Chapter 455

The World-Crossing Treasure Ship sliced through the deathly stillness of the chaos. The trail of laws left by its stern, like a solidified galaxy, extended slowly beneath the dilapidated canopy of the Primordial World. On the deck, the seven dark-gold aphorisms reading "Only those who haven't boarded may cross" radiated the Dao Charm of a paradox. That track, infused with the remnant soul of Laozi’s Evil Corpse, stood out like a dark, subtly tainted scar against the new firmament. On the desolate island in the canyon, the True Form of the Black Tortoise hovered, its feet yet to touch the ground, its turtle-and-snake eyes darting in suspicion between the treasure ship, Luohou, and the tragic scene below where the life force of all living beings was being consumed. Luohou, in his youthful form, stood upon the Lotus Platform, the Finger Bone of the Genesis Primordial Spirit swirling with ghostly light at his fingertips. His narrow eyes were fixed on the treasure ship—now marked by the "Law of the Stain"—his cold face frozen in a silent, hysterical laugh at having perceived such absurdity. At the very peak of this absurdity, this standoff, and the oppression caused by the constant burning of life force to sustain the Black Tortoise's manifestation— "Hum..."