Warhammer Cultivation: Cultivating the Tao Te Ching in the 40K Universe

Conrad Coates, the midnight ghost who had completed his "sacrifice," arrived silently at his final "hunting ground."

He wanted to personally meet the one who could bring a moment of "silence" to his never-ending symphony of suffering...

Mysterious "strange noises".

Chapter 173 The Three Kings Stand Off (Part 1) (Bonus Chapter, Thanks for the Donations!)

The sky over Terra changed color at that moment.

The world's attention is focused on "Wenxinzhai".

The azure sky, simulated by ancient technology, still flows, and the breeze, mixed with the fragrance of alien flowers, is still warm.

But the foundation of this Garden of Eden—that harmonious and balanced "Taoist rhythm"—was forcibly torn apart by three larger and more ancient wills!

On the altar of the gods, Hector Cain, who was explaining the Daoist Canon to the Qi cultivators, paused and slowly raised his head.

His strange eyes, one a night sky and the other a star, seemed to pierce through layers of barriers, gazing at the moon-white jade gate of the Wenxinzhai.

Three figures walked in from there.

Like three ancient gods who emerged from different mythologies and were natural enemies, they stepped into this desolate arena at the same time with unstoppable force.

This is not a visit, it is a trial.

A golden figure descended first, clad in an artistic golden power armor. The enormous snow-white wings on his back unfurled slightly, tinging the cold light of judgment with the warmth of hope.

Immediately afterwards, a dark green mobile fortress entered. Every step the Terminator power armor took seemed to measure the earth, and the power sword it carried silently exuded absolute law and order.

Ryan Aljonsen.

The last figure seemed to "penetrate" from the blind spots of everyone's perception. Silent and without a sound, without stirring the air, he quietly emerged from the deepest shadows, like the very concept of the long night itself.

Conrad Coates.

The three Primarchs, the Emperor's most powerful creations, and three demigods representing different kinds of justice, held a meeting in this Zen-inspired Eastern-style sky garden that would shake the entire Terra.

They hadn't spoken yet; they were just standing there.

But existence itself is a war of laws far grander than interstellar warfare! The psionic power empowered by three wills capable of tearing stars apart surged fiercely towards Hector's seemingly insignificant "dojo" like three world-destroying cosmic tides!

Reality has begun to lament!

A faint, icy blue geometric lattice materialized in the air, a manifestation of Ryan's "lawful" will freezing spacetime.

The exotic flowers and plants in Wenxinzhai seemed to petrify and wither instantly, and the crisp, shattering sound was endless, as if the entire space was being imprisoned in an iron cage of absolute order!

The next instant, thick, inky darkness seemed to pour out from every corner, as if Koz's "fear" was corroding reality.

The light was swallowed up, the temperature plummeted, and countless faces of pain and wailing appeared on the metal wall. They were endless despair, driven by his will, wanting to completely disintegrate and melt away the cold cage!

Immediately afterwards, a holy golden light exploded out!

Saint Gilles's "compassion" materialized into a warm current, and golden feathers of light and shadow drifted down from the sky. Wherever the light touched, frost melted, darkness receded, and even the seemingly petrified flowers seemed to defy the laws of physics, blooming anew!

The law turned to ice, fear to shadow, and compassion to holy light!

The clash of three divine wills mixed with psychic energy has unleashed a real storm on the real world!

The electric arcs crackled, the space groaned under the unbearable strain, and the entire Wenxinzhai trembled under the unreserved outward release of the will of these three demigods!

It has been an unknown amount of time since such a sight has appeared in the world of Terra.

However, this storm, which was powerful enough to shatter reality, was instantly calmed and vanished into nothingness when it reached within three feet of Hector, as if it had hit an invisible dam.

The ground beneath his feet was calm and still; not even the hem of his clothes fluttered.

His dojo is not a fourth force.

It is an absolutely stable "real-world anchor".

The eyes of the three Primarchs, each with their distinct divine nature, simultaneously erupted with a mixture of shock and disbelief! They had actually sensed a higher-dimensional being, one that transcended their own understanding, within a mere mortal!

In the end, it was Saint Gilles who broke the suffocating silence.

He stepped forward, his warm aura acting as a barrier, forcefully wedging itself between the clashing "law" and "fear," bringing a moment of respite to the space. His gaze passed over his two brothers, settling calmly on Hector.

“Hector,” the angel’s voice was as gentle as a hymn, yet carried an undeniable heaviness, “Forgive our abruptness. We… came all for you.”

He paused, a look of worry appearing in his azure eyes.

“A few days ago, a bloody incident occurred in Terra that could shake the very foundations of the Empire. The patriarch of the Iron Shield family was assassinated in his heavily guarded Cloudtop Manor. The method... was clean and efficient, bearing the 'professional' air of the First Legion.”

Saint Gilles' gaze shifted to his elder brother, who was as imposing as an iceberg.

"For this, Ryan bore the pressure and suspicion of the entire aristocratic class. He had to use his laws to find the real culprit and put an end to the storm. And all the clues, as if manipulated by an invisible hand, pointed perfectly to another suspect."

The angel's gaze finally fell upon the darkness that had also made him tremble.

“And Koz,” his voice was filled with deep weariness, “revealed the ‘truth’ to us in his own way. He judged the perpetrators behind the scenes with fear and presented their bloody evidence to everyone like spoils of war.”

Saint Gilles slowly turned around, his compassionate gaze sweeping over the two brothers with such different personalities.

“So, here we are.”

“Lane has come for trial. He wants to judge the true culprit who disrupted Terra, the madman who defiled the law, and you—Hector, the uncontrollable variable that caused all of this in his eyes.”

“Kotz,” Saint Gilles’s voice was tinged with helplessness, “came to hunt. He enjoys the rage of the lion and the fear of Terra, and he longs to personally ‘weigh’ your ‘way’ that can bring him a moment of silence. Is it a good medicine to purify evil, or... another kind of hypocritical lie?”

"As for me..." A self-deprecating bitter smile appeared on the angel's face, "I came to stop this most foolish war that should never have happened."

Chapter 174 The Three Kings Standoff - Part 2 (Bonus Chapter for the Donation!)

Saint Gilles's compassionate words flowed like a warm current, temporarily calming the storm that was about to engulf everything. But this was only a brief respite; the struggle for the right to speak was just the beginning of the battle.

The first to speak was the lion of Caliban.

Ignoring Saint Gilles' mediation, his green, star-like eyes transformed into two swords of law, locking onto the mad brothers who had merged with the darkness in the shadows.

"Conrad Coates."

Ryan Aljonsen's voice is devoid of emotion, like the first crack of an ancient glacier, heavy and indifferent.

He addressed him by his first name, without referring to him as "brother," revealing the detachment and judgment of a law enforcer, which was made without any attempt to conceal it.

"Before you begin your darkly humorous 'trial,' explain to me and to the laws of Terra why you appeared here so quietly?"

The moment the words fell, the greatsword in his hand emitted a deep, resonant energy hum!

However, faced with this question that would chill the entire Star Chapter to the bone, a soft laugh came from the shadows. The laugh was hoarse and grating, like the scraping of rusty nails, filled with a neurotic pleasure.

"Explanation? Why should I explain to you, Ryan?"

Conrad Coates's gaunt figure emerged from the shadows like a ghost. A cruel, mocking smile graced his deathly pale face.

"Does justice really require submitting a cumbersome 'application report' to bureaucrats blinded by evil?"

He raised the power gauntlets adorned with ferocious claws and lightly swiped them through the air.

A bloody "work of art" recorded by the highest-level probe was instantly displayed as a holographic projection!

That was the miserable state of the "Iron Shield" clan chief after he was "judged"!

The obese body was skinned, like a anatomical specimen; it was nailed to a mountain of gold coins with a silver knife, its posture full of ritualistic significance; its gaping mouth, brimming with greed, was stuffed with golden-brown roasted exotic birds...

All of this is laid bare before everyone's eyes, presented in the cold, hard stream of data!

“Look, my brother,” Kurtz’s voice was like a playwright explaining his masterpiece, “behold the perfect symmetry, the precise knife work, this ultimate judgment on the original sin of ‘greed’!”

"This is my 'justice'! Direct and efficient! In seventy-two hours, it has accomplished the 'purification' that your bloated and inefficient 'legal' system has failed to achieve even after centuries!"

He turned his head, his eyes, as empty as an abyss, meeting for the first time the lion's face, which was ashen with extreme rage.

“And you, Ryan, my dear, forever right brother.” His voice hissed like a venomous snake, piercing the heart bound by “law,” “and what are you doing? Using your laughable ‘rules’ to doubt an innocent mortal? Using your proud ‘knighthood’ to spy on a… garden?”

"You're like a fool who's afraid weeds will grow in the garden, so he wants to cover the whole place with cement! You are the greatest blasphemer of 'order'!"

Ryan's icy face was no longer calm; his eyes, like green stars, burned with a fury powerful enough to incinerate the soul! The power sword in his hand groaned under the strain!

However, before he could react, Coz's morbid mockery had already shifted to the next target!

His head, like a rusty gear, creaked as it turned toward the silent mortal.

“And you, Hector Kane,” Coz’s voice was full of the desire of an anatomist discovering a new species, “your ‘path’ is interesting, full of ‘harmony’ and ‘balance,’ like the most beautiful and most useless ornamental bird kept by the upper-class nobles of Nest City.”

“You teach them ‘stillness’ and ‘non-action,’ and to choose ‘observation’ rather than ‘fighting’ when facing the darkness within their hearts.”

He let out a hysterical, shrill laugh.

"And what was the result? Your hypocritical theory, instead of purifying evil, provided a perfect breeding ground for maggots rotting in the shadows to breed conspiracy and betrayal!"

"Because of your 'inaction,' your so-called 'nibbling away,' the chaos in the shadows can freely spread the script of lies! Because of your 'balance,' those nobles who should have been on the guillotine long ago can live peacefully until... I carry out the final 'justice'!"

He extended his hideous claw, stained with dried blood, toward Hector.

“So, now it’s your turn, Dean.” His voice was a whisper from hell. “Let me personally weigh your perfect ‘harmony’ to see just how much weight it truly carries. Let me also see whether, when you face the purest malice of the universe, your ‘balanced’ heart is like those of the nobles…”

"—Vulnerable!"

These words, like a black lightning bolt, shattered the precarious balance!

Ryan's raging anger found a new outlet!

“He’s right!” The lion’s icy voice instantly froze the warm ocean of compassion in Saint Gilles! “If it weren’t for your appearance as an uncontrollable ‘variable,’ Saint Gilles wouldn’t have acted strangely, the nobles wouldn’t have panicked, those schemers wouldn’t have had an opportunity, and this madman would never have been able to unleash his bloody ‘fear’ in the holy Terra!”

His green, star-like eyes and Kurtz's abyss-like eyes, at this moment, transcended their opposition and locked onto that mortal!

"Hector Kane!" The lion's voice was like a final judgment, "You are the true 'pathogen' of this plague!"

"Send over your 'path'! Accept my 'law'! Otherwise, I will personally purge all 'instability' from Terra!"

Faced with the devastating joint accusations from his two brothers, Saint Gilles made a choice.

He stepped forward, his tall, holy figure standing firmly in front of Hector.

His eyes, as blue as the sky, were devoid of all sorrow and worry. His voice was soft, yet it echoed clearly in the garden that was about to be torn apart.

“What is wrong is never the ‘Tao’.”

His gaze swept over the cold face of the Lion of Law and Order, and then over the distorted face of Coz, filled with fear and madness.

"What's wrong is your hearts, which have long been blinded by 'obsession'!"

The three parties' positions were completely torn apart! The verbal exchange reached its climax!

Those three conflicting and immense wills could no longer be restrained by reason!

"boom--!!!!!"

A roar of law, not belonging to the physical realm yet undeniably real, erupted from the center of the three demigods!

The lion's "law" transforms into a shrinking "sky of order," with billions of cold lines attempting to format all life!

Koz's "fear" transformed into an "abyss of despair," gushing from the earth, with countless wailing faces threatening to devour the sky along with its rules!

Saint Gilles' "compassion" transforms into a vast golden ocean, with an unstoppable gentle resilience, attempting to forcibly contain and mend the violently colliding sky and abyss!

"Law," "fear," and "compassion"!

The three most fundamental principles of justice in human civilization unfold in a fierce battle of wills!

The clash of the three wills reached its peak with the support of psionic energy.

The laws of life of the exotic flowers and plants in the garden are subtly distorted: one second they bloom holyly under the mercy of Saint Gilles; the next second they rot into human faces in the fear of Coz; and the next second they are forcibly "formatted" into lifeless geometric shapes by Ryan's laws!

The entire Wenxinzhai groaned under the immense pressure, spiderweb-like spatial cracks spreading wildly unseen by the naked eye. This thought "special zone," protected by the Regent, was being utterly torn apart at the level of the laws by the three Primarchs!

And those forces that wanted Hector to disappear, at this very moment, conveniently provided the "fuel."

Chapter 175 Servo Skull

However, it was precisely in this critical moment, when all wills were stretched to the point of breaking—

An uninvited guest has arrived.

Like a crimson steel needle forged from absolute logic, it effortlessly and precisely pierced the barrier of laws constructed by "law," "fear," and "compassion."

A fist-sized servo skull, crafted from pure gold and engraved with the magnificent emblem of the Third Legion, silently flew in and hovered at the confluence of three world-destroying torrents of laws.

Its arrival did not cause any energy fluctuations. But its very existence is an extreme kind of arrogance, full of scientific and rational beauty.

Its optical eyes, made of rubies and sapphires, gleam with a cold, logical light, as if a higher-dimensional creator were observing with great interest the three primal beasts tearing at each other.