Chapter 65 Reciting Pi and Exponential Explosion

Recalling in his memory the perhaps non-existent conversation with the youth who called himself Fang Zheng, a mocking smile curled the corner of his mouth.

"If my memory serves me right, given the naive and kind-hearted nature you display, at most you would only utter harsh words and wouldn't have the heart to watch a potential tragedy unfold."

"I would!" Fang Zheng answered earnestly.

The youth's earnest words sounded resolute, to say the least.

"Although I am not 'Fang Zheng', 'Fang Zheng' would not want to see such things happen."

A flat and hollow voice then rang out. (If you do not do as I say, I will recite pi.)

"Huh?" Startled, a trace of a broken smile appeared on Taiyin's face.

Wanton laughter echoed through the void. "Hahahahaha!!!"

"Recite pi?"

"What kind of laughable threat is this?"

The blocky figure continued: (Recited all at once in a single breath.)

Suddenly, he could not laugh anymore.

His expression froze. "Wait!"

Then, it rapidly turned ashen, looking even uglier than when he had previously realized he was merely a puppet.

While Taiyin's face turned ashen, that flat, hollow voice continued to recount an extremely terrifying threat.

(Frame 1, I will simultaneously recite the first digit after the decimal point of pi.)
(Frame 2, I will simultaneously recite the digits up to 1×2 after the decimal point.)
(Frame 3, the digits up to 2×3.)
(Frame 4, the digits up to 6×4.)
……
(1, 2, 6, 24, 120, 720……) Each number equals the previous number multiplied by its positional rank.

This was an extremely simple, very basic exponentially growing sequence.

Yet even without this rate of exponential growth, but rather using just the lowest-level, most basic exponential sequence: (1, 2, 4, 8, ……)

Where each subsequent number equals the previous number multiplied by 2.

If we use the Planck length as known to the mortal Fang Zheng, which is 10^-34 meters, as the base unit.

If one were to continuously multiply this unit by 2, how many iterations would it take to exceed the diameter of the observable universe, which is 10^27 meters?

The answer is: a mere 206 times!

At 120 frames per second, doubling once per frame, that amounts to a mere 1.7 seconds!

In other words, if Taiyin's understanding was correct, the deafening roar just emitted by the blocky figure was by no means its limit.

That single utterance containing trillions of words, simultaneously overlaid and projected—this hideous blocky humanoid could continue to stack up even greater quantities, reaching unimaginable astronomical figures!

Even if based solely on the volume of a single mortal speaking a single word, with such continuous exponential stacking, what kind of scene would that be?

After passing the seemingly weak initial phase.

At first, it would merely be like a falling meteorite, bombarding and blasting the earth.

A fraction of a moment later, the entire planet would be dissolved by an energy shockwave propagating at the speed of light.

Before the energy could warp spacetime and begin propagating at faster-than-light speeds.

Before a single galaxy could be blasted to pieces, the endlessly stacking energy would already reach the density threshold of a black hole.

An event horizon would unfold.

And then?

Judging by the defensive power demonstrated by this blocky figure, a black hole couldn't possibly cause it any harm whatsoever.

In other words, enveloped by the black hole's event horizon, it would continue to recite.

This meant it would become a supermassive black hole whose mass grew without end!

When the energy rapidly reached the critical threshold, spacetime itself—which restricted information from propagating faster than light—would transition from a warped state to shattering entirely.

Just as countless cultivators used various methods to surpass the speed of light, voyaging through the universe at terrifying velocities.

The endlessly surging energy would no longer be bound by the speed-of-light limit.

At what iteration of growth would the entire Nine Heavens and Ten Earths universe be destroyed?

At what second would the Sea of Boundaries—composed of those countless shattered and intact worlds lying beyond the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths—be blasted to pieces entirely?

Beyond the Sea of Boundaries, could that vaster unknown region, whose very existence remained unverified, possibly be spared?

If any other practitioner had said this, Taiyin would have simply laughed it off.

But coming from this blocky humanoid—this monstrosity capable of resurrecting the lingering obsessions of Supreme Beings out of thin air, capable of providing infinite Supreme Blood, and whose limits remained completely invisible to this day...

Could it actually do it?

"No! No! No!"

"This guy must definitely have a limit!"

Yet, where exactly was that limit?

Before reaching that limit, just by fucking speaking...

Just by reciting pi...

How much destructive power could this damned monster unleash?

Imagining such a scene: quantities expanding without limit, overlapping voices roaring together until the entire Nine Heavens and Ten Earths and all heavenly doctrines shattered like foam amidst the endlessly stacked "sound."

Then, beyond the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, that boundless Sea of Boundaries was also destroyed into nothingness by the endless exponential explosion of the world-ending shockwave.

When countless ages had passed, with all things reduced to nothingness and all realms destroyed, only that dull-witted, ridiculous yet terrifyingly powerful blocky humanoid remained, standing alone in the void.

With veins bulging on his forehead and teeth grinding audibly, Taiyin stared at that vacant, absurd blocky face and forced out a sentence with extreme difficulty:

"You damned monster!"

Taking a deep, long breath, Taiyin smoothed his unsightly expression and responded coldly, "I will do my utmost to protect the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths."

"Because I have no desire to test where the limits of a monster like you truly lie."

(By the way,) the flat voice continued.

(Whether you are willing or not, you had better maintain a more amiable attitude toward 'Fang Zheng' and toward 'me'.)

(‘Fang Zheng’ doesn't need it, but you do.)

With a cold snort, Taiyin cast a wary glance at this terrifying monster.

Yet, he forced himself to endure, his expression twisting and shifting as he tried his best to appear amiable.

Just as Taiyin had once been, he smiled warmly.

"Fang Zheng, the plan has gone even more smoothly than anticipated. The Supremes are not united; fortunately, they launched a preemptive ambush, allowing me to eliminate five Supremes who were devouring all living beings."

"The Sun Holy Emperor, along with Void and Hengyu Great Emperors, must have been resurrected by now. The great momentum is ours; very soon, we can sweep away the remaining troubles of the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths and begin crafting the Universe Ark."

Fang Zheng also smiled cheerfully in response. "Then let's make it as soon as possible. Restoring peace to the universe is best after all."

"Otherwise, I'll have to recite pi."

With a twitch at the corner of his eye, Taiyin took a deep breath and finally calmed himself.

Then, he cast a Dharma seal, dissolving the array that sealed this spacetime bubble, and shoved this great void hollow—carved out of the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths universe—right back into place.

He brought Fang Zheng back to the head of Lord Lingbao, which was the location of the Heavenly Soldier Ancient Star.

In the center of the Xiantai continent, the storm of the undying divine fire had long since subsided.

As he continued to toss down healing potions, within a fleeting moment, a wisp of Lord Lingbao's primordial spirit condensed at the center of the Xiantai continent.

As the first wisp of primordial spirit and a drop of living blood coalesced, the entire Heavenly Soldier Ancient Star and the Fivefold Divine Realms on the distant shores of the galaxy suddenly boiled with activity.

Nourished by the Taiyin Supreme Blood that Fang Zheng had placed in the Xiantai continent, boundless divine light bloomed across the starry sky, outlining the five viscera divine palaces of the Fivefold Divine Realms.

Immediately afterward, the Four Extremities Secret Realm, hidden within the void, gradually manifested, outlining the phantom of the four limbs.

Near the Fivefold Divine Realms, the ceaselessly falling stars converged into a colossal bitter sea, churning inward and finally condensing into a Wheel and Sea Secret Realm emanating boundless divine might, outlining the phantom of the torso.

Upon the Heavenly Soldier Ancient Star, this colossal head suddenly opened its eyes.

For millions of years, all the cultivators living on the Heavenly Soldier Ancient Star—having cultivated and undergone heavenly tribulations there, thereby engraving their Dao marks into the void—surfaced together.

At the very depths of those endless Dao marks, a wisp of Extreme Dao law emerged like a colossal beast lurking beneath the deep sea.

Extreme Dao pressure permeated the air, threatening to bring imminent catastrophe to the countless living beings dwelling upon its crust.

Yet, with a wave of his hand, Taiyin transformed his palm into a vast firmament, safely sheltering all living beings within his grasp.

Two rays of divine light shot from the head into the boundless starry sky, startling countless powerhouses.

When the light subsided, Lord Lingbao—who had once buried himself in the starry sky and whose body had transformed into a domain of heaven and earth—had fully resurrected.

A ripple of divine thought echoed across the galaxy: "Through the passage of millions of years, the Taiyin Body-Refining Technique is finally complete... yet is it still incomplete after all?"

Within this vast starry sky, a boundless star domain rapidly condensed into the form of a Daoist priest.

A formation diagram emanating Extreme Dao imperial might and four imperial swords sensed their master's resurrection; the spirits within the weapons awakened autonomously, tearing through the void from the distant starry sky amidst billowing Extreme Dao might.

The formation diagram draped over Lord Lingbao, transforming into a starry Dao robe, while the Zhuxian, Luxian, Xianxian, and Juexian swords were slung across his back.

Standing tall in the void, his gaze was indifferent, as if he felt no surprise at his own resurrection.

After all, he had never truly died in the first place.

During the twilight years of his third life, he had slain a strange "Immortal" and thereby uncovered a startling secret.

After deep deliberation, when his lifespan was still far from exhaustion, he executed the Taiyin Body-Refining Technique, actively disintegrating himself to transform his physical body into a vast heaven and earth, while his primordial spirit merged with the myriad Dao of heaven and earth, awaiting a singular, wondrous transformation.

Though the hope for this transformation was abysmal and nearly a path of no return, in pursuit of the ultimate pinnacle of the Dao, he had charged forward without a single glance back.

Resurrected at this moment, he stepped across the galaxy in a single stride, arriving before Taiyin and Fang Zheng.

That indifferent consciousness, which had once merged with the myriad Dao of heaven and earth and become indistinguishable from them, gradually regained its humanity as time flowed on.

He spoke in as amiable a tone as possible: "I thank my fellow Daoists for assisting in my rebirth; should you have any needs, please speak freely."

Taiyin glanced sideways at Fang Zheng and introduced him: "Lord Lingbao, you are the ancient Heavenly Lord who pioneered the 'Zhu' character secret. In the legends passed down since the Mythological Era, you even slew an 'Immortal' single-handedly with a sword array, and your mastery of formations is peerless through the ages."

"As for your resurrection this time, it is entirely thanks to the power of this young friend Fang Zheng. We hope you will come out of retirement to jointly face the impending extinction crisis threatening the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, and forge the entire Nine Heavens and Ten Earths universe into a Universe Ark capable of sailing the Sea of Boundaries, escaping the devourer of the dark storm."

"Is that so?"

Lord Lingbao nodded slightly. "Then let us discuss the details..."