Chapter 697: Life, Collapse

.x.tw, beyond time!

In this world, there were once many cultivators from myriad races who fought against gods, but now they are extremely rare. This is because all those who opposed the gods have perished.

Most of the time, only gods can contend with other gods. For countless years, there have been no successful instances of cultivators slaying a god, except for the epochal war before Ancient Emperor Xuanyou's departure.

Since then, gods have remained lofty and untouchable, not to be defiled or looked upon directly. Gradually, the act of slaying a god became an impossible feat in the eyes of all races, and even the thought of it instilled fear.

This is because the power and terror of gods often exceeded the comprehension of cultivators, going beyond the scope of their divine abilities and even their understanding of reality.

The two sides exist on entirely different dimensions. To most cultivators, any god was unsalable, omniscient, and omnipotent; they could not be understood, appearing utterly mysterious and strange.

Yet, in the eyes of gods, all living beings were incredibly simple. They could see the past and future with a single glance, and even if the future was subject to change, this very ability to see through things was a manifestation of their divine status.

Only cultivators who had reached the pinnacle of their practice could possess a similar status, prompting gods to regard them with some seriousness.

However, such peak cultivators were extremely rare. And gods themselves included both those who achieved divinity later in life and those who were born gods.

Therefore, while cultivators still relied on various spells to form their ultimate attacks—be it wind, rain, thunder, lightning, metal, wood, water, or fire—these held no meaning for gods.

A god's intervention, like Zhang Siyun's at this moment, was as effortless as a fortune-teller; he merely raised his hand and easily took control of everyone's fate.

Whether cultivator or mortal, there was little difference in the eyes of a god. A slight flick could alter their destiny. How could such power not induce despair?

At this moment, neither the Prince nor Princess Mingmei, nor the Captain, nor Xu Qing, possessed their past memories. In fact, it seemed as if they didn't even recognize each other.

The only thing that remained was the ceaseless pain and torment in their respective memories.

Without past joys to serve as a contrast, the remaining suffering, in a sense, might not be accurately described simply as "pain."

However, the torment inflicted by these memories and the primal discomfort they caused were endless. Words could hardly describe it, and no one could possibly endure it.

For example, Xu Qing was currently submerged in the scene of his original collapse. He wanted to escape, but all his memories were contained within this one scene, forming an endless loop. His past was his future, and there was no way out.

All of them were merely standing outside the Moon Palace gate on the Crimson Moon star, never having stepped inside from beginning to end.

It was as if their previous attempts to slay a god were nothing more than a joke.

"Mortals slaying gods."

Inside the gate, Zhang Siyun, seated on the Moonlit Sea's Higanbana, gently shook his head. He placed his right thumb on the second joint of his ring finger and gently touched it, producing a crisp, echoing sound like shattering glass that resonated in all directions.

"Destiny shatter!"

The sound reverberated, words becoming law, settling upon heaven and earth.

The Captain's body trembled as uncontrollable cracks spread across him. Even the blue light emanating from within him, which formed an icy seal, couldn't stop this shattering. His body collapsed at that very moment, scattering into fragmented flesh that fell to the ground.

Xu Qing followed immediately. Amidst the turmoil and confusion brought by the second scene within the purple crystal, his world plunged into eternal darkness; everything ceased to exist.

It was identical to the scene after Prince Ziqing's finger descended in the vision. Next was Old Eight. His body roared as the nearly divine power derived from his seven emotions and six desires was erased at that moment. His body, unable to sustain itself, toppled over.

Then came the Prince and Princess Mingmei. Though they harbored divine power, their grand worlds were likewise wailing, their inhabitants suffering and withering away, draining their life force.

Next was Old Nine, but he persisted. At that moment, he slowly raised his head, his trembling right hand gradually forming a sword. It was his final sword of life, his strongest strike, the peak sword that Ancient Spirit Emperor had once perceived.

However, Ancient Spirit Emperor had not seen that Old Nine's final sword was not for slaughter, but for defending the Heavenly Emperor.

The Moon Palace gate before him was slowly closing, and Zhang Siyun, on the Moonlit Sea's Higanbana, shook his head and closed his eyes. He had lost interest, seemingly transformed into a statue, devoid of joy or sorrow, as if everything had ended.

Old Nine remained silent. Behind him, Fifth Princess, also with closed eyes, had a bloodless, ashen face. The aura of death clung heavily to her; had it not been for Old Nine's protection, she would have long since perished.

At that moment, she silently gazed at her brother in front of her, then at the fallen individuals around them, and closed her eyes.

Gradually, a fluorescent glow emanated from her body, gathering before her and slowly forming a flower. Its pistils swayed, as if life was blooming, and its petals continuously unfurled, exuding beauty.

The instant the flower appeared, the slowly closing Moon Palace gate abruptly halted.

Zhang Siyun, his eyes closed, suddenly snapped them open, looking at the flower outside the gate. It was also a Higanbana, identical to the one Zhang Siyun was seated on, but white. It was blooming, while the Fifth Sister was withering; she was burning herself, just as she had once saved her brother with her life at the moment of her birth, and just as she had repeatedly burned herself to save her brother countless times.

Throughout ancient times, her other siblings had always retained youthful appearances, but she alone had grown old very, very early, radiating an aura of twilight.

She knew this was her mission, she understood this was her purpose. She had once resented it, but ultimately, she chose to have no regrets.

As the flower bloomed profusely and its fragrance spread, the Prince's shattered body visibly began to restore itself. Princess Mingmei, Old Eight, the Captain, and Xu Qing also recovered.

All of them revived at that moment. Their bodies reformed, their auras surged anew, and their emotional fluctuations stabilized.

Most remarkably, their past memories, which had collapsed under the divine spell, were also restored, stripped of all pain. This was not a reversal of time; under a god's spell, reversing time was impossible unless one possessed a corresponding divine status.

The Fifth Princess's Higanbana was a blessing. Just as divine curses existed, so did divine blessings, though they were exceedingly rare in this world.

This scene moved Zhang Siyun for the first time. He gazed at the Fifth Princess outside the gate and spoke softly.

"Li Zihua has quite the method. In the coming years, he sealed a god within your body."

"A god will exist within you in the future. The irreversibility of a god is like causality itself, so you will not die before the point in time when the god is sealed."

"Thus, with a mortal body, you can unleash divine spells without limit, bear curses yourself, bestow blessings upon others, and conceal it from my true form."

"Though you won't die, you will age. And a body aged to its extreme will become an unconscious husk. Interesting. Which god is this body being prepared for?" Zhang Siyun murmured, directly revealing the Fifth Princess's secret.

As his voice reverberated, outside the Moon Palace, the revived Prince and others silently looked at the Fifth Sister.

The Fifth Princess's aura was weak, and her weariness and decay were even more pronounced. Her entire being exuded the aura of death, and she spat out a mouthful of blood.

Yet, a smile appeared on her face as she uttered hoarsely, "This was always the meaning of my existence."

These words landed in everyone's ears and resonated within Xu Qing's consciousness. His body trembled, and his eyes slowly opened; everything prior felt like a nightmare. At that same moment, the Captain also opened his eyes, letting out a long breath. His expression was grim, tinged with a rare murderous intent. In the recent crisis, he had summoned the Higher God, but the entity had refused.

"Sooner or later, I'll kill this vile god who won't act unless there's an obvious benefit," the Captain vowed fiercely in his heart. He then looked up at Zhang Siyun on the Moonlit Sea inside the gate, his eyes gleaming with cold light. Similar cold light also appeared in the eyes of the Prince and others.

As their gaze shifted from the Fifth Princess to Zhang Siyun inside the gate, the Prince moved. His right hand lifted, and a black nail swiftly materialized in it—the Nail of Domination.

The moment it appeared, he bit his tongue and spat out a mouthful of blood. Within this blood, the shadow of a world emerged, merging into the nail's body—it was his Grand World. He was empowering the nail with his own Grand World.

Princess Mingmei and Old Eight, standing nearby, likewise channeled their cultivation to the extreme, each spitting blood onto the nail. In an instant, the world-shadows attached to the Nail of Domination reached four.

Its aura instantly surged, becoming overwhelming. Its surface cracked, and black skin peeled away, revealing the white body of the nail. Old Nine, standing nearby, his gaze sharp, reached out and grasped the nail. He allowed the nail to pierce his palm, and a large amount of blood flowed into it. Soon, the fifth and sixth world-shadows manifested on the nail.

Their emergence shattered the last remnants of black skin on the nail, revealing its pristine white body. It was as if a seal had been broken, unleashing the true, magnificent power and aura of the Nail of Domination.

Heaven and earth changed color, and the Crimson Moon star trembled. A terrifying aura erupted from within. Old Nine let out a low roar, his blood-stained right hand violently swung, and as thunder exploded and the void collapsed, the nail transformed into a streak of white light, shooting directly towards the Moon Palace gate.

"By the power of cognition, this nail shall strike true."

"By the method of time, journey to the future, and shatter all!"

"By the power of desire, humanity defies gods."

"By the path of slaughter, never return without blood."

The Prince and others spoke in low voices. The white nail, traversing space and time, instantly flew into the Moon Palace gate, unleashing an overwhelming force. It whistled through the Moonlit Sea, parting it to form a straight line.

The Moonlit Sea churned, and the surroundings crumbled. The nail, destroying everything in its path with unstoppable momentum, shot straight towards Zhang Siyun on the Higanbana.