Chapter 172: Faith Reversal, Freedom's Choice!

Sun Wukong's voice.

Like ten thousand startling thunders.

In this newly born world of Deathly Silence, it burst open with a thunderous boom!

"This!"

"It is Equal Heaven!"

Every word became the hottest seal,

deeply etched into the core of consciousness of every Living Being still hesitating, still sinking!

The temptation of Silent Extinction, that ultimate tranquility,

appears so pale and powerless before this arrogant, unbridled declaration!

In that lake.

The translucent water elemental spirit's trembling core jolted suddenly.

"Am I... willing?"

This question echoed repeatedly in its consciousness!

No!

Unwilling!

Why!

Why must I, from birth, be bound to silence!

Why must I choose annihilation before even seeing the shape of this world!

Why must my fate be defined by others!

An unprecedented fury, an original Unyielding, erupted suddenly from its feeble will!

"Splash!"

The lake water surged upward, forming a massive water pillar that pierced Heaven!

The water elemental spirit, no longer a translucent phantom, solidified a clear outline within the water pillar!

It has no facial features, yet seems to let out a silent roar toward the whole world!

Its choice is like the first domino to fall!

"Boom!"

In a volcano beside it, a flame spirit on the verge of extinguishing, under the burning of Equal Heaven Fireseed, suddenly erupted!

It is no longer satisfied with being merely a flame.

It will burn!

Burn brighter!

Burn higher!

It burst from the crater, in Mid-Air, forming the fledgling shape of a bird bathed in flames!

Clumsy though it is, crude though it is.

Yet it flew!

With its actions it tells the world that it chooses to exist, chooses to explore!

Next.

The second!

The third!

The hundredth!

On the earth, a rock about to weather ceased breaking,

began to condense inward; its goal is to become a mountain that never collapses!

In the sky, a wisp of a breeze about to dissipate stopped being still,

and began to swirl wildly; its goal is to travel around the whole world, seeing every corner!

A beam that originally chose to return to darkness abruptly changed direction, deciding to illuminate the deepest canyon.

A bolt of thunder about to subside reconsolidated into a dazzling flash; it will sound its own roar in this sky!

From a point, to a line, then to a plane!

Those Living Beings who awakened from the temptation of Silent Extinction, their erupting will converged into a tide that swept Heaven and earth!

They began to emit the first cheers!

That is not a sound.

It is the rushing of rivers!

It is the rise of mountains!

It is the thunder of lightning!

It is the dance of flames!

The whole world, at this moment, turned from a Deathly Silence graveyard into a noisy, vibrant paradise!

This is the purest yearning for Freedom!

This is the loudest affirmation of one's own existence!

Yao stood on the mountaintop, trembling with excitement.

Yao looked at this world that had turned from despair to hope, tears filling their eyes.

Yao did it.

No, they did it!

The silent figure's silhouette, in the shadows, experienced a violent fluctuation for the first time.

On his face, formed of darkness, for the first time, a feeling called "bewilderment" appeared.

"Why?"

In his cold voice was a trace of incomprehensible confusion.

"Eternal peace, isn't it good?"

"No pain, no desire, isn't that good?"

"Why choose that variable, painful struggle?"

He could not understand.

This tiny, "individual" rebellion.

How could it possibly coalesce into such a massive force?

How could it possibly shake his supreme path that represents "the End" and Fixed Number?

The shadows beneath his feet began to contract uncontrollably.

A newly awakened sprout of will stubbornly pushed out from the edge of the shadows.

The silent figure's body, as if pierced by needles, jerked backward a step.

Sun Wukong, bearing the Golden Cudgel, descended the mountain step by step.

With each step he took, the ground beneath his feet seemed to cheer for him.

His Equal Heaven Dao Rhythm was no longer that ferocious black‑gold hue.

It had become scorching and warm, like the sun.

He is not the ruler.

He did not enslave the will of these Living Beings.

He is merely a guide.

One who lit a torch and told every lost soul, "There is light this way."

He grinned at the silent figure.

That smile was arrogant and unrestrained.

"You don't know a damn thing!"

Sun Wukong's voice was full of contempt.

"Yes, living brings pain and struggle."

"But it also brings laughter, tears, love, and hatred!"

"You will taste the sweetness of the first sip of the sweet spring."

"You will see the first ray of sunrise."

"You will smash your head open for a single thought!"

"That's what the hell living really is!"

"Turning into a thoughtless stone like you is not peace; that's death!"

"Old Sun here, I just love this bustle!"

His words fell silent.

Yao's Illusory Dream Path also moved accordingly.

She no longer merely offers choices.

She began to guide these newly awakened Living Beings to imagine more possibilities.

Her thoughts transformed into billions of gentle rays of light.

"Wind can become a soaring giant dragon!"

A ray of light merged into the swirling breeze, before the breeze's eyes,

a scene appeared, swirling atop a high mountain, dancing with thunder.

"Water can gather into an ocean that nurtures life!"

Another ray of light fell into the raging lake, within the lake's consciousness,

it felt the joy of countless lives being born and multiplied within its embrace.

"Flame can become a sun that brings warmth!"

Yet another ray illuminated the flame‑flying bird; it saw itself hanging high in the sky, using light and heat to dispel darkness and cold.

Countless beautiful, brilliant, infinitely possible future visions,

unfolded before all Living Beings like scrolls of painting.

At that moment, no Living Being hesitated any longer.

Silent Extinction?

What is that?

Can it be eaten?

We have more important matters to attend to!

We will become dragons! We will become suns!

In the whole newborn world, over 99% of Living Beings, using their truest will, ultimately chose Sun Wukong's "Freedom"!

They chose Yao's "Creation"!

"Buzz—"

The world's will, at this moment, gave a response.

It is no longer neutral.

It made its own choice.

An invisible, yet supreme force began to repel that icy Silent Extinction aura.

The shadow where Silent Extinction stood, before this force, like snow under sunlight, rapidly melted.

His Great Dao's aura was actively expelled and suppressed by this world.

This Gamble that decides the fate of the world.

Its scales.

At this moment, it happened, an irreversible tilt!

Sun Wukong won!

Won, completely!