The calamities raged on without end, and a golden glow began to emanate from the Human Ancestor's skeleton.
The calamities grew ever more violent. The Human Ancestor's bones were continuously seared, becoming brilliantly radiant with golden light.
The Human Ancestor began to straighten his back, lifting his head high and thrusting out his chest. Enduring ten thousand forms of suffering, his entire skeleton gleamed as though forged from pure gold, standing bolt upright amidst the raging calamities. This was the Myriad Calamities Golden Bone.
And upon the Human Ancestor's skull, a crown gradually took shape — the Heaven-Reaching Bone Crown.
The disasters that people endure shall become the crown upon their brow in days to come.
Though the calamities still raged on, the Human Ancestor finally found the ability to speak: "I know that Fate has its arrangements, and the calamities are its design against humanity! But I can endure. Any calamity that seems unbearable — in truth, I can bear it all."
Strength Gu was shaken with uncertainty.
Self Gu, however, understood immediately: "I see. Human, you are one who has walked out of the Abyss of Ordinariness. That is why you can endure the unendurable."
Strength Gu saw that even the calamities could not break the Human Ancestor, so it forced itself to remain calm: "Human, don't you try to cheat. You have the Hope Gu, and the calamities will continue forever. Are we supposed to let you drag out our wager like this forever? I won't allow it! Consider the calamities passed. Now it's our turn to eat you."
"What of mine would you like to eat?" the Human Ancestor sighed.
Strength Gu burst into laughter, pointing at the Human Ancestor's sternum: "Next, I want to eat your heart!"
The Human Ancestor shuddered slightly. Strength Gu's choice was fatally pointed — how could a man survive without a heart?
"Hurry, take out all your hearts and let us eat!" Strength Gu shouted eagerly.
The Human Ancestor let out a bitter sigh, hesitated for a moment, then first extracted his Heart of Compassion.
Strength Gu cast the Heart of Compassion straight into Predicament's neck wound, and it dropped directly into its stomach. The belly swelled a little.
In the face of a predicament, people often lose their compassion first.
The Human Ancestor then took out his Heart of Nobility. Predicament devoured it, and its belly swelled considerably, looking as though it were having some trouble digesting.
The Human Ancestor extracted his Original Heart next: "Hope Gu, please leave quickly. I don't want to drag you into this."
Hope Gu was residing within the Human Ancestor's Original Heart, but it did not fly out. It said: "I'm not going anywhere. This is my home. Human, you might as well throw me in along with it. I don't blame you."
The Human Ancestor had no choice. At Strength Gu's urging, he withdrew the Original Heart as well and fed it to Predicament.
After devouring it, Predicament's belly swelled even more enormously.
A predicament often strips people of hope as well.
Without the Hope Gu, the calamities that had plagued the Human Ancestor gradually dissipated. This brought him tremendous relief, yet also left him feeling hollow and lost.
"Hurry, Human, take out your last heart and give it to us to eat!" Strength Gu pointed at the Heart of Loneliness still in the Human Ancestor's chest.
The Human Ancestor hesitated, torn with indecision. The Heart of Loneliness was not only the vessel where Self Gu resided — it was also his final heart. Without it, the Human Ancestor's life would be forfeit.
Strength Gu laughed and threatened: "Quickly! If you don't give us your heart to eat, we'll simply take action and devour you whole!"
Self Gu had already been deceived, but it said nonchalantly: "Human, just give it to them. I don't care, and you won't die! We are the most powerful."
"Give it to me!" Strength Gu snatched the Heart of Loneliness from the Human Ancestor's hand and thrust it through the wound in Predicament's neck, dropping it straight into its stomach.
Now the Human Ancestor was completely without a heart.
He collapsed face-first onto the ground, devoid of all breath, unable to rise again.
The Human Ancestor was dead.
"Human, now that you're dead, we're free." Rules Gu flew away.
"There's nothing to be done. Human has encountered the greatest predicament of his life." Courage Gu, Blade Gu, and the others flew away one after another.
Only Self Gu continued to circle above the Human Ancestor's corpse. Attitude Gu also wanted to leave, but Self Gu seized it tightly, preventing its escape.
Strength Gu laughed joyfully: "Haha, so this is all you amounted to, Human? Eh? Predicament, what's wrong?"
The Predicament that Strength Gu resided in was clutching its maximally distended belly, rolling across the ground in agony.
Loneliness is extraordinarily difficult to resolve or digest, and the more formidable the predicament, the more acute the loneliness.
Boom!
Suddenly, Predicament's belly burst open with tremendous force.
From within, the Human Ancestor's Heart of Loneliness — along with his skin and flesh — coalesced into the form of a boy.
Strength Gu stared, dumbfounded: "Who are you?"
The boy shouted: "I am the Human Ancestor's son — Great Strength True Martial!"
Before his words had faded, he leaped forward and seized Strength Gu with both hands.
Strength Gu struggled desperately to break free, and Self Gu seized the chance to swoop in and take a bite out of it.