บท 347: The Rulers and purpose.
Liang Chen spat out another heavy breath after the last few threads of Lao Ye's existence faded from the world, his face turning pale as he stumbled. The fire of Purgatory had faded after they went to the Void, but the act of opening and closing such a massive gate still placed a heavy toll on him, it would never have worked if he hadn't incorporated it into the Sixth Step.
"Haah... I'm glad it hurts."
He rubbed his chest somewhat weakly, muttering to himself. Talking with him had allowed him to understand Lao Ye, where he came from, who he was, what he sought. And because he understood him, it hurt a little to kill him. He was like Liang Chen, rooted in good intentions but twisted by wrath to take the wrong path.
Was he a bad person, was he a good person? Liang Chen could not give a final answer to that question, the best he could say was that he could not accept the path Lao Ye had chosen, so they fought and they killed. But it didn't feel great, it was sour and bitter. And that was good, he was happy that he could feel that. Should there ever come a day where he didn't feel like that after killing someone like Lao Ye, what would he have become then? Would he still be Liang Chen, would he still be walking the path he wanted?
"The lament of a loss that was never avenged... You got that one wrong, Lao Ye."
He muttered again as he sat down, regulating his breathing to calm his pounding heart. Lao Ye said that his was the wrath that the heavens didn't deliver, his lamentation was the loss that was never avenged, that was how Lao Ye saw Liang Chen. But was that really correct? The wrath part was certainly correct, but was Liang Chen's sorrow that of a loss never avenged?
At the very least, he didn't think so. His wrath may stem from that, but he couldn't honestly say that it was his sorrow. Truthfully, he had never really thought about that part, the sorrow that came with wrath. He just acted, he moved and he struck, never giving himself time to think about it. The source of his lamentation, the bitter sensation in his chest, he had no word he could give it, no meaning.
"Perhaps it would have been easier if you were just an unforgivable murderer."
He really would have looked a bit laughable to someone just looking in from the outside, pallid and breathing heavily as he continuously muttered to himself. But then again, if they had seen the battle then they probably wouldn't have dared to laugh at him. Liang spat out another breath and tossed all thoughts to the back of his mind, he knew what he had to focus on first.
"Alright, let's rest a bit first."
Purgatory was waiting for him below, but he didn't think that his current state was appropriate for meeting it. His energy was mostly drained and his mind was rather exhausted from the strain of the battle, the sheer speed at which his thoughts needed to flow was far too tiring. So he closed his eyes and just sat there, his hands placed on the ground as he used them for support and leaned back.
The scent of blood. It filled every inch of this cradle, it hung in the air and it festered in the ground. But right here and now, that scent eluded him. What hung in the air was instead the scent of moist earth and the bitter scent of herbs, a faint note of floral scent just barely clinging to life. Compared to everywhere else in this land it was paradise, the little slice of land Lao Ye had carved for himself.
But soon, even this paradise would vanish. This land, this cradle, it would lose its purpose once Liang Chen achieved his goal. The bloody scent, the twisted rules that governed this land, he would crush them all and erase them. It was a place that shouldn't exist, a place he couldn't accept, and now he could finally get rid of it.
He didn't bother keeping track of time as he rested, a concept that was a bit strange for a being that was literally made up of time. As such, he had no idea how much time had passed when he opened his eyes again and stood up, stretching his body.
"Hm?"
He was just stretching his body when he suddenly stopped, his hand unconsciously landing on his chest. He felt something there, but it wasn't the bitter feeling from earlier. He felt like there was a touch of energy within him that didn't belong to him, but it didn't feel like energy that someone had sent into him either. It felt like it was waiting for something, an order, a purpose. But above all, it felt a bit familiar. Very faint, but still familiar.
He sank his mind into his own body and located the energy, or at least where he could feel it, but it wasn't there. He could feel it, but he couldn't see it, not even sending some of his restored energy to wash over it allowed him to detect it. His brows furrowed slightly and his mind wandered forward, touching upon the spot where the energy was supposed to be. And as he did, a slight warping sensation washed over his body, the scent of the land vanishing.
He hurriedly pulled his mind out from his body, but it was already too late, he had vanished from the cradle. But he hadn't arrived in an unfamiliar land, he was actually very familiar with where he had ended up. White earth, grey grass, maple-like trees, this was his domain.
But he hadn't brought out his domain so it shouldn't be present. Even stranger was the land beyond his domain, separated from it by what appeared to be a translucent bubble. The wasteland of the Void stretched out beyond his domain, making it all too clear to him that he had ended up in the Void thanks to that energy.
"This...hmm..."
He had no idea why the energy had sent him here, or why his domain was present in the Void. A domain was something formed when you used your laws to alter the world around you to a state better suited for you, the alteration would grow stronger all the way until your domain became a real world. But his domain should not have reached that stage yet, and even if it did, it shouldn't have appeared inside the Void like this.
It was a strange situation, but Liang Chen wasn't planning on pondering it too much. Not only was he an extremely unusual creature, but one of the laws merged into his domain was the Void, it would have been stranger if things continued on as normal. As such, rather than spend time pondering that, he put his focus on the other strange thing he saw around him.
The translucent bubble covering his domain, it was covered in small runes that were tightly packed together. They were clearly not natural constructs, he could see humanoid Voidborns drawing them onto the bubble as he stood there. They surrounded the domain from all sides as they worked, each little rune putting an additional bit of pressure on the domain.
But Liang Chen could instinctively feel that it wouldn't be enough. They could cover the entire bubble in runes but it wouldn't be enough, they wouldn't be able to break or crack it, the best they could do was lock it in place. As for why they wanted to do that, he guessed that it was probably because they had no idea what this land was. But how could they know? This was his land, his little slice of the world. Here, he was king, here, he was god. As long as he rejected them, no one could enter.
"Ah? Ah! We greet the Elder Deity!"
A voice cut through the bubble, a slight tremble in its tone. Liang Chen followed it, his gaze landing on a Voidborn that had spotted him. The Voidborn had already dropped to his knees and lowered his head, halting whatever it was that he had been doing. His voice had also reached the others, their attention landing on Liang Chen. They immediately halted what they were doing and knelt down, lowering their heads in reverence.
It was reminiscent of the first time Liang Chen had entered the Void, how they had knelt and sung him a hymn. But this time he was close enough to actually hear their words. He wasn't immediately sure how he should react, but the sound of something cutting through the air drew his attention before he came to a decision.
A youth was flying over at extreme speed, his grey eyes gleaming darkly while his green hair fluttered wildly. He landed a short distance away from the domain, his feet digging small trenches in the sand as he slid forward, he had clearly rushed a bit too quickly to get here. The Voidborn with lowered heads immediately noticed him, turning their bodies slightly as they greeted.
"We greet the Younger Deity!"
The youth's expression twisted into a grimace as the Voidborn greeted him, the veins on his temple bulging for a second. He stretched his arm towards the man who greeted him first, his palm looming over his head. His veins bulged slightly from anger, but to Liang Chen's surprise, he only gave the Voidborn a relatively light hit on the head.
"Wrong! He is a fake Ruler, he does not deserve the Deity title."
The youth's voice was dark and slightly hoarse, repressed anger gathering in his throat. He raised his head and locked eyes with Liang Chen, grey and golden meeting as they looked at each other. Liang Chen instantly realized it, understood it instinctively. This youth was the current Ruler of the void, he was the Voidborn Ruler that Chen Daoge and the others had mentioned when Liang Chen first melted into the void. And clearly, the youth also knew who he was.
"Fake Ruler, I am Kongxu Zhuren, I am the true Ruler of the Void, its soul and heart."
Kongxu Zhuren took the initiative to introduce himself, walking right up to the translucent bubble. He placed his hand on it and pushed, but he was rejected just like the other Voidborn, gritting his teeth slightly. Liang Chen allowed his gaze to slide across Zhuren for a bit, eventually tilting his head slightly.
"Okay. And?"
Liang Chen didn't introduce himself straight away, he was a bit caught off-guard by Zhuren's over the top introduction. Would it not have been enough to just give his name if he wanted to introduce himself?
"And? Is that all you have to say? You try to take my duty and life from me and the best you can muster is 'And?'"
Another vein popped up on Zhuren's temple as he practically forced the words through his grit teeth, he looked as if he would bite into Liang Chen's throat if they weren't separated by the bubble. But his words only dumbfounded Liang Chen. Had he perhaps misunderstood something along the way?
"Your duty, your life? Kongxu Zhuren, I don't even know you, why would I have any interest in things like that?"
Yes, Liang Chen had learned about the fact that there was a Voidborn Ruler present in the Void, but that was it. He didn't know their name or how they looked, until now at least, so he had never formed a single thought about them or how he should treat them. If they were innocent then he would protect them, if they were sinners then he would kill them, that was all. Now it was Zhuren's time to be a bit dumbfounded, his lips parting slightly.
"You... do you not have the law of the Void?"
The law of the Void was special, it was reserved for Voidborn Rulers, at least as far as Liang Chen was aware. Even he had only acquired his through coincidence after coincidence stacking on top of each other. Zhuren obviously already knew about Liang Chen's law of the void so he simply nodded his head, Zhuren's expression hardening slightly when Liang Chen confirmed what he already knew.
"To have the law of the Void is to be the incarnation of the Void, its heart and soul, its ruler. But the Void only needs one ruler, that's why it only ever births one. But now there are two, you and me. A ruler that can't rule, what purpose is there in an existence like that, what reason is there behind the birth of such a creature? I can see it in your eyes, you are not a purposeless being. So you must seek to rule, that is the purpose of a Ruler. But I will not allow you to take over the reason behind my birth, my purpose."
Voidborn Ruler, their purpose was in their name. They ruled the Void, the great expanse without end. And there was only ever one, because the void, despite its eternal vastness, only ever needed a single ruler. But thanks to the anomaly that was Liang Chen, there were now two, an older and one younger. But what reason did the younger have to exist if the older already existed, what sort of purpose could an existence like that have?
Kongxu Zhuren was not born for no reason, he refused to believe that. He had his purpose, he had to rule and restore the Void, that was the purpose he was born for. His thoughts were emblazoned in his eyes, his pupils burning with something akin to desperation. And so, Liang Chen understood.
"Purpose, reason? It seems like you think needlessly highly of life, of the world. Kongxu Zhuren, people aren't born with a purpose, they aren't born for a reason. They are just born, there's no rhyme or reason to it. Purpose, Reason, they are things you find yourself, things you decide yourself."
Liang Chen's path, the bloodsoaked road he had decided to walk, he wasn't born to walk that, he wasn't born to punish sinners. He chose to step onto that path, he chose that purpose and reason for himself, that was all there was to it, just the thoughts of a single child.
"You want to believe that you're born for the purpose of ruling the Void? That's fine, go for it. But don't push that delusion onto me, don't spin a tale in your head just to fit your worldview. You're right, I do have a purpose. But I picked that purpose, I didn't get it just because I got the law of the Void, I picked my purpose long before I got that law. So go ahead, you can rule the Void all you want, I have no desire to do so. I protect the innocent and punish sinners, be they man, beast, or Voidborn, no more, no less."
Liang Chen didn't want to get into a needless conflict with Zhuren just because he had deluded himself into believing something was true so he made things clear right away. He had no desire to rule the Void, he had no desire to rule anything for that matter. He simply punished sinners and protected the innocent, wherever they may be and whoever they may be.
Kongxu Zhuren still stood there looking dumbfounded, perhaps even more so now that Liang Chen had finished talking. He looked confused, be it because he couldn't understand what Liang Chen was trying to convey or because he had never thought about it before. Whatever the case was, it had nothing to do with Liang Chen, things would only have anything to do with Liang Chen once Zhuren started going too far.
Seeing that Zhuren seemed too dumbfounded to respond, and since he had nothing more to say, Liang Chen turned around and walked away. The energy he had felt, the energy that brought him here, he could still feel it. But now he didn't feel it in his body, now he felt it in his domain. It was here somewhere, waiting for him.
Zhuren seemed to call out to him a bit after he started to walk about but Liang Chen couldn't hear him properly, he had probably stuttered somewhat. As such, he simply ignored him and continued on, quickly reaching the energy, which was floating harmlessly in the air.
It was only light blue in colour, but compared to the white earth and grey grass it was basically blindingly colourful. It bobbed slightly as Liang Chen reached it, like a puppy eagerly awaiting its command. Perhaps it was because he was now inside his domain, or rather the actual location of his domain, but he understood what it was waiting for.
It wanted to be used, it wanted to be born. It was energy so it had no form, but it needed a form. Liang Chen had brought it here, brought it into his world, now he needed to add it to his world. And he understood. This was his domain, his world. Here he was king, here he was god.
He also understood where the energy had come from, or rather, why it had ended up here. Lao Ye had died to the law of the void, his existence had been erased. And where did things go when they were erased? The Void, the inevitable end of all things. But Lao Ye hadn't just died to any void, he had died to Liang Chen's void.
And as such, he went to Liang Chen's void, he became the energy that facilitated its growth, its change. And who was the one that decided how this void should grow, how it should change? There was only one man who could decide that.
"...It may not be the mineral-rich water you said was best for them, but it should be fine for one or two, no?"
Liang Chen came to his decision after a short moment, muttering to himself. He stretched out a hand and touched the energy, he only had to imagine the change he wanted to take place and the energy would make it happen. So he imagined, he envisioned the scene, and the energy obeyed.
It sank to the ground, seeping into it like water as it stretched out. The white earth started to tremble slightly and pull apart, a ditch forming in front of Liang Chen. The ditch split the entire domain in half, going from one end to the other in a meandering manner. And then it started to fill, clear blue water pippling up from the ground to fill it.
Before long, a clear stream had formed in the domain, the water moving slowly thanks to an underground river that kept it circulating. An additional colour had been added to the domain, a colour the void had not seen for many years already. Liang Chen swiped his interspatial ring and took out some of the seeds that had been in Lao Ye's interspatial ring.
He crouched down and stuck them into the ground next to the stream, using his finger to dig them into the earth so that they would have enough space to grow. This was his world, if he wanted some plants to be able to survive here then they would be able to do just that, even if this was technically inside the Void.
"There, you nurture them, it's the least you can do after taking away so many lives."
It was incredibly small, just a few flowers right now. But it was still new life, and the least Lao Ye's energy could do after causing so much death was nurture these small new lives.
Liang Chen stood up again, his gaze drifting along the newborn stream. He wasn't quite sure what to make of this, it wasn't every day you suddenly found yourself the lord of a new domain like this. For example, what if everything he destroyed with the law of void became energy like this, would he have to come here all the time to decide what it should become?
Luckily, he had plenty of time. He didn't need to figure out everything right away, he didn't need to understand everything right away. He had time, he could take things one step at a time. And right now, the step he was going to take wasn't here.
He tapped into the law of the void, a rift forming at his side. He could see the familiar landscape of the mausoleum beyond the rift, a single step taking him out of the Void and back into Purgatory's Cradle. He didn't even cast a second glance at the distant Zhuren, who still stood there with a somewhat confused expression on his face.
The rift closed again behind Liang Chen, but he could feel it more clearly now than ever before. That void, that world of his, he could enter it whenever he wanted. That was his void, it had been within him ever since he became the void, but that was precisely why he hadn't noticed it until there was a change in it. Just like you didn't normally feel your liver until something was different, he hadn't felt that void until something was different.
Liang Chen put away the thoughts of Zhuren and the void, storing them in the back of his mind so that they wouldn't slip him. He then turned his attention towards the corner of the mausoleum, towards that patch of land that Lao Ye had pointed out in his final moments. It had been long enough, or at least felt like long enough, it was finally time to meet the entity, the energy, that had twisted this land.
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