Shangguan Wan'er suddenly looked up and saw a thin crack appear out of thin air in the otherwise intact blue-gray sky above. The crack spread and stretched rapidly, instantly splitting into dozens and hundreds of intersecting lines, cutting the entire sky into countless irregular fragments.
At this moment, the Beginningless Ancient Rhyme of Gongpiluo Huang completely dissipated, and the gray-white beast had also vanished without a trace. Shangguan Wan'er suddenly realized that the Blue-Gray Mountain Plain, the crouching beasts, and the broken formation were all just an illusion.
No wonder that when Gongpiluo Huang appeared, his Fate Soul felt an indescribable tremor; no wonder that ancient charm could sever the root of the array pattern directly, because this place was originally an illusion, and the "origin" of the array was not in the real world from the beginning.
She didn't have time to ponder why this world would collapse on its own after Gongpiluo Huang and that ancient prison being perished together—the sky had completely crumbled.
Each fragment retains the original landscape of clouds and mountains, but between the fragments, a bottomless, pitch-black void has been revealed, empty and eerie, swallowing all light.
As the sky crumbled, the surrounding mountains collapsed simultaneously. Crack! Crack! Crack--!
Ancient rock formations on the cliff face broke and crumbled inch by inch. The thick rock layers that stretched across the rift valley resembled an ancient scroll that had lost its foundation, peeling away in pieces and slowly floating into the air. The distant mountains that had not completely collapsed did not topple down, but instead peeled away layer by layer along the fine cracks, breaking into countless fragments of bluish-gray, which floated silently in the void. All physical existence in this world was dissolving and disintegrating in a way that defied common sense.
Shangguan Wan'er's eyes snapped open, a chill running through her. "What... what kind of strange change is this?!"
Without a second thought, she immediately activated the Purple Firmament Primordial Life-Protecting Ring, and the nine layers of dim light wheels expanded once more, protecting all the surviving disciples within. Several elders simultaneously summoned their broken treasures, working together to stabilize the turbulent airspace and attempt to freeze the collapsing patterns of heaven and earth.
However, at this moment, the laws governing this world had completely collapsed. The primordial radiance had barely touched the spatial rift when it rapidly dissipated along the edge of the shattered void. All attempts to stabilize the situation had failed and were in vain.
On the distant mountain plains, tens of thousands of dormant and calm divine beasts were simultaneously undergoing incredible changes. The massive beast bodies maintained their original dormant postures, and their scarlet beast eyes gradually lost their ferocity and regained their clarity. But just as they were about to get up, their thick, ancient scales suddenly cracked, and the cracks spread rapidly along their limbs, chests, abdomens, and heads.
Tens of thousands of supreme behemoth bodies collapsed simultaneously, their majestic horns shattered into specks of light, and their thick scales peeled away piece by piece. The once unparalleled beast bodies, capable of shaking mountains and overturning seas, turned into fragmented afterimages in just a few breaths, dissipating into the void with the wind.
Without blood or wounds, without soul or cry, those ancient ferocious beasts that roamed the secret realm with overwhelming ferocity, along with the ancient beast skeletons piled up everywhere, all turned into illusory phantoms that had lost their bearings, and were completely annihilated.
Elder White Brow stared at this unbelievable scene, his aged eyes filled with Ultimate astonishment, and a bizarre yet unique guess suddenly arose in his mind. But before he could sort out his thoughts, the solid giant rock platform beneath his feet suddenly trembled violently.
Click--!
The entire Northwest Rift Valley shattered completely! The giant rock platform that held thousands of survivors from the Shangguan Lineage crumbled inch by inch along the dense cracks, and the thick rock layers turned into tiny fragments of light that slowly floated down into the air. The bottomless abyss of the rift valley vanished into thin air.
Mountains, seas of clouds, animal skeletons, and the remnants of primordial radiance—all the scenery of this world collapsed into nothingness. In just a few dozen breaths, the once vast and desolate Blue-Gray Mountain Plains were completely annihilated. Even the Northwest Rift Valley, where everyone had fought desperately to break through and catch their breath, turned into fragmented afterimages and disappeared into the boundless void.
Heaven and earth collapsed, all things returned to nothingness, and thousands of Shangguan clansmen suddenly found themselves suspended in a completely unfamiliar, endless void.
"Everyone, move together! Hold formation!"
Elder White Brow Nine Mysteries Primordial Origin-Suppressing Bell instantly spread out a thick, dark golden bell curtain, firmly protecting and locking all the clansmen within. Several elders simultaneously activated the remaining Daoist essence of the supreme treasure, barely stabilizing everyone's floating figures.
Just as everyone gathered in formation, a vast and powerful force suddenly rose from the Silent Void beneath their feet, domineering and unparalleled, shaking their very souls.
Boom--!
Thousands of bodies plummeted in unison! The surrounding ethereal light swept upwards at breakneck speed, and the Primordial Supreme Treasure suspended above them trembled violently, with fine cracks appearing on the bell and the halo. Everyone exerted all their Fate Soul essence to resist, but they found that this pulling force transcended ordinary spatial laws and could not be blocked by supernatural powers or resisted by their very essence. All of them continued to fall downwards along an ancient and invisible trajectory.
Shangguan Wan'er gripped the Purple Firmament Primordial Life-Protecting Ring tightly, her cold eyes surging with surprise. Just as she was about to activate a spatial secret technique to break free from the downward momentum, a faint golden light suddenly shone from the depths of the void beneath her feet. The golden light rapidly spread and expanded, and a vast and boundless ancient circular array platform suddenly came into everyone's view.
Boom!!
The heavy tremors of the landings brought the continuous descent to an abrupt halt. The Nine Mysteries Primordial Origin-Suppressing Bell slowly retracted its bell screen, Purple Firmament Primordial Life-Protecting Ring silently dimmed. The thousands of surviving clansmen, still shaken and unsteady on their feet, looked up and gazed in all directions. The scene before them left everyone completely stunned.
Beneath their feet lay an ancient circular platform, so vast it defied measurement. Its base, a blend of dark blue and dark gold, was thick and imposing. Countless primordial patterns were engraved on the surface, with layers upon layers of circular Daoist energy flowing endlessly, and a faint gray-white glow floating between the fine lines.
As the crowd stepped onto it, the patterns that had been silent for millennia lit up one by one, and the vast and profound azure Daoist aura spread in all directions, transforming into a giant band of light that stretched across the void. And in the area within the crowd's sight, eleven other ancient round platforms of the same size and shape were neatly suspended in the void.
Twelve colossal circular platforms stood in various directions of the void, each forming its own array domain and echoing the others, subtly arranged into a supreme array that connected heaven and earth. Each platform nurtured its own unique primordial Dao rhythm and exclusive ancient patterns. The platforms were separated by bottomless void, with only broad and majestic dark golden light bridges extending from the edges of each platform and converging, all connecting to the very center of the array domain. The twelve ancient bridges and twelve array platforms together protected a vast world at the core, shrouded in layers of barriers.
The central barrier is a deep gray-gold color, with endless primordial patterns interwoven on its surface. Within the barrier, mountains and rivers are hazy, and stars float and sink, vaguely concealing ancient mysteries, yet always shrouded in a misty Daoist aura, making it difficult to see its true form. Twelve light bridges rush from the four directions and eight extremes to the center, steadily connecting to the outer wall of the barrier, forming this awe-inspiring twelve-directional celestial array that has shaken the ages.
Elder White Brow slowly raised his eyes, scanning the eleven suspended array platforms. The Ultimate shock on his face gradually subsided into solemnity, and his voice, deep and weathered, was full of doubt. "Twelve directions... what's going on?"
Shangguan Wan'er's heart suddenly trembled. She slowly raised her palm, and a wisp of primordial Dao charm probed into the depths of the array pattern beneath her feet. Instantly, she captured an extremely familiar aura, which was of the same origin and lineage as the Beginningless Ancient Rhyme that Gongpiluo Huang had previously displayed, and contained an eternal resonance.
"Gongpiluo Huang has the appearance of a rat... this platform shares the same origin as it." Shangguan Wan'er's gaze narrowed slightly, a thought vaguely arising in her mind, yet she dared not make a hasty conclusion. "Each of the twelve array platforms possesses its own independent Daoist aura. Could it be related to the Twelve Beast Huangs? But if that's the case, why are the auras of the various races so different? This matter probably needs to be verified with other fellow Daoists."
Just as she was about to delve deeper into the secrets of the patterns, the surrounding void suddenly trembled slightly. Amidst the soft humming, the spatial rift on the round platform where the Shangguan Lineage was located slowly closed; almost at the same moment, rifts lit up on eleven round platforms in the distance, and teams of wounded cultivators stepped out from different round platforms and landed.
Shangguan Wan'er looked up and saw a group of people dressed in dark gold robes, wearing intersecting Xuan Tian patterns engraved on their chests, landing on a platform several rounds away from Shangguan Lineage Profound Heaven Clan. They were members of the Xuan Tian clan. The middle-aged man leading the group had a cold face and a calm demeanor. His cultivation had reached the Eternal Silence Realm · High Stage. Behind him, more than a hundred clansmen were all injured and their auras were fluctuating, showing signs of exhaustion from the battle.
On another circular platform, a group of cultivators dressed in pale gold and black-white Daoist robes took their positions one after another. The sleeves of their robes were covered with fine Primordial Daoist patterns that shimmered with light, indicating that they were direct descendants of the Grand Inception Clan. The elder at the head of the group had completely white hair and beard and had reached the pinnacle of cultivation, the Eternal Silence Supreme. Although his robes were tattered and he was covered in the marks of time, his eyes were still bright and piercing. The moment he landed, he stared intently at the array platform beneath his feet, and his expression suddenly froze.
In addition, several Ancient Clan teams appeared on the other round platforms one after another. Some had their divine weapons destroyed and their foundations damaged, while others looked around blankly, still in shock. All of them were survivors who had fought their way out of the brutal trial.
More than ten teams of different races occupied the twelve battle platforms, and the ancient platforms, which had Space Silence for ages, suddenly became noisy, with voices of surprise and doubt rising and falling.
"Where exactly is this place?!" "We were clearly fighting in an ancient star sea, how could we have been transported here without any reason?" "Why have all those ferocious beasts and that terrifying ancient being vanished?" "Could it be... that we have already escaped the illusionary realm?"
The cultivators from various races exchanged bewildered glances, their minds on high alert. They instinctively gripped their remaining divine weapons, their eyes repeatedly scanning the twelve array platforms and the mysterious central barrier, filled with bewilderment and apprehension.
Shangguan Wan'er gazed silently at the group of alien cultivators, her eyes filled with doubt. She clearly sensed that the Dao aura remaining on each person was completely different. Some were covered with the marks of time, some were entangled with incomplete causal patterns, and some had empty Fate Souls and damaged Dao foundations. Clearly, the trials and tribulations encountered by each race were completely different.
The twelve battle platforms, where twelve teams that had fought their way out of different dire situations have now all gathered, are now a testament to the fact that these twelve platforms correspond to different trials, and why the Daoist principles of each race are so different. At this moment, no one can say for sure.