Chapter 238 – Cancer of Immortality, World-Destroying Rule

Lu Yan’s gaze swept over the ten surviving mechanical councilors trapped within the exiled space, and understanding dawned in his heart.

Once the Annihilation Pendulum was activated and dimensional tremors reached a critical threshold, irreversible destruction would follow.

But Lu Yan didn’t believe that the rulers of the Mechanized City were truly willing to perish with him.

Sure enough, after a brief search, Lu Yan found a spatial anchor buried in the ruins of the city’s core.

This spatial anchor allowed the councilors to exile themselves beyond the version fragment temporarily, avoiding the destructive tremors. Once the danger passed, they could use the anchor to return.

However, what they hadn’t anticipated was that Lu Yan would use the Human Emperor Banner to forcibly suppress the entire space before the destruction fully unfolded—quelling the chaos while they were still trapped.

Now, stuck inside the exiled space, they didn’t even have the chance to flee.

“You have two choices.”

Lu Yan’s voice rang out slowly and coldly.

“Surrender, or be destroyed.”

Though fear had peaked in their mechanical hearts, one councilor still shouted in defiance:

“The Mechanized Race shall never be slaves!”

As soon as those words left his mouth, a single finger pierced through the fabric of the exiled space and tapped him lightly.

Without the support of the Mechanical Broodmother, the mechanical race had virtually no combat power. Even as councilors, their strength barely equated to the Foundation Establishment Realm.

The finger landed, and cracks of shattered space spread through his half-flesh, half-machine body.

The spatial rift sliced him into countless fragments—his awareness erased before he even realized it. Space devoured him utterly.

Only nine mechanical councilors remained.

The others choked back their protests. After a brief silence, another councilor roared:

“Even if you’ve seized our core territory, you’ll never erase the Mechanized City entirely!”

The next moment, Lu Yan extended his finger again.

The rift in space opened once more, consuming the defiant councilor.

“Flesh is weak. Only mechanized ascension is eternal!”

Death did not easily sway the councilors. To have reached their positions, even without full mechanized ascension, they were beings of iron will.

Voices of resistance continued to rise, and one by one, the councilors were buried by fractured space. The exiled domain began to crumble under the strain.

Finally, only one councilor remained.

His entire body had been mechanized—except for a single human brain floating in nutrient fluid.

This Brain-in-a-Jar was one of the most unique transformations in the Mechanized Version.

The thinkers of the Mechanized Race believed the brain was the source of the soul. Preserving it, along with a portion of emotion and desire, was key to developing a more powerful soul before completing full ascension.

But precisely because his brain remained intact, he now felt fear far more keenly than his peers.

The others could face death with mechanical apathy. He could not.

Just yesterday, he had been one of thirteen councilors ruling the entire Mechanized City. Now, he stood alone on the edge of annihilation. It was unacceptable.

The nutrient-filled chamber holding his brain trembled. His mechanical face twisted in visible agony.

Lu Yan did not rush him, simply waiting in silence.

At last, the Brain-in-a-Jar manipulated his mechanized body, dropping to one knee.

“I surrender.”

A flash of approval flickered in Lu Yan’s eyes.

“A wise choice.”

Spreading his fingers wide, Lu Yan grasped the entire exiled space in his palm and, using the spatial anchor, brought it back into the version fragment.

In the ruins of the core plaza, the round table hall reappeared—shattered and barely holding together.

Within the hall, the Brain-in-a-Jar councilor slowly rose to his feet. The auxiliary AI in his body searched for an appropriate emotional response and finally forced a pleasing smile onto his metallic face.

“This lowly one is named Davis. To be accepted into your command, my lord, is truly a blessing!”

Lu Yan gave Davis a strange glance at how quickly his demeanor had flipped, then turned his eyes to the ghostly Yin Soldiers and spectral generals scouring the ruins.

Though the Mechanized City was mostly destroyed, as the core of a version power, it still held valuable resources. Fully cleaning out the ruins would take time.

Outside the fragment, the Mechanized City still possessed a powerful army—especially that Prophet Mech equipped with a Causality Synergy Module.

Lu Yan’s underworld army had taken heavy losses. If the city’s main forces blocked the exit now, he might be in danger.

With that in mind, Lu Yan asked:

“Has word of the city’s fall been sent out?”

Davis answered carefully:

“My lord’s assault on the core territory was so sudden that the councilors didn’t believe you could succeed. No alert was issued to the outside.

Later, after you disrupted the core rules and destroyed the forbidden constructs, the Laplace Demon’s All-Knowing Computation Core was disabled. The city could no longer transmit messages efficiently.

For the moment, the outside world is unaware of what has happened.”

“However,” Davis added cautiously, “the Prophet Mech is required to send a log report back to the city every three days to confirm its operational status.

The last report was sent just yesterday. If the next report goes unreviewed in two days, the Prophet Mech and all stationed troops will grow suspicious.”

Lu Yan raised an eyebrow. That was good news.

He had two days to clean up the ruins and gather the spoils of war. That was enough.

As he walked through the shattered city, Lu Yan asked:

“How many rule-tier resources remain in the Mechanized City?”

Davis looked pained.

“Excluding the three recently completed satellite-class fortresses, we have less than ten rule modules left, my lord.”

Lu Yan was surprised.

“Less than ten? With such a vast city, why are rule resources so scarce?”

Though the city had fallen easily before Lu Yan’s overwhelming power and version authority, it was still one of the top ten version forces in the entire Great Collapse Domain.

Its satellite-class war fortresses alone made it a fearsome opponent.

Even without Lu Yan—who was practically its natural enemy—the Mechanized City could stand against nearly any force. Those fortresses were designed to slay powerful cultivators from other versions.

Surely such a mighty force should have a rich reserve of rule-tier materials.

“My lord, you may not know this,” Davis said with a bitter expression.

“The Mechanized City occupies vast territory and controls more than five high-tier resource mines.

But when it comes to rule-tier resources, we’re powerless.

These resources come from the outer void, birthed from the clash of worlds. Only Nascent Soul, Demigod, or Saint-tier cultivators can even collect them.

We have strength, but no cultivators on the rule level—except the Prophet Mech, which we rarely deploy.

That’s why most of our rule resources are acquired through trade.”

Davis continued.

“Because our satellite fortresses are so powerful, other factions have long imposed trade restrictions—refusing to sell us rule-tier materials, afraid we’d build more fortresses and upset the balance.

Even inter-version trades barely allow us to maintain current production. There’s no surplus.”

Lu Yan couldn’t help feeling disappointed.

He had hoped to obtain a massive haul of rule resources to feed the Supreme Divine Ability Seed.

But now, even including the destroyed fortresses, it might barely fill one-tenth of what the seed needed—far from enough to fully mature it.

He pressed on.

“Do you know which version forces hold large reserves of rule-tier resources?”

Davis gave him a strange look, then said:

“Factions with top-tier powerhouses usually control a lot—like the Tenfold Martial Sect, Nation of Gods, and the Church of the Seven Gods.

But the one with the most by far is the Alliance of Immortals.”

“Though they have few Nascent Soul cultivators, their Core Formation experts who master Earth Fiend Divine Abilities can still access rule-level resources. And they’re numerous.

In fact, because they have more of these Earth Fiend cultivators, they hold the most rule resources overall.”

Lu Yan finally understood Davis’s strange expression.

To Davis, Lu Yan was clearly a high-ranking member of the Alliance of Immortals. Surely he would already know these things?

“Besides their own stockpile,” Davis added, “the Alliance of Immortals can ‘borrow’ some from the Tenfold Martial Sect. That gives them even more access.”

Lu Yan’s confusion deepened.

“Borrow? Rule resources are the highest-tier treasures in the domain. Who would lend them out?”

“You don’t know?” Davis was genuinely surprised.

“The Alliance of Immortals may not be the strongest faction, but they’re firmly in the top three. They’ve even fought off coalitions of multiple versions.

That’s thanks to a secret art called Life Exchange Curse.”

“Those who master it can mark an enemy and trade their own lifespan to drain theirs.”

“In the Great Collapse Domain, many version factions have suffered under this technique—especially the Tenfold Martial Sect.”

“Their elite Heaven Martial Practitioners advance quickly and often reach Martial Saint before the age of fifty, rivaling Nascent Soul experts.

But their fatal flaw is a short lifespan. Even as Saints, they live no more than 120 years.

The Alliance’s curse directly targets this weakness.”

“There’ve been several wars against the Alliance, all of which failed. Whenever war threatens, the Alliance uses this art recklessly, dragging everyone down with them.”

“The Tenfold Martial Sect suffers most, often used as scapegoats.”

“Core Formation cultivators have long lifespans. Trading a few decades to kill multiple Martial Saints is a bargain. No one can afford to fight them.”

“Other systems suffer too. Any faction with short-lived elites is vulnerable.”

“That’s why the Alliance’s true disciples are called the Cancer of Immortality—they trade life like currency.”

Lu Yan had long wondered how the Alliance could stand against nations with powerful Nascent Soul cultivators like the Nation of Gods or Mechanized City.

Now he understood.

“So this Cancer of Immortality was born from sheer life-burning,” Lu Yan thought, both amused and impressed.

Davis, watching Lu Yan closely, continued:

“Right now, only the Nation of Gods and Mechanized City can oppose the Alliance on the battlefield—because the curse has little effect on them.”

“Gods are immortal as long as their believers live, and the Prophet Mech is immune to life-draining techniques.”

“The Mechanized City, by facing the Alliance head-on, earned favors from other factions—including some rule-tier resources.”

Lu Yan nodded.

The destroyed fortresses had only given him limited information. Through Davis, he finally glimpsed the core landscape of the Great Collapse Domain.

“So if I want enough resources, I’ll have to target the Alliance of Immortals.”

“Using Jiang Zhiwei’s name could deal with the Taiyi Sect, but the Alliance also includes the Ten Great Daoist Sects and Seven Demonic Clans. It won’t be simple.”

Lu Yan pondered in silence.

Then Davis suddenly perked up.

“My lord, if you’re in need of rule-tier resources, the Mechanized City still has a special artifact that might help.”

“However, it’s extremely dangerous. Please consider carefully.”

“What artifact?” Lu Yan asked with interest.

“The Annihilation Pendulum.“

In the center of the ruined plaza, a towering pendulum loomed, etched with glyphs that twisted reality itself. Just looking at it made one’s soul shudder.

This was the weapon that had nearly destroyed the Mechanized City—also known as the Dimensional Resonator.

Beneath the pendulum, Davis explained:

“It was built at the founding of the city—older than the Nano Oblivion Swarm or Laplace Demon.”

“But truthfully, the city didn’t create it from scratch. No one here fully understands how it works.”

He raised a glowing hand and pressed a hidden switch.

The entire space froze. Time itself seemed to halt. Glyphs lit up one by one.

When the last glyph shone, the inner core of the pendulum revealed itself.

Lu Yan saw it clearly—two streams of qi, one Yin and one Yang, spiraling endlessly in the void.

They resembled a massive Yin-Yang Millstone.

It turned slowly, emitting a dreadful hum. As it ground away, the very fabric of space tore apart. Countless fragments of rule drifted in the void, each glowing with eerie blue light—each a sliver of world-bending power.

With every turn, the dimension cracked a little more. Space and time split like shattered mirrors, spewing out a tide of chaos that threatened to unravel reality itself.

Thankfully, this destructive force remained sealed within the pendulum’s interior.

As long as the Annihilation Pendulum remained inactive, its power would stay contained.

Witnessing this, Lu Yan was deeply shaken.

“Do you know where the power inside this pendulum comes from?” he asked, steadying his voice.

Davis pulled data from the city’s ruined database and replied:

“According to historical records, the rules inside the pendulum predate the Mechanized Race’s arrival in the domain.

Back then, this region was a chaotic wasteland plagued by disasters.

The Mechanized Race built the mobile city to flee, but it wasn’t enough.

Then, a great sage constructed the Annihilation Pendulum to suppress the ‘Destruction Rule’—allowing the city to stabilize and grow.”

Lu Yan said nothing.

Instead, he reached out and gently touched the colossal pendulum.

He had once wielded the Gate of Mystery Womb, peering into the origins of all laws. No one understood the truth behind this force better than him.

To the Mechanized Race, the Yin-Yang streams appeared to be a Rule of Destruction.

But Lu Yan knew the truth—they weren’t rules of destruction.

They were remnants of a World-Destroying Rule—a force left behind when a version fragment was torn apart.

This was an ultimate power capable of annihilating an entire fragment.

Among rules, there were hierarchies.

For example, the Causality Synergy Module used in the Prophet Mech contained causality rules—higher than ordinary rules, nearly equivalent to a Heavenly Gang Divine Ability.

But the World-Destroying Rule came from a version’s collapse, transcending even causality. Its level was comparable to the Gate of Mystery Womb.

The Mechanized City had forged the Annihilation Pendulum from this power, believing it could merely wipe out the fragment and take their enemies with them.

They never realized that once the World-Destroying Rule fully activated, the entire version fragment—and nearby domains—would vanish as well.

Their attempt to hide in an exiled space?

A laughable gesture before such apocalyptic might.

Even a sliver of the World-Destroying Rule was worth far more than the entire version fragment.

(End of Chapter)