The Scholar Qi in the hall formed into four giant characters in the air, glowing gold,
Benevolence, Righteousness, Propriety, Wisdom.
"When these four stand together, the world is in order. When you only have killing, you are no different from the nether races you hate."
Lei Zhen's legs gave out. He fell to one knee, his head bowed low, his fists unclenched for the first time in ten thousand years.
"Your Highness... this Lei Zhen... was reckless. I only knew how to swing my fist. I... I understand now."
Huai waved his sleeve, and the overwhelming Scholar Qi gently receded back into his body, like a tide returning to the sea. The hall became normal again.
He looked at both of them — the monk who had learned to kill, and the warrior who had learned to show mercy.
"Good," Huai said simply. "Now you are both finally useful."
The moment Huai finished speaking, the hall went still.
Then suddenly something happened,
Weng ! Weng !
Behind Huai, the air itself split open.
A huge Yin and Yang circle, a Tai Chi, slowly appeared behind his back. It was not drawn by spiritual power. It was not a technique. It turned by itself, black and white flowing into each other, endless, perfect.
The moment it appeared, the entire Jade Serenity Palace groaned. The laws of this lower plane trembled.
Su Qingyan shot to her feet. Bai Liuli stood up instantly, her eyes wide. Jing Kong's prayer beads snapped in his hand. Lei Zhen stumbled back a step, his face pale.
Even Wuhe, an apex Immortal Sovereign stood up from his throne, his expression finally changing into reverence towards his boyfriend...
Because this wasn't power.
This was the Truth of the Universe.
The Tai Chi turned once, and everyone in the hall heard it, not with their ears, but with their souls. The sound of the Dao resonating.
Huai stood in front of it, his hands still behind his back, his scholar robes not moving at all. The black half of the circle reflected Jing Kong's new understanding — mercy must have a sword. The white half reflected Lei Zhen's new understanding — the sword must have mercy.
Two completely opposite mindsets, two extreme paths, and Huai had just balanced them with a few words.
The universe was acknowledging him.
The Tai Chi spun faster, and beams of black and white light fell down and entered Jing Kong and Lei Zhen's foreheads. Both of them shook violently.
Jing Kong, the monk who had refused to kill for ten thousand years, suddenly felt killing intent that was pure and righteous — not for hate, but for protection. His Buddhist golden light, which had always been soft, now had a sharp edge like a blade.
Lei Zhen, the butcher who had only known killing, suddenly felt a warm, benevolent heart grow in his chest. His violent purple lightning, which had always destroyed, now had a gentle thread of life inside it.
They had both received a trace of the Dao.
Bai Liuli fell to her knees, her voice shaking. "The... the Great Dao resonance... only when someone speaks the truth that aligns with the origin of the universe..."
Su Qingyan couldn't even speak. Tears were streaming down her face without her knowing why. She just felt like she was witnessing a god lecturing...
Wuhe stared at the massive Tai Chi behind Huai, and a soft, helpless smile spread across his usually cold face. He just looked at him like he was the only person in the hall.
He leaned forward slightly and said it so quietly only Huai could hear it, his voice low and warm...
"There you go again... making the whole universe fall for you."
He let out a soft sigh, his eyes never leaving him.
"...sigh. At this rate, my competition is going to be the entire universe."
Huai turned his head just slightly, and their eyes met. The terrifying Yin-Yang that made Immortal Lords kneel seemed to soften for just a second.
Huai didn't look back at the Tai Chi. He just looked at the four Immortal Lords kneeling before him.
"The Dao is balance," he said quietly, and the Tai Chi turned with his words. "Yin alone cannot live. Yang alone cannot grow. Killing alone is destruction. Mercy alone is suicide. Only when they move together , that is the way of the universe."
The Tai Chi gave one final, slow turn.
Weng!
Indicating the truth of his words...
and then faded into Huai's back, disappearing as if it had never been there.
But everyone in the hall knew, the universe had just recorded this moment as a teaching from someone great...
The Tai Chi did not fade after leaving Huai's back.
It rose, it expanded, and then it manifested across the entire human plane.
A single, impossibly huge Tai Chi, as wide as the human territory itself, began to turn slowly above the sky. Half Black as ink, half white as snow, yin chasing yang endlessly. Wherever there were humans, they could see it.
Inside five different galaxies, the five strongest Galaxy Sovereigns of humanity stood alone in their holy lands — Nexus, Anastasia, Lao Xuanji, Marcus, and Isabela. They had all just returned from fighting the Nether Shadow Race a few days ago. Every one of their galaxies had been invaded. Their robes were still stained, their auras still weak from healing.
They all looked up at the same time.
Outside the main hall of the Jade Serenity Palace, Mei Ling stood frozen, her hand over her mouth as she stared at the sky in horror.
Across the other galaxies, the rest of humanity's Galaxy Sovereigns Li Beichen, Zhao Tianfeng, Elena, Sophia, David, Rafael, Sofia Ansari, and Chen Haoran all stopped what they were doing and lifted their heads. Every eye was locked on the circle above.
Lao Xuanji, the oldest among them, felt his ancient heart pound. He murmured to himself, his voice shaking, "Is this... a resonance from the universe? The Dao resonance!"
His eyes widened in shock. He had read about it in the most ancient books and even saw it with his own eyes once, but it had never happened in his lifetime after the ancient war tens of thousands of years ago.
It had only happened once before, in a distant past long before Nexus was even born, when the human territory was still overseen by many ancient powerhouses.
He remembered that era clearly. There was a particular human then who was more powerful than anyone they knew. Even mythical beasts bowed their heads to him. Only he could make the universe itself resonate with his Dao.
The same memory flashed through the minds of Isabela, Marcus, and Anastasia at that exact moment. They were ancient powerhouses too. They also knew the horror of that man...
All four of them had the same single question burning in their heads, 'Who is it that can resonate with the universal Dao this time?'
Only three people already knew the answer — Nexus, Li Beichen, and Mei Ling.
And they were right.
From the Jade Serenity Palace to the outermost barrier of human territory, the ground trembled. Rivers paused for a breath. The sky, which had been clear, darkened as the resonance of the Dao spread.
High above the human territory, the Tai Chi the size of the entire plane turned into full existence. Yin and Yang flowed into each other without end.
And then something happened that made the powerhouses shiver all over.
Four ancient beings Lao Xuanji, Anastasia, Isabela, and Marcus heard a voice they had not heard for at least tens of thousands of years. It was the same voice. The voice of that person...their eyes became wide in horror.
Nexus, Mei Ling, and Li Beichen looked up and smiled toward the sky. They knew it now for certain. It was done by His Highness Huai.
Huai's own voice, calm and clear, repeated his words to all of humanity. The voice echoed in every ear, human and beast, cultivator and mortal, as if it was ringing directly in their souls:
"Yin alone cannot live. Yang alone cannot grow. Killing alone is destruction, while mercy alone is suicide. Only when they move together, that is the way of the universe."
His words turned into a vast scripture in the sky.
Across the world, scholars felt their meridians boil. A surge of righteous qi flooded their hearts. Their scholar powers became more refined, more terrifying, more upright than ever before.
They fell to their knees, crying toward the heavens, "The true scholar has returned to the world! Now we scholars can finally receive teaching from the true scholar! A saint! He is a living saint!"
The Dao reverberated again.
Weng!
This time, every Buddhist felt their heart turn cold for a second. A clean, chilling killing intent appeared alongside their compassion, and with it, their Buddhist heart became firmer than ever. Their golden Buddhist light glowed brighter and brighter, and the true power of Buddhism returned to the world.
One old monk began chanting with tears on his face, "Amitabha! Amitabha! The true Buddha has returned to the world! Now Buddhism will flourish!"
Another shouted, "Thank you, Buddha, for teaching us!"
"We were wrong," a temple abbot cried out. "If to save the many we must carry karma on our own heads, then we old monks will do it! We will burn in hell to save the majority!"
"Amitabha! Amitabha!"
The chanting of Buddhists and the righteous aura of scholars rose together, growing stronger and stronger, intertwining in the sky beneath the turning Tai Chi.
Then the Tai Chi gave one final, great sound.
Weng!
With that last note, it shattered into countless specks of black and white light. The dust fell like rain over the entire human plane, sinking into the earth, into rivers, into the bodies of cultivators, and then it was gone, as if it had never existed at all.
But everyone knew , the dao acknowledged it's master today...
Lao Xuanji looked down at his own hand and saw it was trembling. Not from injury. From fear.
The same thing was happening to the other three. Anastasia's fingers were clenched tight around her staff. Marcus's sword aura flickered uncontrollably. Isabela had both hands pressed together, but they wouldn't stop shaking.
Without a word, the four of them vanished from their galaxies.
In the next instant, they appeared together in the deepest part of the Human Federation Headquarters, in a sealed chamber that hadn't been opened for twenty thousand years.
The moment his feet touched the floor, Lao Xuanji threw his head back and started laughing loudly, his old voice echoing off the walls.
"Hahahaha! Anastasia! Marcus! Isabela! He's back! He actually came back!"