Chapter 642 - 635: Long Time No See
"Hm? Where am I?"
Zhou Yuanjue stepped out of the black, hole-like vortex and found himself in a dimly lit room. Then, he saw them: his own flesh and blood cells, floating in the culture medium of a glass vessel.
Dim wall sconces glowed around the room, a clear sign that this place still had power.
’This scene... Is this the secret vault where my cells were stored?’
Zhou Yuanjue mulled it over and came to a conclusion, which settled his heart somewhat.
He didn’t show it, but he had actually been extremely worried.
In the turbulence of the True Realm, there was nothing to perceive, nothing to see. His sense of time had been obliterated by his round-the-clock intensive training, so he had no way of knowing for certain how much time had passed in the outside world.
His sudden disappearance would have undoubtedly had an unimaginable impact on the entire human world.
He had been terrified that upon his return, he would find a scene of desolation and chaos. A world where human civilization had been shattered, where Celestial Demons ran rampant, or even...
...a world where Earth had fallen silent, plundered of everything by Celestial Demons who had long since departed the planet.
But now, it seemed he could finally breathe a small sigh of relief.
’Human civilization must not have been completely wiped out yet.’
He slowly closed his eyes, his will spreading out, penetrating the many barriers of the secret vault to reach the outside world.
What he felt, however, was a tumultuous wave of emotion. The entire nation, even all life across Human Society, seemed to be trapped in an inexplicable state of gloom.
Then, he sensed terrifyingly powerful energy fluctuations coming from far away. The entire earth was trembling, and he could faintly hear what sounded like screams coming from the surface.
’It seems something terrible is happening.’
’Hm... I sense some familiar auras. Chief Commissioner, Elder Chen, Ji Yunzhou, Zhang Zhizhen, Feng Xun...’
’They’re all old friends. To think their energy fluctuations have reached this level... It’s probably not far off from where I was three years ago. They’ve all grown...’
’But it looks like you’re all facing some trouble. Seems I’ve returned at just the right time.’
Zhou Yuanjue murmured to himself, a faint smile gracing his lips.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
But in the next moment, a series of horrifying tremors struck again, faintly accompanied by cries of alarm from the outside world.
Then, Zhou Yuanjue clearly sensed it: hundreds of kilometers away, those immense auras were rapidly weakening. A single, terrifying wave of energy was overwhelming everything else.
The smile on his face faded.
’The power of a truly complete Ancestral Level being?’
’Looks like there’s no time to waste.’
’I’ll have to use "True Realm Jump" directly.’
’Even though the energy cost is immense.’
’But...’
Zhou Yuanjue slowly reached behind his back. There, he had a bulging, simple tactical satchel, seemingly woven from some unknown hide. It was filled with a large quantity of a new type of Energy Crystal.
His previous tactical satchel, along with the clothes he’d been wearing, had all been destroyed in the turbulence of the True Realm. The black, leather-like tactical bodysuit he wore now was something he had created by manipulating his own cells.
’I prepared more than enough supplemental energy for this return. This bit of consumption... is nothing to worry about.’
Zhou Yuanjue’s expression was calm. His body didn’t seem to have changed much, but the very space around him began to warp.
A terrifying power radiated from him, slowly gathering in his hands.
WHOOSH!!
He plunged his hands into the empty air, connecting the real world to the True Realm. Then, with a savage tear, he ripped a channel to the True Realm open in the void. His entire body vanished into the passage he had created, its coordinates set on the familiar auras far ahead.
"Everyone, sorry to keep you waiting."
...
...
「At this moment.」
All the people of Donghua stared up at the massive screen in the sky, their fists clenched. With every image that flashed across it, their hearts constricted in their chests.
The battle was not going as anyone had expected.
The power of a complete Primordial Ancestor was unimaginably immense.
Everyone watched as Donghua’s most renowned experts charged again and again, only to be blasted back each time by terrifying explosions. The cycle repeated, leaving them progressively more battered and bruised.
The humans’ life-or-death charges were batted away as if they were nothing more than bothersome insects.
Even from hundreds of kilometers away, the violent tremors shaking the earth made it terrifyingly clear what kind of pressure the experts on the front line were enduring.
This was likely the kind of terrifying martial power that could, in the hands of a single individual, destroy Earth’s entire ecosystem!
And this level of power belonged to just one of their enemies. Once they all fully returned, there would be twelve such opponents!
It wasn’t that the experts weren’t giving it their all. It was simply that...
...humanity was too weak!
"We can’t win... There’s no way to win. This is a gap between civilizations, between individuals. It’s insurmountable. There will be no miracle..."
"Humanity can’t defeat this kind of power! This planet can’t withstand it!"
"SOB... Are we doomed? Is humanity doomed?"
"Is this how it ends? The millennia of glory built by countless martyrs, great minds, and ordinary people? Are we to be the last witnesses to humanity’s freedom?"
"..."
Desperate sobs echoed everywhere. Ominous clouds swirled across the sky, spitting lightning and roaring with thunder as a sudden downpour began. Countless people stood in the rain, their gazes still fixed on the screen, their faces streaked with what could have been rain, or tears.
The enemy’s power was so absolute it crushed any will to resist.
It was as if the very heavens were weeping!
On the battlefield, the rank-and-file experts were already covered in wounds. They looked up at the two figures still floating in the air, their eyes filled with despair.
The condition of the few experts wielding the Holy and Ancestral Artifacts was even more dire.
They had absorbed the greatest pressure and impact for everyone behind them, and now, they had reached their limit.
The Holy Artifacts in their hands had gone dim, and their bodies were broken and mangled. During the last attack, Chen Qingmu had used his ability of infinite growth to shield everyone, and now only half of his body remained, his fighting strength completely gone.
Even the most resolute will began to waver.
The enemy’s attacks grew stronger with each exchange, like staring into a bottomless abyss.
It was this boundless, seemingly infinite power that was most crushing to the spirit.
"Hahahaha! Is that all you’ve got?"
"I’ve barely used any of my power. And here I thought the so-called experts of Donghua might actually be different."
"But it seems all humans are the same."
"All of them—"
"Weak!"
The Master of Desolation looked down on the scattered and broken human experts, a mocking sneer on his face.
"I truly don’t understand. What gave you the courage to resist? What made you think you could actually win?"
"Now, take your naivety and ignorance and disappear from this world forever!"
The Master of Desolation slowly spread his arms.
BOOM!
A singularity in the void erupted, unleashing an explosion far more terrifying than any of his previous attacks.
The Master of Desolation intended to completely annihilate the enemies before him.
This was an attack born from his immense Control Power at the atomic level, an impact more terrifying than even the most devastating nuclear weapons humanity possessed.
Desolate Primordial Energy!
Anything swept over by this power would be completely disintegrated at the atomic level, utterly reduced to a terrifying state of desolation.
Aside from the initial blast, the attack was utterly silent. There was no sound, no noise—only an invisible ripple spreading outward. Everything it touched, be it the ground or living creatures, vanished without a sound, as if erased by a brushstroke.
It was an unspeakable kind of terror.
A sliver of despair appeared in everyone’s eyes.
But just then, at the edge of the spreading ripple, space suddenly twisted. A patch of imperceptible darkness appeared, and a powerful, fair-skinned arm shot out from the void. With palm held upright, it met the advancing, invisible wave.