239: Illusionary Realm Soul Devourer

The vast and ancient echo of the Will of the Medicine Ancestor seemed to still reverberate within this space composed of pure will and rules, and the scene before Li Ao was completely overturned.

It was not the chaotic energy turbulence he had imagined, nor was it a sinister and strange demonic Domain. He had been thrown into a realm of absolute "nothingness."

Above, below, and all around was a deep, heart-stopping void. There was no light, no darkness, and not even the concept of "color."

Time here seemed to have lost its measure, and space its boundaries were blurred.

The only thing he could perceive was the omnipresent "Annihilation" Dao principle that permeated the depths of his Soul.

They flowed silently like cold seawater, carrying the dead silence that ends all things, yet within this ultimate "death," there faintly contained a slim possibility of nurturing "life."

This was part of the true meaning of the Guixu Great Dao—life arising from ultimate death.

Li Ao floated in this void. On the surface of his skin, the gray rule patterns, which had become increasingly profound and mysterious after advancing to the third Late Stage, spontaneously lit up with a faint glow.

The patterns pulsed slightly like living things, greedily devouring and transforming the surrounding Annihilation intent that invaded him, turning it into streams of pure energy to nourish his Nirvana Hegemon Body.

Here, not only did he feel no discomfort, but he felt a sense of naturalness and compatibility, like a fish returning to water or a tired bird returning to the forest.

His Guixu Great Dao resonated strongly with the Origin rules of this place.

"The Nirvana Illusionary Domain... truly lives up to its reputation," Li Ao murmured inwardly, his eyes sharp as knives as he cautiously surveyed this absolute void.

He did not rush to act, but instead slowly spread his Divine Thought outward in all directions, like the finest spider web.

Where his Divine Thought reached, the absolute "nothingness" began to reveal its ferocious and bizarre interior.

He "saw"—countless fragmented, distorted rule shards, scattered in every corner of the void like shattered colored glass.

These shards reflected dazzling fragments of scenes: the instant an ancient behemoth's Physical Body disintegrated amidst its roar; the final moment a prosperous ancient city turned to scorched earth under towering flames; the unwilling and desperate eyes of powerful Cultivators before their Dao collapsed and their Souls scattered; and even the magnificent afterglow of stars reaching the end of their lifespan, expanding, exploding, and then sinking into dead silence...

These were not real spacetime projections, but the eternal "imprints" left behind by overly powerful Annihilation Dao principles after they devoured and annihilated all existence, the final "echoes" of all things in the Universe before their ultimate destination.

This place was the Domain of Annihilation, and also the graveyard of memories, collectively constructed by everything that had been ended throughout countless epochs.

A heavy sense of sorrow and isolation, originating from the vicissitudes of ages, silently eroded the mind of the intruder.

If Li Ao's Dao Heart had not been firm, and if his own Great Dao was not homologous with this place, he would likely have lost control of his mind and had his Dao foundation collapse, instantly washed away by these endless Annihilation memories.

He composed himself, moving cautiously through the gaps between these rule shards and memory echoes, like navigating the deep sea where undercurrents surged.

He did not know how long passed—perhaps an instant, perhaps an eternity—but in the eternally unchanging void ahead, a point of unusual color finally appeared.

It was a faint, soft, pure white light.

In this land of Annihilation where even darkness seemed a luxury, this point of white light was like a clear spring suddenly appearing in an endless desert, filled with an indescribable allure.

It emitted an extremely pure and vast life aura, warm and sacred, forming a stark, dazzling contrast with the cold, dead Annihilation Rule surrounding it.

Li Ao's gaze sharpened, and his figure halted in the void.

The Guixu Great Dao quietly operated at its Peak, his aura becoming increasingly restrained and profound, almost merging with the entire Illusionary Domain.

He did not approach rashly, but instead condensed his Divine Thought into a thread and probed from afar.

The white light gradually clarified. It was a lotus flower, about the size of a washbasin, slowly blooming.

The petals were like jade, warm and flawless, flowing with milky white life essence that had almost solidified.

In the heart of the lotus, an object was wrapped in a swirling white light. It was vaguely visible as an ancient-looking token. On the token, a vigorous "Medicine" character emitted a rich and pure Medicine Clan Origin aura, even carrying a trace of... the Medicine Ancestor's charm?

"A Legacy left by a Medicine Clan sage? Or some kind of Legacy token?" Li Ao's thoughts raced.

The temptation was too great. Such pure life Origin was undoubtedly a peerless treasure for any practitioner, especially for those who had experienced life-and-death battles and inevitably sustained internal injuries.

And that token carrying the Medicine Ancestor's aura might be related to the mission, or even the core secrets of the Medicine Clan.

However, his inner vigilance did not decrease; instead, it rose to the extreme.

Abnormalities must mean trouble. The appearance of such an incompatible, extreme life object in this land of pure Annihilation and termination was inherently discordant and bizarre, like placing a lamb among wolves.

He took a deep breath. The gray patterns of the Nirvana Hegemon Body flashed faintly, absorbing a trace of the stray life aura nearby.

Indeed, the aura was incredibly pure, even causing a subtle, almost imperceptible advancement in his Hegemon Body cultivation, which had been stagnant for a long time.

"A trap?" A cold word flashed through his mind.

As if to confirm his suspicion, the moment his thought moved—

That quietly blooming, sacred white lotus trembled violently!

Like a giant stone thrown into a calm lake, the soft white light instantly became blindingly pale and harsh!

The jade-like petals rapidly withered and curled at a visible speed, turning from white to gray, and finally transforming into countless twisting, writhing gray tentacles carrying an ominous aura!

In the heart of the lotus, the "Medicine" character token burst with a sharp "bang," not into fragments, but into pitch-black mist, viscous like asphalt and emitting a strong stench of malice and resentment!

Within the black mist, countless painfully twisted faces flickered in and out of sight, emitting silent, yet shrill howls that struck directly at the depths of the Soul!

The warm, sacred life aura was completely replaced by ultimate dead silence, malice, and madness within a hundredth of a second!

A massive energy vortex, filled with the desire to devour and destroy, instantly formed, like an ancient fierce beast opening its huge mouth, lunging fiercely toward Li Ao with Soul-annihilating, bone-chilling coldness!

The speed was so fast it was comparable to instantaneous movement!

Illusionary Domain Soul Devour!

This was fundamentally not some sage's Legacy, but a deadly trap simulated by the Annihilation Rule of the Nirvana Illusionary Domain. It combined the endless resentment and death Qi accumulated here over ages, mixed with the unique sinister Soul Power of the Hall of Souls, and targeted the intruder's inner desires and weaknesses!

"Hmph! Just as expected!"

Facing this sudden, lightning-fast change, Li Ao's eyes were icy cold, yet his face showed no trace of panic.

He didn't even draw the 'silent ruin', the natal divine weapon on his back that was already connected to his will.

Seeing the death vortex composed of gray tentacles and malicious black Qi already lunging before him, the screams from the Soul level almost tore apart his Sea of Consciousness.

Li Ao simply and steadily, slowly raised his right hand, his five fingers slightly spread, aiming at the oncoming destructive torrent.

There was no earth-shattering energy explosion, nor dazzling ten-thousand-foot blade light.

Only an invisible "erasure" force, seemingly originating from the Origin order of the Universe, spread silently outward from his palm as the Origin point.

"Return to Nothingness."

He softly uttered two words, like a judgment.

The next moment, the massive gray tentacles, malicious black Qi, and Soul howls, filled with endless malice... the instant they touched this invisible force, they were utterly and silently "erased" from the level of existence, like snow melting under the scorching sun, or clumsy lines wiped away by the most skilled artist's eraser.

There was no explosion, no residual energy shockwave, and not even a single trace of their former existence was left in the space.

That terrifying trap, enough to instantly scatter the Souls of high-level Dou Zun, was thus effortlessly smoothed away, dissipated, and returned to the most fundamental void.

In its place, only a wisp of Annihilation Origin death Qi, purer and more ancient than the surrounding environment, remained. It drifted toward Li Ao as if refined, naturally absorbed by the gray patterns on his skin, making the color of the patterns seem a shade deeper.

Li Ao slowly withdrew his palm, his eyes sharp as usual, as if he had only performed a trivial action.

"The stench of the Hall of Souls... even mixed within this eternal dead silence, is still nauseating."

He murmured to himself, sensing the final wisp of the Hall of Souls' unique cold and corrosive Soul aura he had captured before the "Return to Nothingness."

The Medicine Ancestor's commission and the Hall of Souls' infiltration were definitively confirmed here.

Through this skirmish, he gained a more intuitive understanding of the dangers of the Nirvana Illusionary Domain.

The threats here did not only come from the environment, but also from the bizarre killing intent evolved by the rules themselves, aimed directly at the human heart.

He no longer lingered. His figure merged into the void, and he continued cautiously toward the deeper parts of the Illusionary Domain, in the direction where he felt a faint resonance with the fragments of the "Ancient Annihilation Talisman."

The path ahead was destined to be filled with the unknown and killing intent.