Chapter Forty-Four: Serenity Unbound

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The two-legged one looked over: “What are you two doing? I feel like you’ve been standing there for a century! Why did that white lion bite me? Didn’t you go to call for reinforcements? Why is it still chasing me?”

“Only ten seconds have passed! I’m timing it precisely!” Shang Luo kept track. When he had been communicating with Apollonia earlier, they exchanged information mentally, so their conversation was incredibly fast. A few hundred words could be conveyed in just ten seconds.

“Ten seconds? Do you know how I managed to get here in those ten seconds? That lion runs even faster than my master! I can’t hold on much longer! Make it stop!”

“Lolo!” Shang Luo called out, and only then did the white lion halt. The Sun God’s Spear still rested in its mouth, and its face was twisted with the ferocity of a wild beast as it turned its head.

Seeing the familiar face of Shang Luo, the lion’s expression softened slightly. It tossed aside Wenyuan and strode toward them, its gaze fixed intently on him, rigid at a fixed height. All four paws were tiptoeing in a manner almost like a cat’s stealthy walk. This was a common posture among big and small cats preparing to attack.

[It’s very angry; it thinks you’ve deceived it. It’s come to settle the score with you, but it still has some patience. It intends to hear your explanation before biting again.]

“Lolo! Calm down first! Can you understand me? If you’re willing to listen, just stand there and wait!”

He still wasn’t sure how much the lion could comprehend. Faer Tong was a demigod, a divine child. A demigod’s pet should have some humanlike traits, not just be a simple beast.

Previously, the lion named Lolo had pried open a car door by itself and fetched items, and it knew to guard its master’s belongings. Its obedience surpassed many dogs, far beyond the average husky.

But obedience doesn’t equal intelligence. He wasn’t certain if the lion really understood his words—

Lolo stopped. Its brow furrowed deeply, as if pondering.

Now Shang Luo could be certain: this creature could indeed understand. Ordinary lions would never display such rich expressions.

After a moment’s thought, Lolo resumed walking toward them, but its neck “lock” was released, and all four paws touched the ground.

“Phew...” Having cared for cats before, Shang Luo knew this big, big, big cat at least didn’t regard him as prey now and wouldn’t pounce at any moment.

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“So this lion is... her lion?” Wenyuan, who approached cautiously, still felt a lingering fear. “I’m telling you, this lion is definitely no ordinary beast! A regular lion couldn’t grow this large or run this fast!”

“I know. It also holds grudges. So what exactly happened? Why is everything black?”

“That’s a long story... no, it’s not really long. Follow me. Just ahead at the T-junction, near the elevator. Be careful where you step. Although it’s dark here, we’re still in that basement. Just hold onto the left wall and follow behind me. Don’t mind if I disappear—that’s because I’m turning a corner. As for the lion...”

He glanced at the lion, then at Shang Luo. “It understands me, right? It must be a spirit beast.”

“It understands, but it may not want to... No problem, it followed, so it’s willing.”

Two beings with two legs each, one with four legs, and one without legs—a total of four “people” with eight legs—groped their way through the boundless darkness. They were indeed still in that basement. They could even feel closed doors nearby, occasionally kicking something soft underfoot. But all the light had been absorbed, so nothing was visible.

Only these four still retained any light.

“We’re here. This is it. She’s already become like this.” Wenyuan steadied himself against a corner in the dark and pointed toward an even darker area.

Shang Luo stepped behind him and saw the culprit—

A life-sized stone statue stood at the T-junction. The statue had three faces, each facing one branch of the junction. Each face held a torch high in its right hand, while the left hands held a book, a dagger, and a rope, respectively.

Shang Luo also noticed another light source: at the hallway’s end, the wall bore scorch marks from lightning strikes, with electric flashes still flickering in the darkness. That light had not yet been absorbed.

“This is Faer Tong?”

“Yes,” Wenyuan nodded. “Here’s what happened—I used a talisman to cast the ‘Five Thunders Striking the Head’ divine curse. The talisman was personally made by the Dao Ancestor. Even a novice like me could unleash the power of the Golden Core stage Five Thunder technique. That’s why she was struck down like this.”

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“What happened afterward?”

“After that, I just stood here. It was pitch black, so I didn’t dare wander around and waited right where I was for you to return. After a short while, I saw a golden light flash past the corner. I thought it was reinforcements, but that guy, as soon as he saw me, chased me down and bit me! Like I’d killed his father or something!”

“Hey, hey, calm down! It can understand, you know! Mr. Lolo, you too...” He turned to grab hold of the irritable lion, but Lolo ignored him. Seeing the statue again, it silently approached and crouched beside it, just like before.

“It recognized her.” Shang Luo shook his head. “But honestly, I haven’t recognized her yet. Is this really Faer Tong? She doesn’t look like it at all.”

“I saw her become like this with my own eyes, or else I wouldn’t believe it.”

[Ah... indeed. She has already descended deep into the path of entropy. This is the form of the Tri-faced goddess Hecate—the ‘Fate and Decay’ deity, the night goddess from ancient Greek mythology. Her statues are placed at crossroads, overseeing luck, night, souls, witchcraft, and the dead. She has completely fallen into the abyss of entropy’s path. In other words, she has merged with the Dao. The god of fate and decay is essentially the god of entropy.]

Shang Luo shared this information.

“Merged with the Dao? Ah, so that’s what it means.” Wenyuan seemed to understand first. “The ultimate goal of cultivation is to refine emptiness and merge with the Dao, becoming one with the universe, indistinguishable from it. Achieving the state of ‘I am the world, and the world is me’ is the pinnacle. But that alone is meaningless, because being everywhere means being nowhere. The key to merging with the Dao is to maintain the ‘I’—only then can one attain true freedom and transcendence, becoming a saint within the Dao.”

“So she...”

“Has all turned into stone. This is obviously no freedom at all. When one’s realm is insufficient and one suddenly merges with the Dao, this is what happens. The sun, moon, stars, mountains, and rivers are all Dao. But do you want to become a mountain, fixed and immovable? How pitiful... so pitiful. The worst part is, she’s not only pitiful herself but dragging us down with her. We have to find a way out; we can’t turn into stone here with her. Also, we need to retrieve your opportunity. This chance can lead straight to Dao merging, the supreme Dao foundation. It’s just that the elixir hasn’t found its rightful owner yet. Get it out and keep it safe; take it when the time is right. Remember to share some of your Mixed Origin Dao fruit with me once you become a saint—I want to try the delicacy.]

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