Return to the Abyss Brings Disaster, Ten Thousand Daos Covered in Dust

In the deepest reaches of the Dragon Palace lies the forbidden zone of the Sea Eye.

This place is no longer a world of crystalline palace splendor, but one ruled by endless darkness and crushing water pressure.

The massive Sea Eye, like the throat of a Primordial Era beast, rotates slowly and terrifyingly, devouring all light and sound.

In the center of this absolute darkness and deathly silence, there exists a faint, constantly twisting and shifting ghostly light.

Clinging to the barrier of the Sea Eye like a wound, that is the Chasm of Guixu, sealed by the Dragon Clan for generations.

At this moment, led by Turtle Prime Minister and including several Dragon Clan cores such as Ao Guang, they are gathered before this ghostly light.

They have all manifested parts of their true dragon forms, their massive bodies winding through the darkness like mountain ranges.

Yet, there is no longer any majesty in their dragon eyes, only the madness of a desperate gamble and a fear that has seeped into their very bones.

"Your Majesty, Princes, let us begin!"

The voice of Turtle Prime Minister sounds exceptionally sharp in this absolute silence; he holds a primitive Dragon Pattern Array Disk in his hands.

Embedded upon it are nine Dragon Pearls emitting a dim, blood-red glow—these are the fragments of Heart Blood Essence left behind by past Dragon Kings before their passing!

Ao Guang lowers his dragon head, emitting a dragon roar suppressed with endless pain and resolve.

He is the first to force out a drop of Heart Blood Essence, which is as brilliant as a ruby yet contains immense dragon might and the source of life.

It drips into the center of the array disk. The other Dragon Clan princes follow suit, each forcing out their own blood essence.

As the nine drops of Dragon King blood fall into the array disk, it suddenly erupts with a blinding blood-red light.

An aura that is ancient, desolate, and carries the final pride and despair of the Dragon Clan permeates the area, temporarily dispersing the surrounding darkness.

"With the blood of our kin, we sacrifice the hatred of eons! Invoke the Power of Annihilation to cleanse the humiliation of all directions!"

Turtle Prime Minister hisses out an ancient, ominous incantation, violently thrusting the array disk toward the Chasm of Guixu!

The moment the disk makes contact with the ghostly light, there is no earth-shattering roar, only a tooth-aching "shredding" sound, as if fabric were being slowly torn apart.

The ghostly light twists and expands violently, and the ancient Rune chains sealed upon it, laid down by the hand of the Ancestral Dragon himself, groan under the unbearable strain, flickering unsteadily.

An indescribable "aura," one that transcends any energy attribute currently existing in the Primordial Era, quietly seeps out from the gap forcibly torn open, like ink dropping into clear water.

It is formless, massless, colorless, and odorless. It emits no energy fluctuations and triggers no ripples in the laws of the world.

It is like the purest form of "nothingness," the antithesis of existence, the end of Order.

Wherever it passes, even the darkness itself seems to be "erased," transformed into a deeper, more chilling "void."

This is the Aura of Annihilation!

"Quick! Guide it! Point it toward the Myriad Dao Academy!"

Blood seeps from all seven orifices of Turtle Prime Minister; maintaining the array disk and the incantation causes him to suffer massive backlash, yet he continues to roar madly.

Ao Guang and the other Dragon Clan princes exert their bloodline power to the limit, relying on the connection between the nine drops of blood essence and the array disk to carefully guide it, as if leading an invisible venomous snake.

They guide this faint yet lethal Aura of Annihilation out of the Sea Eye, merging it into the vast waters of the East Sea, where it flows silently and soundlessly toward the Myriad Dao Academy.

Once this is done, all the dragons collapse as if drained of all strength, their auras withered to the extreme, and the array disk is left dim and covered in cracks.

They gaze in the direction where the Aura of Annihilation vanished; there is no joy of a successful scheme in their eyes, only deeper fear and a numbness that precedes destruction.

They do not know what specific consequences this wisp of aura will cause; they only know that they have personally torn open a gap in Pandora's box.

Academy Mutation, Silent Erosion

Several days later, at the Myriad Dao Academy.

At first, everything was as usual. The morning bells and evening drums rang, the sound of chanting was clear and resonant, and the Literary Radiance continued to soar into the sky, peaceful and orderly.

But gradually, some extremely subtle, imperceptible changes began to appear.

First, several Registered Disciples with shallow cultivation felt inexplicably restless while meditating, their Literary Qi occasionally stagnating as if something invisible were interfering with their comprehension of the Dao.

They merely assumed their own cultivation had gone awry and did not investigate further.

Subsequently, the leaves of some rare flowers and herbs nourished by Literary Qi within the academy began to show extremely faint signs of yellowing, as if they were being rapidly corroded by time.

Though faint, it was completely out of place with their originally vibrant state.

Elder Teng, who was responsible for tending the Medicine Garden, was the first to notice. Its "Benevolent Resilience" Literary Heart was most sensitive to changes in vitality, and it felt a vague, elusive power—one somewhat similar to the Source of Filth in the Black Tooth Marsh, yet more fundamental and "void-like"—quietly eroding the academy's environment.

"Senior Brother Xuanjizi," Elder Teng found Xuanjizi, its aged face filled with gravity, "the academy... seems to be somewhat wrong."

"The vitality of the plants is damaged, the disciples' cultivation occasionally encounters obstacles, and in the air... there seems to be an extra trace of indescribable 'deathly silence'."

Upon hearing this, Xuanjizi immediately became alert. He circulated his Literary Qi and expanded his divine sense to perceive the situation in detail.

With his cultivation at the mid-to-late stage of Golden Immortal and the powerful insight of his "Seeking" Literary Heart, he finally captured that trace of eerie aura that had almost merged with the heavens and earth.

--

It was not evil, nor was it chaotic; it was a pure intent of "dissolution," silently infiltrating the Literary Radiance Dao Charm that permeated every corner of the academy.

Like water dripping through stone, it was slowly yet firmly disintegrating the foundation of "Order" that constituted the Literary Qi!

"What... is this power?" Xuanjizi's heart shook violently; he had never felt such an eerie existence before.

It does not actively attack or incite conflict; it simply exists, causing everything around it to head toward an "end"!

He immediately issued orders to strengthen the surveillance of the formations throughout the academy, while simultaneously summoning all core disciples who had already formed their Literary Palace and possessed keen perception to jointly investigate the source and characteristics of this strange power.

However, this Aura of Annihilation originated from outside the world, and its form of existence far exceeded the common logic of the Primordial Era; even Xuanjizi and the others could only vaguely sense its presence.

It was difficult to track its source, let alone figure out how to dispel it.

It was like a Bone-Attached Sore, quietly spreading alongside the Literary Radiance Dao Charm upon which the academy relied for survival.

Some disciples discovered while attempting to dispel it with Literary Qi that once their Literary Qi came into contact with that Aura of Annihilation, it could not purify it at all.

Instead, like snow meeting the sun, their own structures showed a tendency to disintegrate on their own! This discovery cast a shadow over everyone's hearts.

Literary Radiance tarnished, hearts unsettled.

As time passed, the anomalies became increasingly apparent.

The Literary Radiance Pillar that originally shone pure and bright above the academy seemed to have dimmed slightly in color, no longer as dazzling as it once was.

When the disciples practiced, the frequency of inner demons grew quietly, and some insights into principles that were once clear now became blurred and difficult to grasp, as if separated by a thin veil.

The radiance of the Great Dao characters on the "Myriad Dao Academy" plaque, personally inscribed by Wanhua, also retracted slightly, as if resisting some form of invisible corrosive force.

The entire academy seemed to be covered in a layer of invisible dust, and its atmosphere of vigorous growth and wisdom-filled vitality was being suppressed by an unseen force.

A faint sense of anxiety and unease began to spread among some of the disciples.

"Can even a Sage's dojo... be corroded?"

"What on earth is this thing? Even Literary Qi cannot resolve it?"

"Will our cultivation... be affected?"

Doubt and worry grew quietly like weeds.

Xuanjizi, Elder Teng, and the others tried their best to stabilize the hearts of the people, strengthened patrols, and attempted various methods, even utilizing Literary Treasures refined by the Dragon Race Water Army.

Yet they found that these Literary Treasures had limited effectiveness when facing the Aura of Annihilation, and the Dragon Race origin within them seemed even more susceptible to the erosion of the Aura of Annihilation.

The situation fell into a stalemate.

The academy was like a physically strong person infected with an unknown, slow-acting poison; while not fatal, it was constantly weakening its vitality and vigor.

The Sage watches quietly, the tempering begins.

Inside the Chaos Space, Wanhua slowly opened his eyes. Everything in the outside world naturally could not escape his perception.

"The Sea of Annihilation... it truly lives up to its reputation."

He whispered to himself, his eyes showing no surprise, but rather a hint of inquiry.

"This aura originates from the end and aims for nothingness; it is quite a novel test for the principles of 'Order' and 'Existence' within the Literary Dao."

He did not immediately act to dispel this wisp of the Aura of Annihilation. To him, although this aura was strange, it was far from threatening the foundation of the academy.

On the contrary, he viewed it as a tempering for his disciples, especially for core disciples like Xuanjizi.

Flowers in a greenhouse cannot withstand the wind and rain. A true Dao Lineage must temper its most resilient essence amidst various adversities and unknown challenges.

He wanted to see if his disciples could rely on their own wisdom and adherence to principles to find a way to cope when faced with a threat that transcended conventional understanding.

His gaze turned toward the direction of the East Sea Sea Eye, a flash of coldness crossing his eyes.

The actions of the Dragon Palace had already touched his bottom line. However, the time for a reckoning had not yet arrived; let that desperate madness ferment for a while longer.

The greatest crisis since the founding of Myriad Dao Academy had arrived quietly, in this silent way that struck directly at its foundations.

Literary Radiance is tarnished, and hearts are beginning to waver. Can Xuanjizi and the others, under the Sage's intentional "non-interference," rely on their own strength to break through the fog and find a way to counter this power of "ending"?

And where will this wisp of the Aura of Annihilation, brought by the Dragon Palace, ultimately lead? The answer to everything is hidden within that increasingly dense, invisible haze.