Chapter 323: Immortal Realm Rescue

The footage cut off here.

That pinpoint coordinate extinguished completely.

"Signal source analysis complete."

Zhang Mei's voice was as calm as a line of code, but her tightly clenched knuckles betrayed her inner thoughts.

"Designation: Primordial Immortal Realm. Based on analysis of residual law fragments, it was once a high-dimensional immortal civilization. It is currently suffering deep erosion from the 'Primordial Demon Domain.' World rule collapse rate: 97.4%. Estimated to fall completely into demonic annihilation within seventeen standard cosmic hours."

Li Hu watched the shattered footage, his Adam's apple bobbing once.

This was no longer war, but a one-sided slaughter—one civilization being eaten alive by another.

Wang Zhitao's gaze, however, fell upon that devastated wreckage, his eyes holding no pity, only the scrutiny of someone discovering a new vein of ore.

He extended a finger and tapped lightly in the void.

"I define: the residual immortal laws of the 'Primordial Immortal Realm' shall serve as the evolution blueprint for the 'Realm of New Birth's' xianxia civilization."

"I define: its demonic qi erosion pattern shall serve as a reverse-analysis sample for the 'Realm of New Birth's' anti-virus system."

A top-tier civilization on the verge of destruction was, in his eyes, nothing more than a precious legacy and a perfect experimental report.

"Hungry."

Beside him, Wang Zhitao, who had taken the form of a black-haired youth, licked his lips.

Through his brother's "definition," he clearly "smelled" the scent of that distant world.

Half was pure, vast immortal origin energy, like aged fine wine.

The other half was energy that, after being tainted by demonic qi, seemed to have fermented and spoiled, yet had thereby acquired a certain bizarre "flavor."

The two scents intertwined, making the devouring instinct within his body clamor madly.

"Li Hu." Wang Zhitao's voice rang out.

"Here!" Li Hu immediately stood at attention.

"'Primordial Demon Domain Exploration Team,' assemble. Equip the latest version of the 'Law Purification Protocol' and 'Anti-Demonic Contamination Shielding Runes.'"

The orders were concise and clear.

Li Hu acted immediately. An exploration team composed of the most elite warriors of the "Law-Breaker Legion," along with powerful volunteers from the Alliance such as dragon-kind and mechanical lifeforms, rapidly assembled before the "Tower of Order."

The armor on their bodies was no longer a purely technological creation—it bore law runes personally defined by Wang Zhitao, shimmering with the light of order to counter demonic contamination.

"Brother, what about me?" Wang Zhitao looked at Wang Zhitao eagerly.

"You go open the way."

Wang Zhitao flicked a finger, and a wisp of golden light sank into Wang Zhitao's brow. "I've added 'navigation' and 'food identification' functions for you. You can eat the snacks along the way, just don't stuff yourself to death."

"Okay!"

Wang Zhitao clenched his fist excitedly, his figure instantly transforming into a streak of dark-golden light that tore through space, spearheading the charge toward that death-shrouded star region enveloped in endless demonic qi.

The exploration team's starships followed close behind.

Crossing the outer perimeter of the "Primordial Demon Domain" was like diving into a deep sea composed of pure malice.

There were no physical laws here, only chaos and contamination. On one dead planet after another, writhing tendrils of flesh grew thick; drifting through the void were the wreckage of civilization's warships, twisted by demonic qi, like the white bones of giant beasts.

Countless bizarrely shaped monsters lunged from the darkness.

They were the cancer cells of the universe, the embodiment of destruction.

Yet before they could approach the fleet, a dark-golden shadow would always flash past.

No earth-shattering explosions, no brilliance of colliding laws.

Only an abrupt, absolute "blankness."

As if an eraser had wiped away a stain on a sheet of paper.

Wang Zhitao's figure reappeared, smacking his lips as if still wanting more, having chewed to pieces and swallowed those powerful monsters—each comparable to a star god—along with the contaminated laws they carried.

Li Hu watched this scene from the bridge, already numb to it.

This was the vanguard of the "Demolition Office." No one could match his efficiency at clearing trash.

Finally, the fleet broke through the blockade of demonic qi.

A dead, shattered world appeared before everyone's eyes.

The Primordial Immortal Realm.

The scene before them was ten thousand times more tragic than the footage in that distress signal.

The sky was dark red, and enormous spatial rifts gaped like hideous scars, demonic qi ceaselessly pouring forth from within.

The immortal mountains of old now remained only as pitch-black peaks, with magma-like demonic fluid flowing down their surfaces.

The immortal rivers had long since dried up, their beds piled with the bones of immortal spirit beasts.

What sent chills down the spine even more were those former immortals.

They had not died—they had been converted.

They retained their living forms, wearing flowing Daoist robes, but their eyes were pitch-black, devoid of any spark of spirit. Like marionettes, they patrolled mechanically above the ruins, having become slaves to the monsters and incubators for demonic qi.

"Distress signal source located."

"Inside a surviving immortal palace. Life signs extremely faint."

The fleet hovered at high altitude. Li Hu led a squad of elites, under Wang Zhitao's guard, descending onto that last immortal mountain.

Inside the great hall of the immortal palace, a figure sat slumped against a long-collapsed throne.

It was the old Daoist from the footage.

The Primordial Immortal Emperor.

He was even more wretched than in the footage. More than half his body had been eroded by demonic qi; one arm had transformed into a pitch-black claw, and his face was covered with tiny eyes that constantly opened and closed.

With supreme willpower, he maintained his final shred of lucidity.

Seeing the aura of "order" on Wang Zhitao, Li Hu, and the others—a presence utterly distinct from demonic qi—his clouded eyes erupted with their final light.

"Are you… here to respond to me?" His voice was so hoarse it sounded like two pieces of rotten wood rubbing together.

"We are the 'Realm of Rebirth' Alliance," Li Hu answered in a low voice. "Here to carry out a rescue mission."

"Realm of Rebirth…" the Primordial Immortal Emperor murmured to himself, then broke into a bitter laugh. "Rescue… it's already too late… the entire Immortal Realm has become the Demon Ancestor's breeding ground…"

He used the last of his strength to raise the one hand that still belonged to him.

"But I cannot let it… devour even the final hope along with everything else… This is the Core origin of the Primordial Immortal Realm… I offer it willingly, and ask only that you… can carry away this spark!"

Just then.

An extreme, icy coldness spread forth from within the Immortal Emperor's body without any warning.

A blurred shadow slowly rose from behind him. The shadow had no fixed form, as though it were an amalgamation of all negative concepts.

The Demon Ancestor's projection!

"Dying ants."

The shadow emitted a mocking pulse of thought, sounding directly in everyone's minds.

"Your Immortal Realm, your origin, even your despair—all have long been mine for the taking. And now, a few more interesting fresh sacrifices have been added."

Its gaze—or rather, its 'perception'—fell upon Wang Zhitao, carrying a greed like that of discovering a top-tier ingredient.

"A pure concept of devouring… what a perfect vessel…"

Wang Zhitao tilted his head.

He felt extreme revulsion and… extreme hunger.

This dark thing before him made him very uncomfortable, yet at the same time, it exuded an unprecedented, enticing 'scent.'

He did not think much of it.

He opened his mouth.

A roar that shook the soul to its core—not a sound, but the howl of the concept of 'Devour' itself!

The black-haired youth vanished in an instant, replaced by an indescribable dark-golden giant maw that blotted out the entire great hall, crashing down with a vicious bite at the Demon Ancestor's projection!

"Crack!"

The projection was swallowed in a single gulp before it could even react.

Yet, in the final moment of being devoured, the shadow left behind one cold and mocking thought.

"Foolish devourer, taste my gift…"

"You shall become the… new divine body for my descent into this world!"

At the same time.

Far away in the 'Realm of Rebirth,' Wang Zhize's brow twitched slightly upward.

From his supreme perspective, he saw that a tiny, nearly imperceptible, pitch-black 'seed' had been forcibly implanted into Wang Zhitao's origin concept.

That seed was attempting to analyze, imitate, and even assimilate Wang Zhitao's 'Devour' law.

"Interesting."

"Not a virus, but a more ingenious 'backdoor' program—one that wants to turn my 'antivirus software' into its 'launcher'?"

Inside the Immortal Palace great hall.

The Demon Ancestor's projection vanished, and the pressure on the Primordial Immortal Emperor plummeted. He spat out a mouthful of black blood and, trembling, pressed a jade talisman flowing with nine-colored immortal light into Li Hu's hand.

"Go! This talisman… must never fall into the Demon Ancestor's hands! It… it is assimilating the entire world!"

Li Hu took the immortal talisman and felt only a warm smoothness in his hand, as though it contained the mysteries of a universe's genesis.

He was about to order the Immortal Emperor to be brought along for the retreat.

A sudden mutation occurred!

Rumble—!

The entire Primordial Immortal Realm began to tremble violently.

Those hideous spatial rifts in the sky all closed in an instant.

From beneath the earth, endless demonic qi surged skyward like black volcanoes, forming an airtight, colossal dome that sealed the entire world off completely!

From all directions, amid the ruins, those demonized immortals and immortal beasts all turned their heads, pairs of pitch-black eyes locking dead onto the exploration team.

Their bodies began to swell and distort, transforming into even more hideous and terrifying fiends.

A despairing will, one that sought to drag everything into the Abyss, enveloped everyone.

The Demon Ancestor was shutting the door to beat the dog!