Chapter 824
The Dao Lord of the Epoch
The ruins of the Primordial God Realm were deathly silent, almost suffocating.
The lingering Daoist essence left behind by the seven high-dimensional giants after their demise still slowly dissipates in the void and fierce winds of the outer realm. Meanwhile, Su Chen, clad in a green robe and wielding a dark gold longsword, stands proudly atop the heavens, becoming the sole ruler of this world.
However, Su Chen's gaze did not linger on the spoils of war. His abyss-like divine eyes were fixed on the only remaining standing temple, the Supreme Judgment Temple.
"Boom-"
"Boom-"
"Boom-"
Suddenly, a sound that was extremely dull and slow, yet carried a certain irresistible rhythm, came from the deepest part of the temple.
This is neither a war drum nor a Taoist bell, but... the sound of a heartbeat!
With each heartbeat, the absolute nothingness of the entire outer realm trembled violently. Within billions of light-years, the Heavenly Laws within the surviving cosmic bubbles began to resonate with the frequency of these heartbeats. Countless low-dimensional beings exploded without warning at this moment, transforming into pure blood and qi, which were forcibly extracted from the universe and gathered towards that temple.
"Such weather..."
Su Chen tightened his grip on the Origin Demon Blade slightly, and the fighting spirit in his eyes was like a wildfire being doused by a storm. Instead of being extinguished, it exploded and burned to its peak.
"It has surpassed the limits of the late eighth realm, and has even stepped halfway out of that indescribable domain..."
"Half-step into the Ninth Realm!"
As Su Chen whispered, the Supreme Judgment Temple, forged from cosmic mother gold and immortal divine stone and standing for countless epochs, suddenly began to... weather!
There was no earth-shattering explosion, nor any rampant rage. The entire magnificent temple, as if eroded by billions of epochs of time, crumbled inch by inch in just a few breaths, turning into a sky full of gray ashes.
The ashes dissipated.
On the original foundation of the temple, a figure appeared at some unknown time.
It was an old man dressed in a gray robe.
He looked so ordinary, so ordinary that he didn't exude any divine light, nor did he possess a majestic aura that stretched for thousands of feet. Not even a trace of the aura of a powerful being could be sensed. He was hunched over, his hair and beard were all white, and he leaned on a withered wooden cane. His cloudy eyes seemed to have seen through the vicissitudes of time and the cycle of life and death throughout the ages.
But even such a seemingly frail old man, the moment he stood there, caused the raging, otherworldly winds around him to subside as if they had met a supreme ruler.
Where he stands is the center of the Great Way; where his gaze falls is the end of Truth!
The true founder of the High Dimensional Judgment Council, the oldest being who has lived through countless eras of birth and death in multiple universes—[Grand Elder of Judgment, Lord of the Epoch]!
"How many years have passed..."
The Grand Elder slowly raised his head, his cloudy eyes piercing through the void and landing on Su Chen in mid-air. His voice was hoarse and aged, yet it carried a terrifying magical power that struck the soul and froze the true spirit.
“Since I awoke in the last Great Cataclysm and established this Council of Judgments, I have lost count of how many epochs have passed, and no living being has dared to start such a massacre in the land where I slumber.”
The Grand Elder's gaze swept over the remaining bloodstains and shattered essences belonging to the seven councilors in the void.
What's chilling is that there wasn't a trace of anger, sadness, or regret in his eyes; all that was there was the indifference of a farmer looking at withered crops in the field.
"Zhan'e, Fazhun, Mingzhi... these seven good-for-nothings, I bestowed upon them high-dimensional authority to manage this ranch on their behalf, yet they couldn't even stop a variable from ascending from the lower realm."
The elder shook his head, a barely concealed greed and fanaticism flashing in his turbid eyes as he stared intently at Su Chen.
"However, it's better that they're dead. Their path to enlightenment has long stagnated, and they've lost their value to me."
"But you, you ant from the lower realm."
The elder, leaning on his withered wooden cane, took a step forward.
"boom!"
This step, seemingly ordinary, felt to Su Chen as if the entire space and time of the outer realm were simultaneously crushing him!
"Your physical body, your 'Path of Origin' which is so pure that it can even devour higher-dimensional laws, has truly broadened my horizons."
The elder's lips curled into a strange smile, revealing sparse teeth.
"I have been stuck at the half-step ninth realm for three whole eras. To take that final step, I must break the shackles of this multiverse system and find a new origin that can transcend all 'being' and 'non-being'."
"Your appearance is the greatest blessing the Great Dao has bestowed upon this old man!"
"As long as I erase your true spirit and seize your 'Origin Divine Body,' I can instantly transcend and achieve the supreme Ninth Realm, eternally immortal and eternally transcendent!"
Faced with the Grand Elder's blatant declaration of possession, Su Chen showed no fear whatsoever; instead, he laughed wildly to the sky.
Hahahaha!!!
Su Chen's laughter was like ancient thunder, causing the surrounding void to tremble violently.
“Old man, I have seen countless self-important gods and the Heavenly Dao along the way. They were all like you, looking down on me as something in their hands or as food on their plate.”
Su Chen stopped laughing wildly, his eyes instantly turning cold and violent. The Origin Demon Blade in his hand emitted a deafening clang, its blade pointing directly at the Grand Elder below.
"But in the end, they all turned into the withered bones beneath my feet, becoming the nourishment for me to reach the pinnacle!"
"You want to possess my body? You want to reach the ninth realm?"
The dark golden Origin Divine Power on Su Chen's body suddenly erupted, and the black hole divine halo behind his head expanded rapidly, transforming into a supreme domain that devoured the heavens and the earth.
"Then we'll see if your old bones are strong enough to withstand the blade of my might!!!"
"Stubborn and obstinate".
A fierce glint flashed in the elder's eyes. He stopped talking and slammed his withered wooden cane heavily onto the purple-gold ground.
"Thump—!!!!"
"Supernatural Power - [Epochal Change - All Laws Return to Stillness]!"
In an instant, a terrifying, gray-white tide of laws, centered on the Grand Elder, swept towards Su Chen in an overwhelming manner.
In this gray-white torrent, there is no earth, water, fire, or wind, nor swords or spears, only the pure power of "the stripping away of time" and "the destruction of an era"! Before this power, any supernatural ability, any defense, any divine weapon will be instantly eroded by billions of years of time, ultimately decaying, weathering, and returning to oblivion!
This is the terrifying aspect of those who are halfway to the ninth realm. They are no longer bound by the form of spells, but directly use the most fundamental laws of the universe's birth and death!
"The power of time? Before the origin of this being, time is nothing but an illusion!"
Su Chen roared, gripping the Origin Demon Blade tightly with both hands, and poured the early stage of the eighth realm of his body into the blade without reservation.
"Original Daoist Technique - [One Slash Severs Eternity]!!!"
"Shh!"
A dark golden blade of light, tens of millions of feet long, carrying the domineering power to cleave through chaos and reshape the universe, crashed down!
The blade's edge collided violently with the gray-white epochal surge!
"Boom! B ...
Two forces, exceeding the limits of what this extraterrestrial land could withstand, clashed violently.
The grayish-white turmoil attempted to weather away the blade's edge, while the dark golden blade's edge displayed an extremely terrifying "devouring" characteristic, constantly tearing apart and devouring those laws of destruction!
"boom!"
After a mere three breaths of stalemate, Su Chen's blade light was ultimately obliterated by the relentless epochal turmoil due to the difference in their cultivation levels. The grayish-white aftershocks, like a flood bursting its banks, slammed heavily into Su Chen's chest.
"Thump!" Su Chen was struck as if by a galaxy, flying millions of miles away, smashing countless floating fragments of the divine realm continent along the way, and finally crashing into a void abyss.
"cough……"
Su Chen slowly rose from the abyss, wiping away a trace of dark gold divine blood that had spilled from the corner of his mouth. He looked down and saw that the Origin Dragon Scale on his chest, which was said to be indestructible through countless calamities, had been eroded by the gray-white law, leaving a large patch of grayish-brown weathered marks, and waves of stinging pain reached straight to his soul.
"Is this the power of being halfway to the ninth realm...?"
There was no sign of dejection in Su Chen's eyes; instead, they shone with unprecedented excitement and madness!
"Good! Very good! That's awesome!"
"This is the first time I've felt the pain of my body being torn apart since I entered the eighth realm! You old dog, you really haven't disappointed me!"
The First Elder looked at Su Chen, who had stood up again, and a hint of shock finally flashed in his cloudy eyes.
"You withstood my 'Return of All Laws to Stillness' head-on and only suffered minor injuries? The sturdiness of your physical body simply defies the laws of nature!"
"However, this is the end!"
The Grand Elder took a step forward, traversing millions of miles of void, and appeared above Su Chen's head. He tossed aside his cane and rapidly formed hand seals in front of his chest.
"I'd like to see if your body can withstand the weight of an entire era!"
"Supreme Forbidden Technique—[Great Thousand Worlds Annihilation Epoch Compass]!!!"
"Buzzing—"
With the Grand Elder's roar, the absolute nothingness of the entire outer realm seemed to be forcibly kneaded together by an invisible hand. Above Su Chen's head, an unimaginably vast ancient compass, spanning billions of light-years, suddenly materialized!
This compass is engraved with the birth and death trajectories of countless universes. At this moment, the compass slowly rotates, and with each rotation, a terrifying force equivalent to the complete destruction of a great world transforms into a gray-black divine light of annihilation, pressing down on Su Chen below!
"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The continuous, devastating divine light, like a torrential downpour, completely submerged the area where Su Chen was located. Under such a terrifying attack, which was almost like divine punishment, even a powerhouse who had just entered the eighth realm would be instantly crushed into nothingness particles.
Su Chen, who was at the center of the deadly attack, was so overwhelmed by the terrifying pressure that his legs bent slightly and his bones made cracking sounds as if they could not bear the weight.
"You intend to suppress me with such brute force?"
Su Chen suddenly raised his head, his hair flying wildly, his eyes bloodshot.
He knew full well that against an Epoch Lord who was halfway to the ninth realm, his cultivation, having just entered the eighth realm, was ultimately lacking in foundation. If he only focused on defense, he would eventually be worn down and killed by this Epoch Compass!
"Since the foundation isn't enough, then—break through on the spot!!!"
A glint of unparalleled madness flashed in Su Chen's eyes. He suddenly opened the abyss's gaping maw and waved his hand!
"Shh! Shh! Shh!"
The seven [High-Dimensional Dao Cores] belonging to the High-Dimensional Councilor that he had previously refined and stored in his body were now summoned out without reservation and stuffed directly into his mouth!
"Gudu!"
Su Chen swallowed seven supreme Dao cores containing the life-long cultivation of the early stage of the eighth realm and the half-step eighth realm!
"boom------------!!!!!"
The moment Su Chen swallowed the Dao Core, it was as if seven cosmic explosions were simultaneously detonated within his body!
Seven high-dimensional laws (war, order, fate, etc.) that were extremely violent and complex raged wildly in Su Chen's origin inner universe, attempting to completely tear his meridians and internal organs apart!
"Suppress them all! Refine them!"
Su Chen let out a mournful roar that was unlike any human's. He completely disregarded the excruciating pain within his body and forcibly activated the [Origin Devouring] Law. With his domineering and unparalleled will, he forcefully crushed, assimilated, and absorbed the seven violent forces!
Under this extreme pressure of life and death, under the crushing destruction of this epochal compass.
Su Chen's aura began to rise rapidly at an incredible speed!
"Click...click click..."
Accompanied by a series of crisp cracking sounds from the walls inside the body.
The dark golden divine light that had been suppressed around Su Chen erupted like a volcano, smashing the annihilating divine light pouring down from above!
[Eighth Realm - Initial Limit]...
[Mid-stage of the Eighth Realm]...
"Break for me!!!"
With a final, furious roar that shattered the nine heavens, the Origin Divine Power within Su Chen's body completed its final transformation and fusion!
An immense pressure, ten or even a hundred times greater than before, truly enough to rival the Ninth Realm of Half-Step, erupted from Su Chen's body!
[Eighth Realm - Indescribable - Mid-Stage]!!!
"What?! A breakthrough in the heat of battle?! He absorbed seven high-dimensional Dao cores in succession, and he didn't explode and die?!"
High in the sky, the Grand Elder, who had been confident of victory, finally changed his expression, and for the first time, his eyes revealed disbelief and horror.
"Old dog!"
Su Chen slowly straightened up, raised his head, and his eyes, now completely transformed into abyssal black holes, were fixed on the Grand Elder. His green robe had turned to ashes under the violent energy, replaced by a set of dark gold ultimate divine armor formed from pure primordial laws!
"I accept your generous gift."
"Now, it is my turn to return the greeting!"
Su Chen gripped the Origin Demon Blade tightly in his backhand and took a heavy step forward!
"boom!"
This kick directly created a huge crack in the illusory image of the [Epoch Compass] that was suppressing him!
"Divine Power—[Origin Ultimate Path: Annihilation of All Heavens]!!!"
Su Chen's figure transformed into a dark golden dragon soaring against the heavens. The Origin Demon Blade in his hand erupted with a world-destroying blade light that blotted out the sky. Carrying the supreme peak power of his newly broken through to the middle of the eighth realm, he slashed at the Grand Elder and the Epoch Compass behind him, unleashing the most powerful and domineering strike of his life!
This strike severed the long river of laws beyond the boundary!
This single strike shattered the cycle of life and death across multiple universes!
"not good!"
The Grand Elder felt a chill run down his spine as he sensed the deadly intent contained in the strike. He frantically drew upon the primordial essence of the outer realms, creating layers upon layers of epochal barriers in front of him.
"Boom boom boom boom boom boom ————————!!!!!!!!!!"
The blade's edge clashed with the barrier!
This is an extreme clash between the mid-stage of the eighth realm and the half-step into the ninth realm!
In this collision, the core area of the entire outer realm completely lost all color and sound. Space within a radius of billions of light-years was instantly emptied, transforming into a true absolute dead zone.
Endless light and darkness intertwine and annihilate.
In this epic clash of the highest powers, a clash worthy of being recorded in history, the Grand Elder, who had reigned supreme over countless eras in the realm beyond the boundary, finally... withdrew!
"puff--"
The Grand Elder retreated tens of millions of miles through the void, coughing up a mouthful of grayish-white primordial blood with each step. The layers upon layers of epochal barriers in front of him were cleaved open by Su Chen's domineering and unparalleled Origin Blade, creating a massive rift that pierced through the void!
At the very end of that rift, Su Chen, clad in dark gold divine armor and wielding a blood-dripping Origin Demon Blade, resembled an invincible god of death emerging from ancient mythology. He strode step by step, amidst the countless fragments of laws flying around him, approaching the Grand Elder.
"Even a half-step into the ninth realm is nothing more than this."
A cruel, arrogant smile curled at the corner of Su Chen's mouth.
"Your era has ended."
"From this day forward, this realm beyond will have only one ruler. That is... myself!!!" (End of Chapter)