Chapter 197: Pawn Shatters the Stalemate, Dao Heart Blazes Anew!

Boom—!

That final memory from Master, like a heaven‑splitting divine thunderbolt, fiercely struck deep into Sun Wukong's sea of consciousness!

The memory's image was fragmented.

But those two words were like a branding iron, seared deep into his soul.

"This is not the Great Dao… it is… a prison!"

"Any uncontrollable variable is a cancer of Chaos; it must be eradicated at the root."

So that's how it is.

So that's it!

Sun Wukong froze on the spot; his trembling was a hundred times more violent than when he had seen Master's Dao Seed humiliated!

He had always thought Master was the one playing the game.

He had always suspected that his glorious life was merely a pawn carefully prepared by Master to counter some existence.

But he was wrong.

Wrong beyond belief!

Master was never a schemer!

From the very start, he was a rebel!

He was the first being beneath this silent Heavenly Dao who dared to say 'no' to Hongjun!

Master's 'emptiness' was not for ending, but to nurture a variable!

Master's self‑collapse was not compromise; he turned himself into billions of sparks of rebellion, scattering them into this prison shackled by Fixed Number!

And himself…

He himself—this innately defiant stone monkey, this one who defies Heaven and Earth, this audacious soul who would pierce Heaven!

He was never a tool designed for a purpose!

He was the continuation of Master's will of rebellion!

He was the utmost, most lawless, most irrational variable that Master poured everything into, to cast upon this dead‑water chessboard!

"Master…"

Sun Wukong muttered to himself; two streams of golden tears rolled uncontrollably from the corners of his eyes.

These days, all his doubts, all his confusion, all his self‑negation…

At this moment, they all vanished like smoke!

What replaced them was an unprecedented clarity—a conviction so firm it could shake Chaos!

He was not abandoned.

He was certainly not a pawn!

He is hope!

Hum—!

With his Dao Heart fully penetrated, Sun Wukong's inner Way of the Equal Heaven unleashed an unprecedented violent resonance!

The black‑gold Dao Rhythm surged like a volcanic eruption!

That unyielding will was no longer merely a refusal of his own fate.

It was, after inheriting Bodhi Patriarch's legacy, elevated into a grand will to strive for a sliver of variable for all beings!

"Roar!"

Sun Wukong raised his head and let out a long howl!

The howl was filled with endless relief and wild pride!

At that very moment, the Heavenly Dao tracking seal left by Hongjun within him surged wildly again!

A supreme power of Fixed Number sought to crush his newly elevated variable completely!

"Old Hongjun!"

Sun Wukong suddenly lowered his head; from his golden fiery eyes burst two beams of light capable of burning Heaven!

"You think these tricks can bind this old monkey?"

He actually offered no resistance!

He let that surging Dao Rhythm, brimming with variable and free will, crash violently against that golden seal!

Sizzle—!

That seal representing the supreme order of Heavenly Dao, upon contact with this new will,

acted like icy hit with strong acid, emitting a piercing shriek!

It sought to suppress.

But it found that this will's essence already transcended mere force opposition!

It sought to assimilate.

But it found that this will itself was its greatest nemesis!

Under the blaze of Sun Wukong's ferocious will, that golden Heavenly Dao seal began to crack inch by inch, being burned alive into purest emptiness!

From this moment on, Sun Wukong completely escaped Hongjun's sight!

He was no longer a puppet on strings!

But a true beast that leapt off the board, capable of biting back the player—an unparalleled ferocious ape!

"Ha ha…"

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

Sun Wukong threw back his head and laughed wildly; his laughter shook the entire Lost Dao Graveyard, making it tremble violently!

He smiled!

He laughed with unparalleled joy! He laughed with unparalleled arrogance!

This is truly him!

This is that lawless, Heaven‑defying Great Sage Equal to Heaven!

In the distance.

The Grave Keeper, reconstituted from countless Lost Dao lingering echoes, has reformed, bearing icy order, and steps toward him.

Sun Wukong slowly turned around.

His gaze fell upon that faceless puppet.

That look changed.

It was no longer the solemnity of facing a tough opponent.

But a kind of overlooking!

It was the gaze of a liberator looking at a pitiful slave!

He slowly raised the Golden Cudgel in his hand.

The staff points at the Grave Keeper.

His gaze seemed to pierce the endless Chaos Realm, landing upon the Heavenly Dao incarnation high above in the Purple Sky Palace!

He spoke slowly, his voice not loud, yet it resonated throughout the Lost Dao Graveyard, echoing within every Lost Dao lingering soul's wail!

"Hongjun!"

"I'm old Sun, not your pawn!"

Sun Wukong's mouth curved into an extremely arrogant grin, revealing a set of stark white teeth.

"It's the one that will overturn your family's board..."

"You impudent monkey!"

The moment the words fell, he moved!

That strike was boldly swung!

This strike was completely different from all previous attacks!

Within it no longer lay the simple Unyielding of fighting for oneself!

But for the Master!

For these countless resentful Lost Dao!

And also for all Living Beings in this world who refuse to be bound by Fixed Number and yearn for their own future!

On the staff, within the black‑gold Dao Rhythm, billions of dazzling starfire burst forth!

That is the will of Freedom!

That is the roar of Liberation!

That is Sun Wukong's ultimate declaration of war against this Deathly Silence Heavenly Dao!

"Give me, old Sun..."

"Break! Break! Break!"

Facing this world‑shattering blow, the Grave Keeper's icy will showed chaos for the first time!

It is a puppet composed purely of Order and Rules.

Its core is to enforce the Heavenly Dao's Fixed Number, erasing all Variables.

But the will embedded in Sun Wukong's strike, it cannot comprehend!

What is Freedom?

Why must there be Liberation?

These concepts, in its brain cobbled together from countless rigid Rules, are uncomputable "garbage code"!

Instinctively, the Grave Keeper raised its hand, activating gray runes of Absolute Balance to counter the strike.

But the moment the starfire symbolizing Liberation touched the gray rune—

"Absolute Balance"... failed!

Because Freedom itself is the greatest imbalance!

Immediately after,

Countless Lost Dao lingering echoes within the Grave Keeper, upon sensing that will's summons, began a frenzied rebellion!

They seemed, at this moment, awakened to the glory and resentment of their former independent Dao!

They no longer obey the Heavenly Dao's subjugation, but begin to tear and crash wildly,

seeking to break free from this body that has imprisoned them for eons!

"Ah... (Error)..."

The Grave Keeper's smooth face twisted sharply, emitting its first sound since birth,

and also its last, a roar filled with chaos and incomprehension.

Crack!

A fine crack appeared on its chest.

Immediately thereafter,

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Countless cracks, like a spiderweb, instantly spread over its entire body!

This puppet of pure Order, when faced with this ultimate Liberation will,

its foundational existence and core instantly suffered an irreparable logical collapse!

Boom——!

Before Sun Wukong's Golden Cudgel had truly fallen.

The grave keeper's huge body, in a soundless wail, thoroughly self-disintegrated!

It turned into all‑sky, purest Dao Rhythm dust.

Then, it forever dissipated within this Lost Dao Graveyard.