Chapter 1744: Time and Space in Reverse

In the endless starry sky, far, far away from the Ancient God World Cluster, there lay a certain world cluster.

The night sky was still and silent.

The Sun Star and the Lunar Star hung eternally unchanged in the heavens, while the stars twinkled above, flashing now and then, beautiful as ever — it seemed every stretch of sky in the endless starry sky was alike.

Beneath the radiance of the Sun Star, a Zhong Senior Qian Shi Gao Jie named Miaohua Realm shimmered.

This was a world ruled by an unknown deity.

The deity's radiance had shrouded this place for who knew how many tens of thousands of years — so long that no living being knew otherwise, simply taking it for granted that this was a land bathed in sacred radiance, that it had been so since the world's birth, and that it would be so for all eternity to come.

Within the world, countless beings multiplied, dwelt, and struggled, always in the same eternally dull, unchanging manner.

Countless mortals and great demons thrived upon the earth, offering sacrifices to the deity; countless City Gods, Land Gods, Regional Lords, and National Lords each performed their duties, herding the deity's flock on its behalf.

Everything was in perfect order. A torrent of incense faith pierced through the world's membrane, streaming toward some distant, unknown place, coalescing into an immortal being.

All of it was utterly ordinary.

Except for this one day.

On a certain day, a speck of five-colored light appeared in the sky of the Miaohua Zhong Senior Qian Shi Gao Jie.

This streak of five-colored light was at first as small as a candle flame, then swiftly blotted out the sky and sun. Boundless spatial runes bloomed within it; heaven and earth churned, the rules themselves trembled, and everything fell into utter chaos, displaying a staggering celestial portent.

This commotion — it was far too great!

In almost an instant, it jolted awake every City God, Regional Lord, and National Lord formally invested by the Dao Court throughout the entire Miaohua Zhong Realm, their gazes turning as one toward the sky.

Within that terrifying seven-colored radiance, a hazy figure emerged — its mere aura shaking the cosmos and star rivers.

It could not be concealed at all!

This being was far, far stronger than that tiny embryo-like life from however many years ago — a gulf as vast as the Sun to a moth, utterly impossible to conceal.

During the transit through the planar passage across vast spatial distances, every concealment art had failed.

And so, this terrifying being's aura was immediately sensed by the many gods formally invested by the Dao Court — that utterly conspicuous aura, conspicuous as a lamp flame in the dark.

"Cultivation of immortality…"

One City God cried out in shock.

"An immortality cultivator!"

"An immortality cultivator!"

Countless formally invested gods sensed that utterly conspicuous aura in an instant.

Boundless greed, loathing, wariness, and contempt welled up in their hearts, then transformed into raging roars: "Kill him!"

"Kill him!"

"Kill!"

Countless gods, as though the deepest layers of their investiture talisman rules had been triggered, roared one after another — Land Gods converging upon City Gods, City Gods upon Regional Lords, Regional Lords upon the gods of mountains, rivers, and streams…

The splendid, elaborate sacrificial ritual robes upon their bodies vanished; the books, Ru Yi Deng Fa, and other ritual implements in their hands vanished as well, replaced by Jin Jia, long halberds, battle-axes, and other weapons of slaughter, which gathered into a long river surging skyward to kill.

In that instant, layer upon layer of terrifying Heavenly Dao rule-nets spread densely in every direction.

Even a Dao-Unifying Divine Monarch here would be slain within the briefest span of time!

And this was not the most dangerous situation.

The most dangerous situation was that countless messages were swiftly spreading in all directions through the incense faith network, propagating toward the deepest reaches of the Dao Court — soon countless Dao Court Divine Armies would learn that a strange immortality cultivator had appeared here.

Many Divine Generals, ancient Four Direction Deities, Yama Kings presiding over the netherworld… boundless power would converge upon this place.

Even the gaze of the Supreme Existence might turn here.

Even the supreme of immortality cultivators would face a terrifying death crisis in such a Dao Court heartland, let alone any being beneath the supreme — certain death, without question!

A thick, hair-raising crisis, a sudden premonition of dread, rose in Jiang Ding's heart.

This was the terrifying danger of projecting peak Heavenly Being-tier combat power into a foreign realm.

"Time… light…"

"Time!"

Jiang Ding burned his essence blood in an instant and growled low.

Clang!

In the unseen depths, a clear sword-chime rang out across the four quarters of the realm.

A flying sword that had lain dormant for tens of thousands of years blazed with radiance once more, emerging in this Final Dharma age, and delivered a single slash toward heaven and earth.

This sword-strike was named the Sword of Destroying Time and Space!

In an instant, the entire Zhong Senior Qian Shi Gao Jie froze — the rules, the spiritual energy, the rivers, the wind, the roaring City Gods, Mountain Gods, River Gods, National Lords, and the countless Jin Jia divine soldiers trying to converge all froze beneath that sword.

Even at a more microscopic level, the incense faith power coalesced from the prayers of billions upon billions of beings froze.

Time, at this moment, came to a complete halt.

Even a fraction of an instant longer, and the roars of countless gods would have been transmitted through incense faith into the Dao Court, becoming known to the entire Dao Court — at which point even the Supreme Existence might descend.

Yet, in that sliver of time, everything froze, ceased.

"This is time…"

Jiang Ding's eyes were crimson as blood as he whispered.

In his mind, every being in the entire Miaohua Realm existed within a single thought—beneath that thought, all beings would lose all their time, be attacked and erased at the essential layer of lifespan, and finally have even their bodies forcibly wiped away, leaving not even ash behind; the world would never again recall that these beings had ever existed.

"Reverse!"

Jiang Ding stretched out his hand, as though grasping a sword hilt, as though seizing endless time itself, and forcefully plucked the strings of the rules.

Ding! Dong!

The sound was muffled, not at all pleasant — like a beginner plucking a zither's strings.

Yet beneath that muffled sound, the rules of all things under Heaven seemed to have been plucked, and countless substances and causes-and-effects were plucked along with them.

Heaven and earth — were turning!

Countless substances, countless rules, countless causes and effects flowed back to their original places as if they had always been flowing that way, returning to their original forms.

Between heaven and earth, such a wondrous sight appeared.

Countless gods of the Miaohua Realm were roaring and howling, but their mouths, stretched to the limit, were closing; their furious, ferocious expressions were recovering, becoming calm once more. The gathered torrents of incense-power came like a flood and receded like a flood; the countless divine soldiers and generals that had gathered returned to their original places…

Between heaven and earth, every substance was regressing!

Therefore, time itself was regressing!

In an instant, the entire Miaohua Middle Realm went from uproar back to quiet, ordinary and unremarkable. Mortals tilled the fields diligently, offered prayers; the gods inspected Shanhe, culling the deformed lambs that affected the flock. Everything was in perfect order. The incense-power gathered as usual, rushing toward distant lands.

Between heaven and earth, everything returned to its original state, the original tranquility.

"Hoo-hoo…"

In a place where all causes and light could not reach, a youth in blue robes had an ashen face, his aura withered, his condition reduced to the extreme.