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The Seven Mysteries Grotto Heaven is located between the main peaks of the Wanxian Mountain Range in Central Continent, surrounded by seven layers of five-colored mysterious light.
This is the "Sky Seven Mysteries Array," a formation laid down by the Venerable Lord of Seven Mysteries, consuming tens of thousands of years of meticulous effort. Inside the array lies infinite killing disasters, and ordinary Void Refining Cultivators dare not even approach.
But today, this impregnable Mountain Protection Array has welcomed an uninvited guest.
"Boom——"
With a flick of his fingertip, Taiyuan Daoist sent a seemingly plain wisp of gray qi toward the five-colored mysterious light.
The moment it made contact, the gray qi suddenly exploded, transforming into countless Dao traces, slicing through the protective light of the array like sharp blades.
The seven layers of mysterious light emitted a deafening roar, appearing on the verge of collapse, and the disciples on duty inside the array were scared pale, not even daring to look up at the approaching figure.
"Venerable Lord of Seven Mysteries, come out!"
The voice of a falling star thundered like a shockwave, sweeping through the entire grotto heaven with the pressure of the Void Refining Eleventh Tribulation. The spirit plants in the mountains drooped their branches, the birds and beasts went into hiding, and even the air seemed to freeze.
In the Purple Mist Hall deep within the grotto heaven, the Venerable Lord of Seven Mysteries was sitting cross-legged in meditation. Upon hearing the external clamor, he abruptly opened his eyes, his expression dark enough to drip water.
Through the water mirror, seeing the four figures in front of the array, especially spotting Chen Sheng behind Taiyuan, he instantly understood the reason.
He looked at the most imposing Taiyuan, rapidly contemplating in his mind.
Void Refining Twelfth Tribulation, Twelve-layer Heaven of Longevity, standing at the pinnacle of Chongli Heaven, in limited numbers, if appeared in Chongli Heaven, must be of great renown.
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Soon, he recalled the origin of the party, indeed renowned.
"Antarctic Immortal Mansion, Yuan Emperor, mastering the path of spacetime termination, forty thousand years ago, after slaying the Seven Fiends, he left Chongli Heaven."
"The two beside him should be his Extinguishing Star Sword Master and Vast Cold Divine Monarch, both renowned powers of the Ten Tribulations."
"Incorrect, now the Extinguishing Star Sword Master's prowess rivals mine, surely Eleventh Tribulation, and the Cyan Nether Wanderer is unexpectedly their junior brother."
The Venerable Lord of Seven Mysteries knew the origins of the opposing side, feeling immense pressure.
If it was an ordinary Twelve Tribulations, even if unmatched, he could defend himself, but Yuan Emperor was different, with a lethal reputation and extremely formidable battle strength!
Each of the Seven Fiends was inferior to him, merely Void Refining Ten Tribulation, but the seven practiced an ancient secret technique, and together, they repeatedly slayed Great Powers of Eleven-layer Heaven of Longevity, claiming capability to challenge Twelve-layer Heaven.
Facing the Seven Fiends of the past, the Venerable Lord considered himself no match, let alone Yuan Emperor who slew the Seven Fiends.
He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.
Then hastily sent messages to several cultivators of Twelve-layer Heaven he had interacted with, explaining the situation, inviting them to mediate.
He himself dared not step out of the core region of the grotto heaven— there lay the protective restrictions he set, in case the opposing side made a move, he could still seize a brief respite.
Thus, he projected an avatar, merely standing in the air with folded hands, and said:
"Taiyuan Daoist, no need to be angry. This matter is a misunderstanding, we can sit down and discuss it well."
Taiyuan stood with arms folded, voice cold:
"Misunderstanding?"
He took a step forward, the invisible pressure moving, directly dissipating that avatar.
"Daoist, calm down!"
Once more, the Venerable Lord of Seven Mysteries condensed an avatar to step forward and explain, tone lowered extremely:
"That day's matter was my mistake."
"I am willing to offer the treasured 'Taiyi Treasure Pill' and 'Circulation Mysterious Essence', wishing to let this matter pass."
Just then, two streaks of light swiftly flew from afar.
One carried a grand righteous aura like the blazing sun, the other bore a pill-red fire seeming to burn the heavens and boil the sea, precisely Meng Heavenly Lord of the Haoran Sect and Red Sun Emperor of the Treasure Pill Nation.
"Taiyuan Daoist, please show mercy!"
"Seven Mysteries acted inappropriately, but considering no substantial harm was caused and he is willing to compensate and apologize, why not grant us a little face, and let this matter pass?"
Red Sun Emperor also hurriedly echoed.
Taiyuan's gaze swept over both, eyebrows slightly knitted, yet he did not immediately conceded.
Meng Heavenly Lord and Red Sun Emperor are both Great Powers of Twelve-layer Heaven of Longevity, even if not interacted with, he had heard their names.
He pondered for a moment, gray qi swirling around him, a silent annihilation intent quietly spreading:
"Giving face to both Daoists is possible, but the grievance my junior brother suffered cannot be overlooked like this."
He pointed at the Venerable Lord of Seven Mysteries, voice sharp as ice:
"Seven Mysteries, you have oppressed the young, and I can do the same."
"If you can withstand my three moves without dying, then let this matter be written off. If you can't, it's your fate, blame no one else!"
At these words, the Venerable Lord of Seven Mysteries let out a sigh of relief, after all, he was a Great Power of Eleven-layer Heaven, it was not likely he couldn't endure three moves from the opposing side.
To him, the other side merely wanted to vent for his junior brother, Red Sun Emperor too lightly nodded, evidently thinking likewise.
Only Meng Heavenly Lord, who had dealt with Taiyuan in earlier years, his expression slightly changed, hastily advised, "Taiyuan Daoist, why be so absolute?"
Taiyuan raised his hand to interrupt, tone irrefutable:
"Meng Daoist, no need to speak further."
"The rule of the line I follow is this, if he dares to touch my junior brother, he must bear the consequences, three moves are already in consideration of the two Daoists' face."
The Venerable Lord of Seven Mysteries was initially stunned, but the glimmer of fortune flickered in his eyes, fortunately having found someone to mediate.
"Fine! I accept!"
As these words fell, Taiyuan no longer spoke more, slowly raising his hand, palm surged with gray qi.
It was clearly condensed from millions of Dao traces of spacetime's ultimate source, upon its emergence causing the surrounding void to ripple subtly, as if it could hardly bear the weight.
Amidst the swirling gray qi, a copper bell several feet high slowly floated in midair, its body lacked the carvings of dragons, phoenixes, and auspicious beasts, only tightly interwoven Dao traces like a galaxy suspended upside down.
At times transforming into the phantom of the "past's" remnants, at times revealing the scenery of "future's" annihilation of all things, it is precisely Taiyuan's life-bound treasure—the Primordial Emperor Bell.
"Kill, Break, Wolf Dao Domain, open!"
Seeing Taiyuan getting serious, the Venerable Lord of Seven Mysteries dared not hold back in the slightest.
With a loud roar, his blood surged upward like wolf smoke, and the Dharma Aspect of a three-headed, eight-armed deity suddenly solidified—the central head bore a third eye, filled with an aura of murder.
The left and right heads respectively exhibited the fierce countenance of Greedy Wolf and Po Jun, while each of the eight arms held a Magical Treasure, including the Wolf Blade, Seven Kill Whip, and Po Jun Spear, among other weapons of destruction.
Outside this Dharma Aspect, a dark red Dao Domain roared into existence, with stars aligning into the kill, break, and wolf trinity pattern within the domain.
Countless ferocious auras condensed into the phantoms of swords, spears, sabers, and halberds, each strand of aura enough to make an ordinary Void Refining Cultivator's soul scatter, which was the culmination of his tens of thousands of years immersed in the Kill Break Wolf Dao Domain.
"First move, Space-Time Collapse·Trivial."
Taiyuan didn't spare a glance at this lethal Dao Domain, gently snapping his fingers against the bell's wall as if plucking a flower.
"Buzz—"
The bell's toll was not deafening; instead, it carried a kind of deep rhythm that pierced through the divine soul.
In an instant, the Dao patterns on the surface of the Primordial Emperor Bell seemed to come alive and flow; the Dao pattern corresponding to the Greedy Wolf Star suddenly dimmed, and the phantom of the Greedy Wolf within the Venerable Lord's Dao Domain shattered by half.
Subsequently, a hazy gray light wave overflowed from the bell's mouth; seemingly slow in appearance, yet every inch it advanced caused the surrounding space-time to collapse inwardly.
The light was forcibly twisted into a spiral shape, and wherever it passed, the space cracked like a spider web.
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But the cracks didn't spew chaotic void currents; instead, they yielded pure "nothingness," where even energy couldn't exist.
"Kill!"
The Venerable Lord of Seven Mysteries roared, swinging all eight arms simultaneously, weaving the destructive weapons into an impenetrable killing net; the kill, break, and wolf stars shone simultaneously, and all ferocious auras within the Dao Domain poured into the killing net, transforming into a sinister Celestial Wolf phantom, pouncing toward the light wave.
The Killing Break Wolf garment on him, refined from the pelts of ninety-nine ancient fierce wolves, burst with blinding red light; the murderous runes engraved on the garment rotated like a lantern carousel, attempting to resist the might of space-time collapse.
Yet all of this was as fragile as paper before the gray light wave.
The Celestial Wolf phantom was ground to dust upon just touching the light wave, and the destructive weapons shattered one after another, their fragments vanished by the collapsing force before hitting the ground.
The red light of the Killing Break Wolf garment only lasted three breaths before it began to break inch by inch from the collar, revealing the skin beneath.
"Pft—"
The light wave crashed solidly into the Venerable Lord's chest, shattering the three-headed, eight-armed deity's Dharma Aspect, causing the third eye on the central head to explode, spraying blood mixed with brain matter.
His entire body was sent flying, crushing through three main peaks of the Seven Mysteries Grotto Heaven before stopping in the ruins, where he coughed up blood profusely, staining the shattered rocks beneath him.
"Friend Taiyuan! Please hold your hand!"
Meng Tianjun's expression changed drastically, and the jade scepter at his waist glowed with grand righteousness, as he moved to intervene.
Yet he saw Meteor's form flicker, with the Circulation Stars Dao Domain unfolding around him, the phantom of the Circulation Stars Sword suspended above his head, saying coldly:
"Meng Tianjun, the agreement of three moves was witnessed by you and me. If you intervene now, do you intend to break the rules of the Central Plains Cultivators?"
The Cold Monarch also raised a hand simultaneously, and the Ice Soul Dao Domain spread instantly, freezing time and space within its range into crystalline ice, even stopping light in mid-air, completely blocking Meng Tianjun's path.
The Venerable Lord of Seven Mysteries struggled out from the ruins, with all three heads drooping on his shoulders, five of his eight arms hanging powerless, and the ferocity in his eyes replaced by extreme terror.
He crawled and kowtowed toward Taiyuan's direction, his forehead striking the rubble and bleeding profusely:
"Friend Taiyuan! I was blind to your greatness! I am willing to offer up all the treasures accumulated over a million years in the Seven Mysteries Grotto Heaven, just spare my dog's life!"
Taiyuan stood with his hands behind his back beneath the Primordial Emperor Bell, his gray robe lightly swaying in the residual waves of space-time, his expression unmoved: "Second move, Space-Time Collapse·World Fracture."
Before the words finished, his palm pressed on the crown of the Yuan Emperor Bell, and the bell covered with Dao marks suddenly started spinning at high speed.
The space at the mouth of the bell tore apart like shredded brocade, countless pitch-black space-time rifts interwoven into a giant net, with echoes of the "past" and phantoms of the "future" continuously flooding out from the rifts.
The mournful cries of ancient divine demons who perished in battle, the deathly silence of extinguished stars, and the nihilistic aura of myriad laws returning to the Ruins of Dao.
Taiyuan pushed forward abruptly, and the Yuan Emperor Bell transformed into a stream of gray-gold light, with its mouth aimed at the Venerable Lord of Seven Mysteries, the giant net-like space-time rift crushing forward with the force to devour everything.
"No!"
The Venerable Lord of Seven Mysteries was so terrified his soul nearly left his body, at this moment he didn't even have the strength to summon his magical treasure, he could only grit his teeth and activate his ultimate forbidden technique "Seven Kills Dedication".
His remaining three arms slammed onto his own chest, and from his mouth spouted a mass of essence blood containing ninety percent of his Dao Foundation, the essence blood transformed mid-air into a heavy earth-yellow halo.
A complete star map emerged within the halo, a protective barrier bought at the cost of a hundred thousand years of lifespan.
But the halo formed by this forbidden technique was as fragile as a bubble in front of the Yuan Emperor Bell.
The moment the gray-gold light collided with the halo, the space-time rift instantly tore the halo to shreds, and the Yuan Emperor Bell slammed into the Venerable Lord of Seven Mysteries without any obstruction.
"Pfft——"
A piercing ripping sound ensued, the remaining three arms of the Venerable Lord of Seven Mysteries were directly shredded into a mist of blood by the space-time rift, his three heads exploded simultaneously, leaving only half his torso slumped on the ground, his breath as faint as a candle flickering in the wind.
"The third strike, Space-Time Contraction · Return to Ruins."
Taiyuan's gaze focused, and his hands formed a mysterious seal technique, and as soon as this seal was created, the entire Seven Mysteries Grotto Heaven's space-time began to violently twist.
Mountains in the distance collapsed and contracted at a speed visible to the naked eye, turning into tiny particles, clouds in the sky were forcibly pulled into threads, drawn into the space-time vortex surrounding the Yuan Emperor Bell.
Even the remnant ominous aura of the Dao Domain of the Destroying Wolf abolished by the Venerable Lord of Seven Mysteries, was ground into nothingness by the force of contraction.
Suspended mid-air, the Yuan Emperor Bell at this moment burst forth with boundless radiance, every Dao mark on the bell illuminated, forming a complete "Diagram of Space-Time Birth and Destruction".
From the birth of space-time at the singularity explosion, to star formation, life evolution, to star annihilation, space-time contracting to the Ruins of Dao, the entire process rapidly flowed on the bell's surface.
The next moment, countless gray gases gushed out from within the bell, it was the "Return to Ruins Qi" generated at the extreme of space-time contraction, turning even the void into a lamentation, as if the entire world would be reset to a singularity state.
"Boom——"
The Return to Ruins Qi fell on the half-torso of the Venerable Lord of Seven Mysteries, without a world-shaking explosion, only a dull soft sound.
His body instantly dissolved, even his divine soul was utterly obliterated by the Return to Ruins Qi, not a trace of soul remnants could escape.
A moment later, he was completely wiped away by the space-time aftershocks, as if the Venerable Lord of Seven Mysteries had never existed.
Taiyuan gestured with a hand, the Yuan Emperor Bell transformed into a stream of light returning to his palm, the Dao marks on the bell slowly faded, the surrounding distorted space-time gradually returning to normal, only the ruins of the Seven Mysteries Grotto Heaven told of the dominating battle just now.
He looked towards Meng Tianjun and Chiyang Emperor, whose expressions were complex, his tone as calm as if recounting a trivial matter:
"Out of respect for the two daoist friends, I only used three strikes, he himself couldn't endure, can't blame others."
Meng Tianjun glanced at the completely vanished bloodstains, sighed lightly, his eyes filled with helplessness and admiration:
"Haven't seen you in ten thousand years, your 'Space-Time Contraction', Daoist friend, has nearly reached the source, your grace surpasses the past."
Chiyang Emperor, who had no prior dealings with Taiyuan, only today witnessed his actions firsthand, finally understood the weight of the words "Yuan Emperor", couldn't help but exclaim:
"I've long heard that the Yuan Emperor uses space-time termination to validate the Dao, seeing it today, I realize the rumors don't reflect a tenth of the truth. Such methods of contracting space-time, returning myriad laws to ruins, truly peerless in Central State."
Beside them, Chen Sheng was also indescribably amazed, senior martial brother had always been benevolent to others, only now recognizing the might of the Yuan Emperor!
Cold Monarch and Meteor were both sparkling-eyed, though they knew senior martial brother's strength was formidable, it was also their first time witnessing the full power of the "Space-Time Contraction Ending Technique".
From minor space-time folds to world-shattering space-time rifts, then to the world returning to the singularity of the Ruins, every strike contained the profound truth of the Great Dao of space-time, the mystique and imposing might were simply unfathomable.