389: Chapter 389 Shattered Star Ring

Dark. Cold. Violent.

This was the eternal, unchanging backdrop of the Void Turbulence.

There was no concept of direction, no flow of time. Countless mountain-sized boulders collided within the chaotic energy storms, grinding into fine powder that filled the air. Light was distorted into bizarre ribbons of color here; the ears could hear nothing, yet the depths of the soul were filled with vibrations powerful enough to tear apart a Minor Thousand Worlds.

Zhou Wannian walked through this wasteland of life with steady steps.

His spotless green cloth shoes stepped upon the violent surges of energy without causing the slightest ripple. An absolute vacuum Domain three feet around him silently pushed away all approaching void wind blades and meteorite debris, leaving behind a smooth, unobstructed path.

He tilted his head slightly, looking at the behemoth directly ahead that occupied his entire field of vision.

The closer he got, the more glaring that sense of hodgepodge absurdity became.

This was the Immortal-Demon Great World.

Its base consisted of several deathly silent continents whose Origins had been drained dry, their jagged edges hung with countless thick, rusted chains. Atop these continents were haphazardly stacked pale bone palaces, broken sword peaks ten thousand feet high, lakes of churning blood, and mechanical fortresses emitting a cold metallic luster.

Pure and holy Immortal Qi and tyrannical, bloodthirsty Nine Nether Devilish Qi intertwined and tore at each other in the sky above this massive structure, eventually merging into a nauseating dark purple halo that tightly enveloped the entire world.

And in the void tens of thousands of miles away from these patched-together continents, a magnificent defensive ring circled them.

This ring was pieced together from billions of massive, polished meteorites, resembling a giant dark purple python coiled in the void. The surfaces of the meteorites were carved with complex and profound Formation patterns, through which thick energy flowed, forming an indestructible translucent boundary barrier.

At this moment, atop the star ring.

A squad of immortal-demon guards responsible for patrolling the boundary was riding a skeletal behemoth with six pairs of fleshy wings, moving slowly along a designated orbit.

The appearance of these guards, much like the Immortal-Demon Great World itself, exuded a twisted sense of being stitched together.

The leading guard commander was a man of burly stature. The left half of his body wore shimmering silver Immortal Brightlight Armor, with a single white wing extending from his back; his face was as handsome as a painting, with an air of compassionate Immortal Qi between his brows. However, the right half of his body was covered in oozing black demonic scales, a tattered bat-like fleshy wing protruded from his shoulder blade, and half his face resembled a malevolent ghost with protruding fangs and a bloodthirsty red glow swirling in his eye.

Two completely repulsive Bloodlines and powers were forcibly kneaded into this shell by a domineering Law.

“Commander, look over there!”

A subordinate, also half-immortal and half-demon, suddenly pointed toward the Void Turbulence, his voice laced with unbelievable shock.

The guard commander snapped his head around, his handsome left eye and crimson right eye narrowing simultaneously.

In their vision, which was capable of seeing through the mists of the void, a human figure was clearly reflected.

That person was not on any cross-realm flying vessel, nor had he summoned any protective Magic Treasures to withstand the void storms. His hands were casually folded behind his back, and he wore a faded green cloth robe that only a mundane scholar would wear.

As the violent Void Turbulence blew past him, it couldn't even lift a corner of his clothes.

He simply stepped through the void, step by step, walking toward the defensive ring of the Immortal-Demon Great World as if taking a leisurely stroll in a garden.

“A human? How can there be a living person walking in the Void Turbulence?” The subordinate swallowed hard and gripped his spear tightly.

The commander snorted coldly, a cruel smile appearing on the ghostly right half of his face. “Whatever he is, doesn't matter. Anyone who dares to approach the Immortal-Demon Great World alone is either seeking death or has had their brain scrambled by the void storms. Pass the order: preheat the star ring Formation and prepare to grind this reckless wandering soul into meat paste!”

With the commander's order...

Billions of massive meteorites on the star ring simultaneously erupted with a low rumble.

The complex Formation patterns carved on the meteorite surfaces seemed to come alive, frantically absorbing energy from the surrounding void. The dark purple light on the boundary barrier surged instantly, condensing into countless phantoms of blades, spears, swords, and halberds within the glow. With ear-piercing screeches, they locked onto the steadily approaching Zhou Wannian.

“Halt!”

The commander urged the skeletal behemoth beneath him forward a few steps and, through the boundary barrier, let out a thunderous roar at Zhou Wannian.

His voice, a mixture of the deterrent of immortal tones and the allure of demonic sounds, transformed into a visible ripple of sound waves. It penetrated the barrier and headed straight for Zhou Wannian.

“The space ahead is the supreme territory of the Immortal-Demon Great World! Who goes there? Kneel and be bound immediately, and surrender your Divine Soul for searching, or else your form and spirit shall be extinguished!”

The commander's tone was filled with high-and-mighty arrogance. In their eyes, any passerby in the void was merely a low-dimensional livestock to be handled at will.

The sound wave ripple struck the invisible barrier three feet in front of Zhou Wannian and dissipated silently, like a gentle breeze passing over water without even causing a ripple.

Zhou Wannian came to a halt.

He looked up, peering through the translucent barrier swirling with dark purple light, observing the group of half-immortal, half-demon guards standing on the star ring.

Then, his gaze fell upon this boundary barrier, which was claimed to be able to withstand the impact of void behemoths.

Zhou Wannian sniffed, his brow furrowing involuntarily.

It hadn't been noticeable from a distance, but standing before this boundary now, a nauseating stench seeped through the cracks of the barrier in thin strands, drilling straight into his nostrils.

That smell was half the cloyingly sweet scent of low-quality incense burning and half the stench of a corpse rotting and fermenting in a gutter for dozens of days. These two smells mixed together, combined with the sour aura of the Laws produced by forcibly stitching immortal and demonic powers, was enough to make one want to vomit up their last meal.

“I was originally thinking of knocking and showing some manners.”

Standing in the void, an undisguised look of disgust flashed in Zhou Wannian's deep eyes.

“But the mess you've smeared on this door... the smell is just too strong. If I touch it, I'm afraid I'd have to wash my body for a month to get rid of the stench.”

His calm voice penetrated the barrier and reached the ears of every guard clearly.

The guard commander froze for a moment, then flew into a rage. His face, half-handsome and half-hideous, contorted to the extreme.

“Arrogant ant! You dare speak such nonsense when death is at your doorstep! Form the array and kill him!”

The commander raised a greatsword burning with black and white flames and swung it forward fiercely.

The star ring defense line was fully activated. Tens of thousands of immortal-demon guards simultaneously formed seals, pouring their internal power without reservation into the meteorites beneath their feet.

“Rumble!”

On the boundary barrier, countless massive chains condensed from Immortal and Devilish Qi burst forth, like angry venomous pythons. They wove into a massive net in the void, carrying the terrifying power to seal space and strangle everything as they swooped down toward Zhou Wannian.

Facing this overwhelming strangulation array, Zhou Wannian didn't even pull out his hands, which were still behind his back.

He merely cast a glance at that foul-smelling dark purple barrier with an expression as if he were looking at trash.

“Since I don't want to get my hands dirty...”

Zhou Wannian's tone was flat, as if he were stating the simplest of daily decisions.

“I'll just use my foot then.”

The moment the words fell.

Zhou Wannian's tall and upright frame didn't adopt any posture of gathering strength or sprinting.

He simply stood in place and steadily raised his right foot.

His spotless green cloth shoe faced the sky full of intertwined immortal-demon chains and the star ring boundary barrier that was claimed to be indestructible and hundreds of feet thick.

Casually.

One kick.

He kicked it.

There was no earth-shaking magical light, nor any thunderous explosions that tore through the void.

This kick contained only the purest, most primitive, and most irrational “absolute mass” of a Physical Body refined to the limit by the Law of Great Perfection.

When the sole of the green cloth shoe lightly pressed against the surface of the barrier swirling with dark purple light...

Time seemed to come to a bizarre halt at this moment.

Those roaring, strangling immortal-demon chains suddenly froze several yards above Zhou Wannian's head.

The guard commander's posture, holding his greatsword, was frozen in mid-air. He widened his crimson right eye, staring fixedly at the point where Zhou Wannian's foot had landed.

He saw no ripples of magical resistance from the boundary barrier.

He only saw that around the point of contact, the thickness of the barrier was caving in and collapsing inward frantically in a way that defied all logic.

It was like a ten-thousand-ton iron pillar slowly being pressed onto a taut piece of thin paper. The paper didn't tear immediately; instead, it was pressed infinitely downward by this unbearable gravity until it reached the critical point where its material structure collapsed.

“Crack.”

A crisp, short, yet incredibly clear sound of snapping echoed in the heart of every guard.

That star ring defense barrier, which was said to be unshakable even by the self-detonation of a Soul Transformation Stage old monster, finally could not withstand this terrifying crush of mass beneath Zhou Wannian's sole.

A black crack spread out from the edge of the shoe's sole.

Immediately following...

“BOOM—!”

A true, unreserved physical avalanche erupted at the periphery of the Immortal-Demon Great World.

There was no blinding light, only pure material disintegration.

The boundary barrier exploded into billions of dull, lusterless shards in an instant. But that was only the beginning; the terrifying kinetic energy generated by that absolute mass traveled through the shards of the barrier, sweeping through the meteorite star ring behind it like dry weeds.

The massive star ring defense line was like a giant python whose spine had been crushed by a heavy stomp in the middle.

Those massive meteorites covered in Formation patterns couldn't even hold out for a single breath before turning into fine dust filling the sky under this irresistible impact.

“Ah—!”

The guard commander, along with the tens of thousands of immortal-demon guards beside him, didn't even have time to let out a full scream.

The skeletal behemoths beneath them were instantly annihilated. Their proud half-immortal, half-demon bodies, upon contact with this pulverizing shockwave, were like dolls made of sand; blown by a wild wind, they turned directly into blood mist and bone powder. Mixed with the meteorite debris, they were swept frantically back toward the interior of the Immortal-Demon Great World.

One kick.

Just one kick, without even using his hands.

This star ring defense array, which had protected the Immortal-Demon Great World for countless eons and swallowed who knows how many invaders, completely vanished into thin air before Zhou Wannian.

The shockwave's momentum did not diminish, turning into a terrifying hurricane of meteorite powder and blood mist. It tore through the inner sea of clouds and slammed heavily onto the surface of those continents pieced together from deathly silence.

The earth trembled, and mountains and rivers were overturned.

The bone palaces and mechanical fortresses stacked on the edges of the continents collapsed and shattered in batches under the sweep of this aftershock.

The high-level existences slumbering deep within the Immortal-Demon Great World were jolted awake from their seclusion by this sudden, violent tremor.

Beside a magnificent blood pool floating in mid-air, a Demon Venerable covered in eyes suddenly stood up, every one of his eyes filled with horror and disbelief.

“Enemy attack?!”

“The star ring defense... shattered?! How is this possible! Who is attacking us? Has the army of the Truth Realm mobilized?!”

Terrified roars rose one after another within the various palaces and Immortal Caves.

The shrill sound of horns representing the highest alert pierced the foul air above the Immortal-Demon Great World, spreading to every corner. Countless powerful auras soared into the sky, frantically investigating the direction of the collapse at the periphery.

The upper echelons of the Immortal-Demon Great World were completely shaken.

They couldn't believe that the star ring, which was sufficient to withstand the bombardment of an entire realm's army, could be violently leveled by someone from the outside in an instant.

And amidst the ruins of the collapsed star ring...

The violent energy turbulence gradually subsided.

Zhou Wannian withdrew his right foot, his hands still behind his back, standing steadily in that patch of void.

He looked at the massive gap ahead that he had forcibly kicked open—tens of thousands of miles wide—his expression still carrying that same lazy, spectator-like air.

Just as the dark purple immortal-demon Qi in the sky began to dissipate and the countless bits of meteorite powder slowly settled...

Zhou Wannian's gaze suddenly paused for a moment deep within the ruins.

Although the star ring boundary was shattered, the energy forming the core of the boundary's Formation had not yet completely dissipated.

Around those broken Formation eyes that had not yet been extinguished, Zhou Wannian saw very clearly wisps of extremely secretive gray-white light that had not been assimilated by the immortal or demonic Qi, now exposed to the air as the Formation disintegrated.

This gray-white light was not a disorganized halo.

They leaped and flashed in the void, outlining precise geometric shapes—triangles, cubes, and even strings of cold binary code.

These lines were rigid and mechanical, exuding an air of absolute rationality that viewed everything in the world as a mathematical formula.

Zhou Wannian's deep eyes narrowed slightly.

He was all too familiar with this.

This was the scent of code remaining on that high-dimensional thread he had just snapped in the Qingping Realm. It was also the unique signature of the “Absolute Truth Realm,” which had been hiding behind the scenes, attempting to turn the myriad worlds into a database.

“No wonder.”

Looking at the flashing geometric code, the corners of Zhou Wannian's mouth slowly curled into a cold smile of realization.

“I was wondering before how these stitch-monsters, who knead Immortal Qi and Devilish Qi together like mud, could have the brains to design Karma threads capable of fishing across dimensions.”

“Turns out this wall had someone else's cement mixed into it.”

The geometric code bursting from the broken Formation completely confirmed Zhou Wannian's previous suspicions.

This Immortal-Demon Great World was not some independent high-dimensional hegemon at all. They were merely a pack of vicious dogs standing at the front, while the one providing technical support and helping build this star ring defense and fishing tool was none other than that mechanical civilization realm that called itself the truth of the Universe.

The two forces had long since colluded in secret.

One side provided the labor, responsible for casting nets across the Universe to catch fish and drain the blood and Qi of low-dimensional worlds; the other side provided high-dimensional technology and logical code, watching coldly while collecting the purified energy data.

“What a fine scheme.”

Zhou Wannian brushed the hem of his green robe, the look of disgust on his face deepening a bit more.

“A bunch of brainless butchers and a tin shell that only knows how to use an abacus, making a mess of the myriad worlds.”

He set off, stepping over the flashing geometric code and meteorite ruins, walking steadily into the internal airspace of the Immortal-Demon Great World through that massive gap.

The wind blowing toward him was laced with the panicked assembly horns from within the Immortal-Demon Great World.

Listening to the chaotic sounds, not a single ripple appeared in Zhou Wannian's eyes.

Alone, he walked into the depths of this high-dimensional tumor that had poisoned countless low-dimensional beings.

“It looks like the amount of exercise for today's stroll will have to be a bit more than usual.”