial nodes, and energy circuits—like an information flood from billions of stars exploding simultaneously—washed over his consciousness. He saw every moment of this extradimensional space from birth to evolution, and saw how his grandfather, at his final breath, utterly shattered his own soul and law-form, like the finest craftsman using his own flesh and bones to fill, reshape, and define every inch of "existence" here.

He was no longer the "controller" of this place.

He was this place.

Wang Zhize's body swayed, his face instantly turning deathly pale. This surge of information was too vast, vast enough to nearly burst his skull.

"Brother!" Wang Zhitao, quick-eyed and quick-handed, caught him in a swift grab.

At the very instant Wang Zhitao's hand touched Wang Zhize's body, a will utterly different yet sharing the same origin also surged into his heart.

This was not complex law information, but a pure intention to the utmost extreme.

There was no sound, no image, only a brand.

——Live on!

——Then, become stronger!

This will was overbearing, barbaric, unreasonable, and carried his grandfather's stubbornness that no one could oppose, slamming hard into Wang Zhitao's heart. It was as if his grandfather were using his rough big hand to pat the back of his head, roaring loudly in his ear with his booming voice.

Wang Zhitao's eye sockets instantly reddened.

He abruptly lifted his head, looking at his own brother.

Wang Zhize was also looking at him.

The brothers' gazes met in midair.

In one person's eyes lay sorrow and clarity bearing the weight of the entire space.

In the other's eyes burned grief and resolve from an unyielding will.

They each understood from the other's gaze everything they had just received.

Grandfather... truly cannot return.

He used himself to pave for them a road to the future—a road forged by sacrifice and protection, a bloody path with no retreat.

"I understand." Wang Zhitao released his grip on his brother's hand and straightened his body. Though tears still streaked his face, his entire demeanor underwent a complete transformation. If before he was an uncut jade, now that jade had been given an edge by the harshest reality.

"I understand too." Wang Zhize nodded, a hint of color returning to his pale face. He raised his hand and gently pressed his temples, as if digesting the endless information.

Silence.

A long silence.

Only the unconscious moans of the three Shadow Guards in the prison cage echoed in the vast cavern.

"Well... what should we do now?" Wang Zhitao broke the silence first, his gaze turning to the prison cage where undisguised killing intent flickered, "Shall we slaughter them? Avenge grandfather?"

"Avenge?" Wang Zhize repeated, then suddenly laughed.

That smile was faint, yet it sent a strange chill through Wang Zhitao.

"Just letting them die like that isn't vengeance—it's release." Wang Zhize slowly walked to the prison cage, looking at the Shadow Guard captain whose legs were completely severed.

"You... what do you intend to do..." The captain seemed to regain a bit of awareness; seeing Wang Zhize approach, his body involuntarily shrank back.

Wang Zhize ignored him, merely saying to Wang Zhitao: "Little brother, what do you think is most valuable on them?"

Wang Zhitao hesitated, then instinctively replied: "Cultivation? Treasure artifacts?"

"No." Wang Zhize shook his head. "It's what's in their minds."

He extended a finger, pointing through the barrier at the captain's head.

Who are they? Why were they hunting us? Who is their master behind the scenes? What kind of organization is this so-called "Shadow"? How did they know about the "Devouring Origin Tyrant Body"? And where did those bizarre "concept" arts they wield come from?

With each question Wang Zhize asked, Wang Zhitao's eyes brightened a little.

Exactly!

Killing them would certainly feel satisfying. But then what? They know almost nothing about the enemy. Next time, the attackers might not be these four Golden Core Shadow Guards, but something far more terrifying.

The safe haven grandfather bought with his life cannot protect them for a lifetime.

"They are the keys." Wang Zhize's voice turned icy and sharp: "They are the key to unlocking the mist before us. Before we squeeze every secret from their minds, they don't even qualify to pass out."

As his words fell, he flicked his finger.

A black-gold light shot into the captain's brow.

"Ah——!"

The captain let out a nonhuman shriek, his whole body convulsing violently, eyes rolling back, vomiting white foam. He felt his soul being tossed into a massive stone mill, being ground bit by bit. This pain surpassed flesh, surpassed death.

"This is just an appetizer." Wang Zhize withdrew his hand, not even bothering to glance at him again, "Grandfather turned this space into the strongest prison and also the most terrifying torture chamber. Here, time, space, perception... everything can be defined. I will make them, in endless cycles, spit out every word they know, clearly and completely."

Wang Zhitao watched the scene before him, hearing his brother's calm yet crazy plan, and instead of feeling fear, he sensed a long-repressed malign energy finally finding an outlet.

Satisfying!

"Good! Let's do it!" Wang Zhitao punched his own palm, "Let's wring them dry into human jerky!"

Saying that, his stomach untimely let out a "gurgle".

The two brothers both froze.

Wang Zhitao's old face flushed red, and he scratched his head a bit embarrassed: "Um… brother, after fighting for so long, I'm a little hungry."

Wang Zhize looked at him, and in those cold eyes finally a hint of living warmth appeared. He turned around, back to the cage, and surveyed the huge space that had already become part of their family.

"Yeah, it's time to eat."

He remembered something and walked toward another corner of the cave.

There, Li Hu and Zhang Mei were still lying quietly on the ground, enveloped by a soft black‑gold aura, as if they were merely asleep.

Wang Zhize crouched, extended his hand, and lightly tapped Li Hu's forehead with his fingertip. A gentle force seeped in, and after a moment he exhaled in relief.

"They're fine; they were only knocked out by the previous power, their spirit drained a bit, a nap will fix it."

Wang Zhitao also came over, looked at the unconscious pair, and furrowed his brows: "When they wake up, what shall we… say?"

Yeah, what shall we say?

Say we encountered an unparalleled foe? Say your grandfather Wang Shan turned himself into a living prison to save us?

That's too bizarre, and too heavy.

Wang Zhize fell silent for a moment, stood up, and brushed the dust off himself.

"Just say… we entered an ancient cultivator's cave dwelling, accidentally triggered a Seal, and got trapped." He looked at his younger brother, his gaze carrying an unquestionable calm, "Grandfather, with his vast divine powers, rescued us and then left on his own business beforehand."

Wang Zhitao opened his mouth, and finally nodded.

That's the best explanation for now. A lie, a lie that can reassure our friends.

And the truth behind that lie will be borne alone by the two brothers.

"Brother," Wang Zhitao looked at Wang Zhize's profile and asked softly, "Can you still hold on…?"

He wasn't asking about the body, but the heart.

Wang Zhize gave no reply; he simply lifted his head and stared at the massive crystals on the cave ceiling that flickered with black‑gold light, as if through them he could see grandfather's wrinkled smiling face.

After a long while, he finally spoke, his voice light yet unmistakably clear.

"Can't hold on, but must hold on."

"We are, after all, descendants of the Wang Family."