Chapter 1594: Sword of the Annihilating Space — Star River Scroll

Raindrops began to fall from the sky.

It was neither a downpour nor a raging storm; there were no rolling dark clouds in the sky either. Everything was peaceful, just like the spring rain of the third month, moist and gentle as cream.

Beneath the bright sunshine, the temperature neither too high nor too low, raindrops drifted down in profusion, and farmers strolled through the rain, carrying the fresh, distinctive scent of spring.

At first, these raindrops carried a faint golden hue, occasionally flashing a sliver of edge, as if they meant to tear apart heaven and earth and slaughter all living beings.

But as the raindrops fell to the earth and more drops descended, the color of the rain began to change.

The raindrops shifted from gold to green, a dense, distorted vitality, as if they would force all living things to mutate toward infinity in an instant, making even the bodies of gods and demons no longer stable;

The green then turned to watery blue, an infinite will of destruction born of hydrogen-fusion annihilation filling the four directions…

Metal, wood, water, fire, earth—the foundations that compose all things in heaven and earth—cycled through the Six Paths again and again, again and again, and with each cycle the edge within the raindrops diminished by a sliver.

In the end, every trace of edge had vanished.

In this heaven and earth, all destruction and brilliance had disappeared, transforming into an ordinary painting of a March waterside town, spreading out in all directions like a masterpiece by a great artist, enveloping everything.

Within this painting of March rain over a waterside town, a wooden puppet covered in cracks slowly rose to its feet from a deep pit.

Countless threads like ink-brush lines surrounded him, twisting and shifting, emanating a terrifying, spine-chilling aura that no one dared to gaze upon for even an instant, for a mortal soul looking directly upon it would shatter in a heartbeat.

"Painting of Space."

"This reminds this old man of something that happened many years ago during the great tribulation. A celestial art called Sky-Suppression descended upon the Great Thousand World, and the Jiudaxian Sect fought each other endlessly over it, yet in the end the inheritance vanished without a trace…"

The Thread-Pulling Celestial Being stared coldly at the youth in the sky and said.

"Pure Yang Sword Son,"

"If you wish to flee, this old man will not stop you."

"Why do you keep pestering me?"

"Do you know that a single moment's delay may bring other Celestial Beings, and you will surely die?"

His body, covered in cracks, slowly swelled, swelled.

The flawless human skin was torn apart, revealing a wooden puppet weeping black-red blood-tears. Dark clouds appeared in the sky, lowering threads one after another that plunged deep into the puppet's limbs, heart, skull, meridians, and every part of its body.

This blood-tear puppet, vast as a star, swayed unsteadily as it stood between heaven and earth. The ink-wash painting of the Jiangnan waterside town began to show faint signs of instability, with fine cracks appearing.

Wuu~

Wuu wuu~

The sound of sobbing weeping drifted in from the unseen beyond.

The blood-tear puppet truly did shed tear after tear of blood; the tears gathered into drops, then into streams, pattering down to the earth—boundless resentment, boundless longing, end

less venomous hatred filling the space between heaven and earth.

Those drops of blood-tears falling to the ground scattered in every direction like jade beads, rustling and clicking as they went.

They were thumb-sized child-shaped blood-armor beetles.

Each had the head of an adorable child—fair and tender, innocent and pure—but from the neck down was the body of a beetle, mottled black and red, covered in grotesque patterns.

"Daddy…"

"Daddy… Daddy…"

These beetles called out innocently.

Dense swarms of blood-armor beetles dripped from the puppet's eye sockets, falling at its feet, then rustling as they crawled off in every direction, gnawing at space, gnawing at rules, gnawing at cause and effect, gnawing at all things in heaven and earth.

Amid these beetles, a figure emerged hazily.

An ugly beggar child whose face was covered in scars and pus-blood, and his bouncing, adorable daughter, walking together through the streets, depending on each other for survival.

Crack~

Crack crack crack~

The ink-wash painting of the March waterside town began to show cracks, gnawed at by the dense swarms of blood-armor beetles.

"The celestial art Sky-Suppression has such a past?"

"This sovereign truly did not know that."

Jiang Dinglue glanced at the swarm of blood-armor beetles with a faint sigh and said, "You're no longer fleeing—you've gained the true bearing of a powerhouse, the demeanor of a Celestial Being. That is good."

"You ask why this sovereign no longer flees now?"

"Because this sovereign needs you, Senior."

Jiang Ding slowly drew the long sword at his waist; the longing and killing intent in his eyes burned like fire, impossible to conceal: "A mediocre life is no better than a brilliant, glorious death!"

"This sovereign came to the Upper Realm precisely to seek a worthy enemy!"

"You are the one this sovereign has been searching for, and you have walked of your own accord to this sovereign's presence, begging this sovereign to grant you death."

"What more could this sovereign ask for? What more is there to pursue?"

"Therefore,"

"Die!"

Boom!

The sword left its sheath!

Boundless radiance, boundless brilliance illuminated heaven and earth—an unparalleled splendor, as if the primordial sun had descended upon the land. The brilliance of this single instant surpassed everything.

After that instant of splendor, heaven and earth plunged into absolute darkness.

This absolute darkness lasted for an eternity, a thousand or ten thousand years, and yet seemed to be only a single instant.

Within that dark river of stars, the first thread of light appeared. Within this beam of light, a scroll slowly unfurled, revealing an ink-wash painting that mirrored the river of stars.

This Star River Scroll depicted the following scene.

In the Jiangnan waterside town of the third month, spring rain fell soft as cream, all things grew, a scene of vibrant, beautiful vitality.

At the center of this scene, a wooden puppet stood at the heart, surrounded by countless rustling

blood-armor beetles, blanketing the sky and earth, numbering in the tens of billions, gnawing at cause and effect, gnawing at rules, and even devouring space entirely, with nothing left to stop them.

Such a scene, set against the misty, flower-bright Jiangnan, was far too jarring.

What was even more terrifying was that the wooden puppet and the blood beetles were still writhing, writhing ceaselessly, as if straining to break free of something. They gradually shifted from a standing posture into a bow stance; the puppet waved a great blood-colored banner, pulling taut countless threads of karmic fate.

Countless blood beetles converged, gathering beneath the blood-colored banner, coalescing into a spear of karmic curse brimming with fierce, venomous resentment that pierced the heavens. Streaks of blood-red threads spread toward the four directions, cleaving straight through the river of stars.

The writhing of the wooden puppet and the blood beetles froze in place.

The painting at the center of the Star River scroll was thus fixed in form.

A wooden puppet beneath overcast skies, manipulated by countless transparent threads, gripped a blood-colored long spear, eyes wide with fury, and within this tranquil, peaceful Jiangnan water town, struck upward toward the vault of heaven.

Such a painting was recorded within the river of stars of the cosmos.

"Immortal Art Prototype · Sword of Spatial Annihilation!"

"Slash!"

From within the vast river of stars came a low, sharp shout.

Boom!

In the unseen depths, the gears of the cosmos were turning.

At this moment, a sun-blazing sword-light that blotted out the sky descended upon heaven and earth, bearing with it the sword-Dao longing of a Great Sun sword cultivator as it arrived in the mortal world.

This sun-like sword strike fell upon the Star River scroll, crashing into the painting.

Heaven and earth fell silent for an instant.

Boom!

Crack!

The dazzling radiance of the Great Sun erupted; the Star River scroll was torn to shreds amid the explosive brilliance of the sun, reduced to fine dust. Countless fragments sprayed out in all directions, and the countless figures and objects within the painting were annihilated to ash in the searing heat.