Immortals of the End Times

Time flies, and twelve years have passed in the blink of an eye.

"boom!"

On this day, the entire world suddenly trembled.

The surging river of spiritual energy between heaven and earth seemed to be stirred by a pair of invisible hands, suddenly boiling and then calming down in an instant.

Only Cangyunzi and Wentian Daojun, who had already reached the threshold of Dao Integration, sensed something and their expressions changed drastically.

The two men's Dao hearts trembled as they clearly sensed the mysterious and profound changes occurring in the eight directions of heaven and earth.

This change was like a sudden warmth appearing in an ancient, frozen pool. If it weren't for the spirit carp that had swum at the bottom of the pool for many years, it would be impossible for them to perceive this subtle temperature difference.

And they are the spirit carp that sensed the warmth of the cold pool.

"Could it be that he has already successfully broken through?"

"So fast?"

The two Dao Lords communicated through their divine senses, both showing shock on their faces.

At this moment.

Deep within the turbulent sea of ​​mist beyond the Nine Heavens, a pristine space has emerged, its turbidity completely cleared away.

In this space, Zhao Wuji sat cross-legged on the Qiankun Furnace, his clothes fluttering even without wind.

The chaotic true fire within the furnace was still refining the six ancestral demons and the turbid mist of the eight directions.

Outside the furnace, he had completely refined this world, including the Nine Netherworlds and the Nine Heavens, all of which were now under his control.

Having broken through the barrier between illusion and reality, I truly stand before the gate of the Great Dao of refining the illusory into the real!
Zhao Wuji suddenly opened and closed his eyes, his gaze sweeping across the turbulent chaos beyond the Nine Heavens with lightning speed, before lowering his head to look down upon the mountains and rivers of the Nine Provinces below.

At this moment, the energy of heaven and earth is fully under my control, and the patterns of all things are as clear as the lines on my palm.

He was just one final hurdle to overcome.

By completely connecting the Dao Foundation of the Pot Heaven with the real world, one can complete the ancient and rare Dao of refining the illusory into the real and the false into the true!

At that time, the great calamity of illusion and reality will also descend.

This is called the period of tribulation!

"The end of the Dharma is approaching, and I am almost ready."

Zhao Wuji's Daoist heart was as clear as a mirror.

Even if he were lucky enough to survive the extremely perilous calamity of illusion and reality by taking this step, he would from then on be connected with the fate of this world, sharing its glory and its loss.

Especially as the Great Luo is about to shift from exhalation to inhalation, the calamity of the Dharma-ending Age is imminent.
At that time, he will also be the first to bear the brunt of the invasion of the end-of-days rules of this world.

Time is running out.

He stroked his brow, and the resonance between his consciousness and the breath of the Great Luo's remains was clearly perceptible.

In a maximum of three years, this world will face its darkest hour, when spiritual energy reverses.

"If we don't break through now, when will we?"

Zhao Wuji no longer hesitated, his gaze turning resolute.

Now that he has reached this point on the road to heaven, he will shoulder any burden, no matter how heavy!
"open!!"

Zhao Wuji's figure flew away from the Qiankun Furnace, and suddenly his five fingers formed a hand seal.

His body was enveloped in Daoist energy that surged like the tides, and the golden Daoist pattern between his brows resembled the rising sun, its golden rays piercing the heavens.

Within the sea of ​​consciousness, the four foundational Daos resounded simultaneously.

The second Heavenly Chamber collapsed like a nebula, and the spiritual veins of the Southern Heavenly Realm within it suddenly trembled violently, transforming into three thousand azure rainbows that burst forth from the sky and plunged into the depths of the Nine Provinces' earth veins like dragons and snakes.

The real mountains outside immediately resonated with it, their ridges undulating like breathing.

"Click, click!"

The void cracked like glass, and the sun and moon in the inner realm of the third pot suddenly shone brightly.

The chaotic, clear light within the ancient and mysterious land burst forth like a waterfall, condensing into a Yin-Yang Bridge in the gap between reality and illusion, one end connecting to the cloud sea of ​​the Pot Heaven, and the other end penetrating deep into the sky of the Nine Provinces.

Wherever it passed, the river of spiritual energy changed its course.

"Zheng!"

Within the ancient sword domain, billions of sword energies suddenly resonated.

The sword domain itself, located in the first heaven, trembled violently, and the illusory sword river solidified like liquid mercury, transforming into a physical sword aura that stretched for tens of thousands of miles within the nine heavens.

Wherever the sword energy went, even the turbid mist was cleaved into spiderweb-like spatial cracks.

The most astonishing change occurred in the first pot of heaven.

Within that ethereal, valley-like space, the sea of ​​clouds suddenly began to boil.

"Crash!"

The clouds rolled like waves, each cloud shimmering with a glassy luster.

Many water droplets suddenly appeared suspended in mid-air in the Yin Sha Spring in the valley and the stream flowing from the Ling Shan Mountain Spring.

Each drop reflects the trajectory of real stars in the outside world.

Suddenly, billions of shimmering points of light rose from the gaps in the clouds, shaped like mustard seeds, with four wings on their backs, fluttering and dancing at the boundary between reality and illusion.

Those are the most primitive "mayflies" in the world, resembling dust yet harboring hidden vitality, fluttering their wings at the intersection of reality and illusion.

"ephemera!"

Zhao Wuji was shaken to his core.

These tiny specks of light, no bigger than grains of rice, are the most primal manifestations of life in the universe.

With each flap of their wings, the mountains and rivers of the Pot Sky Realm solidify a little more.

With each wisp of cloud that is inhaled and exhaled, the real plants and trees in the outside world resonate with it and tremble gently.

This signifies that the originally illusory Hutian Secret Realm is transforming from illusion into reality, and has even begun to touch upon the rules of life, with the most minute life forms emerging within the secret realm.

"Shh!"

At that very moment, the fourth foundation manifested.

The ancient sword domain located in the first heaven.

The originally illusory river of sword energy has now condensed into a physical sword aura in the Nine Heavens!

The four foundational principles are like four divine keys inserted into the lock of heaven and earth.

The Pot Heaven Secret Realm corresponds to mountains, rivers, plants, and trees; the Southern Heaven Secret Realm connects to the earth's veins and spiritual cores; and the Sword Domain suppresses the pure energy of the Nine Heavens.

The barrier between reality and illusion was melting away like ice and snow under the infusion of Zhao Wuji's surging Dao power.

"The real and the illusory coexist, and the false is transformed into the true!"

Zhao Wuji suddenly let out a long roar, and the golden pattern between his brows burst forth with dazzling aurora light.

"Boom!"

Suddenly, thunder roared from the heavens.

The once clear sky suddenly twisted, revealing a vast sea of ​​clouds that seemed to melt and flow like oil paint.

The rules of reality and illusion seemed to transform into a chaotic torrent, pouring down.

Wherever it passed, the sea of ​​clouds was sometimes as transparent as glass, and sometimes as solid as black iron.

This was none other than the extremely dangerous and illusory calamity within!

Once you survive this tribulation, you will have fully entered the tribulation-crossing stage!

"Buzz!"

Suddenly, the Great Dao resounded between heaven and earth, and the rules of the Tribulation of Illusion and Reality swept in like a tidal wave.

Before Zhao Wuji could react, his pupils contracted sharply, and he was horrified to find that his fingertips were beginning to ripple with transparent waves.

Wherever the ripples passed, flesh and bones gradually faded away, like reflections in water.

It was as if an invisible hand was erasing him inch by inch from the painting.

"not good!"

He suddenly made a hand seal, and the golden pattern of interception flashed wildly between his brows, as if he wanted to seize the opportunities and fortune of heaven and earth.

However, the Daoist aura that was once invincible was now like a stone thrown into the sea, unable to even lock on with the most basic lock.

The rules inherent in the Illusory-Real Tribulation are completely unaffected by any magical techniques!

Even more terrifying was the land and rivers beneath his feet.

The land of Kyushu is like a faded ink painting; majestic mountains are losing their edges, and rushing rivers are gradually becoming illusory lines.

The three Dao foundations he had painstakingly refined trembled violently, the sea of ​​clouds in the Pot Sky Realm dissipated like smoke, and the spiritual veins of the Southern Heaven Secret Realm flickered like candlelight.

"Etherealization."

Zhao Wuji's heart trembled violently.

At this moment, he is encountering the most dangerous paradox on his spiritual path.

If the heavens and earth and the nine provinces become illusory, then his foundation of Dao will have no solid basis to rely on. If the foundation of Dao becomes illusory, then there will never be a possibility of it becoming real.

What was most despairing was that his entire being was gradually becoming transparent under the rules of reality and illusion, as if the wrong pen marks were being erased by the eraser of the Heavenly Dao.

"Hold on!"

With a long roar, the Nine-Leaf Sword Grass shot out from the top of his head.

The sword energy touched the ethereal part as if it had cut into nothingness, and even the sword itself began to become transparent.

The Daoist essence within the Dao Foundation manifested as a protective Dao Domain, yet even this could not stop the erasing power originating from the very source of the Heavenly Dao.

In a daze, countless fragments of memories flashed through his mind like a revolving lantern. There were the bustling steel jungle of his past life, the magnificent palaces of an ancient celestial court, and even primordial scenes he had never experienced before.
"Is this... a complete return to nothingness? Or a return to the cycle of reincarnation?"

Zhao Wuji watched helplessly as his Taoist robe turned into particles of light and scattered, revealing a semi-transparent arm that was somewhere between illusion and reality.

That feeling of powerlessness is more despairing than facing a true immortal in the end times.

Like sand flowing in an hourglass, the process of its demise is clearly visible, yet not a single grain of dust can be grasped.

From afar came the painful hum of the Heavenly Dao's One Eye, and eighteen star orbits within its pupil spanning tens of thousands of miles were collapsing.

The most primal power of this world seemed to be making its final adjustments to him, this 'outlier'.
"Om!!"

The land of Kyushu suddenly trembled slightly.

Inside the Immortal Saint Sect, Cang Yunzi suddenly felt a pang of heart palpitation.

Inside the Qilin Sword Sect, Daoist Wentian suddenly opened his eyes.

The two suddenly raised their heads and faintly sensed that the abyss-like and imprisoned pressure of Zhao Wuji in the Ninth Heaven was now flickering like a candle in the wind, as if it could be extinguished at any moment by an invisible hand.

"not good!"

At the Wang family's residence on Balong Mountain, Hua Qingshuang's figure suddenly appeared on the mountaintop.

"The untamed spirit is fading."

Her frosty eyes narrowed sharply, and ice lotuses bloomed beneath her feet. With a simple hand gesture, she transformed into an ice rainbow that soared into the sky, leaving a trail of ice crystals stretching for thousands of miles behind her.

At this moment, in the ninth heaven, Zhao Wuji's Taoist robe fluttered in the wind, his body alternating between reality and illusion.

"Is this the power of rules at the True Immortal level?"

He gritted his teeth and resisted the erosion of the rules of reality and illusion, the golden patterns of interception flashing wildly between his brows.

With each golden line that lit up, the figure solidified by three points.

When the golden patterns fade, the body becomes as illusory as a reflection in water or a flower in a mirror.

This level of overwhelming power is beyond what techniques and Taoist arts can withstand.

Below the level of a true immortal, all are but ants!

Although the Celestial Venerable can also make his words come true, he can only take a sip from the long river of laws.

The rules of reality and illusion that are descending at this moment are like the entire Heavenly Dao River pouring down, and are rules constructed from multiple perfect laws!
Just like the rules of the Dharma-ending Age for True Immortals, it is the supreme authority that transcends all paths, the True Immortal status!

"No wonder no one has dared to traverse this path throughout history."

Zhao Wuji gave a self-deprecating laugh, his flesh and blood gradually becoming transparent under the erosion of the rules.

This path of refining the illusory into the real requires facing the tribulations of rules comparable to those of a true immortal, making it seem like an ant trying to shake a pillar of heaven.

Sudden.

"Wait! Perhaps it's not unsolvable."

His mind stirred, his pupils contracted sharply, and the feeling of despair in his heart quickly subsided. The dormant Great Luo Will deep within his sea of ​​consciousness suddenly ignited like a wildfire.

"Da Luo."

Zhao Wuji's mind sank into the depths of his sea of ​​consciousness, gazing at the will seed that, like a star, contained the power of the divine soul.

The Great Luo, a former true immortal, could rewrite the laws of heaven and earth with every move he made, and even reverse the sun and moon and cause and effect.

The immortal power it possesses has probably already reached the highest realm of rules.

However, none of the reincarnations of the first Pangu who created the world, Nuwa who created humans, the second generation who sealed the immortals and built mansions, or even the previous incarnation Zhao Zhengtian, truly inherited that great power of the true immortals.

They are like children wielding divine swords, possessing the ultimate treasure but powerless to wield it, which is why they are repeatedly thwarted by the true immortals of the Dharma-ending Age.

"I don't need to completely control the rules."

Zhao Wuji's Dao heart was like a mirror, reflecting his body, which alternated between reality and illusion. The golden patterns of the Dao-intercepting technique flickered between his brows, like a candle flickering in the wind.

"If I can trigger a dormant resonance of the rules within the Great Luo's will, the anomaly generated by this rule power might be able to pull me out of the process of being distorted by the rules of illusion and reality."

He suddenly closed his eyes, his consciousness diving into the seed of his will like a swimming fish.

This inheritance, which he received from Zhao Zhengchu, remains shrouded in mystery. It has only merged with his soul, but he has not refined much of it.

"Buzz!"

A wave of darkness surged forth.

In a daze, he seemed to be back in that chaotic dream world.

Deep within the mist, the silhouette of a giant lying horizontally appeared and disappeared, each breath causing the stars in the heavens to flicker.

suddenly!

A golden light shone from between the giant's brows.

Within that light, the phenomena of the birth and death of the three thousand worlds appeared.

Mountains and rivers crumble and rebuild, dynasties rise and fall, and even the river of time is like a thread winding through its fingers.

"What kind of rule is this?"

Zhao Wuji's primordial spirit trembled violently.

The golden light flowing within it was clearly a rule that transcended the laws of nature, seemingly a creative power!
Every wisp of Taoist charm contains the profound principle of 'creating something from nothing'.

The creation of humans by Nuwa, the splitting of chaos by Pangu, and the establishment of order by Fuxi—these groundbreaking feats all originated from this principle.

"The false has become the real! It turns out that the rules of the Great Luo are the same as mine. This was the choice made by the 'me' in the past."

He had a sudden flash of inspiration and understood.

The Great Luo has mastered the supreme rule that transforms illusory dreams into a real world!

No wonder the three thousand clay figures that Nuwa created evolved along the historical trajectory she remembered.

Those emperors and generals who appeared out of thin air and then vanished were essentially just dream bubbles conceived by the Great Luo through the rule of 'refining the false into the true'.

"call!"

Just as he was about to delve deeper, the dream suddenly collapsed!

The colossal giant lying in chaos flipped over, its spine collapsing like Mount Buzhou, unleashing a world-destroying gale.

Zhao Wuji's consciousness was like a candle flickering in the wind, instantly torn to shreds by the raging chaotic currents!

"puff!"

In the real world, Zhao Wuji suddenly opened his eyes, and golden blood fell from the corner of his lips like beads.

The golden markings between his brows, however, shone like the rising sun, bursting forth with dazzling divine light that pierced the heavens.

The slightest anomaly in the Great Luo Rules acted like a key, prying open the shackles of illusion and reality, and forcefully pulling him back from the abyss where the rules of illusion and reality had blurred his vision!

"Click, click!"

However, he suddenly heard a cracking sound like glass shattering.

What's even more terrifying is the landscape beneath our feet.

The entire land of Kyushu seems to be fading!

Majestic mountains lose their sharp edges, and rushing rivers are transformed into ink-wash lines.

The four Dao foundations that had been painstakingly refined trembled violently, the sea of ​​clouds in the Pot Sky Realm dissipated like smoke, and the spiritual veins of the Southern Heaven Secret Realm flickered like candlelight.

The entire Dharma-ending Age
It is being erased little by little by the rules of reality and illusion!

"Damn it! Is the tribulation really this terrifying? No wonder even the two seniors, Ziwei and Zhongtian Immortal King, who were both incredibly talented, failed."

Zhao Wuji's Dao heart trembled violently, and his five fingers, like hooks, suddenly reached out to grab the void.

"Move the mountain!"

As he roared, he unleashed his ability to shift scenery, yet his fingertips pierced through the mountain shadows that resembled reflections in a mirror or the moon's reflection in water, only stirring up illusory ripples.

This feeling is even more despairing than the absolute end of Dharma.

It's like a drowning person watching helplessly as their lifeline rots away before their eyes.

Even the illusion technique has failed.

He suddenly raised his head, his pupils shrinking sharply.

Below, in the sea of ​​clouds, a streak of ice rainbow was seen piercing through the sky.

Hua Qingshuang's beautiful figure flickered between reality and illusion, her plain white Taoist robe beginning to become transparent!
"Peak Master!?"

Zhao Wuji's expression changed drastically.

For every zhang (approximately 3.3 meters) that ice rainbow rushed towards her, its form became three fen (approximately 1.3 meters) more blurred.

Upon reaching the outer reaches of the Ninth Heaven, his entire being rippled like a reflection in water, as if he were about to be completely erased by the rules of heaven and earth at any moment.

At this moment, Hua Qingshuang's lips moved slightly, but the voice that came through was already fragmented: "Wuji... I... why can't I sense your presence?"

Before she finished speaking, her outstretched hand vanished like smoke.

For the first time, a look of panic, which made Zhao Wuji's heart tremble, appeared in those usually aloof phoenix eyes.

"Order it for me!"

With a low shout, Zhao Wuji cast a freezing spell, which transformed into a golden lock that shot through the air. However, the moment it touched her figure, it passed through her like a phantom.

"boom!"

The golden lock exploded into countless points of light in the void.

Zhao Wuji's eyebrows suddenly bulged.

If he cannot interrupt this process of becoming ethereal, his tribulation will still fail.

In fact, the consequences could be extremely dire.
(End of this chapter)