Chapter 4792: Sudden Enlightenment
The Language‑God Universe shook without pause.
For the universe as well, the power of annihilation was an overwhelming catastrophe; especially now that no universal power was present to harmonize it, the massive influx of annihilation power would cause the universe to shatter.
Only a Nine‑Cycle universe could barely withstand the invasion of annihilation power, which was precisely why the Language‑God Universe had to be raised to Nine Cycles before this bout of courting death could even begin.
The annihilation power exploded, turning a region into a dead zone.
This place became a Forbidden Zone of Life within the Language‑God Universe.
The Hongmeng Purple Flame wrapped this region, turning into a sea of fire, dissolving the power of annihilation and confining it within.
The Hongmeng Gem swung the Calamity Scepter.
The Boundary Gem and Balance Gem flared at the same time.
The Boundary Gem transformed the sea of flame into a separate realm, helping the Hongmeng Purple Flame stabilize this area.
At the edge of the sea of flames, the Balance Gem equalized the annihilation power and the Hongmeng Purple Flame, further reducing the pressure on the Hongmeng Purple Flame.
Lin Moyu stood at the center.
At the instant the annihilation power erupted, he had already fallen.
The formation he had laid remained unyielding under the impact of annihilation power.
The consciousness housed within the formation likewise did not perish.
The eyes within the formation stared unblinkingly at the location where he had died.
There, purple light flickered as rebirth quietly began.
His body and soul were reborn.
Yet as soon as rebirth began, they were erased again by annihilation power, and so the cycle repeated over and over.
Lin Moyu's formation was strong enough to hold out for one hour under the continual onslaught of annihilation power, far surpassing the ten seconds he had once been capable of.
One hour was enough for Lin Moyu to die tens of thousands of times and be reborn tens of thousands of times, and from this he could observe many things.
"The body dies slightly faster than the soul.
"This 'slightly' may only be one ten‑thousandth of a second.
"The difference is minuscule; without careful observation it is impossible to notice."
"My body may be strong, but compared to my soul it is far inferior.
"So why, under annihilation power, is the difference between their demise so small?
"That should not be the case."
Though body and soul were one, there was indeed a distinction between them; a powerful soul could completely exist independently.
Annihilation power might be terrifying, yet with such a vast gap in strength between the two, it should have produced a much greater difference in how they were destroyed.
"Could it be that my soul is still not strong enough, or is there some other mystery hidden here?"
This unexpected discovery stirred up countless doubts in Lin Moyu's heart.
He faintly sensed that understanding this point might be the key to finding the Void of the Flesh.
The annihilation power continued unceasingly, and rebirth continued unceasingly.
Lin Moyu observed carefully, studying the differences within.
Soon the five‑hundredth rebirth arrived, and both flesh and soul began to change.
Though his soul had already reached the level of a supreme expert, it still had not reached the absolute pinnacle; even among supreme experts there were degrees of strength and weakness.
In this bout of courting death, even if he failed to grasp the Void of the Flesh, he would push both body and soul to the peak.
Even if he could not attain the Dao in a perfect posture, he had to do so in a posture as close to perfection as possible.
He could step back, but even that single step back would be a height others could hardly dream of reaching.
His body and soul continued to grow stronger through each rebirth, as though there was no end.
An hour quickly passed.
Cracks appeared in the formation, and it was on the verge of collapse.
At that moment, the Hongmeng Purple Flame suddenly pulsed violently and temporarily ceased guiding more annihilation power inside.
Lin Moyu underwent several more cycles of rebirth, exhausting the remaining annihilation power.
He then quickly laid down a new formation, shifted his consciousness into it, and continued repeating the previous process.
Rebirth continued without end, once after another.
The process looked exceedingly monotonous, but for Lin Moyu it was anything but.
To personally watch himself grow stronger bit by bit—this feeling was exceedingly wondrous.
Even if he failed to find the secret of the Void of the Flesh, this was still an extraordinarily interesting journey.
Rebirth went on and on.
Lin Moyu still did not discover the secret of the Void of the Flesh, but instead he heard a sound—a single word:
Hungry!
It came from the deepest part of his soul, from those soul particles themselves.
As his soul continued to grow stronger, the soul particles once again became hungry.
They had been hungry once at the very beginning.
After that, as they absorbed the universal power together with the Language‑God Universe, they had not exactly been full, but at least they had never cried out in hunger again.
Yet now they were hungry once more, and the intense hunger seeped into his consciousness; Lin Moyu could only grit his teeth and endure.
These soul particles could consume even more than a universe.
Even an entire Nine‑Cycle universe would not be enough to feed them their fill.
Fortunately, no matter how hungry they became, it was at most only uncomfortable and would not affect his rebirth.
This bout of courting death, in both number of cycles and overall effect, surpassed every attempt he had made in the past.
In just half a day, his body and soul had already increased in strength by several times.
Lin Moyu was certain that his soul had far exceeded that of an ordinary supreme expert.
Even an existence like Emperor Po Cang, hailed as the number one strongman, would at best be on par with him, and yet even so, Lin Moyu still had not touched the true limit of a supreme expert.
Emperor Po Cang was known as the foremost expert, but he was still only a supreme expert who had emerged from a Six‑Cycle universe.
By contrast, Lin Moyu was about to achieve the Dao in a Nine‑Cycle universe, so it was only normal to be stronger still.
He was treading the path toward the true summit of supreme experts, becoming the very pinnacle of supremacy and thereby qualifying to take the next step.
The next step might well be to become the Hongmeng Heavenly Venerable that had never once appeared in this era of Great Annihilation.
His body and soul continued to grow stronger, rebirth without end, changing with each cycle.
Unfortunately, the Void of the Flesh still eluded him.
"Is it really that the opportunity has not yet arrived?"
"With my level of comprehension, it should not be possible that I cannot find the Void of the Flesh.
"Could it be that my earlier deductions were wrong and that the Void of the Flesh simply does not exist?"
"No.
"All things in heaven and earth have both void and substance.
"So far nothing without such duality has ever been seen.
"The soul has its void and substance; the body cannot possibly lack them."
"Just what exactly is the Void of the Flesh?"
"The body signifies life.
"Previously, what I conceived as the Void of the Flesh was lifeless stillness, so I sought comprehension between life and death, which also aligned with the life‑and‑death principles of the Immortality Great Dao."
"The Immortality Great Dao!"
Lin Moyu's eyes suddenly blazed with light.
Within his consciousness it was as if heaven and earth were replayed from the start, countless clear currents sweeping through, leaving his awareness incomparably lucid.
He suddenly burst into wild laughter.
"So that is how it is, so that is how it is.
"It was right before my eyes, yet I failed to see it.
"I was truly a victim of my own cleverness, fancying myself wise for a lifetime only to fall into a moment's confusion."
His laughter shook the universe.
Far away, the Hongmeng Gem and Little Tree stared blankly.
"Has master gone mad?"
"Hard to say.
"If he fails to find the Void of the Flesh for this long, he really might go insane."
"What should we do? Master still needs to attain the Dao."
"Do not rush. Watch a bit longer.
"If it truly will not do, then I will act."
The Calamity Scepter was already poised as though it would smash the formation at any moment, ready to strike.
Lin Moyu's consciousness churned madly.
He no longer cared about the rebirthing body and soul and instead began an intense round of deductions.
After a period of deduction, he once again fixed his gaze on the reborn body and soul, but this time what he watched was different.
Within the rebirth, he watched how soul and flesh fused, how his body reassembled, and from where his soul was born.
Time and space intertwined before his eyes.
An invisible power came from primordial antiquity, bringing with it vitality.
At that moment, his Immortality Great Dao ran through all of time and space.
Within time and space, amidst the lines where life and death intertwined, it flowed silently.
This was something he had never once noticed before.
"So my Immortality Great Dao still hides an enormous secret."
"Why is it called the Immortality Great Dao?
"The forces of life and death converge within it; by rights it should be called the Life‑and‑Death Great Dao."
"Yet it is called the Immortality Great Dao, which means it truly represents not dying.
"Since it is clearly about not dying, why have I been seeking the Void of the Flesh from within death?
"Truly ridiculous."
"What is immortality?
"Soul undying, body unfallen, consciousness eternally existent—that is immortality.
"And the Void of the Flesh is precisely this!"