Episode 60: The Unification of the Three Precepts

The gravel of the Crescent Moon Spring altar crunched beneath his feet, and cold sweat beaded on Lu Chen’s palms.

Three rings lay in his hand like three beating stars. The Ring of Suppression emitted a solid, earthy yellow glow; the golden veins of the Ring of Purification flowed like a living creature; and the silver radiance of the Ring of Communication was laced with tiny blue glints—the bloodstain of Alicia’s father, which had never faded, catalyzed by the energy of the bone core.

The Sand Speaker’s black robes snapped wildly in the fierce gale. He raised the broken half of the Requiem Bone Flute, the fractured end already gleaming with a jade-like luster. "Are you ready? The moment the three rings merge, it will trigger the full backlash of the bone core. That is the very step the defending priests of the past failed to survive."

"Survive or not, I have to try." Lu Chen’s Adam’s apple bobbed as his gaze swept over the battle-ready warriors surrounding the altar. Chen Yu shouldered a modified rocket launcher, its muzzle wrapped in reverse-entropy runes; Wang Lu’s medical pack held an extra coil of glowing golden rope, woven from the Sand Speaker’s hair mixed with gold dust, capable of temporarily binding sand-crystal golems; Alicia stood at the outermost perimeter, the silver bird totem faintly visible on her chest, clutching her mother’s bone fragments tightly—the ultimate contingency plan.

The wind suddenly stopped.

In the groove at the center of the altar, the three rings suddenly lifted into the air, automatically arranging themselves into the triangular formation of the reverse-entropy array. Earth-yellow, gilt-gold, and silver-blue lights intertwined into a vortex, engulfing Lu Chen’s palm and scorching his finger bones to numbness.

"Focus your mind!" The Sand Speaker’s bone flute suddenly sounded, its obscure syllables piercing the mind like ice picks. "Use the bloodline of the sand guardians to guide it; do not let the consciousness of the rings devour you!"

Lu Chen fiercely bit the tip of his tongue, the coppery taste of blood instantly clearing his chaotic senses. He extended both hands, his thumbs simultaneously pressing down on the totems of the three rings—the reverse-entropy pattern of Suppression, the shifting sands star of Purification, and the silver bird head of Communication.

The moment they made contact, the three rings shrieked in unison.

The earth-yellow Ring of Suppression burst first, transforming into countless microscopic grains of sand that crawled along the lines of Lu Chen’s palm, tracing web-like pathways beneath his skin. The gilt Ring of Purification suddenly melted, the golden liquid flowing like a living stream to intertwine with the sandy pathways into a web. Most bizarre of all was the silver-blue Ring of Communication; rather than dissolving, it transformed into a razor-sharp blade of light, fiercely piercing the center of Lu Chen’s palm along the trajectory of the golden web!

"Ugh—!"

Excruciating pain sent spasms racking Lu Chen’s entire body. He felt as though a red-hot branding iron had been shoved into his palm, three distinct and opposing energies rampaging violently through his flesh and blood. The sand of Suppression wanted to take root, the golden liquid of Purification wanted to scour, and the blue light of Communication wanted to pierce right through—like three incompatible souls fighting for possession of his vessel.

"Use your obsession to force it down!" The notes of the Sand Speaker’s bone flute soared abruptly, a complete reverse-entropy array suddenly materializing on the broken bone flute. "Think of the people you need to protect!"

The jade pendant his father had thrust into his hand on his deathbed, old Dao’s wide-eyed, lifeless stare, Alicia’s blood-stained smile inside the sand-crystal cage... Countless images exploded in his mind. Lu Chen’s pupils contracted sharply, and the old scar on the left side of his chest suddenly grew scalding hot—where a sand-crystal bone spike had once pierced him, retaining the purest energy of the bone core. At this moment, it unexpectedly served as a neutralizer for the three forces.

"Merge... with me!"

He let out a heart-rending roar. The flesh of his palm suddenly split outward, and under the traction of the old scar, the three energies violently collided. Earth-yellow, gilt-gold, and silver-blue instantly fused into a blinding white light, like a miniature sun exploding in the palm of his hand, illuminating the entire altar as bright as day.

The Sand Speaker’s bone flute suddenly resonated, shooting a beam of golden light from its fractured end that drove precisely into the white light in Lu Chen’s palm. The previously berserk energy instantly gentled, becoming like a tamed wild horse, spreading across the altar under the guidance of the flute, tracing a three-dimensional reverse-entropy array along the grooves that was more complete than any before it.

"It worked!" Chen Yu’s cheer was swallowed by the white light.

Lu Chen slowly opened his palm; the three rings had vanished without a trace. In their place was a palm-sized golden totem, the patterns of the three rings perfectly fused within it, embedded in his skin like a living brand, every line flowing with pale golden energy.

He tentatively flexed his fingers, and a golden whirlwind swept up around the altar. The sand-ghoul beasts lurking beneath the sand were swept into the air by the vortex, disintegrating one by one in the golden light until not even bone fragments remained.

"This is the power of the three rings merging..." Alicia’s voice carried awe. She could feel the silver bird pattern within the totem resonating with the one on her chest, like a mother and daughter conversing across space and time.

The Sand Speaker suddenly broke into a violent fit of coughing, the half-flute slipping from his trembling hand. He clutched his chest, golden blood seeping between his fingers. "Don't celebrate too soon... To fully activate the reverse-entropy array, three altars must be activated simultaneously. Black Wind Pass, Soul-Breaking Valley, Crescent Moon Spring—not one can be missed."

He picked up the bone flute, its broken edge glowing faintly in the golden light. "I will remain here to preside over the main array. You must reach the other two altars and activate the sub-arrays before the hourglass runs out."

"How long until the hourglass runs out?" Chen Yu’s voice tightened.

The Sand Speaker pointed to the shifting-sand timer at the edge of the altar, where the fine sand was falling at a visible rate. "Two hours at most. And—" He paused, his expression turning grave. "When the main array activates, the energy core will generate a shockwave capable of tearing the great desert apart. Someone must remain at the center to use the three-ring totem to forcibly stabilize the focal point."

Everyone’s breathing hitched.

Remain at the center? That was no different from taking a direct blast from a sand-crystal cannon. Earlier, when Lu Chen had merely activated the sub-array in Soul-Breaking Valley, he had nearly turned to sand; the shockwave of the main array would be enough to grind a person into gold dust.

"I'll stay," Lu Chen broke the silence. He rotated his wrist, the golden totem gleaming coldly in the sunlight. "The totem is in my hands; anyone else would fail to suppress it."

"No!" Alicia stepped forward abruptly, the silver bird totem flaring on her chest. "Your sandification is already severe. To endure the shockwave on top of that..."

"Then you go?" Lu Chen raised an eyebrow at her, the totem in his palm suddenly shooting out a golden thread that wrapped around the sand-crystal thorn on her wrist, causing the stubborn crystals to begin melting. "Or should we have Chen Yu carry the rocket launcher?"

Before Chen Yu could answer, Wang Lu tugged on his arm. The girl shook her head, her eyes filled with worry—Lu Chen’s decision was clearly well-considered; the three-ring totem was bound to his bloodline, and forcibly transferring it would only cause the formation to collapse.

"The hourglass has begun to drain," the Sand Speaker spoke up, cutting off the argument. He shoved the half-flute into Lu Chen’s hand. "This is the key to the focal point. Crush it to trigger the main array. Remember, you must wait until the signals of the two sub-arrays light up simultaneously before acting, or the energy will violently backlash."

Lu Chen gripped the bone flute, the temperature of the broken edge scorchingly hot. He looked at Alicia, then reached out to brush a grain of sand from the tip of her hair. "The sub-array activator for Black Wind Pass is beneath old Dao’s tombstone. Remember to use the silver bird's blood to activate it."

"What are you trying to say?" Alicia’s eyes grew red.

"I wanted to say..." Lu Chen’s Adam’s apple bobbed as a swaggering grin forced its way onto his face. "If I survive this, I’m going to make you pay for your debts—last time in the sand-crystal furnace, you kicked me right into a pile of sand ghouls."

Alicia’s tears finally spilled, but she angrily wiped them away. "Who owes whom is still up in the air. If you dare die in that focal point, I’ll carve your name on the Pillar of Shame and draw a three-legged sand scorpion next to it."

"Deal."

Chen Yu suddenly hoisted Lu Chen over his shoulder and sprinted off the altar. "No time for melodrama! If we don't move now, the hourglass will be empty!" Wang Lu followed closely behind, glancing back just before they left to see Lu Chen bending down to adjust the runes of the main array, the golden totem blinking in his palm like a defiant wager against fate.

When the sandstorm rose again, only Lu Chen and the Sand Speaker remained on the altar.

The Sand Speaker’s complexion grew steadily worse, golden blood having thoroughly soaked the black robes across his chest. "The destiny of the sand guardians has always been this—fed generation after generation into the mouth of the bone core." He suddenly smiled, revealing a missing tooth along his gumline. "My grandfather always said that being able to die inside the reverse-entropy array is a blessing for the mouthpiece of the sand soul."

Lu Chen did not reply, entirely absorbed in using the bone flute to adjust the focal point. The energy of the three-ring totem flowed along the flute, drawing countless minute branches in the grooves, locking the coordinates of the three altars firmly in place.

"They're coming." The Sand Speaker suddenly looked up toward the northwest.

The sky in that direction had turned pitch-black, the sandstorm advancing like a moving giant wall at a visible pace. The wind carried a teeth-grating grinding sound—not of colliding sand grains, but of countless sand ghouls charging through the gale.

More terrifying still was the black-purple column of light piercing the sandstorm like a giant spear held to the heavens, at its apex the faint, massive shadow of a scorpion—the fused entity of Williams and the bone core had broken through the outer defenses.

"Lu Chen—!"

The howling gale carried Williams’ roar, imbued with a force capable of tearing eardrums. "Did you really think merging the three rings could turn the tables? I’ll make the entire desert bury the bone core! Including your little girlfriend and all those scraps!"

The sand grains at the vanguard of the sandstorm suddenly leaped up, forming countless deep-blue eyes that stared fixedly at the two figures in the center of the altar. Lu Chen could feel the totem in his palm trembling violently; the energy of the rings and the oppressive might of the bone core resonated in a terrifying harmony, causing the gravel of the altar to dance.

The Sand Speaker suddenly pressed his hand onto Lu Chen’s shoulder, his body temperature burning hot. "The signal for Black Wind Pass has lit up."

Lu Chen raised his eyes and sure enough saw a point of silver-blue light flare in the northwest, like a cold star in a winter night—Alicia had succeeded.

"Soul-Breaking Valley won't be far behind." The Sand Speaker’s voice grew increasingly faint, his body turning transparent, the skin exposed beneath his black robes transforming into golden sand. "Remember... before the focal point collapses... drive the bone flute into your own heart..."

The final words dissipated in the wind, and the Sand Speaker’s body turned entirely into golden sand, merging into the reverse-entropy array of the altar. Wherever the golden sand touched, the runes that had previously glowed white were suddenly dyed with a warm, orange-yellow hue, the color of the setting sun falling upon the desert.

Lu Chen gripped the scalding bone flute, suddenly understanding the Sand Speaker’s intent.

This mouthpiece of the sand soul was not merely guarding the focal point; he was using his own flesh and blood as the final fuel, plating the reverse-entropy array with the power of the sand soul—a guardianship far more ancient than the bloodline of the sand guardians, capable of enduring the shockwave just a moment longer.

To the southeast, a speck of gilt-gold suddenly flared, echoing the silver-blue of the northwest—Chen Yu and Wang Lu had succeeded as well.

The signals of the three altars lit up simultaneously, like three stars nailed into the great desert, pinning the black-purple sandstorm firmly in the center.

Lu Chen took a deep breath, the golden totem in his palm blazing to life, forming a perfect triangle with the signals of the two sub-arrays. He could feel the three energies converging along invisible trajectories, condensing into a continuously expanding sphere of energy at the center of the Crescent Moon Spring altar, within whose brilliance countless tiny bolts of lightning leaped.

Williams’ roar drew closer; the vanguard of the sandstorm licked at the edge of the altar, the glowing blue eyes of the sand ghouls flickering in the golden light.

"It's over." Lu Chen looked down at the totem in his palm, suddenly recalling the sight of Alicia wiping away her tears, the corners of his mouth curving upward of their own accord.

He raised the half-flute, aimed it at his heart, and the very second before the energy sphere expanded to its absolute limit—

He drove it straight down.

The moment the excruciating pain exploded, the entire desert seemed to have been hit by a mute button.

The black-purple sandstorm froze in mid-air, Williams’ roar stuck in his throat. The energy of the three altars, like a gunpowder keg set ablaze, rushed frantically toward Crescent Moon Spring along the golden trajectories, bursting above Lu Chen’s head into a flower of light a thousand meters in diameter, its petals flowing with earth-yellow, gilt-gold, and silver-blue hues of breathtaking beauty.

Yet no one saw that within the wound on Lu Chen’s chest, the half-flute was fusing with the three-ring totem, spawning countless golden threads that burrowed through his blood vessels and straight into his heart.

His pupils were turning a pure, solid gold, reflecting within them the ferocious face deep within the sandstorm—Williams’ scorpion tail was already raised, the black-purple liquid dripping from its venomous stinger like the scythe of death suspended overhead.

The light of the energy sphere grew ever brighter, on the verge of consuming everything. Lu Chen’s consciousness began to blur, yet at the very last moment, he heard Alicia’s voice, clear as if she were right beside his ear:

"Lu Chen! Don't close your eyes! I see a silver bird in the light..."

A silver bird?

He wanted to lift his head to look, but his body was completely swallowed by the suddenly erupted torrent of energy.

In the final fraction of a second before his consciousness dissolved, Lu Chen finally understood the rest of what the Sand Speaker had left unsaid—

The merger of the three rings was not the destination.

Using the bloodline of the sand guardians as a key, it had unlocked an even more terrifying Pandora’s box.

At the center of that torrent of energy, a colossal phantom faintly emerged—neither the totem of the reverse-entropy array nor the scorpion shape of the bone core, but a ball of ineffable chaos, greedily devouring the tri-colored energy.

Williams’ screams abruptly turned terrified. "No... It's the 'Sand Source'... You've awakened the 'Sand Source'..."

This was the deepest secret of the bone core.

What the convergence of the three rings had summoned was no salvation, but a primordial force a hundred times more terrifying than the bone core—the very origin that had created both the sand guardians and the sand scorpions, the true master of the great desert.

And its first act upon awakening was to open its mouth and draw a slow, deep breath toward Lu Chen within the torrent of energy.