Staying in the sect, controlling beasts and cultivating immortals

The leader of the Sky-Splittering Clan's maniacal laughter echoed within the distorted bone domain, carrying a resolute determination to destroy.

Before the black blood caused by Yu Changsheng's destruction of the pseudo-compass and alteration of the laws with his life essence had solidified, he recklessly activated the resentment of billions of dead souls accumulated under the Bone Tower, turning it into a dark and viscous torrent that frantically poured into the chaotic source core that was floating in the void of the Burial God's remains and was trembling and expanding violently due to the conflict of laws!
The core was no longer in embryonic form, but rather resembled a deformed heart that had been forcibly inflated and was covered with filthy, dark purple blood vessels. Every beat caused the entire Burial God Bone Domain and even the surrounding Broken Ridge Cliff battlefield to tremble violently.

Terrifying energy was clashing, annihilating, and superimposing wildly within the core, teetering on the brink of explosion.

Once detonated, its power would be enough to completely erase Burial God Ridge from the spatial level. Yu Changsheng and Wang Cheng, who would be the first to be hit, would have no chance of survival, and it might even tear apart the barrier of Purple Mountain!

"Your Majesty!" Wang Cheng's eyes widened in horror.

He had just sacrificed the very essence of his Chaos Bone Arm to smash several out-of-control skeletal golems blocking his path, and rushed to Yu Changsheng's vicinity, where he saw the world-destroying energy gathering in the leader's hand.

Without the slightest hesitation, Wang Cheng's burly body burst forth with unprecedented speed, and the crimson gold and dark light intertwined on his chaotic bone arm blazed brighter than ever before. He actually took the initiative to meet the altar where the core and leader were about to erupt! He wanted to use his body as a shield to buy Yu Changsheng a chance to live, even if it meant being shattered to pieces.

The warriors of the wedge formation let out a mournful roar in the distance, trying to break through the denser blockade of golems.

"Wang Cheng! Step back!" Yu Changsheng's voice was hoarse but carried an undeniable authority.

He understood the terror of the Chaos Origin Core explosion better than Wang Cheng. It was not just physical destruction, but also contained the Dao of Annihilation that could pollute and assimilate everything. No matter how strong Wang Cheng's Chaos Bone Arm was, it could not completely resist it.

At this critical moment, Yu Changsheng's cracked imperial body suddenly straightened up, and his purple-gold eyes, which had been dimmed by the pain and loss of his essence, now burst forth with a sharp light that pierced through illusion.

His gaze pierced through the chaotic core on the verge of explosion, locking onto the hand of the Rift King, which was holding up a ball of light and trembling slightly as he forcefully activated the ritual. In the instant the pseudo-compass was destroyed and the power backfired, the sleeve of his cloak slipped down, revealing the skin of his wrist, which had an inhuman, glassy bone-like texture. On it flowed ancient, deathly runes of the same origin as the remains of the Buried God, which were chilling!
A chilling thought struck Yu Changsheng like lightning, confirming his previous understanding of the "key" and pointing to the deeper identity of the leader of the Sky Rift!
Meanwhile, Wang Cheng's Arrowhead Assault Fleet was locked in a fierce battle with the main force of Burial God Ridge at Broken Ridge Cliff.

The warships, modified with the armor of the Ruins of Return, were riddled with wounds under the barrage of the withered light curtain and the dense barrage of bone spears from the God of Burial Guards, with ships constantly falling into the air trailing thick smoke.

Wang Cheng's leading from the front and the ferocious power of the Chaos Bone Arm attracted most of the firepower, creating space for the rear assault.

"Demon Slayer Army! Follow me and pierce through them!" Wang Cheng roared, his bone arm transforming into a giant blade that swept across, slicing several Burial God Guards in two, along with their bone armor. Crimson-gold chaotic blood and the enemy's filthy bone fragments flew together.

He was burning with anxiety. The terrifying fluctuations from the Emperor's side terrified him, but he knew that his mission at this moment was to stay here, share the burden for the Emperor, and create opportunities for the other side's actions.

Just as Wang Cheng's violent charge tore a hole in the formation of the Burial God Guards, a sudden change occurred!
Boom! Boom! Rumble—!
Deep within the Burial God Ridge, from the direction of the Death Wind Valley and the Corruption Spring, earth-shattering roars erupted almost simultaneously!
It's the Bone Tower! The core node of the Thousand Miasma Annihilation Array!
In the direction of Death Wind Valley, the pale energy pillar representing the Bone Tower suddenly twisted and dimmed, then collapsed like a giant tree that had been cut in half. Countless shattered bone fragments, carrying with them the out-of-control energy of the Death Wind of Annihilation, shot out in all directions, instantly engulfing the nearby Burial God Guard patrol team and fortifications.

The Bone Tower, located towards the Rotten Spring, was shattered by a piercing sound, like breaking glass. Starting from its base, the rune-infused bones crumbled inch by inch, and gushing putrid spring water mixed with bone fragments shot into the sky, forming a deadly rain of poison.

The Thousand Miasma Annihilation Array was successfully and severely damaged by the "Rotten Swamp Thunder"!
The disruption of the grand formation was instantly reflected in the entire defensive system of Burial God Ridge.

On the battlefield of Broken Ridge Cliff, the withered light curtain that enveloped the battlefield fluctuated violently, its light flickering and its power greatly reduced.

The skeletal golems controlled by the great formation and the core of the Burial God Bone Domain also showed obvious sluggishness and chaos in their movements, and some even stood frozen in place due to the interruption of energy circuits.

"It's done! Night Owl and Green Firefly are a success!" Wang Cheng was overjoyed, and the pressure eased dramatically.

"Brothers! Our ally from the Miasma Spirit Clan has succeeded! The Sky Rift Alliance's shell has been breached! Follow me and kill!"

The remnants of the Guixu Camp and the Demon Slaughter Army were in high spirits and launched an even fiercer counterattack, instantly causing the Burial God Guard's defensive line, which had fallen into chaos due to the disorder of the formation, to teeter on the brink of collapse.

Those two bone towers are not only the array eyes of the Thousand Miasma Annihilation Array, but also an important conduit used by the leader of the Sky Rift to gather and guide the resentment of the dead souls into the core of the Chaos Source!
Their destruction directly interrupted the torrent of the energy of the dead, causing the chaotic source core, which was about to explode, to suddenly stop expanding like a beast with its neck being choked!
"No—! Insects have ruined my grand plan!" The leader of the Sky-Splitting Clan let out a furious shriek, his crimson eyes piercing through the cloak as he stared intently at the direction where the Bone Tower had collapsed.

The forced initiation of the ritual was interrupted, and the backlash once again impacted his soul, causing him to sway. The bone array plate he was controlling flashed wildly, further weakening his control over the Chaos Origin Core.

It's now!

Yu Changsheng seized this fleeting but fatal flaw!

Ignoring the excruciating pain of his Dao Foundation collapsing and the weakness of his Emperor Blood nearly depleted, he poured all his last will and remaining power—including the sliver of understanding of the "True Key" he had just gained from destroying the pseudo-compass—into the cracked, seemingly on the verge of disintegration sword in his hand!

"Nirvana is not the end, the return to the void is destined! With my imperial blood, I call upon your true name, and anchor the key to the void!"

Om-!
The Sword of Annihilation emitted an unprecedented mournful cry, and at the hilt, the core gray dot of the Returning Void Star Orbit Compass suddenly burst forth with a dazzling yet incomparably pure gray light!
This light is no longer merely a symbol of annihilation, but also contains the aura of a supreme law that penetrates illusion, restores order, and anchors time and space!

It resonated strongly with the spatial laws inherent in Yu Changsheng's Purple-Gold Emperor Blood, and the cracks on the sword seemed to transform into strange veins flowing with purple-gold and gray light. The sword's point was not at the Sky-Splitting Leader, but at the chaotic source core about to explode!
Swish!
A condensed, grayish-purple sword light, disregarding spatial distance, instantly pierced the center of the raging chaotic source essence core!
There was no earth-shattering explosion; time seemed to freeze at that moment.

That wildly expanding core, brimming with destructive energy, was like a raging sea tossed into a stabilizing needle!

Wherever the gray-purple sword light reached, the energy torrents that were frantically clashing and annihilating inside the core were as if they were being forcibly sorted out and smoothed out by an invisible hand!
The resentment of the dead and the pollution of annihilation that the leader of the Sky Rift forcibly injected through the pseudo-compass to tamper with the laws and detonate the core were quickly purified, dispelled, and stripped away by the pure gray anchoring power, as if it had encountered its nemesis!
The expansion of the Chaos Source Core stopped, the light of the filthy blood vessels on the surface dimmed rapidly, and the suffocating, destructive pressure receded like a tide.

It regained its relatively stable, deep and dark spherical shape, only its volume had shrunk by nearly half. It floated quietly in the void of the remains of the Burial God, with a faint gray-purple light occasionally flashing across its surface—that was the mark left by the anchoring power of the Annihilation Sword.

"Pfft—!" The leader of the Sky-Splitting Clan once again spat out a large amount of black blood containing shards of glass, and his aura instantly weakened. He stared incredulously at the Chaos Origin Core that had been forcibly "pacified," and at the anchoring light of the Annihilation Sword flowing on it, and let out a beast-like roar of unwillingness.

"Impossible! The Annihilation Sword... the True Key... can actually... counter the Source Core?!"

Yu Changsheng's attack was successful, but his imperial body could no longer support him. He staggered and fell heavily to one knee on the glass-like skeletal ground. The Annihilation Sword was deeply embedded in the ground to support him. The cracks on the sword seemed to have increased, and its light was extremely dim. Only the gray spot on the hilt was still throbbing stubbornly, proving that it had not completely collapsed.

He was breathing heavily, each breath aggravating the cracks in his Dao foundation that covered his entire body, bringing a soul-tearing pain. Purple-gold imperial blood dripped continuously from the corners of his mouth and the cracks, scorching small pits into the glassy bone ground.

But when he raised his head, his bloodshot eyes, strained from exhaustion, were fixed on the leader of the Sky Rift, who was also in poor condition due to the backlash. His icy gaze seemed to pierce through the heavy cloak.

“I see…” Yu Changsheng’s voice was hoarse and deep, yet it carried a penetrating power that seemed to see through everything.

"The remains of the buried god are the handle of the key, the fragments of the Chaos Source Core are the source of the key, and the 'key' itself has never been an inanimate object."

He struggled to his feet, using the Annihilation Sword for support, and slowly stood up, the tip of the sword pointing at the leader of the Sky-Splitting Clan.

"You! Leader of the Rending Heavens! You are the core 'mechanism' of that complete key! Or rather, you are the remains of the first emperor of the divine dynasty, forcibly forged into this 'key'! Only an imperial body that has borne the imperial seal and governed the nation's destiny can serve as a medium to forcibly fuse the 'handle' of annihilation with the 'source' of chaos, opening that ultimate gate! The Rending Heavens Alliance... what a grand scheme, daring to desecrate the remains of the former emperor!"

As soon as these words were spoken, it was like thunder exploding!

Even Wang Cheng, who was fighting the out-of-control skeletal golem in the distance, was shaken to his core! The First Emperor?!
The remains of that legendary founding emperor became the shell of the Sky-Splitting Leader and part of the Key to Destruction.

This blasphemy and betrayal instantly ignited the fury in Wang Cheng's chest to its extreme, causing the Chaos Bone Arm to unleash even more ferocious power.

"You have desecrated the Emperor's remains! You deserve to die! Leader, prepare to die!"

The crimson eyes beneath the cloak of the Skybreaker leader flickered violently, as if his deepest secret had been exposed, but he then let out an even more maniacal laugh.

"Hehehe, Yu Changsheng, so what if you know? It's too late! Even if the Bone Tower is destroyed, even if the pseudo-compass is broken, even if you temporarily fix this core... the prototype of the 'key' has been formed! The handle, the source, and the mechanism are all in this domain, and the resonance of annihilation can no longer be stopped! The door... will eventually open! You will all be sacrifices for the restart of the Ruins!"

As he spoke his mad words, the space above the altar at the core of the Burial God Bone Domain, which was guarded by three huge bone towers, suddenly began to fold and distort in a strange way!
It wasn't the leader who took the initiative, but rather the collision between the True Key power of the Annihilation Sword and the Chaos Source Core, plus the fragments of altered laws scattered when the pseudo-compass collapsed earlier. The three intertwined and unexpectedly and uncontrollably pried open the deepest structure of this space!
A "point" that is far deeper and more ancient than the previous Gate of Return to Nothingness, and that exudes an aura that brings about the end of all things, is slowly emerging above the altar.

The true, ultimate gate belonging to the origin of "annihilation and return to nothingness" has begun to manifest itself in a way that no one could have predicted or controlled!
"Not good!" Mo Heng, who had been monitoring the entire situation through the Guixu Camp formation at the central hub of the Purple Mountain Barrier, changed his expression drastically. The energy reading on the light screen representing the core of the Burial God Bone Domain instantly soared to an incomprehensible and terrifying level, and the spatial structure parameters frantically alarmed.

"Your Majesty! General Wang Cheng! Retreat! The spatial anchor is collapsing! The true 'Eye of the Ruins'... is about to open!"

Chen Xueqing sat upright on the jade lotus platform, doing her best to maintain the barrier and the Qingzhou's fortune line. At this moment, she also felt a cold tremor from the depths of her soul, as if she were being stared at by that distant "hole". Ignoring the loss of her own source, she pushed the purifying holy light of the Pure World Lotus to its limit.

Yu Changsheng and Wang Cheng also felt the earth-shattering suction force, as if the entire Burial God Bone Domain had become a huge vortex, dragging them, along with all matter, energy, and even laws, into that eternal nothingness.

"Your Majesty!" Despite the violent suction, Wang Cheng moved closer to Yu Changsheng again, his chaotic bone arm gripping a huge piece of skeletal ground, carving deep furrows beneath his feet.

Yu Changsheng gripped the Annihilation Sword tightly, the gray dots at the hilt throbbing wildly, resisting the suction force. He looked at the slowly forming "Eye of Return to Nothingness," at the laughing leader of the Sky-Splitting Clan, at the shattered remains of the Burial God and the Chaos Core being pulled apart by the suction force, and then at the soldiers still fighting in the distance and the faint light of the Purple Mountain Barrier.

His gaze fell upon the Rift King, who was in equally poor condition and being pulled by the suction force, then upon Wang Cheng's bony arm burning with chaotic blood and qi, and finally upon the Annihilation Sword in his hand, which resonated subtly with the Eye of Return to Nothingness.

"Wang Cheng!" Yu Changsheng roared with all his might, his voice almost torn apart by the terrifying suction vortex.

"Trust me! Help me... sever this 'mechanism'! Seize its source, seize its handle! Only by breaking the 'key' can we... seal this 'eye'!" (End of Chapter)