Chapter 1209 - 522: I Choose... 2

He stood at the bow of the ship, black hair flowing wildly, and the scene within his eyes was terrifying. In his left eye, chaos surged; in his right, deathly ash settled. Deep within his pupils, the azure divination source belonging to the Xuan Tian civilization, which had just been devoured, was transforming into billions of streams of light, frantically deducing!

His "Causality Observation" was driven to the extreme at this moment!

In his vision, the massive Prison Suppression claw that was pursuing them, with the strands of causality entwined upon it, was a pure, blood-red representation of "termination" and "execution". It had no self, no emotion; it was the execution hand of the massive machine known as the "tomb", the most loyal extension of the Celestial Order’s will.

And that ancient tree of light had a complexity in its causality that even Xu Ran found shocking.

Its trunk was an ancient gold causality line, impossible to trace back to its origin, filled with the aura of "primal" and "beginning". Yet this golden line was tightly entangled by countless silver chains representing the Celestial Order, each chain representing the suppression and imprisonment of an era.

What shook him even more was the countless roots of the tree, transformed into myriad fine causality threads, connecting to every piece of civilization wreckage in this "tomb"! It was both prisoner and Prison Guard! It and the gigantic claw of Prison Suppression were two sides of the same coin, forming the core of this era’s prison cage!

"The ’key’ is not yet complete, you... cannot leave."

The ancient sigh sounded once more.

Xu Ran abruptly raised his head, his gaze fixed firmly on the ancient tree of light, and he asked word by word, "What is the ’key’?"

He did not ask who you are, nor where this is. On the edge of life and death, he asked the most crucial question!

The ancient tree of light seemed to not have anticipated that a being forced into desperation would still have such a mindset. It remained silent for a moment, the light between its branches and leaves flickering slightly.

"With eras as firewood, civilizations as charcoal, ignite the fire of ten thousand paths, refine the supreme fruit... This is the wish of the Celestial Order."

"However, when the firewood is exhausted, the flame extinguishes, the fruit is hard to form. Lacking an ’ignition’ that can encompass ten thousand paths, reverse life and death, and create a beginning amidst the end... this is the ’key’."

The voice of the ancient tree, devoid of any emotion, struck Xu Ran’s heart like a heavy hammer!

He understood instantly!

This so-called "tomb" was by no means a mere dump site, but rather an unimaginably gigantic... alchemical furnace!

The Celestial Order, after harvesting countless eras, discarded the most refined Dao Principles remnants of these civilizations into this furnace, attempting to refine a legendary "supreme Dao Fruit"!

And the Adjudicator was the herbal apprentice in charge of harvesting materials! Prison Suppression was the Puppet guarding the furnace fire!

But this furnace had burned for countless eras, yet it never succeeded. Because it lacked the most critical ingredient!

An ignition capable of perfectly merging all contrasting and complementary civilization grand paths and fostering "rebirth" from "destruction"!

This ignition was "Reincarnation"!

And Xu Ran, this variable who had cultivated the path of Reincarnation, when he stepped into this place and displayed his power of the Daoist Monarch, was as if he willingly delivered the elusive ignition into the furnace!

"So, you want to refine me to complete the Celestial Order’s ’supreme Dao Fruit’?" Xu Ran’s voice grew cold, and the Reincarnation Dao Seal behind his head slowly rotated, exuding an aura that defied everything.

"No." The ancient tree swayed gently, light flowing, "The path of the Celestial Order has deviated. It seeks ’fruit’, an absolute control and singular result. But what I see is ’key’, infinite possibilities and a brand new beginning."

"I am the ’spirit’ of this furnace, also the first ’firewood’ of this furnace. I have witnessed the rise and fall of too many civilizations, seen too many extraordinarily talented ones, ultimately becoming just wisps of smoke inside the furnace."

"Your ’Reincarnation’ is the only variable in numerous eras. But... your path is too weak."

For the first time, there was a trace of emotion in the voice of the ancient tree, and that was... regret.

"Your Reincarnation only grasps life and demise, without seeing the end. Your Dao Domain is incomplete, its logic not firm. You are merely the embryo of the ’key’, a fragile key that breaks at the slightest pressure. To release you now would have you instantly obliterated by the Celestial Order, along with this one and only hope, utterly severing."

"So, you stopped me just to tell me I’m doomed?" Xu Ran laughed, and within that smile was a defiant madness.

"No." The ancient tree’s voice became solemn and grave, "I am to give you a... choice."

Rumble ——

The Prison Suppression claw behind was now near, its world-destroying pressure causing the hull of Pioneer to let out a piercing wail, with the rune armor on the surface of the hull peeling and disintegrating in large patches!

"My lord! I can’t hold it!" Cang Shi roared, having accelerated the energy core of Pioneer to the brink of explosion.

Yet Xu Ran seemed oblivious, his entire Heart Spirit focused on the ancient tree of light.

"What choice?"

"Choice one," a scene emerged on the branches and leaves of the ancient tree. It showed Xu Ran piloting Pioneer, breaking through the cosmic rift, returning to a broader star sea. But in the next moment, a silver cross a thousand times stronger than Adjudicator γ-7 descended from the heavens, without struggle or resistance, and both Pioneer and Xu Ran vanished into void instantly. "I could open a safe passage for you to leave this place. But your causality has been anchored by the Celestial Order. Within three days, a higher existence from the Celestial Order will come to eliminate you. With your current strength, there’s no survival."

"Choice two," the scene on the branches of the ancient tree changed again, showing the Prison Suppression claw crashing down, only to be blocked by a gentle light. Subsequently, the entire Metal Tomb began to violently contract and collapse, forming a singularity of energy, and Xu Ran stood at its center. "Stay here, enter the core of the furnace. Use the entire ’Civilization Tomb’ as your grindstone, take ’Prison Suppression’ as your opponent, use the ten thousand Dao remnants as your resources... Either you will be blown apart by this torrent of ten thousand paths, your Divine Soul annihilated, becoming a new pinch of ash in this furnace. Or..."

The ancient tree paused, its light shone brilliantly, its voice filled with an unprecedented anticipation.

"...you will forge your ’Reincarnation Dao’ into the true, complete, a key powerful enough to carry ten thousand paths and reverse the heavens... the supreme key!"

"By that time, you will no longer be a fugitive, but... a breaker of the game!"

Silence.

On the bridge, Zhen Shan, Cang Shi, and the others all heard these words, each experiencing shock in their hearts, standing dumbstruck.

A chance at life was actually death.

A certain death had a sliver of hope.

What kind of choice was this? This was simply a dead end!

Enter the core of the furnace? Take Prison Suppression as an opponent? That was a terrifying existence capable of easily crushing even the Daoist Monarch! Use ten thousand Dao remnants as resource? One wrong move and one would be pushed to the brink of collapse by conflicting Alien Dao Principles, obliterated in both form and spirit!

This wasn’t one life from nine deaths one survives by a hair’s breadth!

Yet Xu Ran’s response took everyone by surprise.

He didn’t hesitate at all, even showing a fervent smile on his face.

"Hahahaha... magnificent! A splendid alchemical furnace! A magnificent breaker of the game!"

"I, Xu Ran, have been walking an against-the-heavens path since the beginning of my Cultivation! Fearing the wolf ahead, dreading the tiger behind, if I cower and falter, why Cultivate Reincarnation, why defy the Celestial Order!"

"If the Celestial Order wants to use me as an ignition, I’ll overturn its furnace!"

"If you want me to be the key, I’ll take control of the lock as well!"

His heroic and lofty ambition turned into a surging wave of sound, resonating through this deathly silent Star Domain. That unstoppable, undaunted will even made the oppressive presence of the Prison Suppression claw stall briefly!

"I choose two!"