492: Chapter 427: The Principles of Civilization: Defining Nothingness as Illegal
The vanguard of the Lord of Nothingness was moving slowly but steadily in the depths of the Return to Ruins. Its speed had increased from 150 kilometers per hour to 200 kilometers per hour, and the dark red light spots were becoming brighter in the gray-white mist. It was only 50,000 kilometers away from the edge of the New Universe. At this speed, it would arrive in less than seven months.
Lin Zhou did not wait. He decided to take the initiative—to meet the enemy at the edge of the Return to Ruins and not let the vanguard set foot into the New Universe. He selected three hundred elites, with Qin Qing, Wang Meng, Su Yueyao, Chen Xuan, and Iron Face accompanying him. The Dragon Vein Golden Scale coiled in the Divine Kingdom, and the Civilization Projection of the ark of civilization unfolded, its deep blue light cutting through the mist like a sharp sword.
[Expedition Team · Data]
- Number of People: 300 + Dragon Vein Golden Scale
- Average Divine Rank: LV700
- Equipment: Civilization Armor · Enhanced Version, Fire of Justice, Rule Plague Purification Talisman
- Civilization Projection of the ark of civilization: 1 kilometer in diameter, consumes 10,000 Divine Power per minute
- Fire of Justice: Carried by Iron Face, capable of "Existence Judgment"
50,000 kilometers was like 50,000 light-years at the edge of the Return to Ruins. The perception of the Dragon Vein Golden Scale helped them avoid spatial rifts and spacetime turbulence, but the closer they got to the vanguard, the higher the concentration of Return to Ruins energy became. When they were only 1,000 kilometers away from the vanguard, the consumption of the Civilization Projection of the ark of civilization soared from 10,000 Divine Power per minute to 50,000. Lin Zhou's Divine Power reserves were dropping at a speed visible to the naked eye.
[Expedition Team · Status (1,000 kilometers from vanguard)]
- Return to Ruins Energy Concentration: 300 times that of the outside
- Civilization Projection Consumption: 50,000 Divine Power per minute
- Lin Zhou's Divine Power Reserves: 5 million → 4 million
- Distance to Vanguard: 1,000 kilometers
Finally, they saw the vanguard.
It was not a living creature, but a condensation of "rules." Its form was like an inverted mountain, sharp at the bottom and wide at the top, dark red all over. Countless Return to Ruins runes flowed on its surface, and every time the runes flickered, gray-white mist surged out from the mountain. The space around the mountain was twisting, collapsing, and reorganizing; that was the rule collapse caused by the excessive concentration of Return to Ruins energy.
[Void Vanguard · Data]
- Form: Inverted mountain
- Height: Approximately 50 kilometers
- Rank: LV4000 (Peak of high-tier divine power)
- Trait 1: Return to Ruins Domain — All non-void units within range lose 1% of their sense of existence per second
- Trait 2: Rule Crushing — Can crush rule structures within range, causing skills to fail
- Trait 3: Void Devouring — Can devour Divine Kingdom wreckage, recovering 1% integrity per second
- Weakness: Fire of Civilization, Fire of Justice
"This thing is more troublesome than the Void Divine Kingdom." Wang Meng gripped his battle axe tightly.
"It has no consciousness, only instinct." Iron Face's Fire of Justice sensed the vanguard's rule structure. "Its instinct is to devour all existence. There is no fear, no wisdom, only hunger."
"Then let's feed it—feed it 'non-existence'."
Lin Zhou stepped forward, and the river of civilization surged out from the Divine Kingdom, turning into a cyan-gold torrent that rushed toward the vanguard.
[river of civilization · Purification Mode]
- Target: Void Vanguard
- Consumption: 100,000 Divine Power per minute
- Effect: Strip away Return to Ruins energy
- Purification Speed: 10 meters per second
The river washed over the mountain of the vanguard, and the dark red runes began to fade. But the vanguard's counterattack came faster. A gray-white beam of light shot out from the bottom of the mountain, hitting the river of civilization. The flow rate of the river plummeted, dropping from 10 meters per second to 1 meter per second.
[river of civilization · Suppressed]
- Reason: Return to Ruins energy concentration is too high
- Flow Rate: 10 meters per second → 1 meter per second
- Consumption: 100,000 Divine Power → 200,000
"Iron Face!" Lin Zhou shouted.
Iron Face leaped up, the Fire of Justice burning in his palm. Pale gold rule chains shot out from the flames, wrapping around the vanguard's mountain.
[Fire of Justice · Existence Judgment]
- Target: Void Vanguard
- Judgment Content: Existence of Return to Ruins energy
- Judgment Progress: 1%... 2%... 3%...
- Consumption: 10,000 Divine Power per minute
- Judgment Speed: Extremely slow
"It's too fast, I can't lock onto it!" Iron Face gritted his teeth.
The vanguard's Rank was too high and its existential strength too great, so the judgment speed of the Fire of Justice was heavily suppressed. At this speed, it would take nearly two hours to complete one judgment. And Lin Zhou's Divine Power could not last that long.
Qin Qing unfolded the Net of Law. "Legalism—Define as illegal!"
[Net of Law · Definition]
- Definition Content: "Return to Ruins energy" is an illegal existence
- Coverage: 10 kilometers in diameter
- Consumption: 5,000 Divine Power per minute
- Effect: Weaken the vanguard's Return to Ruins energy output
The dark red light was partially suppressed, but the vanguard's counterattack became more violent. The mountain shook, and countless gray-white tentacles extended from the mountain, lunging at Lin Zhou and the others.
[Void Vanguard · Attack — Void Tentacles]
- Quantity: Approximately 100
- Attack Method: Whipping, entanglement
- Effect: The target's Divine Rank integrity -5%, and those entangled by tentacles cannot move
Wang Meng led the civilization Sword Cultivators into battle. Fifty Sword Cultivators flew up, cyan-gold sword light severing the tentacles. But the tentacles regenerated immediately after being broken, and their numbers grew more and more.
[Battle · Data]
- Void Tentacles: 100... 150... 200
- Sword Cultivator Kills: 50... 80... 100
- Tentacle Regeneration Speed: 10 per second
Su Yueyao unfolded the Moonlight, silver-white light shrouding the tentacles. The regeneration speed of the tentacles dropped from 10 per second to 5 per second. The Dragon Vein Golden Scale roared, and Dragon Breath evaporated a patch of tentacles. But the vanguard's mountain remained unmoved.
Lin Zhou retracted the river of civilization. The purification speed was too slow; he couldn't afford it. He had to change methods—use the Legalism "Definition" to deny the vanguard's existence from the rule level.
He closed his eyes, his consciousness sinking into the Temple of Civilization. The Legalism Legacy in the temple turned into a stone tablet, with the words "The Law is the public instrument of the world" carved on it. He reached out to touch the stone tablet, and the rule power of Legalism poured into his Divine Rank.
[Legalism · Rule Power]
- Source: Temple of Civilization Legalism Legacy
- Effect: Can "Define" the target, briefly stripping or bestowing attributes
- Consumption: Related to target strength
Lin Zhou opened his eyes, raised his right hand, spread his five fingers, and aimed at the vanguard.
"In the name of civilization, by the principles of the thousand-generation Legacy, by the strictness of the Hundred Schools' Laws—"
His voice was not loud, but it spread throughout the entire Void Realm.
"Now defining—'Void' is the Evil Path of civilization development, the countercurrent of the Order Universe; it shall be burned by the Fire of Civilization, judged by the light of Law, and discarded by the principles of the Legacy. This definition is—Civilization Judgment!"
[Civilization Judgment · Definition]
- Definition Content: "Void" is an illegal existence
- Target: Void Vanguard
- Consumption: 500,000 Divine Power
- Duration: 10 minutes
Cyan-gold light shot from his palm, turning into a huge beam of light that hit the vanguard's mountain. Wherever the beam passed, the dark red runes were "defined" as illegal and began to disintegrate. The gray-white mist was "defined" as illegal and began to evaporate. Countless cracks appeared on the surface of the mountain.
[Void Vanguard · Status]
- Integrity: 100%... 90%... 80%...
- Disintegration Speed: 1% per second
- Duration: Approximately 100 seconds
The vanguard struggled frantically, the mountain shook, and tentacles danced wildly. It tried to counter-devour Lin Zhou with Return to Ruins energy, but "Void" had been defined as illegal, and the Return to Ruins energy could not condense within the beam of light.
The judgment speed of Iron Face's Fire of Justice was also accelerating. Because the vanguard's existential strength was decreasing, the judgment increased from 1% per second to 5% per second.
[Fire of Justice · Existence Judgment]
- Judgment Progress: 10%... 20%... 30%...
- Consumption: 10,000 Divine Power per minute
When the judgment progress reached 100%, the vanguard was marked as "non-existent."
[Fire of Justice · Judgment Successful]
- Target: Void Vanguard
- Judgment Result: "Non-existent"
- Effect: The vanguard's Return to Ruins energy began to spiral out of control
Gray-white mist surged out of the mountain, and the dark red runes shattered. The mountain began to collapse from the bottom, giant rocks peeling off the main body, turning into gray-white light spots in the Void Realm and dissipating.
[Void Vanguard · Disintegration]
- Integrity: 80%... 50%... 20%... 0%
The mountain collapsed completely. The dark red light dissipated, and the gray-white mist evaporated. Only a fist-sized dark red crystal remained—the core of the Void Vanguard.
[Void Vanguard Core · Data]
- Size: Fist
- Energy Contained: Return to Ruins Origin (trace amount)
- Purifiable: Yes
- After Purification: essence of order × 1000 units
Lin Zhou retracted the river of civilization and knelt on one knee.
"Captain!" Su Yueyao rushed over.
"I'm fine. Just a large consumption of Divine Power." Lin Zhou stood up, looking at the crystal. "Li Mo, put it away."
Li Mo's projection put the crystal into a container.
Iron Face walked over, his face pale. The Fire of Justice had consumed most of his Divine Power, but his eyes were bright.
"Civilization Judgment... can define Void as illegal. This is more efficient than my existence judgment."
"But the consumption is also high. 500,000 Divine Power for one shot, and it only lasts ten minutes." Lin Zhou looked deeper into the Return to Ruins. "If the Lord of Nothingness comes in person, one Civilization Judgment won't be enough."
"Then we'll use it multiple times."
"We need more essence of order."
Lin Zhou turned and looked at the team.
"Let's go back to the fortress. Rest for three days, then continue to purify the wreckage."
"Yes."
After returning to the fortress, Lin Zhou purified the core of the Void Vanguard and converted it into 1,000 units of essence of order. The daily output of the civilization furnace increased from 22 million Divine Power to 23 million.
He stood on the city wall, looking in the direction of the Chaos Star Domain. In the gray-white mist, the dark red light spots had disappeared. The vanguard had been destroyed, but the Lord of Nothingness was still sleeping. Only half of the three-year period had passed; he still had a year and a half.
"Captain, what are you thinking about?" Qin Qing walked over.
"Thinking about how much stronger the main body of the Lord of Nothingness is compared to the vanguard."
"How much stronger?"
"Vanguard LV4000, Lord of Nothingness LV10000+. A difference of 6,000 levels."
Qin Qing fell silent.
"But, we have a year and a half."
"A year and a half, can we go from LV6700 to LV10000?"
"No. But we can make the Fire of Civilization brighter."
Lin Zhou looked toward the New Universe. The Fire of Civilization of 100,000 towns was like a sea of stars in the night sky.
"When the Fire of Civilization is bright enough, the darkness of the Lord of Nothingness will be illuminated. Its Rank will drop."
"How much can it drop?"
"I don't know. Maybe 8,000, maybe 5,000."
Qin Qing nodded. "Then let's make it drop."
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