Cave Refuge

At that time, my aunt realized that by urging her husband to return, she had not only given up her peaceful life but was also subject to complaints from her sisters-in-law.

Although my uncle didn't say much, he was definitely disgruntled.

By the time my aunt had come to her senses and was ready to follow the supply transport vehicle back to the subway station refuge center, there was no longer a steam vehicle distributing supplies, heading towards their community shelter.

If it wasn't for my uncle's father-in-law providing for them against all odds, my aunt might not have starved, but my uncle might not have survived until the temperature rose again.

Originally, my uncle and aunt planned to return after the temperature rose. However, due to the patriarch's ill health, my aunt decided to stay since the disaster was over and leave after her father recovered.

But no one expected that this waiting period would lead to their town, Pengcheng, being inundated by floods, forcing my uncle and aunt to become dependents once again.

To keep the complaints of the other sisters-in-law at bay and to have an easier time, my uncle ended up doing a lot of chores.

But no matter how hard he worked, living under someone else's roof was not pleasant. As soon as the floodwaters receded, my uncle made plans to head home.

When his aunt suggested they should wait a bit longer, my uncle decided not to follow his wife's arrangement this time and straightforwardly replied to her, "If you want to stay here, stay by yourself. I don't want to live at someone else's mercy anymore."

Upon hearing my uncle's words, my aunt finally grasped the adage, "a daughter, once married, is like water splashed out." She could not enjoy decent meals and beverages here and was frequently criticized by her sisters-in-law.

She truly wondered why she had given up a good life to come here to suffer.

With these thoughts in mind, my aunt promptly helped my uncle pack their belongings. As soon as the ground was visible, my uncle and aunt couldn't wait to leave and underwent all sorts of hardships to return.

Regarding my uncle's ordeal, Mrs. Thompson and her two sisters complained about him saying he brought it on himself. However, they couldn't help but serving him food at the dinner table, urging him to eat more to regain his strength.

The dinner chat that evening was casual. Mr. Thompson didn't mention what had happened in the morning, so Dong Tianyu, his son, knowing his father had sensitive information, didn't say a word either.

After all, it's risky to reveal things prematurely, as it can lead to unexpected complications.

After dinner, Dong Tianyu didn't go back to the office building with his parents. Instead, he returned to his cave mansion.

When they parted, Dong Tianyu invited his parents to visit his shelter. Upon hearing Dong Tianyu's invitation, Mrs. Thompson was quite moved. However, after giving it some thought, Mr. Thompson eventually declined Dong Tianyu's offer.

Although Dong Tianyu didn't understand why his father had refused, he still respected his parents' wish.

The next day, Dong Tianyu didn't go to the office building but stayed in the cave mansion to continue training.

He had originally thought that after reaching the Foundation Building Stage, he wouldn't need to depend on the Hall of Longevity's automatic function to practice. However, who could have known that the Chaos Decision method was so taxing?

Luckily, once the first successful practice is accomplished, Chaos Decision will automatically operate inside the body, providing benefits without the need to meditate.

However, this doesn't mean that practicing the Chaos Decision actively is useless. According to the introduction in Chaos Decision, each passive operation not only yields Spirit Power, but also counts as 1/365.

Each active operation yields the same Spirit Power as passive operation, but counts as one instance.

Whenever Chaos Decision operates 129,600 times, the speed of its operation within the body will increase by 50%.

And after such an increase happens 50,000 times, the quality of one's internal Spirit Power will be refined, increasing by one level.

There is no limit to this kind of improvement. As long as Dong Tianyu lives longer, his strength will also grow more formidable.

Seeing the numbers in the introduction to Chaos Decision, Dong Tianyu strangely felt a sense of familiarity. After reaching the Foundation Building Stage, Dong Tianyu became able to remember everything at a glance and many memories came to mind.

1 Day = 12 Hours (renchen),

1 Month = 30 Days,

1 Year = 12 Months,

1 Age = 30 Years,

1 Cycle = 12 Ages,

1 Yuga = 30 Cycles = 10,800 Years,

1 Kalpa = 12 Yugas = 129,600 Years,

One Jambudvipa Kalpa = 50,000 Kalpas = 6.48 billion years.

The counting method of Chaos Decision's practice can be referenced to the ancient description of Jambudvipa Kalpa.

Ancient people believed that although Heaven and Earth lacked a conscious will of their own, they possessed a lifespan. Beings living within Heaven and Earth would steadily consume its lifespan. Whenever Heaven and Earth's lifespan was about to end, a Jambudvipa Kalpa would occur. Once the Jambudvipa Kalpa had passed, Heaven and Earth could live anew.

Many legends, from the opening of the sky by the three thousand gods, to the power struggles between the dragons, phoenixes, and chimeras, the confrontations between the wizard wraiths, the Battle of the Gods, and finally the Journey to the West, record the Jambudvipa Kalpa period.

The so-called Jambudvipa Kalpa was a process to reduce powerful beings living in Heaven and Earth to prolong its lifespan.

This method was highly effective at first. For instance, during the opening of the sky, the strengths of the three thousand gods varied little. Pangu was slightly stronger, but not by much. Thus, despite acquiring the treasures of the primal chaos, he eventually perished due to exhaustion.

The power struggle of the three races led directly to the decline of the strongest races in Heaven and Earth, the dragons, phoenixes, and chimeras.

At this point, Hongjun achieved sanctity, and six saints appeared.

To reduce Heaven and Earth's consumption, when choosing a new Son of Heaven, the selection criteria were lowered from three to two.

To ensure these Sons of Heaven return to Heaven and Earth more easily during the Jambudvipa Kalpa, the two vast tribes, the wizards and the wraiths, were chosen.

However, since seven saints already occupied the majority of Heaven and Earth's fate, during the next selection of the Son of Heaven, the quantity was further reduced, and the populous human clan was chosen.

Although the human clan was large in number, they didn't take up many resources in Heaven and Earth. Therefore, the Gold Immortals of the Chan Sect were chosen to return to Heaven and Earth during the Jambudvipa Kalpa.

But Greenwood Geoffrey figured out that as long as a certain number of powerful beings died, the Jambudvipa Kalpa could end. By harboring ulterior motives, the Chan Sect caused the final outcome, which doesn't need further explanation.

Even though a sufficient number of powerful beings died, those that survived continued to practice and consume the lifespan of Heaven and Earth.

This training by the powerful beings prevented Heaven and Earth from nurturing new training resources and led to each generation of newly born beings in Heaven and Earth being weaker than the previous. This explains why beings became weaker after the wizard and wraith Jambudvipa Kalpa.

The practice of Chaos Decision actually referred to the Jambudvipa Kalpa. Each time one passes a Jambudvipa Kalpa, it signifies a new birth.

Each passive operation is equivalent to a day, and each active operation is equivalent to a year. As long as one passes a Jambudvipa Kalpa, Dong Tianyu's strength will have a qualitative leap.