Aphorism: People always like to invent imaginative, "rational" explanations for things that lie beyond their own understanding.
[A once-in-a-century solar eclipse will occur tomorrow morning at 9:09:09...]
"Tch! 'Once-in-a-century'? News reporting really has become sloppy lately," Qin Ping muttered, reaching out to switch off the radio on the wooden table.
He felt indifferent toward the news report. In the end, it was nothing more than an illusion. Compared to such trifles, the slaughter-beasts, phantom demons, and mirror spirits of the Dimension-Lost Realm were the things that truly demanded his attention.
"A solar eclipse! A passing comet! They are nothing but dreams. If they only knew about the Dimension-Lost Realm lurking behind such illusions, I wonder what they would think."
Qin Ping shook his head with a self-deprecating smile, picked up his backpack, and walked outside. The myriad karmic threads of the world were fundamentally illusory—merely projections cast from that Dimension-Lost Realm.
While Qin Ping remained detached, the vast majority of people were bubbling with excitement. As news of the event spread, people rushed to share the word, necks craned in anticipation, all hoping to witness the rare astronomical spectacle with their own eyes. But for the Ten Thousand Great Mountains, a remote and secluded region, all of this was completely unfelt and unknown.
***
In the Ten Thousand Great Mountains, a single glance can span a thousand horizons, yet a thousand steps may not lead you out of a single corner. Across those countless mountain ranges, humanity is as insignificant as ants, scattered throughout this barren land.
Deep within a mountain range, where the air was thick with a primitive aura, sat a village untouched by the outside world. A dozen households were nestled against the mountainside in a loose, natural arrangement. The village sat a thousand feet below the peaks, shrouded in clouds and mist, possessing an ethereal, otherworldly quality.
In a small courtyard at the highest point of the village, two figures stood. A middle-aged man wore an expression of deep anxiety; though the years had left their mark upon his face, he still retained a rugged, masculine intensity. Before him stood an old woman.
The old woman’s frame was hunched, her withered hands gripping a cane as she looked up toward the sky with trembling eyes. The horizon was slowly brewing with a drunken, hazy light. A red sun climbed toward the ridges, shyly hiding itself within a layer of cumulus clouds, revealing only streaks of crimson mist.
"Grandmother! How is Yueru doing?"
"Do not worry. Just wait here; leave the rest to me."
A glimmer of sharp light flashed through the old woman’s clouded eyes. She let out a heavy sigh, then turned and shuffled toward the house.
Was the sun in a fit of pique? Or were the clouds too tender? The dawn, which had been full of vitality moments ago, turned pitch-black in the blink of an eye. Gloomy, water-heavy clouds slowly blanketed the heavens.
It seemed a wind had risen. The wind arrived from nowhere, sweeping through the mountain forests, causing withered leaves to flutter and fall in a flurry.
"Yueru, I only ask that you be safe..."
A single withered leaf danced through the air and landed on the man’s shoulder, but he did not notice.
After a long while, the man slowly gathered his wits. He brushed the leaf from his shoulder, reached out to close the courtyard gate, and walked toward the corridor. Inside the house, waves of a grand anthem of life began to sound, as if bidding farewell to the past while singing of a new beginning.
In the sky, several crows shrieked as they flew by, tearing through the beautiful, wind-swept portrait of falling leaves.
*Hum—*
The air fluctuated. A ripple like water spread rapidly outward. The void shattered, and an inexplicable force spilled out. With the appearance of this spatial rift, the gloomy, thunder-heavy clouds seemed to sense it. In an instant, they pressed down, swallowing the last shred of light in the world.
"Boom!"
"Crack... crack!"
Lightning slashed across the sky like silver dragons challenging the heavens. The pale, ghastly light flickered over the Ten Thousand Great Mountains—a place forgotten by civilization—appearing profoundly mysterious and eerie.
From the spatial rift, a brilliant light shone forth. As the radiance faded, a man in white stood proudly between heaven and earth. He was handsome and refined, radiating an ethereal air like a celestial being descended from the heavens. Upon closer inspection, a faint, sword-shaped mark glowed softly in the center of his forehead, appearing deeply mysterious.
"It seems this realm is indeed the Land of Dharma-Ending."
At the same time, in the vast reaches of the cosmos, a pillar of blood-red light shot out from the depths of Taixu, piercing through billions of galaxies to reflect beyond the Milky Way.
"Hmph! Damn boy, what right do you have to be worthy of our Holy Princess? No matter, I shall erase you completely!"
Amidst the blood-red light, a black cloud flashed across the universe and hung suspended before the vast Milky Way.
"Hahaha! Boy, enjoy your final moment of life!"
A wild, arrogant laugh erupted from within the black cloud. In a flash, the cloud traversed the vast galaxy and arrived before a peculiar star system. This system, centered around a sun, consisted of eight planets, countless asteroids, comets, and various moons—a large and orderly cluster. Among the eight planets, a cerulean globe orbited slowly.
"Do you truly think that by hiding in this transient cage, I would be unable to touch you? Today, I shall let this Blue Planet be your burial shroud!"
*Boom...*
A vast, demonic hand, deep as an abyss, reached out slowly from the rolling black clouds, grabbing toward the blue planet with the posture of a god destroying the world. Wherever it passed, space was crushed into fragments, and cosmic dust was ground into powder. Its terrifying power suggested that it could erase the planet from the sea of stars with a mere flick of a finger.
"How insolent! Demon, this is not a place for you to run wild!"
Just then, an ethereal voice came from the depths of the universe. The voice transformed into the laws of the Great Dao, instantly crossing countless eons to strike heavily against the void-hand.
*Hum—*
At the point of impact, a strange singularity flashed, swallowing and annihilating the terrifying demonic hand in an instant.
"I have no intention of interfering in your karma, but should you attempt this act of world-destruction, I shall personally step in and wipe you from existence!"
Everything returned to silence, save for the lingering celestial voice, which resonated through the universe like the chanting of the Great Dao. The black cloud churned violently, as if a monstrous demonic power were about to erupt, but after a moment, it gradually settled. The fact that a single, intimidating sound could annihilate that void-hand showed how terrifying this existence was. To strike rashly would surely lead to a loss.
But that did not mean there were no other ways.
"Does that mean as long as I do not disrupt the normal operation of this star system, I am free to settle the karma within it?"
"Indeed... The remnants of the Heavenly Dao remain, and the laws are indestructible. As long as you do not attempt an act of annihilation, all things may proceed..."
Hearing this definitive answer, the aura of the black cloud gradually withdrew.
"Hmph! Boy, wash your neck clean and wait for me to slaughter you!"
A cold snort came from within the black cloud, and then, the cloud descended toward the blue planet.
***
The karmic threads of the world are complex and intricate, yet they exist within a peculiar chain reaction. What seems untraceable is, in reality, balanced by a myriad of karmic laws.