amaotonovel Chapter 787 The Origin of the Small World
Chapter 787 The Origin of the Small World
The moment the starship broke through the clouds, Yun Yao was so stunned by the scene before her that she held her breath. Gigantic gears, suspended above the sea of clouds, slowly turned, and steam pipes twisted like silver pythons, weaving between towering steel towers. Cultivators piloted mechanical flying swords powered by psychic energy, drawing brilliant streaks of light along the intersecting tracks. In the distance, the clang of gears and the roar of steam engines echoed, creating a unique melody of technology and spiritual cultivation.
"Is this the world of steampunk cultivation?" Chu Mochen exclaimed softly, his fingertips unconsciously stroking the halberd at his waist, his Candle Dragon bloodline stirring slightly in this unfamiliar energy field. Yun Yao lightly tapped her brow, and the Heaven-Defying Fate Plate transformed into a stream of light and merged into her pupils. Fine golden lines flowed in her eyes, as if unfolding the entire causal chain of the world before her eyes.
"Something's wrong." She suddenly grabbed Chu Mochen's wrist, "The spiritual energy fluctuations here are too weak, and the origin core that should be full is like a drained well." Before she finished speaking, a shrill alarm suddenly sounded, and a dark red warning rune appeared in the sky, spreading rapidly like a blood-red spider web.
"Outsiders! Trespassing into Steam City without permission, surrender immediately!" Accompanied by a mechanical synthesized voice, dozens of mechanical guards crafted from black iron and spirit crystals swooped down from the clouds, their metal joints flashing with a cold light, their cannons trained on the two. Yun Yao was about to open her mouth to explain, but Chu Mochen had already stepped in front of her, the shadowy figure of the Candle Dragon looming behind them.
"Wait!" A clear female voice cut through the tense atmosphere. A young woman in gear-decorated armor approached on a mechanical hoverboard, her silver hair flying in the wind, her left eye gleaming with a faint blue psychic light. "You don't have Chaos Aura, so why are you here on the outskirts of the core area?"
Yun Yao's sharp eyes swept over the gear-shaped badge on the girl's waist, and an idea came to her mind: "We are here to investigate the problem of origin depletion. Girl, I believe you have also realized that this city is heading towards destruction." The girl shuddered, and vigilance and struggle flashed in her eyes. Finally, she gritted her teeth and said: "Follow me, but if you dare to play tricks-" Her mechanical arm instantly transformed into a giant chain blade, flashing cold light.
Passing through layers of protective barriers, Yun Yao entered Steam City's core control room. The massive energy crystal was dim, and the pipes that should have connected to the spiritual veins flowed with a foul black liquid, emitting a sickening odor. The girl removed her gloves and pressed her fingertips against the crystal surface, her voice tinged with despair. "Three days ago, the core suddenly began to fail, and all the psychic energy conversion devices corroded. Those mortals captured from the slums were thrown into the furnace as sacrifices..."
"Sacrifice?" Chu Mochen's pupils suddenly constricted, his Candle Dragon blood boiling. Yun Yao, however, stared thoughtfully at the incisions on the ground. Those patterns were identical to the sacrificial arrays she had seen at the Chaos Demon Sect ruins. "Someone is extracting the essence of this place and converting it into chaotic energy." Her voice was as cold as ice. The Heaven-Defying Fate Plate suddenly vibrated violently, and a stream of light shot out, outlining a map in the air. "Three hundred meters underground, there is a teleportation array."
When they broke through the numerous traps and reached the underground chamber, the scene before them was horrifying. Hundreds of mortals were chained to the altar, their life force constantly being drained away and injected into the black vortex at the center. A black-robed figure wearing a steam mask stood before the vortex, holding a scepter inlaid with a Chaos Crystal that Yun Yao was all too familiar with.
"They are indeed the remnants of the Chaos Demon Sect." Yun Yao's eyes were filled with murderous intent. She was about to take action when she saw the black-robed man suddenly turn around. A twisted laugh came from under the mask: "You've come at the right time, little girl in the Rule Realm, your blood is much more useful than these mortals!" He swung his staff violently, and countless tentacles stretched out from the black vortex, attacking with suffocating chaos power.
Chu Mochen roared, and his halberd slashed out with a golden dragon shadow, but it was corroded the moment it touched the tentacles. Seeing this, Yun Yao immediately unleashed the power of causality to try to deflect the attack, but the black-robed figure's strength far exceeded her expectations, and her Heaven-Defying Fate Plate actually began to crack.
"Do you think this is just an ordinary extraction ceremony?" The black-robed man laughed wildly and took off his mask, revealing a face covered with mechanical patterns. "This is Lord Chaos's 'Purification Plan', which aims to transform the origin of all small worlds into chaos! And you are the key to the plan!" Before he finished speaking, the ground suddenly cracked, and more chaos monsters poured out, surrounding everyone.
At the critical moment, the girl suddenly raised the gear-shaped badge in her hand and shouted, "Activate Protocol B-731!" The entire chamber shook violently, and countless mechanical devices ejected from the walls, firing shells imbued with psychic energy. However, the Chaos monsters were too numerous, and the defenses were rapidly collapsing.
Yun Yao looked at the dying mortals on the altar and suddenly recalled the days of bullying in the palace during her early time travel. Wasn't she, like them, struggling to survive in the mire of fate? "Chu Mochen, I have a bold idea." She suddenly turned, her eyes gleaming with determination. "Do you remember the secret technique of 'Cause and Effect Transformation' we obtained in the Hongmeng Secret Realm?"
Chu Mochen was stunned for a moment, then he understood her intention: "You mean, to use the chaos energy..." "Yes!" Yun Yao didn't wait for him to finish, and unfolded the Heaven-Defying Fate Plate with all her strength, "Although the spiritual energy here is exhausted, there is still hope. We can use the chaos energy as fuel to reactivate the core!"
The black-robed figure roared angrily, frantically increasing the output of chaotic energy. Yun Yao, however, closed her eyes and constructed a complex causal cycle diagram within her sea of consciousness. She poured all the goodwill she had accumulated in various small worlds, the bond she had with Chu Mochen through seventeen reincarnations, and even the remnants of Liu Yan'er's conscience into the Heaven-Defying Fate Disk.
"In my name, reverse cause and effect!" With a clear cry, the Fate-Defying Disk burst into a brilliant light. Chaos energy twisted and distorted within the light, unexpectedly transforming into pure psychic energy, which surged into the core crystal like a tide. The chains of the mortals on the altar shattered one after another, and the Chaos monsters vanished into nothingness under the impact of the psychic energy.
The man in black robe watched all this in horror and retreated frantically: "Impossible! This violates the law of chaos!" Yun Yao walked towards him slowly, with golden lines in her eyes flowing continuously: "There has never been a predetermined law, only a rewritten fate. Do you think chaos is the end? No, it is just another beginning." She raised her hand and waved lightly, and the memories of the man in black robe surged out like a tide, projecting a shocking picture in the void.
It turned out that this black-robed man was once Steam City's most brilliant engineer, bewitched by the Chaos Demon Sect to save his dying sister. His sister lay in a hospital bed behind the altar, her vital signs weak. Yun Yao sighed softly and injected a wisp of spiritual energy into the girl, whose pale cheeks gradually regained color.
"You lost." Yun Yao watched the black-robed man collapse and kneel on the ground, "but your story is not over yet." She turned to the stunned girl and said, "This place needs to be rebuilt, and he may be a useful helper." The girl looked at her sister who had woken up, nodded with tears in her eyes.
When the dust settled, the core crystal once again shone brightly. The alarm over the city was lifted, and the sounds of people cheering filled the air. The girl handed Yun Yao a gear-shaped Origin Crystal, her eyes filled with gratitude and awe. "This is the Origin Power of Steam City. It recognizes your courage and wisdom. Perhaps, our world truly can usher in a new future."
Yun Yao took the crystal, sensing the resilience and hope within. She knew this wasn't just a collection of essences, but also another challenge to her destiny. Chu Mochen walked over to her, gently grasping her hand. They exchanged a smile. In this world of steam and cultivation, they had once again proven that no cause and effect is unchangeable, no fate irreversible. And what lay ahead for them would be even more unknown challenges and miracles.