The turbulent waves of Chaos battered the edges of the Flesh-Daemon Realm. Flecks of silver dust from the Mirror Citadel still clung to Xuan and his companions' robes when the overpowering scent of blood assaulted them, making their brows twitch. The once crimson sea now seethed with an uncanny purplish-black hue, its surface dotted with countless translucent Flesh-Chrysalises. Within each cocoon, mutated creatures curled—their limbs sprouting metallic scales, their pupils reflecting the Devouring Crucible's phantom afterimage.
"The reversal of Evolutionary Mandates has backfired!" Zhu Li's Starfire Lantern trembled violently in her palm, the images revealed by its wick turning her face pale. "These creatures are torn between symbiosis and devouring! Their flesh is crystallizing!"
Xuan's Golden Fissure Sigil blazed to life. He sensed a furious roar of Chaotic Mandate emanating from the ruins of the Devouring Crucible. As they arrived, the symbiotic garden they had forged was now dominated by an inverted crimson pyramid—the Blood Abyss Spire. Its form was woven from countless fleshy chains, each link strung with fragmented Evolutionary Mandate Glyphs. No longer radiating a vicious sanguine light, these glyphs pulsed with a cold, metallic violet.
"Beware! Those are the Devouring Fragments of the Ancient Blood-River!" Xing Tian's Sky-Cleaving Axe let out a mournful shriek. His chaotic-clay head throbbed with stabbing pain, forcing him to stumble and brace against a nearby Symbiosis Grass. On the mutated leaf, scenes shimmered: Xing Tian's decapitation by the Blood-River Patriarch, an ancient memory never recalled.
Xuan pressed his palm against the spire's base. His Chaos Dao Body resonated with the fleshy chains. Instantly, countless scenes flooded his mind-sea: In the primordial war before Creation, Pangu fought the Three Archaic Wills. The Blood-River Patriarch used the Devouring Crucible to refine chaotic beings. It was then Xing Tian's head was severed! The chaotic clay was no ordinary material—it was Pangu's fractured spine reconstituted.
"Xing Tian, your body..." Zhu Li sensed her companion's distress. The Starfire Lantern's glow enveloped his trembling form.
"I... I remember..." Xing Tian's voice was hoarse, golden blood seeping from cracks in his clay head. "Before Creation, I served Pangu as the Spirit of the World-Cleaving Axe. Protecting my lord, I was severed by the Blood-River Patriarch. My spine... became chaotic clay to remake my form..."
Before he finished, the Blood Abyss Spire shrieked. The fleshy chains transformed into Crimson Serpents, hurtling toward them. Every scale was etched with fragments of Evolutionary Mandate Glyphs. Where they passed, symbiotic plants withered instantly, nourishing the spire.
Xuan surged with the Threefold Manifestation Fusion Art. Armor of living frost expanded from his left arm, encasing them in a translucent barrier. Serpents slammed against the icy walls with metallic shrieks, their scales melting the ice to absorb the cold—a mutated counterstrike honed specifically against their powers.
"Zhu Li! Illuminate the chain-joints! Xing Tian! Smash the glyph array at the spire's base!" Xuan's Fissure-Gold Gaze locked onto the Spire's core: a pulsating crimson orb—the remnant essence of the Blood-River Patriarch himself.
Zhu Li acted instantly. The lantern dissolved into fireflies flowing into the chains. Each illuminated joint bloomed with golden patterns, transmuting the devouring fragments' violence into waves of symbiosis. Xing Tian's World-Cleaving Axe, sheathed in chaotic force, struck the glyph-laden base. The impact resonated with the war-cry echoes of Pangu's World-Cleaving!
"ROAAAR—!" Xing Tian's chaotic-clay head shattered entirely, revealing the shimmering Golden Spine Fragment within. The fragment levitated, resonating intensely with the spire's core. The spire's bloody hue faded, revealing countless layers of Chaos' Final Chapter etched within.
Xuan seized the chance, unleashing Fissure-Gold Gaze: Heavenly Mandate Shatter. Chains of golden sigil-light bound the crimson core. He saw its surface intricately carved with Dao Glyphs from Pangu's ancient battle against the Patriarch—each one recording the tragic fates of primordial Chaos creatures.
"So... the Devouring Mandate was Pangu's creation to purify Chaos' foulness..." Xuan's voice held awe. "...twisted by fear and obsession into a tool of slaughter."
Influenced by Xuan's Chaos Dao Body, the core shimmered, manifesting a phantom of Pangu. The phantom raised its hand. The Blood Abyss Spire exploded outward, revealing an Altar of Primordial Chaos beneath. Upon it was carved a complete Evolutionary Mandate, yet its corner held an unfinished Symbiosis Glyph—a fragment of Pangu's mercy, abandoned in the chaos of war.
"Xuan! Merge with it!" Zhu Li cried, lantern-light illuminating the altar. "This is Chaos' Final Chapter, left by Pangu! Let the Mandate return to its origin!"
Xuan nodded, merging his Chaos Dao Body with the altar. Instantly, the entire Flesh-Daemon Realm shuddered. The sea boiled, its blood-red hue vanishing into Primordial Waters of Chaos. Creatures trapped within Flesh-Chrysalises erupted free. Their forms, no longer slaves to devouring, manifested harmonious union with Chaos: Crystalline dorsal fins sprouted; palms blossomed into Lotuses of Devouring and Healing.
Just as relief washed over them, an even mightier tremor shook the realm's depths. A colossal figure breached the waves—a Blood Abyss Colossus, forged from fused Devouring Fragments. Its flesh-metal body rippled, every scale inscribed with Evolutionary curses. Its eyes reflected the realm's blood-soaked history.
"Seed of Chaotic Defilement!" The beast's roar shook Chaos itself. "I am the Blood-River Patriarch's final obsession! YOUR LIFE ENDS TODAY!" It opened its maw, firing volleys of Devouring Blood-Arrows, each capable of tearing spiritual meridians from living flesh.
Xing Tian's Spine Fragment blazed with blinding light, resonating fiercely with his axe. His form shimmered into a Spectre of Chaos. His World-Cleaving Axe grew colossal, its blade etched with Pangu's War Glyphs. "Damned beast! I failed to protect Pangu then! Today, I SHATTER YOU!"
Xuan and Zhu Li exchanged a glance. Their ultimate powers flared simultaneously. Xuan unleashed Threefold Manifestation: Chaos Apocalypse—fusing Frost, Flesh, and Karma-Fire into pure Chaotic Power, coalescing into a titanic palm slamming the Colossus. Zhu Li ignited her vital essence, turning the Starfire Lantern into a blazing Miniature Sun—its light piercing the monster to illuminate the Devouring Fragments within.
The battle raged for three days and nights, reshaping the realm's very landscape. When Xuan's Chaos Palm and Xing Tian's World-Cleaving Axe struck the Colossus' core simultaneously, and Zhu Li's starlight incinerated the final Devouring Fragment, the beast unleashed one last roar of defiance before dissolving into bloody motes absorbed by Chaos.
Aftermath: Xing Tian's body crumbled again. His Spine Fragment flew back, merging with the Golden Fissure Sigil at Xuan's brow. "Fear not, old friend," Xuan murmured softly. "Your form was always Pangu's Guardian Mandate, left within Chaos."
Observing the calming realm, Zhu Li saw Symbiosis Grass reclaiming the ruins. Freed beings watered the soil with Primordial Waters. She recalled the Divine Court stele's words: Breaking the chrysalis was never destruction—it was restoring twisted laws to their origins, giving every being the freedom to choose their own evolution.
"We must build a Citadel," Xuan declared, gazing at emerging land where volcanoes spewed symbiotic lava. "Chaos-Citadel. A sanctuary for all whom laws cannot bind."
Zhu Li nodded. Her lantern glowed with unprecedented warmth. "The Guardians of the Cinders' ancestral memories are complete. We never guarded a person or power... but the Undying Flame of Choice within Chaos."
As twilight spilled over the ruins, Xuan, Zhu Li, and Xing Tian stood upon the reborn land. Beings of countless races approached. In their eyes, fear and blind obedience were gone, replaced by expectation and courage for the future. Xuan knew remnants of the Three Archaic Wills still lurked within Chaos. But as long as such eyes existed, the path of the Chrysalis-Breaker would extend.
Deep within the fractured core of the Blood Abyss Colossus, a wisp of deep violet light coalesced. It was the Blood-River Patriarch's unpurged obsession, poised to resurrect through mortal hunger for power. Unseen by Xuan and the others, an even more insidious counterstrike brewed: In the ruins of Elder's Wheel of Ten Thousand Kalpas, the residual spirit of the Saṃsāra Matriarch fused with the Mirror-Immortal's silvery light, weaving a new net of Mandates.
Xing Tian's Spine Fragment rested silently deep within Xuan's mind-sea, where more memories of Pangu's Creation lay dormant. As Xuan's consciousness brushed against it, a fleeting vision arose: Before Pangu cleaved Chaos, he shed a tear and fractured his Dao-Heart into the Primordial mist. That tear was the essence of Zhu Li's Starfire Lantern.
"All this... was destined..." Xuan murmured, watching Zhu Li's form move purposefully. He finally understood: Their meeting was Pangu's final, desperate hope left for breaking the chrysalis. As the foundation stone of Chaos-Citadel was laid, as the first Symbiosis Grass flower bloomed, a new tale had only just begun.