The Record of Exterminating Evil from Ashes

The world is covered in gray and white, and the rules bind us.

A vast, gray-white curtain of light swept across the land, wiping away the myriad colors of humanity. Mountains lost their verdant hues, clouds froze, the wind ceased, and all living things were enveloped by the power of the laws governing the return of heaven and earth, trapped in a deathly silence. Compared to the first three trials—the miasma that devoured the Dao and the human heart that tormented the soul—this fourth trial was the most domineering and the most unsolvable—it was not a phantom impasse arising from a game of chess, but rather the most fundamental law of order in this world.

Heaven and earth return to their proper places, and all things follow their destiny.

All variables that transcend the game of chess, all existences that defy destiny, must be forcibly pulled back into place and their abnormalities extinguished. Wan Tang is the greatest source of destiny in this eternal game of chess, the core of the order of heaven and earth that needs to be rectified; Cen Jin is the only variable that breaks the game, the obstacle to the return of order to zero.

In the deathly silence of heaven and earth, invisible chains of rules solidified, gray and cold, as thick as beams, precisely locking onto the girl sitting quietly beside the blue stone. The chains carried no trace of killing intent, yet they bore the irreversible order of heaven and earth. Once bound, they would forcibly strip away her mortal memories and familial bonds, completely assimilating her and restoring her to the cold and ruthless origin of the ancient demon lord.

"Brother!"

Wan Tang suddenly woke up, her face pale, and the clear light in her eyes instantly dissipated in panic. She could clearly feel the omnipresent force of confinement around her, slowly pulling her consciousness away. The years she spent with her brother, the warm memories of humanity, seemed to be forcibly stripped away and completely erased.

She instinctively raised her hand to struggle, but her soul was suppressed by the rules, her body stiff and heavy, and even the strength to raise her hand was completely locked away. The origin of the Eternal Demon Lord was raging wildly within her body, echoing the laws of the order of heaven and earth, attacking from both inside and outside, trying to completely replace this human body.

Cen Jin's eyes suddenly sharpened, and his clear and insightful mind, usually so focused on swordsmanship, instantly tightened to its limit.

He had just completed a hundred rounds of refining his mind, perfected his swordsmanship, and solidified his Dao heart. He balanced the Great Dao with both benevolence and sharpness, and could directly confront the fundamental rules of heaven and earth. Yet, he still felt a profound sense of powerlessness. Human hearts can be saved, miasma can be cleared, and chess games can be broken, but the forced restoration of the order of heaven and earth surpasses all techniques and Dao hearts.

But he showed no sign of backing down.

Through three trials and tribulations, what he guarded was never the empty fame of the Great Dao, but his loved ones and the warmth of human life. If the price of reaching the pinnacle of the Great Dao is to abandon one's only bond and allow fate to slaughter one's tenderness, then the so-called perfection of the Dao and the breaking of the game are all meaningless.

"Don't panic, I'm here."

Cen Jin shouted in a deep voice, his tone sharp and resolute. The broken sword, which had just been sheathed, suddenly rang out again, its clear sound tearing through the deathly silence of heaven and earth. The balanced black and white sword light soared into the sky, unleashing the full sharpness of the perfectly tempered swordsmanship. The combined old and new swordsmanship he had gained from a hundred moves of heart-refining was now presented without reservation, transforming into a dense layer of sword energy that tightly protected Wan Tang's body.

Clang—!

The gray-white rule-based chains slammed hard against the sword light and sword energy.

A piercing clang of metal echoed through the valley, and the vast power of order exploded, its violent aftershocks sweeping across the entire sword mound. The broken swords scattered on the ground trembled in unison, and countless ancestral sword spirits reappeared, only to be gradually eroded and on the verge of dissipation under the crushing force of the laws of heaven and earth.

The sword energy shattered instantly, and the sword light trembled violently.

Cen Jin's tiger's mouth gushed blood, and the meridians in his arm suddenly tore open. Fine beads of blood slid down the sword and dripped onto the bluestone ground, blooming into tiny crimson plum blossoms. The suppressive force of the laws of heaven and earth far exceeded the limits of his current cultivation. Before the original order, the sharpness of his sword was as fragile as paper.

"You mere mortal swordsmanship dares to defy the natural order?"

Amidst the black mist of the nine heavens, the indifferent Daoist voice of Xuan Ye Zun echoed coldly, carrying an detached indifference that looked down upon ants. He had already calculated everything; Cen Jin's breakthrough in swordsmanship and the perfection of his Dao heart were merely illusory amplifications in a death struggle, ultimately unable to escape the crushing force of fate.

The gray-white chains tightened again, wrapping around the broken sword light and continuing to lock onto Wan Tang's body, the power of repositioning growing increasingly violent. The girl's body trembled slightly, the innocence in her eyes gradually dimmed, and the blood-red core pattern between her brows faintly appeared, the demon lord's essence about to completely seize her soul.

Faced with a desperate situation, Cen Jin did not retreat but advanced.

He knew that ordinary swordsmanship and the balance of Dao were no longer enough to contend with the rules of heaven and earth. If he wanted to protect Wan Tang and withstand the fourth trial, he had to sacrifice himself for the Dao, forge his sword with his blood, and bear the weight of the heavens with his body.

The next instant, he took the initiative to activate the broken Zhou Tian Seed Pattern and released all Dao Heart Protection.

The cracks in the Dao Seed, which had been nourished and stabilized by merit, suddenly burst open, and the newly healed Dao Foundation shattered inch by inch. All the old wounds left from sacrificing himself to save others erupted. Scalding life essence gushed out along the meridians and poured into the broken sword in his hand.

The blood-red color stained the sword's blade, completely erasing the mottled rust. The balanced black and white sword light was enveloped in blood, transforming into a dazzling, sharp, crimson sword brilliance.

  

He fed his sword with his own body and defied the heavens with his blood.

"I believe in balance, which does not follow destiny or the natural order."

Cen Jin stood amidst the crimson sword light, his clothes stained with blood and his body covered in wounds, yet his posture remained as upright as an ancient mountain, fearless of the oppressive force of heaven and earth. "If Heaven wishes to restore my kin, I will break this order! If fate wishes to shackle the human heart, I will shatter this destiny!"

A long roar echoed through the mountains and rivers.

Holding a blood-red spirit sword, he stepped into the air, reversing all the perfected sword techniques of a hundred moves. He no longer adhered to orthodoxy, no longer embraced righteousness, but fought only to protect and to defy fate. The first move, the tenth move, the fiftieth move, the hundredth move—the hundred sword techniques overlapped and cycled endlessly, the old and new sword techniques completely merging, transforming into the most ferocious sword strike against fate in the world.

A crimson sword light traversed the gray-white world, fiercely slashing at the chains of rules binding Wan Tang.

Click!

The seemingly indestructible chains of the laws of heaven and earth snapped instantly!

The broken gray-white chains dissipated into countless points of light, instantly loosening the binding force that had been holding Wan Tang in place. Her almost extinguished human consciousness slowly returned, and her dim eyes regained their clear, faint light.

However, this sword strike also exhausted most of Cen Jin's essence.

His blood and qi surged violently, and he spat out a mouthful of blood, which splattered into the air. His meridians were riddled with holes, his Dao foundation was mostly shattered, and his once stable Dao seed was on the verge of collapse again. His body was covered in blood, a shocking sight.

"Brother!" Wan Tang broke free from her restraints and rushed forward without hesitation. Her small hands hurriedly tried to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth, her eyes instantly turning red with heartache and fear.

"It's nothing." Cen Jin breathed slightly, raising his hand to comfort her despite the excruciating pain, his gaze still sharp as a blade. "It's not over yet."

Breaking the chains is only the first step in breaking the deadlock.

High above, the gray-white light curtain did not dissipate but instead grew even denser. The broken chains of rules rapidly reformed, and countless fine gray-white threads densely covered the sky, weaving a vast net that completely sealed off the Sword Tomb Valley, trapping the brother and sister firmly within the core of the trial.

The true test of the fourth trial has now fully arrived.

The return of Heaven and Earth to their rightful place not only corrects the original destiny but also the variables in the human world. Xuan Ye Zun forces Cen Jin to make a final choice in a desperate situation: either abandon Wan Tang, follow the order of Heaven and Earth, preserve his own Dao seed, and perfect the new Dao; or resist against the tide, burn his own origin, sacrifice himself for the Dao, and perish completely.

Countless gray-white rule threads swooped down, no longer targeting Wan Tang alone, but engulfing both of them simultaneously. On one hand, they assimilated the Demon Lord's origin, and on the other hand, they obliterated the variables that could break the deadlock, creating a two-way strangulation and an unsolvable closed loop.

Cen Jin shielded Wan Tang tightly behind him, his blood-stained broken sword held horizontally in front of him, his body covered in wounds but he did not retreat an inch.

He channeled all his remaining Dao power, essence, blood, and merit, condensing the swordsmanship he had gained from a hundred heart-refining techniques, the true meaning of the Great Dao of Balance, and the sincere devotion of all people into a single sword strike, layer by layer resisting the invasion of the overwhelming rules.

One sword can block a thousand threads, one sword can defy heaven and earth.

The swords clashed incessantly, and blood splattered everywhere.

Each wave of the rules washed over him left a bloodstain of varying depth on his body; each sword parry damaged a portion of his original Dao foundation. The cracks in his Dao seed grew larger and larger, his blood and qi rapidly depleted, and his physical body was on the verge of collapse, yet his sword momentum never weakened, and his Dao heart never wavered.

With his broken body, he withstood the crushing force of the universe's origin, and with the swordsmanship of a mortal, he defied the odds to challenge the rules of an ancient chess game.

Below the Demon-Slaying Mountains, thousands of cultivators looked up at the lone figure, bathed in blood, defying fate, against the gray-white sky. Their hearts trembled, and they fell silent. They could clearly sense the resolute determination to defy heaven and protect the Dao with their lives, and they could see the Dao Lord's unwavering resolve, covered in blood, and steadfast in his determination to never retreat.

The old and new paths resonated with countless hearts, creating a powerful and unstoppable ripple effect.

Between heaven and earth, countless sincere thoughts gathered and rose into the sky, transforming into tiny golden streams of light that traversed mountains and rivers, all flowing into the secluded valley of the Sword Tomb, empowering Cen Jin's broken body. One person defied fate, and ten thousand people united; the power of the Great Dao of Humanity blossomed to its fullest extent at this moment.

Human hearts are our shield, swordsmanship our edge, and flesh and blood our fuel.

Cen Jin's nearly depleted power surged once more, and the crimson sword light grew even more intense, forcefully withstanding dozens of rounds of frenzied attacks from the rules of heaven and earth, resisting and defeating the overwhelming power of order layer by layer.

Finally, at the moment when the last wave of rules collapsed, the gray-white light curtain in the sky trembled violently, the deathly gray-white color of the sky faded away inch by inch, the mountains and rivers of the world returned to clarity, and the sounds of wind, birdsong, and flowing water once again resounded throughout the heavens and earth.

The fourth test, "Heaven and Earth Return to Their Positions," was forcefully defeated by him against all odds.

In the deep valley and vast sky, the resounding Dao of Heaven and Earth boomed, engraved for eternity, and shook the eight wastelands:

[The Fourth Trial: Heaven and Earth Return to Their Positions, a Trial to Break Through the Impasse.]

[Assessment: He defied fate with his body, resisted the heavens with his principles, remained steadfast despite constraints, and did not stray from the Daoist path despite reversing the established order.]

[Having overcome all four trials, the prologue to the eternal chess game has come to a complete end; the path of trials has reached its culmination.]

The sound of the Dao echoed, and golden light fell.

An unprecedentedly abundant golden light of merit poured down, enveloping the entire Sword Tomb Valley and gently enveloping Cen Jin's wounded body. Endless primordial energy and human merit surged in, repairing his shattered meridians, broken Dao seed, and broken body.

The bloodstains all over his body slowly healed, his depleted blood and energy gradually returned, and his damaged foundation was re-formed. The innate flawed crack in his celestial body, nourished by the ultimate merit, became more stable. Although it still had flaws, it was no longer afraid of the erosion of fate or the crushing force of fate.

Having passed the four trials, the test is now complete.

Cen Jin sheathed his sword and lowered it, his body swaying slightly as he finally collapsed from exhaustion and gasped for breath. Although the bloodstains on his body had healed, the fatigue from physical exhaustion and damage to his Dao foundation remained profound. The price of defying fate and resisting the heavens was still etched deep within his Dao heart.

Wan Tang hugged his arm tightly, her little face pressed against his blood-stained clothes, her voice choked with sobs and soft: "Brother is so amazing... but Tangtang doesn't want brother to get hurt."

Cen Jin lowered his eyes, raised his hand and gently rubbed the top of her head, a tired but reassuring smile on his lips: "With me here, no one can take away your true heart, no one can disrupt your destiny."

In the secluded valley of the Sword Tomb, broken swords resounded, and spirits knelt in worship.

Thousands of cultivators at the foot of the mountain bowed in unison, and the thunderous praises echoed through the mountains once again, paying tribute to his defying the heavens and reaching the summit four times, and to his unwavering commitment to his principles and the world.

Since the beginning of time, no one has ever been able to break through all four trials and reach the top against all odds. No one has ever been able to use a flawed Dao seed and a mortal body to successively defeat the three seemingly unsolvable deadlocks of the human heart, the miasma forest, and heaven and earth.

Amidst the clamor and praise, deep within the black mist of the Nine Heavens, the figure of Xuan Ye Zun became completely clear.

He no longer concealed his form, a long black robe covering his body, his eternally indifferent eyes surveying the entire human world. Looking at Cen Jin, who had reached the pinnacle of perfection, all contempt finally faded from his eyes, leaving only a deep and terrifying cold killing intent.

"Having passed all four trials and reached the pinnacle, you have indeed transcended the prologue of the game."

He spoke slowly, each word cold and heavy, carrying the chilling anticipation of the impending end: "The prologue has ended, the game begins."

"Cen Jin, you have won the trial, you have won the hearts of the people, you have won the heavens and earth, but in the end you cannot win the closed-loop destiny of the eternal origin."

Before the words were finished, deep within the miasma forest, the long-dormant Demon Lord's Divine Core suddenly erupted with a blood-red pillar of light that pierced through heaven and earth, forcefully breaking through all seals. The entire perfect and translucent ancient divine core was completely unearthed and appeared in the human world!