Chapter 231: The Great Collapse Version

“What the hell is this? A patchwork Frankenstein version?”

Lu Yan stared at the version update interface, his mind full of question marks.

He had experienced over a dozen version updates, yet this was the first time he’d seen a version stitched together from dozens of others.

Though he hadn’t entered it yet, just from the textual description—and the involvement of numerous “this world’s only ones”—Lu Yan could already imagine the chaotic madness that must reign within the Great Collapse Version.

The danger level of this special version was definitely no less than any before.

“So, did Jiang Zhiwei set me up?”

A sense of unease bubbled in Lu Yan’s heart.

According to Jiang Zhiwei, the outcome of the special version would affect the future trajectory of the entire Xianxia Version and determine the distribution of benefits among the major sects.

Moreover, there was a hidden rule within this special version—anyone over a hundred years old could not enter.

This was precisely why the major sects invested so much effort into selecting and cultivating True Disciples under a hundred. Their goal was purely for sect interests.

Among the Ten Great Orthodox Daoist Sects and the Seven Supreme Devil Sects, the Taiyi Sect placed the most emphasis on the special version. True Disciples under one hundred held status equivalent to that of Nascent Soul Dao Lords.

After murmuring to himself for a bit, Lu Yan made his decision.

Whether it was because of his deal with Jiang Zhiwei, or the sheer danger of the other three options, the Great Collapse Version was the only viable choice.

While the first three options might not be as outwardly chaotic, they were riddled with unpredictable factors.

In contrast, the Great Collapse Version clearly contained factions from the Xianxia world. As a True Disciple of the Taiyi Sect, Lu Yan could at least expect some advantages from that connection.

But most importantly, maintaining his relationship with Jiang Zhiwei hinged on fulfilling their agreement—this was not a transaction he could abandon.

Having made up his mind, Lu Yan spoke aloud in the still space-time:

“Select: Great Collapse Version!”

He felt the frozen space begin to shift.

Unlike the version updates he had experienced before, the Great Collapse Version manifested an entirely different scene from the very start.

Space twisted and tore, as if countless invisible hands were tearing at the fabric of reality. The ancestral hall around him began to collapse under this force, bricks and tiles scattering like flowing light, the walls dissolving like bubbles.

In an instant, the familiar architecture vanished, replaced by a boundless wasteland.

Under a dark red sky, broken walls and ruined structures jutted from the ground like the bones of ancient behemoths. Decaying energy drifted through the air, forming wisps of faint purple mist that floated with the wind.

“So this is the Great Collapse Version…”

Lu Yan floated upward from the ruins of the ancestral hall, surveying his surroundings in a daze.

The Taiyi Grotto Heaven where he had stood had become a massive ruin. Shattered stone pillars tilted into the sky, and cracked tiles were etched with fragmented array lines.

In the distance, a palace the size of mountains had seemingly fallen from the heavens, smashing a crater into the earth. It appeared to have long decayed under the erosion of endless time.

Among scattered stones, ancient Dao runes flickered weakly, like dying stars.

The wind howled across the barren plain, lifting fine dust into swirling vortexes above the wasteland—as if the whispers of eternal dead souls echoed in the air.

“This… is a dead Blessed Land!”

Lu Yan was shaken to his core.

He had only ever seen two Blessed Lands—Qingwu Sect’s Qingwu Blessed Land and the Taiyi Sect’s Taiyi Grotto Heaven.

The Taiyi Grotto Heaven formed its own independent world. Even the lesser Qingwu Blessed Land was the result of centuries of Daoist effort.

But now, this wasteland held not a trace of spiritual veins. The spiritual energy in the air was so thin it rivaled the earliest Urban Version he had experienced.

More shockingly, the rules of this world were mostly shattered. Even the Celestial Palace that maintained the Blessed Land had fallen from the heavens to the earth.

Such destruction sent a chill down Lu Yan’s spine.

“To think the wars in the Great Collapse Version could destroy a Blessed Land… What the hell happened in this stitched-together world?”

He was still thinking when suddenly, his soul trembled. An indescribable sense of crisis surged through him.

His body vanished in a streak of rainbow light—barely a second later, a blue beam of light pierced through his lingering afterimage and blasted into the earth.

The formation patterns on the ruins were torn apart, and the blue beam drilled deep underground, leaving a pitch-black bottomless crater.

Had that light struck him directly, even with his Golden Core body, he would’ve been gravely wounded.

“What was that?!”

Lu Yan narrowed his gaze toward the direction the beam came from—and then froze.

The once-clear sky darkened as shadows fell across it. A massive floating metallic fortress broke through the clouds like an ancient beast, radiating a suffocating technological pressure.

Every inch of its alloy plating gleamed coldly, with countless energy circuits flowing like blood vessels along its surface, emitting an eerie, powerful pulse.

The blue light beam had come from one of its many cannon ports.

In the next moment, a mechanical voice echoed across the heavens.

“Cultivator detected within the ruins of the Dongxuan Blessed Land. Suspected of excavating forbidden relics.”

“Xuanguang Model-III Laser Cannon lock failed. Target soul strength at Golden Core Realm. Suspected designation: Immortality Cancer—True Disciple!”

A blue glow on the fortress’s surface turned blood red.

“Emergency protocol activated. Engaging extermination mode.”

With a thunderous boom, countless hatches opened across the fortress’s body.

Hundreds of fighter drones swarmed out like bees, weaving a web of death in the skies. Simultaneously, over a hundred ferocious Model-III laser cannons began rotating, their barrels glowing with intense light, locking onto Lu Yan.

BOOM!

The void was torn apart. Countless beams of laser light poured down like a crashing galaxy.

Lu Yan’s gaze sharpened. The fortress hadn’t given him a single second to react. Every firing point was precisely calculated—his rainbow-light escape technique wouldn’t allow him to fully dodge.

Heavenly Astral: Golden Light Incantation!

Empowered by the Supreme Divine Ability seed, golden light wrapped around Lu Yan’s body, transforming him into a radiant divine statue. Many laser beams were blocked before they could even touch him.

But soon, Lu Yan’s expression darkened.

Even a Heavenly Astral–level Golden Light Incantation could only withstand so much. Against ten, a hundred beams, it would hold—but against the concentrated fire of an entire floating fortress? It was only a matter of time.

“Passive defense will eventually break. I need to destroy that fortress!”

Resolute, Lu Yan charged forward while his protection still held.

The fortress’s AI detected his intent instantly, shifting its fire pattern from sniping to interception.

Though Lu Yan’s escape techniques were extraordinary, he couldn’t dodge this net of firepower. The fortress’s main cannons, even if they couldn’t lock onto him directly, were still so powerful that he had to constantly evade.

Several charges failed. The golden light shielding him dimmed noticeably, yet the fortress’s assault showed no sign of slowing.

Lu Yan even tried teleporting beside the fortress, but it was protected by a spatial field that made warping in nearly impossible.

At last, Lu Yan calmed down and began analyzing the situation.

“The floating fortress is clearly from the tech faction. Charging it head-on is using my weakness against its strength. I need to find a weakness in their weapons.”

A flash of insight struck him.

Tech’s greatest strength was its scale and efficiency—but until it reached a certain level, it lacked one vital component: a way to contend with the power of world rules.

Enlightened, Lu Yan dismissed the Golden Light Incantation and channeled his Supreme seed into another spell—

Heavenly Astral: Triple Kill of the Yin Sigil!

The true intent of the Triple Kill erupted, summoning the will of Heaven, Earth, and Man to deliver enmity against the fortress.

It responded with a defensive barrier—but it was useless.

The Triple Kill didn’t use physical force, but rather summoned metaphysical hostility from the three realms.

Within the fortress, countless machines continued to operate in perfect rhythm, powering the massive mechanical beast.

Then, deep in the reactor core, a critical component failed without warning. The energy output faltered.

Normally, this would have triggered an alert to the main AI—but since Extermination Mode had been activated, all anomalies were deprioritized and ignored.

The reactor overheated. Its shields disengaged. Soon, it went into full meltdown.

Meanwhile, in this dead Blessed Land, waves of decaying energy swept through the air. A trace of that corruption infiltrated the overheating reactor, turning its blue glow into a tainted violet.

Seconds later, the reactor exploded in a brilliant blue fireball. Like falling dominoes, secondary explosions rocked the fortress, circuits fried and collapsed.

The once-mighty tech behemoth was now a crippled beast, staggering in the sky.

But it still had backup reactors.

The main AI swiftly rerouted power—but the initial damage caused a momentary chaos among the cannons and drones. The spatial field also flickered.

Lu Yan seized the chance. With one slash, he tore through space and appeared above the fortress.

Heaven and earth raged. Countless particles of searing energy gathered in his palm, forming a blazing fireball that twisted the very air.

Heavenly Astral: Scorching Sun!

An orange fireball descended like a miniature sun.

Under the Supreme seed’s boost, this simple Fireball Technique had transformed into a weapon of pure annihilation.

The energy shield that had withstood everything shattered like paper.

When the man-made sun slammed into the fortress, the entire wasteland trembled.

Brilliant solar flares erupted, wrapping the fortress in tendrils of incandescent fire. Alloy plating turned red-hot, then melted like wax.

Screams of tortured metal filled the sky. The once-invincible fortress was now bathing in solar fire, its metal flesh melting into lava.

The kilometer-wide war machine tilted, then plummeted toward the earth. Molten metal rained down, leaving charred craters across the plain.

With a deafening crash, it hit the ground—kicking up mountains of dust.

The floating fortress, capable of killing Golden Core cultivators with ease, had been destroyed.

Lu Yan panted slightly. Using his Supreme seed so many times in a row had taxed him.

Worse, the environment itself was a burden.

Each Divine Ability he used burned massive amounts of spiritual power, and this realm’s thin energy couldn’t replenish him fast enough.

If not for his Supreme Dao Foundation, whose ten layers held far more spiritual power than others of his realm, he’d have been drained dry in that battle.

Taking out a pure white Spirit Crystal, Lu Yan began absorbing its energy.

Spirit Crystals were high-grade substitutes for Spirit Stones, rarely circulated in common markets.

As the 33rd True Disciple of the Taiyi Sect, Lu Yan received generous annual resources. Before starting this update, he had even cashed in ten years’ worth—gathering a thousand Spirit Crystals and many Tier 3 and 4 pills.

As his power gradually recovered, he turned to the still-smoldering floating fortress.

The Human Emperor Banner appeared in his hand. With a wave, five ghostly figures emerged—Giant Spirit God, Blood God, Dharma Protector, Yin Glaze God, and Abyssal God.

“We greet our master!”

The five knelt immediately. Lu Yan waved them up and pointed at the wreckage.

“That fortress had a central AI. See if you can recover it and pull any useful data.”

He hadn’t forgotten—the five ghost gods were essentially soul computers. They were tailor-made to deal with tech constructs.

“As you command!”

The ghost gods began searching. With their computational might, they quickly succeeded.

Though most of the fortress had been destroyed, part of the AI core remained intact.

The Giant Spirit God reported:

“This floating fortress originated from the Machine City. It is a secondary war platform assigned to patrol and secure the Dongxuan Blessed Land ruins.

“This ruin was once a stronghold of the Immortal Alliance, but was besieged and destroyed by multiple top-tier factions.

“However, it’s rumored the Alliance left behind treasure, drawing many cultivators to explore. The fortress’s prime directive was to kill any intruding cultivators.”

Lu Yan’s eyes gleamed with understanding. Then he asked:

“During the battle, I heard the AI call me ‘Immortality Cancer.’ What does that mean?”

The Giant Spirit God paused.

“That term seems to refer to True Disciples of the Immortal Alliance. The exact reason isn’t recorded in this fragment—but…”

The god’s eyes flickered with streams of data, then suddenly widened.

“Master… are you certain the fortress called you ‘Immortality Cancer’?”

Lu Yan frowned, but nodded. “Yes.”

“Those designated as Immortality Cancer were the Immortal Alliance’s top echelon and strongest forces.

“But this ruin belongs to the Machine City and the Nation of Gods—both enemy factions!

“If your coordinates were transmitted to Machine City, they’ll stop at nothing to hunt you down!”

The god turned and shouted to the Abyssal God:

“Open a space portal—now!”

Abyssal God slashed open the air—but the rift immediately sealed shut. The space field had already silently locked the area.

“…We’re too late.”

From the western sky, three metallic fortresses descended—one massive, two smaller—shattering the clouds and blanketing the land in shadow. Arcane patterns flowed across their armor, and the roar of their engines shook the heavens.

And from the eastern sky, golden light pierced the clouds. A colossal divine figure stood tall above the world, with tens of thousands of heroic spirits behind him, their faith blazing like torches.

The Machine City—representing the Tech Version—and the Nation of Gods—representing the Divine Version—had both arrived.

(End of Chapter)