386: Chapter 386 Following the Clues

The grey-white vertical pupil above the firmament had fallen into a death-like stagnation because of that single, uncut strand of black hair.

The violent, pure-white dimensional reduction storm continued to howl three feet away from Zhou Wannian, yet it was like a pack of wild dogs that had lost their alpha—able only to emit futile wails, unable to advance even half an inch further.

Zhou Wannian lowered his right hand from his hair.

Ignoring the flying light and spatial fragments filling the sky, his gaze pierced through layers of storms and landed unerringly on a spot in the Void Realm dozens of yards ahead.

There, a transparent silk thread was pulled taut.

This thread was the very same "fishing line" that had previously been inserted into the crown of the Dengxian Pavilion Master's head, later absorbing the blood on the ground and connecting to the true body of that high-dimensional existence beyond the heavens.

It hovered lonely in mid-air, one end plunged into the void spatial coordinates of the Qingping Realm, while the other stretched straight upwards, disappearing into the massive crack tearing the sky apart and connecting deep within that featureless, pale face.

Zhou Wannian took a step forward.

His faded blue cloth shoes stepped onto the white jade ruins of the Ascension Platform, which had been reduced to powder, making a faint rustling sound.

He walked very slowly, his posture upright and his pace leisurely, as if taking a stroll by a lakeside under the warm spring sun.

But with every step he took, the absolute mass naturally emanating from his body would forcibly shove aside the dimensional reduction storm blocking his way. The violent, pure-white rules shattered beneath his feet into dull snowflakes, which were then swept away by spatial turbulence without leaving a single trace.

"Drip... Warning... Dangerous target is approaching the master control link..."

Deep within the firmament, that stagnant, giant vertical pupil finally began to function again under this encroaching pressure. A cold, synthesized mechanical voice echoed between the dimensional rifts; it no longer held its previous arrogance, instead revealing an instinctive panic similar to a wild beast facing a life-or-death crisis.

It saw through Zhou Wannian's intention.

That prey in the blue robe was walking toward its fishing line!

The fishing line was its only channel for projecting power and interfering with the low-dimensional world. Once this master control link was destroyed, it would not only lose control over the Qingping Realm but would also suffer immeasurable backlash due to the dimensional severance.

"Interception protocol activated! Eradicate target at all costs!"

The streams of code deep within the vertical pupil burned frantically. The originally grey-white light instantly transformed into a piercing crimson, as if a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood were boiling within that eye.

The pale, giant face began to twist violently, and within the strange, mold-spotted starry sky surrounding it, tens of thousands of polyhedral stars lit up simultaneously with blinding light.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

One thick crimson pillar of light after another, carrying terrifying high temperatures and decomposition rules capable of destroying all matter in a three-dimensional world, shot out from those polyhedral stars. Like a dense meteor shower, they rained down toward Zhou Wannian, covering the sky and earth.

The power of these light pillars was even more violent than the previous dimensional reduction storm. Wherever the pillars passed, the already fragile spatial barriers of the Qingping Realm were burned through into bottomless black holes, revealing the churning Chaos turbulence behind them.

Shitou knelt a hundred yards behind Zhou Wannian, burying his face tightly in the crook of his arm. The youth kept his eyes shut, but the piercing crimson light still penetrated his eyelids, making his eyeballs ache. He could feel the surrounding air burning, and even the air he breathed into his lungs carried a scorched, bloody scent.

"Big Brother..." Shitou bit his teeth, praying silently in his heart.

Facing this world-ending crimson star shower, Zhou Wannian didn't even lift his head.

He maintained that same unhurried pace, walking toward the transparent silk thread.

Bang!

The first crimson light pillar slammed heavily into the invisible barrier three feet around Zhou Wannian.

There was no explosion, nor were there sparks flying everywhere.

The high-dimensional energy, enough to instantly evaporate a vast ocean, hit this layer of absolute mass Domain and acted like a fragile piece of chalk being thrust hard against an indestructible steel plate. Starting from the bottom, the light pillar shattered inch by inch, turning into a cluster of scattered red mist that slid around the invisible barrier.

Then came the second, the third, the ten-thousandth...

The dense crimson light pillars poured down on Zhou Wannian's head and surroundings like a torrential downpour.

The dull sounds of impact merged into one, shaking the entire mountain body of Qingyun Valley so violently that countless rocks rolled down the slopes.

Yet Zhou Wannian just walked steadily, enduring the bombardment filling the sky.

The gale ruffled his black hair, and the crimson light reflected off his handsome, easygoing face. Not a single ripple appeared in his deep eyes, as if these world-destroying attacks were merely a summer thundershower, not even enough to pique his interest in raising an umbrella.

Sect Master Tianshuzi lay slumped in the distant ruins, staring blankly at this scene.

His worldview had completely collapsed.

That man in the blue robe was actually using his flesh and blood body to withstand the frantic bombardment of a high-dimensional world while taking a leisurely stroll.

Was he even human? Could he be the descent of a Chaos Demon God from the legends of Pangu creating the world?

The vertical pupil above the firmament, seeing all its attacks vanish like clay oxen into the sea, saw the crimson light in its pupil flicker even more frantically.

It was afraid.

It wanted to retract that fishing line, to sever the connection with this terrifying variable and flee back to its own higher dimension.

"Reclaiming link... Emergency severance..."

The transparent silk thread began to tremble violently, emitting a hum like a bowstring about to snap. The space around the thread was pulled into several black void rifts as it began to contract upward at a speed exceeding light.

"Trying to run?"

Zhou Wannian stopped his pace.

He looked at the transparent silk thread escaping upward, a cold arc curling at the corner of his mouth.

At this moment, he was still three yards away from the thread.

Zhou Wannian did not perform any Shrinking the Earth to an Inch Spells, nor did he quicken his pace to give chase.

He simply stood in place and slowly raised his right hand.

His slender, fair index and middle fingers were pressed together, facing the area three yards ahead that was filled with void rifts.

Plainly and simply.

He reached forward and lightly pinched his two fingers in the void.

Buzz—

Between that reach and pinch, the Great Perfection Space Law displayed its dominance, ignoring all distance and dimensions.

The space ahead was instantly folded into an absolute singularity between Zhou Wannian's two fingers.

The transparent silk thread, which had been contracting upward at speeds exceeding light, was like a venomous snake having its tail stepped on; its form suddenly stiffened, and it was forcibly frozen in mid-air.

Zhou Wannian withdrew his right hand.

When his hand appeared before him again.

That crystal-clear transparent silk thread, emanating cold high-dimensional logic fluctuations, was already firmly caught between his index and middle fingers.

It was icy to the touch, with a rigid texture that did not belong to the matter of the Qingping Realm. The thread struggled and writhed frantically between Zhou Wannian's fingers, trying to sever his fingers to escape, only to find that the cutting rules it took such pride in could not leave even a tiny white mark on that fair skin.

Above the firmament.

The moment Zhou Wannian pinched the thread, that massive pale face let out a thunderous roar.

Within the vertical pupil, the crimson light swirled frantically; it felt its master control link being held in a death grip by an irresistible mass.

It pulled with all its might, wanting to drag this line—along with the arrogant variable below—up into the high dimension.

But it discovered to its sorrow that it was like a small child trying to pull Mount Tai with a thin string. No matter how it increased its computing power or mobilized the energy of the entire high-dimensional realm, the blue-robed man below didn't even sway his shoulders.

Two forces, along this thin transparent thread, engaged in the purest tug-of-war within the void of the Qingping Realm.

The thread was pulled taut, emitting a series of tooth-gritting creaks. Because it could not withstand this terrifying tension, the surrounding space constantly collapsed and reorganized, turning into a bizarre zone of Chaos.

Zhou Wannian stood at the edge of the Chaos.

He raised his head, his eyes deep as ancient wells, and followed the taut silk thread to gaze quietly at the frantic vertical pupil deep within the rift in the vault of heaven.

His two fingers, which were pinching the silk thread, slightly adjusted their posture.

On that handsome face, there was no pride of a victor, only a sense of dullness, as if he had just pulled down an annoying spiderweb.

"Using this thing to fish everywhere, making the whole place smell of fishy stench."

Zhou Wannian's voice was calm and smooth, following the silk thread and clearly transmitting into the depths of the logical core of that existence beyond the heavens.

"Your fishing rod, I'm confiscating it."

The words fell.

Between his two fingers pinching the thread, he used no magic power, nor did he borrow the might of heaven and earth.

He relied solely on the pure strength of two fingers of flesh.

Outwardly, with a slight twist and a gentle application of force.

"Snap—!"

An extremely crisp sound of snapping suddenly resounded throughout the heaven and earth of the Qingping Realm.

This sound was like a lute string stretched to its limit suddenly snapping on a late autumn night; it was crisp and short, yet it carried the sheer satisfaction of severing all ties of Karma.

That high-dimensional silk thread, which the angler from beyond the heavens regarded as indestructible and used to manipulate the myriad worlds of the heavens.

Between Zhou Wannian's two fingers, it snapped in response.

At the moment of the break, a visible transparent ripple swept madly in both upward and downward directions, centered on the point of fracture.

Below.

The suffocating shadow of death pressing down on the Qingping Realm, the dimension-reducing storm that seemed ready to iron the entire world flat into a scroll—at the moment the silk thread snapped, it was like a rootless tree losing its core, instantly losing all momentum and support from the rules.

The pure white storm froze in mid-air for a breath, then melted and collapsed silently like winter snow encountering a blazing sun, turning into a sky full of clear air currents that dissipated between heaven and earth.

The distorted mountains and rivers regained their vitality, and at the bottom of the dried-up riverbeds, groundwater began to gurgle out once more.

The heavy shackles pressing deep into the Soul of every living being were completely shattered in an instant.

Sect Master Tianshuzi breathed in large gulps of fresh air scented with the fragrance of soil. He lay on the ground, his tears flowing uncontrollably. They had survived; the world was saved. They, these ants, had found redemption through the casual tug of this man in green robes.

Shitou abruptly raised his head, feeling the Spiritual Qi flowing around him once more, and a hint of color returned to the boy's originally pale face. He looked at the small section of transparent silk thread held in the big brother's hand, his eyes full of the wild joy of surviving a catastrophe.

And above.

The backlash from the broken silk thread followed the half-section of the line as it rapidly retracted toward the higher dimension, whipping viciously against that pale, giant face deep within the vault of heaven in a destructive manner.

"Ah—!"

A shrill, tragic scream, completely devoid of reason and mechanical indifference, rolled down from the rift that tore through the sky.

This was no longer a synthesized mechanical voice, but the most primitive wail of pain from some massive creature after suffering a heavy blow.

On the face that resembled a pale plain, the giant vertical pupil shrank violently under the impact of the backlash.

"Bang!"

A cluster of dazzling dark-gold blood flowers exploded on the surface of the vertical pupil.

Large patches of dark-gold blood, thick as lava, erupted from the corner of the vertical pupil where it had split, turning into a golden rain of blood that fell through the dimensional rift. As the blood dripped into the Void Realm of the Qingping Realm, it instantly burned through space, emitting a strong, high-dimensional sulfurous scent.

The angler from beyond the heavens was injured.

The tool it relied on to interfere with the Lower Realm had been violently destroyed, and the power of the backlash directly wounded its true body.

The strange starry sky at the edge of the rift began to shake and collapse violently. That wounded giant face, filled with endless fear and pain, desperately retracted into the depths of the rift, wanting to flee this terrifying place, to flee that monster who could tear apart high-dimensional Laws with his bare hands.

The sky of the Qingping Realm began to slowly close under the self-repair of the Heavenly Dao Laws. The giant rift grew narrower and narrower, and the scene beyond the heavens was gradually becoming blurred.

However.

Zhou Wannian stood where he was.

He rubbed the remaining small section of transparent silk thread between his two fingers. After losing its high-dimensional energy, the silk thread soon turned into a wisp of gray smoke and dissipated.

He raised his head, his deep eyes staring fixedly at the rapidly retracting broken end of the line and that giant, bleeding, fleeing vertical pupil.

The corners of Zhou Wannian's mouth curled into a cold and dangerous smile.

"You want to run after hitting someone? There's no such cheap deal."

He did not block the healing of the rift, nor did he fly into the sky to pursue it.

In the one-ten-thousandth of a breath when the silk thread snapped and the backlash whipped against the vertical pupil.

Deep within Zhou Wannian's profound and boundless Divine Soul, a formless and substanceless perception, yet countless times sharper than any high-dimensional gaze, followed the ripples of the broken backlash like a venomous snake swimming upstream, quietly slipping into the closing dimensional rift.

Reverse tracking.

Since you dared to drop the line, I will follow the trajectory of your retraction to see clearly exactly which rat hole you are hiding in.

This perception jumped out of the shackles of time and space.

It penetrated that strange starry sky covered in mold spots and passed over that giant face twisting in pain. Zhou Wannian discovered that this so-called vertical pupil and face were merely skins used by the opponent to disguise and project power.

The perception continued to climb higher, piercing through layer after layer of dimensional barriers.

Along the way, he saw countless low-dimensional worlds like the Qingping Realm being treated as fish ponds. Some worlds were still full of life, while others had already become withered dead stars, their world Origins drained completely, leaving only shriveled husks floating in the Void Realm.

Finally.

After crossing an unknown number of dimensional levels.

Zhou Wannian's perception came to a stop in a vast and boundless high-dimensional Void Realm filled with violent energy turbulence.

Deep within this Void Realm.

A magnificent structure, so massive it was suffocating, floated there quietly.

This could not even be called a single building.

This was clearly a giant cluster of floating islands, forcefully pieced and sewn together by some overbearing Law from countless broken worlds and myriad continental remains.

On the surface of the floating islands, pure Immortal Pure Qi and tyrannical Nine Nether Devilish Qi flowed. These two completely opposite energies were crudely kneaded together here, forming a nauseating dark-purple halo that enveloped the entire floating island cluster.

On a giant altar at the highest point, built from white bones and white jade.

A giant figure, entirely shrouded in dark-gold robes with an indiscernible face, was slumped on a throne. One of his hands covered a bloody eye, while the other still held a section of broken transparent silk thread, his entire body trembling violently.

The Immortal-Demon Great World.

That high-dimensional tumor that forcefully sewed together Immortal and Demon, treating the myriad worlds of the heavens as experimental fields and harvesting grounds.

This was the lair of that angler from beyond the heavens.

Zhou Wannian's perception circled once above that massive floating island cluster, imprinting all the surrounding spatial coordinates and dimensional anchors clearly and without the slightest error deep within his Divine Soul.

"Found you."

In the Qingping Realm, on the ruins of the Ascension Platform.

Zhou Wannian slowly withdrew his distant gaze.

Above the vault of heaven, that giant dimensional rift had completely closed. The azure sky was revealed once more, and sunlight spilled onto the scarred earth, bringing a long-awaited hint of warmth.

The raging wild winds ceased, and everything returned to peace.

Zhou Wannian turned around, looking at Shitou kneeling on the ground and those cultivators in the distance who had not yet recovered from the shock.

He dusted off the hem of his green robe, the expression on his face returning to its usual laziness and easygoing nature.

"The sky has cleared."

Zhou Wannian stretched, his bones making a series of crisp sounds.

He set off, walking toward the path down the mountain.

"I've seen enough of the scenery here. Let's go, Little Shitou, find a place to wash our hands and prepare to change to the next path for a stroll."