61: Chapter 61 The Shadow of the End

The "Apostle" turned into flying ash, and the cold, dead, and erosive aura belonging to "the end" that remained when its chest core crystal shattered was quickly purified and annihilated under the power of the Five Elements Returning to Ruins Domain, finally dissipating into nothingness.

Outside the boundary membrane, silence returned, with only that strangely shaped jet-black flying boat, like a shell that had lost its Soul, silently floating a hundred zhang away, emitting a faint, cold metallic light.

Lin Wan put away the guixu sword and dispersed his Domain, but his Divine Sense remained highly vigilant. The Five Elements Guixu Dao Seed glowed faintly as he carefully sensed every inch of the surrounding space, especially that flying boat.

He was not sure if this flying boat still had any "backup plans," or if there were other voyeurs in more distant places.

Inside the barrier, Han Lingtian and Liao Chen saw this and both breathed a sigh of relief, but their expressions remained equally grave.

Although Lin Wan had ultimately won the short exchange just now, the process had not been easy. The strange abilities displayed by the "Apostle" had made them feel a strong threat as well.

"Junior Brother Lin, are you alright?" Han Lingtian asked via voice transmission, while he and Liao Chen also increased their monitoring of the barrier's periphery.

"It is fine," Lin Wan replied, his gaze still locked on the flying boat. "This thing is somewhat strange; I need to examine it."

He did not immediately approach the flying boat, but instead raised his hand and made a grasping motion toward it from afar.

Chaos Infant Essence surged, transforming into a semi-transparent, chaotic-colored spiritual power hand that slowly enveloped the flying boat.

The power of Five Elements Returning to Ruins flowed upon the spiritual power hand, allowing it to instantly suppress and annihilate the flying boat should it show any unusual movement.

The large hand easily grabbed the flying boat. The flying boat did not resist, appearing as if it were truly just an inanimate object. Lin Wan controlled the spiritual power hand, slowly dragging it toward the barrier membrane.

Just as the flying boat was about to touch the boundary membrane, a sudden change occurred!

"Hum—!!!"

On the surface of the flying boat, that originally dim, twisted, inwardly rotating dark vortex emblem suddenly erupted with a blinding crimson light, like the final struggle before a heart stops!

At the same time, a rapid, sharp, and eerie buzzing sound—resembling an alarm or perhaps some kind of self-destruct command being initiated—emanated from inside the flying boat!

"Not good! It's going to self-destruct!" Lin Wan's expression changed, his thoughts racing as he poured Chaos Infant Essence crazily into the spiritual power hand, attempting to instantly crush it or throw it far away.

However, the self-destruct command had initiated too suddenly and too decisively. Inside the flying boat, a terrifying energy, violent, chaotic, and filled with the intent of destruction and erosion, instantly broke through the constraints of its shell and erupted with a roar!

"Boom—!!!"

An indescribable, destructive energy storm, mixed with ominous colors such as dark red, pitch black, and pale white, swept outward with the flying boat at its center!

The power of this explosion far exceeded the energy reserves it should have possessed, as if at the moment of self-destruction, it had triggered some deeper, more sinister power within the Void Realm, bringing its power to a terrifying level comparable to the self-detonation of a Nascent Soul Late Stage Cultivator!

The shockwave of the explosion slammed violently against the Five Elements Barrier membrane, which was extremely close. The chaotic five-colored light screen vibrated violently, unprecedentedly large ripples spreading across its surface, and it even faintly buckled inward by several feet!

However, the defense of the boundary membrane was indeed formidable. Even when facing such a close-range self-detonation comparable to a Nascent Soul Late Stage, it was merely shaken and did not show any cracks or damage. The Five Elements Returning to Ruins power contained within it circulated, quickly decomposing, assimilating, and absorbing the energy impact of the explosion, and the light screen soon returned to calm.

However, the spatial turbulence and residual energy waves caused by the explosion, as well as the thick, inseparable aura of "the end" erosion contained within them, spread like a plague in all directions, staining the area for several miles outside the boundary membrane with an eerie, dark hue.

Consequently, the location where the black crystal used for pollution—which the "Apostle" had previously integrated into the boundary membrane—seemed to be stimulated as well, and the "the end" erosion fluctuations it emitted suddenly intensified slightly.

"Damn it!" Lin Wan cursed in a low voice, his figure flashing as he retreated back into the barrier, his expression somewhat ugly.

He had not expected that the flying boat's self-destruct mechanism would be so decisive and so powerful, and even less did he expect that the energy of the self-detonation seemed to resonate with the pollution crystal, exacerbating the erosion.

"Fellow Daoist Lin, did that flying boat self-destruct?" Liao Chen and Han Lingtian had also sensed the intense energy fluctuations outside, and seeing Lin Wan retreat, they asked hurriedly.

"Yes, it self-destructed. The power was not small, and it also stimulated that pollution crystal," Lin Wan said in a deep voice, his gaze passing through the boundary membrane to look at the spot where the crystal was lurking.

He could feel that although the erosion had increased slightly, it was still insignificant compared to the vast energy of the entire boundary membrane, like a drop in the ocean.

But leaving it alone would ultimately be a hidden danger, and the "the end" aura it emitted was like a lighthouse in the darkness, which might attract more and stronger voyeurs.

"We must remove that pollution crystal as soon as possible, and find a way to cover up and purify the residual 'the end' aura here," Lin Wan said.

"How do we remove it? The crystal seems to have merged with the boundary membrane energy; forcibly stripping it might damage the boundary membrane itself," Han Lingtian said.

"I will try." Lin Wan took a deep breath and came to the barrier node again.

This time, he did not use the attack Restriction but instead attempted to use his own understanding of the Five Elements Returning to Ruins Dao, as well as his initial authority to control the barrier, to communicate with and guide the purification and repair power of the boundary membrane itself.

The Five Elements Guixu Dao Seed between his eyebrows shone brightly with silver light, and a pure, gentle, yet supreme purifying Dao intent of Chaos slowly seeped into the boundary membrane along the barrier node, spreading toward the location of the pollution crystal.

"Five Elements Returning to Ruins, all Laws return to the Origin, evil and filth shall not exist—Purify."

Following the guidance of his intent, the vast, majestic, and ceaseless power of the Five Elements Returning to Ruins inside the boundary membrane seemed to be infused with spirituality, and began to spontaneously gather and wash over the pollution crystal.

The chaotic five-colored light, like the gentlest flowing water and also like the fiercest flame, wrapped around the crystal that was emitting ominous black Qi.

"Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle..."

It was as if cold water had dripped into boiling oil, or as if ice and snow had encountered the scorching sun. Under the washing of the pure Five Elements Returning to Ruins power, wisps of black smoke began to emerge from the surface of the pollution crystal, and the "the end" erosive power contained within it was rapidly decomposed, purified, and annihilated.

The crystal itself also rapidly became dim and transparent, and finally, with a soft "pop" sound, it completely turned into nothingness, leaving not even a trace of residue.

The contaminated area of the boundary membrane, with chaotic five-colored light flowing, quickly restored its original purity and stability, with no remaining trace of "the end" aura.

"Whew..." Lin Wan breathed a sigh of relief and wiped a non-existent cold sweat from his forehead.

Removing this hidden danger appeared easy, but in reality, it required extremely high consumption of mental energy and control over the Five Elements Dao. If not for his great advancement in cultivation and his initial control over the barrier, it would have been difficult to complete it so precisely and harmlessly.

After finishing this, he did not stop, but again mobilized the power of the barrier, using the Five Elements rotation and the Guixu annihilation ability to thoroughly sweep and purify the chaotic energy ripples and "the end" aura remaining on the periphery of the boundary membrane due to the flying boat's self-detonation, making that area return to a state of "Ruins Annihilation" aura that was "consistent" with the surrounding Heavenly Ruins environment—mixed yet "normal"—thereby erasing the traces of the battle that had occurred here to the greatest extent.

"Junior Brother Lin, how are you feeling?" Han Lingtian asked with concern, seeing that Lin Wan's complexion was slightly weary.

"It is fine, the consumption was a bit large; I just need to regulate my breath for a moment." Lin Wan waved his hand, sat cross-legged, took out a top-grade Medicinal Pill from the barrier's reserves that could quickly restore Infant Essence and mental energy, consumed it, and closed his eyes to regulate his breath.

Han Lingtian and Liao Chen consciously acted as Protectors on the side, while vigilantly monitoring the movements inside and outside the barrier.

About a stick of incense later, Lin Wan reopened his eyes, his gaze shining brightly, and he had already returned to his Peak state.

He stood up and looked outside the boundary membrane at the Void Realm that had returned to "calm," but his brows did not relax.

"These pawns of 'the end' are much more troublesome than we anticipated," Lin Wan said slowly, his voice carrying a trace of gravity. "Not only is their individual strength strange and they are fearless of death, but they also have such 'tools' that can self-destruct, pollute, and act with meticulous planning. Moreover, they seem to have an extraordinary 'interest' and 'priority' for the Five Elements Sect Legacy and the Five Elements Barrier."

"Amitabha, looking at their style of conduct—cold, efficient, and with clear goals—they do not seem like ordinary evil demons or heretics, but rather more like a part of a strict, vast... organization or system," Liao Chen analyzed. "This time their reconnaissance failed and they exposed themselves through self-destruction; the existence behind them will likely not let this rest. We need to prepare early."

[part:gemini-3.5-flash]

"What Fellow Daoist Liao Chen said is absolutely right." Han Lingtian nodded. "Those who came this time might only be 'scouts' sent to test the waters. The next ones to arrive will likely be the real 'elites', or even... existences of a higher level. We must increase our strength as quickly as possible, find a way to reinforce the barrier's defenses, and perhaps even... look for allies."

Lin Wan fell silent for a moment, then said, "Increasing our strength is our top priority. I need to attempt a Breakthrough to the Nascent Soul Great Perfection as soon as possible, and deepen my control over the barrier. Senior Brother Han, Fellow Daoist Liao Chen, you can also use the resources here to Cultivate in peace and strive for an early Breakthrough. As for allies..."

He paused, looking deep into the barrier at the slowly rotating chaos five elements wheel. "In the past, the Five Elements Sect was able to rule over the heavens and contend against 'the end'. Aside from their own strength, they must have had allies and vassals. There might be relevant records in the historical archives of the barrier. If we can find them, we might try to contact them. However, times have changed, and things have shifted drastically. Whether those forces still exist, and whether they still recognize the Five Elements Sect, is completely unknown. We need to plan this carefully."

"Our immediate priority is to increase our ability to protect ourselves," Liao Chen said. "Since Fellow Daoist Lin has made a decision, this poor monk will naturally do his utmost to Cultivate in seclusion here and improve his Buddhist Dharma, preparing for any unforeseen needs."

"Me too!" Han Lingtian nodded heavily.

"Good. Then we will enter secluded cultivation here for a period of time," Lin Wan made his decision. "I will temporarily seal off the outer passages of the barrier, leaving only the most basic sentries. Before our cultivation breaks through, or before we uncover more movements of 'the end', we will temporarily avoid excessive contact with the outside world."

The three of them reached a consensus and, wasting no more time, returned to their respective quiet rooms for secluded cultivation.

Lin Wan returned to the core quiet room once again, sitting cross-legged on the Chaos Jade Marrow Cushion. This time, not only did he want to recover what he had consumed, but he also wanted to strike while the iron was hot and attempt to break through the final barrier leading from the Nascent Soul Late Stage to the Great Perfection.

He sank his mind into his Dantian. That Chaos Nascent Soul, already a foot tall with clear facial features, surrounded by a swirling five-colored nebula and emitting a vast pressure, was sitting quietly. Between the Nascent Soul's eyebrows, the mark of the Five Elements Guixu Dao Seed glowed with shifting light, echoing the mark between Lin Wan's own eyebrows, while also maintaining a faint, intangible connection with the chaos five elements wheel above his head.

"To reach the Nascent Soul Great Perfection, one must condense and compress the infant essence to the absolute limit, the Divine Soul and the Nascent Soul must begin to merge, and one's comprehension of their cultivated 'Dao' must reach a relatively perfect state, allowing them to initially trigger deeper levels of Law power..."

Lin Wan silently recalled the detailed descriptions of cultivation in the Nascent Soul Stage that he had obtained from the barrier's Legacy. His infant essence was already incredibly robust and pure, and his comprehension of the Dao of the Five Elements Returning to Ruins had reached a new height due to his previous Breakthroughs and battles. What he lacked was perhaps that final opportunity for "Perfection," as well as enough energy accumulation to compress and temper his infant essence to the limit.

"The Five Elements Ancestral Qi is infinite here, and the lingering charm of the Dao Venerable's essence blood has not yet faded, so energy accumulation is not an issue. The key lies in that opportunity for 'Perfection'..."

Putting aside his thoughts, he completely relaxed his body and mind, fully circulating the Five Elements Guixu Sword Scripture and the Zhou Tian Star Dao Derivation Art. The two Cultivation Techniques complemented each other, with one focusing on internally refining the Nascent Soul's Dao foundation, and the other on communicating with the stars to temper the Divine Soul.

Inside the quiet room, the vast Five Elements Ancestral Qi surged like a tide once more, forming a massive, slowly rotating vortex of Five Elements Spiritual Qi around him. The Dao Seed between his eyebrows shone with brilliant silver light like a bottomless pit, frantically devouring and refining the incoming energy, converting it into the most original Chaos Infant Essence and injecting it into the Nascent Soul in his Dantian.

The Nascent Soul slowly expanded, only to be forcibly compressed and condensed by his powerful mind. Repeating this cycle, the density and quality of his infant essence rose steadily at a slow but firm pace. On the surface of the Nascent Soul, the five-colored nebula rotated faster and faster, its light becoming increasingly restrained and profound.

Meanwhile, under the tempering of the stellar power and in resonance with the Dao rhymes of the barrier, his Divine Soul grew increasingly solid and powerful. Its connection with the Nascent Soul also grew closer, as if he could leave his Physical Body at any moment to wander the great void in his Nascent Soul form.

Time passed once more in silent cultivation.

Within the barrier, all was quiet. Only the slowly rotating chaos five elements wheel emitted an eternal glow, as if quietly waiting—waiting for its new master to fully grow and lead this war fortress, which had been silent for countless eons, to once again let out a roar that would shake the heavens.

However, the tree wishes for peace, but the wind will not subside.

Just as Lin Wan and the other two were in secluded cultivation within the Five Elements Barrier, oblivious to outside affairs, deep within the Heavenly Ruins, the energy fluctuations and aura of "the end" triggered by the flying boat's self-destruction—which Lin Wan had tried his best to cover up—had been mostly purified. However, the intensity of its instantaneous eruption, along with the unique ripples of Law resulting from the confrontation between "the end" and the "Five Elements" contained within, still acted like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, rippling out an imperceptible yet very real "wave" on a higher, more hidden level.

This "wave" penetrated the dense mists and chaotic Laws of the Heavenly Ruins, spreading toward a certain unknowable, unpredictable, strange "space" that seemed to lie in the crack between reality and nothingness—cold, deathly silent, yet filled with countless precise, complex, non-human fabrications.

This "space" was boundless, with no concept of up, down, left, or right. There were only countless crisscrossing bands of light emitting a dim glow, resembling "data streams" or "Law networks," silently flowing, merging, and calculating in the void. At the nodes where the bands of light intersected, countless pitch-black fabrications of various sizes and shapes floated—similar in style to the previous flying boat, but far more massive and complex. Some were shaped like fortresses, some like stars, and some were completely indescribable.

Here was a secondary outpost and information processing node of the "Shadow of the End."

"Beep, beep, beep—!"

A cold, monotonous alarm sounded deep within the "space," inside an extremely complex three-dimensional rune array composed of pure, deep blue light.

"Detected... high-concentration 'Five Elements' Law reaction... at... Heavenly Ruins Northeast Sector... Coordinates..."

"Detected... 'Guixu' annihilation power fluctuations... matching database... 'Five Elements Dao Venerable' Legacy characteristics... Match rate... 87.3%..."

"Detected... 'Apostle-746' life signal... vanished... Last transmitted information... 'Capture of the Five Elements Dao Seed Legacy successor... Priority upgraded'..."

"Detected... 'Infiltrator-Type III' self-destruct signal... Energy readings prior to self-destruction... abnormal surge... suspected encounter with... high-intensity Five Elements Barrier defense..."

One by one, cold, precise, and emotionless messages rapidly flowed, aggregated, and were analyzed within the rune array.

A moment later, a grander, colder thought—sounding as if overlaid by countless voices yet exceptionally clear—slowly emanated from the deepest part of the "space," from that largest and darkest black vortex that seemed to be constantly collapsing inward:

"The inheritor of the Five Elements Dao Seed... has appeared..."

"Suspected to have gained control... of partial Five Elements Sect War Barrier authority..."

"Evaluation: Threat Rank—'High'. Potential Value—'Extremely High'."

"Directive: Mobilize nearby area... 'Hunters' squad..."

"Target: Heavenly Ruins Northeast Sector, Five Elements Barrier."

"Mission: Penetrate, scout, and evaluate target strength and defenses. If conditions permit... capture or destroy the 'inheritor of the Five Elements Dao Seed'."

"If target defenses are too strong, or unknown resistance is encountered... calling for... higher-level support is permitted."

"Operation Code: ... 'Purge-Five Elements'."

The cold directives turned into invisible streams of information, instantly transmitting along those dim bands of light to various parts of the "space," into several specific, pitch-black fabrications that emitted even more ferocious and cold auras.

"Buzz—!"

A low hum, as if some terrifying giant beast were awakening, sounded within those pitch-black fabrications.

Immediately following, several faint spatial ripples spread out. In front of those pitch-black fabrications, dim light flickered as distorted and unstable "portals," barely wide enough for them to pass through and seemingly leading to different directions, slowly opened.

The "Hunters" squad has set out.

Their target was directed straight at the depths of the Heavenly Ruins, at the Five Elements Sect War Barrier—which had only recently welcomed its new master and was currently trying to recuperate.

And Lin Wan, who was currently in his quiet room putting all his effort into breaking through to the Nascent Soul Great Perfection, with his mind almost completely merged with the barrier, was still completely unaware of all this.

The storm was quietly approaching.