The Darkest Depths Tremble · The Apocalypse Draws Near

The world was utterly silent.

Above the Source of Epochless · Middle Layer, the rampant Dao Flame, the shattered order, and the surging sea of cause and effect were all smoothed out, leaving only a heavy, suffocating emptiness.

That emptiness is not "peace," but rather "nothingness," where all traces have been erased.

Hao Yuanzun stood deep within the Eternal Extreme Sacred Hall, his body imposing, his golden gaze sweeping across the battlefield, but at this moment it tightened slightly.

He, who had reached the Stainless Realm Supreme, should have been as still as water, unmoved even if the heavens and earth collapsed. But at this moment, he also felt a long-lost tremor in his heart.

"This... is the Sourceless Hidden Army?"

He murmured softly, his voice echoing in the sky like the heavy tolling of a bell.

Several progenitors also stood suspended in different shattered battle zones, their bodies bearing the scars of their battles with the Phantom Demonic Spirit Commander. At this moment, several pairs of eyes were fixed on the more than one thousand black phantoms and the sixteen Void Commander standing in front of them.

One of the founders of the Blazing Firmament Flame Hall, his Adam's apple bobbing, uttered a labored sound:

"... The Dao Shadow Soldier Legion, which we could not shake even if we fought to the death, had no chance of resistance against them..."

The progenitor of the Silent Shadow Asura Clan revealed an overwhelming sense of shock and fear in his eyes:

"This is not a 'battle,' this is a declaration of utter Annihilation. The Phantom Demonic Spirit was not killed, but stripped of its very existence."

The progenitor of the Mangyan Clan stared intently at the almost "nothing" figure of Void Code Six:

"Even I couldn't anticipate his starting move... He's an opponent who transcends all logic."

Hao Yuanzun did not respond immediately.

His gaze swept over all the Sourceless Hidden Soldier, especially those black shadows wielding the Origin Destroyer Whip —with each swing, a hundred Phantom Demonic Spirit were reduced to ashes.

He slowly raised his head, gazing at the sky, seemingly talking to himself, or perhaps posing a question to the entire Source of Epochless · Middle Layer:

"So, the guardians of the middle layer aren't just us progenitors..."

His words were extremely heavy, as if weighing on everyone's hearts.

The same thought suddenly arose in the minds of several progenitors:

So, the legend was true.

It turns out that the "last guardian" that had been lurking in the depths of the Void Emanation Realm... truly existed.

But what followed was not complete relief, but a deeper sense of dread.

The Supreme Progenitor Xiangyan said in a deep voice:

"If they can so easily Annihilation the Phantom Demonic Spirit... then in their eyes, are we also beings that can be rendered Nullification?"

Upon hearing this, all the progenitors present froze in shock.

The hand of the Divine Descendant Progenitor tightened almost imperceptibly.

The founder of the Tranquil Sea Divine Hall had a deep gaze, with a hesitant and uneasy light flickering in his pupils.

Where exactly does the Sourceless Hidden Army stand?

Hao Yuanzun slowly closed his eyes, his expression unchanged, but he silently thought to himself:

"If one day, the Phantom Demonic Spirit are not the end... will we be able to withstand their judgment?"

The Dao Shadow Soldier Commander roared, and more than a hundred of them simultaneously ignited golden-blue Dao Flame, converging in the sky to form a ten-thousand-foot "Origin-Returning Domain." The illusion of reincarnation reappeared, and billions of soul shadows burned in the sky, transforming into "Origin-Returning Blade" that fell from the void, determined to completely cleave open the entire middle layer of Source of Epochless!

In that very instant--

The Sourceless Hidden Army emerged from the Silent Profundity Rift, perfectly aligned as one, their auras completely still.

The Sourceless Hidden Soldier raised their Origin Destroyer Whip and swung them in unison. The silent void chains tore open the sky, shattering part of the illusion of reincarnation! Each lash left a "spacetime blank zone," erasing even the flow of cause and effect, freezing dozens of Dao Shadow Soldiers in place for the next moment before they turned to ashes!

"Void Code One" raised the Chaotic Source Hammer high, and as it crashed down, the causal chain of the entire sky snapped, and the Origin-Returning Blade of dozens of Dao Shadow Soldier instantly collided and destroyed themselves!

"Void Code II" unleashed the Evolving Source Chain, the metal silently extending for tens of millions of feet, entangled the three Dao Shadow Soldier Commander, and forcibly dragged them into a chaotic vortex!

"Void Code - Fourth" tore through space with its claws, creating a chaotic rift that swallowed up hundreds of ordinary Dao Shadow Soldier, instantly annihilating them!

The sky was completely engulfed in a mixture of tearing and silence.

Dao Shadow Soldier refused to be outdone!

Hundreds of commanders simultaneously ignited their Dao Flame, chanting in unison, unleashing the second wave of their Ultimate skills.

"Return to the Source, Reincarnation, and the Annihilation of All Things!"

Countless scripts of the Dao appeared in the sky, forcibly writing the Sourceless Hidden Army into the "Final Cycle," attempting to erase their existence!

Result--

The Sourceless Hidden Soldier simultaneously raised their Origin Destroyer Whip and cleaved through the void.

With a silent "snap," all the scripts shattered like brittle paper, and the remaining pages burned away!

Void Commander Thirteen (Source-Sealing Lock) raised his hand and directly locked the entire domain, forcibly trapping the Ultimate reincarnation power of this Dao Shadow Soldier into the disordered barrier, causing the backlash to disintegrate hundreds of Dao Shadow Soldiers!

However, the Dao Shadow Soldier Legion was enormous in number and kept charging in.

The sky Source of Epochless · Middle Layer has become a battlefield of utter destruction!

Between heaven and earth, billions of runes burned like a raging tide.

The Dao Shadow Soldier Legion roared, its more than 300,000 figures transforming into a golden-blue sea of fire. The Dao Flame converged into a galaxy-like waterfall of light, cascading down from the sky like the Ultimate Judgment of the universe! The illusion of reincarnation appeared, with scenes of life and death, cause and effect, the destruction of stars, and the demise of billions of souls overlapping one after another, as if to completely write the entire Source of Epochless into the final script.

A thousand Sourceless Hidden Soldier stood side by side, without roaring or howling, only absolute silence.

With a flick of the Origin Destroyer Whip, a silent crack was instantly cleaved through the sky! The endless golden-blue Dao Flame were swallowed up into nothingness as if they had encountered an absolute black hole, without even having a chance to explode.

"Void Code One" slammed the Chaotic Source Hammer again, directly shattering the fulcrum of the causal chain. More than a hundred Dao Shadow Soldier fell to the ground on the spot. Their Dao Flame burned and devoured each other in mid-air, turning into annihilated black mist.

"Void Code II" unleashed its Evolving Source Chain, transforming it into a million-foot-long light lock that forcefully held back the three Dao Shadow Soldier Commander! Space cracked under the friction of the chain, and within each crack, a chaotic reversal of time was revealed.

"Void Code - Fourth" tore through the void with its claws, opening a huge chaotic rift. Hundreds of Dao Shadow Soldier fell together, emitting mournful Dao cries, but were instantly annihilated, Does Not Exist even ashes.

"Void Code 9" threw out the Origin-Bursting Pearl, which exploded and the resulting chaotic starfire engulfed thousands of Dao Shadow Soldiers. In an instant, the sky turned into a purgatory of falling fire!

The battlefield is completely out of control.

Hundreds of Dao Shadow Soldier Commander roared and chanted in unison, unleashing their second wave of Ultimate skills:

"Return to the Source, Reincarnation, and the Annihilation of All Things!"

The entire sky transformed into a golden "script scroll," frantically recording the existence of the Sourceless Hidden Army, attempting to forcibly pull them into the Wheel of Origin.

However, the Sourceless Hidden Soldier simply wielded the Origin Destroyer Whip silently.

Boom! The entire script instantly burned to ashes!

As the runes exploded, the causal threads snapped, and the illusion of reincarnation completely collapsed.

Void Commander Thirteen (Source-Sealing Lock) directly descended, imprisoning thousands of Dao Shadow Soldiers and their commanders in a chaotic space. The space collapsed in the next instant, and all those figures Annihilation!

But the number of Dao Shadow Soldier was simply too great!

On the battlefield, wave after wave of legions emerged from the cracks, and a sea of golden-blue fire continuously engulfed the sky and earth.

At this time--

The three Origin Annihilation General step out.

Their aura surpassed countless others, and with each step, they caused the space and time in the Source of Epochless · Middle Layer to completely freeze!

One of them held aloft the "Final Origin Annihilation," and with a single lash of its whip, an entire landscape was wiped out. Dozens of Dao Shadow Soldier Commander, along with tens of thousands of Dao Shadow Soldiers, were instantly annihilated, as if they had never existed.

The world fell silent for a moment, then erupted in a destructive roar!

The sky is collapsing, the earth is cracking, Source of Epochless · Middle Layer has been completely transformed into a chaotic inferno!

At that moment, the entire sky above the middle level of the Source of Epochless completely lost its color.

On the Eternal Extreme Sacred Hall Square, more than ten million disciples looked up at the sky, their eyes filled with trembling. The sky was split into countless layers, each layer burning with golden-blue "Dao Flame Script". Countless Dao Shadow Soldier seemed to crawl out from the illusion of reincarnation, their golden light spreading throughout the universe, transforming into a destructive army that crushed everything.

Meanwhile, the underground Sourceless Hidden Army has fully erupted.

The Origin Destroyer Whip swung down again and again, wiping away large swathes of Dao Shadow Soldier as easily as paper.

The Void Commander unleashed a chaotic storm, dragging billions of star systems into a disordered river of spacetime.

The three Origin Annihilation General, resembling three sovereigns, emerged from the deepest void of the Source of Epochless.

They merely raised their hands, and the entire world lost its color, all sound was stripped away, and only the destruction of existence continued.

The disciples of the Eternal Extreme Sacred Hall trembled, and some couldn't help but mutter:

"Is this... is this still the world we live in? This is no longer a battle... it's heaven and earth destroying each other..."

The spirit scrolls held by the female disciples of the Dawn Cloud First Hall all became ineffective, and their battle spirits were almost impossible to condense under this suppression. Some of them gritted their teeth and screamed:

"What can we do? Faced with something like that, we can't even get close!"

One elder even roared to the sky, "This is power Supreme! If this continues... the entire middle level will be annihilated!"

In the sky, Ancestor Hao Wuli was desperately holding up the protective array of the Eternal Extreme Sacred Hall, his eyes bloodshot.

He murmured to himself, "The Sourceless Hidden Army... so it really exists..."

He then shouted sternly, "All disciples, retreat immediately to the temple's protective barrier! Even if the heavens and earth collapse, do not linger outside!"

Elder Liu Mei of the Dawn Cloud First Hall held her several heavily injured female disciples tightly in her arms, her eyes filled with complex emotions. "This is no longer a battle we can participate in... To survive is an opportunity in itself..."

Throughout the Source of Epochless, hundreds of billions of cultivators, temple disciples, and powerful members of various clans watched this scene from afar.

They saw:

The sky became a purgatory, where golden-blue and silver-black energies collided, like two universes devouring each other.

Each collision erases countless mountains and rivers, causing them to evaporate and stars to go out.

Standing in the distance, they still felt their flesh and blood tearing apart, their minds being shaken by the raging tide, and even breathing became a luxury.

At this moment, everyone understood—

This battle isn't for anyone in particular; it's a judgment of the fate of the entire middle class!

Just as the world was about to collapse--

The sky above the middle level of the Source of Epochless was suddenly torn apart, and a blinding holy light shot straight up from the abyss of nothingness, seemingly dragging the entire middle level back into the light from the boundless darkness.

As the holy light spread, five terrifying, sourceless Sourceless Commander slowly emerged from the depths of the sea of clouds.

Their appearance was completely different from what one would normally see.

The golden armor was not forged, but rather condensed from the Limitless Evolving True Flow, its radiance containing fragments of countless dimensions.

The helmet had no eyes, only an eternally burning, Silent Profundity sun, its light seemingly inscribed with the Ultimate negation of the logic of the heavens;

The halberds, greatswords, and scepters they wielded were all derivatives of "intangible substance," and each slight movement brought with it the sound of countless causal chains collapsing.

The clouds beneath their feet were not celestial phenomena, but rather a manifestation of the Silent Profundity Mist Sea itself, churning and engulfing the entire sky of the Source of Epochless with each step they took.

The countless Dao Shadow Soldiers and commanders on the entire battlefield froze at that moment.

They were originally fearless of death, driven by an obsession with "Nonexistence Form," but at this moment—

As the oppressive aura of the Limitless Evolving True Flow emanating from the Five Sourceless Commanders spread out, all the Dao Flame radiance was extinguished in an instant!

The golden-blue flames were completely suppressed.

Even the strongest commanders began to retreat frantically, an uncontrollable tremor of fear echoing in their minds.

They can sense:

These five beings cannot be fully defined not only by the Silent Mystery Realm, nor solely by the Chaos Realm, nor even by the Stainless Realm...

Because they themselves are the "holders of the Limitless Evolving True Flow"—the most ancient embodiment of order in the Source of Epochless · Middle Layer!

Five Sourceless Commander stood atop the clouds, each one resembling an "eternal pillar" supporting the heavens and earth.

As their breaths flowed, the timeline of the vast land froze, the seas stood still, and the sun and moon stopped.

Those once fearless Phantom Demonic Spirit Legion now howled in agony, their bodies trembling uncontrollably. Some even spontaneously combusted their Dao Flame, attempting to extinguish themselves to escape that supreme gaze.

The countless surviving cultivators in the middle level, upon witnessing this scene from afar, exclaimed in shock and knelt down in astonishment.

"That is... the legendary Sourceless Commander..."

"The true guardian of the Sourceless Hidden Army... has finally revealed himself!"

"Heavens above! Is there... really any hope for us?"