CHAPTER 166 — Where Science Meets the Dao
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1. A Human's Mind in a God's Classroom
Lin stood once again inside the Axis Chamber with Sect Master Xuanyang.
The chamber's walls shimmered with runic light — a floating world of distorted geometry, like someone had pressed space into origami.
"Today," Xuanyang said, "you will continue your study of gravity."
Lin inhaled deeply.
He knew gravity from Earth — not spiritually, not metaphysically, but mathematically.
F = G(Mm / r²)
A simple formula burned into the memory of every high school student.
Xuanyang gestured. "Tell me: what is gravity?"
Lin hesitated. Then answered honestly.
"On my home world… gravity is defined as the attraction between masses. Its strength increases with mass and decreases with distance squared."
Xuanyang blinked.
"…Distance squared?"
"Yes. The force weakens proportionally to the square of the distance between two objects."
Xuanyang stared at him.
Not with confusion.
Not with mockery.
But with a quiet, fascinated contemplation.
"You speak of gravity as if it is a predictable principle. A formula. How curious."
Lin swallowed.
"Master, where I come from, we use science to approximate natural laws. They don't tell us how to bend reality… but they help us understand why things behave the way they do."
Xuanyang stepped closer.
"Repeat the formula."
Lin did.
The air stirred.
The runes around the chamber began rearranging themselves as if bending to the logic Lin spoke aloud.
Xuanyang smiled faintly.
"Your world was more advanced than you admitted."
Lin shook his head. "No… not advanced. Just good at drawing conclusions from limited information."
"And yet," Xuanyang murmured, "this primitive equation has value."
He tapped the air.
The chamber rippled.
Two stars formed in miniature — one massive, one small.
They orbited each other in perfect, mathematical balance.
"The formula you quoted," Xuanyang said, "its spirit is not wrong. Gravity is influenced by mass and distance. But the Dao of Gravity is deeper. It is not merely a force — it is a privilege of mass. The heavier something's existence… the greater its authority to command space."
Lin's eyes widened.
Authority.
Mass as authority.
That… made sense. Oddly.
"So if I want stronger gravity," Lin whispered, "I don't just need more energy. I need more presence. A stronger existence."
Xuanyang gestured again.
A third miniature star appeared — tiny but impossibly dense.
"When a cultivator understands this," the Sect Master said softly, "they begin stepping toward the Dao of Weight… and ultimately the Dao of Sovereignty."
Lin's breath caught.
Because suddenly, everything snapped into place.
Earth's equations were not the answer.
They were the roadmap.
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2. A Breakthrough in the Mind, Not the Meridians
Lin closed his eyes.
He imagined:
The Earth's gravity pulling at him
The sun's gravity pulling harder
A black hole's gravity pulling so fiercely that not even light escaped
He imagined his inner world — its suns, its planets, its orbiting belt of spiritual fragments.
He breathed.
He whispered:
"Gravity is authority.
Authority is existence.
Existence is weight."
And then—
Something clicked.
The weight of his own presence swelled.
Air trembled.
The chamber's runes pulsed.
Xuanyang raised an eyebrow in genuine surprise.
"You actually did it."
Lin opened his eyes, panting.
"What… did I do?"
"You compressed your existence," Xuanyang said, "by a fraction of a percent."
Lin blinked.
"That's—tiny."
"That," Xuanyang replied, "is how galaxies begin."
Lin's knees nearly gave out.
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3. Tian's Hammer, Tian's Heart
Elsewhere, Tian stood before the training monolith Rowan had conjured.
Thunder rippled through his bones.
Rowan watched with a frown.
"You're forcing your marrow," he said flatly.
"Good," Tian grunted. "Means it's close to cracking."
"That's not—"
CRACK.
A bolt of lightning burst from Tian's spine, blasting a crater into the ground.
Rowan froze.
Then slowly nodded.
"…Very well. Continue."
Tian smirked through blood-stained teeth.
At least someone appreciated his methods.
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4. Yueyin's Nightmare — A Cry in the Darkness
Yueyin lay in her new disciple quarters.
The lantern burned low.
She rolled onto her side—
And the world went black.
Not sleep. Not fainting.
Something pulled her under.
She stood in a burning world.
Ash fell like snow.
People screamed.
Flames taller than mountains consumed cities whole.
Her heart seized.
"No… no… not again…"
She tried to run.
But the ground swelled like liquid.
Abyssal tendrils erupted from beneath the surface, devouring fleeing cultivators one by one.
A shadow loomed overhead.
Tall.
Hunched.
Covered in writhing abyssal mass.
A voice like grinding stone whispered:
"Find him."
Yueyin choked on air.
She couldn't breathe.
"Please… please no…"
The shadow leaned close.
"Find him, little flame…
Or be unmade."
Her scream tore through the dream—
And Yueyin shot upright in bed, drenched in cold sweat.
Her heart raced.
Her hands shook.
She looked out the window.
The Titan Realm's sky was serene.
Quiet.
Safe.
She pressed a trembling palm to her face.
"It's just trauma," she whispered. "Just memories…"
But deep down, she knew.
Nightmares didn't repeat that precisely.
Nightmares didn't whisper orders.
And nightmares didn't stare back at her.
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5. Lin's Quiet Resolve
Back in the Axis Chamber, Lin steadied his breathing.
Xuanyang spoke without turning.
"You used knowledge from your fallen world to touch a universal law. That is rare."
Lin stared at his palm.
He could feel gravity now — not the force itself, but its structure. Its behavior. Its personality.
This was only the beginning.
"Master," Lin said quietly, "I finally understand something."
"What is that?"
"If I want to protect worlds…
I need to understand how they're built."
Xuanyang smiled faintly.
"And when you understand that?"
Lin's voice hardened.
"I'll build one the Abyss fears to approach."
Aurora, watching from Lin's spiritual sea, whispered:
"Good."
Because the Abyss was closer.
Much closer than Lin realized.
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6. At the Rift — The Abyss Listens
Deep beneath the sect, the rift pulsed again.
A third time.
A ripple of abyssal will slipped through, tasting the Titan Realm's qi.
Found you.
The scouts whispered into the void.
And the void whispered back.
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