Living in the deep palace

“Daozu…”

Gu Chenzi and the others looked at Su Chen with eyes full of reluctance.

Su Chen smiled.

“I am not leaving, but rather…paving the way.”

He slowly opened his hands.

In his palm, that jet-black lotus petal, obtained from the incarnation of the "Lord of the Underworld Lotus," lay quietly.

A hundred years ago, Su Chen regarded it as a "death warrant" and a "key".

A hundred years later, Su Chen had reached the "Great Luo Perfection" and was already at the "quasi-Fifth Realm".

He looked at the lotus petals again.

It is no longer a "threat".

But...

"coordinate."

Su Chen's supreme divine sense of "Great Luo Perfection" surged into the "lotus petals"!
"Om-!"

Under Su Chen's "Fifth Realm" will, the lotus petals could no longer conceal any secrets!
"boom!"

Within Su Chen's sea of ​​consciousness, a vast and boundless "star map" exploded!
That is not a star map of the "sky and sea of ​​stars".

That is the star map of the "Ruins Domain"!

At the end of that star map, in the center of that endless "chaos" and "deathly silence".

One flower, concealing billions upon billions of "cosmic debris"...

The jet-black lotus is slowly...

Bloom!

"The Holy Lord of the Underworld Lotus..."

Endless killing intent burst forth from Su Chen's "Chaotic Dao Eye"!
"I've found you."

"boom--!"

Su Chen no longer hesitated.

Having fought with the Underworld Lotus Saint Lord for so many years, Su Chen had long understood his opponent's strength; he was definitely a bottom-tier opponent in the Fifth Realm.

Otherwise, after all these years, I would have found an opportunity to kill him long ago.

today.

He killed Minglian, a fifth-realm expert, to bring complete peace to the Star Sea!
His supreme power, originating from the "Jianmu axis," erupted with a thunderous roar!
At this moment, the "repulsive force" from the "sky and sea of ​​stars" transformed into his most powerful "push force"!
"The Great Luo Law - [Emptiness]!"

"Nether Lotus Beacon - Leap!"

Su Chen used the "lotus petals" as "coordinates," the power of the "Jianmu tree," and the "repulsion" of the "sky and starry sea" as "power"!
"Tsk-!"

He actually tore apart the barrier separating the "real world" from the "ruins" with his bare hands...

"Chaotic Fault"!
At this moment, the "Jianmu Taiyi Life and Death Dao Formation" opened a "door" for him!
"Everyone, see you later."

Su Chen turned around and took one last look at Gu Chenzi and the others.

He took one step forward.

He stepped into that land, a place he had never set foot in for five million years...

unknown!

and……

confusion!

"Respectfully bidding farewell to the Dao Ancestor (Our Lord)!!"

Gu Chenzi and the twenty Venerables led the billions of reborn "Immortal" cultivators of the "Azure Star Sea" to prostrate themselves before the vanished "Space-Time Rift"!

they know.

Their "Taoist Ancestor" did not "ascend to heaven".

he is……

Embark on the "journey"!
Go and eliminate that... final "threat" for this newborn universe!
……

……

Time and space seemed to regress rapidly beneath Su Chen's feet, then twist wildly before his eyes.

He passed through the "chaotic fault line" that was so thick it could "crush" any "fourth realm".

The next instant, Su Chen's figure stepped heavily into a completely new "world"!
"boom!"

An aura, more "decayed" than the "Nether Lotus Territory," more "ancient" than the "Azure Star Sea," and more "chaotic" than "chaos," swept over us!

"This is the 'Ruins Domain'..."

Su Chen stood in the void, and his "Great Luo Perfection" Dao body sank slightly at this moment.

The laws governing this "world" are "broken"!

Su Chen looked up.

There are no "stars".

There is no "Great Way".

What comes into view is...

Endless "cosmic debris"!
Pieces of "world fragments," larger than "starfields" and long "dead," float like "duckweed" in this "dead" "black sea."

The sky is eternally "pitch black".

Spacetime is a chaotic "storm".

The "spiritual energy" here...

No, there is no "spiritual energy" here.

There was one, but it was a kind of energy that Su Chen had never felt before—cold, violent, and filled with an aura of "end" and "destruction."

"Void energy..."

Su Chen took a deep breath.

"boom!"

The moment that "Void Qi" entered his body, it transformed into countless "demonic thoughts" that wanted to "contaminate" his "Great Luo Dao Fruit"!
"Ah."

Su Chen sneered.

Within his "Jianmu axis," the law of [Wu] suddenly trembled!
"Om-!"

That violent "Void Qi" was like a "subject" encountering a "king" in the face of the "[Waste]" law!
Not only did it not "pollute" him, but it was also influenced by the law of "【芜】"...

"Assimilation" and "absorption"!
It transformed into Su Chen's purest "nourishment"!
"I see."

"The Calamity is chaos."

"The Nether Lotus is [decay]."

"but me……"

“It is [芜].

"In this 'Ruins Domain,' my Dao of Desolation is actually... the true master!"

Su Chen understood.

This "ruins" is the "graveyard" of the "universe".

His "【芜】" represents the "order" of the "graveyard"!
He is the natural enemy of this place!

“Nether Lotus…” Su Chen gripped the scalding hot “lotus petal” tightly.

It was guiding him to the deepest part of the "Black Sea".

"Boom--!"

Just as Su Chen was about to set off.

A terrifying "malice," no less than that of the "Great Perfection of the Fourth Realm," suddenly emanated from the "black sea" beneath his feet...

Wake up!
"Roar--!"

A chaotic behemoth, formed from billions of "cosmic debris" and "resentment," suddenly burst through the "Black Sea"!
That behemoth had no "form".

It is the "manifestation" of "chaos"!
It opened its enormous maw, enough to devour an entire star field, and fiercely lunged at Su Chen, this "outsider"...

This "delicious" "live creature"...

It bit at me!

"Void Beast?"

The image of the giant beast was reflected in Su Chen's "Chaotic Dao Eye".

"The Great Perfection of the Fourth Realm?"

"Ah."

Su Chen smiled.

“You are the first ‘sacrifice’ I have slain in this ‘Ruins’.”

Faced with the "devouring" of the "Void Beast" that had reached the "Great Perfection of the Fourth Realm".

Su Chen didn't even use the "Jianmu" (建木).

He simply raised his hand slowly.

It was aimed at that "Void Beast".

His Daoist majesty, at the pinnacle of the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm, transformed into a single word at this moment. A word representing "end" and "negation"...

Imperial decree!

“【芜】”

"Om-!"

There were no earth-shattering explosions.

A collision without rules.

only……

"negative".

That "Void Beast" at the "Fourth Realm Great Perfection," that "chaotic" "manifestation"...

Its "devouring" action...

It's frozen!
Its "violent" "will"...

It's frozen!
Its very existence...

at this moment!
Su Chen's "[Waste]" rule...

It has been "denied"!

"Roar……?"

The "Void Beast" let out a final, questioning growl.

As if asking:

"who I am?"

"where am I?"

Did I... ever exist?

next moment.

"Tsk-!"

That enormous "Void Beast" that "obscured" Su Chen's "vision," that "terrifying existence" at the "Great Perfection of the Fourth Realm"...

Like a painting...

Being "erased"...

It's wiped off!
It disappeared.

It was "[Waste]"...

Completely "annihilate"!
Not even a trace of residue was left!
"Even the fourth realm, when perfected, is but... a finger's breadth."

Su Chen slowly withdrew his hand.

His Dao power, which was at the "quasi-fifth realm," revealed its most "terrifying" "fangs" in this "ruins domain"!
He is the "newborn" "Taoist Ancestor".

He is also the "Grim Reaper" of "End"!
Su Chen's gaze pierced through the endless "Void Qi" and looked toward the "end" indicated by the "lotus petals".

"The Holy Lord of the Underworld Lotus..."

"Your 'key' has transformed into a 'sharp sword'."

"I am Su Chen."

"Come... and I'll take your life!"

He took a step forward, his figure transforming into a streak of azure light that tore through the darkness of the "Ruins Domain," crashing straight toward the lair of the Fifth Realm!

……

……

Along the way.

The Ruins are the eternal abode of death and chaos.

Su Chen's figure was like a streak of light, traversing this dark sea constructed of cosmic debris.

His divine sense, perfected at the Great Luo Golden Immortal level, had already spread out, covering billions of miles of space and time.

The jet-black lotus petal in his palm was radiating an increasingly intense heat, like a lighthouse guiding him through the fog.

In this desolate realm, the concepts of time and space have long been shattered. One moment he was beside a galaxy remnant burning with the flames of time and space, the next he had stepped into a void glacier frozen at absolute zero.

He saw many things along the way.

He saw more Void Beasts.

These beings are aggregates of resentment and broken paths after the death of the universe.

They come in all shapes and sizes; some are like floating continents with forests formed from crystallized laws growing on their backs; others are like invisible shadows, weaving through the cracks of space and time, devouring everything.

Most of them lack intelligence and possess only the instinct to devour and destroy.

"Indeed, the higher the level of the world, the more powerful the beings."

“And these creatures are ignorant and unaware.”

"Tsk, tsk."

"Fortunately, there is the protection of the boundary wall; otherwise, any one of them rushing into the sea of ​​stars would be a huge disaster."

"Speaking of which, where exactly is that Minglian guy hiding...?"

"Back in Xinghai, wasn't he so desperate to kill me? Now that I've come looking for him, I can't find him."

"Ever since the Tianbuyu Organization, I've always wanted to eliminate this Minglian! Now I finally have the chance."

Faced with Su Chen's near-fifth realm Dao power, these Void Beasts, at the weakest being Golden Immortal level and at the strongest comparable to the Great Perfection of the Fourth Realm, did not even have the qualification to get close to him.

Whenever malice approaches, the Law of Desolation on the core of the Jianmu tree will activate on its own.

An invisible force of negation swept over, and those violent Void Beasts silently disappeared during their charge.

It was as if their existence had been erased by the order of this graveyard.

Su Chen has become the most terrifying taboo in this desolate region.

"This desolate area is not entirely lifeless."

Su Chen's divine sense detected some creatures hidden deep within the cosmic debris. They were distorted beings, no longer human, yet still retaining their intelligence—wanderers of the void.

They appear to be survivors of a universe that was destroyed.

They adapted to the violent, desolate atmosphere and cultivated strange, desolate paths, scavenging for a living like hyenas in this graveyard.

When they sensed Su Chen's forbidden aura, they were already terrified and hid in the deepest core of the wreckage, trembling and not daring to reveal even the slightest trace of their presence.

Su Chen had no interest in these homeless people.

His only goal was that Nether Lotus located in the deepest part of the Ruins!
He traversed a belt of quicksand composed of shattered divine kingdoms, preparing to perform another void leap—

Su Chen's figure suddenly stopped.

He slowly turned around, his chaotic Dao eyes, one blue and one gold, gazing at the empty void behind him!

"This spying..."

Su Chen frowned slightly.

Just now, he sensed a gaze. This gaze was completely different from the corrupt and malicious will of the Underworld Lotus Saint Lord.

It is cold, vast, and full of order.

But it was a detached order that looked down upon the ants.

It does not belong to the Ruins Domain, nor even to any of the Great Daos that Su Chen knows!

"come out."

Su Chen stood in the void, his voice calm, yet it transformed into the law of order, forcibly carving out a domain of absolute order in this chaotic wasteland!

The moment Su Chen finished speaking, golden ripples spread across the void in front of him, like the surface of water.

A golden crack slowly opened.

There was no chaos or desolation within the crack; there was only pure light and law!
A creature whose form Su Chen could not describe slowly stepped out from the crack!
It appears to be a person, but it also appears to be an aggregate of light.

It wore a magnificent and majestic golden robe that seemed to be woven from runes of the Great Dao.

Its face was shrouded in a golden mist, making it difficult to see clearly.

But its eyes, emerging from the mist, were pure gold, the embodiment of the law!
The moment it appeared, the eternal power of the fifth realm surrounding it clashed violently with the chaos of this desolate region!
The desolate energy is retreating! The chaos is surrendering!
This was clearly a true Fifth Realm being! The purity of his Dao was far beyond that of a corrupt and fallen being like the Nether Lotus Saint Lord!
"Ascendant from the Netherworld?"

The golden being slowly spoke. Its voice was not human, but a resonance of the Great Dao!
Every syllable defines law and reason!
"No, that's not right."

Those golden eyes were fixed on Su Chen, on the illusory image of Su Chen's Jianmu axis, and on the tenth dark black branch of the Dao of Desolation!

Its indifferent Dao heart was actually stirred slightly at this moment!
"The core of the Jianmu tree?! The Ten Great Origins are complete?! You...you actually cultivated the Wu?!"

The voice finally carried a hint of shock and fear!

"who are you?"

Su Chen's Chaotic Dao Eye calmly observed this visitor from the Fifth Realm. He was already a quasi-Fifth Realm cultivator, and feared no Fifth Realm expert!

"presumptuous!"

The golden creature seemed to be enraged by Su Chen's level-headed attitude.

"Creators of the lower realms! Why do you not kneel before the celestial envoy?!"

"An envoy from the Heavenly Realm?"

Su Chen pondered these four words.

"A Celestial Envoy... Does a Celestial Envoy exist in the Ruins Domain?" (End of Chapter)