When the " New Journey " returned to the All-Heavens Hub, the news had already spread through advance messages. Inside the council chamber, the atmosphere was more somber than ever before, even the flickering Zhu Huo carried a suppressed rhythm.
Xiao Yan placed the blood-stained jade slip on the stone table. Although the ethereal aura emanating from it had been suppressed by the Power of Order, it still sent a chill down the spines of any cultivator who approached. The Grand Elder ran his fingertips along the engravings on the jade slip, his aged face deeply furrowed with wrinkles. " The Abyss of Nothingness... Ancient texts describe it as a 'realm beyond existence,' a place even the Creator has never set foot in."
"'Fill the void'..." Buddha repeated the phrase softly, his Buddha-light flowing around him, yet unable to dispel the worry between his brows. "Void is 'nothingness,' Seed of Creation is 'existence.' If they try to fill nothingness with existence, it might cause the collapse of the laws."
The Sword Domain Lord gripped the hilt of his sword tightly. "The most urgent task is to find out the details of those ' Nothingness Shadow.' The scout jade slip says they are 'human-like but not god, and will dissipate upon contact,' and can even devour laws. They are not easy to deal with."
The council fell silent, everyone pondering a solution. The concept of nothingness was too abstract; it was neither as tangible as the Shadow Clan nor as traceable as the Rotten Realm Spider. This characteristic of "nothingness" rendered all defensive measures ineffective.
"I'll go," Xiao Yan broke the silence. "I have the Seed of Creation within me, so I might be able to sense their aura. Moreover, my trip to the Chaos Source Star gave me some insights into the balance between 'nothingness' and 'existence,' which might help me find a solution."
"Absolutely not!" the Grand Elder immediately objected. "You are the guardian of the Seed of Creation. If you are targeted by the Nothingness Shadow, the consequences will be unimaginable."
"That's precisely why it's my turn to go." Xiao Yan's gaze was resolute. "Rather than waiting passively, we should take the initiative to investigate. At least we need to figure out the conditions for opening the Gate of Nothingness, and why they are so fixated on the Seed of Creation."
He looked at everyone. "You all only need to reinforce the Defense Line of Order. I will lead an elite squad to the Abyss of Nothingness and return quickly."
Blazing Sun Realm Lord stepped forward. "I'll go with you. The brothers of the Vanguard Battalion will also be of use."
Qing He gripped her longsword tightly, her eyes flashing with determination. "I'll go too! My understanding of the Law of Chaos might be of some help."
Ultimately, the council approved Xiao Yan's plan, but expanded the "elite team" to a thousand people—golden Arhats from the Ten Thousand Buddhas Realm, Evil Breaking Sword Cultivators from the Sword Domain, and energy warriors from the Mechanical Clan, each a seasoned veteran. At the same time, the Grand Elder gave him a "boundary-fixing talisman," which was engraved with the mark of the Core of the All-Heavens. If in danger, it could instantly teleport him back to the hub.
Three days later, the " New Journey " set sail again, followed by ten escort ships full of cultivators, forming a small fleet, heading towards the Abyss of Nothingness.
The closer they got to the Abyss of Nothingness, the sparser the surrounding stars became, and even the light dimmed. The starship's detectors began to malfunction, displaying only a static-like interference on the screens. Only the Seed of Creation within Xiao Yan's Heart of the Realm could vaguely sense the "absolute nothingness" ahead.
"Three days' journey remaining." Xiao Yan stood on the bridge, gazing at the dark universe outside the window. "Everyone, go on high alert. Activate your Power of Order to protect yourselves. If anything unusual is detected, immediately raise the alarm."
Just then, Qing He suddenly pointed to the porthole, her voice tense. "What's that?"
Everyone looked in the direction she pointed—in the pitch-black void, a blurry shadow had appeared out of nowhere. The shadow was as thin as a thread, without a fixed shape, as if it were just a distortion of light, yet it exuded the same ethereal aura as the jade slip.
"It's Nothingness Shadow!" someone exclaimed.
Xiao Yan's eyes sharpened. Just as he was about to activate the Power of Order, the shadow suddenly vanished, as if it had never existed. Immediately afterward, a slight tremor came from the ship, and the values on the energy instrument panel instantly dropped.
"The energy pod has been attacked!" the Mechanical Clan cultivator shouted. "The protective shield isn't reacting at all, the energy seems to have... vanished into thin air!"
Xiao Yan's heart sank; this Nothingness Shadow could indeed devour the energy of laws. He immediately injected the power of the Seed of Creation into the core of the starship, and the silvery-white Power of Order spread along the lines, barely stabilizing the energy chamber's values.
"More than one!" Blazing Sun Realm Lord pointed outside, where hundreds of shadows had appeared in the void at some unknown time. They circled the fleet like ghosts, sometimes approaching and sometimes moving away. Each time they approached, energy or law fluctuations would disappear.
"They're testing us," Xiao Yan said in a deep voice. "Don't attack first. Use the Power of Order to protect yourselves and maintain formation."
The cultivators did as instructed, and golden Buddhist light, sharp sword intent, and azure energy shields intertwined to form a massive protective net. The Nothingness Shadow crashed into the net, creating silent ripples, but they were not easily devoured as before; clearly, the Power of Order had a certain restraining effect on them.
After a stalemate of half an hour, the Nothingness Shadow seemed to lose patience and suddenly transformed into countless black lines, launching a fierce attack on the fleet. This time, they were no longer probing sporadically, but rather coalesced into a torrent. Wherever they passed, energy shields crumbled inch by inch, and even the protective laws of the cultivators dissipated rapidly.
"Counterattack!" Xiao Yan roared, Heaven Burning Sword. Golden flames intertwined with the Law of Chaos, unleashing a gray-gold sword beam. As the sword beam swept past, several Nothingness Shadow vanished like smoke blown away by the wind, only to quickly re-condense from the surrounding void.
"They can't be killed off!" The Blazing Sun Realm Lord brandished his flaming longsword, his face showing anxiety. "They can regenerate from nothingness!"
Xiao Yan realized that these Nothingness Shadow were derivatives of "nothingness," and could be reborn infinitely as long as there was an aura of nothingness around them. To completely eliminate them, he had to sever their connection with the Abyss of Nothingness first.
" Qing He!" he shouted, "Use the sword intent of the Wuwang Sword to see if you can lock their trajectory!"
Qing He understood, and drew her longsword. The soft sword light spread out like flowing water, without directly attacking, but instead drawing arcs along the movement of the Nothingness Shadow. Strangely, those arcs formed an invisible cage, trapping dozens of Nothingness Shadow within, and their regeneration speed was significantly slowed down.
"It works!" Xiao Yan was overjoyed and immediately instructed the cultivators to follow suit, using their own laws as a guide to weave cages with the Power of Order, temporarily trapping the Nothingness Shadow.
The fierce battle lasted all night. When the first ray of starlight pierced the darkness, the Nothingness Shadow in the void finally retreated, leaving behind only a devastated fleet—three escort ships lost power, dozens of cultivators were seriously injured due to the devouring of laws, and even Xiao Yan's Power of Order was mostly exhausted.
He stood on the bridge, gazing in the direction where the Nothingness Shadow had vanished. There, a darkness thicker than night was slowly spreading—the very edge of the Abyss of Nothingness.
"We're getting closer and closer to the truth," Xiao Yan said in a low voice, his eyes showing no fear, only an even stronger determination.
Whatever lies behind that Gate of Nothingness, he must uncover the mystery. For it concerns not only the Seed of Creation, but also whether All Heavens and Myriad Realms can continue to exist in the gap between "existence" and "non-existence."
After a brief rest, the fleet set sail again, slowly heading towards that absolute darkness.