Chapter 365: The Cycle Array

It took a long time before their lips finally parted.
Chen Xiao looked at Mo Xian, whose cheeks were now flushed red, and pouted thoughtfully.
But now, Chen Xiao had suppressed everything in her mind, not even bothering to think about what those simple laws of life were that Mo Xian had understood and mastered.
The pursuers had arrived.
All of them were stronger than Chen Xiao, so much so that she couldn’t even discern their true strength.
Clearly, their power far surpassed that of the Sovereigns—they were all Divine Lords who had grasped certain laws and possessed the seeds of those laws.
There were thirteen of them in total. The three leading them had their essence tightly contained; every move they made seemed to embody some ultimate truth of the world, the essence of a Dao.
Divine Lords.
The three leaders included a middle-aged man with black hair, an old man with red hair, and a middle-aged beautiful woman—all Divine Lords who had understood their own Dao.
The Heavenly Realm was the first primordial world in the universe, created by the Immortal Lord after breaking apart the original chaotic world. The process of life evolving there even exceeded that of any planet or world in the universe.
And the reason they were called Divine Lords was that only the Heavenly Realm possessed them. The Divine Realm, the Netherworld, and even the Demon Realm, which had perished in ancient times, did not have Divine Lords.
Chen Xiao observed carefully these three Divine Lords who had grasped the essence of their Dao. Although they could achieve absolute control over a certain law, they never violated it.
In other words, the deeper they understood the essence of a law through their grasp of the Dao, the more they adhered to it.
…
“Mo Xian, we’ve finally found you. Hand over the Key of Life. I can decide to forgive your sins,” said the old man with red hair first.
His tone was condescending, filled with an unchallengeable authority. He resembled the enormous sun in the Heavenly Realm, towering above all others.
At that moment, aside from the three powerful Divine Lords who remained still, the other ten Divine Lords had surrounded Chen Xiao and Mo Xian to prevent them from escaping.
“Forgive her sins? Sun Divine Lord, you have no right to decide that,” said the middle-aged beautiful woman with a cold smile. Her gaze toward Mo Xian’s face revealed a hint of barely perceptible cruelty.
“Mo Xian, you’re doomed no matter what,” said the middle-aged man with black hair, his voice almost a snarl. “Stealing the Key of Life and disrupting the order of the Heavenly Realm—your crimes are unforgivable.”
The man’s eyes emitted a strong black glow. In the next instant, the entire area was enveloped in darkness.
It was the law of darkness, driving away the light.
Mo Xian’s face paled slightly as she clutched Chen Xiao’s hand tightly, her body beginning to tremble uncontrollably.
“I’m here. Don’t be afraid.”

Chen Xiao comforted her softly. He did not ask about the Key of Life. In fact, Chen Xiao had already guessed that Mo Xian’s understanding of the Way of Life—reaching the status of Heavenly Venerable through pure laws of life—was likely related to that so-called Key of Life.
“All things in heaven and earth have their own destinies. The Key of Life has chosen Xian Xian as its master. If you insist on taking it, aren’t you afraid of divine punishment?”
Chen Xiao stepped forward, shielding Mo Xian’s body behind him.
At this moment, Mo Xian had just grasped the Way of Heavenly Venerable, and her resolve was not yet firm; she simply couldn’t fight against her enemies. Even before that, as a Divine Venerable, she had managed to escape the pursuit of many powerful beings in the heavenly realm by relying on her innate sense, allowing her to vanish before danger struck. This time, her whereabouts were exposed because of Chen Xiao. If not for him stopping her, Mo Xian would likely have already reached another corner of the heavenly realm.
Yet, Mo Xian had no complaints about this.
“A mere insect that hasn’t even understood the laws.”
The middle-aged beauty curled her lips slightly. Then, with a flick of her finger, a sickly green light shot out from her fingertip, aiming at Chen Xiao’s body. Its speed was so fast that, given Chen Xiao’s current level of cultivation, he couldn’t even see it clearly.
“Severe poison…”
Chen Xiao’s Eye of Reincarnation activated instantly, allowing him to see through the nature of that sickly green light. This middle-aged woman had mastered the laws of poison, using deadly toxins to kill all things in the world.
“As expected, the hearts of women are the most poisonous.”
An inexplicable killing intent arose in Chen Xiao’s heart. He did not try to stop her. At this moment, Chen Xiao followed his own heart, which meant following the path of the Dao—letting things take their natural course.
In Chen Xiao’s view, only that old man had a chance of survival. Everyone else, including the dark-haired man who had grasped the Way of Darkness, must die.
Over the three years they had spent together, Chen Xiao had developed true feelings for Mo Xian, regarding her as his own woman. Anyone who dared to harm her, or even think of harming her, was guilty of an unforgivable crime.
“Reincarnation Array, activate!”
Chen Xiao silently uttered these words. Immediately, the spiritual energy that only appeared in his supernatural body surged forth.
In the next moment, the runes he had carved earlier appeared one after another under the influence of that spiritual energy, emitting dazzling light in the void.
The primal forces of heaven and earth—purest forces without any attributes or laws—surged in abundance. Under their influence, one after another bizarre arrays emerged, centered around Chen Xiao and Mo Xian’s bodies, instantly covering thousands of miles of space.
The five fundamental arrays—trapping, killing, ensnaring, illusion, and defense—continued to evolve and transform, blending and dispersing within the laws, twisting in the void to form arrays of entirely new natures.
Some of these arrays had never existed in the world before.
In total, there were 129,500,000 such arrays, exactly matching the number of cycles in the cosmic cycle. And when these 129,500,000 arrays came together, they formed an even newer array—what Chen Xiao called the Reincarnation Array.

The deadly poison light emitted by the middle-aged beautiful woman was reflected back by a small yet bizarre array a ten-thousandth of a blink before it could touch Chen Xiao’s body, shooting back toward her own body. Moreover, that seemingly insignificant poison light was amplified by the bizarre array by more than ten thousand times, turning almost into a deadly blade that slashed fiercely toward her body.
“What?!”
The three Heavenly Lords, along with the ten Divine Lords around them, were all shocked. They never expected such a thing to happen.
“What’s going on?!”
The red-haired elder, Heavenly Lord Lieyang, was horrified. He realized that here, the rules he controlled were ineffective—this was an absolute space made of pure force, rejecting all rules!
“A mere insect who hasn’t even grasped the rules can use such astonishing techniques…”
A cold glint flashed in the middle-aged woman’s eyes, and two green lights appeared deep in her pupils. The aura of poison began to emanate from her body.
Bang!
The deadly blade reflected by Chen Xiao struck the middle-aged woman hard. She couldn’t help but let out a muffled groan, taking a slight step back to ward off the blade.
But for a Supreme God to force a Heavenly Lord back like this—no one would believe it if it were spread.
“Chen Xiao, this is…”
Now, Mo Xian was stunned. Although she had always trusted Chen Xiao and believed he wouldn’t harm her, seeing his actions now, she couldn’t believe her own eyes. A Supreme God, just by setting up a few spiritual spells, had trapped three Heavenly Lords and ten Divine Lords?
“This… is the true Way.”
A faint smile appeared on Chen Xiao’s lips.
“Everything has its own Way. The Way understood by the Heavenly Lords—Chen Xiao also has his own Way, the true Way.”
A hint of pride flashed across Chen Xiao’s face.
Over the past three years, having found the true essence of the Way and grasped the true heart of the Way, Chen Xiao had enough reason to be proud.
During these three years, Chen Xiao seemed to do nothing, just playing around all day, not even practicing cultivation. But this was exactly the carefree life he desired the most—reaching a state of emptiness in his mind, seeing his true self, and letting everything go as it came.
Letting everything follow one’s heart, acting according to one’s will.
In fact, this was also a form of cultivation. Just like the true Way, it explained the existence of reincarnation, yet it was intangible, without any fixed rules. The Way has no heart; everything is instinct, acting freely.
Thus, Chen Xiao’s state of mind was precisely the state of the Way’s heartlessness—transforming intention into heartlessness, merging himself with the Way.
Chen Xiao’s upbringing and background had destined his life. He had experienced all kinds of joys and sorrows, the hardships of the world, as well as separations, deaths, ups and downs, great griefs, and great joys.
The only thing he had never experienced was what was called love. Once, Chen Xiao had developed feelings for a girl, but it was merely affection—neither love nor the seed of emotion—so it was crushed.

Now, Chen Xiao has personally experienced love, felt what it is to fall in love with someone and to be deeply loved by someone. His state of mind has also reached perfection.

What is the heart of the Dao?

It is the rule that governs all things in the world, the principle by which everything operates. All these rules together form the cycle, constituting the heart of the Dao.

So what is the heart of man?

It is emotion! Whatever kind of emotion—sadness, joy, sorrow, pain—only those with emotions are true humans.

The Dao itself is emotionless, which is why it can operate unaffected, driving the cycle and giving rise to all things. But isn’t human emotion also a form of Dao?!

After three years in the world, Chen Xiao seems to have grasped something vaguely. His path now is to explain the Dao of emotionlessness through the Dao of emotion.

In Chen Xiao’s view, power, laws, and even rules are merely minor aspects. By understanding the Dao, one can possess all of these.

Though Chen Xiao has understood the heart of the Dao and wielded some of its power, his understanding remains superficial—just a sliver compared to the vastness of the great Dao. But this is enough.

……

“The true Dao? What an arrogant claim.”

The dark-haired man smirked coldly. Instantly, his eyes turned black, and his black hair behind him soared upward, spreading out around him.

Endless dark energy surged from his body, with dark rules appearing around him, continuously weaving together to form one dark world after another.

The other two great sovereigns, the Sovereign of the Scorching Sun and the middle-aged beautiful woman, Sovereign Yue Zhi, also released the rules within them. Although they couldn’t communicate with the outside world or summon external rules, there were still rules within their bodies.

As for those sovereigns, even if they understood the rules, once separated from them, they could no longer use those rules at all.

Here, their power was no different from that of someone who had not understood the rules.

One black, one red, one green—three beams of light flashed in this space formed by the formation, shooting straight into the sky as if trying to tear apart this space.

“Hey, idiot. Using one’s own strength to confront the entire universe—so far, I’ve only seen one person dare to do this.”

Chen Xiao watched the three sovereigns unleash the power of their respective rules, rolling his lips slightly. His hands moved casually in the void, but each movement aligned with the flow of the Dao, following its path.

Vast forces gathered once again from the heavens and earth.

“Your Dao is just some trivial path. Let me show you what the true Dao is.”

“The Dao is this world—everything is the Dao. The Dao is this universe—everything has a heart that yearns for the Dao. The Dao is me, and I am the Dao.”

Chen Xiao uttered one strange syllable after another, as if they were the most fundamental sounds in the world—the sound of the Dao, the sound of the cycle.

The Heavenly Venerable, who continuously emitted the laws of his own origin, could not understand what Chen Xiao was saying or the realm he was describing. However, Mo Xian, who was by Chen Xiao’s side, could clearly sense Chen Xiao’s realm. Every fluctuation in Chen Xiao’s body was transmitted unreservedly to Mo Xian’s body, helping her refine the state of pure origin within her and strengthen her cultivation as a Heavenly Venerable. It was also because of Chen Xiao’s willingness; otherwise, Mo Xian would have been unable to understand what he was explaining. The Dao has no form, and words cannot fully express it, but Chen Xiao conveyed it through the sounds of the Dao, speaking of the Dao with the Dao itself. In the next moment, Mo Xian had entered Kong Ming’s realm. She sat down involuntarily and slowly began to activate the laws of pure origin within her body. “Insect, shut up! What on earth are you talking about?!” Yue Zhi, the Heavenly Venerable, could no longer bear what Chen Xiao was saying and couldn’t help but shout. “Insect? Hehe, beneath the Dao, all beings are equal. Even an insect is an incarnation of the Dao. Since they are all part of the Dao, how can there be a distinction between high and low?” Chen Xiao shook his head and said, “Since you lack the fortune to hear the sounds of the Dao, then I will show you through action what the Dao is.” “I will use a fraction of my own strength to mobilize ten thousand times that amount of power in the universe.” Chen Xiao stretched out one finger.