161: Shadow of the End

Rumble rumble rumble—!!!!

Twelve six-Rank sub-nests, like giant fireworks ignited, detonated violently one after another amidst desperate wails! The light of the explosions connected into a single expanse, illuminating the entire Abyss as if it were daytime! A violent energy storm mixed with shattered metal fragments and biological tissue, forming a destructive shockwave that swept across the entire Abyss and a large area beyond!

The explosion lasted for dozens of breaths! The world-destroying spectacle made all the trial-takers within the base's light barrier forget to breathe, their minds blank!

When the light and smoke of the explosion finally began to slowly settle...

What appeared before everyone's eyes was a huge Abyss completely turned into scorched earth, a veritable purgatory.

The Mother Nest... vanished. All that remained was an even larger, deeper super crater, its edges flowing with cooling molten metal.

The twelve six-Rank sub-nests... vanished. Only twelve huge, smoke-billowing remnants of explosions were left at the crater's edge.

The Abyss cliff was completely leveled, and its range expanded outwards by tens of kilometers! The ground was scorched black and vitrified, covered with massive rifts flowing with dark red lava.

Surviving alien beasts? They had long been torn into their most primitive particles in the destructive storm of the Mother Nest's self-detonation!

The entire Abyss area, apart from the embers after energy annihilation and the wails of shattered space, was utterly silent.

On the central intelligence light barrier of the base:

[Nest Destruction Rate: 99.99%]

[Alien Beast Count: Extremely Low (Sporadic)]

[Detected core Mother Nest and all sub-nest energy signals have vanished... confirmed destroyed...]

Lin Yuan's figure stumbled out of a turbulent flow formed by shattered space. His face was as pale as paper, his aura extremely weak, his Origin Dharma Body had long dissipated, the chaos heavenly evolution robe was badly damaged, and blood continuously spilled from the corner of his mouth. Forcibly guiding the backwash torrent of the last Myriad Laws Reversal Wheel, and being swept into the spatial turbulence by the explosion's aftershocks, worsened his injuries!

He looked down at his wrist.

The bracelet information refreshed like a waterfall, finally settling:

[Destroyed quasi-seventh-Rank alien beast nest (Mother Nest) x1, glory points +1 million!]

[Destroyed sixth-Rank alien beast nest (sub-nest) x12, glory points +1.2 million!]

[Killed sixth-Rank alien beasts... (massive quantity), merit points +8 million!]

[Killed fifth-Rank alien beasts... (massive quantity), merit points +15 million!]

[Killed... (other massive numbers of low and mid-Rank alien beasts), merit points +50 million!]

Just the chain destruction triggered by this single strike caused Lin Yuan's glory points to instantly surge by 2.2 million points! His merit points increased by an astonishing 73 million points! The number in the 'glory points' section on his bracelet reached a terrifying height that rendered any language pale and powerless—over 6 million points! His merit points even surpassed the billion mark!

Lin Yuan, using himself as bait, detonated the last stronghold of the entire nest cluster, completing this almost impossible mission!

Lin Yuan stood at the edge of the scorched Abyss, looking down at the super crater symbolizing ultimate destruction. He panted heavily, but his eyes were as bright as stars.

Thousand Absolute Star City shall return!

The aftershocks of the Mother Nest's self-detonation still echoed between heaven and earth. Lin Yuan stood at the edge of the Abyss, beneath his feet was cooling dark red lava, and each breath carried scorching metallic dust and Chaos energy residues. The chaos heavenly evolution robe was severely damaged, its surface runes dim and lusterless, almost losing its defensive capabilities. His Meridians felt a searing pain as if burned by fire, the price of over-activating his Origin Law and enduring the spatial turbulence.

The numbers on his bracelet were still fluctuating, finally settling:

[glory points: 6,421,700]

[merit points: 129,560,000]

These numbers were enough to drive any trial-taker insane. But Lin Yuan merely glanced at them calmly, then looked up into the distance. Although the Mother Nest was destroyed, the 'Nest Destruction Rate' on the intelligence light barrier still showed 99.99%—meaning that in some corner of the Thousand Absolute Star City ruins, there was still one last nest barely surviving.

"The last one." Lin Yuan wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. The purple Qi of his Primordial Dao Body circulated within him, barely suppressing his injuries. He needed to find that escaped nest and completely end this trial.

Just as he was about to move, the entire Thousand Absolute Star City ruins suddenly trembled violently! It wasn't the aftershocks of an explosion, but a deeper, more primal tremor, as if the very earth itself was convulsing in pain!

"What's happening?!" Within the base's light barrier, the trial-takers who had just recovered from the shock of the Mother Nest's destruction became alarmed again.

On the intelligence light barrier, a line of crimson text suddenly popped up:

[Warning! Detecting abnormal spatial fluctuations!]

[Coordinates: Bottom of the original Mother Nest Abyss!]

[Energy Level: Rapidly rising!]

[Alien Beast Rank: Unknown! Unknown! Unknown!]

Lin Yuan suddenly turned, looking at the super crater that should have been silent. In the deepest part of the crater, the cooling molten metal suddenly boiled like water! A massive vortex, formed of pure darkness, was slowly taking shape in the center of the molten liquid!

"Impossible..." Lin Yuan's pupils contracted sharply. The Mother Nest had clearly been completely destroyed, even its energy core annihilated, so how could such an anomaly occur?

The answer was revealed in the next second.

"Om—!!!"

An indescribably ancient and vast will fluctuation erupted from the depths of the dark vortex! The information contained within this fluctuation directly exploded in the Souls of all living beings:

"Ignorant ants... do you think... destroying the vessel... can end My projection?"

The voice was not language, but a 'concept' that directly acted on consciousness, carrying a sense of timelessness and coldness that transcended space and time.

The dark vortex rapidly expanded, instantly swelling to a diameter of a thousand meters! In the center of the vortex, a giant claw covered in dark golden scales slowly emerged! The claw's form was similar to that of the Sun-Eater Star-Devouring Beast, but the scales flowed with pure pitch-black energy, and the claw tips shimmered with grayish-white light that distorted space!

The mere pressure emanating from a single claw caused the earth of the entire Thousand Absolute Star City ruins to crack again! The base's light barrier violently fluctuated, covered in dense cracks! The surviving trial-takers, as if struck by an invisible heavy hammer, fell to their knees, blood flowing from their seven orifices!

"Seventh-Rank... no, this aura is older and purer than the Sun-Eater Star-Devouring Beast..." Lin Yuan's bones groaned under the unbearable pressure, his Origin Dharma Body was forced to activate, barely resisting this might. He stared intently at the giant claw, a terrifying guess forming in his mind—this was probably not an ordinary seventh-Rank alien beast, but a projection of some higher existence!

"My name is... 'Shadow of the End'...'" The will fluctuation boomed again, "This Star City... was branded with My mark a hundred years ago... Your struggles... are futile..."