Before the flames and stardust of the Epoch Battlefield had completely dissipated, an even more ancient shadow suddenly appeared deep within the shattered sky in the distance. It was not a concrete form, but rather a condensation of a "sense of dominion," as if the remnant of an existence that once ruled all realms in the depths of time was slowly awakening. It had no clear outline, yet it caused the cracks in the sky to close and open on their own.
The rules of the battlefield shifted dramatically in that instant. The previously stable direction of gravity abruptly reversed, flames plummeted upwards, stars floated downwards, and the afterimages of demonic beasts and otherworldly legions were distorted into fragmented pieces of history, as if their skeletons had been ripped away. Under the shadow of the ruler's afterimage, the ancient divine beasts roared in unison, and the "Ultimate of Nothingness" in the Mystic Void Realm was amplified even further.
Even the boundaries of "existence" began to blur in the air, as if the battlefield was no longer a specific space, but an era being rewritten. Qin Yu stood between the churning waves of fire and lightning, the stone beneath his feet already shattered into floating fragments by the battle. He suddenly turned his head, his gaze sharp as a knife.
Amidst the chaos, the voice pointed directly at Ju Wanning: "Miss Ju, be careful." The warning had barely faded when the afterimage of the ruler deep in the sky suddenly unfurled into a massive, illusory silhouette, pressing down like some kind of crown.
The rules of the battlefield were forcibly superimposed, and the power that could originally be resisted by realm suddenly became several times heavier. Several disciples of the Severed Thought Realm · Supreme almost knelt down, and the cultivators of the Realm Breaking Realm also had their breath stagnate under that invisible suppression. The battlefield was completely disordered, with flames and star rivers colliding wildly, and the remaining ancient divine beasts roaring as they charged into the enemy lines.
In that instant when the world was in chaos and visibility was obscured by fire rain and rubble, a cold glint flashed in Shangguan Lingxiao's eyes. He didn't raise his hand, but instead subtly gave the five cultivators at the Realm Breaking Realm a look, then used an extremely subtle divine sense to transmit a message into their minds. "Now is the best time to kill that brat."
The five nodded almost simultaneously, their Realm Breaking Realm aura surging within them. Using the chaos of the battlefield as cover, they moved like five rippled shadows of space, rapidly approaching Qin Yu. Ju Wanning sensed the anomaly amidst the storm; the True Annihilation · Peak trembled slightly within her sea of consciousness.
Her gaze swept across the area and she saw the five Realm Breaking auras changing course. She immediately understood, her voice icy cold. "Stop right there!" She took a step forward, her grey-black primordial aura spreading outwards like a curtain. However, the five Realm Breaking Realm cultivators were already consumed by killing intent, and they no longer cared about stopping her.
They simultaneously unleashed their supernatural powers. The first one clasped his hands together, unleashing the "Ninefold Space- Ninefold Space-Severing Seal Realm Splitting." The seal stacked nine times in the air, creating nine spatial rifts that spun like blades, cleaving directly at Qin Yu's body.
The second person drew a blood-red halberd and unleashed the "Breaking Boundaries: Bloodfall Star River" technique. The halberd's shadow transformed into a crimson meteor shower that crashed down from above, each meteor containing the destructive power to Realm-Splitting Domain.
The third person pointed a single finger, and the "World Annihilation - Void Explosion Wheel" instantly took shape. A blackish-purple disc bloomed behind Qin Yu, its edges wreathed in shattered laws, emitting a piercing shriek as it spun. The fourth person unleashed a chain-like magical artifact, and the divine power "Binding Heaven - Realm Lock Soul Imprisonment" instantly opened, dozens of silver-black chains piercing through the void.
The fifth person directly locked onto Qin Yu's Fate Soul fluctuations; the fifth person condensed the power of Realm Breaking into a blade of light and unleashed "Boundary Break - Fatal Slash". The blade of light was silent and focused on severing the Fate Soul Nucleus. The five divine powers were superimposed and pressed down almost in the same breath, forcibly tearing the already chaotic rules of the battlefield into fragments. All the power gathered around Qin Yu into a vortex of destruction.
Qin Yu's eyes turned icy. Just as he was about to draw his Silent Origin Stainless Sword, Ju Wanning had already moved in front of him. Her sleeves billowed, and the True Annihilation · Peak condensed into a semi-transparent arc-shaped barrier in her palm. She let out a low shout and unleashed "Annihilation Order: Return to Truth and Overturn the Domain." The barrier was not a simple defense, but rather a temporary manipulation of the "establishment logic" of the five incoming divine abilities into her own Annihilation Order essence.
The Ninefold Space-Severing Seal struck the barrier, but instead of exploding, it slowly dissolved as if thrown into the deep sea. The meteor shower of the Bloodfall Star River crashed into the gray curtain, its sparks being swallowed up inch by inch. The black-purple disc of the Void Explosion Wheel lost its reason to rotate the moment it touched the edge.
The chains of the Realm Lock Soul Imprisonment Boundary froze before the gray curtain, as if their target coordinates had been removed, unable to bind. The deadly light blade slashed into it, leaving only a faint ripple before being smoothed out. The gray-black essence spread into a semi-circular domain, completely enveloping Qin Yu and the others behind him. Battlefield fire rain fell outside the domain, splashing sparks.
Yet it couldn't penetrate even a fraction. Ju Wanning in the center of the domain, her aura as cold as frost and snow on a winter night. Her gaze swept over the five cultivators at the Realm Breaking Realm, finally settling on Shangguan Lingxiao in the distance. Her voice held no anger, yet it was colder than any rage. "Shangguan Lingxiao, you are truly despicable and shameless."
Before the ancient divine beasts had completely scattered, the world suddenly fell silent for a moment, as if the entire Epoch Battlefield was awaiting some kind of true judgment.
That "ancient remnant of the ruler" was no longer just a shadow.
Deep in the heavens, a silhouette higher and more distant than the Milky Way slowly emerged.
It is not a physical body, but a "form" that covers all things. It is a being that is neither human nor inhuman, wearing a long white robe that hangs down to the endless void. The hem of the robe does not flutter in the wind, but flows slowly like the river of time. Its face is indistinct, but it gives people a sense of oppression that "once ruled all eras".
It has no eyes, yet it makes everyone feel completely seen through. It has no breath, yet it freezes the flames and thunder of the battlefield at the same moment.
Behind it lies an indescribable "blank circle," like the universe itself stripped of its colors.
The moment it raised its hand, the rules of the entire Epoch Battlefield completely changed.
The flames extinguished and reignited, the space collapsed and reformed.
The flow of time is sometimes fast and sometimes slow, like a string that is being stretched repeatedly.
Qin Yu's pupils contracted sharply. He sensed an unprecedented danger—not a mere suppression of power, but a fundamental denial of "existence."
The lingering image of the ruler spoke slowly, without a sound, yet its will resonated throughout the heavens and earth.
The next instant, it unleashed that forbidden divine power.
It was an Ultimate erasure technique derived from a fleeting glimpse of the "True Annihilation Realm".
The First Realm - Formless. It gently waved its hand.
There was no light, no wind, and no visible energy fluctuations.
However, the dozen or so cultivators suddenly froze simultaneously. Their protective divine aura remained intact, and their physical bodies showed no wounds, but in the next instant, their figures began to "blur."
They weren't defeated, they were "forgotten".
Their true coordinates relative to the battlefield were severed.
Supernatural powers fail, magical artifacts lose their luster, Fate Soul loses its anchor.
Before anyone could utter a sound, their figure had already turned into a transparent phantom, gradually dissipating like ink spreading in water.
More than a dozen figures vanished into nothingness in the blink of an eye.
Even the spot where they had just been standing had become "empty".
The ten disciples of the Ju Lineage Severed Thought Realm · Supreme were also not spared.
Just as they were about to form their battle formation, their bodies seemed to have been erased from history.
No blood, no screams. Only the sudden emptiness that appeared on the battlefield. Middle Realm, No Cause.
The ruler's afterimage waved its hand a second time.
Before the five cultivators at the Realm Breaking Realm could even react, their Fate Soul trembled violently, and the threads of cause and effect were ignited by invisible flames, burning from the past.
The supernatural powers they once possessed are now "disappearing".
The injuries they sustained are healing.
The traces of their existence are being erased.
The next moment, all five of them Annihilation completely.
Even the air didn't retain any trace of their existence.
Shangguan Lingxiao's expression changed drastically.
He instantly realized that this was not an ordinary killing technique, but a complete erasure of "existence".
He suddenly formed a hand seal, let out a low roar, and activated the Shangguan Lineage's Lineage divine power—an ancient, dark white protective domain unfolded around him, as if a projection of the ancestral vein had descended, enveloping him within it.
Countless ancient runes emerged within the protective domain, connecting to form a causal chain inherited from the Lineage, forcibly solidifying its "definition of existence."
The power of domination struck, causing the protective domain to tremble violently, but it failed to completely erase him.
However, Shangguan Xuanchen was not so lucky.
He also used his Lineage's supernatural abilities, but he was only at the Mystic Void Realm · Supreme and could not truly mobilize the core of his ancestral vein.
The Xuanbai Protective Domain was not yet fully formed when the Dominion Strike had already fallen.
There was no roar, no bloodshed.
Shangguan Xuanchen was thrown away by an unseen force.
His Fate Soul was like a cracked mirror, crumbling inch by inch.
The cracks spread all over his body.
He spat out blood, his divine light dissipated from his body, and his existence was being gradually drained away.
Ju Wanning's expression changed drastically as the aura of the ruler's afterimage began to envelop Qin Yu and Ju Anran.
Just as the "Formless" power was about to strike, Ju Wanning suddenly took out an object.
It was an umbrella, but it was by no means an ordinary object.
The umbrella handle is made of dark gray ancient wood, engraved with extremely intricate patterns. The moment the umbrella is opened, a gray-black luster flows across it, like a silent night covering the world.
Ancient runes faintly emerge between the umbrella ribs, as if bearing witness to countless eras of annihilation and rebirth.
This is her most prized possession. As soon as the umbrella opens, the world suddenly darkens.
The gray-black Annihilation Domain instantly unfolded, enveloping Qin Yu and Ju Anran within it.
The Dominator's afterimage unleashed its "Formless" slash. There was no sound. There was no impact.
However, countless crack-like patterns of light suddenly appeared on the umbrella surface, a direct confrontation between existence and nothingness.
The gray-black annihilation order and the power of True Annihilation clashed briefly.
The air seemed to be compressed into a solid at that moment. Everything on the battlefield stood still.
The next instant, the umbrella trembled slightly, and the cracks slowly disappeared. The Dominion Slash was blocked.
Qin Yu stood under the umbrella, feeling the force that almost wiped him out just as it brushed past him.
Without this umbrella, he would no longer exist.
Ju Wanning's face paled for a moment, but her breathing remained steady.
She gazed coldly at the domineering afterimage high in the sky, her voice low and firm:
"If you want to eliminate them, you'll have to get past me first." The battlefield had now become a deathly silence.
The afterimage of the ruler hung high in the sky, and the white-clad phantom enveloped the entire Epoch Battlefield. The aftershocks had not yet completely dissipated, and the cold aura of erasing existence still lingered in the world.
A cold glint flashed in Shangguan Lingxiao's eyes. He knew better than anyone else that if he stayed any longer, he would only be devoured by that "True Annihilation" power.
He turned around abruptly, and the aura of the True Annihilation Realm · Supreme suddenly erupted. The spearhead carved a black crack under his feet, and the space seemed to be torn open, creating a wound for escape. His figure transformed into a blur, and without hesitation, he sped towards the deeper part.
"Senior brother..." came Shangguan Xuanchen's weak call from behind, his voice filled with undisguised fear and resentment.
However, Shangguan Lingxiao didn't even turn his head. He didn't even pause for a moment. The shadow of his gun left a dark trail and quickly disappeared into the depths of the chaotic sea of fire.
Shangguan Xuanchen's pupils contracted sharply, and his face turned ashen. Just then, the afterimage of the ruler raised his hand again.
Dozens of ancient divine beasts roared in unison, and the "Ultimate of Nothingness" of the Mystic Void Realm was activated simultaneously. The air collapsed into a transparent vortex, and as the giant wings vibrated, space scattered like a shattered mirror.
Driven by their will to control the afterimages, they all pounced on Qin Yu, Ju Wanning, Ju Anran, and Shangguan Xuanchen.
A storm swept across the heavens and earth, whipping up thousands of feet of fire waves. Stardust and lightning clashed wildly. The figures of ancient divine beasts appeared and disappeared behind the flames. Their claws tore through space silently, yet carried a terrifying pressure that seemed to shatter the coordinates of reality.
Qin Yu's eyes darkened as he quickly assessed the situation. There was no way to retreat from the surrounding areas of the battlefield; the only area that remained stable was the center.
His gaze swept over the still-spinning giant Rubik's Cube in the distance, his voice low but decisive. "Miss Ju, hurry, head towards the center of the battlefield; perhaps there's a way out there."
Without any hesitation, Ju Wanning abruptly closed the gray-black treasure umbrella in her hand. Runes on the umbrella ribs lit up, and the Annihilation Domain instantly shrank into a narrow passage.
She unleashed the "Annihilation Order: Shifting to the Void Path," and a gray-black light curtain spread out beneath her feet, forming a void corridor leading straight to the center, which suddenly lifted Qin Yu and Ju Anran into the air.
Their figures transformed into three afterimages, rushing off in the direction where Shangguan Lingxiao had disappeared.
Dozens of ancient divine beasts relentlessly pursued them, their Mystic Void power constantly impacting the gray-black passage, causing spatial cracks to explode wildly around them.
On the other side, Shangguan Xuanchen fell onto the broken stone steps. His Fate Soul was covered with cracks, and his ancestral vein protective domain had long since collapsed.
He watched Shangguan Lingxiao walk away, then looked at the approaching horde of ancient divine beasts, despair appearing in his eyes.
"Since that's the case..." He gritted his teeth, Mystic Void Realm · Supreme began to vibrate violently.
He attempted to detonate his own essence, tearing a gap with the power of self-destruction. However—the ancient divine beast was faster than him.
Several invisible claws fell simultaneously in the air, without blood or sound, and his figure was torn apart in an instant.
Before his origin could be fully ignited, he was devoured by the "nothingness" of the Mystic Void, Shangguan Xuanchen was surrounded by several ancient divine beasts.
The next moment, his existence vanished completely, leaving not even a trace of the source that was about to explode.
Another blank space appeared on the battlefield. At this moment, Qin Yu, Ju Wanning, Ju Anran had already passed through the sea of fire and the spatial rift.
Their figures rushed into the center of the battlefield, Shangguan Lingxiao also stopped in front of them. The four of them looked up almost at the same time.
Above the center of the battlefield, the giant Rubik's Cube floated in the rift in the sky, its six faces slowly rotating.
Each side reflects a different era, the golden array patterns light up again, and the starry sea inside surges once more.
The beam of light extended from six directions, faintly echoing the domineering afterimage deep within the sky.
It was as if all this killing and judgment was merely to force them to come here.
As the Rubik's Cube spins faster, the air begins to vibrate, and the rules of the battlefield twist once more. The center is the true core.