bookmarkrole Chapter 413 Isolation Zone
Chapter 413 Isolation Zone
As the golden light of Mars spread across the South Heavenly Gate city wall for the third month, the heartbeat of the larva deep within the Guixu foundation suddenly jumped up.
This jump was so subtle that even the sensing array at the Eros monitoring station could only detect a faint ripple of the law.
But the heart network of the Ruins had already sensed the ripples before they spread to the edge of the Ruins' foundation.
In the center of the larva's thorax, the dark red dot completed the final layer of chaotic life law patterns in a new round of self-evolution.
After the weaving was completed, the larva's sensory network expanded outwards from the entire Guixu Foundation, penetrating the white rock layer, the sealing membrane, and the frequency isolation layer, extending all the way to the very bottom of the ancient law isolation zone at the deepest part of the Guixu Foundation.
The original slurry inside the isolation zone had been dormant under the heterogeneous membrane wall for several months, but the larval sensory network actively scanned the outermost law membrane wall of the slurry as it expanded its coverage.
The scanning echo shows that the density of the slurry is continuously compressing itself. The compression rate is not fast but stable. After the compression reaches its limit, extremely fine crystals of the law begin to condense in the very center of the slurry core.
The crystallization structure and the crystals produced when the original liquid of the nested nest law inside the backup law node are compressed are completely homologous, but younger and more active.
The reason for the activity is that the original slurry inside the isolation zone was briefly awakened once before being isolated by the heterogeneous frequency membrane wall. During the awakening, the slurry absorbed a very small amount of external law energy, which continuously catalyzed the crystallization inside the slurry, accelerating the crystallization and solidification speed.
Xu placed his right hand on the pale gold line on his chest. His heart's vascular network translated the real-time law data of fluid crystallization transmitted from the larval sensory network into specific information in his chest cavity. When he spoke, he enunciated each word very steadily.
"The original slurry inside the isolation zone solidified into crystals of the laws during the process of self-compression."
"The frequency of the crystallization law and the sealing mark frequency of the original liquid of the nest shell law inside the backup law node have a very slight overlap, and the overlap band is extremely narrow. However, the law structure of the slurry crystallization is younger and more active than the crystallization of the original liquid of the nest shell. It is so active that the heterogeneous membrane wall on the surface of the isolation zone sealing membrane is being eroded in reverse by the law frequency of the crystallization."
"The erosion rate is not fast, but if the crystallization continues to release law fluctuations, the isolation effect of the heterogeneous frequency membrane will slowly decay."
Su Fan was sitting at the entrance of the weapons shop eating fried dough sticks when he heard Xu's message and put the dough sticks down.
He took the broken mirror out of his waist, and the mirror surface showed a real-time image of the crystallization of slurry inside the isolation zone deep within the Guixu foundation.
The crystals in the image are only the size of rice grains, and the laws flowing on the surface are extremely ancient and primitive, so ancient that they are completely of the same origin as the law membrane at the entrance to the Ruins.
He tucked the broken mirror back into his waistband, pulled the Pangu Axe from beside the stool leg, slung it over his shoulder, and flew towards the Guixu Crack.
The steam from the fried dough stick stall's steamer was barely visible behind him. A Dou was squatting at the alley entrance chopping wood when he looked up and saw Su Fan flying across the alleyway, stepping on the golden law membrane. He paused for a moment, then called out to Su Fan's back.
"Uncle Su, the axe is sharpened! The blade is even sharper than last time. Remember to come back and test it!"
As Su Fan landed at the edge of the Guixu rift, Xu was squatting directly above the isolation zone, his right hand pressed against the surface of the white rock layer, his entire sensory network focused on the slowly growing slurry crystal inside the isolation zone.
Eros stood beside him, the transparent law membrane around him swirling slightly in the faint golden law glow of the Guixu foundation, and all ten transparent law patterns on his hands were activated.
Nezha, carrying the Fire-Tipped Spear, flew down from the direction of the South Heavenly Gate and landed on a white rock platform at the edge of the Guixu foundation that was not yet covered by pale gold moss.
Sun Wukong, carrying his golden cudgel, rushed back from the direction of the Ruins of the Land of Ruins. The dark red flame, a crystallized from the embers of flint on his chest, shone brightly in the faint golden light of the Ruins of the Land of Ruins.
"The frequency of the crystallization law of the slurry is accelerating, and the rate of acceleration is directly proportional to the speed at which the heterogeneous membrane wall is eroded in the opposite direction."
"The faster the erosion, the larger the crystals grow. Right now, the crystals are only the size of rice grains, but if the isolation effect of the different frequency membrane wall weakens below the critical value, and the slurry re-contacts the external law energy, the crystals will expand in a very short time. After the expansion, the slurry awakening process will be retried."
Xu removed his right hand from the white rock layer and stood up.
"How long can the isolation effect of the different frequency membrane last?" Su Fan put the Pangu Axe down from his shoulder and touched the ground with the axe blade.
"Based on the current rate of erosion, time is running out. The larger the crystals grow, the faster the erosion, and the faster the crystals grow, the larger the cycle accelerates."
"However, the law structure of the crystal itself is in sync with the sealing mark of the original law liquid inside the nest shell of the backup law node. Using the law frequency of that sealing mark, an extremely thin law buffer layer is laid on the surface of the heterogeneous frequency membrane wall to cut off the law fluctuation of the crystal. After the cutoff, the erosion process of the heterogeneous frequency membrane wall automatically stops."
"However, laying the buffer layer requires the law frequency of the seal mark inside the backup law node. The seal mark has been integrated into the law pattern of the white rock layer of the Guixu foundation after the node is healed."
"To extract the mark frequency again, we need to activate the mark's rule memory in the white rock layer texture with something that has the exact same frequency as the mark."
"There's only one thing in the Ruins Foundation that's completely in sync with the marker: the Larval Perception Network."
Xu turned his head to look at the larva deep in the foundation of Guixu.
After the larvae expand the coverage of the sensory network, they enter a new round of self-evolution. During the evolution, they cannot release any law power to the outside world. The sensory network is operating at full capacity and has no spare power to activate the sealed mark memory in the white rock layer pattern.
Su Fan slung the Pangu Axe over his shoulder and suddenly remembered A Dou's small wood-chopping axe.
Over the course of several months of chopping wood, the dark red law pattern on the axe blade has evolved to a hardness exceeding the initial quenching value. Each time wood is chopped, the law resonance channel between the quenching groove and the Guixu foundation is automatically transmitted into the larva's sensory network, with the frequency completely synchronized with the sealing mark inside the backup law node.
He took the broken mirror out of his waist and shone it towards the fried dough stick stall.
"Adou, bring me your little axe. There's something underground in the Guixu foundation that needs to be activated using the law frequency on your axe."
A Dou was squatting at the alley entrance chopping today's dry branches when he heard Su Fan's message. He tucked the small axe into his waistband and ran towards the alley entrance on the bluestone slabs.
The aftershock of the great calamity at the alley entrance exploded into a tiny white arc of electricity beneath his feet. Faint golden law patterns lit up on every crack of the bluestone slab he stepped on, stretching from the entrance of the weapons shop all the way to the end of the alley.
When he reached the edge of the Guixu rift, his schoolbag was still bouncing on his back. He pulled out a small axe from his waist and raised it above his head. The dark red law pattern on the axe blade shone brightly in the extremely faint golden law glow of the Guixu foundation.
"Uncle Su, the axe is here. What are we chopping?"
"Chop this up."
Xu led A Dou deep into the foundation of Guixu, directly above the larval nest, and drew an extremely fine line of law on the surface of the white rock layer with his finger.
The trajectory line was positioned directly above the extremely faint nest shell law pattern at the opening of the backup law node.
He took A Dou's small axe and used the blade to lightly make a cut along the trajectory line.
The cut was extremely shallow and fine, but the dark red law pattern on the axe blade resonated with the extremely faint sealing mark law memory remaining deep within the pattern the moment it came into contact with the nest shell law pattern on the surface of the white rock layer.
The seal mark was activated after the resonance.
"Activated. The frequency of the sealed mark's law is transmitted from the small axe into the patterns of the white rock layer, and the marked memory within the patterns is awakening on its own through resonance. After awakening, the mark's frequency is being transmitted towards the heterogeneous membrane wall."
Xu returned A Dou's little axe to him.
Su Fan slung the Pangu Axe over his shoulder and walked towards the median strip.
As the frequency of the seal mark traveled along the patterns of the white rock layer to the surface of the heterogeneous membrane, all ten transparent patterns on Eros's hands were activated. He drew the frequency of the seal mark from the patterns of the white rock layer and poured it into the crack on the surface of the heterogeneous membrane that was being eroded by the crystallization of the slurry.
The crack stopped expanding the instant it came into contact with the frequency of the seal mark, and after that, the edges of the crack began to heal slowly.
The rate of healing is not fast, but it is continuous.
After the cracks in the slurry crystallize are filled with the sealed mark frequency, they lose the channel to release the law fluctuations to the outside. The fluctuations are cut off by the sealed mark frequency, and after the cutoff, the growth rate of the crystals slows down significantly.
After slowing down, the erosion process of the heterogeneous membrane wall automatically pauses.
"The growth rate of the crystals has slowed down, but it hasn't stopped. It is still slowly absorbing the energy of the slurry's own laws within the slurry. The absorption rate is extremely slow. As long as the slurry continues to compress itself, the crystals will continue to grow."
"The sealing mark frequency cuts off the channel through which crystals release fluctuations to the outside, but it cannot cut off the channel through which they absorb energy inside the slurry. As long as the slurry exists, the crystals will not disappear."
"To completely stop crystal growth, all the energy of the laws within the slurry needs to be removed."
The Ruins synchronously transmit the changes in the internal laws and structure of the crystals sensed by the heart's pulse network to everyone.
"How do you draw it?" Nezha asked.
"Use the larval sensory network. After the larvae have completed their evolution, the coverage of the sensory network has expanded significantly, enabling them to absorb and transform the energy of the law in the slurry inside the isolation zone layer by layer, converting it into the energy of the law that strengthens the white rock layer of the Guixu foundation."
"However, during the larval stage of evolution, the sensory network cannot release any active absorption function. Someone needs to use the aftershocks of the calamity to build an extremely thin law bridge between the larva and the isolation zone, temporarily activating the larva's sensory network from passively receiving law fluctuations to active absorption."
"Once activated, the sensory network will draw all the energy of the laws inside the slurry. After that, the crystallization loses its energy source and growth stops."
"After it stops, the crystals will disintegrate on their own inside the heterogeneous frequency membrane. The resulting fragments of laws will be absorbed and transformed by the perception network. After the transformation, the inside of the isolation zone will be completely clean. It won't take too long."
Xu turned to look at Sun Wukong.
Sun Wukong slammed his golden cudgel to the ground, and the aftershocks of the great calamity on the cudgel exploded into a circle of extremely bright silver-white electric arcs.
He wrapped the arc of electricity around the law trajectory line drawn by the Ruins directly above the larval nest, and the arc of electricity extended along the trajectory line towards the isolation zone, erecting an extremely thin silver-white law bridge between the larval sensory network and the isolation zone.
The aftershocks of the cataclysmic event inside the bridge temporarily activated the passive receiving function of the larval sensory network into active absorption. After the absorption function was activated, the sensory network began to extract the energy of the law layer by layer from the slurry inside the isolation zone.
The energy was conducted along the aftershock bridge towards the larva, and when it reached the larva's nest, it was automatically absorbed and transformed by the dark red light spot in the center of the larva's thorax.
After the transformation, the energy was poured into the law patterns of the white rock layer of the Guixu foundation. The patterns of the Dao of All Beings inside the patterns flashed very slightly after absorbing the energy. After the flash, the law density of the white rock layer jumped up by a very slight amount.
After the energy of the laws within the slurry was extracted, the growth rate of the crystal changed from slow to stagnant, and after stagnating, extremely fine cracks of the laws began to appear on the surface of the crystal.
The crack spreads outward from the center of the crystal, slowly but continuously, until it reaches the edge and disintegrates.
The gray-white law fragments generated by the collapse were automatically absorbed by the aftershock bridge of the calamity and completely transformed inside the larval sensory network.
After the transformation, only an extremely pure primordial vacuum of laws remains inside the isolation zone. This vacuum is extremely stable and quiet under the dual isolation of the heterogeneous frequency membrane wall and the sealing mark frequency.
"It's all drained. The crystals are gone, and all the energy of the laws within the slurry has been transformed into energy to reinforce the white rock layer of the Guixu foundation."
"The pressure limit of the white rock layer jumped up slightly after absorbing this energy. From this moment on, the isolation zone officially enters a state of eternal silence. Like the mutants, it will never wake up again."
Xu removed his right hand from his chest.
Sun Wukong retrieved his golden cudgel from the bridge of aftermath of the great calamity, and the silvery-white arcs of electricity on the cudgel flickered for a moment before extinguishing themselves.
He hoisted the stick onto his shoulder, looked down at the extremely dark and quiet vacuum of laws deep within the isolation zone, remained silent for a moment, and then took the crystallized embers from his chest acupoint and held it in his hairy palm.
The gray-white law imprinted inside the crystal is extremely stable, perfectly synchronized with his mother's heartbeat frequency when she was counting scales in the Land of Ruins.
The gray-white law imprint contained his mother's law imprint, which had been eroded by countless eons. The law patterns on the surface of the imprint flickered on their own when they came into contact with the extremely faint golden law glow of the Guixu foundation.
After the flash, the frequency of the laws within the imprint adjusted itself. The adjustment was extremely subtle, but the heart network of the Void detected this change.
The law structure is imprinted deep within the isolation zone of the actively sensing Ruins foundation.
It discovered that the isolation zone was empty. That extremely unstable fragment of mixed laws of nothingness and chaos had been doubly isolated by the laws of different frequencies and the frequency of the sealing mark, and all its energy had been drained by the larval perception network, turning it into an extremely pure law vacuum.
Sun Wukong squatted down again, lifted the molten wood crystal to a position level with the surface of the white rock layer, looked through the white rock layer at the extremely dark and quiet vacuum of laws deep in the isolation zone, and spoke to himself.
"My mother was counting the scales when she suddenly said that the noise from the bottom of the Ruins that had bothered her for countless lifetimes had stopped."
"I asked her what the noise was, and she said there was a law rift at the boundary between the Void and Chaos. Deep inside the rift, fragments of the laws of the Void and Chaos were constantly rubbing and eroding each other. The friction sound was extremely faint, but it disturbed her for countless eons."
"She always thought it was the sound of the void itself breathing, but later she learned that it was the overflow of chaos after Pangu shattered the nest shell, tearing out the folds of law at the boundary between the void and the chaos."
"Now the grinding sound has stopped, and it's extremely quiet at the bottom of Guixu. She asked me if Pangu had gone down there back then, and if he had cleaved it with his axe again."
"I said I didn't chop it. It was Su Fan, a primary school student, who activated a sealing mark with a wood-chopping axe. The aftershocks of the calamity built a bridge, and the larvae drained all the energy."
"My mother was silent for a long time, then asked if the elementary school student you mentioned still had his wood-chopping axe. I said yes, and the blade still had dark red law patterns shining on it."
"My mother said that next time she brings him to the Land of Ruins, there are several more law patterns on her scales formed from the gatekeeper's memory backup, and it's too difficult to count them all. She asked that elementary school student to help her count them with a wood-splitting axe."
Sun Wukong stood up and pressed the crystal from the embers of the flint onto his chest at the Tanzhong acupoint. The crystal automatically embedded itself into the law-based indentation on the surface of the Tanzhong acupoint.
After it was inserted, the dark gold pattern on the surface of the Tanzhong acupoint flashed very subtly.
Su Fan led A Dou to the top of the isolation zone deep within the Guixu foundation, and had A Dou place his hand on the surface of the white rock layer, with his palm touching the law trajectory line drawn by the Xuxu.
After absorbing the energy from the sap, the larval sensory network enters the final stage of evolution, and all the law nodes within the coverage area of the sensory network are self-calibrating.
The extremely subtle ripples of law generated during calibration traveled upwards from the depths of the white rock layer. When they reached the trajectory line, they were activated by the temperature of A Dou's palm, causing the nest shell law patterns on the surface of the trajectory line to flash extremely subtly.
After the flash, the frequency of the laws within the pattern resonated briefly with the dark red law patterns on the blade of the small axe at A Dou's waist.
A Dou looked down at his palm, then looked up at Su Fan, with half a mouthful of fried dough stick still in his mouth.
"Uncle Su, it's so quiet down there. Quieter than a fried dough stick stall at three or four in the morning."
"I can hear the larvae's heartbeat in the nest, beating more steadily than the bubbles in the oil pan when Old Zhang is frying dough sticks."
"There was no sound in that vacuum of the isolation zone, but it was very comfortable. Did Pangu also squat down at the bottom of the Ruins and listen to the sounds for a long time before he cleaved out that axe?"
Sun Wukong slammed his golden cudgel on the ground, squatted down next to A Dou, and his monkey eyes reflected the extremely dark and quiet vacuum of laws deep in the isolation zone. He placed the cudgel across his knees and remained silent for a while before speaking.
"When Pangu cleaved the isolation zone, the fragments of the nest shell had just broken apart. Chaos was still expanding outwards, and the boundary between the void and chaos was full of cracks in the laws. Within these cracks, the fragments of the void and chaos rubbed and eroded each other, producing extremely sharp and noisy sounds."
"He squatted down at the bottom of the Ruins and listened to the sounds for a long time. Then he cleaved out the first isolation zone, pressing the noisiest fragment deep into the white rock layer and laying a whole layer of sealing membrane on top of it."
"After the crack was cleaved, the fissures became quiet, but the compressed slurry inside the isolation zone continued to release extremely weak law pulses. These pulses traveled upwards through the sealing membrane and the Guixu white rock layer, and by the time they reached the scales, they had weakened to the point of being almost inaudible."
"But he knew his mother could hear him. He couldn't return to the Land of Ruins, so he could only say one sentence to his mother in the direction of her scales from beneath the Ruins. It wasn't a message of law, nor a sealing rune, just an ordinary sentence."
Nezha slammed his fire-tipped spear on the ground, then turned to look at Sun Wukong: "What did he say?"
"He said, 'What's bothering you isn't chaos, it's the fragments that flew out when I shattered the nest shell.'"
"The fragments contain the imprints of your and my laws; they do not recognize each other, yet they have been rubbing against each other for tens of thousands of years."
"I've buried them deep underground in the Ruins of Return, so they won't bother you anymore."
Sun Wukong took the crystallized embers from the Tanzhong acupoint on his chest and held it in his palm.
The gray-white law imprint is extremely stable inside the crystal, and it has a very slight overlap with the law rune that Pangu carved on his mother's scales with the tip of his axe dipped in blood.
He held the crystal up to the faint golden light of the Guixu foundation, and the gray-white law imprints inside the crystal and the law patterns on its surface were clearly visible in the light.
The direction of the pattern is completely the same as the first law pattern that Pangu carved on the sealing membrane when he split the isolation zone.
"Mother, I didn't say those words just now, it was Pangu. He said you are not the Mother of Chaos, you are nothingness."
"Chaos is the folds of law that you created when you turned over in your sleep, and those folds contain a mixture of fragments of nothingness and chaos."
"Those fragments are neither yours nor his. They are natural law mutations that arose at the boundary between the Void and Chaos. They bothered you for so long, and now they have all been pressed into the depths of the Void, sealed by the laws of different frequencies, and drained of their energy by the larvae."
"It's extremely quiet at the bottom of the Ruins. The old axe mark on your head has healed so well that you can't even see the trace anymore. The law patterns on your scales, which are the backup of the gatekeeper's memories, are too difficult to count. Su Fan's elementary school student will go to the Ruins of Desolation tomorrow to help you count them."
After Sun Wukong finished speaking, he pressed the crystallized embers of the flint back into his chest at the Tanzhong acupoint.
The creature remained silent for a long time inside the core of the Ruins Nest, then spoke a sentence. Its voice pierced through the flint beacon runes at the entrance to the Ruins, and traveled along the law membrane of the Ruins Crack into the deepest part of the Ruins Foundation.
"That stone monkey, after Pangu shattered the nest shell, squatted next to the wound on my head, dipped the tip of the axe blade in its blood, and carved an extremely fine law rune on my scales."
He said he would come back after he finished splitting the chaos, and I agreed. I waited for countless eons, but he didn't come back.
"I never knew why he didn't come back, but now I know. It's not that he didn't want to come back, it's that he couldn't come back."
"I received the message he asked you to pass on."
"Next time Pangu Axe gets dull, have that elementary school student bring his wood-chopping axe, and I'll use my scales to sharpen it for him."
The depths of the Guixu foundation were extremely dark and quiet.
The golden light of Mars shone through the law membrane of the Guixu Crack onto the white rock layer, making the extremely faint golden law glow on A Dou's face flicker.
Su Fan slung the Pangu Axe over his shoulder and patted A Dou on the shoulder.
"Tomorrow we'll go to the Land of Ruins and help the Great Sage's mother count the law patterns on her scales."
"After counting, chop a bundle of dry branches next to the core of the nest shell, and have Old Zhang move the oil pot to the entrance of the Ruins and fry a pot of dough sticks."
"The Great Sage's mother has slept for several huiyuan (a unit of time in Chinese history), but she has never eaten a mortal's fried dough stick."
A Dou tucked the small axe into his waistband and picked up a tiny fragment of law that had fallen from the axe blade when he was cutting the trajectory line earlier. The fragment glowed slightly in his palm, completely sharing the same origin as the faint golden law glow of the Guixu foundation.
He put the crumpled pieces onto the crumpled draft paper in his schoolbag. The crooked words next to the pencil-drawn outline of the axe were very clear in the fluorescent light.
"My axe shines."
Next to the draft paper was the wooden axe that Su Fan had given him. The green light from the highlighter had completely faded, but the two crooked engravings on the axe handle were still there.
He slung his schoolbag over his shoulder, stepped onto the bluestone slab he had come from, and walked step by step toward the alley entrance.
The aftershocks of the eon still pulsed within the cracks of the stone slabs; the primordial world remained stable, and the isolation zone was quiet.