A massive vortex of the Wormhole Gate appeared before Joe Di. By now, it could no longer be called the Wormhole Gate, but rather an endless rift in the void.
The Ascension Pool and Leaping Path Divine City of the Insect Domain from years ago had long since vanished.
Joe Di shook his head. Although his Path of Rules surpassed the spatial laws governing this colossal wormhole, he truly did not yet have the ability to use rules to mend this vast, boundless void. Perhaps when he achieved Realm Fusion, he would be capable, but for now his realm was still incomplete—clearly, he could not repair it.
Having eliminated all the insects and strong cultivators of the Dao Domain, Joe Di did not hesitate and stepped into the endless vortex of the Wormhole Gate.
Although the Dao Domain had suffered a great catastrophe, it remained intact, and its cultivators knew what to do. What Joe Di needed to do now was to quickly seal the passage from the Trinity Universe into the Insect Domain. Letting those powerful cultivators enter the Five Elements Universe now would be disastrous.
Because of Joe Di’s Poison Dao rule, upon entering the Insect Domain, everywhere he looked was filled with dead or dying insects.
Even Joe Di himself was secretly shaken by the terrifying power of the Path of Rules. What if such a path were cultivated by a slaughterer?
Today, he could fuse the Way of Life of the insects with his Poison Dao and eradicate all the insects in this realm. In the future, he could use the laws cultivated by cultivators to wipe out an entire realm of cultivators...
Joe Di dared not think further—the method was simply too horrifying. In truth, it was the Ninth Prime Law that was terrifying. His Path of Rules, after all, originated from the Ninth Prime Law.
Although what he first comprehended from the Ninth Prime Law was merely an ordinary Dao cultivation technique, after repeated refinement, combined with his own insights into the cosmic Dao and his experience of opening a realm within the vast chaos, his Path of Rules had already become equal to the foundational laws of all universes.
His cultivation method absolutely could not be passed on. He could discipline himself, refusing to slaughter the innocent with the Path of Rules, but who could guarantee that those who inherited his path would not someday wield these rules in unpredictable ways?
Even if those who accepted his legacy could not refine the cosmic rules to his level, once they succeeded in cultivation, they could easily destroy a planet.
Thinking about the terrifying nature of the Path of Rules, Joe Di again thought of the Ninth Prime Law.
If, within the vast chaos, there was anyone else who could become a master of rules like him, it would surely be the Ninth Prime Law.
Now, Joe Di felt a pang of regret for letting the Ninth Prime Law go. If the Ninth Prime Law managed to touch the threshold of universal rules, and constructed its own world of laws as he had, what then?
Joe Di drew in a cold breath. He was no saint, but if such a thing happened, he would have to bear some responsibility. After all, he was the one who brought the Ninth Prime Law into the vast chaos. Otherwise, the Ninth Prime Law might have simply dissipated into the cosmic void, unable to enter the grand expanse alone.
No—once this matter was settled, he had to make another trip into the vast chaos. No matter what, he must seize control of the Ninth Prime Law again. This was not about personal grudges; it was about the survival of all cultivators in a universe.
He was, after all, a cultivator who revered life, who cherished bonds and gratitude. The Ninth Prime Law was not a human cultivator; to it, life was only something to be destroyed. If wiping out all life in the Five Elements Universe could help it comprehend a deeper Dao, the Ninth Prime Law would not hesitate.
Joe Di raised his hand and drew a strand of Zedeb’s cosmic rule from the Reincarnation Bridge, then fused it into the Poison Dao rule. In moments, Joe Di constructed a new cosmic rule.
As this new cosmic rule merged into the realm, in several directions within the Insect Domain, at least a hundred powerful cultivators instantly erupted into agonized screams. Their foundations were destroyed, their seas of consciousness turned to ink. With each circulation of cosmic energy, their meridians burst forth with jets of black blood.
They were like Zedeb—all from the Trinity Universe. Since their cultivation methods were bound to the laws of the Trinity Universe, Joe Di’s fusion of a thread of Trinity Universe law with the Poison Dao rule created a new rule that wiped out all cultivators from the Trinity Universe. Even those who survived had their seas of consciousness and meridians poisoned and destroyed.
Joe Di’s divine sense swept over a Trinity Universe cultivator whose body, blackened by his newly constructed rule, resembled a charred piece of wood. There was no joy in his eyes, only silence.
“So it is…” After a long time, Joe Di finally murmured to himself.
His suspicion was confirmed: as long as he borrowed the rules of a universe, he could slaughter countless lives. This was already a rebellion against the Heavenly Dao, even a violation of the Dao of Life itself.
Just as Joe Di thought this, terrifying convulsions swept through him. In that instant, he felt as if his organs were being burned away. Blood spurted from his mouth as he collapsed to the ground. His rules began to spiral into chaos, completely beyond his control.
Bathed in the nourishment of the Genesis Loam, the nearly thousand-zhang-tall World Tree instantly sent an endless surge of vitality into Joe Di’s body.
Even so, Joe Di continued to cough up black blood. In the end, the World Tree’s vitality overcame the death within him, allowing Joe Di to cling to life.
After a full incense stick’s time, Joe Di finally managed to stand, his face pale as paper. With the help of the World Tree, his Path of Rules was preserved. Or rather, the vast Dao within the chaos could no longer erase his Path of Rules.
Joe Di gazed into the vast emptiness. He knew he had violated the survival rules of the Grand Chaos Universe. The Grand Chaos, split into countless universes, whether formed naturally or shaped by the Dao, always had a fixed order.
Yet through his Path of Rules, he forcibly changed that order. Did this mean that, if his Dao reached a certain height in the future, he could erase everything within the Grand Chaos?
Joe Di felt no anger; at this moment, all he felt was a deep reverence—a reverence for life itself. He understood clearly that his backlash was not the result of any single controlling hand, but because he had violated the very authority of existence.
It was just like his urge to seize the Ninth Prime Law—because if the Ninth Prime Law ever grew to his level, it too would violate the authority of life’s existence.
Slowly recovering, Joe Di did not dare hesitate for even a moment. He activated his rule traversal technique and charged into the Boundless Sea at the fastest speed. He had already used heaven-defying cosmic rules to slaughter all Trinity Universe cultivators who entered the Insect Domain. If he didn’t hurry to block the entrance, more might still come.
The Boundless Sea stretched endlessly, occupying nearly seventy percent of the Insect Domain’s surface. As soon as Joe Di reached the edge of the Boundless Sea, his divine sense swept over a massive stone stairway standing in its midst. The stones seemed to float on the sea like bubbles.
Joe Di crossed the void and landed atop the floating stone steps. Above him rose an endless stairway, and even his divine sense could not reach its end.
Beyond the stone steps beneath his feet stretched a limitless ocean.
Aside from the waves whipped up by the wind, Joe Di felt only a profound loneliness. This was the Insect Domain, and all the insects had been slain by him. Every Trinity Universe cultivator who entered the Insect Domain had also been killed; perhaps, in this realm, the only living being left was himself.
A tingling sensation crept across Joe Di’s scalp, and a chill ran through his body.
Life—this is what every soul reveres and longs for, and today, in this domain, it was under his control and then erased.
Joe Di gazed into the distant emptiness, his lips murmuring, “From this day forth, unless absolutely necessary, I, Joe Di, will never again use the Path of Rules to erase all life in a domain.”
Finishing his words, Joe Di reached into the void and retrieved the two cosmic rules he had forcibly merged into the Five Elements Universe, dissolving them back into nothingness.