Chapter 84 – Contingency Plan

“…” Qin Shu looked at Kong Haoming lying unconscious on the ground and realized that he had somehow won without even getting the chance to persuade his opponent to stand down.

He had originally planned to convince Kong Haoming to join their side through reason, never expecting that he and Bai Ze would be completely unnecessary, and that they would win by default.

Qin Shu could only squat beside the unconscious Kong Haoming and lament, “Why do you put yourself through this? And why betray humanity?”

Azure Dragon, who had witnessed the changes in the Yun family, said indifferently, “It all comes down to power, longevity, the feeling that what they receive doesn’t match what they give, a desire for more authority and wealth, and losing their true self under power’s influence.”

“You’re right,” Qin Shu sighed deeply.

Spiritbond Masters were indeed powerful, but they knew deep down that this power wasn’t something they had earned themselves, but rather something they borrowed.

This power beyond the norm made Spiritbond Masters’ egos swell; the fact that it wasn’t their own power made them fear losing it. The responsibilities brought about by power and the reduced lifespan caused an imbalance within them.

Not everyone had the mental fortitude to handle such superhuman power, requiring an extremely firm faith and belief.

This kind of belief was present in Li Zheng, Yun Xiguang, and Qin Shu. It was once there in Kong Haoming, Gu Shoulu, Hai Ruobo, and the Yun family, but over time, they lost sight of their true selves.

“In fact, humans shouldn’t possess this kind of power. If someone gains extraordinary strength, it should be through cultivation, genetic evolution, and other factors, obtaining their own power, not borrowing it from others.” Sitting on the ground, Qin Shu didn’t know if he was speaking to Kong Haoming or just to himself.

Bai Ze and Azure Dragon couldn’t empathize with human emotions, as they were busy looking for Yun Xiguang.

Yun Xiguang fell from the sky, enveloped by a fire cloud. This fire cloud was capable of devouring the fire of the Zhulong, so Azure Dragon and Bai Ze didn’t dare approach.

Until Yun Xiguang’s weak voice came from within the fire cloud: “Senior Bai Ze, can you help me find where the Beast Codex is? Chi Qiong has been sealed inside the Beast Codex by Azure Dragon, I need to save him!”

Only then did Bai Ze and Azure Dragon dare to approach the fire cloud. They saw that Yun Xiguang’s face was pale, his eyes sunken, as if his vitality had been drained. Clearly, the battle with the Zhulong had left him exhausted and unable to fight any further.

Bai Ze looked up at the sky and saw that the Zhulong was still alive, but only half of its body remained and unable to maintain a stable form.

Azure Dragon exclaimed, “The Zhulong doesn’t look like a spirit beast at all, it seems more like a demon beast.”

Yun Xiguang briefly explained his battle with the Zhulong: “I used the fire of rules to reclaim the Zhuzhao power within the Zhulong, but it hasn’t completely dissipated.”

“In that case, the other half must be the power of the Sacred Spirit Youying,” Bai Ze said. “Turns out that the Zhulong possessed the powers of two sacred spirits simultaneously. The Zhuzhao and Youying forces formed a perfect dual instrument cycle within it. No wonder it could control seasons and the sun and moon, possessing the power to manipulate time. Now that the Zhuzhao force has disappeared, only the Youying power remains, its body is out of balance and will soon be consumed by the Youying power.”

“What will it become?” asked Azure Dragon.

Bai Ze thought for a moment and said, “Perhaps, it will disappear. Its power will be reabsorbed by Youying. Its body will completely collapse, leaving only a skeleton buried in the earth. I think, Xiguang, you don’t have to rush. After a while, when the Zhulong’s body completely collapses, the Beast Codex will fall along with its bones. Do you know how to lift the seal on the Beast Codex?”

Yun Xiguang replied, “As long as I smear my blood on the page that seals Chi Qiong, the power of the contract should be enough to awaken him. But I can’t shake off this unease, is it really that simple?”

Bai Ze said, “Let me try to calculate it again.”

Ever since the battle escalated to the level of sacred spirits, Bai Ze’s ability to predict had been useless.

Closing its eyes in despair, it attempted to silently calculate, but suddenly spewed out a stream of blood and collapsed onto the ground, its hooves twitching.

Azure Dragon hurriedly supported Bai Ze and asked, “What happened? Wasn’t it just calculating the whereabouts of the Beast Codex? Why would it backfire to this extent?”

Bai Ze couldn’t speak. Its hoof twitched twice, laboriously drawing a semicircle on the ground.

Looking at the semicircle, Yun Xiguang combined it with his ongoing doubts about the Beast Codex and finally understood the origin of the Beast Codex.

It was the power of Youying!

Just as the Law could take advantage of Chi Qiong’s slumber to split his spiritual energy into nine parts, it could similarly utilize the power of Youying.

The Law’s plan to destroy the world was related to the birth of spirit beasts.

From the moment spirit beasts were born, it could use them to control the powers of the two sacred spirits.

The power of Youying was inherently the opposite of spirit beasts. It emerged from death, and it also served as a counterbalance to the power of spirit beasts. As long as spirit beasts awakened and demon beasts weren’t present in the world, according to the principle of everything being complementary and conflicting, Youying would inevitably counterbalance the spirit beasts in another form. The Law took advantage of this point, transforming the power of Youying into the Beast Codex, and used it to bind spirit beasts.

In the “illusionary reality” Yun Xiguang saw that day, the black vortex was actually the reflection of Youying’s true form by the Beast Codex.

There had always been a place for Chi Qiong in the Beast Codex.

The Law transformed the power of Zhuzhao into nine strands of destructive spiritual energy and dispersed them around the world. It also transformed the power of Youying into the Beast Codex, essentially waiting for the complete Chi Qiong to enter the Beast Codex!

Once Chi Qiong, with his full power, entered the Beast Codex, he and Youying, two opposing forces, would inevitably begin to cancel each other out, returning all power to chaos.

Yun Xiguang had no way of knowing the Law’s entire plan, but he knew that this was a double insurance policy.

It split the spiritual energy to destroy the world; but it also wanted to prevent Zhuzhao from awakening and interfering with the destruction. So it prepared a second plan, the Beast Codex.

If Zhuzhao didn’t follow the plan of falling asleep, but instead awakened and reclaimed its power, the Law would send the Zhulong to bring out the Beast Codex, forcibly merging Zhuzhao and Youying, allowing this power to sweep across the entire world and return everything to chaos.

But Yun Xiguang guessed that this method was definitely the last resort, the one the Law least wanted to use.

As for why it didn’t want to use it, perhaps it was because the damage caused by this method was too great. It would overturn the entire world in an instant, without giving any time for adjustment, potentially hurting the Law itself as well.

The Law was an objective existence, one that wouldn’t die. It was like a computer, running programs continuously.

However, the Law had data, the bits and pieces left behind by the world over billions of years, and countless data modifications.

These were crucial for a program.

The Law wanted to restart the world, but if there was no data from the previous cycle, the new world might make the same mistakes, rendering the restart meaningless.

The Law didn’t want the Zhuzhao and Youying powers to merge, not only cleansing the entire world but also cleansing its data.

Therefore, this was the last resort.

And now, the actions of Yun Xiguang and the others had forced the Law to resort to this final means.

Chi Qiong entering the Beast Codex twice in a powerless state was precisely the luckiest outcome!

Realizing this, Yun Xiguang struggled to get up. He needed to retrieve the Beast Codex, release Chi Qiong, and tell him about what he had just discovered.

But after battling the Zhulong, his body appeared unscathed on the surface. However, under the repeated alternation between seventy degrees above zero and minus one hundred degrees, his immune system couldn’t adapt to the sudden temperature changes. His body’s balance had been disrupted. If he didn’t receive effective treatment soon, Yun Xiguang’s body would become like a sieve, unable to contain any power or retain any vitality, slowly decaying to death.

Bai Ze and Qin Shu were incapacitated by the backlash of the Youying power, and Yun Xiguang was so weak he couldn’t even raise a finger. The only one able to move on the scene was Azure Dragon.

Azure Dragon wanted to find Li Zheng and have him bring healers to treat everyone’s injuries, but the Zhulong hadn’t died yet. It could severely injure everyone at any moment. Azure Dragon was the only one capable of protecting everyone, so it couldn’t leave.

Yun Xiguang tried to contact Li Zheng with his communicator, but naturally, there was no signal in this domain, and his message couldn’t be sent.

Just as Azure Dragon was torn between choices, a golden figure arrived at supersonic speed by Yun Xiguang’s side, landing in front of him.

Upon closer inspection, it was Li Zheng!

Li Zheng had merged with the Golden-Winged Great Peng, transforming into a bird-human form. Carrying the vice-principal of Zhuzhao Academy, Ning Shan, the strongest healer in the entire Spiritbond World, he arrived at supersonic speed.

“…” Yun Xiguang’s eyes brightened.

Li Zheng gave a concise explanation: “We encountered an attack from Gu Shoulu. The Crimson Chi helped us deal with Gu Shoulu. I felt that you guys might be in danger, so Ning Shan and I came.”

With all three Heaven-grade Spiritbond Masters having lost their combat capabilities, Li Zheng was currently the strongest fighting force among humans, and Ning Shan was the strongest healer. Despite only two people arriving, these two were exactly who Yun Xiguang needed most at the moment!

Seeing Bai Ze, Qin Shu, and Yun Xiguang in their sorry state, Ning Shan ignored the fact that his hair had been blown into a whirlpool by the supersonic speed. He climbed off Li Zheng’s back, placed his hand on Yun Xiguang first, and began healing him with his power.

A faint white light enveloped Yun Xiguang and gradually restored his strength.

Once he regained the ability to use the fire of rules, Yun Xiguang immediately stood up and said, “President Ning, please go treat Bai Ze and President Qin first. I can fight now.”

Ning Shan replied, “You can barely move, you’re not fully recovered. Once you’re done with your task, come here for treatment immediately, otherwise, your lifespan will decrease.”

Yun Xiguang casually acknowledged his advice and spread his fire wings, flying into the sky.

He wrapped himself in the fire of rules and rushed into the nearly shattered body of the Zhulong.

He needed to find the Beast Codex and rescue Chi Qiong.

At this moment, he was the only one who could approach the Zhulong without fear of the Youying power.

Fortunately, at this time, the Zhulong could no longer control the Youying power and lacked the ability to attack Yun Xiguang. Yun Xiguang flew through the air, recalling the position of the Zhulong’s claws. After several searches, he finally found the Beast Codex.

He snatched the Beast Codex and landed steadily on the ground, away from the Youying power in the air, then opened the Beast Codex.

The first page of the Beast Codex was Chi Qiong, but at this moment, Chi Qiong was no longer in the form of a chick, but a giant firebird spreading its wings. Beside him was a line of text that read —

Name: Sacred Spirit Zhuzhao

Identity: Eye of Pangu, Ancestor of All Spirits

Ability: Source of All Fires

Preferences: Yun Xiguang