Chapter 852: Chapter 852: Infinity Equals Nothingness

"The path is made by walking. If this one is blocked, I’ll take another. There’s always a road that leads to the destination," Chen Guan thought to himself, secretly activating the Secret Technique of One.

This time, instead of seeking to sense the Secret Realm associated with the Secret Technique of One, he focused on deeply comprehending the technique itself.

If there truly is no Secret Realm corresponding to the Secret Technique of One in this world, then he’ll create one himself, with the Secret Technique of One as its foundation.

Chen Guan had initially had this idea, but now he felt even more resolved.

Living in this world is like walking on a path at night. If there is a bright light ahead, that is a blessing in life.

But when there is no light, one must fumble through the darkness until becoming the light oneself.

Currently, there was no light ahead for Chen Guan, only endless darkness.

The Secret Technique of One, created by the Emperor Ancestor, gave him direction, but he still needed to explore this dark path himself.

Chen Guan operated the Secret Technique of One again and again, starting fast and swift, gradually slowing down, as he calmed his heart and slowly felt the flow of the technique.

Undoubtedly, the Secret Technique of One is almost a perfect secret method. Its inclusiveness, its vastness, its intricacy, its beauty - one could find no flaws.

"If there exists a Secret Realm that matches the Secret Technique of One, what would it be like?" Chen Guan pondered.

"The Secret Technique of One has no upper limit, so would the corresponding Secret Realm also have no upper limit? But having no upper limit means it’s infinitely large, and an infinitely large Secret Realm wouldn’t be a Secret Realm at all; it should be the entire universe."

"Right, why can’t I take the entire universe as a Secret Realm? No one said a Secret Realm must be a small, isolated space; the universe itself can be seen as an independent space..."

"No!" Chen Guan quickly dismissed this thought.

"Rather than saying a Secret Realm is a kind of space, it is more like a framework of rule systems. Only with rules can there be a framework; if the entire universe is a Secret Realm, it would mean no rules, no framework."

"Just like Go, because of the board and the rules, there is Go. Without them, it would be empty, nothing at all."

"All the words occupy their places, but if they are not arranged according to certain rules and sequence, they have only their meanings and can never become beautiful poetry or a gripping story."

"Infinity equates to nothing, an abundance of rules equates to having no rules."

"I want to walk my own path, not turn the entire world into a road."

"If this world is just a road, then where is the scenery?"

"Boundless freedom is the greatest unfreedom in the world. If this world is all inside my heart, then this world becomes a prison for my soul."

"There are three thousand Great Paths in the world; I can take one, I can start anew, but I absolutely cannot turn those three thousand paths into one."

Various thoughts flashed through Chen Guan’s mind, but however easy it was to think, finding a breakthrough or walking his own path was not an easy task.

The Secret Technique of One spun slower and slower, seemingly at a standstill.

Chen Guan’s breathing and heartbeat slowed as well, until finally, he was almost like a corpse without breath or heartbeat.

As days went by, Chen Guan’s body was buried in the yellow sand, becoming part of the dunes.

Ji Liuying wandered aimlessly in the desert, as if she had lost her soul.

The Ji Family’s Great Cave Heaven was becoming increasingly infiltrated by the Ten Great Families. Without the protection of the Celestial King, the Ji Family could only keep retreating.

Clearly, those people caused trouble in the Ji Family city, yet when she stepped up to stop them, the result was her being punished and sent to the Tear Luo Desert.

Ji Liuying couldn’t understand why it had come to this.

Even if the Celestial King was no longer around, with so many strong people in the Ji Family, why couldn’t they fight against the other families?

So what about the Celestial King? As long as the Ji Family was united, even the Celestial King would have to think twice.

Thinking of this, Ji Liuying let out a bitter smile.

For she knew clearly that to make the Ji Family united was simply impossible.

From what she knew, many of the higher-ups in the family were already entangled with people from other families.

"The Ji Family might truly fall this time." Ji Liuying sighed along her journey, walking further and further, not knowing where to head.

She wanted to help the Ji Family rise again, but felt inadequate to the task.

She had only just recently advanced to the Great Cave Heaven and couldn’t compare to those veterans in strength.

She had also tried to obtain the ring left by the Celestial King, but it didn’t go as she had hoped.

Just walking aimlessly, Ji Liuying suddenly noticed a large number of sand scorpions ahead.

Originally, Ji Liuying thought these sand scorpions were after her and prepared to fight, ready to vent her pent-up frustration on them.

But who knew the sand scorpions shuffled past her, speeding off into the distance, seemingly uninterested in engaging her in battle.

"Huh, these sand scorpions seem to be fleeing from something in fear?" Ji Liuying glanced in the direction from which the sand scorpions came, her mind stirred, she summoned a Sword Spirit pet, flying towards that direction.

It wasn’t long before Ji Liuying saw a number of sand scorpion corpses within the yellow sand, each fallen dead in the desert.

The corpses of the sand scorpions were bizarre, appearing like dried-up vegetables, extremely desiccated.

Ji Liuying cast a Palm Wind at one of the sand scorpions’ corpses.

The Palm Wind could barely harm anyone, yet when it hit the sand scorpion’s corpse, the sand scorpion instantly turned to dust.

"How did they die? How did they become like this?" Ji Liuying was astonished, immediately activating a Secret Law to prevent any accidents with herself.

She cautiously moved forward, encountering countless dead sand scorpions along the way.

Yet she never saw what had killed these sand scorpions until she no longer found any more scorpion corpses or anything else.

"Is that a person?" Ji Liuying surveyed the surroundings and spotted what looked like a person, mostly buried in a dune, only a head exposed, still covered in sand.

Uncertain if it was human, or even alive or dead, Ji Liuying first sent a Palm Wind towards the dune.

The Palm Force transformed into a gale, blowing the sand off the dune, soon revealing the person’s entire body.

"Turned out it actually is a person." Ji Liuying scrutinized closely, seeing his clothes and ornaments, confirming it indeed was a person.

However, the aura seemed to indicate he was already dead. As she contemplated whether to investigate the cause of his death, the person suddenly opened their eyes.