The icy Will of the Heavens swept through the shattered world like an invisible cold wave, penetrating it in an instant.
There was no sound, no oppressive force, not even the slightest fluctuation of energy. Yet the currents of air, spiritual energy, and the remnants of the world's origin across the entire Earth all came to a halt. The wind stopped, the waves stilled, the dust settled. The ravaged land fell into utter silence, and even the people's breathing unconsciously paused for a moment.
Beyond the dimensional barrier, the seven supreme auras that had lain dormant for countless eons finally stirred.
They did not descend in force or crush everything with their might. A mere wisp of their will swept down, piercing layer upon layer of Chaos and precisely locking onto the core foundation of this universe.
Lin Chen sat at the heart of the formation, his ancient golden bloodline light trembling violently. The image of the Ancient Sacrificial Contract he had just unlocked was etched deep into his soul like a brand, leaving his mind reeling and unable to settle for a long time.
At last, he had pieced together every mystery that had endured for countless eons.
In the ancient battle, this universe had rebelled against the Heavens, suffered defeat, and stood on the brink of total destruction. To preserve the race and keep the universe alive, their ancestor had sacrificed all dignity and any hope for the future, signing a horrifying contract that would endure for countless eons.
The souls of every generation of the universe's inhabitants, its fortunes, and the vitality of its origin would serve as an everlasting offering, entrusted to the Chaos Clan to guard from generation to generation.
Chaos guarded the Realm; the universe endured.
As long as Chaos remained, the contract would continue.
For countless eons, the Chaos Clan had never completely destroyed this universe. It was not because they lacked the strength or the right opportunity, but because the ancient contract bound them. They were both jailers and beneficiaries, devouring the lives and fortunes of this universe's inhabitants generation after generation, harvesting them slowly and consuming them without end.
And the Seven Outer-Domain Supremes were the ultimate beneficiaries of this contract.
Chaos guarded the cage and consumed the universe, offering every bit of the accumulated origin to the Heavens. For countless eons, this universe had lived on without end, silently making its offerings, becoming the longest-lasting and most reliable source of nourishment in all the myriad worlds.
This was the so-called Eternal Original Sin.
The so-called judgment of the Heavens had never been a momentary slaughter, but a slow plunder that had continued for countless eons.
"Absurd... Truly absurd."
A low murmur escaped Lin Chen, heavy with boundless sorrow and indignation.
Generation after generation, they had fought against invasions from the Outer Realm, desperately protecting their mountains, rivers, stars, and seas. They had believed themselves to be warriors defending justice and protecting their home. In the end, all their survival and continued existence had served only to nourish the Outer Realm Heavens.
To live was to be sacrificed.
To multiply was to aid the enemy.
Every birth, every wisp of spiritual energy that returned to the world, sent nourishment to the Seven Supremes and the Chaos Clan.
High above, Kallen was restoring the spatial rifts and stabilizing the land's vitality when his body suddenly stiffened. His purple battle aura instantly scattered into disorder. He sensed some invisible rule tightening around the world, and a faint, painful tug came from deep within his Saiyan bloodline.
It was a sign that the fortunes of living beings were being siphoned away by some unseen force.
"Something... is draining this world's very roots." Kallen's voice was hoarse, his eyes filled with disbelief and icy fury.
The Golden Full-Power Super Saiyan hovered above the clouds. His composure, honed over countless eons, had finally shattered, and disbelief surged through his eyes.
He had lived through endless ages and witnessed the cycles of planets and the rise and fall of civilizations. He had once wondered why the inhabitants of this universe possessed such exceptional talent and boundless potential, yet could never transcend their dimension or break through their limits.
The Saiyans' ultimate battle power, the Frieza Clan's Innate Emperor Body, the heaven-defying talents of countless mutated races... The potential of this universe's inhabitants surpassed that of many higher-dimensional worlds, yet they had always been trapped within the lower-dimensional strata.
The root of the problem was not a barren Heavenly Dao or an inherently inferior dimension.
The Eternal Sacrificial Contract had locked the path to transcendence for every living being.
From the moment they were born, every being in this universe had already been marked by a Sacrificial Brand on their soul, their fortune, and their origin.
No matter how great their talent, how high their battle power, or how far they advanced in cultivation, all their achievements would ultimately be siphoned away by an unseen force to nourish the Outer Realm Heavens.
Generation after generation, they were food; for all eternity, they were livestock.
"No wonder... No wonder I swept across the galaxy, broke through countless limits of battle power, and reached the pinnacle of the universe, yet still couldn't touch the threshold of higher dimensions."
Frieza stood in the void, his pale Emperor Energy flickering around him. His usually arrogant, cold face was now covered in frost.
He had called himself the ruler of the galaxy, spending his life waging war and conquest, seizing star systems and controlling the fates of countless lives. He had believed he commanded their destinies. In the end, his rise, his reign, and his supremacy had all been no more than a stage in the growth of nourishment, planned by the Heavens.
The stronger he became, the greater this universe's fortunes grew, and the richer the nourishment the Outer Realm Heavens reaped.
His life of conquest and supremacy had been nothing but an enormous joke.
High above, the Chaos King's vast shadow slowly turned. For the first time, his hollow, icy gaze was no longer a detached stare from on high. It held a cold, knowing significance.
"The ancient contract is weakening. The Eternal Cage is about to break."
His vast voice echoed slowly across the world. There was no longer any trace of his earlier contemptuous amusement, only a cold sentence of fate.
"The Seven Supremes have sensed the disturbance in the contract and awakened ahead of time. The three-day countdown is now immediately canceled."
The moment those words fell, the final three days that had been left for the inhabitants to cling to life and exhaust their remaining resources were erased outright!
There would be no reprieve, no room to maneuver. The game had suddenly accelerated.
The Chaos Legion that had been massed beneath the rifts instantly surged with killing intent!
Countless dark shadows churned restlessly. The terrifying aura that annihilated all things layered upon itself, engulfing the entire Earth. The flow of destruction, which had been frozen in place, began to surge once more, suppressing the vitality of the whole world.
"Why have you brought the judgment forward?" Kallen roared. "The contract hasn't fully weakened, and the universe's reserves haven't been exhausted. Why are the Heavens acting now?"
Lin Chen slowly rose to his feet. His ancient golden eyes were terrifyingly calm as he quietly revealed the truth. "It was me."
"I awakened the deepest forbidden memories of the ancient bloodline and touched the origin of the contract."
"Our ancestor deliberately sealed these ancient secrets because he feared that if future generations learned the truth, they would refuse to be sacrificed, rebel, and try to break the cage's rules ahead of time. The moment I unlocked those memories, I triggered the contract's alarm and alerted the Seven Supremes of the Outer Realm."
Ignorance could let them live a little longer.
To know their fate was to bring calamity to their door.
They had still had three days to secretly search for a way out. But the moment the truth came to light, the Heavens' patience ran out.
To the Seven Supremes, a universe whose prisoners willingly offered themselves and supplied nourishment in peace was worth preserving.
Once its prisoners learned their fate, grew rebellious, and tried to break out, they were no longer nourishment. They became a threat that had to be eliminated at once.
"Since the game has started early, there's no need to keep hiding and biding our time."
Lin Chen lifted his head toward the darkened heavens. All his confusion and despair had vanished from his eyes, leaving only a fierce, piercing resolve born from utter desperation.
"After all, we were born to be livestock, to be devoured for all eternity. Submit to fate and die; resist fate and die. Rather than remain nourishment for the Heavens for countless years, we might as well overturn this ancient game!"
Retreat meant a slow sacrifice, the world gradually withering until every living being became dust.
Advancing meant defying Heaven and fighting Heaven itself, facing the Seven Supremes and the Chaos Royal Clan. The odds were nearly hopeless, but there was still a sliver of a chance to break free.
With death awaiting them either way, only defying fate offered a chance to survive.
"Well said."
A previously unseen killing intent burst from Frieza's scarlet eyes. The dormant power of the emperor within him was fully unleashed, and his domineering, surging aura shook the surrounding black Chaos mist into layers of collapsing waves.
"My territory and my people won't be toyed with by gods from the Outer Realm! An Eternal Sacrifice? Today, I'll smash this damn contract!"
Purple battle aura soared around Kallen, igniting the pride of the Pure-blooded Saiyan Race. He would die on the battlefield, but he would never betray his people or this world. "We Saiyans have protected this world for generations. I'd rather die defying fate than be a lamb for the Heavens!"
The Golden Super Saiyan's hair streamed behind him as his golden origin slowly awakened. Long-lost battle intent ignited in his eyes, weathered by countless eons. "The path to breaking this deadlock that our ancient ancestors couldn't finish—we'll carry it on today."
The four of them were now completely united, their fighting spirits converging.
The four supreme origins that had once stood opposed and kept one another in check now cast aside every division and began to resonate once more.
The Four-Force Heaven-Suppressing Seal had been shattered, and all their origins were gravely wounded. Yet now, the four hearts that defied fate had joined together, giving rise to a mighty force that surpassed the level of their battle power.
High above, the Chaos King's shadow leaned forward slightly. His voice was indifferent. "Foolish."
"Do you think your broken bodies can shatter the contract that the ancient Heavens joined forces to seal? Do you know what the price of its destruction will be?"
"Once the Eternal Sacrifice Contract is completely broken, every rule binding the Chaos Clan will vanish. We will no longer be jailers of the Heavens or bound by dimensional limits. We will be free to devour the Heavens and plunder the cosmos."
"As this universe escapes its sacrificial fate, it will also unleash a Chaos Behemoth that spans multiple universes."
Lin Chen's heart tightened.
This forbidden truth was the last piece he had missed when he unlocked his memories.
Break the cage, and unleash the demon.
To escape the Heavens' control and break free of the Eternal Sacrifice, they had to tear up the contract.
But the contract was both the shackle binding the universe and the cage holding the Chaos Clan.
For countless eons, Chaos had consumed only this universe and never wreaked havoc across the Heavens because the contract held it back.
Once the shackles broke, Chaos would be unrestrained.
Then the Seven Supremes, cut off from their source of nourishment, would surely erupt in fury and descend in full force.
Freed from its constraints, the Chaos Clan would surely devour the Heavens without restraint.
On one side stood the supreme Seven Supremes; on the other, the unrestrained calamity of Chaos.
Caught between these two supreme catastrophes, their universe would become the sole battlefield for the war between the Heavens and Chaos!
The old game had barely been broken, and a new calamity was already upon them.
They had escaped the fate of lambs, only to become pawns on the battlefield where two supreme powers clashed.
That was the most vicious contingency in the ancient game.
Whether the prisoners submitted or resisted, their ultimate fate was destruction.
"So that's how it is... There was never any way to win this game." The Golden Super Saiyan sighed heavily, finally seeing through the Heavens' sinister design.
Submit, and they would be sacrificed slowly, fading away bit by bit.
Resist, and they would tear apart the contract, triggering the ultimate war between the Heavens and Chaos—and be destroyed in an instant.
After countless eons of planning, every path to survival had been blocked, leaving this universe not the slightest hope.
The moment they grasped the ultimate death trap—
Rumble—!
The entire sky above Earth split open with a deafening crash!
The void barrier, once hidden behind the black mist of Chaos, fractured with countless fine black cracks. Strands of supreme, ancient, majestic seven-colored light spilled through the fissures and down upon the world.
Unlike the lifeless darkness of Chaos, this divine light was vast and impartial, yet carried an icy will that judged all things and passed sentence on the ages.
The Seven Supremes of the Outer Realm would no longer watch from beyond the barrier.
Taking advantage of the weakening contract, they tore through the dimensional barrier and sent down the divine light of the Heavens' Judgment!
Wherever the light passed, the remaining black Chaos mist across the land dissolved. Yet the souls of living beings throughout the world began to ache faintly.
This was the Heavens' Judgment: to punish the remnants of the rebels, reclaim every trace of this universe's origin, and eradicate the threat that had persisted for countless eons!
At the same time, deep within the Chaos Rift, the Chaos King, who had held back until now, fully unfurled his body. His boundless Chaos origin surged wildly.
The Chaos Supreme Power, suppressed by the contract for countless eons, had begun to break free completely!
The Heavens' Judgment descended on one side, while the Chaos origin was unleashed on the other.
Two supreme forces that spanned multiple universes were now focused on the tiny, low-dimensional Earth.
Lin Chen stared at the dimensional rifts torn across the sky. He felt the suffocating danger as two supreme forces locked onto him at once, and his heart sank.
But before he could fight back or devise a plan—
The long-dormant Ancient Universe Origin Core within him suddenly awakened on its own, stimulated by the two supreme forces!
A wisp of ancient, primordial aura, surpassing Chaos and towering above the Heavens, slowly rose from deep beneath the Earth, from the very heart of this world.
It was... the Realm Lord God Remnant Soul—the true master of this universe, sealed away completely after the ancient defeat and never before seen!
The one moving the pieces in this ancient game had never been the Heavens or Chaos.
The true trump card, dormant for countless eons, finally opened its eyes!
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