Chapter 243. Understanding Devour

"This is also one of your major issues. You are thinking of developing your Devouring Law from this universe’s laws, but the Law of Devouring is far beyond what this universe could perceive for now. And this is something that has to go beyond the universal laws itself."

The two consciousnesses remained silent.

"My path of Devouring is basically considered as a negative factor for the entire Chaos, and this is the reason why I simply chose one place to reside."

Both Jin and his other consciousness were confused.

They were trying to understand what their grandfather meant, but another unfamiliar word caught their attention.

Chaos.

They did not know what this Chaos was.

They did not know why the power of Devouring was considered a negative factor for it.

There were many questions in their minds, but the Snake phantom did not bother explaining them.

Instead, he continued with the matter that Jin had originally come to ask about.

"Since you are focusing on your law, just let it guide you, not you guide it, or make a path for it."

Jin’s consciousness became completely focused.

"Your Devouring Law is not something that should be done by that. You simply have to let it take the lead."

The old voice carried an unusual seriousness.

"It will not let you go in the wrong direction."

The serpent paused for a moment before continuing.

"And when you finally find that you have got the direction, it will be the time for it to follow you, not you to follow it."

Jin remained motionless.

His other consciousness was also silent.

Both of them were carefully processing every word they had just heard.

The old serpent looked at them and finally spoke.

"Now go and comprehend what I just said."

The consciousness space became quiet.

Jin and his other consciousness remained there, both falling into deep thought as they tried to understand the meaning behind their grandfather’s words.

For the first time, Jin began to wonder whether he had been approaching his Devouring Law from the wrong direction all along.

He did not immediately try to form an answer.

He simply remained silent, allowing those words to settle deeply within his consciousness.

The old voice did not disturb them.

After giving his final words, the phantom of the Snake remained quietly within the consciousness space, allowing Jin and his other consciousness to think about everything he had just said. Neither of the two consciousnesses spoke anymore. They simply stood there, sinking deeper into their own thoughts as they tried to understand the meaning behind their grandfather’s words.

There was no need to rush.

And now, Jin had to find that direction himself.

Outside Jin’s physical body, slight cracks began to appear in the surrounding space.

They were extremely subtle at first.

The space around Jin trembled faintly, and tiny cracks appeared before disappearing again. Then another crack formed somewhere nearby. The changes were not violent, but they were enough for Aion, who was sitting nearby, to notice them immediately.

Aion’s eyes narrowed slightly as he looked toward Jin.

"Oh, they are already taking such a step," Aion muttered to himself.

He did not dare to disturb them.

Instead, Aion raised his hand and released his spiritual energy. The energy spread around Jin’s body and formed a barrier, completely surrounding the area where Jin was sitting. The purpose was simple. He did not want anyone or anything to disturb Jin while he was in this state.

Once the barrier was formed, Aion settled down nearby and continued watching Jin.

At that moment, a voice suddenly appeared inside his head.

"Don’t you feel ashamed for selecting such a young fellow? At least look at your age. You are more than eons older than his father."

Aion immediately snorted.

He recognized the voice.

There was no need for the other person to appear physically for him to know exactly who it was.

"But it is an old man like you know," Aion replied in a positive manner. His expression remained calm as he looked toward Jin. "Do you think I don’t know the true origin of your descendants?"

The voice inside his head immediately became silent.

Aion waited for a moment.

Nothing came.

A faint smile appeared on his face.

After some time, Aion continued, his voice carrying a little more seriousness than before.

"Don’t worry. Even I never thought that I would fall for such a guy. Well, I can simply say that it was fate for me to be selected by him."

He looked at Jin again.

"And don’t worry. No matter what, I’m going to do my best to be the best husband among everyone, if possible. And no one can compare to me."

There was clear possessiveness in his voice.

There was also jealousy.

It was impossible for Aion to hide either of them when speaking about Jin.

The voice inside his head remained silent for a while.

Then an endless sigh appeared within the room.

"Do whatever you want, but don’t break my child’s heart."

The voice became heavier.

"If something happens to him, it’s better for you to recover by that, because the consequences might not be something that you would like to face."

The warning was unmistakable.

Aion did not answer.

The voice faded away, and the room once again returned to silence.

Aion simply looked at Jin.

He did not say anything more.

...

Inside Jin’s consciousness, however, another world had already begun to unfold.

Darkness.

That was the first thing Jin could perceive.

He looked around himself, but all he could see was darkness stretching endlessly in every direction. There was no clear ground beneath him, no sky above him, and no visible boundary anywhere around him.

Jin did not know where he was.

But he did not bother trying to find out.

He could feel something.

The darkness was swallowing him.

It was not merely surrounding his consciousness. It was slowly devouring his existence itself. Jin could feel his consciousness being pulled deeper into the darkness, as though there was an enormous force that wanted to completely consume him.

Under normal circumstances, such a situation would have caused anyone to panic.

Jin remembered what his grandfather had told him.

Let it guide you.

So he did not resist.

He simply allowed the Devouring to continue.

The darkness swallowed him little by little.

His consciousness began disappearing.

His existence began fading.

For a brief moment, Jin panicked.

It was an instinctive reaction. Even though he understood that he needed to let the Devouring continue, feeling his own existence disappear was something that could not be treated casually. His thoughts became unstable for a moment, and he could feel himself losing control.

But that panic lasted only for a moment.

Jin calmed down.

He stopped resisting.

He allowed himself to be completely swallowed by the darkness.

Then something changed.

His senses suddenly began spreading.

They extended farther and farther through the blackness, reaching places that Jin had never been able to perceive before. The darkness that had seemed completely empty was no longer empty to him.

He could sense something.

A law.

A law that did not exist within the universe.

Jin’s consciousness trembled.

He could perceive something that was not part of the laws he had known until now. It was not a law that existed somewhere in the universe waiting for him to comprehend it. It was something completely outside the laws of the universe he understood.

His consciousness and thoughts rippled through the blackness.

What is this place?

There was no answer.

But Jin continued perceiving.

The more he allowed the Devouring to continue, the more clearly he could sense the strange existence around him. He did not try to control it. He did not try to force it into a shape that he understood.

He simply allowed himself to experience it.

The darkness continued to surround him.

Then, slowly, Jin felt his consciousness beginning to gather again.

The scattered fragments of his consciousness started moving toward one another. What had disappeared began returning, and what had been swallowed slowly began taking form.

A projection appeared within the black space.

It was Jin.

His consciousness had once again formed a complete shape.

This time, however, surprise could clearly be seen in his eyes.

He looked at himself.

There was a strange sensation within him, something that he had never experienced before. He could not immediately explain what it was, but he could feel that something had changed.

The sensation remained for a moment.

Then it slowly disappeared.

Jin continued standing there in silence, trying to understand what had happened.

But before he could think any further, his consciousness suddenly returned.

His eyes slowly opened.

Jin found himself back inside the room on the sixth floor of the Pagoda of Hope.

The darkness was gone.

Aion was sitting nearby, looking directly at him.

Jin blinked once.

Then he looked around.

Everything appeared normal.

The voice that had been guiding him inside his consciousness was also gone.

Only then did Jin realize that he might have been meditating for quite a long time.

He turned toward Aion.

"How much time has passed?"

Aion looked at him and smiled mysteriously.

"It’s already been one year, honey."

Jin froze.

"One year?"

Aion nodded.

"And I have been protecting you."

He looked at Jin with a smile that became slightly more myschevious.

"Don’t you think that you should give me a reward for that?"

Jin was stunned.

He had expected that some time might have passed, but he had not expected an entire year to have gone by.

Before he could say anything, however, something inside him suddenly caught his attention.

His expression changed.

He could feel the difference.

There was something within his body and consciousness that had not been there before.

Jin immediately focused his attention inward.

It felt deeper.

He had allowed the Devouring to swallow him completely, and rather than disappearing forever, his consciousness had returned. Something had emerged from that process, something he had never understood before.

Jin remained silent as he continued examining himself.

Aion watched him without interrupting.