Volume 1, Chapter 54: An Interesting Opponent

Within its body, the dust originating from the Primordial Chaos and the spirituality originating from the Epoch Divine Spring had, under the subtle influence of Gu Changsheng’s "how annoying" and "that'll do" laid-back mindset, fused into a brand new, unique "Dao."

——The "Dao of Purity."

Or rather, the "Dao of Do Not Disturb Me."

A gentle breeze blew past.

On that small flower, a pink petal leisurely detached itself from the calyx and drifted into the air with the wind.

It drifted along without the slightest ripple of energy, resembling a genuine, ordinary petal.

Floating leisurely, it happened to drift directly into the inevitable path of that strand of "divine pollution."

The two gently touched.

There was no earth-shattering explosion, no fierce collision of laws.

It was just like a red-hot branding iron touching a single snowflake.

That strand of "divine pollution" essence, formidable enough to trouble even an Immortal King, did not even have the chance to struggle before it was instantly "purified" in front of the seemingly fragile petal.

No, that was not purification.

Purification meant clearance.

What the petal did was "erasure."

It completely erased the very concept of "divine pollution" from that point in time and from that space, as if it had never existed at all.

Having finished all this, the pink petal did not stop.

As if endowed with a will of its own, it followed that invisible thread of karma, tracing its way back toward the source at a speed that transcended the concept of time and space.

Its speed was not fast, and its posture remained just as leisurely, just as... nonchalant.

In the void, the will of the causal probe was suddenly overwhelmed by an extreme terror.

All of its sensors and all of its logical cores were frantically sounding alarms.

It "saw."

It saw that pink, utterly ordinary petal.

It saw that petal piercing through dimensions, ignoring distance, and drifting toward itself.

"Warning! Unknown conceptual attack!"

"Unable to parse! Unable to comprehend! Unable to resist!"

"Threat Level: Extinction!"

"Run! Run! Run!"

For the first time, the phantom of the causal probe distorted violently. It attempted to tear through space, leap across dimensions, and flee this place.

However, to its horror, it discovered that the surrounding time and space had been completely locked down by an invisible force.

No, it was not locked down.

It and that petal were "defined" within the exact same "absolute space." Within this space, the concept of escape did not exist.

It could only watch helplessly.

Watching that pink petal drift closer and closer.

It was beautiful, fragile, carrying the subtle fragrance of a plant.

Then, it gently pressed against the "body" of the causal probe.

In an instant, the "existence" of the causal probe—composed of countless complex concepts and laws—began to rapidly "vanish" from the spot touched by the petal.

It was as if an eraser was slowly wiping it away from a drawing sheet.

There was no pain, no struggle.

Only the purest, most thorough "return to nothingness."

At the very last moment of its existence, its logical core finally managed to parse that extremely faint yet supreme true meaning of the "Dao" contained within the petal.

It was a sensation... mixed with creation and the final end, yet transcending both, ultimately settling into a helpless...

"Annoyance."

...

In the small courtyard, a gentle breeze blew.

Gu Changsheng turned over and smacking his lips, seemingly sleeping even more soundly.

That petal, having completed its mission, traced a graceful arc in the air before quietly falling to the ground, transforming into the most ordinary dust.

As if nothing had happened at all.

Only Ye Qingxian and Ji Ruxue, who were plunged into a state of sudden enlightenment, felt the barriers of their cultivation realms shatter with a resounding roar.

Chaos Sea, God-Eater Civilization Mobile Fortress.

Inside the massive core hall, there was a deathly silence.

Beneath the throne, the dozen or so God-Eater commanders with terrifying auras all stood frozen in place. On their faces, formed of pure energy, an emotion called "bewilderment" surfaced for the very first time.

Just moments ago, the "Causal Beacon" floating in the center of the hall—which represented the existence state of the "causal probe," being of the same origin as the probe and capable of reflecting all its states in real-time—the crystal of laws...

Vanished.

It did not extinguish, nor did it shatter; it simply vanished into thin air under everyone's gaze.

Just as if it had never existed at all.

"What is going on? Report the situation!" One commander was the first to snap back to senses, shouting sternly to the subordinate in charge of monitoring.

"Reporting to the commander... there is no situation." The subordinate's voice was trembling. "In the very last moment before its disappearance, the 'causal probe' did not transmit any data, nor did it sound any alarms. All of its logical units... were in a state of absolute silence."

This answer sent a chill rising from the depths of their souls for every commander present.

This was a million times more terrifying than receiving news that the probe had been instantly destroyed.

Being destroyed meant there was combat, energy collision, and residual information. Based on that information, they could analyze the enemy's strength and methods.

Yet now, there was nothing.

A unit representing the highest reconnaissance technology of the God-Eater Civilization, a "ghost" capable of stealing intelligence right under the nose of an Immortal King, had just evaporated into thin air without a sound.

What did this indicate?

It indicated that the methods employed by the enemy completely transcended the scope of their cognition, and even transcended the "causal probe's" own definition of "danger"!

"Is it a trap?" a commander muttered to themselves, "A... conceptual-level trap that we cannot comprehend?"

"It's possible." Another commander wore a solemn gaze. "The Gu family deliberately showed weakness, concealing the aura of the [Myriad Realms Heart Seal], luring us into dispatching the probe, and then obliterating it using a method beyond our understanding. This is both a warning and a demonstration of power!"

Within the hall, the atmosphere was oppressive to the extreme.

The unknown was the most terrifying thing of all.

How unfathomable was the true strength of a family capable of silently erasing a "causal probe"?

Their previous assessment regarding the "decline of the Gu family" now seemed like an absolute joke.

"Lord Sovereign..."

All the commanders cast their gazes toward the supreme throne.

The shadow upon the throne remained silent for a long time.

He was analyzing as well.

The disappearance of the probe did indeed take him by surprise, but more than that, it stirred up his desire for conquest as the master of a civilization.

"An interesting opponent."

His cold will finally echoed once more.

"Your judgments make sense, but they are only half right."

"The Gu family has indeed laid a trap. But this trap may not necessarily have been set by them proactively."

The Sovereign's voice carried a wisdom that seemed to see through everything.

"If they were truly powerful enough to casually wipe out our probe, why bother concealing the aura of the [Myriad Realms Heart Seal]? Such behavior in itself is full of contradictions."

"I am more inclined to believe that within their ancestral land, there exists some ancient, dormant 'protective mechanism' that is triggered passively. It is even possible that the current members of the Gu family themselves cannot fully control it."

"They are like an infant holding a peerless divine weapon. The divine weapon is formidable, but the infant remains an infant."

"The disappearance of the probe merely proves their weakness. They are already powerless to control the overall situation and can only rely on the relics left by their ancestors to make a pathetic last gasp!"

The Sovereign's analysis was like a beam of light, dispelling the fear in the commanders' hearts, replacing it with an even more intense greed.

That's right!