Infinite Mana in the Apocalypse - Chapter 4717
Capítulo 4717: Depth! I
Wu Wei.
The concept had existed long before cultivators gave it a name, long before philosophers debated its meaning in quiet gardens and mountain temples.
It was woven into the very fabric of existence itself, a truth so fundamental that most entities never recognized it even as they lived within its embrace.
Effortless action.
Consider water.
It does not struggle against the rock in its path. It does not rage and scream and demand that the obstacle remove itself. It simply flows around, finding the path of least resistance while never abandoning its destination. Given enough time, that gentle pressure carves canyons. Given enough persistence, that soft yielding reshapes mountains.
Wu Wei was the understanding that true effectiveness came not from forcing outcomes but from responding spontaneously and appropriately to situations as they arose. It was the recognition that Existence had its own momentum, its own currents and flows, and that fighting against those currents exhausted one’s strength while achieving nothing.
But moving with them, adding one’s own intention to the existing flow, that was how empires were built and destinies were shaped.
This did not mean complete passivity or resignation.
The water still moved. The water still sought the sea. The water still carried within it the power to erode stone and flood valleys and reshape the very face of the world. Wu Wei was not about doing nothing. It was about doing the right thing at the right time in the right way, without wasted effort, without unnecessary struggle, without the friction that came from opposing the natural order.
It was responsive, non-coercive action.
A persistent, gentle pressure that never relented but never forced.
Across Observable Existence, those entities that had achieved the greatest heights understood this truth even if they called it by different names. They did not fight against the currents of fate. They read those currents, understood them, and then positioned themselves to be carried where they wished to go. They made themselves into vessels that the flow of existence itself wanted to fill.
The struggles that consumed lesser entities, the raging against circumstances, the desperate grasping for control, these were the hallmarks of those who had not yet learned. They exhausted themselves pushing against doors that opened inward. They broke themselves against walls that had doorways just to the side.
But those who understood Wu Wei?
They arrived at their destinations fresh and ready, having spent no more energy than the journey required.
Existence did not reward force. It rewarded alignment. It rewarded those who understood that the greatest power was not the power to impose one’s will upon reality, but the power to recognize which way reality was already flowing and to add one’s weight to that flow.
—
Now, Noah always went with the flow.
Whatever happened, he reacted and moved accordingly.
There were Primordial Realms connected to the Oldest Paradox of Existence?
Okay.
THE Infiniverse had made a Partial Embodiment and connected herself to Muspelheim as she now actively devoured it, and it needed to be conquered to make this process even faster?
Okay.
He didn’t rage against circumstances. He didn’t demand that reality reshape itself to match his expectations. He simply observed what was, understood its currents and flows, and then positioned himself to move with maximum effectiveness.
He flowed like water.
Like a gentle, pounding pressure that would always find a way.
And so…
HUUUUM!
He materialized outside of a massively rising blue-gold Monolith within Muspelheim.
His form coalesced from streams of azure and golden light, the signature of his Undifferentiated Mana painting itself across the primordial skies like a declaration written in fire. He wore robes that seemed woven from crystallized starlight, fabric that shifted between states of matter as if unable to decide what it truly was.
His features were sharp and angular, holding a type of beauty that was more conceptual than physical, the face of someone who had transcended the need for conventional appearance but chose to maintain one anyway.
His eyes burned with blue-gold brilliance, depths within them that seemed to contain entire folds.
And around him, Muspelheim spread in all its ancient glory.
The landscape was Mana and Flames given form and purpose. Obsidian plains stretched toward horizons that blazed with eternal flames, their surfaces reflecting light that had burned since before differentiation.
Mountains of crystallized magma rose like monuments to forgotten titans, their peaks wreathed in smoke that carried whispers of The First Tongue. Rivers of molten gold carved channels through the darkness.
The sky above was not a sky at all but an endless ocean, currents of seafire dancing in choreography that had been perfected over eons.
And Noah could see gigaparsecs away.
The auras of many powerful entities across the Depths of Absolute Sovereignty blazed like signal fires in the distance. Muspeli Lifeforms moved. And opposing them, different but equally powerful, the forces of THE Living Spirit marshaled!
As Noah looked at all of them, prompts bloomed before him.
|Welcome to Muspelheim|
|Primordial Realm of The First Spark |
|Status: Pre-Differentiation Domain, partially corrupted by THE Fallout at peripheral regions|
|Indigenous Population: Muspeli Lifeforms, native speakers of The First Tongue|
|Detected Entities within Sensory Range:|
|- THE Surface Depth signatures: 166|
|- THE Intermediate Depth signatures: 34|
|- THE Fundamental Depth signatures: 5|
|- Half-Step Absolute Depth signatures: 1 (THE Living Spirit)|
|First Tongue Saturation: 94.7% (Highest recorded outside of Ginnungagap)|
|Warning: Indigenous population possesses inherent sensitivity to First Tongue authority hierarchies.|
…!
—
From her position among the obsidian spires, Surtra watched the newcomer’s entrance with eyes that had witnessed the birth of many things.
She did not know who he was.
His Depth was unreadable, masked behind something that her senses couldn’t penetrate.
But then her existence began to buzz.
The makeup of her Phonemes, those fundamental building blocks of The First Tongue that were woven into every Muspeli Lifeform, began to pulse. They vibrated at frequencies she had never felt before, resonating with something in that distant figure’s presence like tuning forks responding to a perfect pitch.
And she understood.
This was a quality unique to Muspeli Lifeforms, this sensitivity to The First Tongue’s hierarchy. It showed who among them held the most authority with the primordial language, who had mastered more Phonemes, who had gone deeper into the linguistic foundations of reality itself. When a greater speaker appeared, the lesser speakers felt it in their very being.
At this moment, Surtra could feel that the grand entity who had just appeared held the highest authority over The First Tongue.
Not just high.
The highest.
Higher than any Muspeli Lifeform she had ever encountered. Higher than the ancient masters she knew of in other locations in Muspelheim who had preserved The First Tongue through eons of isolation. Higher than anyone had any right to be.
He…should be the glorious entity that laid THE Claim.
She couldn’t be entirely sure because she could not sense his Depth. But The First Tongue never lied. The resonance in her Phonemes could not be faked or manufactured. Either this entity held supreme authority over their sacred language, or reality itself had begun to deceive them.
And reality did not deceive Muspeli Lifeforms about The First Tongue.
So at this moment…
Surtra raised her arms toward the burning sky, her form blazing with obsidian flames that had been kindled before differentiation separated the realms.
“Let the Bells of Muspelheim ring loudly!”
Her voice carried in The First Tongue, each Phoneme resonating through the primordial realm like bells struck by the hand of destiny.
“Signal to all the others that The One Who Laid The Claim that no others have been able to do has appeared! After eons of waiting, the one we were promised has come!”
…!
BOOOOM!
The moment her words ended, the other Muspeli Lifeforms reacted.
Brilliant obsidian flames shot above from positions scattered across gigaparsecs of primordial landscape. Each flame was a voice, a confirmation, a recognition of what Surtra had proclaimed. They rose from the obsidian plains and the crystallized mountains and the banks of molten rivers, each one carrying the signature of a Muspeli Lifeform who had felt the same resonance in their Phonemes.
And then the epic scene truly unfolded.
Obsidian flames began to dance in the endless skies of Muspelheim.
They wove patterns that spelled out words in The First Tongue, proclamations visible across the entire realm. They rang with frequencies that were not quite sound and not quite light but something more fundamental than either.
As if they catalyzed a reaction, even more flames manifested.
The sky itself seemed to catch fire in a new way, the eternal burning intensifying into something that was less combustion and more celebration. The flames danced and rang in a unique symphony that began to spread out across Muspelheim, each new voice joining the chorus until the entire primordial realm vibrated with the message.
The One Who Laid The Claim had appeared.
After eons of waiting, he had come.
As the sound and flames reached past the Monolith Noah had just appeared in, his eyes shone with recognition. Prompts appeared in front of him, translating what he was witnessing into terms he could fully comprehend.
|Cultural Context: The Bells of Muspelheim|
|Throughout the history of Muspeli Lifeforms, every fundamental aspect of existence has been claimed by one entity or another. Existence claimed. Paradox claimed. Chaos claimed. Sovereignty claimed. Every great truth, every foundational concept, every pillar upon which Observable Existence rests has been laid claim to by some THE Entity.|
|But The First Tongue has never been claimed.|
|The language that predates all languages. The Phonemes from which all expression ultimately derives. The foundation of communication itself. No entity had ever possessed the authority to lay claim to it because no entity has ever mastered it fully enough to do so.|
|The Muspeli Lifeforms, as native speakers of The First Tongue, have waited for this moment since their Cognizance. They believed that one day, an entity would arise who could lay the claim that none others could make.|
|Your Way is THE Way of The First Tongue.|
|Current Status: The Bells of Muspelheim are ringing. The Flames of Muspelheim are dancing as they believe THE One Who Laid The Claim has been proclaimed.|
|Note: This title carries immense weight among Muspeli Lifeforms. They may view you as a prophesied figure rather than merely a powerful invader about to consume Muspelheim.|
…!
Noah’s eyes shone brightly as he looked at these prompts.
Possibilities flashed in his mind.
Existence flowed.
The gentle pressure of water against stone, given enough time, accomplished what brute force never could.
And Noah smiled as he began to descend toward the obsidian plains where the Muspeli Lifeforms waited with flames of welcome rather than flames of war.
THE Living Spirit gazed towards him with a calm gaze as things were likely about to get very chaotic!
But he wanted to see. There was so many things he wanted to try out as he wanted to see!
6/6 Keep the Magic Castles and Golden Tickets coming!