[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-dao-dust-pearl":3,"chapter-the-dao-dust-pearl-the-dao-dust-pearl-chapter-998":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Dao Dust Pearl",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2360499,4614,"Chapter 998: The Torrent, Where Ants Struggle in Vain","the-dao-dust-pearl-chapter-998",998,"\u003Cp>“Crack...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Daoist of Divine Penetration carefully placed the skull back onto the skeleton before him, rolled up his robe embroidered with the yin-yang fish, and wrapped the entire skeleton in it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The robe suddenly trembled, then shook violently.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Daoist of Divine Penetration gripped the sleeves and collar with all his strength; the Taiji symbol on it seemed to spin, trapping whatever was inside, until it finally calmed down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He awkwardly turned in the narrow tunnel and passed out the robe-wrapped bones.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Daoist of Divine Penetration climbed down several zhang further, only to discover the tunnel led to an arched vault, where several blue bricks had been removed, creating a passage straight to the tomb chamber’s vaulted ceiling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He casually pulled out a talisman, gave it a slight shake, and it transformed into an orange fireball that fell into the pitch-black depths below the tunnel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The fireball fell no more than a few zhang before swiftly extinguishing, as if the surrounding darkness had swallowed it like a tide...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the Daoist of Divine Penetration now deduced that this vault was not the main tomb chamber, but a front chamber for burial offerings.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Its scale rivaled that of a royal tomb; even a fleeting glance revealed the front chamber’s subterranean palace dimensions, with shadowy burial goods inside, the fireball landing above several large vats.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The blue-and-white porcelain dragon vats were sealed with copper, each spacious enough to easily hold a full-grown adult!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Daoist of Divine Penetration instinctively sensed something was wrong and quickly retreated from the tunnel; outside, a group of tomb robbers had erected a makeshift stage at the tunnel entrance, each dressed in opera costumes, and in the dark of the wild mountains, this was the only place ablaze with light—strikingly conspicuous.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>General Yu Jiuyou was examining the skeleton the Daoist of Divine Penetration had brought up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The skeletal remains showed unusual features: its ribs were enormous, nearly fused into a single bony plate; its limbs were thick and stout, with remnants of meridian tissue still clinging to the bones.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>General Yu Jiuyou pondered the talisman he had removed from the corpse—a claw resembling a pangolin’s—and sighed: “This elder was already a master of the fourth realm of martial cultivation, having achieved the extraordinary form of plate-like ribs and coiled sinews. Who would have thought such a fearsome, unafraid martial giant would meet his end in this remote wilderness?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Daoist of Divine Penetration was also puzzled: “Wasn’t this supposed to be the tomb of the chief eunuch from the previous dynasty’s fall?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“He died to accompany his lord—his reputation was unprecedented among eunuchs—but back then, the state had already collapsed. Where would they have found the manpower and resources to build such a massive tomb?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>General Yu Jiuyou glanced at him in surprise: “Your words show some insight... and some lack of it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“There’s a foreigner’s flavor to them...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hm?” The Daoist of Divine Penetration frowned slightly—he’d spoken too much!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As a Lunhuizhe , he was among the most knowledgeable across countless worlds, but this world was inherently strange; perhaps its laws differed from what he knew, and careless speech might betray his ignorance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Since the Qin and Han dynasties, nobles’ burials have followed the principle: treat the dead as if they were still alive.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Which tomb robber doesn’t know? How a tomb is buried is one thing; how it’s excavated is another. Descendants bury a seven-foot grave, yet during relocation, they unearth a massive tomb dozens of zhang wide—this is perfectly normal! This is called ‘ghost-dug tomb.’ Otherwise, how could these three tombs be called ‘ghost tombs’?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Daoist of Divine Penetration’s gaze momentarily glazed over—his spiritual sense grew unsettled—what kind of common sense is this?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Can such bizarre world’s “common sense” even be called common sense?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>General Yu Jiuyou answered seriously: “Heaven and earth are but one great tomb. When heaven and earth change, how could tombs remain unchanged?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“A proper burial requires not only descendants’ offerings, but also the ancestors’ own efforts—how could they simply enjoy the fruits?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Daoist of Divine Penetration quietly adjusted his acceptance threshold and asked: “Are you saying that after burial, the dead periodically expand their own tombs?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>General Yu Jiuyou glanced at him—now he truly began to doubt this Daoist’s origins!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Among the nine streams and three teachings, why are tomb robbers despised and scorned, while Daoists, monks, yinyang sorcerers, and fengshui masters are respected? Precisely because they can read yin dwellings and conduct funeral rites!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What kind of Daoist doesn’t even know his own craft?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Daoists should know: among the three teachings, Confucianism leads; among the nine streams, the Jīngmen is first.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This is because all knowledge under heaven prioritizes classics and histories! The ‘jing’ records the secrets of the Celestial Timers, while the ‘shi’ contains the truly unspeakable, unthinkable, and profoundly mysterious truths.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“History is divided into orthodox history and secret history. Those who compile orthodox history and fix the past are Confucian historians—the true leaders of the three teachings, men whose words can erase emperors.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The hidden secrets beyond orthodox history—besides Confucian notes and Daoist divinations—are controlled by the lowest of the low, those outside the three teachings and nine streams! And every tomb is a volume of secret history.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Secret history is alive; thus tombs are alive too. ‘Ghost-dug tombs’ don’t mean ancestors dig their own graves at night—they mean the tomb itself is alive, just like heaven and earth. Doesn’t heaven and earth change? If heaven and earth change, why shouldn’t tombs?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>General Yu Jiuyou’s eyes revealed suspicion and astonishment, but inside the Daoist of Divine Penetration, thunder rolled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“History is divided into orthodox and secret history; secret history is alive... History is alive! The past in this world is constantly changing!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A roll of thunder echoed across the dark sky; everyone looked up to see the moon bright and clear, not a single cloud in sight—where had the thunder come from?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Daoist of Divine Penetration shuddered, sensing he had touched a terrifying taboo.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If orthodox history is the Primordial Orthodox History Master Chi Fenruo spoke of, then secret history is this world’s history unanchored by the Primordial Orthodox History—alive, changeable. Though the people of this realm know nothing of the truth behind the Primordial Orthodox History, they sense history’s anomalies.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Daoist of Divine Penetration’s thoughts raced: “Celestial Timers!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The greatest anomaly in this world is that the Dao Lords who opened heaven and earth still live—and actively interfere here.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Thus, under their will, the past and history here are unstable. Yet something even surpasses the will of the Celestial Timers—and even the entire Lunhuizhidi : the Primordial Orthodox History! Once, Lord Zhuge, a Dao Lord himself, struggled against Sima Yi, the strongest Nascent Soul of a mere Earth Immortal Realm, yet heaven refused to permit his destruction; even the mighty Qin Immortal Realm could not defy its fate.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This power is nearly what can be called Heavenly Mandate!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“A world created by mere Dao Lords cannot possibly defy it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Thus the distinction between orthodox and secret history; secret history is this world’s most terrifying, powerful force—because it directly borrows the power of the Celestial Timers.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Daoist of Divine Penetration felt suffocated—his greatest enemy was likely one of this world’s Celestial Timers, perhaps even the most exalted one.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Secrets about the Celestial Timers can be called secret history.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their power can even create a world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Daoist of Divine Penetration vaguely understood: the world he now inhabited was likely part of secret history. He had vastly underestimated these tomb robbers. Though General Yu Jiuyou was as weak as a dog, his insight was genuinely beyond the horizons of this world’s natives—and even surpassed some Lunhuizhe !\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Heaven and earth are one great tomb!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If a tomb is a form of secret history, then isn’t secret history itself a tomb?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If secret history is a tomb, then who, in this heaven and earth, is buried?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The destruction shadows that fell into the True Realm—the old epochs—are they truly the ruins of a destroyed world? Or are they themselves a tomb, burying...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The shadow of destruction that fell into the True Realm—was the bygone age truly the wreckage of a destroyed world, or is it merely a tomb, burying...?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Daoist of Divine Penetration, building on this speculation, deconstructed the elements of secret history.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If a tomb is a form of secret history, then its elements are? A tomb is part of the past, hiding away a fragment of it—this aligns with this world’s transcendental ‘secrecy’ element. Yes! Secret history—secret history is, to some degree, hidden history.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If history is alive and the past constantly changes, then hidden history must change with it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yet part of history cannot change—it exceeds the power of the Celestial Timers. Thus, when secrecy is broken, certain things become fixed; that history is ‘killed.’ And what kills it? Is it the Primordial Orthodox History? Or... ‘belief,’ ‘cognition,’ ‘certainty’?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Secret history is the power of the Celestial Timers. If someone can kill secret history, doesn’t that mean someone can kill a Celestial Timer?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“And the way to kill a Celestial Timer is the opposite of secrecy... belief, cognition—or perhaps—faith?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And the way to kill a Celestial is through a force opposite to secrecy... belief, cognition, or rather—faith?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Daoist of Divine Penetration silently shook his head—he could not determine how powerful secret history truly was, but he was certain: the power of the Celestial Timers in this world had virtually no limit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Better to believe that the Celestial Timers—or secret history—can reshape the entire world and alter all cognition with a single thought.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mortal ‘belief’ holds no value before the Celestial Timers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Otherwise, the Celestial Timers would not discard faith like trash.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, secrecy is not merely the source of transcendence—it is transcendence itself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, mystery yields only to greater mystery—not to observation or exposure...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the Library of Miskatonic, the Tower of Omniscience.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gabe was lecturing new recruits of the Orange Light Seekers’ Guild: “Orange Light is the strongest and most stable of the seven colored lights. Unlike the knightly green light, rooted in will, our power does not stem from the ‘self.’”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Unlike the authority’s yellow light, our power does not come from faith or rule. Unlike the true love’s purple light, our power is not derived from ‘pure souls’...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We already know all power in the Spirit Realm originates from the Celestial Timers.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Orange Light’s power comes from cognition, from observation, from secret history.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We study ‘reality,’ immerse ourselves in ‘falsehood,’ pursue ‘truth,’ become ‘history,’ observe ‘the past’... We are dedicated to uncovering all ‘secrets’!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Reality is like a resilient ‘string,’ composed in part of higher-level unchanging elements!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The Celestial Timers constantly pluck this ‘string’; ‘reality’ trembles with it, and we, standing ‘above reality,’ tremble too, producing beautiful vibrations that together compose a symphony.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This symphony is ‘secret history.’”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Thus, the true secret of the Formless Art is—the ‘echo’ of secret history.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Why does ‘secrecy’ strengthen the Formless Art? Because of frequency. The current chord of reality can accommodate a faint echo of secret history—even the echo is part of the chord. But a loud echo inevitably becomes dissonance, suppressed by the current frequency. Thus, the fewer people resonate with this echo, the more frequency we claim.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“In a sense, our world is a symphony of Celestial Timers—their will plucks the unchanging history, making all change compose ‘reality.’”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“In this grand symphony, we are insignificant—not the ‘notes,’ which are secret history; nor the ‘melody,’ which is ‘change’—they are the Celestial Timers’ very presence in our world. We are not ‘matter’—matter does not exist; only the ‘string’ exists...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Below, the apprentice magicians, stirred by Gabe’s cascade of metaphors, were brimming with emotion. One raised his hand and asked: “Professor, then what are we?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We are original sin. We are betrayal. We are the ones who know good and evil. We are the dust on the string—and part of the string itself. We are the ‘dissonance’!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gabe’s words sent the apprentices into a commotion; their murmurs gradually shattered the immersive silence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet Gabe’s eyes gleamed; his chest trembled slightly, his gaze passing beyond all below, toward the ‘chord’ beyond the ‘string’—the unspeakable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a long while, he Shouhui  his gaze and smiled: “So, have you learned how to use Orange Light to cast the Formless Art?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The apprentices stared blankly: “Professor, you haven’t even started teaching yet!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a long while, he retracted his gaze and smiled: “So, have you learned how to use Orange Light to perform the Formless Art?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gabe nodded at each one in turn: “Fool, fool, all of you are fools...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Do you think I was telling stories? Doctrine? Or a madman’s ramblings?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The apprentices thought: “We think you were telling madman’s ramblings!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But no one dared speak—because the man on the podium was not merely Miskatonic University’s youngest professor, nor merely an outstanding young scholar of folklore. This was merely Gabe’s secular name.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the mysterious world, among transcendents,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>he was the famed Orange Light Pope—ranked alongside the Camelot Royal Knight Queen, the Holy Church’s Yellow Robe Pope, the Hunter Association’s Chairman, the True Love Witch Coven’s witches, the Puritan New Saint, and the Red Cross’s Chief Nun.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Grand Master of the Orange Light Omniscience School, supreme leader of the Seeker Faction, legendary mage!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He is the famed Orange Light Pope, renowned alongside the Guardian Knight Queen of Camelot, the Yellow Robe Pope of the Holy Church, the Hunter Association’s Chairman, the witches of the True Love Witch Coven, the Puritan New Saint, and the Chief Nun of the Red Cross!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If someone had told me this back then, I would have bowed in gratitude, prostrated myself completely...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It is the shadow of truth, the true “secrecy.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If someone had spoken these words to me back then, I would have been endlessly grateful, prostrate with reverence…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gai Bo waved his arms excitedly, then drew a deep breath and sighed: “Use the ritual of spiritual form travel to reach the Spirit Realm, seal Lei Guang with a jadeite gem, then use it to reflect the secrets you know—Formless Art will naturally emerge. Finally, guard a secret, the more personal to you, the greater its impact, the more hidden the better—it will become your very own ‘Secret’.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Seal it into your Orange Lamp—there, your personal Life Spell will be born.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Go back and ponder my words carefully. Though you may wield the power of secret histories to perform Formless Art, how to truly wield Formless Art, how to truly steal the power of the Constellations…” Gai Bo tapped his forehead: “It ultimately depends on your own minds!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…………\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After completely overturning his judgment of General Yu Jiuyou, the Tongshen Daoist’s gaze toward this band of grave robbers grew complex; the mysterious Chi Fen Ruo, and this Delamond whose aura rivaled—even surpassed—his in mystery, became even harder to fathom.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For he suddenly realized: being assigned here, digging graves with a gang of grave robbers, seemed like a hint—that someone truly intended to teach him how to kill a ‘Constellation.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This did not fill the Tongshen Daoist with pride; instead, it sent a chill down his spine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Earthly Branch Demons of the Tai Sui Alliance, even the enigmatic Delamond, suspected to be a top-tier force of this world, were truly plotting to murder a Dao Jun.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>How dare such mere ants dare to slay a god?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Tongshen Daoist had never faced Li Er directly; since their parting at Louguan Dao, when he was still a child, helpless as an ant in his and Miaokong’s hands, that audacious act now seemed a pitiful, laughable struggle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He no longer had the courage to meet Li Er—he imagined Miaokong had met Li Er, now Qian Chen, and then he died!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Leaning on his chess banner, the Tongshen Daoist sat heavily on the ground, breathing heavily like an exhausted ordinary old man.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He gazed far into the heavens, staring at this false sky!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The night, like a mirror, reflected the Three Lights…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The ants in the torrent struggle in vain!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yet the wheel of fate turns without end…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Tongshen Daoist closed his eyes, then opened them again, cutting away all doubt and restlessness, leaving only that increasingly mad, unwavering resolve!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hundreds of miles away, Chi Fen Ruo gazed at the Tongshen Daoist and nodded slightly: “Truly, a fine blade!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“In days past, we stood so high above—we truly overlooked those two exceptional talents. With mere ant bodies, they dared to seize one of the Three Supreme Treasures. Utterly audacious—true demonic seeds. Too bad, too bad. We learned of them too late; otherwise, we might have lent them a hand.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As if speaking with him like a clear breeze and bright moon…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chi Fen Ruo nodded slightly: “We both know that Ling Bao possesses its own consciousness, beyond others’ control—yet precisely because of this, we lost the edge of the demonic path! What matters most in seizing a Ling Bao, in claiming the Dao Fruit? A brilliant plan? Unmatched courage? Or extraordinary vision and calculation?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No—it is action! It is seizing!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If you do not act, there is no possibility whatsoever. But if you act—even when all seems impossible—there remains that one thread of ‘demonic transformation’ that turns impossibility into possibility!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Thus, only those who dare to act are truly demonic!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Those who hesitate, dither, calculate endlessly, and manipulate others to do their bidding—these are merely hypocrites of the orthodox path!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chi Fen Ruo smiled faintly, a hint of madness in his eyes: “To act despite knowing it cannot be done—that is true demonic madness!”\u003C\u002Fp>",2939,"2026-06-21T05:40:02.617Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","f0e338f9338cae4d106186c664debc4a90967d6d57d9a9e5ff1562da10eb8df8","the-dao-dust-pearl-chapter-999","the-dao-dust-pearl-chapter-997",1000,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-dao-dust-pearl-cover.jpg"]