Chapter 224

Ten thousand ages of time drifted by.

For mortals, this already is the rise and fall of countless dynasties.

But for the present Three Realms, for this brand‑new era founded single‑handedly by Sun Wukong, ten thousand years is merely the first spring of a newborn.

Under the new Heavenly Dao, all things are free.

The billions of living beings once crushed by the old gods and Buddhas, forced to survive in cracks, have ushered in an unprecedented golden age.

In Nan Shan Bu Zhou, within a city called "Unyielding," a tiny ant‑like demon once trampled to death at the whim of Heavenly Soldiers and Heavenly Generals has now become a regional demon king.

He founded a sect and passed down a way that is neither about inhaling the essence of sun and moon nor about refining magical treasures.

It is the Way of the Wild Grass.

"What is wild grass?"

"Step on me, burn me, as long as the roots remain, a spring breeze will make me grow again!"

"This is Equal Heaven!"

Similar scenes play out in every corner of the Three Realms.

A butcher, after swinging his knife countless times, grasped his own Way of the Butcher; a single slash can untie the bonds of all things.

A scholar, after reading every work under Heaven, transformed his inner discontent into the Way of Tongue and Pen; a single word can settle hearts, a phrase can judge good and evil.

The Way is no longer a lofty authority monopolized by gods and Buddhas.

The Way has become a badge for every living being, who fights, struggles, and lives it out with their own life and passion.

Mount Huaguo, the summit of the Water Curtain Cave.

Sun Wukong sits cross‑legged, and everything of the new Heavenly Dao is clearly reflected in his Fiery Golden Eyes.

He watches the demon king who spreads the Way of the Wild Grass, the butcher who entered the Way with a blade, and the scholar who debates the masses with his tongue.

A smile involuntarily curls at the corner of his mouth.

In that smile, the former arrogance and rancor are gone, leaving only a heartfelt satisfaction.

This is the Vitality that Master seeks.

It is not a Fixed Number like a pool of dead water, but a torrent of variables brimming with infinite possibilities, collisions, and struggles.

"Master, did you see it?"

"This flourishing age, as you wished."

He murmurs to himself, his heart at peace.

Yet, at the instant this satisfaction reaches its peak,

Sun Wukong, as the ruler of the new Heavenly Dao, suddenly furrows his brows.

He senses a hint of disharmony.

It is neither killing intent, nor resentment, nor the rotten taste of order like Hongjun's.

It is a… "Nothing."

A pure, absolute, icy "Nothing."

Like a rousing battle song, cut off at its climax, all sound is silenced.

Like a vivid painting, a single drop of ink from the center slowly spreads, turning it into a Blank.

This aura, extremely faint, lurks at the edge of the Chaos Realm, like a speck of dust in the void.

Were he not already the master of the Heavenly Dao, with his divine thought linked to the entire Chaos Realm, he could not have perceived it.

Sun Wukong's divine thought instantly traverses endless spacetime and descends upon that region.

It is a star field that has existed only three thousand years.

Under his new Heavenly Dao Law, it teems with Vitality, countless stars are being born, countless worlds are evolving.

He recalls that a hundred years ago, he saw on a planet the first strand of a thinking "Wind" being born.

It is striving to solidify its form, wishing to glimpse the shape of this world.

But now…

Where Sun Wukong's divine thought reaches, there is Deathly Silence.

That star field still exists.

But it has "stopped."

All the evolving stars froze at the final moment, then their light, at a speed visible to the naked eye, slowly faded.

All nascent worlds halted their rhythms; mountains no longer rose, oceans no longer surged.

The "Wind" elemental spirit that had just gained consciousness also dissipated.

It was not slain, nor destroyed.

It simply, naturally, ceased to "exist," returning to primordial void.

As if it had never appeared.

No struggle, no pain, no trace at all.

Just like a dream that has ended.

Sun Wukong's complexion darkened a little.

"Wukong."

Yao's figure appears beside him, her complexion a bit pale, a hint of confusion and unease in her beautiful eyes.

"You also felt it?" Sun Wukong asked.

Yao nodded, her voice a little strained.

"My Illusory Dream Way cannot reach that region."

"I tried to wrap those worlds that are 'withering' with the Dream Realm, to see what they truly experienced."

"But…"

Yao inhaled deeply, a trace of Fear Heart Demon flashing in her eyes.

"My Dream, as soon as it gets close, will be 'eaten'."

"It's not torn apart, it's not cracked."

"It just… disappears."

"Just as if I had never had that Dream at all."

Eaten?

Sun Wukong's heart sank sharply.

Yao's Illusory Dream Path, under the empowerment of the new Heavenly Dao, has long since become a different world.

She can easily create a world that is indistinguishably false, and even pull reality into the Dream Realm.

But now, her Dao has been silently erased!

This is certainly not an ordinary power!

"Let old Sun give it a try!"

Sun Wukong's eyes blazed with divine light, the supreme will of the Way of the Equal Heaven turned into a black‑gold torrent that cut across Chaos, charging fiercely toward that Deathly Silence star region!

He intends to reverse cause and effect, to rewind time!

He wants to see what kind of demon thing dares to run amok on his turf!

But the next second, Sun Wukong's body jolted violently!

That Equal Heaven will, capable of overturning the universe and reshaping the Heavenly Dao, vanished without a trace the instant it surged into that Deathly Silence zone, like a mud ox sinking into the sea!

No resistance.

No collision.

It simply vanished.

Sun Wukong's deduction, for the first time, hit a complete blank!

Heavenly Mechanism, a sea of Chaos!

This force towers over the Way of the Equal Heaven he created!

No, that's wrong!

It's not about towering.

In Sun Wukong's mind, the Void Way of Master Bodhi Patriarch flashed instantly.

That power that returns all things to Void, transcending everything.

But this feeling is still off!

Master's "Void" severs all cause and effect, transcending "existence" itself, thereby gaining infinite Freedom and possibility! It is a "starting point"!

Yet this present Deathly Silence, this "Nothing", is erasing every "possibility"!

It is not transcendence, but "Termination"!

It is an absolute, irreversible negation of "existence" itself!

Right then!

"Buzz—"

The few Void Seeds inside Sun Wukong, not yet fully fused, suddenly quivered violently.

It's not resonance, not joy.

Instead it is an ultimate… shiver, sourced from the Primordial Source!

It feels as if a mouse has seen a cat!

No!

It's encountering a predator more "Void" than "Void" itself…!

Sun Wukong's pupils suddenly contracted to the sharpest needle point!

He rose slowly, the satisfaction and peace he had just gained completely vanished.

In their place came a bone‑deep chill and weight.

He finally understood.

Hongjun is merely the old‑era's watchdog.

The existence beyond the rift in the heavens is an alien plunderer.

And this one before him…

This silent thing that is making his world "stop".

That is the true great terror!

It is challenging the foundation of his Way of the Equal Heaven!

Challenging the very meaning of "existence"!

Sun Wukong slowly lifted his head, his gaze seeming to pierce endless Chaos, looking toward the source of that Deathly Silence.

"It seems…"

"In this world, something dislikes the feeling of 'Living'."

His voice was soft, yet it sent a chill from deep within Yao's Línghún.

Storm has not yet begun.

But the ominous clouds that would destroy everything have already silently shrouded the entire new world.