Chapter 329: Deathly Silence Gospel

On the ruins of Purple Azure Palace.

This sacred land, once guarded by myriad laws, now remains only as broken walls and ruins.

Deathly Silence is the sole melody here.

Yet within this Deathly Silence, a discordant note softly sounds.

Crack!

A faint crack sounded, and the pitch‑black cocoon wrapping the Tathagata's remnant soul split open a fine seam.

Immediately after, the crack‑crack sounds merged into a sheet, and spider‑web‑like cracks instantly covered the cocoon's entire surface.

Finally, in a hush of Deathly Silence, the black cocoon quietly shattered.

It did not turn into energy or light, but simply became ordinary ash, drifting away on the wind.

A figure slowly emerged from the shattered ash.

There was no blinding golden light, no Buddhist chant, not even a flicker of magical power.

It was a monk.

A gaunt monk clad in a plain gray Sēngpáo.

His face resembled bark dried for a thousand years, etched with deep wrinkles.

His eyes had no pupils or whites, only two voids as deep and bottomless as black holes.

Those voids devoured all light, all hope, all meaning.

He simply stood there, silent.

He bore no trace of vital breath, only an aura of ending that made all things wither and the laws lament.

He did not seek Ling Shan, nor provoke Sun Wukong.

He merely sat cross‑legged amid the ruins, palms together.

Those black‑hole eyes slowly drooped, as if sinking into eternal sleep.

But at the instant he closed his eyes.

Hum—

An intangible 'gospel' surged forth at a speed transcending light and causality, wildly spreading to countless boundless worlds.

That 'gospel' had no sound, no words, yet like a thought‑plague it silently echoed in the hearts of every thinking, feeling Living Being.

"Struggle is suffering, change is suffering, to live… is itself an endless ordeal."

"Love and hate are suffering, desire is suffering, even hope… is suffering."

"Why move? Why change? Why endure the pain of samsara?"

"Be still, cease motion—only stillness is eternity."

"Only by returning to void can one find peace; this is the ultimate liberation."

Somewhere in the Star Sea,

A world named Feathergood was celebrating its hard‑won peace.

This beautiful world of the Featherfolk had just ended a stellar war that lasted thousands of years.

Every Featherfolk longed for tranquility, for eternal peace.

At that moment, a young Featherfolk warrior sat on a cliff's edge, polishing his immaculate white wings.

The war had taken all his kin; his heart was filled with weariness.

Suddenly, his motion halted.

That voiceless 'gospel' now resonated in his heart.

"To live… is suffering."

The young Featherfolk warrior froze.

He lowered his gaze to his hands, stained with blood and dust.

Yeah, living is too painful.

Why fight? Why fly? Why not stop?

A relieved Smile slowly appeared on his face.

He folded the wings that had once soared the heavens.

His body gradually stiffened, eventually becoming a fine statue holding a smiling pose.

Not only him!

The entire Feathergood world—whether artisans rebuilding homes, farmers tilling fields, or toddlers just learning to speak.

all the Featherfolk halted everything they were doing at that moment.

Their faces all showed the same relieved, tranquil Smile.

Then, one by one, they turned into lifelike, icy statues.

The wind blew, and the whole world fell into Deathly Silence.

Dream Ark.

Yao was carefully repairing the Dream Realm damaged by bearing the Blue Star Federation.

Suddenly, a violent palpitation from deep within her Divine Soul made her eyes snap open.

"What's wrong?!"

With a thought of her divine sense, she instantly spread out to probe the myriad civilization seeds within the Ark.

Everything was normal.

No, that's not right!

Yao's complexion abruptly changed.

She suddenly raised her head, her gaze piercing the wall of the Dream's Ark, looking toward the endless true Star Sea.

Her Illusory Dream Dao could sense every world bound to her by karma, that string representing 'life' and 'existence'.

Just now, there was a string, a string belonging to the Yujia world, that stopped.

It wasn't broken.

That was a state more terrifying than 'severance,' making Yao feel a chill down her spine.

That string had not been forcibly severed by external force; rather, it voluntarily abandoned all its vibrations.

It chose silence.

"Wukong!"

Yao's voice carried a tremor she herself hadn't even noticed.

Sun Wukong's figure instantly appeared beside her.

He looked at Yao's deathly pale face, his heart sinking sharply.

"What's wrong?"

"One world..."

Yao's lips trembled.

"One world... is gone."

"It wasn't destroyed; they themselves chose to die!"

Boom!

Sun Wukong's mind rang like a thunderclap.

A fury stronger than when Hongjun annihilated myriad worlds erupted explosively from his chest.

Good!

Good, choosing to die on one's own!

This is more vicious than that old baldy of the Grand Heavenly Dao, and deserves death!

Hongjun seeks to destroy your body and end your existence.

But this damned lurking thing in the dark is actually deceiving you!

It deceives you into killing your own soul!

It makes you willingly walk toward eternal Deathly Silence!

"Ahhhhh!!"

Sun Wukong raised his head and let out a roar repressed to the extreme.

In his golden eyes, two streams of divine fire capable of burning the Nine Heavens burst forth.

Fiery Golden Eyes pierce the illusory.

His gaze instantly crossed endless spacetime, sweeping over the worlds being infected by the 'gospel'.

Finally, it locked firmly onto the source of all this.

The ruins of the Zi Xiao Gong, that withered monk sitting cross-legged!

It's him!

Even reduced to ashes, my old self would recognize you, you damned old bald donkey!

"Tathagata!!"

A rip—space was torn like a rag.

Sun Wukong's figure, shrouded with killing intent capable of destroying the Star Sea, stepped forth and instantly appeared before the withered monk.

Hum!

The Golden Cudgel in his hand vibrated wildly, humming.

The golden-flame-engulfed staff had turned into a blinding blood-red from extreme fury.

The staff's tip pointed at the opponent's brow, its icy killing intent nearly freezing the ruins solid.

Sun Wukong gritted his teeth, each word squeezed from between his jaws: "I even thought you were dead, you bastard!"

"Turns out you found a new master, get out and keep being a dog!"