63: Chapter 63 The Final Hunter

The figure stepping out from the depths of the broken flagship was about one zhang tall. Its physique was no longer as slender and bizarre as an "Apostle," but rather more akin to a human, with balanced proportions, yet filled with an inhuman, icy sense of perfection.

It was likewise enveloped in a flowing, peculiar "metal" battle armor that was a weave of dark silver and pitch black, seemingly capable of absorbing all light. The armor's lines were sharp, and its joints were covered in fine, scarlet light patterns that pulsed slowly like living blood vessels, outlining an aesthetic filled with power and danger.

Its head was encased in a ferocious, dark silver helmet that covered its entire face, resembling a hybrid of some predatory insect and machinery. On both sides of the helmet, two curved, blade-like horns extended backward.

On the front of the helmet, there were no eyes, ears, mouth, or nose, only two V-shaped, slit-like bands of eerie red light. At this moment, they were coldly, emotionlessly staring at the Five Elements Barrier in the distance, staring at Lin Wan at the core of the barrier.

An unprecedented, icy, deathly, and terrifying aura, filled with pure desire for destruction and hunting, emanated from this figure like a tangible cold wave, instantly permeating the entire Void Realm.

This aura far exceeded that of the previous "Apostle" and the three black warships, even vaguely giving Lin Wan the feeling of facing a Nascent Soul Great Perfection, yet more bizarre and dangerous.

"The End Hunter"!

Lin Wan's heart tightened. From the scattered records inherited by the barrier and the fragmented information he had read earlier, he recognized this type of existence.

"Hunters" were Advanced combat units within the "Shadow of the End" specifically responsible for eliminating and capturing high-value targets. They usually possessed independent consciousness, powerful individual combat strength, and various targeted hunting methods. The one before him was clearly the true core and leader of this "Hunters" squad.

"Detected... high concentrations of 'Five Elements,' 'Returning to Ruins,' 'Void Realm,' 'Stars'... multiple composite Dao rhyme reactions... Target: Five Elements Guixu Dao Seed inheritor... Confirmed..."

A cold, hoarse voice, like metal rubbing against metal but carrying a strange magnetism, rang directly in everyone's minds. It was not language, but a direct transmission of thought, filled with condescending evaluation and... a trace of faint excitement.

"Threat level re-evaluated... upgraded from 'High' to... 'Extremely High'..."

"Capture priority... upgraded to... highest sequence..."

"Command updated: ... at all costs ... eliminate or capture target ... destroy ... Five Elements Barrier ..."

Following this cold transmission of thought, The End Hunter slowly raised its right arm. The battle armor covering its right arm suddenly deformed and extended, instantly condensing into a massive scythe—over a zhang and a half long, pitch black, with only the blade edge flashing with a point of eerie red cold light, exaggerated in shape, and covered in barbs and energy circuits!

The moment the scythe appeared, the surrounding Void Realm seemed to solidify and dim, and a more intense aura of "the end" Law, which seemed capable of severing life and harvesting Souls, permeated the area.

"It's about to attack!" Han Lingtian tightened his grip on his heavy sword, his muscles tensed. He could feel that the threat of this Hunter far exceeded any previous enemy.

"Amitabha... This fiend's baleful aura is monstrous; it cannot be fought head-on. We should use the Formation to hold our ground and slowly devise a better strategy." Liao Chen also felt immense pressure and suggested holding their ground.

However, in Lin Wan's eyes, a burning Battle Intent ignited. With his cultivation base having broken through to the Nascent Soul Great Perfection and having initially bound the Five Elements Barrier, he was just worrying about not having a suitable opponent to test his strength. This The End Hunter delivering itself to his doorstep was perfect!

"Hold ground? No." Lin Wan shook his head slowly, a cold arc curling at the corner of his mouth. "It wants to hunt me, and I also want to... weigh just how much this so-called 'the end' high-level lackey is worth!"

Before the words faded, his figure had already vanished from where he stood!

The next moment, he appeared outside the barrier's boundary membrane. The Chaos-colored guixu sword was already in his hand, its tip pointing from afar at The End Hunter, who was floating above the broken flagship and radiating a terrifying aura.

"Senior Brother Han, Fellow Daoist Liao Chen, you control the barrier, provide cover for me, and watch out for sneak attacks from the other two warships." Lin Wan's Divine Thought transmission rang in the minds of Han Lingtian and Liao Chen.

"Junior Brother Lin, be careful!" Han Lingtian urged anxiously, but knowing Lin Wan's mind was made up, he could only join Liao Chen in focusing entirely on controlling the barrier, ready to support at any moment.

"Heh heh... Interesting... A mere Nascent Soul, daring to actively leave the turtle shell and face this seat directly?" The End Hunter seemed somewhat surprised as well. The eerie red light bands beneath its helmet flickered slightly, emitting a cold, mental mockery. "Courage is commendable, but... foolish."

The moment the last word fell, its figure vanished abruptly!

It was not an afterimage left by excessive speed, but true space traversal, akin to teleportation! Almost the moment it vanished, it appeared beside Lin Wan. The massive pitch-black scythe in its hand, carrying the terrifying momentum of tearing through space and harvesting life, like the sigh of the Grim Reaper, swept horizontally toward Lin Wan's neck silently!

Wherever the scythe passed, space was left with a cut that could not heal for a long time, emitting ominous black energy.

"So fast!"

Lin Wan's heart experienced a sudden warning. His Chaos Infant Essence erupted instantly, and the Five Elements Guixu Dao Seed shone brilliantly! He did not retreat but Advanced instead, his body twisting at an incredible angle.

The guixu sword in his hand turned into a streak of Chaos brilliance—not to block, but to precisely point at a certain key energy node on the back of the sweeping scythe blade!

"Clang—!!!"

The sword tip collided with the scythe, erupting with a sharp, ear-piercing ring! An icy, deathly, and corrosive terrifying power traveled along the guixu sword, crazily impacting Lin Wan's Meridians and Divine Soul, attempting to freeze his Infant Essence and erode his Dao foundation.

But Lin Wan's Chaos Infant Essence also contained the annihilation and assimilation power of the Five Elements Returning to Ruins, crazily countering and annihilating that "the end" force. At the same time, the energy node he struck with his sword tip stalled slightly, causing the trajectory of the scythe's sweep to deviate ever so slightly.

"Swoosh—!"

The edge of the scythe brushed past Lin Wan's protective Spiritual Qi, tearing a hole in that space, but failing to harm him in the slightest.

"Hmm?" With the attack missing, The End Hunter seemed somewhat surprised, and the frequency of its eerie red light bands flickered faster. Clearly, Lin Wan's ability to so precisely capture the trajectory of its attack and resolve it in such a clever way exceeded its expectations.

"Is that all?" Lin Wan steadied his figure and spoke coldly. He shook the guixu sword in his hand, and his Chaos Sword Intent soared into the sky. "Now, it's my turn!"

"Five Elements Returning to Ruins, Sword Sweeps the Eight Wildernesses—Slash!"

He took a step, his figure merging into the Void Realm, and instantly split into eight indistinguishable Chaos sword shadows, stabbing simultaneously at The End Hunter from above, below, left, right, and all directions!

Each sword shadow contained different Five Elements attribute changes—some scorching like fire, some sharp like metal, some heavy like earth, some supple like water, some full of vitality like wood—yet under the command of the Return-to-Ruins Sword Intent, they merged perfectly, doubling their power and carrying the bizarre effect of disrupting space and locking onto the Divine Soul.

"Petty tricks." The Hunter snorted coldly. The pitch-black scythe in its hand shook violently, turning into a pitch-black curtain of blades that seemed capable of swallowing all light, firmly protecting itself.

At the same time, it raised its left arm, spread its five fingers, and in the center of its palm, a tiny, inward-rotating dark vortex suddenly formed, emitting terrifying suction and annihilation power, actually attempting to swallow and disintegrate Lin Wan's split sword shadows, along with the Sword Intent and energy they contained!

"Boom, boom, boom—!!!"

The eight Chaos sword shadows stabbed one after another onto the pitch-black blade curtain and the dark vortex, erupting in dense energy explosions. The blade curtain shook violently, and the dark vortex rotated crazily, continuously swallowing the energy of the sword shadows. Most of the sword shadows were blocked and swallowed, but two or three broke through the defense and slashed fiercely onto the dark silver battle armor on the Hunter's body, erupting with dazzling sparks and energy ripples.

On the battle armor, the scarlet light patterns flashed violently, dispersing and absorbing the power of the sword shadows, but a few shallow white marks remained. The Hunter's figure also swayed slightly from the impact.

Clearly, Lin Wan's attack was not without effect.

"Ant, you have angered me." The eerie red light bands beneath the Hunter's helmet suddenly became scarlet as blood, and a more violent, colder killing intent erupted with a boom. "the end... Harvest!"

It violently raised the pitch-black scythe in its hand above its head. On the scythe, that point of eerie red blade light suddenly erupted with dazzling scarlet blood light! An invisible, terrifying Law Domain filled with the meaning of "the end," "death," and "wither" centered on it and instantly expanded, covering a radius of a thousand zhang!

Within the Domain, the Void Realm seemed to solidify, light dimmed, vitality withered, and even the Five Elements Spiritual Qi was rapidly polluted and assimilated by the "the end" aura, turning into a dead wasteland.

Situated within it, Lin Wan immediately felt his Infant Essence circulation become sluggish, his Divine Soul seemed to be shrouded by an invisible shadow of death, and the light of his Dao Seed dimmed slightly.

This was The End Hunter's signature Domain—the end Domain! Situated within it, an enemy's strength would be greatly suppressed, while it could exert two hundred percent of its terrifying combat power.

"Not good! Junior Brother Lin is trapped in the Domain!" Han Lingtian's expression changed drastically inside the barrier.

"Amitabha... This Domain is filled with the meaning of death and the end; it is extremely restraining to living beings!" Liao Chen was also extremely anxious.

However, Lin Wan, who was in the center of the end Domain, had no fear on his face; instead, he revealed a strange expression.

"the end Domain? Using 'the end' to erode and assimilate all things, creating a dead wasteland? What a pity..."

He slowly raised his head, looking at The End Hunter holding the scythe high and radiating terrifying pressure. From the center of his brow, that Five Elements Guixu Dao Seed suddenly erupted with an unprecedented, brilliant silver light that seemed capable of illuminating the eternal darkness!

"You seem to have forgotten what my Dao... is."

"Five Elements Returning to Ruins—Nirvana Domain, open!"

"Hum—!!!"

A more vast, more desolate, and more essential Chaos Domain erupted from Lin Wan as the center, instantly expanding and colliding fiercely with that "the end Domain"!

Lin Wan's Domain was not simply Five Elements, nor was it purely Returning to Ruins; it was the Chaos Guixu Domain, which fused the Five Elements generation and restriction, Returning to Ruins extinction, Void Realm tolerance, stellar eternity, and even a trace of understanding regarding the Reincarnation of "existence" and "nothingness"!

Within the Domain, it was not dead silence, but filled with the vitality of Five Elements rotation, the extinction of Returning to Ruins, the impermanence of Void Realm birth and death, and the eternity of stellar circulation. Life and death, being and nothingness, seemed to form a miniature, constantly rotating, all-encompassing Chaos Universe here.

The moment the "the end" power of the "the end Domain," filled with erosion and death, invaded the Chaos Guixu Domain, it was like a clay ox entering the sea. Not only did it fail to erode or assimilate the opponent, but it was instead rapidly decomposed and transformed by the rotating Five Elements power within the Domain, swallowed and annihilated in reverse by the Returning to Ruins extinction power, and contained and diluted by the Void Realm stellar power.

The two Domains, like ice and fire, water and oil, fiercely clashed, annihilated, and consumed each other.

However, at the "quality" level, Lin Wan's Chaos Guixu Domain seemed to be slightly superior! Its "Returning to Ruins" true meaning naturally contained both "the end" and "rebirth," possessing an Innate restraint and tolerance against pure "the end" erosion. Coupled with the assistance of Five Elements, Void Realm, and stellar power, his Domain actually faintly gained the upper hand when confronting the "the end Domain"!

"What?!" That The End Hunter emitted an intent fluctuation filled with shock for the first time. Its renowned "the end Domain," which had harvested countless strong enemies, was actually being faintly suppressed by the Domain of a Nascent Soul Cultivator whose cultivation was lower than its own?

"Impossible! How could a mere Lower Realm ant have such a Domain?!"

"There is nothing impossible." Lin Wan's voice, amidst the roar of the Domain confrontation, clearly reached the "ears" of the Hunter. "Your 'the end' is merely the extreme, twisted, and purely destructive side of 'Returning to Ruins'. But my Dao is the complete 'Five Elements Returning to Ruins'; it is control, it is tolerance, it is... Reincarnation!"

Before the words faded, the guixu sword in his hand suddenly restrained its radiance, as if transforming into the purest color of Chaos. An indescribable, supreme Sword Intent that seemed capable of severing eternity and opening Chaos condensed upon the blade.

"This sword shall open the heavens, and it shall also... split the earth, and even more so... sever your twisted 'the end'!"

"Five Elements Returning to Ruins—Open Heavens and Split Earth, slash!"

Lin Wan gripped the sword with both hands and, facing that high and mighty The End Hunter that was still attempting to maintain its Domain, slowly but with the momentum of opening the heavens and splitting the earth, slashed down with the sword!

There was no flashy sword light, no grandiose momentum.

There was only one—a Chaos sword scar that seemed to have existed since the beginning of Chaos, containing the birth and death of the Universe, the ultimate truth of the Dao, and capable of severing Karma and shattering illusions. It extended quietly from the guixu sword, slicing through the Domains clashing against each other, slicing through the solidified Void Realm, slicing through the fiercely flickering dark silver armor on the Hunter's body, slicing through the pitch-black scythe held high in its hand that radiated scarlet blood light, and also slicing through... the two dim red light bands beneath its helmet, and within them, that cold, shocked, and incredulous "consciousness" core.

"No—!!!"

The Hunter emitted a final intent roar filled with fear, unwillingness, and a trace of bewilderment.

The next moment, its movements suddenly stopped.

The raised scythe broke into two, the cut as smooth as a mirror. A straight, smooth crack with edges displaying the color of Chaos appeared on the dark silver armor, running from the center of its brow downward. The dim red light bands beneath the helmet quickly dimmed and extinguished.

Immediately after, its massive body, along with the broken scythe, began to disintegrate and crumble inch by inch from the crack, like a sand sculpture blown away by the wind. It turned into countless tiny metal dust particles flickering with dark silver and pitch-black luster, and was then swept away by the Domain power still fiercely clashing around it, completely annihilated and turned into nothingness, leaving not even a trace of residue or a single energy fluctuation.

"The End Hunter," fallen!

It was completely slain by Lin Wan, who used his Nascent Soul Great Perfection cultivation combined with the Chaos Guixu Domain to unleash the "Open Heavens and Split Earth" sword strike, destroying both body and Soul!

"Hoo... hoo..."

Lin Wan stood with his sword sheathed, his chest rising and falling slightly, his face appearing slightly pale. That sword strike just now had almost drained nearly half of the Chaos Infant Essence in his body, and the burden on his Divine Soul was also immense. But the effect was terrifying. The strength of this Hunter had definitely reached the Peak of Nascent Soul Great Perfection, even touching the edge of Soul Transformation, yet it was still slain by him head-on.

The power of the Chaos Guixu Dao Seed, the blessing of the Five Elements Barrier, and his firm belief in his own "Dao" gave him the terrifying capital to fight across Ranks.

Following the Hunter's fall, the "the end Domain" it had deployed also collapsed and dissipated with a roar. Lin Wan's Chaos Guixu Domain also slowly retracted.

In the Void Realm, it returned to "calm." Only those three broken black warships remained floating not far away, but at this moment, they were like they had lost their Souls, with no movement at all. The light on the hull had also completely extinguished, as if they had turned into three cold metal coffins.

Inside the barrier, Han Lingtian and Liao Chen were already stunned. They knew Lin Wan was strong, but they didn't expect him to be this strong! That was a terrifying Hunter that made even them feel suffocated and unable to even think of resisting! It was actually... cut down by Lin Wan with one sword?!

"Junior Brother Lin... you..." Han Lingtian opened his mouth but didn't know what to say.

"Amitabha... Fellow Daoist Lin's Divine Ability is no longer something this poor monk can fathom. With such combat power, I fear that below Soul Transformation, you are already hard to find a match." Liao Chen was also filled with emotion, his eyes full of shock and admiration.

Lin Wan did not respond to their shock. He adjusted his breath slightly, recovering a trace of Origin Qi, and his gaze coldly swept over the three black warships that had lost control.

"These warships might still have research value. Moreover, they might still contain more information about the 'Shadow of the End'." With a thought, Lin Wan controlled the barrier, extending several thick chains made of Five Elements power, slowly dragging the three broken warships towards the barrier, preparing to capture and seal them for future research.

However, just as the chains were about to touch the warships—

The situation changed again!

From within the hulls of those three warships that had long been "dead," a rapid, sharp, and ominous buzzing sound simultaneously erupted! Immediately after, on the surface of the warships, those dark vortex emblems that had originally extinguished and rotated inward suddenly erupted with blinding, scarlet light, like a flash of light before death!

A more violent, more chaotic, and terrifying energy fluctuation, which seemed to want to completely annihilate itself along with everything around it, erupted from the core of the three warships!

"Again?! Self-destruction?!" Lin Wan's expression changed, and he immediately controlled the Five Elements chains, attempting to throw the warships far away, while simultaneously pushing the barrier's defense with all his might.

But this self-destruction seemed more thorough, more resolute, and faster!

"Boom, boom, boom—!!!"

The three black warships exploded simultaneously! The power was more than ten times greater than the self-destruction of the previous flying boat! The destructive light sphere, interwoven with blinding scarlet and pitch-black, instantly swallowed hundreds of miles of the surrounding Void Realm, forming a larger and more terrifying vortex of destructive energy! Along with it, the wreckage of the three warships was also completely turned into powder in the explosion, dissipating into nothingness.

The terrifying explosion impact slammed fiercely against the boundary membrane of the Five Elements Barrier once again. This time, the tremor of the boundary membrane was more violent, even emitting a groan of being unable to bear the load. The light on the surface flickered chaotically, and it dented inward by several feet! Although it was still not broken, its defensive power had clearly withstood a tremendous test.

"These lackeys of 'the end' are truly... terrifyingly resolute." Han Lingtian watched the destructive energy outside slowly subside, feeling lingering fear. Once the mission failed or was exposed, they would immediately self-destruct, leaving no traces or information. This style of conduct was chilling.

"Amitabha, the coldness and strictness of the controller behind them can be seen from this." Liao Chen also had a grave expression.

Lin Wan silently felt the state of the boundary membrane, as well as the last trace of "the end" aura remaining in the self-destructive explosion. He could feel that this self-destruction seemed not just to destroy evidence, but more like a... "signal"? Or perhaps some kind of mandatory "cleanup" program?

"It seems we have been completely targeted by the 'Shadow of the End'. This time we eliminated a 'Hunters' squad, but next time, I fear that higher-level existences will come, or perhaps... the true 'the end' erosion entity, or the… Soul Transformation-level combat power under its command." Lin Wan said in a deep voice.

He had to improve his strength as soon as possible, and he also had to find a way to understand and deal with this terrifying enemy hidden in the dark.

"Let's return to the barrier first and discuss it later." Lin Wan put away the guixu sword, his figure flashed, and he had returned inside the barrier.

Han Lingtian and Liao Chen also nodded and followed him back.

After this battle, although they had successfully repelled the first "hunt" of "the end," the three of them felt no joy, but rather felt even heavier. The road ahead seemed even more treacherous.