National Star Sea Era...

However, this is not over yet.

Before the pale radiance of the transcendent self-destruction had completely dissipated, at the center of that destructive energy, a brand new, more vast, more majestic, and truly 12th-order transcendent aura, like a primordial beast emerging from its cocoon, roared down.

A chilling voice, seemingly imbued with the supreme authority of the heavens and the starry sea, resounded clearly behind the two severely injured and still-shaken transcendent demons, traversing endless space:

Let's join forces!

Before the words were finished, a gigantic handprint formed from endless purple mist, obscuring the sky and the sun, tore through the void of Guixu Abyss, as if it were pressing down directly from the other side of the starry sea.

The power of primordial rules flowed over the handprint, carrying a rich aura of suppression, its target being the two injured transcendent demons.

It was the full-force attack from the transcendent projection of the Heavenly Ruins Market after advancing to the eleventh rank.

At the same time, the four transcendent beings of the Divine Continent, including the Father of the Sand Sea and the Ancestor of Burning Heaven, who were originally on the verge of death and whose bodies were almost completely dissipated, simultaneously unleashed their last glimmer of light in their eyes.

"Sand burial of the heavens!"

"Burning the Realm!"

"Divine Land Suppresses Demons!"

"Return to the Origin of Chaos!"

Four roars, each imbued with their last primal power, resounded. Quicksand, ancestral fire, the phantom of the divine mountain, chaotic energy... four terrifying attacks, each a swan song, condensed their final strength, crashed head-on into the two Abyss Transcendent Demons, who were suppressed by the projection of the ruins in front and had no way to retreat behind.

Caught in a pincer attack, there was no way to avoid it!
"Do not!!!"

Amidst the terrified roars of the two abyss demons, the purple giant hand of the market and the four divine continental chants attacked, closing together like two destructive millstones.

Boom——

An energy storm, even more terrifying than the previous self-destruction of the skeletal giant, swept out.

When the light faded, the two already injured abyss demons had vanished, leaving behind only two wisps of pure abyssal demonic energy and some broken fragments of rules.

The aftershocks of the earth-shattering combined attack had not yet completely subsided, and the figures of the four transcendent beings from the divine land, including the Father of the Sand Sea and the Ancestor of Burning Heaven, had become extremely illusory, like candles flickering in the wind, ready to be extinguished at any moment.

The first thing to shatter was the massive quicksand body of the Father of the Sand Sea, which turned into specks of light and was forcibly sent back to the Chaos God Continent by the powerful repulsive force of the Ruins of Return.

Immediately afterwards, the Burning Heaven Ancestor and the other two transcendent beings from the divine realm also dissipated and departed with resentment.

The reinforcements from the Chaos God Continent have now completely withdrawn from the battlefield.

However, the atmosphere on the battlefield now is completely different from when they first arrived.

On the other side of the abyss, of the original nine transcendent demon gods, four have perished under Song Chi's series of thunderous methods, leaving only five transcendent combat power.

On the allied side, although they lost four powerful ally from the Divine Continent, they still had five transcendent combatants: the God King of Rending Heaven, the Eternal Ancestor, the Mother of All Machines, the God Lord of Origin Star, and Song Chi (who exists in the form of a projection of the market) who had just demonstrated terrifying strength and was in charge of the upgraded Heavenly Market.

The top combat forces of both sides have miraculously returned to the same starting line at this moment.

"Hmph! So what if it's a draw? The dimensional ascension ritual is irreversible. Once the ritual is complete, the will of the abyss will be completely transformed, and you will all become resources!" The demon god holding the [Dimensional Anchor] spoke coldly, attempting to shake the allied forces' resolve.

The expressions of the Sky-Splitting God King and the others were solemn. They could sense that the dimensional fluctuations that were pulling the entire abyss's origin from the deepest part of the Guixu Abyss were becoming stronger and stronger, as if the final leap could be completed at any moment.

Could it be that... despite paying such a heavy price, it was ultimately impossible to stop it?

Just as the atmosphere became tense, with both sides transcending their mutual stalemate and restraint, and the battle seemingly about to descend into a new round of brutal tug-of-war—

The Sky Ruins, which had been hovering at the edge of the battlefield in a holographic state, suddenly shed its disguise, revealing its massive hull like a ghost.

Instead of engaging in the confrontation, it unleashed several powerful traction beams from beneath its hull, swiftly and accurately striking the three Transcendent Demon corpses floating in the void.

"Stop him!" A transcendent mind-stealing demon roared sharply, realizing something was wrong.

However, would the God-King of Rending Heaven and the Eternal Ancestor allow them to succeed?
"Your opponent is us!"

The God King of Rending Heaven roared, and the light of the [Heaven-Opening Axe] rose again, tightly binding the demon race that wanted to intercept him. The Eternal Ancestor's River of Time swept through, blocking a Mind-Stealing Demon. The mechanical torrent of the Mother of All Machines and the remaining star power of the Origin Star God Lord also erupted at the same time, blocking the last two demon gods.

During this brief lull in the obstruction, the Sky Ruins had already successfully captured three transcendent corpses into its cabin.

The next moment, the three corpses in the depths of the ship's cabin disappeared at the same time. In the Void City of Heaven, the power of the transcendent mythical status descended and continued to act on the four transcendent demon corpses.

Soon, the flesh and blood of the four transcendent corpses were quickly stripped away, leaving only the skeletons containing the principles of transcendence and the characteristics of immortality.

Once the four immortal skeletons were returned to the Sky Ruins, the [Skeleton Tomb] component unleashed an unprecedented devouring power, instantly throwing the four transcendent skeletons into it, where they were greedily absorbed and smelted by the component.

The progress bar for "Summoning the Skeleton Giant," which had been in a long cooldown period due to its self-destruction and required a massive amount of high-level skeletons to accumulate progress again, was now skyrocketing like a rocket.

One percent...ten percent...fifty percent...one hundred percent.

Om-!
A familiar, chilling, deathly silence, emanating from within the Sky Ruins Sky, erupted once more!
Under the gaze of countless awe-inspiring eyes, another transcendent skeletal giant, towering like a mountain, its entire body shimmering with a pale luster, and its eye sockets burning with ghostly blue soul fire, tore through the void and descended with overwhelming force.

"Impossible!!" The remaining five transcendent demon gods from the Abyss were almost simultaneously speechless, their eyes filled with disbelief and horror.

It had only just self-destructed, yet it could summon again in such a short time? This kind of heaven-defying summoning method was completely beyond their comprehension.

However, what terrified them even more was yet to come.

This newly formed transcendent skeletal giant did not join the transcendent battlefield. Instead, under Song Chi's precise control, the massive skeletal skull turned towards the deepest part of the Guixu Abyss, towards the direction from which the dimensional fluctuations emanated. The next second, it took heavy steps, each one shattering the void, ignoring all obstacles along the way, and launched a desperate charge towards the core of the abyss's dimensional ascension.

Its goal is not to participate in the war at all, but... to destroy the dimensional ascension ritual!
"Stop it! At all costs!!" The demon god wielding the [Dimensional Anchor] roared almost madly, unable to remain calm any longer. If the dimensional ascension ritual were interrupted, the abyss's plans spanning countless epochs would be in vain.

The remaining five Abyss Transcendent beings, like madmen, tried to shake off their opponents and intercept the Bone Giant.

"Don't think about it!"

"Stay here for me!"

The God King of Rending Heaven, the Eternal Ancestor, the Mother of All Machines, and Song Chi (projection of the Ruins) simultaneously unleashed their strongest power, like several insurmountable chasms, firmly blocking the five Abyss Demon Gods.

Boom boom boom——!
The battle, which transcended the battlefield, instantly entered its most intense phase, with rules collapsing and energy annihilating every second.

The unstoppable skeletal giant, carrying the last hope of the celestial cosmos, drew ever closer to the abyss's core, the key to destiny.

The final victory rests on the shoulders of this fearless skeletal giant.

……

The skeletal giant shattered the void, each step traversing an endless distance, and the twisted, writhing core of the abyss deep within the Ruins of Return was now close at hand.

It was a massive, tumor-like structure formed from countless chaotic rules, boundless magical energy, and the essence of countless living beings' flesh and blood. Its surface was covered with pulsating blood vessels and flickering eerie runes, emitting a nauseating yet incredibly powerful dimensional fluctuation.

"Stop it!" Song Chi's will, passing through the skeletal giant, sensed the imminent formation of the leaping power and held nothing back.

The soul fire in the skeletal giant's eye sockets burned to its limit, and the [Time Spirit Spear] in its hand erupted with unprecedented temporal turbulence, stirring up the surrounding rules and making them extremely unstable.

It raised its spear high, gathering all the deathly power and the laws of time in its body at the spear tip, transforming it into a pale torrent that pierced through the void, fiercely stabbing towards the ascended core.

Rumble——! ! !
The pale torrent collided violently with the ascended core, countless runes shattered amidst wails, pulsating blood vessels burst, and pure magical energy and flesh essence poured out like a flood bursting its banks. Under the relentless attack of the skeletal giant, the stable ascended structure began to tremble violently, revealing countless spiderweb-like cracks.

"No—!!!" In the distance, the Abyss Transcendent beings who were fighting fiercely with the Sky-Splitting God King and others let out a desperate roar. They could clearly feel that the ritual to maintain their dimensional ascension was being forcibly interrupted.

Click!

With a cracking sound as if the very foundation of the world had crumbled, the enormous, fleshy core suddenly collapsed inward before exploding with a deafening roar. A massive amount of energy and matter erupted outward like molten lava, forcing the skeletal giant to retreat repeatedly, its skeletal body riddled with cracks.

The upward fluctuations came to an abrupt end.

Succeeded?
Just as a glimmer of hope arose in the hearts of the God King of Rending Heaven, the Eternal Ancestor, and others, Song Chi sensed an even more bizarre and unsettling change through the Bone Giant.

The core energy that exploded out did not completely dissipate. Instead, under the guidance of some residual will, it began to forcefully attack a higher dimension in a distorted and incomplete way.

A terrifying pressure, far larger and more majestic than before, with obvious higher-dimensional characteristics, descended upon the entire Guixu Abyss like an invisible tsunami, and rapidly spread to all parts of the bottomless abyss and even the surrounding star sea.

"This is...?!" The God King of Rending Heaven's pupils shrank drastically.

"The ascension has not completely stopped..." The Eternal Ancestor's voice was deep, with a hint of understanding and helplessness, "It was interrupted in its perfect process, but relying on the vast foundation it had accumulated before, it forcibly began an incomplete leap... This is... about to step into the 'half-step higher dimension' realm!"

As if to confirm its words, the entire abyss began to tremble violently, and the rules were undergoing earth-shattering changes. A unique status that transcended ordinary star sea dimensions, yet had not yet completely transcended them, was struggling to condense and take shape.

This means that although the Abyss failed to achieve its goal of completely ascending to a higher dimension and breaking away from this sea of ​​stars, it will break free from its original constraints and rise to a semi-higher dimension, on par with the "Chaotic Divine Continent"!

It will take away half of the dimensional authority that the Chaos God Continent has enjoyed for countless eras.

This news was undoubtedly a heavy blow to the Chaos God Continent.

However, for all the races in the celestial sphere, this was a stroke of good fortune amidst misfortune.

Because this incomplete, forced leap is extremely unstable, but its energy consumption is far less than that of a perfect dimensional ascension.

The vast amounts of blood essence, stellar origins, and civilizational fortune that the Abyss had previously plundered from the myriad stars now seemed "excessive." In order to complete this difficult half-step leap, the Abyss's will had to continuously and massively expel these "redundant" resources that it could not fully bear during the leap process.

A magnificent yet tragic "rain of light" began to fall over the Guixu Abyss and throughout the entire bottomless abyss.

Those were the pure essence of life, fragments of broken rules, and the core power of stars... They were released from the shackles of the abyss, transformed into specks of light, and returned to the embrace of the myriad stars.

The return of these primordial forces will greatly alleviate the decline of the celestial cosmos that may last for countless epochs due to this calamity, preserving the most precious spark for the recuperation and future revival of all civilizations.

On the battlefield, the surviving Allied soldiers looked up at the "rain of redemption," their hearts filled with mixed emotions: the relief of surviving a catastrophe, the sorrow for their fallen comrades, and the uncertainty and faint hope for the future.

The five Abyss Transcendent beings also ceased their frenzied attacks. They sensed the dramatic changes taking place in the Abyss and the continuous loss of their essence, their expressions incredibly complex.

The plan... ultimately failed. Although it wasn't a complete disaster, it was a far cry from the initial ambition.

Song Chi controlled the battered skeletal giant, which hovered silently above the ruins of the shattered dimensional core, gazing at the bottomless abyss that was struggling to undergo a dimensional leap.

He did it.

Although it failed to prevent the abyss from becoming stronger, it protected the civilization of the Flame and reclaimed a glimmer of hope for the myriad stars.

However, these are not the main points at the moment. With the reversal of the situation, the situation that the All-Star Alliance faces has been completely reversed. They have gone from being the attackers to being the retreaters.

Because once the Abyss completes its semi-dimensional ascension, under the blessing of the entire Abyss Will, the combat power of the Abyss Demons will be greatly enhanced. Conversely, these outsiders will be subjected to endless suppression and must quickly and completely plunge into the Abyss.

Similar to the Chaos Divine Continent, once the dimensional ascension is complete, the mythical existence of the Abyss Demons will be greatly restricted, making it impossible for them to recklessly trespass into the myriad star seas. In other words, as long as the allied forces withdraw to the star seas, the subsequent crisis will cease to exist. (End of Chapter)