329: The last words of the stone sword, the crack in the starry sky

Lin Fan's breathing suddenly became rapid.

He stared intently at Li Hanyue; on her face, which appeared even more cold and ethereal due to her Breakthrough, there was actually a hint of... excitement that he had never seen before?

"Who is 'He'?" Lin Fan asked subconsciously.

But what he truly wanted to ask was the second half of the sentence.

Where is the location for a "high-quality death"?!

Li Hanyue gave him a deep look, as if she wanted to carve his current impatient expression into her heart.

She spoke slowly, her voice clear and melodious, yet carrying a hint of ancient desolation.

"What just merged into my forehead was neither a Legacy nor power."

"It was merely the final 'last words' left behind by the stone sword."

Last words?

Lin Fan was stunned for a moment.

After such a huge commotion, the final boss of the Ten Thousand Swords Burial only left behind some last words? Not even a Divine Artifact or a Secret Manual? This is way too stingy!

Li Hanyue's expression became incredibly solemn.

"We were all wrong."

"The Ten Thousand Swords Burial is not the tomb of some great sword master. Its master, the master of that stone sword, 'He'... has not fallen."

"During the last Era Calamity, in order to resist enemies from Outside the Realm, 'He' turned his body into a sword and transformed into the Ten Thousand Swords Burial, guarding a weak point in the barriers of this Universe."

Her voice paused, carrying a sense of extreme awe.

"This place is a defensive line, and also the final spark of hope."

Lin Fan listened to these grand and tragic ancient secrets with a heart as calm as still water, even feeling a bit like yawning.

Era Calamity, powerful enemies from Outside the Realm, turning one's body into a sword... these stories sounded impressive, but what did they have to do with him?

He only wanted to know where that "high-quality death" location was! That was the core issue concerning his personal interests and his KPIs!

As if seeing through his inner restlessness, Li Hanyue changed the subject, her star-like eyes locking onto Lin Fan.

"In the stone sword's last words, there was a most urgent warning."

"A Vanguard Fleet from Outside the Realm, named the 'World-Ending Divine Army', is about to tear through the Universe's barrier and descend upon this world."

"And the coordinates He calculated where that fleet is most likely to arrive..."

A flash of complexity, which even she hadn't noticed, flickered in Li Hanyue's eyes.

"...is exactly the 'high-quality death' location I mentioned."

Boom!

These words were like a thunderclap of creation, exploding in Lin Fan's mind!

The slight impatience on his face vanished without a trace, replaced by a nearly frenzied, terrifyingly bright light!

World-Ending Divine Army?

Vanguard Fleet?!

At this moment, Lin Fan's brain began to work frantically at an unprecedented speed!

His thinking had moved beyond the limitations of a single boss and leaped to a whole new dimension!

Previously, when farming Imperial Sword Intent or Assassin Sword Intent, he had to provoke them one by one; the efficiency was too low!

Now!

A whole fleet!

What does this mean?

It means thousands upon thousands of "high-quality sparring partners"! It means death rewards of different Ranks, from soldiers to generals!

It means this is a pre-packaged, dazzlingly diverse KPI gift bag!

How is this a world-ending catastrophe?

This is clearly a windfall from the heavens! It's a super year-end bonus dispatched by the System to him, the outstanding employee of the year!

"Where is it?!"

Lin Fan lunged in front of Li Hanyue, grabbing her shoulders with both hands and shaking her vigorously, his eyes burning with intense flames.

"Where are the coordinates?! How strong is that fleet? Which one is the flagship? What Rank is their Commander-in-Chief? Immortal Emperor? Or even above Immortal Emperor?!"

"If I get killed by their Commander-in-Chief in front of the entire army, what rating will the System give? SSS-Rank? Or the legendary EX-Rank?!"

A barrage of questions poured out of Lin Fan's mouth like a violent storm.

His whole being had fallen into a state of excitement because of this sudden, immense happiness.

Li Hanyue: "..."

She was shaken a bit dizzy by Lin Fan, staring blankly at his face, which was flushed with excessive excitement.

That Realm of Sword Heart Clarity and mind like still water she had just achieved upon breaking through was completely shattered at this moment.

A sense of boundless powerlessness welled up in her heart once again.

She took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down, and said solemnly, word by word.

"Lin Fan, wake up!"

"This isn't a game! This is a true world-ending catastrophe! Judging by the aura in the stone sword's last words, that Vanguard Fleet—even its most ordinary soldiers—might possess combat power comparable to an Immortal Venerable!"

"Mahayana Stage Cultivators in a war of that scale are just... cannon fodder!"

She tried to use the harshest reality to douse Lin Fan's unrealistic fantasies.

However.

"Even the cannon fodder are at the Immortal Venerable level?"

Instead of being frightened, Lin Fan became even more excited. He slapped his thigh hard, the ecstasy on his face almost overflowing.

"Great! That means the quality is extremely high!"

"If I die at the hands of a mere soldier, I might even snag an A-Rank rating! This is simply... gold everywhere!"

Li Hanyue completely gave up.

She let go of Lin Fan's hands and silently took two steps back, watching him dance around alone with a look reserved for a peerless madman, excitedly calculating the cost-benefit ratio of various ways to die.

She felt that this Universe might indeed be doomed.

Not because of the "World-Ending Divine Army."

But because sooner or later, it would be "played" to death by the man before her.

Just then.

Crack——!

A terrifying tearing sound that defied description, as if the glass dome of the entire Universe had been shattered, echoed in the depths of every living being's Soul!

The starship suddenly vibrated violently!

The piercing alarm sound seemed so insignificant compared to that tearing sound.

The fanaticism on Lin Fan's face suddenly froze.

Li Hanyue's solemn expression also instantly turned into extreme horror.

Without a word, both of them rushed out of the bridge, hovering in the cold Void Realm outside the Ten Thousand Swords Burial.

Then, they saw it.

Upon the distant, deep, and boundless canvas of the Starry Sky.

A pitch-black crack of unimaginable size appeared out of thin air, like a hideous scar stretching across the galaxy!

It wasn't darkness, but something deeper than darkness—pure "nothingness."

A dense aura of Chaos, slaughter, and extinction that did not belong to this Universe, thick enough to be tangible, was surging through that crack like a flood from an opened gate, frantically pouring into this world!