Chapter 286: Arbitration Suspended, Hongjun

The shadow that represents ultimate evil fell silent.

It seemed bewildered as well.

The script, it seems… isn't right?

It broke free from the eternal cage, supposed to usher in the wails and Fear Heart Demons of all things, supposed to revel in the frenzy that dyes everything with the Color of despair.

But the massive pupil before us, just "born", formed from the convergence of the entire Universe's will,

its gaze held no Fear Heart Demon, no anger, not even hostility.

Only… curiosity.

Pure, like a child's first curiosity upon seeing a novel toy.

"You… what are you?"

That youthful voice, laden with the weight of the entire Universe, sounded again, tinged with incomprehension.

The malicious shadow felt, for the first time, an emotion it could not comprehend.

It was… awkward.

All the declarations of destruction it had prepared, all the methods of spreading Fear Heart Demons, appeared so comically ridiculous before this innocent question.

It's like a demon lord who has prepared for ten thousand years to destroy the world, only to step outside and be grabbed by a three‑year‑old at the hem, who asks whether the candy in his hand tastes good.

Suppressed!

Unprecedented suppression!

"I, am the End…"

It still forced two words out between its teeth, trying to reclaim its aura.

However, the massive pupil merely tilted.

In its pupil, the warm light that had just learned to flow, representing "emotion",

interwove with the cold data streams, conducting ultra‑fast analysis and learning.

【Analysis Target: 'Primordial Evil'……】

【Composition: Absolute Negative Entropy, Logical Paradox Collective, residual echo of a failed creation…】

【Behavioral Pattern Prediction: devour, assimilate, return to void…】

【Threat Level: … undefined.】

【Handling Plan: … learning.】

The next second, a gentle beam of light shot from the massive pupil, bearing no aggression, directly enveloping the malicious shadow.

Instinctively, the shadow tried to resist, attempting to taint the light with its malice.

But the light did not confront it at all.

It merely wrapped, recorded, analyzed.

Like a top‑tier programmer studying the oldest, most complex virus code.

He does not intend to delete it.

He aims to… understand it, deconstruct it, and make it part of his own database!

"No!!!"

The malicious shadow let out a terrified scream.

Being treated as "learning material" feels more terrifying to it than being sealed or eradicated!

But everything is in vain.

In the flicker of the light, that terrifying shadow that could give Hongjun a nightmare,

was broken down piece by piece into primal data streams, then slowly… absorbed by the massive pupil!

【New Concept 'End', recorded…】

【Worldview Database, undergoing completion…】

【Learning complete.】

The youthful voice sounded again, carrying a hint of satisfaction.

As if it had devoured a candy of peculiar flavor.

The entire Source of Ten Thousand Paths once again restored that emptiness and silence.

It seemed the shadow's appearance earlier was merely an illusion.

The collapsed Hóngjūn Dàozǔ on the ground was utterly dumbfounded.

His mouth half‑open, his gaze vacant, even the last spark of spirit completely extinguished.

Absorbed…?

Learned…?

That taboo existence that even Master shuns, the 'Primordial Evil' representing the Universe's ultimate Error,

Was it just… patched in as a Patch?

Absurd!

The greatest farce under heaven!

This brand‑new Universe will, its operational logic, has completely exceeded Hongjun's scope of comprehension!

Sun Wukong merely curled his lip.

It's a pity they didn't fight.

However, watching Hongjun's expression as if his parents had died seemed rather amusing.

At this moment, the massive pupil that had resolved the 'historical leftover bug' finally redirected its 'gaze' toward the only two remaining 'Arbitration Targets' in the arena.

In its pupil, half was icy‑as‑iron order runes, half was warm‑as‑fire emotional radiance.

Two completely different forces intertwined and collided within it, ultimately reaching a strange balance.

It is thinking.

It is using a brand‑new way of thought that fuses 'logic' and 'emotion' to assess everything before it.

For a long while.

The voice, a mix of naivety and authority, finally sounded again, proclaiming the final outcome of this ultimate arbitration to the entire Multiverse.

Having adjudicated—

'Fixed Number' is the cornerstone of the Universe's existence.

'Variable' is the source of the Universe's evolution.

Both have no right or wrong, no superiority or inferiority.

Therefore, this arbitration…

The voice paused, as if searching for the most fitting word.

…indefinitely suspended.

The four characters were spoken softly.

But they fell like four immovable mountains, thundering down upon this eternal dimension!

The arbitration is indefinitely suspended!

This result caught everyone off guard.

Sun Wukong was startled for a moment, then shrugged indifferently.

Suspended?

That means no result.

No result is the best result.

This means that no damned 'Fixed Number' can define him any longer, and no 'Heavenly Dao' can judge him.

From now on, he can cause trouble however he pleases!

For him, this is not a draw.

This fucking is victory!

But this outcome, while a victory for Sun Wukong, is an ultimate judgment a ten‑thousand times more cruel than outright condemning the other person to death!

Hóngjūn Dàozǔ!

The moment the word 'suspended' reached his ears, the pallor of his already ashen face changed dramatically in an instant!

First it shifted from white to blue!

That was the shameful fury of belief being utterly trampled!

Then it turned from blue to purple!

That was the raging anger of dignity being ground on the ground!

Finally, all colors faded, turning into a heart‑pounding, Deathly Silence… black!

He wields the Heavenly Dao, his body becoming order for billions of years!

Everything he does is to forge an absolutely stable, absolutely controllable, never‑unexpected eternal Universe!

But now, the Universe itself—the 'system' he regarded as his life's work—has openly declared that it will embrace 'accidents'!

'Pending'!

This itself is the greatest 'disorder'!

Can't… accept…

Hóngjūn Dàozǔ forced a few dry syllables from his throat, and he slowly rose, piece by piece, from his paralyzed sitting.

As he moved, the lofty 'Dao Ancestor' aura that merged with Heaven and Earth around him dissipated rapidly.

Replacing it was an even purer, more personal, and far more terrifying… madness!

It is no longer the ruthlessness of the Heavenly Dao.

Rather, it is a gambler who, after losing everything, flips the table in sheer resolve!

It is a paranoid destructive urge to forcibly pull everything back to the origin he knows!

He straightened his posture.

In his eyes, not a trace of the Dao Ancestor's indifference remained.

Only the bone‑chilling cold that seeks to drag the entire Universe into his 'order' tomb remained!

He first cast a cold glance at Sun Wukong, who was grinning at the spectacle; the murderous intent in his gaze almost became tangible.

But ultimately, his gaze fell upon the massive pupil that was diligently 'learning', digesting new knowledge.

He stared at the one who should have been defined by him, yet ultimately betrayed his 'Heaven'.

He smiled.

He smiled with unparalleled calm, yet also with... ferocity.

Good.

Very good.

Since the 'Heaven' has begun to hesitate…

Since the 'Order' can also be polluted by 'Emotion'…

He spoke each word with a pause, his voice low, yet like a funeral bell of the apocalypse, ringing in every corner of the Source of Ten Thousand Paths.

Then let me reshape the 'Heaven's' order!

The moment his words fell!

Boom!!!

The whole body of Hóngjūn Dàozǔ suddenly turned into a Silent Extinction divine light that cannot be directly seen with the naked eye!

That light no longer seeks resonance with the laws of this space, nor does it obey any rule!

Instead, in the most wilful, most brutal manner, it slammed hard into the spatial barrier of the Source of Ten Thousand Paths!

He intends to break away voluntarily!

He wants to end this farce he cannot accept, using his own way!

Crack—!

Under the massive, slightly astonished "gaze", the Source of Ten Thousand Paths' eternal, unbreakable dimensional barrier,

was brutally split open by this Silent Extinction divine light that embodied Hongjun's lifelong Dao Level and endless madness, creating a crack!

The ultimate physical war!

A final reckoning of Fixed Numbers and variables sweeping across the entire Multiverse!

Kindled by the very former ruler of order himself!

Ready to ignite at a moment's touch!

That Silent Extinction divine light, without hesitation, passed through the crack and vanished from this Arbitration Ground.

Space returns to silence.

Only the self‑repairing crack remains, bearing witness to everything that just occurred.

Sun Wukong's smile on his face slowly faded.

He lifted his head, looked toward the direction where Hongjun vanished, and in his eyes there was no worry, no solemnity.

Only a streak, suppressed for far too long, finally released—a pure… wildness!

"Ho."

He let out a low chuckle from his throat and slowly raised the Golden Cudgel in his hand.

"It should have been so all along."

"Principle?"

He grinned, showing his stark white teeth.

"My old Sun's Principle has always been just one."

"That is—"

"Whose fist is bigger, that one is the Principle!"

Having said that, he didn't even glance at the Cosmic Pan‑Consciousness still "learning".

And likewise turned into a golden light, charging toward the soon‑to‑close crack!

The debate is over!

Next comes war!