Click--!!!
The first layer of the pale gold ancient fortress, which had supported more than ten disciples of the Chi Lineage for several breaths, finally reached its Limit collapse under the continuous erosion of the "Dharma-Ending Desolate Current".
The first thing to Annihilation was the Chi Lineage's inherited life rune that ran across the entire formation at the top of the ancient fortress. Its originally thick and solid pale golden luster suddenly faded away, and a fine crack spread rapidly from the center of the rune to both ends, instantly covering the entire outer barrier.
The leading disciple in the formation abruptly raised his head, his pupils contracting sharply. Before he could utter a warning, the first layer of the ancient barrier collapsed above their heads with a deafening roar. Countless fragments of pale golden array light scattered in all directions, but these remaining traces of the array had not yet touched the ground.
The oncoming gray-white wasteland swept over it layer by layer, completely stripping away its legal foundation, leaving only a large expanse of gray-white dust devoid of any Daoist meaning, which silently dissolved into the dark depths of the Azure Wood Divine Forest.
The moment the first barrier shattered, more than ten disciples of the Chi Lineage were all struck by the backlash of the formation. "Pfft--!"
The three outermost disciples coughed up blood almost simultaneously. One of them swayed violently, his knees slamming heavily onto the forest floor, his palms still pressed firmly against the formation, stubbornly refusing to retreat; another's right arm rapidly developed dense, grayish-white corrosive lines that climbed up his skin to his shoulder.
Several meridians that maintained the Fate Soul within the body broke and became unstable one after another, causing the origin to violently tremble incessantly; the third person was the most seriously injured, a complete core Fate Soul Dao pattern on his chest broke off in the middle, blood kept overflowing from the corner of his lips, his face was so pale that it was almost transparent, and his life force was rapidly disappearing.
"The first layer has broken!" "Hold the second layer to the death!" The leading disciple shouted fiercely, his ten fingers suddenly clenching together, pressing all of his Fate Soul into the center of the formation without reservation. Boom!!!
The second layer of the "Fate Soul Ancient Bastion" instantly blazed brightly. More than ten pure pillars of Fate Soul light rose simultaneously from everyone's positions, connecting with each other to support a slightly smaller but more condensed pale gold barrier. However, with the outer barrier completely gone, the "Dharma-Ending Desolate Current" had no buffer or obstruction whatsoever, and a large swath of gray-white desolate tide directly crushed the second layer of the ancient fortress.
A sudden, deep, resonant tremor emanated from the entire formation.
Chi Qingyue stood within the formation, her hands firmly holding the array seals. Her usually calm and composed face had lost its serenity, her gaze fixed intently on the constantly eroding array patterns. She clearly saw a formation with thirty-seven layers of principles...
The complex defensive runes were instantly stripped of their luster and completely disintegrated by the desolate flow; on the contrary, the basic array runes beside him, which were simple in structure and only responsible for transmitting the source, remained mostly intact, and the rate of erosion was extremely slow.
Chi Qingyue's gaze narrowed slightly, but she did not rush to a conclusion. She quietly observed the changes in the formation. Another complex array pattern collapsed suddenly. Immediately afterward, a key array pattern that carried the three core functions of stabilizing space, diverting Fate Soul, and sharing cause and effect also quickly dimmed and became ineffective.
Only the most basic and simple array base patterns were eroded at a much slower rate. Chi Qingyue's mind suddenly cleared, and she instantly understood the most terrifying nature of the "Dharma-Ending Desolate Current".
This supernatural power targets the fundamental principles that sustain the existence of all things. The more complex the structure, the more intricate the principles involved, and the closer the connections between the laws, the more loopholes it has to peel away and resolve, and the faster it will collapse.
"Reduce the array patterns!" Chi Qingyue suddenly raised her eyes, her words rapid yet steady. The leading disciple turned to look at her. "What?"
"Don't add any more complex defensive principles!" Chi Qingyue's gaze was fixed on the fading ancient fortress wall as she explained rapidly, "Remove the complex outer array patterns like Spatial Stabilization and Cause-and-Effect Sharing, leaving only the most basic Fate Soul Connection! This Gray-White Desolate Flow is specifically designed to counter complex laws; the more we reinforce and stack arrays, the faster it will collapse!"
The disciples' expressions changed drastically. The leading disciple also instantly discerned the drastically different rates of collapse of the two array patterns, and without further hesitation, shouted, "Qingyue!" "Remove all the outer composite array patterns, only protect the core Fate Soul stronghold!"
The group immediately changed their hand seals, and the complex Dao patterns that had been layered on the second layer of the ancient barrier extinguished and faded away. The originally dense and intricate pale gold barrier quickly became simple, leaving only a dozen or so thick main patterns that had been directly condensed by the group's life Fate Soul, which were interconnected and stabilized the foundation of the formation.
The effect was immediate. The "Dharma-Ending Desolate Current" continued to erode the formation, but for the first time, its terrifyingly destructive speed was forcibly slowed down.
Just as a glimmer of hope appeared in Chi Qingyue's eyes, the "Silent Abyss Last Speaker," who had been standing silently in the center of the gray-white desolate tide, suddenly underwent a change. It did not raise its hand, spread its wings, or leak any source fluctuations. Even the pitch-black giant wings that covered the sky did not tremble in the slightest.
But in that instant, the entire Azure Wood Divine Forest fell into complete silence. Chi Qingyue's expression suddenly turned solemn, and all the disciples in the formation also sensed the Ultimate strangeness and danger.
A withered leaf, eroded to the point of decay by the "Dharma-Ending Desolate Current," hangs on a branch. It no longer continues to disintegrate, but quietly loses its last trace of life and color, turning into fine dust and disappearing without a trace.
The towering ancient trees around them still stand tall, their trunks intact and their roots undamaged, yet all the life-giving patterns have Annihilation. They maintain their original graceful growth posture, gradually losing their verdant green and vitality, dying silently.
One tree, ten trees, a hundred trees... The entire forest was plunged into this eerie state of Annihilation. The ancient river that flowed through the forest suddenly stopped. The river water was not frozen, and the surface of the river was not solidified. Only the "flowing" nature of heaven and earth, which had existed for thousands of years, ended on its own.
The "Silent Abyss Last Speaker" remained motionless, yet an Ultimate terror far surpassing the "Dharma-Ending Desolate Current" had already enveloped the entire ten-thousand-meter-wide sealed area, bringing "Stillness of All Existence." The primordial rift between Him and the Eternal Realm, which had continued since Eternal Silence Realm, was now completely opened. Without any outward surge of power, the Ultimate principle of "all things should return to stillness" alone had already settled upon this present world, freezing all things in place.
The next instant, a disciple of the Chi Lineage in the formation trembled slightly. He lowered his head and stared at the divine weapon in his palm. The weapon was intact, but the layers of Source Dao patterns attached to its surface Annihilation one by one on their own. It had not suffered any external damage, nor had it been eroded by the desolate current. Only the laws that had survived to this day were actively moving towards Ultimate silence.
"My..." His lips trembled slightly, and before the words could even finish, his own Fate Soul foundation slowly dimmed. There was no intense pain, no backlash, no external pressure, only a chilling peace that arose deep within his Fate Soul.
"Return to Silence, this is how it should be." No! He bit his tongue hard, hot blood overflowing his lips, the Ultimate pain forcibly pulling him back from the brink of collapse. "Hold fast to your true self! Do not agree with the Stillness Dao!"
The leading disciple also fully grasped the terrifying core of this divine power. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead, and his usually steady voice revealed a distinct urgency for the first time. "Guard your own Fate Soul with all your might! You absolutely cannot allow your Dao Foundation to accept this principle of returning to stagnation!"
However, the will of martial artists alone is powerless to reverse the situation, because the "Stillness of All Existence" does not restrain the distracting thoughts of the human heart, but rather the essential nature of the existence of all things in the world. This world is returning to Annihilation on its own.
The second layer of the Fate Soul Ancient Bastion, which had just been barely stabilized by Chi Qingyue's method, is now beginning to dim and collapse from its internal source. One core main rune has gone out, and another main rune has lost its luster.
Despite the disciples pouring their life essence into the formation, it had lost its fundamental principles and will to continue. Chi Qingyue looked up at this unsolvable predicament, and her usually calm face finally lost all color.
She had just found a way to break the deadlock of the "Dharma-Ending Desolate Current," but all her skills were rendered useless in the face of the Ultimate principle of "Stillness of All Existence." This supernatural power never cared about the complexity of the array structure; as long as it had existed, it was within the judgment of Annihilation.
She lowered her eyes to look at her slightly trembling fingertips. The ancient ancestral blood that had just awakened was dormant deep within her Fate Soul. The authority of the descendant of the Lord of the Great Dao Charter was real and true, but her current realm was limited and she could not bear it. Facing an ancient Demonic Spirit standing at the Eternal Silence Realm · Middle Stage, she was not even qualified to touch its origin.
Her fellow disciples were successively critically injured and on the verge of death. The second layer of the ancient fortress was in imminent danger. It was invaded by the desolate currents from the outside and corroded by the silent erosion from the inside. All escape routes were cut off. The last glimmer of hope in her eyes slowly dimmed, and boundless despair swept over her body and mind. She quickly deduced all kinds of ways to break the deadlock in her mind, but the final outcome remained the same.
Her lips moved slightly, her voice barely audible, filled with resentment. "Could it be... that I, who have just awakened the bloodline power of the Great Ancestor, the 'Lord of the Great Dao Charter,' am about to perish here...?" Crack!
The second layer of ancient ramparts cracked open again, a deep fissure appearing, and a grayish-white, Annihilation light seeped into the array along the crack.
Several disciples in the formation had bloodshot eyes. Some knelt on the ground to support the formation and fought to the death. Others were on the verge of their Fate Soul essence collapsing and their clothes were stained with blood. The leading disciple's hands trembled, but he still used his last bit of strength to stabilize the center of the formation.
The ancient ramparts grew thinner and thinner, from ten zhang to five zhang to three zhang... until finally only a thin, almost transparent, faint golden film remained, teetering on the verge of collapse.
Just as everyone watched helplessly as the last lifeline was about to fade and despair loomed over them—"You beast, do not harm my people!"