Chapter 253: Ruined Heavens Dao, You Don’t Want That Either

A flicker of surprise flashed in Lu Yan’s eyes.

“The Apocalypse Rule… is evolving?”

This wisp of the Apocalypse Rule had already destroyed two version fragments, yet this was the first time Lu Yan noticed such a change.

But after thinking about it for a moment, he understood why.

The Apocalypse Rule was a rule born for the sole purpose of annihilating worlds. While version fragments weren’t complete worlds, they contained countless living beings and internalized rules. They could be considered small worlds in their own right.

Thus, the Apocalypse Rule destroying a version fragment aligned perfectly with its nature—its growth was only natural.

“Back when I destroyed the first version fragment, I was being hunted by Eternal Heaven and the Omniscient Mech. I was too focused on escaping, and later even made a deal with the Ruined Heavens Dao… so I didn’t notice the subtle changes.

“Thinking back, the Apocalypse Rule may have started evolving as early as the destruction of the Mech Version.”

Lu Yan was naturally pleased by this discovery.

To complete the seed of the Supreme Divine Art, he needed the Apocalypse Rule to evolve one final step.

Collecting strands of the Apocalypse Rule from various version fragments might not be enough to meet that requirement—especially since not every version fragment even had a trace of it.

Now that destroying version fragments could actively promote the Apocalypse Rule’s growth, his path forward became far more secure.

The Ruined Version might lack many resources, but one thing it had in abundance… was version fragments.

“Still, until the Supreme Divine Art seed is fully born, I must be cautious not to let the Apocalypse Rule surpass the suppression limit of the Gate of Mystery Womb… or I might suffer a backlash.”

After some careful thought, Lu Yan turned to look at the many Cyber Version psionics outside the now-destroyed fragment.

All of them wore expressions of utter shock, staring blankly at the scene before them.

They had assumed Lu Yan was simply trying to seize the Cyber Version fragment by force—who would’ve thought he would obliterate the entire version fragment with thunderous might?

The boundless destructive force had annihilated not only the Cyber Version’s legacy built up over tens of thousands of years within the Ruined Domain but also shattered the faith in every psionic’s heart.

At the very moment the version fragment was completely destroyed by the Apocalypse Rule, an invisible thread of karma tied to their soul vanished without a sound.

Their recognition of the Tower of the Universe… their loyalty to the Grand Universe Corporation… began to blur, as if an unseen hand was rewriting their awareness and erasing their memories.

Though the aftershocks of destruction still rippled outward, everyone stood frozen, numb to everything unfolding before their eyes.

At last, just as the Apocalypse Rule began spilling into the wider world, the order of the Ruined Heavens Dao descended.

It sealed off the spreading waves of destruction, began to mend the torn space, and forcibly stilled the collapsing dimensional tide.

Only the swirling Yin-Yang Qi remained in the void.

Lu Yan opened his right hand, and the Gate of Mystery Womb suppressed the Apocalypse Rule once again, drawing it back into his Supreme Dao Foundation.

Before him, the version update interface suddenly popped up, displaying broken and flickering text:

[Not… enough!]

Lu Yan’s lips curled into a faint smile.

“This wasn’t the main course. Just a little appetizer.”

As he spoke, Lu Yan’s gaze swept over the thousands of psionics behind him. He then addressed the Ruined Heavens Dao:

“The Cyber Version fragment has been destroyed. These psionics have lost their version anchor, so they now belong entirely to the Ruined Version, right?

“In that case, I’ll need your cooperation… to help me edit a portion of their memories.”

The Ruined Heavens Dao’s response trickled onto the update screen:

[Heavenly Dao… must not interfere with life.]

Lu Yan sneered.

“That might apply to your average Heavenly Dao. But wasn’t it you who modified their understanding and memories of the Cyber Version after its destruction? Isn’t that a form of interference too?”

[That was… helping them… adapt to the world.]

“Then why can’t I slip in a few tiny additional edits? I’m helping you, after all. You’re not planning to sit back and do nothing, are you?”

Lu Yan shrugged in mock helplessness.

The Ruined Heavens Dao remained silent. So Lu Yan played his trump card.

“The being behind Eternal Heaven has already projected itself into this world. I don’t know what method it used to bypass the version restrictions, but you definitely can’t stop it in your current state.

“If it succeeds, the situation in the Ruined Version will collapse entirely. And you, as an incomplete Dao, won’t escape either. That being has already polluted more than one Heavenly Dao before, hasn’t it?”

Lu Yan’s smile turned subtle.

“Ruined Heavens Dao… you wouldn’t want this world to become a pasture for the world’s sole existence, would you?”

After a long silence, more text appeared:

[Modification… permissions granted to you.]

[Only… this once.]

At that moment, Lu Yan felt a sublime order descend upon him. His consciousness was cast into a boundless sea of data.

Endless torrents of information flowed through his eyes, which now reflected whirlpools at their depths—whirlpools that seemed able to pierce the essence of the world.

The world peeled away layer by layer. The memories and perceptions of thousands of psionics lay before him, arranged like psionic code.

Lu Yan raised his right hand. Like a master coder, he could now freely rewrite the memory and cognition of all living beings.

With a flick of his finger, a narrative aligned with Lu Yan’s design was written into their minds.

No one knew how much time had passed before the Cyber Version psionics finally stirred awake.

They looked around and found only a desolate wilderness. The core territory they once remembered was nowhere to be found.

They tried to recall what had happened, but all they found was a soul-deep fear—instinct told them not to probe further.

“What… happened?”

One of them asked with a trembling voice, but no one could answer.

In their confusion, all eyes turned to one man among the crowd.

Sharke.

In their hazy memories, Sharke had been the first to lead them out of the version fragment.

Without him, they would’ve all vanished alongside it.

Feeling their gazes, Sharke tried to sort through his own memories. He could only vaguely recall that the Tower of the Universe had been attacked, and that he had sensed danger and led everyone to flee the core territory—against all objections.

In the end, the core was destroyed, and Sharke became the hero who saved them all.

“I… am the hero?”

Sharke murmured in disbelief.

He knew exactly what kind of person he was—reselling Nine Dragons Power, running underground fight clubs, instantly kneeling before his boss, lying through his teeth inside the corporation… the word hero had never belonged anywhere near him.

But as he felt everyone’s grateful eyes—including the respectful stares from the few remaining Transcendent Psionics—Sharke felt… lost.

“Am I… really a hero?”

Just as Sharke was questioning his entire existence, streaks of multicolored meteors flashed across the sky.

As the meteors descended, a wave of powerful auras crashed down onto the barren land.

The pressure was immense, and several weaker psionics collapsed to their knees on the spot.

The light faded, revealing a group of youthfully radiant figures clad in splendid garments.

There were sword-riding, Immortal-like cultivators… towering, iron-bodied martial artists… halo-wreathed demigods radiating sacred chants… and even eerie white-robed Saints exuding sinister auras.

With just one glance, all the high-level psionics—Sharke included—recognized them.

They were powerhouses from the top-tier version factions.

Golden Core heirs of the Alliance of Immortals, Martial Saints of the Ten Directions Martial Dao, demigods from the Nation of Gods, Saints of the Seven Gods Church, Archmages of the Arcane Hall…

Everyone was here—everyone except for the Mech City.

As confusion filled the air, the burly Martial Saint from Ten Directions Martial Dao suddenly snorted. Thunder boomed in everyone’s ears.

“Who’s in charge here?!”

The psionics looked at one another, then all turned their eyes to a single man.

Not the strongest Transcendent Psionic.

But the newly crowned hero—Sharke.

Even the original leaders silently breathed a sigh of relief and passed the burden to him.

One by one, the mighty experts from across the factions fixed their eyes on Sharke.

“You’re the one in charge of the Tower of the Universe?”

Under the Martial Saint’s intense gaze, Sharke forced himself to step forward.

“Esteemed Martial Saint… I’m Sharke. I guess you could say I’m the acting leader of the Tower of the Universe for now.”

The Martial Saint’s face remained cold. His tone was emotionless:

“Tell me everything that happened here. Do not leave out a single detail.”

Sharke opened his mouth, then gave a bitter smile.

“Respected Martial Saint… it’s not that I don’t want to tell you—it’s just… I truly don’t know where to begin.”

“You dare toy with me?!” the Martial Saint roared and stepped forward. His overwhelming pressure slammed down like a mountain, suffocating thousands of psionics.

Sharke, standing in front, bore the brunt. His face flushed red, but the crushing weight left him unable to speak.

Just then, the Golden Core heir from the Alliance of Immortals spoke.

“Enough. Let him explain properly.”

Though he was only at peak Golden Core—still far from a Martial Saint’s Nascent Soul-level might—the Martial Saint immediately withdrew his pressure after the reprimand.

Some of the other faction leaders smirked, but they quickly turned away when the Martial Saint’s dangerous glare swept across them.

The Martial Saints of the Ten Directions were known as battle maniacs. The only thing that kept them in check was the Same Moment Fate-Rewriting Law of the Alliance of Immortals.

Even a Golden Core heir could theoretically trade their life to kill a Martial Saint. Because of this, the Ten Directions deeply feared the Immortal Alliance.

But when dealing with other equal-level factions, the Martial Saints feared no one.

Sharke, drenched in sweat, gasped for breath before croaking out hoarsely:

“Esteemed ones… we at the Tower of the Universe don’t really know what happened. We only vaguely remember an enemy attack. I led the psionics to flee the core territory… and then we ended up like this.”

The Immortal Alliance’s heir frowned deeply.

“Could it be like the Superpower Metropolis… where Eternal Heaven devoured the entire version fragment?

“But why didn’t those survivors lose their memories?”

Just then, the Saint from the Seven Gods Church gave a sly smile.

“If they can’t tell us, let’s read their memories directly.”

With those words, the Saint stepped up to a Transcendent Psionic.

That Gold Core-level psionic’s eyes turned devout, and a book formed from their memories opened under the Saint’s control.

Page by page, the memories flowed—Demon horde invasion, slaughter of Celestial-class psionics, construction of giant altars, descent of Eternal Heaven…

Scene after scene played out before the watching elite.

Though they’d already reconstructed the fall of the Superpower Metropolis from multiple sources, witnessing the memory of Eternal Heaven’s descent still left them awestruck.

“That’s it? Then why are their memories blocked?” the Archmage of the Arcane Hall asked.

But just then, the images began to distort.

Above the sky shrouded by Eternal Heaven, the void rippled as if a formless finger stirred its surface.

Everyone felt it—an invisible gaze crossing endless time and uncountable dimensions was slowly fixing upon this world.

The images in the memory book seemed to leak into reality. The closer that gaze came, the more the world twisted. An indescribable aura filled the air.

“This is bad! A Forbidden Existence!”

The Saint’s eyes widened as he coughed blood. His body began to mutate grotesquely.

Scales bulged beneath his skin. His pupils slit into vertical reptilian eyes. A chilling, bloodthirsty aura poured from his being.

Clinging to his last shred of reason, he roared:

“Destroy the memory book!!”

Instantly, all factions unleashed their trump cards—Earthly Fiend Divine Powers, Martial Arts of the Dao, Divine Ritual Magic, Hyperdimensional Spells…

Everything slammed into the memory book, incinerating it along with the psionic it belonged to.

The invading gaze—trying to reach reality through memory—was halted. Silence fell once more. The Saint panted heavily.

He looked around at the other top-tier powerhouses, eyes still filled with terror.

“A Forbidden Existence is reaching into the Ruined Domain through Eternal Heaven.

“Before this realm collapses, we must summon every power and discuss… how to resist Eternal Heaven!”

(End of Chapter)