Lord of Mysteries 2: Circle of Inevitability

Chapter 1152: The Hawk Does Not Bow to the Sparrow
As the scent of gray amber candles wafted through the air, Lumian sat with his eyes closed, sensing the malice welling up deep within his mind. It was as though he had entered the mists of history, embodying Devil Monarch Farbauti, indulging in wild, unrestrained acts, all while entering a Cogitative state.

Now, he no longer needed corpse wax candles to sense the City of Calamity. Through Cogitation alone, he could achieve a deep communion with it.

Soon, Lumian began to float. Before him appeared a mist tinged with an eerie black hue.

This time, he didn't enter the "Shanghai" that Franca had described, nor did he see the trackless trams carrying heads with dangling spines or rickshaws dragging bloated women. Instead, what came into view was a stone well built of slabs and iron chains engraved with devilish faces.

The Law of Beyonder Characteristics Convergence? Now that I've become a dual-pathway true god in the domain of calamity, initiating the secret deed brings me directly to the core of the City of Calamity, to the place where the malevolent dragon is sealed? If not for the seal, I'd likely be facing the malevolent dragon directly... Lumian nodded in understanding.

Wasting no time, he immersed himself in the mirror-like surface of the crimson well water. He traversed through familiar scenes he had previously explored and arrived at the gray- white plaza where he had once encountered the mirrored Alista Tudor. Outside the invisible barrier, he saw the massive black shadow occupying the bottom of the blood-colored sea, spanning the size of an entire metropolis.

He stopped in his tracks.

At the same time, outside the wooden tower binding the malevolent dragon, a figure materialized out of thin air, composed of countless ethereal, transparent entities.

Draped in a blue robe and crowned with a traditional high headdress, this figure held a horsetail whisk. His face was as flawless as jade but gaunt.

The Celestial Master of the current generation.

Now that the Mother Goddess of Depravity had captured the Brood Hive and begun fusing with it, He no longer needed to maintain the grayish-white fog.

Beside Him, two other figures gradually came into focus.

One was clad in yellow monastic robes wrapped in a red kasaya. His head bore tonsure scars, and his round face was adorned with a long white beard that reached his chest. He wore a perpetual, kind smile.

The other was draped in a dark robe adorned with strange patterns. His face was ashen and bloodless, with eyes so black they seemed to swallow all light.

The first was the manifestation of Buddha, a Holy Monk acknowledged by all sects of the monastic community. The second was the Underworld Daoist, head of the Haoli lineage. Ever since He had entered the River of Eternal Darkness to suppress the remnants of the Blood Emperor's soul, He had been as good as dead-His consciousness only partially merged into the River, allowing Him to act briefly but preventing Him from returning to the living world. This fate mirrored those of His predecessors and successors in the Haoli lineage.

"Your efforts are much appreciated," said the Celestial Master, placing one hand on his chest and nodding slightly.

Before His words had fully settled, a shadow emerged from the depths of the dragon-sealing tower. Darkness condensed into a human form.

The figure wore a voluminous black robe, with long, flowing hair streaked with white. His gaunt face bore a smile as He stepped forward. "How could you leave me out of this?"

The Celestial Master did not respond, as a sudden light illuminated the sky.

All four present figures raised their heads simultaneously. Through layers of white clouds, they saw a faintly discernible door.

At the door stood an immense figure, crowned with the high headdress of an emperor, its face concealed by overlapping beaded veils.

Without speaking further, the Celestial Master approached the stone tablet in front of the wooden tower and pressed His hand against it.

In the next second, the iron chains within the ancient well began to retract, producing metallic clanging sounds.

This caused the crimson well water to ripple and lose its mirror-like quality.

Standing on the gray-white plaza, Lumian immediately sensed that the barrier separating the blood-colored sea from this mirror world had loosened, leaving exploitable "cracks."

As the Ruler of the Mirror World, Lumian dematerialized without hesitation, passing through the opening and returning to reality.

The blood-colored sea surged around him, corroding his soul and attempting to merge with him.

Lumian felt the malice buried deep within his heart gush forth as viscous black liquid, separating from his mind and spirit.

These streams of black liquid stealthily dispersed into the surroundings of the blood-colored sea, neutralizing the dark specks suspended within it.

Unconcerned with Devil Monarch Farbauti's actions, Lumian focused his gaze ahead, toward the immense black shadow he had previously glimpsed but could not clearly see.

The shadow was unimaginably long, coiled like a serpent. Yet, even so, it occupied an area comparable to an entire Trier.

Its body seemed composed of two enormous pythons entwined together-one covered in deep, iron-black scales, the other smooth and pristine, like white jade. Where they touched, flesh and bone intertwined, forming one entity despite their dual appearance.

Iron chains, engraved with demonic reliefs, pierced through this massive body repeatedly, extending toward the blood-colored sea above.

Sensing Lumian's presence, the colossal creature slowly raised its heads.

It had three heads!

On the left, connected to the black-scaled body, was a head resembling a camel's, with antelope-like horns, cow-like ears, and iron-black eyes. Crimson fur covered its scalp.

On the right, extending from the white jade "serpent body," was the head of a human woman with black hair and brown eyes, breathtakingly beautiful, bearing a resemblance to Cheek. Or rather, Cheek bore a resemblance to it.

The central head, however, was a swirling amalgamation of liquid, encompassing all colors and possibilities. At its facial features-eyes, nose, ears, and mouth-holes had been drilled, one or two in each location.

This central head separated the other two, preventing them from merging, ensuring their independent existence. Below it, an invisible substance formed a neck that both supported the head and rooted it into the entwined serpentine bodies.

"You also have three heads..." Lumian chuckled.

Then, he mockingly jeered at Adam in his mind, Your plan failed in the final step!

Had Alista Tudor and Cheek not stumbled upon the right conditions by chance, this "experiment" of yours would have ended in failure!

The phrase "Yin contains yang, yang contains yin, the union of yin and yang gives rise to everything" was indeed correct, and the only method, but only up until the final step. But in this state, attempting to accommodate the City of Calamity would inevitably lead to disaster.

The phrase "the union of yin and yang gives rise to everything" itself hinted at its conclusion:

What did everything begin with? It began with the Original Creator creating this world! The union of yin and yang signifies a return to the origin, heralding the rebirth of all things! Of course, what would return wouldn't be the complete Original Creator but rather a Mirrored Original Creator, stable enough to avoid immediately destroying and rebooting the universe.

In the First Epoch, the first sefirah accommodated by the Primordial God Almighty was the City of Calamity. Beyond His deep desire for it, He likely foresaw its dangers. By intervening personally and using the chaotic head as a barrier, He prevented yin and yang from fully merging, halting their

integration.

Everything was threefold, giving birth to all things. Only then could it be stable.

With his three heads and six faces, Lumian gazed at the similarly three-headed malevolent

dragon, laughing wildly.

...

Inside the wooden tower.

The Celestial Master, the Holy Monk, the Haoli lineage's Underworld Daoist, and the self- proclaimed Master of the Shadow Cottage each sat cross-legged at one of the dragon-sealing

well's corners.

Underneath the Celestial Master appeared a desolate wilderness. Behind the Holy Monk, a

pristine, transcendent halo emerged.

Before the Haoli sect master, a straight, broad, dark river flowed out of the void and into the

ancient well.

Seeing this, the Master of the Shadow Cottage laughed uproariously, summoning a faintly discernible, shadowy-black world to descend upon the scene.

At the wooden tower's apex, a light tinged with blue and white poured down directly onto the

dragon-sealing well.

Clanging sounds echoed as faint light glimmered on the chains embedded in the ancient

well's walls, shaking violently.

The battle between Lumian and the malevolent dragon-or rather, Lumian's effort to accommodate the City of Calamity-was something the high-ranking figures like the Celestial Master could not directly intervene in. They could only use the preexisting seals to

restrict and weaken the malevolent dragon.

...

At the bottom of the blood-colored sea, the malevolent dragon's six eyes fixed on Lumian, and an overwhelming pressure descended upon the world.

Lumian, holding onto the idea that "if I can persuade it, I can save a lot of time, and there's nothing to lose by trying," smiled and Instigate the malevolent dragon, "I know you desire war, destruction, the conquest of all things, and to send those who refuse to submit into

chaos.

"If you're willing to merge with my body, I will lead you into the highest realms of warfare, where those so-called great existences will either bow before you or be destroyed by you."

As Lumian spoke, Cheek's face turned forward, eager to add something, to Instigate a few words Herself. Unfortunately, she couldn't speak.

The malevolent dragon stared at Lumian for several seconds, and then the two side heads

spoke simultaneously.

One voice was masculine and powerful; the other was soft and alluring. The two overlapped, resonating throughout the surroundings:

"The hawk does not bow to the sparrow, and a true dragon does not obey the wild dog.

"If you wish to claim all this, then come and defeat me-kill me!"

Hearing these words, Lumian suddenly felt a surge of excitement. So did the face of Alista

Tudor, whose eyes turned iron black, filled with fervent intensity. Lumian immediately raised his right hand and removed the dark gold mask from the central face on his left shoulder, revealing the visage formed of the chaotic vortex.

He laughed loudly and declared, "Then let us fight!"

...

In the World of Ruins.

Above the grayish-white fog outside the Western Continent, the blood-red moon continued

to fend off the marionettes controlled by Klein while simultaneously suppressing the Brood Hive with relentless fury.

Suddenly, from deep within the blood-red moon-where the physical core might reside- came a strange sound: Thump! Thump! Thump!

It sounded like the heartbeat of a fetus within its mother's womb.

Before the fetus had even been born, its heartbeat pierced through its mother's body, echoing across every place illuminated by the blood-red moonlight.