Volume 1, Chapter 58: On a Whim, He Decided to Try a New Game
Recovering from the joy of their breakthroughs, the two immediately cast their gazes toward the man who was squatting on the ground, entirely engrossed in playing marbles.
At this single glance, they were struck as if by lightning. The trace of complacency brought by their newly surged cultivation bases instantly vanished into thin air, replaced by a tremor originating from the deepest depths of their souls—a tremor that nearly caused their Dao hearts to collapse.
Under their current realm, the world before them had completely changed.
What they saw was no longer a simple courtyard.
In their perception, this small courtyard was a "singularity" independent of all heavens and myriad realms. Every inch of space here connected to different dimensions; every speck of dust here was once a fragment of some bygone epoch.
And that man squatting on the ground...
He was no longer human.
He was the "core" of this singularity, the "origin point" of all dimensions and epochs.
Every breath he took stirred the tidal rise and fall of the Chaos Sea. Every heartbeat of his calibrated the operational laws of the heavens and myriad realms.
And the game he was playing at this very moment...
Ji Ruxue and Ye Qingxian exchanged a glance, seeing absolute horror in each other's eyes.
That was no mere game of marbles!
In their vision, the circle Gu Changsheng had drawn with his foot was not sketched upon the dirt at all; rather, it was drawn directly upon the "River of Destiny"!
That circle defined an "absolute rule domain" named "game."
And those "rudimentary worlds" he treated as marbles each emanated a terrifying aura that caused their souls to ache. Each one represented a complete and independent set of cosmic laws.
Every flick of his finger was an act of tampering with the "destinies" of those rudimentary worlds, driven by the most willful and unreasonable impulse of "personal whim"!
At that very moment, an extremely obscure yet supremely malicious fluctuation—one that seemed intent on dragging the entire world into eternal death and silence—descended from the infinite unknown.
This fluctuation was formless and immaterial, transcending the dimensions of energy and laws. It did not come to attack the courtyard, nor did it target any specific person.
Its target was the very "root" of the existence known as the "Gu Family"!
The Anchor of Nihility had arrived.
Like a top-tier assassin, it silently slipped into the River of Destiny, tracing upstream along the brilliantly dazzling causal thread belonging to the Gu Family, preparing to drive its black anchor fiercely into the source of the Gu Family's fortune and destiny.
Relying on their newly broken-through realms and the unique advantage of being inside the courtyard, Ye Qingxian and Ji Ruxue vaguely perceived this attack originating from the "conceptual level" for the very first time.
Their complexions instantly turned deathly pale.
What kind of attack was this? They were utterly incapable of comprehending it, let alone knowing how to defend against it. This was a malice that acted directly upon "existence" itself, as though it meant to completely erase the two words "Gu Family" from the memory of the cosmos.
***
The divine life force within Ji Ruxue's body surged frantically, attempting to safeguard the "vitality" of this small courtyard, only to discover that this malice lay completely outside the categories of "life" and "death."
Ye Qingxian's sword heart screamed with frantic warnings. She had a feeling that even if she unleashed her strongest sword strike containing the intent of "creation," it would only slash into empty air, utterly failing to touch the enemy by even a fraction.
Even Uncle Fu by their side, whose expression was forever carefree and serene, revealed a trace of solemnity for the very first time. He clearly perceived this unprecedented threat as well. This was no longer a matter of the level of raw power; the enemy was wielding some kind of... weapon of the "Dao."
He prepared to burn his own origin at all costs, attempting to awaken the true foundational heritage of the Gu Family.
However, right at this critical juncture.
"Sigh, playing like this is getting boring."
Gu Changsheng, squatting on the ground, suddenly let out a sigh.
He felt that a game where marbles were simply knocked out of the circle lacked any real challenge.
Thus, on a whim, he decided to increase the difficulty for himself and switch to a new way of playing.
He picked out the prettiest "rudimentary world" from within the circle—one that was entirely emerald green, as if an endless forest were gestating within its core—and solemnly placed it right in the dead center of the circle.
"From now on, you are the 'King,'" Gu Changsheng said to that marble, as if playing a serious role.
Then, he picked a few slightly inferior marbles and arranged them around the "King."
"You guys are the 'Guards.'"
Finally, he placed all the remaining marbles outside the circle.
"And you lot are the 'Invaders.'"
He set a new rule for himself: use the "Invader" marbles from outside the circle to attack the "Guards" and the "King" inside. The ultimate goal was to breach the defense line and knock the "King" out of the circle.
At the same time, however, he felt that this "King" marble was so pretty that if it were knocked out, hit the dirt, and got dirtied, it would be an absolute pity.
A contradictory psychological state—"I must attack it, yet I must protect it from getting dirty"—arose within his heart.
Thus, before starting the game, he muttered yet another phrase.
A heartfelt complaint, uttered purely for the sake of his own gaming experience, utterly trivial and insignificant.
"No matter how I play, this 'King' cannot come to any harm; it's got to stay nice and clean all the time."
The very instant his voice fell.
The "Anchor of Nihility," which was coursing through the River of Destiny and about to touch the origin of the Gu Family's destiny, abruptly stalled.
Its anchor-body, composed of "pure nothingness," seemed to have crashed into an invisible yet absolutely insurmountable wall.
***
No, that was not a wall.
That was a... "rule."
A brand-new "Supreme Iron Law of the Heavenly Dao," newly born yet possessing supreme, overriding priority.
[Rule Content: The target "Gu Family" (perceived by Gu Changsheng as the "King Marble"), its "state of existence" (perceived by Gu Changsheng as "clean and pretty") is protected by the Supreme Will, and cannot be affected by any form of "negative concept" (perceived by Gu Changsheng as "getting dirty").]
The objective of the "Anchor of Nihility" was to pollute the source of the Gu Family's fortune and wither it; in essence, this was a form of ultimate "dirtiness."
Yet Gu Changsheng's casual complaint had unintentionally branded the will of his "progenitor" onto reality, forming an irresistible "Decree of Protection."
The "Anchor of Nihility" was dazed.
As a pure "conceptual weapon," its core logic experienced chaos for the very first time.
Its mission was to execute the command of "nihilifcation."
Yet its target right before it had been defined by a force far superior in priority as "un-nihilifiable."
This was akin to a program receiving the command: "You must delete this undeletable file."
The main body of the "Anchor of Nihility" began to vibrate violently. It frantically battered against that invisible "barrier of rules," attempting to use the powers of "termination" and "deathly silence" contained within itself to wear away that "protective" will.
***
Inside the courtyard.
Gu Changsheng began his own solo "offensive and defensive game."
"Swish!"
He flicked his first "Invader" marble.
That marble accurately crashed into and scattered a "Guards" marble.
Meanwhile, deep within the River of Destiny, one conceptual impact from the "Anchor of Nihility" successfully bypassed a peripheral barrier of destiny protecting the outer perimeter of the Gu Family.
"Swish! Swish!"
Growing absorbed in his game, Gu Changsheng flicked out several more marbles in succession, sending the "Guards" scattering in disarray.
The defense perimeter around the "King" became precarious.