The young disciple at the forefront pressed his palms against the array patterns, steadily channeling his origin energy. But the moment the Beginningless Ancient Rhyme invaded his Fate Soul, his eyes instantly filled with Ultimate terror. As soon as his lips parted, his entire body began to fade layer by layer, starting from the center of his brow.
His Fate Soul uttered no lament, his foundation crumbled no sound, and his body was free of blood. Under the horrified gazes of the crowd, his form, along with his unmanifested Innate Martial Soul, vanished without Wuhen.
The array he maintained instantly lost its footing and teetered on the brink of collapse. Before the two disciples beside him could react, a deathly gray-white expanse had already appeared deep within their Fate Souls. In the blink of an eye, three, seven, more than ten people, the traces of gray-white annihilation rapidly spread along the southeast array position.
One after another, members of the clan who True Annihilation Realm · Initial Stage or even the Supreme Stage perished. Some had their arms melt away halfway through forming hand seals, while others had their bodies erased after taking a half-step back. One Supreme disciple exhausted his Fate Soul and activated his natal ancient beast martial soul to protect the array base, but as soon as the majestic martial soul appeared, it began to etherealize from its head, and finally, it was completely annihilated along with his physical body Fate Soul.
"Senior brother!!" The female disciple beside him screamed shrilly, reaching out to grab him, but her fingers only pierced through a faint trace. The person before her vanished in an instant, leaving not even a trace of breath. "Ah--!"
A bloodcurdling scream echoed across the southeast array. Dozens of the True Annihilation Realm disciples fell silently, their very Fate Soul essences severed and dissolved. The array patterns, now unsupported, collapsed on a large scale. With a deafening boom, the multiple layers of defensive light screens in the southeast suddenly collapsed inward, tearing open a massive gap in the otherwise seamless array.
Thousands of primordial light chains were forced to stretch and spread, attempting to fill the gaps. However, the broken causal power continued to erode the surrounding array patterns, causing the entire array to tremble violently. The ancient bell hanging high in the sky emitted a muffled mournful sound, and dozens of sword soul phantoms were covered with cracks. The Heaven and Earth Dao Diagram protecting the mountains and rivers was torn open with a narrow gap.
"Hold on! Hold the southeast position at all costs! We must hold on!!"
Shangguan Wan'er turned around abruptly, her usually aloof face deathly pale, her eyes surging with undisguised horror.
With both palms thrusting forward, the powerful essence of the Eternal Silence Realm surged into the southeast gap. Several elders simultaneously made their moves, their bronze staffs, Fate Soul halos, and heavy Dao seals appearing in unison. Several powerful Dao forces converged from all directions, barely managing to hold up the barrier that was on the verge of collapse.
Although the grand formation was not completely destroyed, an irreparable weakness remained in the southeast direction. The gaps in the formation positions could not be filled immediately, and hundreds of disciples around were forced to divert their source energy to struggle to maintain it. The originally balanced rhythm of the formation was completely unbalanced and severely skewed.
Shangguan Wan'er stared at the dilapidated array domain, her chest heaving violently, cold sweat slowly sliding down her temples. She had finally witnessed the terrifying power of Gongpiluo Huang. With just a wisp of Beginningless Ancient Rhyme sky, he had annihilated dozens of True Annihilation cultivators and severely damaged the Supreme Array. And this strange beast had not moved forward even an inch from beginning to end.
"Elder Wan'er!" Elder White Brow rushed to her side, his ancient bronze staff trembling violently in his aged hand, the dark gold seal at its tip already covered with fine cracks. "We can't let its gaze reach the array's core any longer! If we continue, the entire array will be severed at its very foundation!"
Shangguan Wan'er forcibly suppressed her turbulent emotions and steadied her breathing. Her gaze swept over the elders, and she spoke rapidly and solemnly, "Do any of your clan's ancient texts contain records of dealing with Gongpiluo Huang? Even the slightest clue would be helpful!"
The elders exchanged glances, their expressions Ultimate. After a moment, the lean elder frowned and pondered, then slowly spoke, "I recall the fragmentary ancient text of our clan, 'The Lost Accounts of the Twelve Beast Huangs.' It records that the Gongpiluo Huang, during its journey through the Rift of Beginningless, presided over matters that should not have begun, leaving behind an ancient admonition: 'Those who see its shadow, be cautious of your first thought; those who hear its name, do not rush to be the first to act!'"
"Be cautious of your first thought, and do not rush to be the first..." Shangguan Wan'er repeated softly, her gaze fixed on the gray-white beast floating in the distance, quickly pondering the profound meaning of this ancient proverb.
Another elder whispered, speculating, "Could it be that this beast is most averse to living beings vying for the position of the origin of heaven and earth? If we don't take the initiative, perhaps we can avoid its slaughter?"
"This is inappropriate." Elder White Brow interrupted in a deep voice, his face ashen. "Just now, we held firm to our defenses and did not launch an attack, yet it still opened its eyes to slaughter my people and destroy our formation. This ancient saying is both a warning and a constraint; its truth is hard to discern, and its fate unpredictable!"
Shangguan Wan'er remained silent for a moment, her gaze growing increasingly sharp and intense. "Are there any other records?"
The gaunt elder strained to recall the fragmented words, his expression suddenly changing. "There are also incomplete annotations. The Twelve Beast Huangs share a common origin but differ in form, each controlling a segment of the ancient cosmology of beginning and end. The Radiance of the Gongpiluo Huang governs the Beginningless, severing all ties at their source, making them impossible to restart. If one were to forcibly trace and repair them using ordinary causal supernatural powers, it would only drag one's own Fate Soul into the Rift of Beginningless, leading to one's own destruction!"
He suddenly looked towards the broken array position in the southeast, and realized with a start, "So that's how it is! Just now, when I forcibly tried to mend the broken array patterns, I was caught up in the Beginningless Ancient Rhyme, and my Fate Soul foundation was also severed!"
"Issue the order!" Shangguan Wan'er decisively commanded, "All disciples in the southeast formation are forbidden from forcibly attempting to repair the broken formation patterns! Immediately seal the formation bases on both sides of the gap, reunite the Fate Soul essence, and stabilize the remaining intact formation area!"
"Yes!"
Thousands of disciples immediately changed their hand seals, and the original light chains that were originally converging towards the center of the gap all gathered to both sides, intertwining and reinforcing. The deacons of the sect quickly stepped forward to isolate the most severely affected areas, and the great formation, which was on the verge of collapse, finally managed to stabilize the situation.
However, Shangguan Wan'er's heavy heart did not lessen at all. This kind of remedy could only temporarily slow down the collapse and could not eradicate the crisis. The clan's ancient books recorded very little, only describing its origin and taboos, without leaving any way to resist it. No one knew the true weakness of this Beast King of Beginningless.
"Is there truly nothing that can withstand this Beginningless Ancient Rhyme?" A deacon's voice was hoarse and filled with helplessness. The Elder White Brow slowly shook his head, his eyes filled with a sense of vicissitude and solemnity. "Ancient texts only record its traces and describe its nature, but have never left behind any methods to resist it. This is a primordial alien species, which is not within the cultivation system of this world."
Shangguan Wan'er's gaze returned to the distance, locking onto the small gray-white beast. It still hovered at the forefront of the beast tide, its left eye slightly open and its right eye tightly closed. Of its twelve star-shaped markings, only the rat-like stripes shone faintly. Its tail feathers swayed lightly, and its expression was indifferent. It did not make the slightest move from beginning to end, yet it had already caused the Shangguan Lineage to suffer heavy losses and its great formation to be broken.
Just as everyone was racking their brains to decipher the secrets of the ancient book and find a way to break the deadlock, Gongpiluo Huang Biluohuang's small earlobe suddenly twitched slightly, and his thin, ethereal ear flaps spread out slightly, causing a faint ripple to spread out from the surrounding gray-white Primordial Chaos Qi.
A wisp of invisible and intangible divine thought quietly spread out, without making a sound or revealing light, extending deep into the lurking tide of thousands of beasts, crossing thousands of mountains and valleys, and silently invading the Fate Soul essence of tens of thousands of divine beast supreme beings behind it.
The first to change was a pale bone-armored divine beast supreme at the True Annihilation Realm · Supreme. Its head, which had been lowered, suddenly rose, the nine dark moons behind it trembled violently, and its tightly closed beast eyes suddenly opened, its originally dark and deep pupils instantly becoming completely stained with scarlet blood.
"Roar--!"
A violent roar shattered the heavens and earth. Immediately afterwards, the second, third, and fourth divine beast supreme beings awakened and surged forth. A purple-black ancient beast with eight wings spread its wings, thunder rumbling between the eight giant wings, its three beastly eyes glowing a brilliant crimson; a majestic beast with ten thousand horns on its forehead raised its head.
The miniature starry sky suspended between the horns trembled violently, and thousands of scarlet lines spread all over the body along the roots of the horns; the ancient supreme being with six heads and twelve wings stretched out its huge body, and the twelve wings stirred up a raging wind, and the eyes of the six beast heads were all stained with blood.
Further away, the silver-white crystal-armored ancient dragon, the black-armored behemoth carrying mountains on its back, the unknown beast radiance formed from condensed bones, and countless ancient and lurking alien species all raised their heads and opened their eyes. The originally diverse and chaotic auras of the beast path all converged into Return to One.
The ancient will inherited by each bloodline was forcibly suppressed and erased by an invisible force, replaced by a pure, insane, and all- Annihilation obsession with killing.
Thousands of scarlet beast eyes lit up simultaneously, densely covering the entire sea of dust and clouds. All the divine beast supreme beings turned their heads in unison, their gazes piercing through layers of mountains and rivers, locking onto the Shangguan Lineage's defensive formation below.
Upon witnessing this scene, Shangguan Wan'er's face instantly turned deathly pale. "It's controlling the entire beast tide!" The Elder White Brow looked up through the sky, his eyes filled with unbearable horror. "Its divine sense has completely corrupted the Fate Soul!"
Before the words were even finished—a thunderous roar!
Tens of thousands of divine beasts rose up simultaneously, causing the earth to tremble violently and mountains to collapse one after another. The enormous beast bodies that had been lying low and dormant all rose up, winged giants soared into the sky and covered the sea of clouds, ground-dwelling ferocious beasts trampled mountains and rivers and charged forward wildly, and long ancient beasts traversed rift valleys and roared as they charged.
The countless crimson beast eyes rapidly approached, and all the corrupted supreme beings abandoned their reason, leaving only the instinct for destruction and slaughter, recklessly crushing towards the great formation.
"Roar!!" "Awooo--!" "Roar--!"
The roars of countless beasts surged and crashed into the sky, shaking the heavens and earth. Hundreds of True Annihilation Realm · Initial Stage to the advanced stages, were the first to break through the mountain ranges ahead, followed by countless Supreme beasts pressing in layer upon layer.
The Pale Bone Armor Supreme activated the Nine Dark Moons to hover in the air and control the scene. The Eight-Winged Ancient Beast unleashed a ten-thousand-foot-high sea of thunder that crashed down. The Myriad-Horned Beast's starlight exploded and its Daoist aura surged to the heavens. The Six-Headed Ancient Beast swooped down from the sky, and its six mouths gushed forth a torrent of primordial energy.
The endless layers of beast shadows completely engulfed the path ahead of the Blue-Gray Mountain Plain. Even the previously wounded and damaged giant beasts regained their ferocity, dragging their broken bodies as they charged wildly.
"Everyone, hold the formation to the death!" Shangguan Wan'er turned around abruptly, her voice urgent and sharp, drowning out the howls of the beasts filling the air. "Elders, guard the core of the formation! Deacons, lead your respective divisions and disciples! Everyone, give your Fate Soul, hold the line! Don't let the beast tide break through the barrier! Now!!"
Boom--!
All the remaining Shangguan Lineage disciples simultaneously unleashed their full potential, causing the entire formation to once again radiate dazzling light. Ancient bells resounded, sword spirits wailed, thousands of destiny wheels intertwined and rotated in the sky, the Mountain and River Dao Diagram was fully deployed, and the damaged formation in the southeast was forcibly stabilized by the combined efforts of everyone, barely maintaining the integrity of the crumbling barrier.
Outside the great formation, the first batch of berserk divine beasts had already crossed the mountains and pressed close. Dust swirled like clouds, and crimson beast eyes filled the sky and earth. Thousands upon thousands of supreme ferocious beasts, carrying Sha Qi annihilation, pressed up from all directions, heading straight for the Shangguan Lineage's precarious defensive barrier.
Above the void, Gongpiluo Huang remained silently suspended, his left eye slightly open and his right eye closed, his rat-shaped star-shaped eyes gleaming with an eerie light. His invisible divine sense continued to envelop the entire beast tide, controlling thousands of supreme beings to charge madly, and the Blue-Gray Mountain Plain was completely swallowed up by the boundless beast shadows.