Chapter 612
The Ancient Path's Final Chapter! The War Alliance Makes its Move!
As Jiang Shu took a step forward, a hazy, miniature spatial vortex that was constantly collapsing and disappearing floated out.
Most of the three images' violent attacks fell into the miniature vortex, their energy distorted and deflected, before being swallowed by an indestructible force.
The violent spatial collision triggered a chain reaction, and this already fragile area was immediately covered with spiderweb-like spatial cracks.
An energy storm swept out, hurling silt into the air and shearing off large sections of the hard black stone pillar.
However, some claw shadows and fist energy still managed to penetrate the spatial shift and land heavily on Jiang Shu's mangled body.
puff!
Jiang Shu's body was forced to take two steps back due to the violent impact.
His chest and ribs collapsed instantly, the sound of bones shattering was clearly audible, and blood spurted from his mouth again, leaving a shocking trail of blood in the air before crashing into a patch of mud and splashing up a large amount of filth.
But his mind remained as clear as ever.
The Desolate Star Halberd was held horizontally in front of him.
shhhhh!
Several blades of malevolent energy, imbued with a chilling and corrosive power, grazed almost the edge of the Desolate Star Halberd.
The three images roared inhumanly and pounced again, their movements more coordinated than before, clearly adapting rapidly to the rules of this world.
Even more terrifying, they seemed to realize that Jiang Shu was at his limit, so they stopped attacking in a scattered manner and instead concentrated their strength to strike his vital points from three tricky angles, rushing towards his head, heart and dantian!
Between life and death, the imprint that had always been hidden in the deepest part of the sea of consciousness and closely connected with the heart of space suddenly emitted an unprecedentedly faint resonance under the extreme stimulation of death!
It's not a resonance of power, but a state of being!
It is that will to pry open the barriers of the world!
This is the innate great technique that Jiang Shu brought out from the deep space sea, which he has been using to interpret the laws of space: the Return to the Void Calamity Heaven Technique!
It extracted a trace of the origin of this world that had already developed sentience and poured it into Jiang Shu's hand, infusing it into the Desolate Star Halberd.
This is no longer a known technique in the world.
Rather, it is the Great Dao that opened up the world.
One after another, the laws of the Great Dao surged wildly within Jiang Shu.
scoff!
A tiny, almost invisible spatial rift, like the first ray of light at the beginning of time, appeared out of thin air in front of Jiang Shu.
Its appearance seemed to break some kind of taboo, triggering a stress response from the barriers of the nascent world, and countless tiny spatial collapse points instantly appeared around it.
"boom!"
"boom!"
"boom!"
A horrifying scene unfolded.
The attacks from the three images, imbued with overwhelming malevolent energy and the power of the world's rules, were easily extinguished by this tiny spatial rift, as easily as a hot knife cutting through butter.
Even more terrifying, two of the images rushed in so forcefully that the arms of their energy bodies sliced directly into the crevice.
"Roar!!!"
An indescribable, piercing scream erupted from two inhuman-looking "mouths".
The spatial rift seemed to possess a terrifying disintegration property; the parts of the image that were cut did not shatter, but instead dissipated directly, transforming into the most primal and chaotic evil energy.
The aura of the two images plummeted instantly, and their energy forms became illusory and unstable.
The third image came to a horrifying halt.
It's now!
Jiang Shu emerged from Xuanxing, having experienced countless life-and-death ordeals along the way.
He firmly grasped the thrill of death, the lingering will from that slash, and the trace of origin intercepted by the Return to the Void Heavenly Tribulation Technique.
They did not pursue the two injured images, because the third, intact image at the peak of the tenth realm was the greatest threat.
call out!
Jiang Shu's figure pierced the sky like a blood-red sun, his surging power seemingly capable of burning and evaporating the surrounding space.
Like a blazing beam of light, it pierced through everything. Ignoring all its own defenses and abandoning all attempts to dodge, it crashed directly into the third image that had just regained its footing, like a burning meteor.
"boom!"
The image's cold, intelligent nature was clearly momentarily taken aback.
In the next instant, Jiang Shu's Desolate Star Halberd had already deeply penetrated its chest!
A terrifying explosion occurred on the spot.
The image of the peak of the tenth realm didn't even have time to utter a scream before it was instantly torn into a sky full of black mist by the violent energy.
At the core of the explosion, a chaotic miniature energy black hole formed, violently tearing everything around it apart.
The inky black sludge was overturned, several black stone pillars were uprooted, and the edge of the explosion also swept up the other two severely damaged images, completely obliterating them.
The shockwave from the explosion violently threw Jiang Shu away, sending him crashing back into the mud some distance away, where he remained motionless.
The last vestige of consciousness was like a candle flickering in the wind, seemingly about to be extinguished at any moment.
The world returned to deathly silence, with only the lingering turbulent energy from the explosion silently wailing, testifying to the horrific battle that had taken place here.
Standing on the ground, Jiang Shu gripped the Desolate Star Halberd. The victory before him did not bring a trace of relief to his eyes.
This is only a temporary respite.
The source of malice in the world remains, and something even more terrifying will inevitably coalesce again sooner or later.
His gaze returned to the altar, but this time, his gaze became increasingly resolute.
His soul stirred the completely dim and lifeless fragments of the Heart of Space, drawing upon the Dao essence within his body, pointing towards the hair-thin crack on the altar barrier that he had initially torn open, which was now dim and seemed about to close at any moment.
Though the gap is narrow, it is the only channel connecting to the origin of the world.
He wanted to pour everything he had into that crack to shake that core!
Jiang Shuwei closed his eyes. He felt as if his soul was a drop of water falling into the ocean, gently yet resolutely touching the core of the world's origin behind that crack.
Compared to the origin of the world, his meager spiritual power is like an ant trying to shake a tree.
But in any world, the greater the risk, the greater the reward!
If he succeeds this time, it will not only allow him to establish a firm foothold in the inner circle of the Star Ruins Realm.
Furthermore, it allows one to explore the secrets of the birth of the Great Dao from the very origin of this world, laying the most solid foundation for future cultivation.
This "drop of water" containing Jiang Shu's will and soul was as insignificant as dust in the face of the vast and boundless Origin, which was like a giant beast in the deep space.
It didn't even stir up the slightest ripple in the energy level; it was merely extremely faint, like a newborn chick gently tapping the silent, cold, and malicious depths of the origin with an extremely slight tremor.
Like still water with a gentle ripple. "Could it be... that we really have to return to the Demon Realm?"
Jiang Shu could clearly sense that her consciousness was about to sink into endless darkness.
The panel kept flashing through his mind.
He's gambling, gambling on the final outcome.
He would not be able to shake the altar until his consciousness completely succumbed.
He was then forced to leave and return to the Demon Realm.
However, this means it will probably be a long time before he can return to the Star Ruins Realm.
Perhaps, to the people in the Star Ruins Realm, Jiang Shu is already dead.
After all, this is a true death trap.
"Hey……"
As his consciousness was about to sink completely into endless darkness, Jiang Shu sighed inwardly, just as he made up his mind to travel between the two worlds.
hum!
An aura completely different from the cold, deathly silence, and malevolent atmosphere of this world appeared.
Its immense power, containing an unparalleled and domineering fighting spirit and terrifyingly violent energy, suddenly descended!
This aura did not originate from within the small world, but rather from an extremely distant external space, crashing violently into the barrier of this nascent world.
The entire world embryo began to tremble violently, far more violently than the spatial chaos caused by Jiang Shu's previous battle.
Even the spatial barrier that was about to solidify groaned as it was about to crumble under the strain.
Battle the Nine Heavens!
Jiang Shu was extremely familiar with that aura; it was domineering and unparalleled, and it was none other than the aura of Zhan Jiuxiao, the vice leader of the War Alliance!
Meanwhile, outside, at the entrance to the Ancient Path of War Souls.
The massive gate of the ancient road, constructed from the remains of divine weapons and fragments of armor, trembled violently, and the ancient runes on its doors flickered wildly.
In the starry sky before the gate, Zhan Jiuxiao's beard and hair stood on end, his eyes were like burning stars, and nine crimson star phantoms spun wildly around him, radiating a terrifying pressure that could crush galaxies.
There were five other equally vast and boundless auras appearing and disappearing around him; these were the Supreme Elders of the War Alliance.
Clearly, each of them possesses power sufficient to shake the secret realm.
Zhan Jiuxiao's face was ashen, but deep in his eyes was thunderous rage and a hint of barely perceptible anxiety.
He originally thought that he had dealt with the minor anomalies within the War Alliance. The reason he hadn't appeared these past few days was because he had been secretly investigating the source of those anomalies. However, he never expected that even the War Soul Ancient Path, which carried the will of the human race's ancestors, had undergone an anomaly.
As early as when the anomaly began, Zhan Jiuxiao wanted to intervene, but the anomaly of the ancient path far exceeded their previous assessment. The spatial coordinates were disordered, and forcibly interfering would only accelerate its collapse.
Everyone inside will die there.
But just now, he caught a faint, extremely subtle fluctuation, bearing Jiang Shu's soul imprint, like lightning in the darkness.
That fluctuation carried with it the desperation of certain death and the roar of unwillingness.
That was his son Zhan Feng's comrade-in-arms, and also a prodigy whom his Zhan Alliance had never seen before, recruiting with countless rare and precious treasures.
And his current location is right in that incredibly chaotic and sinister core!
With a deafening buzz and explosion, the ancient giant gate, built from countless fragments of divine weapons and armor, let out a mournful cry as it was on the verge of collapse. The runes that flickered on it were dying and about to burst, like a candle in the wind!
In the starry sky in front of the gate, Zhan Jiuxiao's figure stood tall and firm.
Nine crimson stars burning with golden battle flames roared and spun around him, each rotation sending ripples that crushed the void.
Beside him stood five figures with white hair and beards, their auras as deep as the sea. Their immense power, like five raging dragons, converged on the peak of the Battle Nine Heavens Fist.
This is the combined strength of the six Supreme Elders of the War Alliance; even a Saint could fight against them!
These figures were all avatars of the Supreme Elder. Although they did not possess the realm of the Saint's true form, they were not simply peak Venerables either.
"Locked up!"
Zhan Jiuxiao's voice was like thunder crashing down from the heavens, his eyes no longer showing any composure, but burning with a furious rage that could incinerate the stars and a rare look of horror.
Just a moment ago, he clearly sensed that aura through the shattered fragments of the barrier of the secret realm.
Within Jiang Shu's familiar yet exhausted soul fluctuations lay a death wish and the lingering sharpness of his final attack.
The location was right inside this space, at the very core of that evil vortex.
"open!"
Zhan Jiuxiao roared wildly, his golden giant fist, which had gathered the full power of six peak Venerables, slammed into the center of the violently twisted giant gate.
Boom!
Like tearing apart a tattered old painting.
The center of the giant gate, along with the spatial barrier behind it, was blasted open by this colossal fist that dominated the universe, creating a huge, irregular hole with a diameter of ten zhang.
An endless torrent of nascent rage, a cold and decaying malice, surged forth like a floodgate bursting open.
Zhan Jiuxiao's gaze was sharp, piercing through the chaotic torrent of energy, instantly locking onto the withered, broken body that was almost integrated with the silt in the dark core area deep inside the cave.
"come out!"
The golden fist energy did not retract; instead, it suddenly thrust forward.
The vast and gentle spatial power precisely enveloped Jiang Shu's broken body, like pulling a withered leaf from a filthy swamp, instantly lifting it out.
At the same time, just as Jiang Shu's body was pulled out of the spatial rift, deep within the crumbling, inky black core, the pulsating dark core suddenly emitted an extremely vicious, silent shriek.
A torrent of chilling curses, whose form could not be discerned but whose primal malice could be sensed, mixed with the overwhelming resentment and endless fragments of fighting spirit accumulated over billions of years in this ancient battlefield. Like a maggot clinging to a bone, it ignored spatial distance and the remnants of the world's barriers, transforming into an invisible, bone-rust-colored mark that slammed into Jiang Shu's body, which had just been pulled out of the ancient path.
The intense pain caused Jiang Shu to arch her body violently even while unconscious.
Countless bone-rust-colored patterns, writhing like living creatures and exuding an aura of hatred and destruction, instantly appeared on his body surface. They frantically burrowed into his skin, eroded his meridians, and imprinted themselves on his Dao foundation. Even his broken, almost unformed fragments of the Space Heart were corrupted and covered with a layer of gloom.
"Zhan Feng and the others... are still inside."
In the last instant before his consciousness completely dissipated, Jiang Shu, who was firmly protected by Zhan Jiuxiao's power, moved his lips and uttered a few indistinct, dreamlike syllables.
Before he could finish speaking, the bone-rust-colored patterns covering his entire body suddenly burst forth with a faint light, completely locking away his last bit of life.
After confirming there was no danger, Jiang Shu gradually closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep, enveloped in the gentle golden power.
Filled with malice and curses, bone-rust-colored patterns, like those of a living creature, slowly flowed across his body.
With the Venerables in the War Alliance already taking action, he no longer needs to worry about the dangers in the Ancient Path.
The enormous spatial rift rapidly closed behind them, resealing the embryonic world filled with endless resentment and malice. (End of Chapter)