Chapter 262: A Sliver of Hope

The Immortal Cultivation version fragment was the sole medium linking the Immortal Cultivation version and the Great Collapse version.

As early as the previous version, the Celestial Venerable of Eternal Life had suffered a severe blow when Jiang Zhiwei shattered the Gate of Mystery Womb with a single sword, conceptually erasing all traces the Celestial Venerable had left in the Immortal Cultivation version.

Jiang Zhiwei had once implied in his words that the Celestial Venerable of Eternal Life might have been a “this world’s sole existence” who had once interacted with the Immortal Cultivation version and had even received teachings from the Immortal Multitude. In other words, he was an enemy of all Immortals.

Even after establishing a presence in the Great Collapse version by descending a projection of his will, the Celestial Venerable still feared Jiang Zhiwei and the Immortal Cultivation version fragment backed by the Immortal Multitude.

Though Jiang Zhiwei had claimed he couldn’t interfere in the Great Collapse version—saying he didn’t even understand its full state—how could the Celestial Venerable believe that?

If Jiang Zhiwei struck once more, even a “this world’s sole existence” who spanned multiple versions like the Celestial Venerable of Eternal Life might not withstand the blow.

So long as the Immortal Cultivation version fragment existed, the Celestial Venerable dared not act directly against Lu Yan—even with a projection of his will.

Yet the Celestial Venerable had laid his schemes early. From the moment he descended, he sensed that the Great Collapse Heavenly Dao had not yet fully recovered, and that its favor had fallen upon Lu Yan. He foresaw that Lu Yan would one day destroy version fragments and liberate the Great Collapse Heavenly Dao.

Thus, the Celestial Venerable went along with the tide, using Eternal Life to devour numerous version fragments. While descending more projections of his will, he created opportunities for Lu Yan to pressure the major version factions.

Over a month ago, the demonic army from Eternal Life annihilated a version faction that had tried to flee its version fragment. This too was part of the Celestial Venerable’s plan—to push Lu Yan into uniting the various factions and accelerating the destruction of all fragments.

The moment the Destruction Rule obliterated the Immortal Cultivation version fragment, all causality was sealed.

Eternal Life emerged in full, and the power that had veiled Lu Yan’s soul began to recede, finally allowing him to glimpse the truth.

“What a deep scheme! What ruthless calculation!”

Lu Yan’s expression was shaken, unable to remain calm.

The crux of the Celestial Venerable’s plan was his flawless exploitation of Lu Yan’s own greed and desire to survive.

What Lu Yan thought was a path to life—destroying version fragments—had been the true objective of the Celestial Venerable all along.

All of this took place in the blink of an eye. Before Lu Yan could even fully process it, the Eternal Life illusion mirrored in the sky above the Great Collapse version changed once more.

The projection of Eternal Life emitted a dark and ancient radiance, enveloping the entire realm in a mysterious aura.

Then, at the boundary of light and shadow, the sky twisted. Countless streams of light poured down like a rain of stars.

But these lights were not stars—they were tens of thousands of terrifying demons.

Each demon trailed a glowing tail as it fell, not chaotically but in a pattern, as though guided by some supreme force that anchored them to the future.

Deafening rumbles echoed across the land. Space ruptured, laws fractured, and the very foundation of the Great Collapse realm was forcibly twisted.

The ambient energy turned wild and unstable, and the once-calm ley lines surged like awakened dragons.

Where the demons landed, the earth split into deep, bottomless chasms. Black chaotic energy surged forth, devouring all vitality around them.

“How could there be so many demons?!”

Above the Immortal Multitude Alliance’s fortress city, strong cultivators from various versions cried out in disbelief.

Each demon that fell from Eternal Life had at least Golden Core-level cultivation. Even if they scoured the entire realm, they couldn’t find this many Golden Core experts.

And yet Eternal Life, a single version faction, had amassed this terrifying horde.

“No—look closely! These demons show clear signs of space-time distortion. Their time flow doesn’t match the outside world!”

A shout rang out from among the crowd.

The powerhouses quickly examined the demons and realized the truth.

“Time stasis! Eternal Life must have left behind an artifact that halts time long ago. Any being that entered the Great Collapse version and reached a hundred years of age was sealed in a field of suspended time, their age frozen at that moment.

“After thousands—maybe tens of thousands—of years of accumulation, Eternal Life can now unleash such an army!”

Yet understanding the truth was of no help.

These demons, though young, would not reach their natural age limit during this war. The powerhouses would still have to face this army of Golden Core demons.

Dark meteors streaked across the sky, crashing into great cities and igniting war across the Great Collapse realm.

And at the center of the recently shattered Cave Heaven World, a towering demon more than a hundred meters tall fell from the sky like an ancient monolith awakened from forgotten ages. Its fall tore the sky and space into tatters.

This demon’s upper half resembled a skeletal Bodhisattva seated in a twisted lotus pose, its bones studded with countless crimson eyes—each harboring tangible, malignant resentment.

Its lower half was a drifting cloud of black mist—yet this was no ordinary mist, but a swarm of billions of tiny Gu insects capable of devouring all life.

This grotesque creature was none other than the fused form of the Skeletal Bodhisattva, the Thousand-Eyed Shaman Ancestor, and the Ten Thousand Gu Mist—the three peak Nascent Soul demons Lu Yan once wounded.

Now, merged into a single abomination, their combined power had reached the Divine Transformation Realm.

Unlike the so-called True Gods of the Nation of Gods who required faith and fragments of divine kingdoms to wield Divine Transformation-level power, this demon had truly transcended the boundary between mortal and divine.

As it descended, space convulsed, laws unraveled, and all spirit energy was warped into bizarre vortices.

Its bony form rang with metallic chimes, and its crimson eyes locked onto Lu Yan with seething hatred.

The Skeletal Bodhisattva chanted a demonic scripture, emitting syllables no mortal tongue could pronounce.

The chant was filled with hatred—if not for Lu Yan’s earlier use of the Destruction Rule to severely wound them, these demons would never have been forced to merge.

Their boundless hatred became the purest killing intent and surged toward Lu Yan.

“Netherworld!”

Facing the overwhelming might of a Divine Transformation demon, Lu Yan did not hesitate. He raised the Human Emperor Banner and attempted to summon his entire Netherworld Minor World to descend.

Against such a foe, the Netherworld army and even his Gate of Mystery Womb would be powerless.

Only the small world that had once obliterated a True God could help.

The sky cracked open, revealing a vast Netherworld—mountains formed from Human Emperor Qi, the Yellow Spring River surging endlessly.

That realm descended upon the demon, its mountains coalescing into chains formed of rules—chains meant to drag even a Divine Transformation demon into the Netherworld and dissolve it into the original void.

Yet the moment Lu Yan deployed his trump card, the mirrored Eternal Life in the sky trembled.

A mass one hundred—no, a thousand—times larger than the Netherworld blocked the void.

The rift torn by the Human Emperor Banner instantly healed.

Even a Heavenly Dao Merit Artifact could not summon the Netherworld again.

This world was now under Eternal Life’s complete control.

Deprived of its binding, the demon’s countless crimson eyes glowed and released tens of thousands of blood-colored beams that could pulverize mountains. The countless Gu insects in its mist sang a deathly lullaby.

Death loomed. Lu Yan had no time to spare.

“Heavenly Dao!”

These two words rang out like thunder, tearing through time and space, resounding in every corner of the Great Collapse realm.

The Heavenly Dao descended.

Not a physical presence, but the supreme will of order and structure itself. Golden patterns lit up the void—veins of Heaven and Earth forming a grand Dao Diagram that enveloped the entire realm.

In the past, the Great Collapse version was fractured. Whichever version faction controlled a region would impose their rules.

But now, freed from countless version fragments, the true Heavenly Dao had finally returned.

Spirit energy surged. Laws once in chaos now converged toward a singular center.

Mountains, rivers, plants, creatures, even space itself trembled in welcome of this unprecedented Heavenly Dao.

For the first time in this world’s history, the Heavenly Dao descended.

In the center of that vast Dao Diagram, Lu Yan stood, minuscule yet fused with it. He was no longer just Lu Yan—he was the Dao’s embodiment, the executor of order.

This was his pact with the Heavenly Dao—to allow its descent, and in return, to become its vessel, as he once did in the Urban version.

This was his trump card against the Celestial Venerable’s projections.

His cold gaze swept across all beings. Even the massive demon before him was now as insignificant as an insect.

“Punish.”

One word.

It carried the purest power of Heaven—order and law.

The Dao Diagram contracted and transformed into a golden thunderbolt that blasted toward the demon.

The towering demon shuddered in terror, its many eyes filled with dread.

Even though it had transcended the version’s boundaries, it was still a worm before the Dao.

“Venerable! Venerable!”

It cried out, voice laced with panic, calling to a presence slumbering within Eternal Life.

Its skeletal frame trembled. All its eyes turned skyward. The mist of Gu insects spun into resonance, amplifying the call across time and space.

Every demon across the land joined the chant.

“Venerable!”

“Venerable!”

Their chorus pierced the fabric of versions, echoing through the void.

In that moment, Lu Yan glimpsed the threads of fate and saw the truth behind the veil.

A hand emerged from the mirrored Eternal Life—a hand so vast it could cradle galaxies, destroy worlds.

Each palm line reflected countless Daos, bearing a will beyond comprehension.

Even the newly born Heavenly Dao could not resist it.

The Dao Diagram shattered.

Countless laws were crushed under the palm as if fireflies met the stars.

Because Eternal Life still existed as a version fragment, it still held rule over the Great Collapse version. The Heavenly Dao was incomplete—unable to claim full authority.

The Netherworld, the borrowed Heavenly Dao—these were Lu Yan’s final cards. But all had long been woven into the Celestial Venerable’s scheme.

Everything had been calculated since the moment his projection descended. Lu Yan could not escape.

His form began shedding the borrowed power. The illusion of omnipotence faded, falling like dust.

Only the Heavenly Dao struggled on, launching futile strikes of lightning.

It was all in vain.

But hidden beneath its cover, unseen by all, Lu Yan opened his hand.

There, a wisp of Destruction Rule energy swirled—salvaged from the ruins of the Cave Heaven World the moment the Heavenly Dao descended.

Lu Yan knew the Celestial Venerable had predicted all his plans.

Like a grand chessboard, each move had been foreseen.

There was no winning unless an unknown factor disrupted it.

And the only variable beyond the Celestial Venerable’s foresight…

Was the Supreme Divine Ability Seed!

He remembered it clearly: when he had first decided to destroy the Immortal Cultivation version, it reacted—giving him pause.

Had he gone through with it, Eternal Life would’ve descended instantly, and he would’ve died before the Heavenly Dao was even born.

Only the seed’s sudden anomaly gave him pause, prompting him to start with the smaller versions.

Even while his soul was veiled, the Supreme Divine Ability Seed pierced the illusion and granted him a sliver of hope.

This seed—unnoticed even by the Celestial Venerable—was his final, hidden chance.

And now, he would gamble it all.

Lu Yan would use the Destruction Rule to break the Divine Ability Seed and claim the Supreme Divine Ability!

(End of Chapter)