Invest in Liu Shen at the beginning! I kill my way through the perfect world!

The hard-won peace and stability of the nine heavens and ten earths lasted only a few hundred years.

A desolate and decaying aura, deep within the very essence of the laws and originating from the instincts of the universe, spread rapidly without warning, like an invisible plague, permeating every inch of the mountains and rivers, and every corner of the nine heavens and ten earths.

Initially, only those cultivators whose spiritual perception far surpassed that of ordinary people vaguely felt that the world had become unusually heavy when they meditated, and that the circulation of their qi had become somewhat sluggish, as if they were inside a piece of amber that was gradually solidifying.

But this ominous sign soon ceased to be a sensitive concern for only a few.

The changes worsened rapidly and irresistibly, so swiftly and violently that all beings embarking on the path of cultivation could clearly and desperately perceive them.

The once abundant and vibrant spiritual energy between heaven and earth became thin and stagnant at an unprecedented speed, no longer responding to the cultivators' calls, like a candle flame about to burn out completely, its light rapidly dimming, leaving only cold ashes.

These spiritual veins are scattered throughout the heavens and earth, appearing in famous mountains and rivers, or hidden deep within the earth's veins.

Whether it was a large dragon vein that once nourished a region, or a small mineral vein that was only used for cultivation by a single sect.

They all seemed to have had their souls ripped out, losing their former crystalline luster and boundless vitality at a visible speed.

The inspiration quickly receded and eventually fell into complete silence, transforming into cold, hard, lifeless, and unyielding mortal rock, from which it could no longer be drawn.

The essence of water contained in rivers, lakes, and seas is also rapidly dissipating.

Ordinary rivers and streams have begun to dry up, exposing their riverbeds.

Those sacred springs and lakes, once brimming with spiritual energy and regarded as holy sites for cultivation, have dried up at an alarming rate, leaving only large, cracked, and ugly lakebeds that tell of their past glory and present desolation.

Looking around, everything on earth was withered and lifeless.

Ordinary flowers and plants wither and turn to ash almost instantly, scattering with the wind.

Those ancient trees that had grown for tens of thousands of years and were already sentient were now also withered and falling, their leaves turning yellow and falling one after another. Their thick branches were covered with cracks, as if an invisible giant hand had forcibly sucked away all their life essence, leaving only withered shells.

The scene was even more desolate in the medicinal gardens of countless ancient Taoist traditions and sacred sites.

Those precious medicines and sacred medicines that had been carefully cultivated by sages throughout the ages for tens of thousands of years, or even hundreds of thousands of years, as well as some branches or offshoots of immortal medicines that had managed to survive, were not spared. Their spiritual essence dissipated, and their precious medicinal power vanished in an instant, turning into a pile of worthless withered residue.

However, what is most unsettling and even despairing is the retreat of the Great Dao Laws that sustain the world and support the foundation of cultivation.

The rules of heaven and earth, which were originally clear, perceptible, and open to comprehension, have now become incredibly obscure and vague, as if covered by the dust of eternity, isolating all those who seek them.

It is difficult to sense, let alone evoke or resonate with.

An invisible rule, cold and absolute, enveloped the entire world, ruthlessly suppressing all cultivators, while in a domineering way, it extracted the vitality of all things, attempting to replenish the nearly dried-up origin of the world itself.

The Dharma-ending Age, with its suffocating despair, suddenly descended!

This is the universe's own relentless cycle, an instinctive adjustment of heaven and earth. After experiencing a glorious and prosperous era, when the essence of heaven and earth is excessively consumed and the laws are frequently triggered and even damaged, the entire universe will inevitably enter such a silent and decaying "hibernation" period, just as living beings enter an irreversible old age, needing to accumulate faint hope through a long slumber, waiting for the unknown next era to come.

But for the billions of people forced to live in this era, this is not a natural cycle, but an inevitable and inescapable doomsday judgment.

"The Dao is fading away, why can't I sense the existence of any laws at all!"

An old supreme being, who was on the verge of a breakthrough and had been in seclusion for countless years, suddenly opened his eyes, which were filled with bloodshot eyes and fear. He discovered that he could no longer draw even a trace of essence from the world. The Dao Fruit he had painstakingly cultivated was even beginning to become unstable, with tiny but shocking cracks appearing on its surface.

"The spiritual energy is disappearing! This world is about to be completely destroyed!"

"We will all be buried! Forever and ever!"

Some cultivators, watching their cultivation slowly deplete due to the depletion of spiritual energy, and even seeing their realm begin to regress, let out a heart-wrenching cry of despair, their Dao heart nearly collapsing.

"The foundation laid by our ancestors, the lineage of ten thousand years, has been destroyed in an instant! Destroyed in an instant!"

The current leader of an ancient Taoist lineage stood trembling on the ancestral sacred mountain, which had been reduced to mortal dust and was devoid of any spiritual energy.

Looking at the withered herbs in the garden, he couldn't help but shed tears, heartbroken and devastated. The loss of his lineage was more painful than death itself.

The world changed dramatically, and the mountains and rivers lost their color.

The land of Jiutian, which had once been ravaged by war and seemed broken but still stubbornly contained vitality and hope, became irreversibly gray and lifeless in a very short time.

As far as the eye could see, there was only a chilling desolation and ruin, with the atmosphere of the apocalypse permeating every inch of the air.

The lifespan of the supreme being was subjected to the most terrifying suppression.

The supreme being, who could have lived forever and easily for millions of years, now has his lifespan shortened drastically like a river bursting its banks, and can hardly even last for ten thousand years. He is as fragile as a candle in a storm, and may be extinguished at any moment.

True immortals have become an unattainable ancient legend, as the cold and absolute rules of the Dharma-ending Age have severed all possibility and path to immortality.

This is an era of utter despair, where the path of cultivation seems to have been forcibly severed and completely blocked by an invisible giant hand.

All living beings, whether ignorant mortals or once powerful cultivators, can only numbly await the inevitable day when their lifespans run out in endless despair and fear, ultimately turning into a handful of yellow earth in this Dharma-ending Age, becoming a burial offering for the decline of heaven and earth.

The remaining Immortal Kings of the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, such as the Second Under Heaven and the Immortal Golden Daoist, all wore solemn and worried expressions. They had tried to use their Immortal King power to slow down the decline of certain areas and create a pure land.

But faced with this trend of decay that sweeps across the entire universe and originates from the very source of the Great Dao, even a powerful immortal king feels his own insignificance and powerlessness, finding it difficult to defy the heavens.

Is it possible that the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, which have just glimpsed a ray of hope for revival and finally gained a chance to breathe, are about to completely sink into depravity and perish in this sudden end of the Dharma era, and can only passively wait for the next era, which is so distant and uncertain that it may never come?

A heavy, suffocating gloom of despair enveloped the heavens and the earth, and also shrouded the hearts of every living being. (End of Chapter)