Start from a baby to become a Taoist

Chapter 534 Brood
Chapter 542

Those are enemies of the Divine Court!
A calamity-level race that roams the dark universe, feeding on civilizations, worlds, and even laws! They have no fixed form and can parasitize any matter, corrupting and rusting it, turning it into their own "weapons" and "nests".

While the destruction of the Seventh Outpost of the Divine Court may have been caused by an even more terrifying enemy behind it, this "Tide of Rust" was definitely the vanguard!
They're still entrenched here!
"Fire!" Xu Ran gave the order decisively without the slightest hesitation.

boom!
On both sides of the Pioneer's hull, hundreds of hidden cannons instantly opened. From these cannons, no longer were simple beams of energy converged, but rather a serene divine light imbued with the power of annihilation!
shhhhhh!
Hundreds of gray, annihilating divine lights, like an apocalyptic meteor shower, ripped through the void and crashed into the dark red "tide".

Chi chi chi——

Wherever the divine light of annihilation reached, vast swaths of "metallic dust" were directly decomposed and obliterated, transforming into the most primordial particles that vanished into nothingness. The power of returning to nothingness is precisely the nemesis of such highly polluting substances.

A single volley cleared a large area in front of them.

However, before the crowd could cheer, even more waves of rust surged forth from the Daoist Hall, relentlessly and fearlessly filling the previous gap.

Their numbers seem endless!

"This can't go on!" Cang Shi frowned. "There are just too many of them. Our energy reserves can't keep up with them!"

"Their weakness lies within that hall!" Xu Ran's gaze was piercing as he stared intently at the Daoist Scripture Hall, which was now filled with rust. "This tide of rust must have a core, a 'mother nest' controlling it! Once the mother nest is destroyed, these things will be like rootless duckweed!"

"But how do we get in?" Zhenshan asked anxiously. "This tide can even corrode the void; our battle formation probably won't hold out for long!"

"Who said we were going to force our way in?"

A fierce glint flashed in Xu Ran's eyes.

He took a deep breath and reconnected his mind with the core of the Pioneer.

"The flame originates from the source, burning to its limit!"

hum!
The flaming totem on the bow of the ship instantly burst forth with dazzling light, like ten suns soaring across the sky. A vast divine essence was ignited and injected into the ark's warp array.

"Target: Inside the Daoist Treasury Hall! Breakthrough Jump, Initiate!"

What an insane decision!
Performing a space jump in the center of the enemy's lair is extremely dangerous. If the coordinates are even slightly off, or if the ship is subjected to spatial interference from the enemy, the entire ship could be swept into spatial turbulence and perish!

But Xu Ran dared to do this because he was betting that the resonance between the torch and that "thing" in the Daoist Hall would provide him with a precise coordinate!

He also bet that this newly promoted God Throne-class Ark possessed the powerful ability to ignore enemy interference!

The next moment, the entire hull of the Pioneer began to become illusory and transparent.

The surrounding space twisted and folded violently, like the surface of water.

"Oh no! They're going to jump!"

Amidst the tide of rust, a will far stronger than that of ordinary insects suddenly awakened. Countless rusted dust particles instantly coalesced into a massive, dark red net that blotted out the sky, enveloping the Pioneer and attempting to seal off this space.

However, it's too late!

Just before the giant net closed in, the Pioneer's hull had completely disappeared from its original spot.

……

Inside the Daozang Hall.

The lighting here is dim and oppressive.

The walls, bookshelves, and floor of the main hall were covered with a thick, dark red fungal carpet that seemed to slowly writhe like living creatures. Countless rust-like insects were born and hatched on this carpet before merging into the tidal wave outside.

In the very center of the main hall, where the most important scriptures of the Divine Court should have been enshrined, now stood an enormous cocoon, entangled with countless pieces of rusted metal and flesh!
The giant cocoon was like a beating heart; with each beat, it emitted a massive amount of corrosive odor, polluting this sacred temple.

This is the mother nest of the rust tide!
At that moment, without warning, a huge rift suddenly tore open in the space above the mother nest.

A dark golden divine vessel, like a ghost descending from another dimension, with endless majesty and sacred radiance, brazenly broke in!

It's the Pioneer!

"We did it!" Inside the bridge, Cangshi and the others cheered.

"Now!" Xu Ran's eyes widened, and his divine sense and will reached their peak at this moment.

He did not attack the enormous mother nest because he knew that the vitality of these calamity creatures was outrageously tenacious.

His goal is to be the source of guidance and inspiration!
It is that thing that the mother nest is trying its best to suppress and digest!
"Eye of the Ruins, open!"

Xu Ran's gaze pierced through the layers of corroded fungal carpet, seeing into the core of the enormous mother nest.

He saw it!

He saw it!

In the deepest part of that writhing, multiplying, and decadent mother nest, at the core where billions of rusty insects and filthy flesh intertwine, there is neither a hideous monster nor an evil artifact.

It was a book. An ancient tome, silently floating, made of an unknown material.

It possesses a warm, jade-like luster, as if it has withstood the test of countless ages, yet remains untouched by the slightest dust. The pages are closed, and the cover is devoid of text, except for an extremely profound mark, a mark that seems to be a condensation of the myriad paths of the Great Dao. A single glance is enough to draw one's soul into it, causing one to sink into an endless ocean of knowledge.

At this moment, countless dark red fleshy tentacles are coiled around this ancient book, and the mother nest is desperately trying to infiltrate its decaying will into it, attempting to digest and assimilate it. However, the surface of the ancient book is always rippling with a faint but incredibly tenacious halo. That halo is pure and vast, full of order and rationality, like an insurmountable chasm, stubbornly resisting the erosion of the corrosive power.

Each pulsation of the mother nest dims the halo a little. Each flicker of the halo purifies a nearby patch of rusted flesh into nothingness.

This is a silent, yet extremely dangerous, tug-of-war.

The guiding light of the torch originates from this very thing! The Divine Court's Daoist Treasury Hall, with its billions of volumes of books, contains a seemingly ordinary ancient book that is actually the true core of all Dao and principles, the source and general outline of all Dao and principles!

"The General Outline of the Divine Court's Daoist Canon..." These words instantly flashed through Xu Ran's mind. He was almost certain that this book recorded the crystallization of wisdom accumulated by a glorious civilization with all its might! Its value might even surpass that undying flame!
Just as Xu Ran's gaze pierced through the mother nest and locked onto that ancient book...

Roar--! ! !
An invisible roar, powerful enough to shatter one's soul, resounded throughout the entire Daoist Hall!

The mother hive is enraged!

It sensed the spying from the outside world, a will full of "predation" and coveting the supreme delicacy that was about to be devoured!

Rumble!
The entire Daoist Hall, covered in a rusty fungal carpet, seemed like a slumbering ancient beast that had finally awakened. The thick, dark red fungal carpet, as thick as the earth's crust, suddenly exploded on the walls, ceiling, and floor. Billions upon billions of fleshy tentacles composed of rusty insects, like demonic hands reaching out from the depths of hell, swept in from all directions, swarming towards the Pioneer in the center!

Wherever these tentacles passed, the laws of space were corroded, emitting a sizzling sound and turning a sickly rusty color. This was no longer a simple physical attack, but a pollution of the "Tao," a terrifying law that would completely "rust" away the Creator, a creation forged from divine metal, from the very root of its concept!
"This is bad!" Cang Shi's expression changed drastically. "The Flame Guardians can't hold on any longer!"

Outside the hull of the Pioneer, the pale golden light curtain formed by the power of the flames flickered violently under the frantic lashing and corrosion of countless rusting tentacles. The light dimmed at a visible speed, and fine cracks even began to appear on the surface, as if it would shatter at any moment.

"Form ranks! Defend!" Xu Ran's voice was as calm as ancient ice, without the slightest panic. It rang out in the chaotic bridge like a stabilizing force.

"As ordered!"

With a roar, Zhenshan was the first to rush out of the bridge and stand on the bow deck. Behind him, a hundred royal generals filed out and quickly took their positions in specific locations.

"Battle Formation of Reincarnation, activate!"

hum!
Centered on Zhenshan, the auras of the Hundred Kings instantly merged into one. Behind them, the thrones, tempered by the fire of time, appeared in unison, no longer as individual calamities or punishments, but as unified dark golden thrones of military law!
The hundred divine thrones resonated, unleashing a majestic, vast, and ruthless will. Golden chains of law burst forth from the battle formation, forming a net that precisely entangled the incoming, corrosive tentacles.

Chi Chi Chi!
The golden chains of military law clashed with the dark red, rusted tentacles, producing a piercing melting sound. The will of military law, representing order and rules, was the nemesis of this chaotic and corrupting force. For a moment, it actually withstood the most ferocious wave of attack.

"My lord, there are too many of these things! We can't kill them all! The battle formation is being drained!" Zhenshan's voice came through divine sense, filled with solemnity. He could feel that with every breath they held out, their divine power was being consumed frantically. Even more terrifying was that the corrosive will was trying to erode their thrones along the chains of law!
Inside the bridge, Cang Shi placed his hands on the main control array panel. The divine phenomena of the Heavenly Stone Path behind him were fully activated. The azure sky and the immortal rock seemed to have merged into the entire Pioneer.

"Power of the Void, suppress!"

Gray chaotic energy, flowing continuously through the array plate, poured into every corner of the ark, fighting against the all-pervasive corrosive laws. He raised the Pioneer's defenses to their limit, making the entire ship seem like an ancient, timeless divine stone, unmoved by wind and rain.

However, everyone knew that this was only a temporary measure. They were like a lone boat caught in a raging storm, passively defending themselves, destined to be swallowed up sooner or later.

The situation must be broken!

All eyes were focused on the man standing at the highest point of the bridge, his black hair moving without wind.

Xu Ran's gaze was terrifyingly calm. He didn't look at the world-destroying scene outside; his eyes, those chaotic, primordial pupils, remained fixed on the ancient book at the core of the mother nest.

He knew that was the only chance of survival, and the ultimate goal of this trip.

A head-on confrontation is unwise. The best strategy is to use one's strengths to attack the enemy's weaknesses.

“The true meaning of the Ruins of Return is the end, the final destination of all things…” Xu Ran murmured to himself, his voice seemingly not belonging to this world, carrying a kind of indifference that transcends time and space, “Corruption and depravity are also a kind of ‘existence.’ All that exists has an end.”

At this moment, his will rose to an unprecedented height. He no longer used the power of the Void as a mere energy source, but transformed into the wielder of the concept of "Void"!
"I grant you... the end!"

boom!
An invisible will suddenly spread out from Xu Ran as the center.

This will, though lacking destructive energy fluctuations, caused the raging mother nest to feel, for the first time, a trace of instinctive...fear!
Xu Ran stretched out a finger and gently pointed it towards the direction of the mother nest.

"Return to the Void... Dao Guide!"

In an instant, a "road" suddenly appeared in front of the Pioneer, in the chaotic space filled with rusty tentacles.

It was a road composed of extreme gray. It did not forcibly push away the surrounding tentacles, but rather all the corroded matter it touched, whether energy or physical matter, instantly lost all "activity," accelerated billions of times, and completed its entire process from "existence" to "extinction," directly decomposing and annihilating, turning into the purest nothingness.

Returning to the void is not destruction, but rather allowing everything to return to its proper ending.

Xu Ran forcibly carved out this "Path of Annihilation" leading to the core of the mother nest!

"It's now!"

Xu Ran's eyes flashed with divine light. He didn't leave the bridge because he needed to remain at the central command, fighting against the will of the entire Mother Nest. But he had a better way!

"Passing on the torch, resonating together!"

His divine thought abruptly activated the enormous torch totem on the bow of the Pioneer!
Om-!
The totem seemed to be infused with inexhaustible fuel, instantly bursting forth with a golden-red light billions of times more dazzling than a star. This light was no longer a gentle protection, but rather filled with an overwhelming and domineering intent of conquest and command!
A beam of light, half golden-red and half gray, woven from the ultimate source of fire and the power of the void, shot precisely toward the core of the mother nest along the "Path of Annihilation," like a creation spear that cleaved through eternity!
The target of this beam of light is not attack, but... guidance!
Inside the nest, the ancient book, which had been heavily suppressed and whose light had become increasingly dim, trembled violently the moment it sensed the benevolent and shared energy of the flame. It was as if it had heard the call of a long-lost relative.
boom!
On the ancient book, the mysterious mark suddenly lit up, and a vast and boundless "reason" and "order" burst forth from the book!
(End of this chapter)