The inherent unpredictability in the Chaos Mote struggled against being controlled , but a flood of the Branches of Pale Seal and Kalpataru rapidly bound it to Zac’s chariot . To ensure nothing went wrong , he also activated his bloodline to form a protective layer of Void Energy around the mote .
The Chaos Mote furiously resisted the foreign insights , but its energy was limited while Zac’s soul was overloaded with borrowed strength . Eventually , it shuddered and split apart , like a cell undergoing mitosis . The two forces radiated the unmistakable aura of Oblivion and Creation , then the attunement shifted again . Left were the Daos of Life and Death .
You could argue that he’d ruined the magical nature of the Chaos Mote . After all , it was easy to split a Grand Dao into its lower components but almost impossible to take it the other way . That was doubly true for a broken peak like Chaos . The motes were just like the Primal Dao back in the Twilight Ocean , which likely was why the System was so impatient to get the glimpses . Wait too long , and the ambient Dao would sully their truths .
Still , the two little swirls of incredibly condensed truths contained something crucial , something that put it at the same level as the Supreme treasures he’d prepared for today—potential . It was an energy that once existed as the Terminus of two of his Daos . That meant something , even when devolved into Life and Death .
You could see it from the simple fact that the two clouds of energy didn’t act like what you’d normally see when bringing the Daos of Life and Death together . They calmly floated into the Duplicity Core’s hatch . A small storm already raged inside from his opposing Daos . Life clashed with Death , urged on by the Branch of the War Axe .
That all stopped when the refined Chaos Mote entered the Hollow Core] . The energies mixed , and the violent eruptions were quelled . Not even the Dao of Conflict could trigger the two Daos that snuggled together in an unnatural embrace .
The world lit up as a bolt of lightning struck the ground in front of Zac , but he ignored it . The System could wait a bit longer . Zac kept the Glimpse of Chaos close to his chest as he extracted a third mote . It was refined and pushed into his hatch , further stabilizing the situation .
A fourth mote soon followed , but the fifth would have to be the last . It was a matter of balance . Just forming the glimpse left him in a bad way . Every mote extracted was like a hurricane unleashed in his body , compounding the damage . A little bit of mutilation was fine in the pursuit of benefits , but he had to be in a condition to follow up with the actual Core Formation .
Thank you , - Zac said , finally releasing the Glimpse of Chaos .
It floated away from him , showering the peak in the superlative truths of Chaos . The mountain rumbled , and the Dao of Samsara groaned as it unraveled . Samsara was a path of rules , creating an ecosystem of Life and Death governed by the laws of Karma and Order . Chaos was its antithesis , and its influence was like a rapidly spreading poison .
The sky shuddered as the ghost temples fought back . Dharmic hymns tried to impose their will on the peak , but all were forced into stillness as a golden pillar of lightning slammed into the glimpse . The System didn’t care about the struggle for the meaning of Life and Death . It only cared about the insights within the glimpse . Zac looked on , trying to memorize some aspects for himself .
But his comprehension grew blurry and distant as the System absorbed the glimpse . Zac had known this would happen , so he wasn’t disappointed . Who knew? The comprehension might have left a mark on his mind even if it wasn’t clear right now . Just like the two motes inside the Hollow Core] .
The process only lasted a few seconds before the glimpse was gone . Clouds dispersed , with the System uninterested in staying behind to observe what came next . Without the pressure , the tremors returned , and Zac snorted as one ghost temple after another around him crumbled . The Dao of Chaos had flooded the peak before being refined by the System’s cleansing lightning .
The Sangha’s connection to this abandoned peak deep in the Perennial Vastness had already been tenuous , and this was enough to forcibly sever Karma . The Dao of Samsara collapsed and split into its base components . The transformation wasn’t an integral part of Zac’s plans , only a small bonus . A safeguard to ensure no Dharmic loopholes snuck into his Cosmic Core , and it would hopefully let his mansion extract a bit more energy .
A small shockwave from within made Zac groan and turn to the situation within the Duplicity Core . The energies were still playing nice , but he ultimately pushed a whole lot of energy into a cramped space . Even if the mutual hostility between Life and Death had been temporarily resolved , some commotion was to be expected .
Furthermore , this fragile harmony was just a temporary truce . The transformed motes were unstable and couldn’t remain in their current state for long . It was just a matter of time before they decayed , until they were no different from his own Daos . Before that happened , he needed to have set his foundation .
The whole reason he took the risk of incorporating the Remnants in his Core Formation was to create this window of opportunity . He’d tried perfecting the plan for years , but there was a huge problem that couldn’t be solved without taking some risks . The very first step of his Core Formation , where he’d fuse the Supreme treasures into a nucleus , was filled with risk and uncertainty .
Getting past that first hurdle meant he’d have a stable foundation to build upon . From there , it’d be fine if the core was temporarily unbalanced as he added one layer of energy after another . The nucleus would keep the ship afloat until he remedied the issues and stabilized the core .
That’s where the Chaos Mote came in . Utilizing the Dao of Chaos this way wasn’t enough to permanently fuse Life and Death . Someone would already have formed a Life-Death core if that were the case—for example , the Undead Empire . There was no way they couldn’t source a little bit of Chaos if they put their mind to it .
The Peak of Chaos was still broken , and a core like that would fall apart before it was created . But the refined motes were enough to temporarily calm the Daos of Life and Death until he could permanently solve their incompatibility with the Void .
Zac turned toward his manor , which was already drawing torrential amounts of energy into its domain . The energy was so dense that the air twisted , and its attunement felt so familiar that it could just as well have been his own . The power of the fourteenth-echelon was already proving its worth . The scene was set , and everything was in place .
Now , it was time to see if he could pull off a miracle .
76
FATED
Kruta ripped his sword out of the hunter’s chest , the jerking motion making him grunt with pain . The man’s eyes were still filled with fire and desperation as his corpse joined the others on the ground . Two were already burning from the heat rising from below . Kruta shook his head , briefly wondering if these souls would enter the lands like his ancestors did . For their sake , he hoped not .
Embers and ash filled the sky , casting the world in darkness . A few streaks of light falling from above were the only source of light . Deadly meteors that would incinerate everything where they landed . A few far off shouts indicated the others weren’t far away . He needed to get going .
The festering wounds had reopened from the struggle , and he was running dangerously low on Cosmic Energy . Flying would have been impossible even if the ability hadn’t been sealed , and urging his harried legs into a run was like trying to get an elderly Greenox to move . But a wall of deeper black rose toward the sky , and the flatlands had given way to a steep incline . He was almost there .
Kruta stuffed more of the acrid roots that’d kept him alive and tormented for so long into his mouth . He extracted what little spirituality they had left as he willed his feet to keep moving . His vision was distorted from the toxins , but his extended abuse had at least given him partial immunity . The dead attackers were soon left behind and forgotten , replaced by the constant worry that had filled him since being spat out in this hellscape .