Overdraw the future and become a peerless martial god

Chapter 168 God-Locking Seal

"...Are you awake?"

Chu Ning asked the question almost silently within his sea of ​​consciousness.

The sound was as soft as falling snowflakes, landing on the edge of the night. But at that moment, it stirred an echo colder than the wind.

A bone-chilling cold, like a biting gale, swept in from the deepest part of his consciousness, as if a seal was being slowly pried open by some ancient will.

The vortex slowly rotated.

In the abyss of darkness, a blurry figure slowly opened its eyes. Those pupils were devoid of joy or sorrow, eerily still, like a slumbering corpse god from ancient times, suddenly turning its head in the torrent of time.

Chu Ning's heart tightened, and she almost held her breath.

—It is responding.

—It is awakening.

Swallowing the Abyss.

Chu Ning knew he had always been there.

That was the secret of the "second gate of the soul" in his sea of ​​consciousness after his soul broke through to the Returning Origin Realm.

Ordinary people have only one gate to their consciousness; but for some reason, he developed a second one from that day onwards.

Even more bizarrely, when he devoured the soul of the Netherthroat God during the Icefield Battle, that terrifying consciousness silently sank into the second soul gate and sealed itself into slumber.

It was as if all of this had been planned in advance.

Today, the Ape Lord has become a god, and the world has changed color. The strange fluctuations caused by the "Demigod Coffin Seal" have also shaken this Soul Gate, pulling the Devouring Abyss out of its silent slumber.

"boom--"

A sudden thunderclap erupted in his mind, followed by a deep roar, like an ancient thunder beast tearing through the sky.

Chu Ning's face turned pale, veins bulged on his forehead, and he almost knelt down.

—"Swallow...Abyss?"

He almost roared through gritted teeth, his soul trembling violently, and all he could hear was the deafening roar of thunder.

He saw it.

Deep within the sea of ​​consciousness, a colossal shadow, its entire body covered in black scales and surging with lightning flames, was breaking free from the vortex.

He slowly opened his eyes, as if in a dream or awake, as if a beast or a god, his huge eyes staring at him unfocused.

There was still no humanity in those eyes.

He does not belong to "Chu Ning".

He doesn't belong to "this world" either.

That's... something much older.

Chu Ning's heart sank little by little.

He sensed that Devouring Abyss was more powerful and harder to control than before. Since devouring the soul of the Netherthroat God, its aura had undergone a qualitative change—becoming more bizarre and indescribable.

He wasn't even sure... if he could still suppress it.

He gripped the Snowbreaker knife tightly, his knuckles turning white, and a crazy idea surfaced in his mind.

—If the Devouring Abyss really wants to turn against me, I... will risk burning my body and soul rather than let it be reborn in my body.

“If you are still a monster,” he murmured, “then I will be buried here with you.”

The sea of ​​consciousness roared with wind and thunder, and illusions surged like a tide. Chu Ning stood in the deepest part of that dark spiritual sea, as if across eternity, and saw a shadow.

It was an ancient and eerie soul shadow that slowly emerged from the sea of ​​lightning.

He was half human and half scaled, with bone spikes and lightning horns growing from his spine. His body was as huge as a mountain, with six blood bones on his back that resembled wings, and his whole body was shrouded in intense abyssal lightning flames.

His pupils were as black as ink, yet occasionally flashed with streaks of lightning, cold and silent, as if they could see through Chu Ning's very essence.

His features were blurred, yet captivating.

That was not the face a human should have, but rather a "will" that devoured everything, an eternal existence like an abyss.

"You..." Chu Ning murmured, her voice trembling slightly in her mind.

“It’s not slumber.” The giant shadow of lightning and flames slowly raised its palm, lightning surging between its finger bones, and said slowly and deliberately, “It’s evolution.”

Chu Ning was stunned, and her breath caught in her throat.

Tun Yuan's deep voice resounded like a bell in his mind: "After you killed Youhou, I devoured his remnant soul and refined it into my soul core. Then, I was stimulated by that trace of 'divinity'... the thought left by Qing Li, and my original blood nature underwent a transformation."

His eyes surged like a raging storm, and though his tone was slow, it carried an indescribable depth:

“I… am breaking free from my original ‘chaotic bestiality’.”

A thunderbolt struck Chu Ning's mind, and his soul trembled: "You're not an evil spirit anymore?"

"Calamities have no inherent name; they are named by the human world because of 'ignorance.'" Tun Yuan smiled faintly. "I am neither a god nor a demon. But I am being shaped by 'will'... perhaps I will become a third kind of being."

"Then why did you awaken at this moment?" Chu Ning asked in a deep voice.

Tun Yuan's pupils contracted, and the lightning in his eyes condensed into a dark point of light. After a moment, he slowly uttered a few words:

"In this world... there are already people who have become gods."

"Bone-Burning Ape Marquis?"

Tun Yuan's eyes flashed, and he said quietly, "I didn't expect it to be that stupid ape."

Chu Ning's lips twitched: "Who are you talking about?"

“Lord Ape.” Tun Yuan’s gaze was indifferent, his voice carrying a hint of mockery. “That stupid ape, mediocre in talent, but incredibly stubborn. What a pity, he had already reached the level of a god, yet he used that one punch to shatter the Heavenly Gate.”

"You... you said it was wrong for him to attack Tianmen?" Chu Ning asked, a sense of unease creeping in.

Tun Yuan nodded slightly, his tone frighteningly calm:

"Yes. He shattered the boundary with the power of a demigod, causing the Heavenly Gate to crack. It seemed heroic, but in reality... he has broken the rules of heaven. You think he is heading towards 'freedom'?"

Chu Ning's heart tightened suddenly.

Tun Yuan said quietly, "His punch did indeed produce the loudest echo in thousands of years of this world. But at the same time—he also exposed himself to the 'thing behind the door'."

Chu Ning murmured, "You mean... the existence after the Heavenly Gate?"

“You’re not too stupid.” Tun Yuan sighed. “If he had been more obedient, stabilized his origin after seizing the god, and then ascended at an auspicious time, he might have been able to successfully cross the ‘Ruins of Nothingness’.”

He changed the subject and gave a cold laugh: "But he insists on becoming a god in the realm and defying the Heavenly Gate. That is not 'ascending to heaven,' but 'disrespecting heaven.'"

Chu Ning gasped: "You mean—he attracted..."

“You don’t need to know what that is yet.” Tun Yuan’s tone was cold and hard as he said in a low voice, “Just remember, behind the Heavenly Gate is not the Pure Land of the Other Shore, but a… abandoned sea.”

"God also tried to cross it, but failed."

"Now, he... is nothing more than a new sacrificial fire."

"This is the price he paid to become a god."

Deep within the sea of ​​consciousness, wind and thunder churned, and the pitch-black sea of ​​the soul surged like ink waves.

The figure of Tun Yuan looked down at Chu Ning from the depths of the thundercloud abyss, the thunder bones on his back trembling slightly, as if each one contained a frenzied power to devour destiny.

Chu Ning stood in the heart of the sea, his face as pale as paper, yet he still stared directly at the towering soul figure.

"Now that you've awakened, then..." His voice was hoarse, yet it carried an unyielding sharpness, "Do you have a way to stop Ape Lord?"

Tun Yuan remained silent for a moment, as if he were watching him, or perhaps mocking him.

"Block it?" He sneered, his voice low and rumbling like thunder. "If you want to survive, there's only one way—let me control your body."

Chu Ning's eyes changed slightly, and his back tensed involuntarily:

"What did you say?"

Tun Yuan slowly stepped out from the lightning flames, each step causing his soul sea to tremble like a bell. "In your current state, you can barely maintain your divine soul from collapsing, yet you want to resist Ape Marquis? You don't even have the strength to make him cough. But if you let me use—the power of a demigod, I might as well give it a try."

"You want me to completely relinquish control of my sea of ​​consciousness? Who knows, you might just swallow me up again like last time." Chu Ning stared at Tun Yuan, his tone calm, yet revealing a hint of sarcasm hidden in his voice.

Tun Yuan chuckled softly, a flash of lightning appearing deep in his pupils, as if he had been piqued by interest.

"Then it's up to you whether you dare to take this gamble."

He approached slowly, his voice growing deeper, like a whisper beneath thunder or a curse from the abyss.

"Your lightning core is destroyed. Now you have almost no power to counter me."

He paused for a moment, the blood flames swirling around his shoulders and sliding down like armor.

"You're right," Chu Ning said slowly, his voice low and hoarse.

"The Thunder Core is destroyed, and I... am indeed powerless to restrain you now."

As he spoke, his knuckles gripping the knife trembled slightly, not out of fear, but as a deep-seated instinctive vigilance that was being desperately suppressed.

Upon hearing this, Tun Yuan's eyes exploded with black lightning, surging like a tide within his pupils.

He slowly raised his hand, pointing to Chu Ning's sea of ​​consciousness, his voice like a thunderbolt striking bones:
"Then open your mind. Let me take control of your body."

Chu Ning did not move, but there was a barely perceptible fluctuation between his brows and eyes.

He suddenly spoke, giving a cold laugh:
"But you also made a mistake."

Tun Yuan paused, then said, "Oh?"

"I have one more card," Chu Ning said, pointing to his heart, the spot where Master Hunyuan had personally placed the seal before his departure.

A faint golden light appeared with his thoughts; though not intense, it was as steady as the heart of a boundary wall.

"The 'lock seal' left to me by Master Hunyuan is still there."

A flash of lightning appeared in Tun Yuan's eyes. After a moment of silence, he chuckled softly.

"Hahahaha... That old codger Hunyuan, he really is a master strategist even in death." Tunyuan laughed wildly, his soul flames flickering violently. "He died, but he's left the burden of this world on your shoulders."

The laughter abruptly stopped, and his voice changed, as if a cold iron wire had suddenly fallen from the thunderclouds.

Do you know how to use that lock?

Chu Ning paused, her brows furrowing slightly: "...I don't know."

Upon hearing this, Tun Yuan's soul froze for a moment, then his laughter grew even fiercer, even carrying a hint of malice:
"You don't even know how to use it? And you dare to threaten me with it?"

Chu Ning gritted his teeth and said in a deep voice:

"Maybe I really don't understand."

"But I know what it is."

Tun Yuan suddenly took a step forward, his giant shadow as imposing as a mountain, causing Chu Ning's soul to tremble slightly.

"You're holding a contract filled with vows and destruction, yet you can't read! You think this is your bargaining chip? You're gambling with your life!"

"I'm not betting on you," Chu Ning said softly, but with unwavering determination. "I'm betting on myself."

“I believe it. Since Hunyuan gave me this seal, he left me with more than just a hot potato.”

“I believe it—it wasn’t to bind you, but to give me a glimmer of hope… to take the initiative in this game.”

"It is trust."

"From the moment Hunyuan entrusted me with the will to guard the gate for a thousand years—I was no longer alone."

Tun Yuan's gaze sharpened, and in the brief silence, a sense of astonishment seemed to flash through his mind.

“…Trust?” he murmured. “Humans are so boring.”

But the next moment, he suddenly stopped smiling, his voice as heavy as an abyss:

"But I'm reminding you, Chu Ning."

"If I really want to devour you—it's only a matter of time."

He leaned down slightly, his voice cold: "Chu Ning, if you release me now, it will be like opening the shackles yourself and handing the knife to the executioner."

"Thank you for helping me." Chu Ning did not back down.

"Help you? Don't get me wrong, I just don't want this world to become a playground for some new god."

Chu Ning slowly closed his eyes, his soul stirring slightly.

He gradually loosened the barriers in his sea of ​​consciousness.

Tun Yuan's blood-red eyes fell silent for a moment. At that moment, he did not speak again, but simply stared at Chu Ning's soul.

Lightning rolled silently.

It was as if, at the bottom of that cold abyss, he saw for the first time a mortal standing dignified and unyielding in the center of the storm, a body of flesh and blood that refused to back down.

After a long silence, he gave a cold laugh, his gaze sharp as lightning: "Then let me out and see—Chu Ning, let's see if you, this 'hope of mortals,' are enough to lock up a true demon."

Chu Ning remained silent for a long time before slowly extending his fingers toward the Soul Gate at his heart.

The thunder in the sea of ​​consciousness suddenly stopped, and all things fell silent.

The oath and the contract are about to be cracked for the first time at this moment.

But the giant, dark-scaled shadow did not pounce.

He simply watched him quietly, as if observing or waiting.

A glimmer of light suddenly appeared in the deathly stillness in his eyes.

It was an extremely faint ripple, like... a faint afterimage of a human figure returning from the depths of divinity.

Chu Ning was stunned.

That's... Qing Li?!

He finally understood that after Qingli left him with the last trace of her divine consciousness, Tunyuan, in his slumber, swallowed that wisp of divinity.

Divinity cannot be devoured. It can only be purified and resonated with.

So perhaps the changes in Devouring Abyss... weren't all just about corruption?

Chu Ning gazed into the depths of those enormous pupils, where a sliver of light slowly rippled outwards, like a tiny star tearing through the night.

The gates of the soul slowly opened.

A new battle is about to begin.

In the next instant, thunder roared and fire surged from the ground.

The Devouring Abyss roared and charged into the deepest part of Chu Ning's sea of ​​consciousness.

Meanwhile, outside, Chu Ning's tightly closed eyes suddenly snapped open at that moment.

But it wasn't his eyes.

Instead, it is the Devourer of the Abyss.

A pair of unfathomable, all-consuming, ink-blood-red eyes.

The wind and snow started again.

But this time, it was no longer the cold snow, but the frost that had been steamed into mist by the blazing blood and fire.

The moment Tun Yuan opened his eyes, the sky above the ice plain suddenly collapsed.

It was as if a rift had been torn open in the entire world, and a "will" from an even deeper abyss was slowly descending, using Chu Ning's body as an anchor point.

He slowly stood up, the snow scorched black by the lightning flames beneath his feet.

The bones emitted a sound of cracking and reshaping, and black and gold scales crawled all over the arms from within the flesh and blood. On the back, a pair of thunder bone phantom wings appeared and disappeared.

His left arm, which had been hanging down, suddenly rose up.

The Broken Snow Blade was now held in the hand of "Swallowing Abyss," its back crackling with black lightning, while a sliver of icy blue flashed across its blade—the last trace of Qing Li's soul power.

"Lord Ape," Tun Yuan said, his voice carrying a distant hollowness, as if a voice had emerged from an ancient well that had stood for millennia.

In the distance, just as Ape Lord was about to completely merge with the divine skull, his body trembled, and he suddenly looked up.

In that instant, his divine instincts issued a warning.

"You are... Chu Ning? No." He narrowed his eyes, and when he saw those pupils, his pupils contracted sharply. "You are not him... you are..."

"Swallowing the Abyss".

Tun Yuan did not respond, but simply raised his hand and lightly slashed with the Broken Snow Blade.

Between heaven and earth, a straight, dark lightning sword mark stretched across the hundred-foot-long ice plain.

"boom!!!"

Before Yuan Hou could even make a move, he was forced back three steps, his demigod status severed from his concentration.

"This is impossible!" he roared. "Even if you obtain the Thunder Body, you can only recover to the first rank of strength!"

"You shouldn't be this strong!"

Tun Yuan's gaze was as deep as an abyss, his tone icy:
"How could you, a stupid ape, possibly know the methods I use to devour the abyss?"

"Back when you were besieging me, weren't you at the forefront? Today, let me experience a few of your tricks."

The next instant, his figure vanished.

"Broken Tide Front".

This move is not Chu Ning's move.

Instead, it was Devouring Abyss, a one-hit annihilation slash technique reconstructed by his will.

Like the ebb tide, like a broken boundary.

The world was like a broken scroll, cleaved by a knife, causing it to collapse three feet.

Ape Lord withstood the blow head-on, his left shoulder shattered, his soul fire trembled, and with a furious roar, he retaliated by striking the air with his fist.

"How can someone with only first-grade strength possibly challenge a demigod like me?!"

Tun Yuan smiled coldly.

"A demigod, but not a god."

"I have come—to devour the gods."

"Bone-Splitting Arc!!"

The Snow-Breaking Blade flipped, drawing a large arc in his hand, tearing apart space along with it.

The Ape Lord's soul power barrier shattered into countless dust particles.

He spat out a mouthful of blood, his face contorted, and retreated ten feet.

"This...is impossible...can your body withstand such a surge of divine soul energy?!"

"This kid is just a mortal, you can't handle him!"

"Don't get distracted, or you'll die from the next strike." Tun Yuan said expressionlessly, then slashed again with his backhand.

"The world is extinguished."

Heaven and earth became silent for a moment.

There was no more wind, no more thunder, only the moment the blade shattered, and time seemed to stand still.

"Boom!!!"

This strike cleaved the waist of the Ape Lord, creating a three-inch deep gash at the point where his remains were stitched together.

The Ape Lord roared, his soul flames surged back, and he forcibly reversed his divine power to protect himself, barely managing to block the attack.

But Tun Yuan had no intention of retreating.

"You shattered the Heavenly Gate, but you don't know who is watching from above it."

He strode forward, each word distinct, with thunder churning behind him, like an otherworldly deity awakening.

And deep within his consciousness.

Chu Ning's consciousness did not completely sink.

He seemed to be suspended in a drop of icy blue light, sensing everything in the outside world through his soul sea.

He saw the divine remains of the Ape Lord cracking, he saw the Devouring Abyss raging, and he saw himself under the blade, becoming the "medium" at the very center of the battlefield.

He murmured to himself:
"You... use my hand to slay a god."

The Abyss echoed: "You used my body to protect people."

For the first time, the two wills were no longer mutually exclusive.

Instead, they overlap.

Before the blood-red thunder had subsided, Ape Lord had already stepped out.

Beneath the tattered sky, crimson-gold soul flames swirled around him, every inch of his skin covered with divine runes and intricate bone crevices—a being in the process of transforming from a human into a "demigod." Beneath the bone fire, he spread his five fingers, and a twisted soul flame mark suddenly appeared in his palm, like a cursed lotus blooming in the abyss of hell.

You think—you can destroy me like this?

Ape Lord smiled sinisterly, and the ice field beneath his feet suddenly shattered, with bone fire rising three hundred feet high, transforming into a colossal statue with a thousand hands.

The statue sculpted from soul flames had a thousand arms like mountains, each arm holding a divine weapon, a soul blade, or a blood talisman.

It stood behind the Ape Lord, as if it were the sinful true form of his divine projection, opening its myriad eyes and roaring like a judgment from hell.

"Get down on your knees!"

The colossus swung its arm with a thunderous roar, its thousand hands moving in unison, soul flames swirling in the sky, lightning twisting and turning, and the entire icy plain seemed to crumble in that instant. Countless soul curses fell from the sky, like chains of hell, descending from the void, heading straight for the Devouring Abyss.

The abyss roared, its bone wings vibrated, and a pair of sky wings made of pitch-black lightning flames suddenly opened, with interwoven lightning patterns like ancient scales from the primordial era, attempting to forcibly tear apart the shackles of the soul curse.

But the next breath.

"boom!!"

The Ape Lord's Thousand-Handed Divine Statue bombarded again, and a soul fire, like a purgatory heavenly punishment, descended from the sky, heavily striking the Devouring Abyss Bone Wing.

"Kakakaka."

The bone wings are cracked.

Scales and feathers exploded and scattered, and the lightning transformed into dissipating celestial feathers and streams of fire, crashing to the ground with a deafening roar.

Chu Ning and Tun Yuan's seas of consciousness trembled, and they both coughed up blood and leaned back. In that instant, they were almost completely suppressed by the soul curse that sealed their original spirits.

“You… are nothing but mortal bones struggling in the ruins.”

As the Ape Lord strode forward, the Soul Flame God statue stood tall behind him, its thousand hands raised in unison, pointing angrily at heaven and earth, as if a god were judging all living beings.

"We can't retreat any further," Chu Ning whispered.

"You want to combine the two?" Tun Yuan sneered, his tone no longer arrogant as before, but carrying a strange...respect?
Chu Ning raised his head, his thunderous eyes burning with determination, "He forged a god with ten thousand souls, then we will break the god with 'blood thunder'."

Tun Yuan was taken aback, then grinned, his smile as cruel and pure as a ferocious beast breaking free of its cage.

"Okay, I'll hold on until the very last moment."

The words have not yet fallen.

Chu Ning closed his eyes, and his Thunder Soul and Demon Soul ignited simultaneously. A will that was a mixture of humanity and demonic nature, guided by "blood" and sharpened by "thunder," instantly converged on the Blade of Broken Snow.

At that moment, two completely contradictory forces suddenly emerged on the Broken Snow Blade:

First, azure lightning, like a dragon, flows along the back of the blade, every inch of which is wrapped with the violent lightning essence of the Devouring Abyss, as if it could shatter the soul; second, dark red bone patterns spread down from the spine of the blade, twisted with the curse of demonic bones and remnant souls, like a strange battle flag fluttering.

"Lend me your strength!" Chu Ning roared, lightning flashing in his eyes. "Sever his core!"

Chu Ning's soul was almost burned out, yet he still kept his eyes open, his eyes filled with unyielding spirit and blazing flames.

Tun Yuan drew his sword and swung it.

"Blood Thunder Combined Slash!"

At this moment, heaven and earth seemed to stand still.

That strike was neither divine nor demonic.

It is the fury of thunder, and the bloodlust of countless thoughts.

The wind and snow froze in the air, and lightning condensed into a giant dragon that leaped up. Wherever the blade passed, the snowfield was torn apart like paper. A blood-red arc of lightning pierced through the statue's chest and slashed into the Ape Lord's body.

"boom!!!"

With a loud bang, a thousand-foot-deep valley was blasted into the earth. The divine patterns on the Ape Marquis's chest shattered, his bone armor peeled off, and a crystalline core of light was exposed in the divine flames. It was faintly the "divine core" that he had fused with after devouring the divine remains.

He coughed up black blood, knelt on one knee, and his eyes trembled violently with soul flames.

But before Chu Ning could catch his breath, he roared in a low voice, and divine flames suddenly rose.

"They have some strength, but it's not enough."

The Ape Lord roared to the sky, and his soul flames suddenly transformed into a colossal statue with a thousand hands. It had three hundred and sixty arms growing from its back, and each hand had a strange cursed eye that dripped blood and stared. The colossal statue was like a prison, and the void shattered.

Tun Yuan was startled by what he saw and tried to retract his bone wings to defend himself, but his shoulder was already hit by a punch from the giant.

"boom!"

Bone wings shattered, black blood sprayed like rain, and Devouring Abyss spiraled out of control, its sea of ​​consciousness trembling and its soul nearly collapsing.

"Chu Ning... hurry!" Tun Yuan roared in his mind, his voice like thunder, mixed with blood and anxiety.

Chu Ning clutched his chest and knelt on the ground, panting heavily like a broken bellows, his gaze fixed on the Ape Lord's Divine Core that had emerged from the Soul Flame.

At that moment, it was beating violently, like the heart of heaven and earth.

“I don’t know how to use it…” He gritted his teeth. Although the Hunyuan mark on his forehead had appeared, it remained silent and lifeless.

"Of course you don't know how." Tun Yuan sneered, his voice filled with murderous intent. "That old bastard Hun Yuan never taught you; he only placed the responsibility of 'holding the seal' on your shoulders."

"Then teach me!" Chu Ning roared, a desperate will to survive burning in his eyes.

Tun Yuan was taken aback, then sighed and said in a deep voice:

"Alright. Remember, I'll only say this once. This isn't a divine technique; it's a kind of 'compatibility.' You must 'bind and inscribe' the root of your soul with this core of the seal."

How to inscribe it?

"First observe the phenomena, then offer your knowledge, and finally invoke the incantation."

"What do you mean?" Cold sweat rolled down Chu Ning's forehead, his soul was already shattered.

The voice of the Devouring Abyss was like thunder:

"Observe the phenomena—concentrate your mind on the 'divine image within the seal,' which is called the 'Mountain Locking Image.' You must visualize it within your sea of ​​consciousness."

Chu Ning suppressed the excruciating pain, closed his eyes, and let his spiritual consciousness sink into the mark.

Sure enough, a divine image, as imposing as a mountain and as solid as a lock, quietly appeared deep within his soul. It was an upside-down divine mountain, outlined by ninety-nine lock marks, suppressing the heavens.

"Next, I will present my knowledge."

Tun Yuan's voice lowered, sounding less like a command and more like a final warning bell.

"You must utter your most profound 'original name' so that this lock will recognize you as its master."

Chu Ning was stunned.

He certainly knew the meaning of his "original name." It was the first note that heaven and earth sang for him at the very beginning of his soul's birth. To utter it was to tell the world: I acknowledge my existence and am willing to bear the consequences for it.

Once uttered, that name becomes one with your soul, with no turning back. If the divine seal backfires, you will lose even the right to reincarnation, and be condemned to eternal damnation.

"Do I... have to do this?" His throat tightened, and his voice trembled slightly.

"Of course you don't have to." Tun Yuan's voice was calm, even slightly smiling. "You can hide, you can retreat. If you don't offer your knowledge, I can help you escape. We can leave here and go to a place far away from this world, living more freely than anyone else."

He paused, then his tone suddenly turned serious:
“But once you offer your knowledge—you become the ‘Seal Holder.’ If this lock breaks, it is your responsibility; if the divine way is in chaos, it is you to mend the heavens; if sentient beings seek help, it is you to respond. You are no longer a mortal.”

Chu Ning was silent.

In an instant, countless images flashed through his mind:

He saw his father pat him on the shoulder before he died and say, "You will be an honest hunter."
The moment he saw Xie Mingli curled up in his arms, a tear silently slid down his cheek.
Seeing Qingli shield him from the demon's claws, his tiny body trembled but never flinched;
I even saw myself ten years ago, alone and lost in thought on a snowy night atop a mountain.

He saw Dong'er crying out in the wind, while Qingli watched silently in the void, her figure blurred.

“I am just a mortal…” he murmured softly.

"But mortals are not people who can choose not to take responsibility."

He raised his head, his gaze burning like fire in the cold light.

"Chu... Min".

Two words were slowly uttered from between his teeth, like a sword drawn from the abyss of fate.

The Lock Mountain Diagram suddenly trembled.

Ninety-nine divine locks resonated in unison, and a golden light containing dragon patterns burst forth from the center of the diagram, as if receiving a divine mandate.

At that moment, heaven and earth paused.

In the deepest soul contract, Chu Ning is no longer just "Chu Ning".

He is: Chu Min, the Lord of the Boundary Lock, a mortal guardian of the seal.

"The final step—invoking the incantation!"

Tunyuan uttered an ancient incantation, its tone eerie, like a proverb, a proclamation, a sacrifice:
"Heaven is the framework, earth is the inscription; the seal of primordial chaos holds the key to the gate of heaven."

"With my mortal knowledge, I align myself with the Dao through the seal, sealing the calamity that threatens to befall the world."

With each word spoken, a golden light ignited in Chu Ning's sea of ​​consciousness, and ninety-nine lock marks lit up one by one on the Lock Mountain Diagram.

"Chu Ning—now, press the lock into the core of your soul!"

"This is a reverse contract—if you fail, you will suffer the consequences."

Chu Ning did not hesitate.

He raised his right hand and pressed the spinning Hunyuan Golden Seal hard against his brow.

"Om-!"

His soul trembled violently, the golden seal suddenly shattered, and countless lightning bolts rose from the sky, transforming into a divine chain of light.

The divine chain of light did not rush directly towards Ape Marquis, but instead slowly rotated, pointing towards Chu Ning's chest, and then wrapped around his sea of ​​consciousness and soul meridians in circles.

In an instant, he completed the "soul contract binding" with the "lock".

At that moment, the entire world suddenly fell silent.

An ancient whisper, as resounding as a great bell, echoed between heaven and earth:
"The gatekeeper is dead, the boundary lock is lost. I now take on the key of heaven in my mortal body, and use my soul as the law to judge the laws."

Chu Ning slowly opened her eyes.

He finally understood that Hunyuan did not want him to become the next "gatekeeper," but rather to become the one who could "sever the divine madness" at this moment of imbalance in the world.

The lightning lock roared and the divine chains, like cracks in the heavens, hurtled straight towards the Ape Lord's divine core.

A golden-red streak was cleaved through the sky.

The battle of demigods has reached a point of no return.

The voice of the Devouring Abyss echoed in his sea of ​​consciousness:
"The Lock Seal has recognized you as its master. It was originally a divine artifact, but if it were to bind the soul core, it could shatter the flow of divine consciousness within three breaths. Quickly, while the Ape Marquis's primordial spirit is still unstable, lock him in!"

Chu Ning's eyes sharpened, and he hissed:

"Entangle—Core!!"

In an instant, the golden chains trembled and transformed into a massive locking array, forming a seal in mid-air.

Like the claws of heaven, it swooped down from the gates of the heavens.

"Don't even think about it!" Ape Lord roared in fury, shattering the lightning with both fists, his soul flames boiling like a sea, attempting to forcefully resist.

But the divine seal chains did not break the enemy by force; instead, they descended according to cause and effect, like an echo of destiny, tearing a fragment of past memories from the soul of the Ape Lord.

His moment of madness when he first obtained the bones of the god;
The pleasure he felt the moment he swallowed the soul of the Red Child;

He looked into the eyes of the man who hadn't noticed the slight confusion as the Heavenly Gate exploded.

"You... how dare you let it read my will?!" Ape Lord roared like thunder, his divine consciousness on the verge of shattering.

"Click."

A deafening roar, like the bones of heaven and earth shifting, suddenly exploded around him.

Above, a golden chain, like the beating of a heavenly drum, descended from the void, piercing through the wind and snow, pointing straight to the ground.

Then came the second, the third... hundreds of golden chains intertwined like a torrent, surrounding him. Each chain was engraved with ancient Heavenly Dao characters, shining with the residual light from the "First Era".

"Pfft."

A golden lock ran across the chest of the Monkey King.

Then, the second one.

The third way.

A total of eighty-one divine locks, like long whips of purgatory, bound together the soul core of the Ape Lord.

"Ughhhhhh—" Ape Lord roared, his divine flames surging back, his soul violently trembling. He felt the connection between his divine remains and his original core being severed by a force from the "level of rules".

"That old scoundrel Hunyuan..."

His eyes were wide open in anger, as if they were about to burst.

"How could someone with your mere mortal body possibly trigger the boundary lock? You don't deserve it!"

Chu Ning gritted his teeth, the lock on his forehead burning even brighter. He took a step forward, palm open, and roared like thunder:
"You're right, I shouldn't have this right. Unfortunately, this world has long since stopped following the rules!"

"If you break the Heavenly Gate, I will mend the Boundary Lock."

"If you steal my soul, I will seal your source core."

"If you want to become a god, then first ask me if this lock can be opened!"

"boom."

The chains were all tightened.

The Ape Lord's body trembled violently. His body, which had been one with the divine remains, began to break apart. His bones cracked, his divine runes collapsed, and countless cracks appeared on the surface of his soul core.

That was the manifestation of the "boundary lock" suppressing the "original divinity".

Chu Ning, however, did not retreat an inch, his body covered in blood, yet he stood like a gatekeeper holding a seal, the light between his brows piercing through all the soul flames.

At this moment, he was no ordinary man.

He is the one who holds the lock, the sole nail that guards the Heavenly Dao in place of Hunyuan.

The chains seized the opportunity to wrap around the divine core, sealing it outside the soul flames.

Swallowing Abyss's stern voice:

"Now's the time! Chu Ning, use your blade—sever the link between your divine soul and divine core!"

The next moment, Chu Ning took control of the body.

Chu Ning gritted his teeth, and the Snow-Breaking Blade suddenly flashed with lightning. With a final strike, it fell as if in farewell.

"Silent World—Destroyed!!!"

That slash was like an axe that cleaved the world; wherever the blade went, even the void seemed to be torn in two, and its afterimage was like a long rainbow of lightning.

The Thousand-Handed Statue collapsed amidst the intertwining lightning and flames, and the lightning and fire surged like a tide over the core of Ape Lord's soul sea.

"Roar—"

The Ape Lord roared to the sky, his voice as mournful as the wails of countless beast souls. A mouthful of soul blood gushed out, scattering across a hundred feet of void, and a terrifying crack clearly appeared on his divine core.

The soul flame dimmed, and the primordial core trembled.

Despite his already collapsing body, Chu Ning raised his hand, and the Hunyuan Lock Seal on his forehead suddenly lit up again.

"Lock—Open!"

A low shout, like thunder striking the heavens.

At that moment, the seal in his sea of ​​consciousness was completely released, transforming into eighty-one golden chains, like a net of stars, which suddenly spread out from his body and rapidly wrapped around Ape Marquis.

The chains seemed to possess divine consciousness, dragging out a roaring wind as they swirled in the sky before crashing down upon the still-roaring and struggling demigod's enraged body.

"Kakaka-"

The first binding wrapped around the god's shoulders, the second bound the soul core, and the third locked the veins and meridians of his spine...

In a short while, Ape Lord was chained to the pillar in the void, unable to break free of his soul flames and unable to spread his power.

But he was still moving.

The divine flames grew increasingly violent, and the soul fire burned and surged from the cracks in the lock, as if it wanted to break free of the chains.

"Damn it...damn it!!"

"You think these measly locks can subdue me—I am a god!! A god!!!"

He roared, his shoulder bones trembled, and three cracks appeared in the chains. Golden light rippled, and the void reverberated.

At this critical moment.

Tun Yuan's voice suddenly rang out in Chu Ning's sea of ​​consciousness, deep and resonant, carrying a hint of urgency:

"This seal is only initially formed. He has merged with primordial divinity, so it cannot be sealed with mere immobilization! Summon the 'Golden Tree' and let it bind his soul to solidify the seal! Otherwise, he will break the seal within three breaths!"

“The Golden Tree…” Chu Ning was taken aback. “But that tree vanished long ago along with the remnants of Hunyuan consciousness…”

"It is true that Hunyuan's consciousness has been extinguished, but that 'Boundary Root' is an extension of the Locked Body... You have already offered your consciousness, so you can make it reappear!"

"Quickly, call it!"

Now that things had come to this, he had no more hesitation.

“Golden Tree,” he murmured.

The lock exploded with a deafening roar the next moment.

In that instant, the sea of ​​consciousness trembled like an ancient divine bell, and the golden light of the lock left by Hunyuan radiated outwards. A "Mountain Locking Divine Diagram" constructed from countless inscriptions emerged from the void.

Chu Ning closed his eyes:

"Heaven and earth are boundless, and the primordial beginning is their rule."

Locks and seals form the framework; metal and wood bind.
All things return to the ravine, the soul is imprisoned.
The barrier is sealed, as Heaven has decreed—it is sealed!

As soon as he finished speaking, the entire ice field suddenly froze.

It was as if an invisible divine vein rose from Chu Ning's body and stretched straight to the sky.

"Let's begin," Tun Yuan whispered.

Chu Ning pressed his left hand to his forehead, and the golden divine seal suddenly exploded. A spiral lightning lock, like a divine chain, pierced through the center of the sky, spreading across the world like a totem from the beginning of creation.

The heavens and earth trembled, the earth cracked, the wind and snow stopped at this moment, and time and space seemed to freeze.

Chu Ning's voice rang out again, as if it were coming from the top of the heavens:
"Roots lock the boundary, branches and leaves entwine the soul—divine tree, return to your rightful place!"

"boom!!"

At the heart of the entire ice field, in the place where the Ape Lord was sealed, the earth's veins suddenly burst open.

An ancient and enormous golden root roared out from the void beneath the earth.

“Golden… Tree…” Yuan Hou murmured in horror, his soul beginning to stir, as if suppressed by some kind of rule that had been engraved long ago.

But it was too late.

Following that single golden root, countless other roots, like a celestial waterfall and a golden dragon, roared forth, stirring up wind and snow, echoing through the void, and soaring straight to the heavens.

From the depths of the icy abyss, a whole "Golden Lock Divine Tree" rises from the ground, like a divine pillar spanning the ages.

On every branch and leaf are engraved ancient incantations, and on every root are entwined divine patterns.

The divine chains, like the will revived from the remnants of the Primordial Master's consciousness, guide the power of the golden tree to wrap around the soul of the Ape Lord layer by layer.

"Ughhhhhh!!!" Ape Lord roared madly, unleashing his full demigod power.

But the lock of that divine tree is the root of Hunyuan's "seal held in life," the ultimate seal after the resonance between heaven and earth and the soul seal. Its soul-locking power is not corrupted by divinity.

Golden branches pierced through the outer layer of the soul core, sealing off the "divine core" that was being reconstructed within the Ape Marquis's body.

The soul fire was extinguished, and the world fell silent.

The golden tree crown slowly bloomed, descending like a throne, "nailing" the entire Ape Lord to the Divine Lock Platform.

Rings of golden seals spread out around him, like a closing sun ring, sealing off the last vestige of struggle.

The Monkey King was sealed and suspended in mid-air, resembling the "remains of a fallen god" condemned by divine punishment.

As the last wisp of soul imprint returned to its place, Chu Ning's body trembled violently, and he almost fainted.

He struggled to hold up the snow-breaking blade and asked in a low voice:

"Ten years...is that enough?"

Tun Yuan stood in his sea of ​​consciousness, gazing at the golden tree that had been sealed, and remained silent for a long time before answering:
"That's enough... if you can handle it."

"Because ten years from now—what's meant to come will come."

The chains echoed one last time, the golden tree returned to its roots, and the snow stopped falling.

The first "demigod" was ultimately imprisoned in the deepest "lock" of this world.

With the Heavenly Gate broken, the rift cannot be mended. There will be no longer any barrier between the Three Realms.

At this moment, Chu Ning was no longer a mortal, but the one who would hold the seal of the new destiny.

(End of this chapter)