Duality of Shadows-Chapter 1011: Mist Of Life

Alm and Bruno separated again, completely exhausted. The World of the Higher Heavens was collapsing before their eyes — the first world to ever exist, even before the universes, was about to cease to exist forever.

They watched time and space crumble. Then...

[01 Optional Quest received!]

[Absorb the remaining eight Primordial Columns.]

[Reward: 500 Upgrade Points]

[Accept?] [Yes / No]

Without hesitation, Alm and Bruno immediately accepted. Even though they had destroyed the central Primordial Column — responsible for two-thirds of the laws — the other eight columns were weakened and practically useless, like a building whose entire foundation had been demolished. The remaining structure could not hold itself up.

Everything happened so quickly, there was no time to hesitate. Fortunately, they now possessed the full power of Heaven’s Will. With a single thought, they used a miracle that allowed them to move as if in a supreme teleport.

In seconds, they positioned themselves before the remaining columns, all completely cracked, and began absorbing their runes. The process only took ten seconds, and immediately they used another miracle to escape.

[Optional Quest Completed]

As soon as they left, the World of the Higher Heavens ceased to exist. Back in the underworld, they didn’t have time to see the message on the green screen. Their eyes widened as they observed the underworld transformed into absolute chaos.

It was like being in an infinite ocean, struck by a furious storm. Time and space became turbulent, giant, and terrifying waters.

With the collapse of the celestial laws, the underworld was the first place to be deeply affected. Everything was changing. The Yin of the place was completely out of control. Entire planets were obliterated, while life forms were swallowed by destructive waves.

The Yin laws of immortal-level time-space were destroying everything, and they were merging... creating an even greater power. Alm and Bruno felt that it was just one step away from the calamity-level laws they had.

"!"

Alm and Bruno, tense, almost jumped in shock as they sensed a black hole being invaded by Yin. Inside it, there was a small and simple universe, being consumed and destroyed.

"Shit... if this continues, most of the universes will probably be destroyed before the underworld stabilizes. That is, if there’s even time for any universe to survive," Bruno commented, stunned.

Alm sighed, reflecting. Only 40% of the universes created at the beginning had awakened the laws and started creating life. It was likely that all of them would be destroyed. The universes still without life, however, wouldn’t be affected and could be started later, without problems.

But... it would be an indescribable massacre. Infinite lives would end, and they knew they couldn’t blame anyone but themselves for that. Even though they had no choice, the blame still lay with them.

While Bruno desperately thought of a solution, Alm remembered the reward for the Main Quest. The green screen appeared:

[Celestial Conversion] [Passive Effect]

[Whenever Heaven’s Will acts to protect life and guide souls toward evolution and learning, it will gain rewards in points.]

"Interesting," Alm murmured calmly. "This ability was a gift from the ancient Heaven’s Will before it disappeared. It seems like a final help... wait... yes, it clearly wanted us to cleanse our dark karma, forcing us to work for life to atone for the harm we’ve caused. At the same time, it will make us stronger. It’s like a hidden hint of which path we should follow."

Reflecting, Alm was sure. The last optional quest was probably also planned by the ancient Heaven’s Will. After all, they had to destroy the central column. Now, with the automated system, there wouldn’t be more optional quests in the form of hints — maybe this was even the last optional quest.

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"We need to save these people. That’ll benefit us too. Think of something, damn it!" Bruno exclaimed seriously, watching the planets in the underworld being slowly engulfed.

Alm snorted, but even though he remained calm, he too cared about the other lives. He had changed a lot, maybe because he wanted to preserve the invincible and protective image that Meru and Ruri had of them. Also, the entire journey up until now had been built with the help of many people. Helping others could also create unpredictable things that would help them.

"The ancient Heaven’s Will must have foreseen this scenario and forced us to absorb the eight primordial columns. Maybe we can use them now," Alm reflected.

Bruno turned his attention to the internal universe. The celestial laws had been destroyed, and it would take billions of years for the minimum balance to be restored. After that, each universe would begin to restructure its own laws internally, becoming completely unique entities, with no direct connection to the others.

Of course, not all would be completely different and unrecognizable — most would only have greater or smaller variations. But surely, very random things could be born.

Without hesitation, they moved the celestial runes of the eight primordial columns out. Then, they focused entirely on reflecting and trying to find a way to use them.

***

Three years passed.

In the first year, everything remained out of control. Nearly half of the planets in the underworld were destroyed, along with a hundred universes. But by the end of that year, Alm and Bruno managed to rebuild a simple base for the heavenly laws.

Though rudimentary, this base connected to the underworld, halting all the destruction. However, it was impossible to establish a connection with the universes.

In the second and third years, they moved all the planets in the underworld that contained life and brought them into their internal universe.

Unfortunately, they no longer earned points for doing so. However, the internal universe, which previously only had 200 planets occupying less than 0.1% of its space, became much more populated. Nearly half of the internal universe was now occupied; the underworld was vast and had countless planets, turning it into a true universe.

That base also prevented the destruction of the universes. However, the underworld couldn’t be saved—it ceased to be a cold and empty Yin place and transformed into a true world of destruction, with a power at the calamity level flowing through it.

Moving through the underworld became practically impossible, even for an immortal. Perhaps with great preparation, resources, and luck, it would be possible to navigate and reach another nearby universe, but it would be extremely dangerous.

The queen, on the other hand, could do so effortlessly. But without the power of the Heaven’s Will, it would be like moving in complete darkness, staying alert and careful with that power attacking her. Even with her immense strength, she wouldn’t be able to go very far due to lack of energy to defend herself.

"This is a good outcome. Now, universes will be invaded very rarely, only by nearby universes. Before, any immortal with knowledge or even divine cultivators from large universes could reach the underworld with luck and power," Alm commented lightly.

Bruno sighed. They saved everyone they could. However, the last three items of the primordial chaos disappeared into the middle of the underworld after the construction of the heavenly laws base. Probably, even the queen couldn’t find them now.

"In thirty million years, a small stability will occur in the laws, and at that point, the three items can be detected again."

Bruno murmured, and Alm nodded. Surely, the queen would fight with all her might to get those items.

They had already fought twice in a short period. The first time, they were completely powerless against her. However, the queen used the battle only to capture the spear and didn’t go all out; in the end, she got the Void Spear but gave them a chance to escape. The second time, just a few years later, they were able to fight on equal terms, defeating her until she became unrecognizable.

Now she was undoubtedly terrified. She knew that if she gave them time, they would get stronger and could kill her next time. But she couldn’t find them; and there was a great risk she’d be in a worse position if she did. So, she would focus on desperately gaining more power.

The tables had completely turned. Now, it was her who had to move carefully to avoid being found, while strengthening herself.

As for them, they couldn’t be foolish enough to attack her now; they weren’t really stronger, only able to fight for a few minutes, and she now knew their moves. They wanted time to grow stronger and ensure they could defeat her.

Alm and Bruno turned their attention to the internal universe and saw the thousand-petaled lotus. As soon as they saw it, they felt something different. Its light could now be seen a bit more clearly.

They sighed in unison. The countless lives they had recently saved and the tremendous effort had burned less than 3% of their karma. However...

In seconds, they noticed something and widened their eyes as they saw a colorful and mystical light emerging from the tree’s roots.

"Immortal Chaos Fragment!"

Bruno exclaimed excitedly. After the karma burn and the lotus—the condemnation of Heaven’s Will’s power—became freer, the tree began to produce that valuable resource.

"Excellent! With this, we and all our immortal allies can cultivate," Alm remarked, thinking about the system.

[Celestial Conversion Activated!]

[Generating rewards...]

[+200 Upgrade Points]

[+100 Celestial Points]

[Total:]

[700 Upgrade Points]

[400 Celestial Points]

They read the information and nodded. Even though they hadn’t directed the souls for evolution, they had earned some rewards for saving them.

The path was now clear. They needed to take advantage of the years until the primordial Chaos items could be found again. To do so, they had to burn as much of their karma as possible, strengthening the tree and obtaining more resources to cultivate.

The problem was how to do this most efficiently...

"I know!"

Bruno remembered the last messages they received before fully absorbing the ancient Heaven’s Will. Now they had access to the Cosmic Library and the Akashic Records, allowing them to seek knowledge about absolutely everything.

[Searching the celestial knowledge...]

[Knowledge of the Awakening of the Universes] [600 Upgrade Points]

[Read the knowledge directly?] [Yes / No]

Alm and Bruno got excited at the thought of accessing all kinds of information. They could even read a person’s entire life in the Akashic Records if they wanted, but...

"No," Bruno declined with regret.

Unfortunately, they couldn’t just access that freely, as the queen might discover, and they didn’t know what the consequences would be. Maybe she could find a loophole to access those records as well... it was better not to risk it.

[Buy?] [Yes / No]

They spent their points, and the feeling was different this time. A torrent of knowledge flooded them as always, but it lasted only five seconds, and their eyes lit up.

"This... it was like we always knew this and just recalled everything immediately," Bruno murmured, stunned.

"Doesn’t matter, let’s move on," Alm said dryly.

The whale opened its eyes, and in that instant, they moved through the chaotic and distorted underworld. They didn’t use a miracle; doing so without points would alert the queen now.

However, with the power of the mandate and the primordial Chaos pillar, they could easily navigate, ignoring everything around them. The queen, without these things, was at a huge disadvantage.

They reached an area with billions of black holes, within which were universes where life had yet to be started.

They nodded and, with their tattoos, moved some heavenly runes...

*Whooosh!*

A dense mist of life blossomed, followed by a soft light.