Chapter Fifty-Seven: The Primordial Beast of Chaos

Turning the pages of human history, one inevitably encounters accounts of cataclysmic floods and ferocious beasts.

Regarding Chaos, the earliest mention appears in "The Classic of Divine Wonders." It states: "To the west of Kunlun dwells a beast, resembling a dog, long-haired, four-legged, akin to a bear yet clawless. It has eyes but cannot see, walks without opening them, possesses ears yet cannot hear, bears human intellect, has a belly but lacks internal organs, boasts a straight intestine with no twists, food passes straight through. When a person of virtue approaches, it attacks; when one of evil approaches, it relies on them. Its name is Chaos."

Chaos was dubbed a monstrous deity of ancient times, its appearance part dog, part bear. Legend holds that, upon encountering a person of good character, Chaos would unleash violence upon them.

At this very moment, the central point of the underground array hosts a slumbering, wrinkled, and ferocious giant beast—Chaos.

Chaos is ensnared by a black, razor-sharp claw, belonging to an even larger black dragon. This dragon, crowned with horns and covered in gleaming black scales, is none other than the legendary Earth Dragon. A massive steel-reinforced concrete pillar presses down on the Earth Dragon’s body.

As for awakening the Earth Dragon, Huasheng was at a loss. Summoning his courage, he crept closer, lifted his hand, and slapped the dragon’s side with force. The black “mountain” remained unmoved, as if struck by a bare hand against stone.

Gritting his teeth, Huasheng tried punching it, but the dragon still did not budge.

Ideally, he wished to awaken the Earth Dragon without disturbing Chaos’s dreams. Then he and the Young Lord Supreme could slip away unnoticed, just as the poet Xu Zhimo described: “Quietly I leave, as quietly as I came; I wave my sleeve, not taking a single cloud away.”

A flawless retreat was the perfect strategy.

Yet, after exhausting himself with his third attempt, Huasheng was pushed aside by the Young Lord Supreme.

The Young Lord Supreme wagged his finger left and right, a gesture meaning “That won’t work.”

He recited a mysterious incantation, and a vintage-looking alarm clock appeared in his palm. It was small, only as large as his hand.

Huasheng gestured with his fingers to show how tiny it was, crossing his arms before his chest to indicate that such a small alarm could hardly be effective.

The Young Lord Supreme ignored him, winding the clock with determination. After tightening the spring, he placed it before Huasheng and pointed to a small inscription at its base. Huasheng leaned in and read: “Model: Mother’s Roar PRO.”

What? Mother’s Roar… And it’s the PRO version…

Huasheng drew a sharp breath. Though he’d never suffered his mother’s wrath, the look in the Young Lord Supreme’s eyes told him this was a terrifying ordeal, one that left psychological scars on many children.

As Huasheng imagined the clock’s power, the Young Lord Supreme suddenly set it on the ground and dashed away, like a child lighting firecrackers during New Year. Almost simultaneously, the clock began to vibrate. Huasheng felt his feet tingle, the earth shook beneath him, and even with noise-canceling headphones, he struggled to remain upright under the cacophonous alarm.

The Earth Dragon, guarding Chaos, opened its eyes a crack, half-awake. As the dragon gradually stirred, the surrounding sacred sound barrier split, the fissures widened, and the whole barrier collapsed, shredded like wood chips.

What kind of alarm was this? It was more akin to a targeted explosive!

Huasheng grumbled inwardly; without these enchanted headphones, he would surely be bleeding from every orifice.

After what seemed an eternity, the dreadful ringing ceased. Seeing the array dissolved, Huasheng breathed a sigh of relief and removed his headphones.

Across from him, the Young Lord Supreme also took his headphones off. “See? Destruction is always easier than protection, no matter when!”

Huasheng was about to speak when a foul, damp heat blew across his back. The stench nauseated him, and he retched uncontrollably. Turning, he saw the giant Chaos beast baring its steaming jaws, sniffing at him.

Chaos had awakened before the Earth Dragon—so much for fate’s favor.

Huasheng dared not breathe, facing Chaos, while signaling with his peripheral vision to the Young Lord Supreme.

“Hey, Young Lord Supreme! Any idea how to deal with this brute?”

A shrill scream rang out from the other side.

“Oh dear! My Rolex!”

The Young Lord Supreme paid no attention to Huasheng, clicking his tongue in agony as he stared at his wrist. His Rolex Daytona had been shattered by the alarm’s thunder, the glass broken, and he looked as devastated as an office worker who’d saved years for such a watch, only to see it ruined.

“Hey! Now’s not the time to worry about watches!” Huasheng retreated toward the Young Lord Supreme, lowering his voice. “Isn’t your watch a fake? A fake! In matters of life and death, forget the details!”

With a thunderous crash, Chaos broke free of the Earth Dragon’s claw and lunged at Huasheng, jaws snapping. Huasheng barely dodged, his arm nearly becoming a meal. Yet, being so near, Chaos’s saliva splattered his face.

Huasheng spat repeatedly. “Disgusting! It’s unbearable!”

“If you hadn’t brushed your teeth for centuries, you’d smell just as bad!” the Young Lord Supreme said gleefully.

At some point, he had seized the twin swords Ganjiang and Moye. Leaping high, he slashed at Chaos with both blades.

But Chaos raised its head and sprayed a high-pressure jet of saliva, drenching the Young Lord Supreme. He fell from midair, slipping on the slick floor, struggling to regain his balance.

“I’m starting to regret giving away the Ninefold Elixir,” he said, stabbing the swords into the ground and wiping the slippery saliva from his face.

“I’m developing psychological trauma!” Huasheng replied.

“Melee won’t work; we need ranged attacks.” With a wave, the Young Lord Supreme sent both shining swords flying at Chaos’s face. Chaos spat more saliva, deflecting the blades, and charged at them.

Huasheng retreated, chanting the Ice Incantation. When Chaos spat again, he gestured and shouted, “By urgent decree! Ice Incantation!”

Instantly, Chaos was frozen solid, a statue of ice.

“Heavenly Level?”

“Impossible—just Profound Bright level,” Huasheng replied, rubbing his head.

“No need to be modest. It’ll last five seconds at most.”

Before the Young Lord Supreme finished, there was a crack, and Chaos burst free, crashing into the cave walls with its massive bulk.

“Two seconds only. Profound Bright level is insufficient! It’s just posturing, no better than the Illusion level,” the Young Lord Supreme complained.

“At least it’s comforting!”

The two bantered as they ran.

“Why is the Earth Dragon just staring blankly?”

“Probably not fully awake!”

Huasheng and the Young Lord Supreme soared upward, used Wall-Passing Technique to slip through the cave ceiling, hoping to hide temporarily. But Chaos leaped, smashing a huge hole in the rock, and the underground river flooded the cave.

They reached the upper level, now a man-made concrete structure. The pair darted through an iron door, evading pursuit, while Chaos crashed after them, shaking the earth, sending debris flying, and collapsing the stone wall. Even reinforced concrete could not withstand Chaos’s brute force.

Huasheng dodged through the corridor, shouting, “Hey! Young Lord Supreme, any more ideas? It’s tough to take it head-on. I fear we’ll suffocate from the stench before it’s even wounded!”

The Young Lord Supreme shook his saliva-soaked hair, suddenly smacking his forehead. “I’ve got it!”

“Spit it out! Don’t keep it to yourself!”

“Ever read ‘The Three-Body Problem’?”

“No, isn’t that a famous science fiction novel?”

“Do you know about dimensional reduction attacks? Let’s reduce Chaos’s dimension!”

“Wait…” Huasheng was bewildered. “I haven’t read the book, but I’ve heard it’s some kind of ultra-advanced weapon, right? But that’s fiction! How could we possibly…?”

“Haven’t you heard tales of Immortal Painters?”

The hint dawned on Huasheng. As a child, he’d watched TV dramas based on “Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio,” where immortals stepped from paintings into the mortal world, or returned to the scrolls. Moving from the canvas to this world was like ascending from two-dimensional to three-dimensional space; returning was descending from three to two dimensions.

So, immortals had long mastered dimensional ascension and reduction? Only the terminology differed between immortality and science.

Huasheng exclaimed, “Good grief! Such a powerful spell, and you’ve been saving it for the holidays?”

“To perform dimensional reduction, there’s a prerequisite.”

“Can’t you say it all at once?” Huasheng panted.

“Immortal Painter spells allow immortals to move in and out of paintings themselves. To seal a third party into a painting requires immense force. In other words, you have to slam it into the painting.”

“With what?”

“With your hand!”

“You think this is swatting a mosquito? How could we push such a massive Chaos?”

Just then, as another reinforced concrete wall fell to Chaos’s charge, the Young Lord Supreme and Huasheng found themselves in the underground parking garage of a luxury mall.

Shoppers paused, then screamed and scattered. Engines roared, cars collided in panic. The chaos caused traffic jams; some vehicles crashed through barriers, racing to the surface.

Huasheng gazed at the pandemonium in the garage, at the fleeing crowds, and sighed blankly.

“This time, it’s gotten out of hand! We’re sure to make trending headlines!”