Chapter 685: Heart of Order, Grandmaster Realm
Days turned into weeks.
Every morning, Xu Wuyi would wake up, practice a set of martial arts in the courtyard, and then go out to buy groceries. At noon, he would cook a meal for himself. In the afternoon, he would sit blankly beneath the old locust tree or return to his room to meditate quietly. At night, he went to bed early, only to repeat the routine the next day.
He did not watch the news, paid no attention to what was happening in the outside world, and contacted no one. His personal terminal had been tossed into a drawer and left unopen for a long time.
Sometimes, he wondered if he would truly become an ordinary person one day if things continued like this. But he knew he wouldn’t. Because deep within his Sea of Consciousness, that great blue sun was changing every single day.
The changes were subtle, almost imperceptible at first. However, as time went by, they became increasingly obvious and profound.
First came the change in color. The blue had originally been very pale—so pale it was nearly transparent. Yet over time, the color grew richer and deeper, shifting from pale blue to sky blue, from sky blue to dark blue, and finally from dark blue into an indescribable hue. It was not a simple blue, but a blue taken to its absolute extreme, as if it contained all the colors of everything in the world.
Then came the change in form. The great sun had originally been perfectly round, but over time, its shape became irregular as blurry phantoms began to appear around its edges. These phantoms constantly shifted. Sometimes they looked like mountains and rivers, sometimes like cities, and sometimes like crowds of people.
Finally came the change in position. The great sun had originally been suspended deep within the dark golden great marsh. But over time, it slowly began to rise—from the depths to the surface of the marsh, and then from the surface into the sky above it. With every bit it ascended, the great marsh shrank a little. It was as if the great sun was absorbing the power of the great marsh, assimilating the entire expanse into itself.
Meditating every day, Xu Wuyi witnessed these changes with his own eyes, and a wave of enlightenment welled up in his heart.
He knew this was his Heart Image transforming.
That great sun was born from an indignant heart. It represented his Will, his pursuit, and his Dao. And that dark golden great marsh was born from the True Intention of the "Mountain". It represented his foundation, his capacity to bear weight, and his accumulated experiences.
Now, the great sun was absorbing the great marsh. This meant that his Dao was absorbing his accumulations, converting his foundation into pure power. The day the great marsh disappeared completely would be the day he truly stepped into the Grandmaster Realm.
***
By mid-May, the transformation was finally complete.
Sunlight spilled into the remote courtyard, filtering through the branches and leaves of the old locust tree to cast dappled shadows on the ground. Xu Wuyi sat motionless on a stone block beneath the tree, his eyes closed.
He had been sitting like this for two whole days. For two days, he hadn’t eaten, drank, or opened his eyes. He just sat there like a statue, letting the sun cross the sky from east to west, and letting the cool night breeze brush against his cheeks.
The courtyard was quiet. It was so quiet that he could hear the wind RUSTLE through the leaves, the occasional voices drifting from the distant alleyway, and the low CHIRP of an unseen insect near the manual water pump.
But Xu Wuyi heard none of this. His entire consciousness was immersed deep within his Sea of Consciousness.
Within the Sea of Consciousness, the great blue sun had finally stopped rising. It hovered in a void, its light richer and more profound than before. That blue was no longer a simple blue. It was an indescribable hue—a blue taken to its absolute extreme, as if it contained all the colors of everything in the world.
And beneath it, the dark golden great marsh had completely vanished.
The True Intention of the "Mountain" that had carried his foundation for years, that source of power that was once as deep, heavy, and stable as the Earth, had now fully merged into the great sun.
Xu Wuyi’s consciousness floated quietly, gazing at the great sun, as a wondrous feeling welled up in his heart. The feeling was difficult to describe. It wasn’t joy, it wasn’t excitement, and it wasn’t even tranquility. It was something much deeper. It felt like watching one’s child finally grow up, or seeing a planted tree finally bloom and bear fruit, or witnessing the path one had traveled finally stretch far into the distance.
He had waited a long time, prepared for a long time, and been confused for a long time. Now, he had finally reached this step.
Right at this moment, the great sun began to change.
Its light began to retract. Instead of radiating in all directions, it gathered inward, transforming into a more solid and restrained state. Along with the retracting light, the form of the great sun also began to alter. The previously irregular edges became smooth. The constantly shifting phantoms gradually vanished, and the entire sun slowly shaped itself into a perfect sphere.
The sphere was flawlessly round, its surface as smooth as a mirror, without a single blemish or unevenness. It simply hovered in the void, rotating silently and emitting a faint blue glow. The glow was very pale, almost transparent, but the shade of blue gave off an indescribable impression: Calmness, rationality, Order, and Rules.
Looking at the sphere, Xu Wuyi suddenly understood something.
The Golden Crow was gone. The great marsh was gone. The Rules of Flame were gone, and the Rules of Gravity were gone as well. Those Rules that had supported him to this day, those abilities he had once been so proud of—all of them had disappeared, completely devoured by this pale blue sphere.
But Xu Wuyi knew they hadn’t truly disappeared. They had merely been fused, consolidated, and elevated to a higher plane. Just like streams flowing into a great river, like bricks building a towering skyscraper, or like words forming an essay, they were no longer independent entities; rather, they had become a part of this sphere—a component of this new Rule.
This new Rule was Order.
What was the essence of Flame? It was combustion, destruction, and the breaking of the old equilibrium. And breaking an old equilibrium was, in itself, a disruption of the original Order and the establishment of a new Order.
What was the essence of Gravity? It was attraction, cohesion, and making all things fall into their proper places. And making all things fall into their proper places was, in itself, a manifestation of Order and an adherence to Rules.
There was even more.
The mountain bearing all creation was a form of Order. The great sun revolving ceaselessly was a form of Order. The explicit legal clauses of the Inspection Department, along with the covert exchanges of favors behind the scenes, were also Order. Everything he had seen and heard over the past three months were manifestations of Order, and they were all nutrients absorbed by this pale blue sphere.
Xu Wuyi’s consciousness slowly approached the sphere. He reached out and gently touched it.
𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞
In the very moment of contact, a profoundly mysterious enlightenment surged into his mind. He suddenly understood the true nature of this sphere.
It was not Flame, it was not Gravity, and it was not any specific Rule. It was a higher Rule—a Rule that lorded over all other Rules. It did not produce any specific Rule itself, but it could contain, consolidate, and control all Rules. Just as the law itself was not a single specific regulation, but the sum and framework of all regulations.
This was his new Heart Image.
The manifestation of Order.
The Heart of Order.
Order had arrived, and he had finally become a Grandmaster.