Start from a baby to become a Taoist

Chapter 573, Section 584: The Changing World
Chapter 583

Before them appeared a "river" that defied description.

It contains no water; what flows within it is the pure power of "annihilation."

It is a pure power representing "end" and "nothingness." Any matter, any energy, any law, once it falls into it, will be instantly decomposed and return to the most primordial nothingness.

This river, incredibly wide, stretches out before us like an insurmountable chasm, dividing the entire universe into two parts: "existence" and "non-existence."

“The River of Annihilation…” Tu Feng’s face turned deathly pale in an instant. “Legend has it that this is the ‘scar’ of the universe, a mark left from the collapse of the ‘Dao’ in the previous era. No living being can cross it… Even true immortals will have their immortality erased by the power of annihilation within, and be completely reduced to nothingness!”

This desolate river is the last and most insurmountable barrier leading to the "ancient ruins".

However, Xu Ran's expression remained calm.

He simply stretched out his hand and pointed gently at the ceaseless, silent river that exuded an aura of endless end.

"There must be a bridge here."

The moment the words fell.

The power of definition has descended once more!

"Rumble--"

The entire silent river suddenly began to boil violently!
That destructive power, capable of obliterating the immortal, seemed to have received some supreme decree, and began to frantically gather, compress, and solidify!

In Tu Feng's completely stunned and incapacitated gaze, an ancient stone bridge made of pure "annihilation" power, radiating a dim light, appeared out of thin air, spanning the entire long river and steadily connecting the two banks!
Creation!

No! This is a billion times more terrifying than mere creation!
This is distorting the most fundamental rules of the universe! It is forcibly defining "existence" within "end"! It is creating "channels" within "destruction"!
This is something even the gods cannot do!

"Let's go."

Xu Ran withdrew his finger and stepped onto the stone bridge made of the power of annihilation.

Tu Feng shuddered and quickly followed. The moment his foot touched the bridge, he could clearly feel that the terrifying power beneath his feet, enough to instantly annihilate even a Celestial King, was now as docile as a lamb, causing him no harm whatsoever.

He looked down and saw countless shattered worlds in the "river" beneath the bridge, with the afterimages of countless fallen gods and demons floating and sinking within, emitting silent wails.

This scene made his Dao heart tremble.

After crossing the stone bridge, the scenery suddenly changed.

Here, there are no stars, no light.

Only endless chaotic mist churned and surged.

These mists were unlike any chaotic energy Tu Feng had ever encountered. They were more ancient, more primordial, as if they existed before the birth of the universe.

Here, the laws completely fail, and the Great Way ceases to exist.

Time has no meaning here. Perhaps a moment is billions of years; perhaps billions of years are just a moment.

Space loses its scale here. Perhaps one step out leads to infinity; perhaps one enters an era and remains in the same place.

This is the outer perimeter of the "Ancient Ruins".

A place of absolute exile where even immortals would lose their way.

Just then, two dim yellow lights slowly appeared in the churning, chaotic mist.

No, not two points.

It's 4 o'clock, 8 o'clock, 4 o'clock...

In an instant, hundreds and thousands of dim yellow lights lit up from the chaotic mist from all directions, surrounding them completely.

That light, like a candle flickering in the wind, could be extinguished at any moment, yet it carried a sense of timelessness.

As the light drew closer, Tu Feng finally saw their full appearance.

Those were...tall, humanoid beings!

Their bodies seemed to be sculpted from the oldest chaotic rocks, bearing the marks of time's erosion. They had no facial features; their faces were nothing but a blurry, chaotic mass.

In their hands, they each carried an old bronze lamp, from which burned a dim, yellowish flame.

"What...what kind of flame is that? I feel like my soul is being sucked in!" Tu Feng was horrified to discover that just looking at the flame made his soul feel like it was about to leave his body!
“That is the Flame of the Epoch.” Xu Ran said calmly, a barely perceptible fluctuation appearing in his voice for the first time. “It is a flame ignited by all the remaining ‘concepts’ of an era that has been extinguished.”

Upon hearing this, Tu Feng felt a chill run down his spine from head to toe!

Fueled by an entire era?!
What a terrifying move!

What is the origin of these stone figures?
"Outsiders..."

An ancient, hoarse, emotionless thought resounded simultaneously from all the stone men, echoing throughout this chaotic space.

"This is the place of slumber, the place of end."

"Retreat immediately..."

"Otherwise, you'll be turned into firewood!"

"boom!"

As the last syllable fell, an indescribable, terrifying pressure swept in from all directions!

This oppressive aura does not belong to any particular path; it is more ancient and purer, as if it were the will of this ancient ruin itself!
Under this oppressive force, Tu Feng felt like a small boat in a raging storm, about to be crushed into dust at any moment! His proud Immortal King cultivation was as fragile as a piece of paper here!
He had no doubt that if Xu Ran hadn't been there, he would have been completely crushed along with his soul and body by this oppressive force in an instant, turning into part of this chaotic mist!

However, Xu Ran remained standing with his hands behind his back, his clothes not moving at all.

The terrifying pressure, powerful enough to crush even a Celestial King, dissipated like a phantom when it approached within three feet of his body.

His gaze calmly fell upon the stone figures carrying ancient bronze lamps before him, and he spoke slowly.

"Gravekeeper?"

His voice wasn't loud, but it clearly reached the minds of every stone man.

Those stone figures, their tall and silent bodies, suddenly trembled!
The bronze lamps burning with the flames of an era flickered violently, as if they had seen something incredible.

"You...know us?"

For the first time, that ancient thought stirred with a flicker of emotion, no longer so lifeless.

"A failed agreement, a group of pathetic watchers." Xu Ran's tone carried a hint of mockery, yet it was also as if he were stating a fact.

"presumptuous!"

The ancient thought instantly turned into fury!
"Boom!"

The entire chaotic space trembled violently because of their rage!

"We have followed the Primordial Covenant and guarded the Gate of the End for nine epochs! How dare you, a newcomer, insult us!"

Chapter 584

"Nine eras?" Xu Ran chuckled softly, his laughter carrying endless vicissitudes and sorrow. "So... so much time has passed."

He raised his eyes, his gaze seemingly piercing through the endless chaotic mist, seeing through the true nature of these stone figures.

"Are you guarding this place to prevent outsiders from getting in, or to prevent the 'thing' inside from getting out?"

The stone people fell silent.

The flames of those bronze lamps flickered more and more intensely.

Xu Ran didn't wait for their reply and continued, "Let me tell you. What you are guarding is neither a gate nor the end."

"What you are guarding is an empty grave."

"boom!!!"

These words, like a thunderclap of creation, exploded deep within the minds of all the stone men! "Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

"The covenant remains! I can feel 'His' presence! 'He' is sleeping within!"

"You are shaking our resolve! You deserve to die!"

His furious thoughts transformed into a tangible mental storm, sweeping wildly towards Xu Ran!

This chaotic space instantly became incredibly violent! Countless chaotic divine lightning bolts appeared out of thin air and struck down towards Xu Ran and Tu Feng!
Tu Feng's face was completely devoid of color.

He could sense that each of these stone figures possessed terrifying power no less than that of an immortal!
Imagine the devastating spectacle of hundreds or thousands of immortals attacking simultaneously.
The entire Tianxuan Starfield will probably be reduced to nothingness in an instant!
However, faced with all this, Xu Ran simply raised his right hand slowly.

His hands were fair and slender, devoid of any worldly air.

He did not use any laws, nor did he unleash any earth-shattering aura.

He simply swept his hand across the raging chaos before him.

It's like using an eraser to wipe away excess ink from a painting.

“I say, this place should be quiet.”

hum-

Time seemed to have been paused at that moment.

The chaotic divine lightning, powerful enough to destroy everything, froze in mid-air.

The sweeping mental storm solidified into an invisible crystal.

The enraged stone golems remained motionless, maintaining their attack stance.

In that instant, the entire chaotic and turbulent space became quieter than an absolute vacuum.

Everything is quiet!

Only the flames of the era within those bronze lamps continued to flicker silently and violently, revealing the boundless horror in the hearts of their owners!
What power is this? !

Follow your words?
No! This is on a level countless times higher than words becoming law!

This is... reshaping reality!
"Now, can you listen to me quietly?"

Xu Ran's voice broke the deathly silence.

As his words fell, everything that had been frozen slowly began to flow again. But all the attacks vanished without a trace three feet away from him.

All the stone figures froze in place, no longer daring to make the slightest move.

fear!

An emotion called "fear," which they had forgotten for nine epochs, was growing wildly from the depths of their chaotic core!

The person before me... is an existence that cannot be understood, cannot be fought against, and cannot be fathomed!
"The covenant you believe in is nothing but a piece of paper. The 'He' you protect has already left before you even arrived."

Xu Ran's voice was calm yet cruel.

"No... I don't believe it..." a stone figure uttered a trembling thought.

"Belief or disbelief is meaningless."

Xu Ran stretched out his finger, and a tiny light shone from the fingertip.

The light was not dazzling, yet it seemed to contain all the mysteries of the universe from its birth to its demise.

He gently touched the faint light to the brow of the stone figure closest to him.

The stone man instinctively tried to dodge, but found that his body, along with the surrounding chaos, was imprisoned by an irresistible force and he could not move at all.

The light spot disappeared into its body.

"boom!"

The stone man's body trembled violently!

It was as if a piece of "reality" that did not belong to it, spanning endless time and space, had been forcibly poured into its sea of ​​thoughts!
It saw it.

I saw a place that was even deeper and darker than the ancient ruins, a true "nothingness".

It saw a figure so majestic it defied description emerge from the void, behind which lay the old universe crumbling and heading towards its end.

It saw that figure plant a "seed" in this chaos, then turn around and, without hesitation, step into the deeper darkness to pursue something.

And that "seed" is the "source" of this universe.

It also saw that, after countless years, a group of beings calling themselves "pioneers" came here, discovered the seed, and made a pact with the faint will born from the seed.

They became the first generation of "grave keepers".

Then, the picture changes.

Eras change, and the world transforms.

The tomb keepers have changed from generation to generation.

The contents of the covenant have long been distorted beyond recognition through repeated transmissions.

The truth they protected has long been forgotten.

They didn't even know that the seed had matured and borne fruit many eons ago, and then the fruit fell off on its own, transforming into the myriad living beings of this universe.

This place has long been empty.

All that remains is a shell, a meaningless thing, that once contained the "seed".

And they, these guardians of the Ninth Age, are like a bunch of ridiculous insects, guarding an empty nutshell, thinking they are carrying out some sacred mission.

“Ahhhhh——!”

A shrill and desperate roar erupted from the stone man's mind!

The bronze lamp in its hand shattered with a loud "bang"!

The flame that had burned for an entire era instantly lost its fuel and went out completely.

Its body began to crack inch by inch, turning into the most primitive chaotic stones, which fell away with a rustling sound, and finally, completely dissipated into the chaotic mist.

My Dao heart... has collapsed!

The faith that had been upheld for nine eras was shattered in the face of the cruel truth!
A tomb keeper has passed away.

Everything it saw was instantly transmitted to all the tomb keepers present through some mysterious link.

For a moment, there was deathly silence.

Deathly silence.

Immediately following was a series of sounds as bronze lamps shattered!

"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!"

One after another, the ancient lamps that burned with the flames of an era went out.

One after another, towering stone figures disintegrated in silent despair, turning into dust and returning to this chaos.

They did not attack Xu Ran, nor did they harbor any hatred towards him.

Because they knew that Xu Ran had not deceived them.

(End of this chapter)