Chapter 909
Chapter 909
"puff--!"
Fu Shaoping coughed up a mouthful of blood, his body flying backward as if struck by a massive hammer, crashing into the rock wall and creating a deep, human-shaped crater. His contract armor shattered inch by inch, his star robes became dull and lifeless, his blood churned, his meridians throbbed with excruciating pain, and his internal organs felt as if they had shifted. If not for the protection of his heart and soul by the dual cores of the "Contract Command" and the Source Core, this attack would have been enough to leave him critically injured and on the verge of death!
However, Elder Ying was not having an easy time either.
The golden-purple sword light sliced open a deep, bone-revealing wound in his palm as he slammed it down. The golden and purple power of the contract at the wound gnawed at his bones like maggots, constantly eroding and purifying his evil power, preventing the wound from healing! Furthermore, a true intent of judgment seeped into his body through the wound, causing his aura to become disordered, forcing him to retreat several steps and suppress it with his internal energy.
"How is this possible?!" Elder Ying stared at his bleeding palm, his eyes filled with disbelief. He, a dignified Nascent Soul cultivator, had his full-force attack blocked head-on by a junior in the late Golden Core stage, and even injured himself in the process? Although the other party's injuries were more severe, this had already shattered his understanding of the world!
"This child... must not be allowed to live!" Elder Ying's eyes burned with murderous intent. Fu Shaoping's potential was terrifying; if he were allowed to reach the Nascent Soul stage, the Myriad Contracts Alliance would never have peace!
He suppressed his injuries and raised his palm again, a jet-black sphere of light that radiated destructive energy and condensed in his palm—the "Evil Contract Annihilation Sphere"! With this strike, he intended to completely end Fu Shaoping!
However, just as he was about to make his move, another unexpected event occurred!
The terrifying energy shock and rule fluctuations generated by their all-out clash just now severely interfered with the "Source Flow Space" passage that was opening nearby!
The already unstable passageway, weakened by the destruction of the traction array, completely spiraled out of control under the impact of this chaotic energy!
"Buzz—!!!"
The cracks in the temple gates suddenly widened! A torrent of multicolored, primordial light erupted like a volcanic eruption, instantly engulfing the entire underground space! An irresistible, powerful suction force emanated from the cracks!
"Not good! The passage has gone out of control and gone berserk!" Elder Ying's expression changed drastically. He couldn't care less about attacking Fu Shaoping and hurriedly used his internal energy to resist the suction force.
But the suction force was too strong! Moreover, it was mixed with chaotic contractual rules, interfering with the operation of all spells and true essence!
Fu Shaoping had just struggled out of the rock wall when he immediately felt the terrifying suction force. He was already seriously injured, making it even more difficult for him to resist.
"I'm going to be sucked in!" Fu Shaoping's heart sank. But then he remembered that Elder Ying's target, the "Origin Stone," was within that Origin Stream Space. Since it was unavoidable, perhaps... he should go in willingly!
He stopped resisting and instead used the suction to rush towards the entrance of the crack! At the same time, he activated his remaining true essence and activated the "Purification Stele Fragment" to set up a thin purification light shield around himself—the source space was filled with the origin of the contract, but it might also contain evil energy, and the purification light shield might be able to play a protective role.
"Junior! How dare you!" Elder Ying was also anxious upon seeing this. He had gone to great lengths to open the passage, how could he let Fu Shaoping get there first? He gritted his teeth, and despite the suction force and his injuries, he followed closely behind and rushed into the crack!
The two of them, one after the other, like two shooting stars, plunged into the colorful and ever-changing crack!
The rift flickered violently a few times after the two entered, then abruptly closed! The temple gate returned to its original state, leaving only a mess and two corpses of late-stage Golden Core cultivators, witnessing the thrilling battle between Golden Core cultivators and Nascent Soul cultivators.
Fu Shaoping and Elder Ying were drawn into the unknown "Source Stream Space".
That place is the origin of the contract, and it may also be... the place of burial.
Seven-colored light flowed, completely disrupting the sense of time and space.
Fu Shaoping felt as if he had become a wisp of consciousness, floating in an "ocean" composed of countless contractual rules. There was no up, down, left, or right, no time or space, only the most primitive and essential flow of contractual information.
He saw how the rules of "transaction" were born from the primitive instinct of "equivalent exchange"; how the rules of "commitment" evolved from simple "agreements" to complex "oaths"; how the rules of "protection" were elevated from "defense" to "sacrifice"...
He also saw that deep within these pure rules, distorted variants had emerged: "transaction" became "plunder," "promise" became "deception," "protection" became "imprisonment"... that was the source of the "evil contract."
The overwhelming and chaotic information assaulted his soul. If it weren't for the protection of the "Purification Heavenly Stele Fragment" and the stability of the Source Core, he would probably have instantly lost consciousness and been assimilated into the rules of the contract.
He didn't know how much time had passed—perhaps a moment, perhaps eternity—but he felt his "body" reform and his feet firmly planted on the ground.
He opened his eyes and found himself standing in a strange space.
The sky was filled with flowing, seven-colored contract runes, and the earth was a semi-transparent grid of contract rules. The air was thick with the primordial aura of contracts, almost liquefied. And in the center of this space, suspended about three zhang tall, was a crystal-clear, seven-colored stone, its interior seemingly containing countless galaxies—the "Contract Source Stone"!
Surrounding the crystal were nine "contract streams" of different colors, representing the nine most fundamental rules of contracts. The streams slowly rotated, exuding an aura of vastness, majesty, and inviolability.
However, Fu Shaoping also keenly noticed that inside the seven-colored crystal, there were faint, extremely fine, almost imperceptible... grayish-black impurities. They clung to the pure source of the contract like maggots, slowly but stubbornly eroding it.
"This is the 'Contract Source Stone'? The crystallization of the origin of contracts?" Fu Shaoping stared at the crystal in shock. "Those gray-black impurities... could they be traces reflected back to the source when the 'Contract Pivot' was corrupted during the ancient war? Or is the Evil Contract itself also a 'possibility' of the origin of contracts?"
He didn't have time to think it through, because another figure appeared in a disheveled state not far away at that moment—it was Elder Ying!
Elder Ying was in even worse condition than Fu Shaoping. Already injured, he had been further impacted by the power of the Origin Stream Space, leaving him weak and his evil energy fluctuating erratically. But the moment he saw the "Origin Stone," his eyes blazed with an intensely burning light!
"The Origin Stone! Hahaha! We've finally found it!" Elder Ying laughed wildly, then looked coldly at Fu Shaoping. "Junior, you're lucky you managed to get in here. However, this will be your burial ground! After killing you and taking your 'Origin Stone' fragment, I can refine it and break through to the mid-Nascent Soul stage in no time, and even have a chance to glimpse the Divine Transformation stage!"
Fu Shaoping wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, forcefully gathered his true energy, and said with a cold look in his eyes: "Old ghost, who lives and who dies is still unknown!"
Within this pure space of contract origin, his contractual power can be amplified to the maximum extent. Elder Shadow's evil power, on the other hand, will be somewhat suppressed. With one side gaining and the other losing, they might indeed be able to put up a fight!
Moreover, he still had one last trump card—the fragment of the Purification Heavenly Stele, and the "Origin Purification Technique" from the Frost Soul Codex! If he could activate the pure primordial power within the Origin Stone…
"Still being stubborn even when death is imminent!" Elder Ying sneered, his hands forming a hand seal, his body surging with evil power, "Ten Thousand Soul Banner - Unleash!"
A gigantic, jet-black soul banner, composed of countless vengeful faces, appeared behind him. The banner unfurled, blotting out the sky, and countless vengeful spirits howled as they rushed toward Fu Shaoping! This time, Elder Ying held nothing back, using his natal magic weapon!
The power of a Nascent Soul cultivator's natal magic weapon is far greater than what he could have achieved in his hasty attack! Fu Shaoping felt a stinging pain in his soul, as if a million needles were piercing it, and his protective spiritual light flickered violently under the impact of the vengeful spirits.
But he did not back down.
He took a deep breath and slowly raised his hands. His left hand shone with dark gold light, and his right hand shone with dark purple light. The power of the two "Contract Order" fragments gathered, collided, and resonated in his palms!
"Dual-core contract... fusion attempt!"
"Using the origin of my contract as a guide, I summon the source stone... the power of purity!" He no longer forcibly suppressed the repulsion between the two fragments, but instead actively guided them to generate a strange "resonance" during the collision! At the same time, he activated the "Purification Heavenly Stele Fragment," injecting that faint but pure purification power into the resonance as a "glue"!
"Om-!"
The Origin Stone seemed to sense the call and purification from its origin, and trembled slightly. The three streams of "Order," "Guardian," and "Purification" from the nine contract streams suddenly lit up, and three pure, seven-colored beams of light descended, enveloping Fu Shaoping!
Fu Shaoping's aura surged wildly at this moment! It seemed to resonate with the entire Origin Flow Space! The golden-purple light in his hand, under the infusion of the seven-colored light pillar, actually began to slowly merge and condense into a chaotic and unclear, yet containing the true meaning of a covenant that could create the world... a hazy gray sword aura!
"This is... the power of the Primordial Contract?!" Elder Ying's expression changed drastically; he sensed a deadly threat! "Impossible! How could a mere Golden Core junior like you possibly activate the power of the Primordial Contract Stone?!"
"Nothing is impossible." Fu Shaoping's voice, seemingly echoing with the source of the contract, was majestic and awe-inspiring. "Old ghost, take my final sword strike—the source of the contract... Heaven Opening!"
A hazy, gray sword aura slowly slashed out.
There was no earth-shattering momentum, no dazzling brilliance.
Wherever the sword energy passed, vengeful spirits dissolved, evil forces dissipated, and the rules of the contract in the space seemed to make way for it. It represented the most original, most authentic, and most inviolable "fairness" and "order" of the contract.
Elder Ying's Ten Thousand Soul Banner melted and dissipated silently the moment the sword energy touched it, just like ice and snow under the sun! He desperately urged all his evil power to set up layers of defense, but in the face of that hazy sword energy, everything seemed to be in vain.
"No—!!!" Elder Shadow roared in despair.
The sword energy gently grazed his body.
Elder Ying froze, the green flames in his eyes suddenly extinguished. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but his body crumbled like a weathered sand sculpture, disintegrating inch by inch, eventually turning into a wisp of black smoke, which was completely purified and annihilated by the pure contract power of the Origin Stream Space.
The Banner of Ten Thousand Souls also dissipated, freeing countless enslaved vengeful spirits, who transformed into specks of white light and merged into the source stream.
"Huh...huh..."
Fu Shaoping knelt on one knee, panting heavily, his face as pale as paper, his breath extremely weak. That sword strike had almost drained all his true essence, soul, and contract origin, and had also forcibly activated the dual-core resonance of the "Contract Command" and drawn upon the power of the Contract Source Stone, causing severe backlash and burden to his body.
If it weren't for the support of the three source light pillars, he probably would have collapsed the moment he unleashed that sword strike.
At this moment, the crisis was averted, and the source light pillar slowly receded. The Origin Stone returned to calm, but it seemed to be more crystal clear than before, and the gray-black impurities inside seemed to have faded slightly.
Fu Shaoping forced himself to stay upright, took out a handful of pills and put them in his mouth, then sat down cross-legged and began to regulate his breathing.
He knew he couldn't let his guard down yet. Although the Source Stream Space was pure, it was still an independent space. He had to find a way out and decide what to do with the "Source Stone".
“The Origin Stone… perhaps, this is the key to completely purifying the ‘Origin Stone’.” Fu Shaoping looked at the huge crystal and a bold idea surged in his mind.
But everything will have to wait until he recovers.
The source space has returned to silence.
Only the slowly rotating seven-colored crystal, radiating eternal light, witnessed this life-or-death battle that spanned the Golden Core and Nascent Soul stages, and... the rebirth of a true inheritor of the Dao of Contracts.
At this moment, Fu Shaoping's legend truly entered a higher level.
The century-long agreement also saw a real turning point due to the appearance of the "Origin Stone".
Within the source space, there is no sun or moon, and the passage of time is imperceptible.
Fu Shaoping didn't know how long he had been meditating until the depleted true essence in his body was replenished, the stinging pain in his soul was completely relieved, and the origin of the contract was restored to stability, even becoming more condensed and profound than before.
He slowly opened his eyes, his gaze gleaming. Although he hadn't directly broken through to the Nascent Soul stage due to the immense damage, his Golden Core was now flawless, and his understanding of the Dao of Contracts had reached a whole new level. That "Contract Origin Opening Heaven" sword strike, though forcibly executed at a huge cost, had allowed him to glimpse the tip of the iceberg of the power of the origin of contracts—a precious insight that no cultivation technique could provide.
I got up and stretched my muscles. I still had some minor injuries and fatigue, but it was nothing serious.
He looked toward the "Origin Stone" floating in the center of the space.
The seven-colored crystal continued to rotate silently, surrounded by nine contractual streams, radiating pure and vast energy. When Elder Shadow was killed earlier, the power of three of these streams—"Order," "Guardian," and "Purification"—was activated. At this moment, the light of these three streams seemed slightly dimmer than the other six, but it was slowly recovering.
"The Contract Source Stone... it truly is the embodiment of the Contract's origin." Fu Shaoping approached, carefully sensing it. He tried communicating with it again using the Contract's origin, and this time, the Contract Source Stone's response was much gentler, conveying a sense of closeness and acceptance. After all, Fu Shaoping possessed the Source Core and a fragment of the "Contract Command," and had once used its power to purify the evil spirit (Elder Shadow). In a sense, he had already gained the Contract Source Stone's initial recognition.
"What should I do with this?" Fu Shaoping pondered. Take the Origin Stone away? Even setting aside whether it could be moved, the terrifying primal power it contained was something he, with his current cultivation level, was powerless to absorb; a forced attempt would only result in assimilation. Leave it here? Although this place was hidden, the Myriad Contracts Alliance already knew its location, and although Elder Ying was dead, his natal soul banner might have transmitted some information when it shattered; there was no guarantee that other experts from the Myriad Contracts Alliance wouldn't come. (End of Chapter)