Chapter 916: World Destruction, The Battle of Karma

Chapter 916: World Extinction, The Battle of Karma

When the Withered Wood Emperor mentioned that there were still many rogue demon disciples drifting within the star domain and even asked if he needed to handle that portion, Zhao Changhe did not place those miscellaneous goods in his eyes.

What he truly worried about was that Luochuan would possess an entrenched base of operations. The "home field" of the immortal path was exceedingly dangerous; old demon Han could spend several long chapters meticulously setting up a single cave dwelling, filled with all sorts of messy defenses that could drive a man to ecstatic agony. Once the master returned to his seat, coordinating with the inner defenses and array formations, it was guaranteed to cause disastrous casualties to anyone charging in.

Fortunately, Ye Wuyou had unexpectedly sensed the location of the demonic path's headquarters.

Since they had already lured the snake out of its hole and drawn Luochuan to the home field of the Heavenly Book, it was only fitting to take the opportunity to destroy Luochuan's own home field...

Ye Wuming hung quietly and highly outside, observing with indifference.

This was a newly born plane, possessing an extremely intense, burgeoning aura, an aura from which one could feel the birth of all things, vibrant and full of morning vigor. Yet in its nature, it was sinister; the entire world domain resembled the purgatory of legend, with seas of fire and lightning everywhere, violent winds sweeping through, the environment exceptionally harsh.

The entire world domain was vast but sparsely populated, with only a small number of demonic cultivators hiding within, each occupying a place rich in spiritual energy as a cave dwelling for cultivation. However, the exotic beasts of the plane were quite numerous, among which quite a few could grow to become top-tier divine beasts of the plane... perhaps evolving over hundreds of millions of years to become the divine emperors of the demon race, who could tell.

It was just that at the moment, they could only be called larvae, still waiting to grow.

Within Ye Wuming’s indifferent gaze, a touch of melancholy gradually surfaced.

She traced the karma, calculating the origin of this world domain... Since this era, she had been rallying people and laying out formations, slaughtering the innate demon gods, gradually clearing Luochuan's influence over the Heavenly Book world; Luochuan had not been idle either, contending for the Heavenly Book while simultaneously making preparations on two fronts—taking advantage of the small amount of control over the Heavenly Book world still in his hands, he secretly borrowed the derivative power of the Heavenly Book world to conduct his own creation experiment from absolute extinction to genesis.

This world domain was derived by Luochuan himself by means of the ultimate chaotic extinction of the universe; he was the true Heavenly Dao here.

Therefore, the Heavenly Book world had previously lacked certain things related to the immortal path; both she, Ye Wuming, and Zhao Changhe had analyzed that it was due to Luochuan's malicious suppression, but now it seemed it was not merely suppression, but blood-sucking. This was sucking the blood of the Heavenly Book world to create a world belonging to Luochuan himself, constructing his own path.

It was highly likely that since the last era, Luochuan had already been performing this operation without showing his hand. The reason why they, the sisters, awakened their true selves so late, remaining muddled and disoriented like marionettes following the "settings of the Heavenly Dao," never breaking through their upper limit, had a great probability of being because their spirituality was quietly transferred.

No wonder Luochuan's recovery from his injuries these two times had been so rapid. He was using the source of this world to heal himself, and this time he simply absorbed the source, not only healing quickly but also improving slightly.

Yet after tossing and turning for so long, creating worlds and deriving life, he still failed to break through to a higher level... it was simply harming others without benefiting himself.

Perhaps it was because this emerging plane still lacked something... This was the fundamental reason why Luochuan absolutely had to seize the Heavenly Book; only by obtaining the complete Heavenly Book world and fusing it into the plane he created could he take a step further?

A fierce aura gradually surged within Ye Wuming's eyes.

This was the ultimate meaning of all Luochuan's actions over tens of thousands of years, yet it came at the cost of all living spirits in the entire Heavenly Book world.

Now that the spirit of the Heavenly Book had arrived here... then let everything return to nothingness.

You want my world, I destroy your world... this is only fair.

Ye Wuming spread her palm, and dots of starlight manifested within it, as if the stars of the heavens were all operating within her grasp.

With a flip of her wrist, the stars tumbled down, and the earth overturned.

"Boom!"

A terrifying and peerless power exploded; only at this moment did the living creatures within the plane shock themselves into realizing a massive disaster had occurred, looking at the sky in horror.

The sky turned into an ink-black darkness where day was unseen, and within the night there seemed to appear a pair of indifferent eyes belonging to a god or demon, gazing mutely at the earth.

All around, lightning and fire fell wildly, and the world shook.

"What is happening?"

"From where comes this world-destroying celestial demon!"

Some powerhouses rumbled with valiant courage, swiftly arriving outside the boundary, only to see Ye Wuming's long hair fluttering as she hung suspended in the night sky.

Those eyes turned slightly, falling upon the demonic cultivators surrounding her, and the chilly killing intent caused a shudder to rise in everyone's heart.

The world-destroying celestial demon turned out to be such a beautiful woman... yet what kind of demon god's eyes were those, colder than the demonic cultivators present who had killed countless people, as if she were not a living creature at all.

The void was quiet for half a second; someone snapped back to reality and was just about to shout a question when the river of stars in Ye Wuming's hand suddenly slashed horizontally.

Silent, formless, the demonic cultivator closest to her was suddenly severed into two sections, his blood floating in the universe, as brilliant as a flower in bloom.

Everyone subconsciously retreated.

The one just now was the strongest powerhouse here, yet he was completely unable to withstand a single exchange from this woman! This woman's strength was absolutely not inferior to the heaven of the world domain.

Simultaneously, a voice transmission from the Heavenly Dao echoed in everyone's mind: "Run quickly, you are no match for Ye Wuming!"

The name Ye Wuming was so unfamiliar, why did it sound as though she had already been entangled with the Heavenly Dao for ten thousand years...

The voice transmission of the Heavenly Dao arrived again: "Ye Wuming's execution of this world-destroying strike cannot be accomplished in a brief moment; there is no benefit in entangling with her! Speed to the coordinates of my location, and swap bases with her!"

"Swish, swish, swish!" Ten thousand streaks of escaping light sped away as the demonic cultivators gathered within the world domain by Luochuan fled one after another. Regardless of what the Heavenly Dao said, where Ye Wuming came from, or whether they chose to accompany him to swap bases, the one core element everyone could understand was—the damn world was truly being destroyed!

Who could understand this? Cultivating perfectly fine within one's cave dwelling, only to suddenly have a beautiful woman come to the door to destroy the world!

Not a single demonic cultivator who could survive the encirclement and suppression of the three great forbidden lands was weak; each possessed unique divine abilities, vanishing in all directions in the blink of an eye.

Ye Wuming indeed had no spare energy to care about the scattering and fleeing demonic cultivators, her lovely face turning slightly pale.

Urging the power of world destruction was also a bit of an overload for her... had she not been nudged to the Paramita by a certain two-headed dragon during these days, she would not have been able to achieve this step.

"Rumble!"

Within the world domain, the heavens tilted and the earth collapsed.

Ye Wuming looked abstractedly at the world-destroying lightning and fire within the boundary, the scenes of yesteryear surfacing in her heart.

So familiar... the destruction of the era that year was so similar.

What kind of resolute mood was in her heart back then, she could no longer remember...

The difference was that back then, Piaomiao protected the rivers and mountains, hence a silver lining of life could be retained to reopen a new epoch for humanity. Yet now within this realm, each fled for themselves, the earth crumbled, the firmament existed no more, and all living spirits were extinguished.

Ye Wuming's eyes turned solemn, and the river of stars in her hand slashed straight down.

Outside the world domain, space was densely covered with spiderweb-like cracks.

"Crack..." A sound resembling the shattering of colored glass rang out, and the entire plane fell apart, spatial fragments scattering in all directions, completely disappearing into the long river of the universe, never to exist again.

A carefree smile appeared on Ye Wuming's pale face.

Who said the ancient Night Emperor destroyed the world? This was the true destruction of a world.

A realm extinguished, the karma finally repaid.

It felt as if some taut string in her heart had snapped, her soul feeling three fractions more consummated, as though there was nothing left to pursue in this life.

Clearly, the instigator Luochuan was not yet dead... why would there be this feeling of having already completed her lifelong wish...

Even Ling Ruoyu within the river of stars experienced a similar feeling, as if the meaning of her existence since birth was all right here.

Ye Wuming asked in a low voice, as if talking to herself: "Yu'er..."

Ling Ruoyu responded: "I am here."

Ye Wuming said softly: "Do you feel that this life was solely for this single slash."

Ling Ruoyu scratched her head.

That's not right, my life is still very long, I am still a young girl, I still want to see father and mother reconcile, and have them take me to the Zhao residence to play...

"Say whatever you want to say."

"I still want to go out and play with father and mother."

Ye Wuming did not expect that within this scene of world destruction, she would actually receive such a low-toned reply; she truly wanted to press the smelly brat down and give her backside a beating, gritting her teeth as she said: "We are not father and mother."

Ling Ruoyu curled her lip: "Oh."

"What kind of tone is that?"

"Nothing... If mother did it for this slash, then does Luochuan not need to be slashed?"

Night, nameless, turned her gaze back toward the distant depths of the cosmos: "The one who truly hates him most is your Aunt Jiuyou."

Ling Ruoyu: "..."

Didn't you just say it wasn't about parents? Yet you're so smooth calling her 'Aunt'...

Ye Wuming seemed to catch her slip, too embarrassed to keep bantering with the child, and her form gradually faded away.

The Heavenly Book in Zhao Changhe's arms faintly glowed, the book spirit returning to its place.

Meanwhile, among the demonic cultivators who had fled from the realm, some had already slipped away, while others truly flew toward the coordinates of Luochuan. They had the desperate ferocity of those fighting for their lives, though none knew exactly what was happening... Few could endure the rage of a home destroyed.

But before they could near the heart of the battle, they were blocked from different directions: "This road is closed."

All were women.

The demonic cultivators sized up the stunningly varied beauties before them, a strange feeling rising in their hearts.

It felt like a realm war waged by extraterrestrial demons... but why were all these 'extraterrestrial demons' women, and all so powerful?

In truth, Yue Hongling, Huangfu Qing, and the others who had set out felt a similar strangeness—shifting from defending their own world to striking out, holding the enemy at the border, while Ye Wuming might already be destroying their core. Wasn't this like another layer of 'Feng Lang Ju Xu'?

It turned out the principles of the mortal world held true on other planes as well.

There was no such thing as eternal defense; when the time came, one must take the initiative, sweep away all threats, and secure peace for ten thousand years. It just required a backbone that could unite everyone, driving them toward a single goal...

Speaking of which, when had Zhao Changhe managed to unite even Ye Wuming?

Was it because of that little video from Piaomiao, where he twisted Ye Wuming's thigh?

Forget it, don't think about that... Yue Hongling's long sword trembled slightly, pointing at the demonic cultivator wielding a blade ahead: "I thought there might be some strong ones in the star domain... but it seems, with no one at the Other Shore, you're nothing special. Let me see what makes your otherworldly sword so unique."

Who the hell is the otherworldly one here? You're the extraterrestrial demons, aren't you? The demonic cultivators were utterly bewildered; this battle was a complete mystery to them.

For countless millennia, Luochuan had refused to involve others in the matter of the Heavenly Book, fearing complications—a mindset identical to Ye Wuming's. But given the current situation, he could no longer hide or hoard; he had to mobilize forces, perhaps even secret alliances with other forbidden lands.

Zhao Changhe had long judged this: once the battlefield entered the cosmos, it could no longer be a closed-door settling of grudges within the Heavenly Book's world.

This was a war of factions! Including both his own and external ones.

As for external forces, he didn't yet know if Emperor Kumu was reliable... but when it came to his own side, Zhao Changhe had never feared anyone—he fought with the strength of many wives.

...

While Ye Wuming was in the midst of annihilation, Zhao Changhe and Ye Jiuyou had already reached a fever pitch in their battle with Luochuan.

"Clang!" Longque slammed heavily into Luochuan's flying sword, sending it spinning back into his hand.

Longque trembled with excitement: "His sword is no match for me!"

Once, it couldn't even scratch Luochuan, forcing Zhao Changhe to sacrifice his own flesh and blood to land an attack 'beyond the scope of heavenly law.' Now, a casual strike sufficed.

After being reforged with star iron, Longque's unstoppable violence could rival Luochuan's flying sword, and its ferocity even surpassed it.

The quality of blade and sword was merely the foundation; what mattered more was how well they matched their wielder. In the clash of steel, the clear sense of time's passage and life's withering had been utterly severed by Longque. In terms of related laws, Zhao Changhe no longer lagged behind Luochuan in the slightest.

All the preparations had been for this narrow encounter.

Zhao Changhe didn't respond to Longque's boast; he pressed forward with another slash.

Luochuan's flying sword spun, turning into a fierce beam that shot straight out, crashing heavily against the blade's edge.

This time, the clash was silent. Both their consciousnesses shook simultaneously, and before their eyes, illusions appeared—as if they had both fallen into another time and space.

"Zhao Changhe! I've put up with you long enough! Go stand by the door and clear your head!"

The familiar voice seemed to come from an incredibly distant place. Zhao Changhe blinked groggily and saw the furious face of his professor in a university lecture hall. He looked around; his classmates were all turning to stare at him, barely suppressing their laughter.

This dream was so long this time... No more wild broadsword swings, no more being stabbed to death by that enchantress.

So many stories, so complete a beginning and end.

So many grudges and passions, so much gallant splendor, so many lingering moments with kindred spirits and crimson beauties, so many exhilarating epiphanies.

Wild songs and deep drinks, galloping across the grasslands, roaming the starry sea—a dream like this.

A dream?

I've returned... Isn't this what I've always sought?

No. It isn't.

These days, even writing a novel wouldn't dare end with 'it was all a dream'—readers would curse you.

Those soul-forging journeys through past and present; those countless fleshly refinements, a thousand cuts and a thousand slashes. Every detail was vivid before my eyes—how could it be false?

The blood Wanzhuang coughed up, Yue Hongling's steadfast gaze, the moment Zhuque removed her mask, the lazy Sanniang in the storm on the desolate island.

Chichi copying books, Sisi clinging in infatuation. Under the rain eaves, Yingying pitifully wearing a rabbit-eared hat; Piaomiao, shrouded in demonic energy yet unable to unleash a fatal blow.

In the dark abyss, Jiuyou's ten-thousand-year solitude; the aloof, high-hanging one who could only watch helplessly as he used her face to wipe his gun.

If they were dreams, then what was this unwillingness in my heart now?

Trying to toy with time, shake cause and effect, reverse the fruit of this life back to the root of origin, returning everything to zero?

This wasn't an illusion... It was a law-based divine ability, very similar to my own 'Severing Cause and Effect.' A powerful move... but it seemed useless.

Because I never intended to go back directly... Not until I've killed that enchantress.

She is the final boss—you are not worthy!

A broadsword slashed heavily toward the professor on the podium. The cold gleam on the blade reflected the professor's startled face.

The aged visage split open, revealing Luochuan's effeminate, pretty-boy features, now twisted in rage, eyes venomous: "Zhao Changhe, I've put up with you long enough..."

"I'm different..." Zhao Changhe struck again with his blade: "There's hardly any room for you in my eyes... Get out of this classroom soon; I still need to see Ye Wuming."