Chapter 59: The Crisis Crawling Out of History

Above the boundless sea of darkness, a dim sphere stood motionless amidst the waves formed by shattered worlds.

From an unknown time, those waves composed of broken realms had already begun to be eroded by a pitch-black darkness from their very base.

Each ripple of the shattered worlds was now saturated with dense black Qi, intertwined with endless, indescribable, and eerie entities.

As the waves of broken realms lashed against that lightless cosmic boundary wall, festering flesh and writhing red hair reached out from the depths of the sea, creeping across the barrier.

The entire dim sphere resembled a piece of fresh meat that attracted maggots, writhing as it attempted to burrow inside to devour the flesh in massive bites.

This sphere was none other than the universe known as the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths.

That vast and boundless cosmic sea generally adhered to a flat spacetime structure approximating Euclidean geometry, yet spacetime curved due to a force akin to gravity, presenting numerous localized non-Euclidean geometric structures—namely, individual worlds where space manifested in a closed form.

The overall morphology of the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths was precisely such a spherical space, enclosed within a four-dimensional spacetime bubble amidst the nearly flat spacetime of the cosmic sea.

Clearly containing a universe within, it was nevertheless enveloped by a four-dimensional spatial bubble, causing its external projection to appear extremely petite, resembling a sphere merely the size of a house.

The three-dimensional universe within its spacetime bubble had a limited volume, with a total radius of only about forty billion light-years, showing not the slightest sign of outward expansion, rendering it almost like a rigid, lifeless corpse.

Yet its matter-sparse cosmic fringe bordered closely upon the boundary wall of the four-dimensional hypersphere.

The boundary wall of the four-dimensional hypersphere acted like a prison, both protecting and sealing the three-dimensional spherical universe within.

The life forms inside, even if they sailed to the edges of the universe, would be blocked by the boundary wall of the four-dimensional structure; as long as they moved along the direction of three-dimensional spacetime, they could never truly leave.

Just like an ant crawling on the surface of a football, without approaching the ground and possessing a fulcrum in a third dimension, it could never leave the sphere's surface.

Therefore, although its internal area was limited, it could cycle infinitely; as long as one failed to break through the fourth dimension, voyagers within would never truly break out beyond the cosmic boundary wall.

This was an extremely cruel world for mortals.

The seemingly boundless universe possessed a time dilation effect brought by spacetime distortion that appeared extremely feeble; a mortal's fleeting hundred-year lifespan, even if they traveled at a thousandfold, a millionfold, or even a ten-millionfold the speed of light for a lifetime, could never accomplish the feat of crossing the universe.

A brief life of merely one hundred years required one to sail from birth at a terrifying speed of eight hundred million times the speed of light, until death at the age of one hundred, just to truly walk from one end of the universe to the other.

Yet this was an extremely convenient universe for cultivators.

Whether through various void teleportation arrays utilizing four-dimensional spacetime bubbles as transit points, or secret techniques distorting the curvature of three-dimensional space, cultivators could travel at speeds unimaginable to mortals.

At this very moment, while countless rotting flesh and writhing red hairs slithered across the boundary wall,

Deep within this universe, boasting a radius of forty billion light-years, a seemingly insignificant speck of light was traversing the cosmic scale with ease, moving at a speed unimaginable to mortals as if an ordinary person were strolling through their backyard.

That was none other than the Lunar Human Sovereign.

He was carrying Fang Zheng, searching as quickly as possible for the remnants of various Great Emperor-level powerhouses, attempting to resurrect allies who could protect all living beings in the universe amidst the aftermath of battle as soon as possible.

Having performed divination and perceived that terrifying future, he was executing his plan as swiftly as he could.

However...

Just as you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes back into you.

Under that inexplicable influence, the Lunar Sovereign performed divination; and when he beheld the tributaries of the future, something wandering within the long river of time had also beheld him.

The moment the Lunar Sovereign perceived the future, upon the boundary wall of the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, within that cosmic sea, the darkness that should not have existed from the very beginning silently emerged from the starting point of time throughout history.

From the very beginning, across countless ages and within ancient years, it had continuously writhed and licked against the boundary wall.

That black Qi, which had never launched a massive invasion throughout unimaginably long histories,

had already, in the past and across history, crept inward along certain inexplicable trajectories, bit by bit deepening the corrosion...

Soaring through the universe, in a corner of the cosmos upon this colossal living planet, the Lunar Sovereign abruptly halted his steps.

In the vacuum of space, Fang Zheng stood firmly alongside him, gazing down at the massive planet beneath their feet.

"Hmm?" Fang Zheng stared at the planet below, stunned. "This..."

"A human head?"

Indeed, the massive planet beneath Fang Zheng possessed land and oceans, but viewed as a whole, it bore an extraordinary resemblance to a human skull.

The Lunar Sovereign carried Fang Zheng as they flew downward, introducing the realm to him: "In the Mythological Era, there were powerhouses known as the Nine Celestial Venerables. Among them, one was revered as the Lingbao Celestial Venerable."

Fang Zheng looked somewhat puzzled: "Lingbao Celestial Venerable? Aren't these the Three Pure Ones from primeval fantasy novels? They exist here too?"

"Could it be that the Moral Celestial Venerable and the Primordial Beginning Celestial Venerable are here as well?"

Unaware of Fang Zheng's confusion, the Lunar Sovereign pointed at the skull-shaped planet and continued his introduction: "According legend, he once slain an entity suspected to be an 'Immortal'."

"After his death, for reasons unknown, his corpse was dismembered, transforming into the Five Directions Divine Realms and this ancient Heavenly Soldier Star."

"He is also the creator of the 'Group' script, one of the Nine Secrets, and is supremely adept in the Dao of formations."

In a fleeting moment, the Lunar Sovereign had brought Fang Zheng deep beneath the forehead of this skull-shaped planet.

There, a colossal jade-colored continent burned with undying divine flames.

This was transformed from the Immortal Platform Secret Realm of the Lingbao Celestial Venerable.

Observing the surrounding undying divine flames, which seemed to have remained completely unchanged for hundreds of thousands of years, the Lunar Sovereign felt a pang of emotion. Millennia ago, before he attained the Dao, he too had once borrowed these undying divine fires here to temper his primordial spirit.

He continued his explanation: "In the late Mythological Era, due to its special environment, the ancient Heavenly Soldier Star was used as a training ground by the Heavenly Court founded by the Emperor, one of the Nine Celestial Venerables."

Pacing through the boundless undying divine flames, the Lunar Sovereign projected his divine sense, attempting to capture even the slightest trace of a residual remnant will within the fire, but found nothing at all.

This spiritual fire, which theoretically should have been fueled by the power of the primordial spirit, refused to yield a single lingering thought, feeling utterly inert like a dead object.

From the Mythological Era down to the present, numerous Supremes, Ancient Emperors, and Great Emperors had meticulously studied this place; though their gains varied, none could bear to destroy it.

Meanwhile, listening to the explanation, Fang Zheng already understood the purpose behind the Lunar Sovereign's plan to resurrect him first:

"Just like the future you described, if we want to avoid that so-called dark storm, we have to drive the entire universe to speed through the cosmic sea."

"So, you intend to resurrect him and let him handle the array structure of the Cosmic Ark."

The Lunar Sovereign nodded: "Indeed. Although we are all Supremes who attained the Dao, our cultivated paths differ, and our areas of expertise vary."

"In the future I foresaw, although the Cosmic Ark possesses countless array enhancements, it remains flawed and somewhat bloated, struggling to connect various formations in the most perfect manner."

"If we can have the Lingbao Celestial Venerable—who pioneered the 'Group' secret—preside over it, perhaps the Cosmic Ark can be forged faster and better."

As they spoke, the two arrived at the center of the Immortal Platform continent. Gazing at a vacant small pit enveloped by viscous flames, the Lunar Sovereign furrowed his brows deeply.

Throughout the vast ages from the Mythological Era to the present day, many Supremes had believed that the Lingbao Celestial Venerable had not truly perished, but had instead fallen into some form of bizarre metamorphosis.

The evidence was that within the Five Directions Divine Realms and the ancient Heavenly Soldier Star, both transformed from his corpse, many abnormal traces remained.

For instance, at the center of the Immortal Platform continent beneath the forehead of the ancient Heavenly Soldier Star—which his skull had become—every tens of thousands of years, the undying divine fire would condense a pool of bizarre spiritual soul liquid.

This divine liquid, formed from pure spiritual energy, possessed the efficacy of nourishing the primordial spirit and vastly enhancing enlightenment capabilities.

Although this substance could at most affect Great Saint-level figures—falling far short compared to true Great Emperor-level figures, whose single divine thought could obliterate a Quasi-Emperor—

it remained somewhat hard to believe that this was genuinely left behind by an ancient Celestial Venerable.

Yet from the Mythological Era down to the present, across millions of years, this unimaginably bizarre spiritual soul liquid—which should have been condensed from pure primordial spirit force yet lacked any detectable will—had never ceased, continuously welling forth.

Every tens of thousands of years, a pool would accumulate; it had been studied by successive generations of Supremes, and countless cultivators vied for it as a supreme heavenly treasure.

Feeling a faint lingering trace of Golden Crow aura in the pit, the Lunar Sovereign frowned slightly: "Has the spiritual soul liquid condensed over these past tens of thousands of years already been harvested in advance by some Golden Crow clan? In that case, we can only try this."

Immediately, he opened his hand, and a multitude of pixelated bottles poured forth, tumbling downward into the small pit capable of producing the spiritual soul liquid.

"Let us hope this proves effective."

Back on the Immortal Road, Fang Zheng had already noticed that, much like being constrained by frame-rate limits, cultivators in this world were similarly restricted by the maximum speed of retrieving items from Minecraft chests.

Just as Fang Zheng was limited to a maximum of 120 operations per second, Minecraft chests possessed a comparable restriction.

In the Minecraft game, a player's interaction speed with chests is limited by game mechanics; according to the rules, each time a player opens a chest and retrieves items, a certain amount of time is required to complete the action, which is approximately 0.35 seconds.

Moreover, unlike Fang Zheng, who could retrieve stacks of items grouped together during each retrieval action,

figures like the Lunar Sovereign, whether handling stackable items like enchanted golden apples or unstackable items like healing potions that had to be placed individually, could only retrieve a single item into their hand each time they interacted with a Minecraft chest.

To retrieve the next one, they had to ensure their hand remained empty before continuing.

However, once these items were drawn out and materialized, they could be normally touched, set aside to accumulate, and thus thrown out simultaneously to increase the efficiency of healing.

In a fraction of a second, healing potions piled high like small mountains were hurled forward. Accompanied by swirling mists engulfing the area, moments later, strange disturbances began to emerge across the entire Immortal Platform continent within the undying divine flames that had burned for millions of years.

They surged upward, growing violent, and formed a massive vortex that coalesced toward the center.

Within mere seconds, the spiritual soul liquid overflowed to the brim.

A wisp of primordial spirit belonging to the Lingbao Celestial Venerable seemed on the verge of materializing out of thin air from the endless divine fire.

However, before the Lingbao Celestial Venerable could officially recover his first strand of primordial spirit, the crisis stemming from that inexplicable dark Qi had already arrived!

Abruptly, the Lunar Sovereign's gaze shifted, and he slashed upward, gripping the Lunar Moon Blade.

Boundless black radiance transformed into a pitch-black crescent moon, severing the continent above and plunging a destructive ray—which had nearly split the ancient Celestial Venerable's skull-transformed star—into oblivion.

Frowning deeply, he looked toward the void outside the ancient Heavenly Soldier Star, fixing his gaze upon five presences emanating extreme imperial might and a bizarre aura.

At the sight of this, he knew the future had changed once again!

From the previously divined future, the Lunar Sovereign knew these five foes intended to deal with him, but they had also planned to wait until they finished attacking the Immortal Road before considering other options.

Yet now, having divined that future, these five adversaries had abruptly altered their prior plan, braving the risk of incomplete states upon the opening of the Immortal Road to initiate a Supreme battle and slay him first.

A murderous divine sense echoed and churned across this star domain.

Coming from the restricted zone of the Primordial Mine, the Light-Dark Supreme—one eye pure white, the other pure black, wielding the ancient imperial weapon, the Light Staff and Dark Shield—spoke with an indifferent expression: "Lunar, the debt from hundreds of thousands of years ago is finally due for a complete reckoning!"

Wielding his Dao-attesting weapon, the Longevity Sword, Longevity Celestial Venerable—one of the Nine Celestial Venerables of the Mythological Era and the pioneer of the healing secret 'Zhe'—smiled and made an obeisance:

"Fellow Daoist Lunar, now that the Immortal Road is about to open, we must borrow your blood and soul to whet and baptize weapons sealed for ten thousand ages, in preparation for the Immortal Road!"

Also hailing from the restricted zone of the Primordial Mine, shrouded in corpse aura and wielding the ancient imperial weapon, the Corpse Bow, the Corpse Emperor chanted grimly:

"Lunar, your lunar essence blood is far too delectable; your progeny cannot compare by any margin. I have yearned for you for hundreds of thousands of years; this time, you must let me drink my fill."

The Lord of Reincarnation, hailing from the restricted zone of the Sea of Reincarnation and clad in the imperial weapon, the Reincarnation Immortal Robe, wore a cold smile:

"Outnumbering an opponent is indeed unfair, but since I must prepare for the Immortal Road, I cannot leave an enemy like you lingering in my rear!"

Also within the Sea of Reincarnation, holding the Immortal Tears Green Gold Bottle and pioneering the supreme speed known as the 'Xing' secret, the Carefree Celestial Venerable sighed with a smiling expression:

"When you attained the Dao back then, failing to seize your physical body and primordial spirit left me with immense regret. What a pity that this regret can never again be fulfilled."

Listening to their declarations of intent and sensing the somewhat bizarre aura of his five foes, the Lunar Sovereign frowned slightly, a wave of confusion washing over him. "Dark creatures?"

In the tributaries of the future, the dark aura the Lunar Sovereign had once sensed was now discovered upon these five adversaries, who ought to have been free of such an aura.

This left him utterly bewildered while ringing alarm bells in his mind.

"Hmph!"

The Lunar Sovereign responded with a cold expression: "So it is you five stinking fish and rotten shrimps. Eons ago, when I was severely wounded and on the verge of death while assaulting the Immortal Road, you fed upon my mutilated flesh, slaughtered my progeny, and eradicated my lineage. These debts, too, are finally due for a complete reckoning!"

Watching them finish their exchange of harsh words, Fang Zheng reminded him from the side: "Right, don't forget to take me along. I need to test whether participating in the battle allows me to obtain drops."

Hearing Fang Zheng interrupt their banter, the Lunar Sovereign sighed helplessly. Seizing him in one hand with the Lunar Moon Blade as his weapon and the block-man as his shield, he transformed into a streak of light and charged into the starry sky.

Kill! Kill! Kill!

Today, either the Lunar Sovereign perished, or the Five Sovereigns fell.

One side was destined to bleed dry, their primordial spirits shattered!

The Supreme battle began!