Chapter 465

“BOOM!!!”

A series of sounds, as if heaven and earth were collapsing, echoed in Karl’s mind, leaving him momentarily incapable of thought.

At the same time, the black hole, which had been violently trembling, suddenly stabilized.

Or rather—

Chu Yang had seized control of the black hole from the Cosmic Dao. With a casual wave of his hand, the black hole vanished, then reappeared before the Void Rift.

The singularity at the black hole’s center connected with the Void Rift, and suddenly, the Rift snapped shut, beginning to tremble violently. Through the last remaining slit, one could clearly see a cataclysmic explosion, akin to the end of the world, raging within the Rift. Chu Yang had replicated the cataclysm that had fractured known cosmic history, using the black hole he seized from the Dao and the artificial “singularity.”

It was a cosmic-scale explosion that destroyed ninety-nine percent of the known universe, allowing life to be reborn and everything to begin anew.

But Chu Yang’s artificial singularity was clearly incapable of producing an explosion of that magnitude.

Yet, if the goal was merely to compress the Void Rift and inflict some damage upon the Void, it was more than sufficient! After this explosion, the Void Rift would shrink to its absolute minimum—at least for the short term—and no Xu Hong lifeforms would be able to emerge from it again.

“Hum…”

At that moment, a deep purple beam pierced through cosmic space, shot into the Lingxiao Palace, and instantly appeared before Chu Yang.

Simultaneously, the Void Giant Eye rapidly withered, as if its energy had been completely drained.

Chu Yang’s gaze hardened; the dragon and phoenix around him reformed into the Imperial Edict, blocking the way ahead.

“BOOM!!!”

A powerful energy wave swept outward, shaking the Lingxiao Palace violently. The purple energy beam slowly dissipated, yet the Imperial Edict had developed a fine crack from the impact.

Chu Yang grunted; the Lingxiao Palace and all its manifestations vanished, and the Purple Micro and Northern Dipper on his shoulder reverted to sun and moon.

Holding the dimmed [Tian Que], Chu Yang looked up at the Void Giant Eye.

He had truly underestimated it—just now, that attack’s power far exceeded the realm of a Battle Emperor, rivaling the full-force strike of a Terrestrial Supreme! This thing seemed to serve as a long-range mage among Void beings? He sheathed [Tian Que]; after all, both the Lingxiao Palace and the Imperial Edict were merely manifestations produced by [Tian Que]’s Wanjie.

Thus, even if the Imperial Edict was damaged, it would only slightly affect [Tian Que], which could recover with time.

Rather, because [Tian Que] was linked to Chu Yang’s origin, he had suffered some injury.

Chu Yang raised his hand and clutched the air; [Feng Du] reappeared as the Ghost Gate behind the Void Giant Eye.

The Void Giant Eye, its energy nearly exhausted, could no longer resist the ghostly hands, and was slowly pulled into the Ghost Gate.

After [Feng Du] devoured the Void Giant Eye, it absorbed part of its energy and returned it to Chu Yang, stabilizing his injuries.

Grasping [Feng Du] in his other hand, Chu Yang thought once, and the Great Dragon-Elephant Body instantly dissolved.

With no target left, the Void Giant Worm paused in confusion, then charged toward Chu Yang.

Chu Yang held his sword horizontally before his chest; at the center of his body, cosmic space collapsed once more.

This time, the area engulfed by the spatial collapse was far larger than any previous instance.

Moreover, the space fragments did not quickly reassemble; instead, they converged toward Chu Yang, forming a keratinous layer upon the blade of [Feng Du].

Forging a sword from a fragment of the world! A faint tremor shook the Void above Chu Yang’s head, and another tiny black hole emerged—but he merely glanced at it, and the black hole vanished instantly.

Clearly, the Cosmic Dao disapproved of Chu Yang’s ruthless appropriation. It was easy to imagine that, just now suppressed by Hao Tian, it could only rage silently, like the Dao of the Battle Qi Continent.

Chu Yang swung his arm, and his sword slashed forth—blazing brilliance! Ultimate Sword Art: Tanhua ! The dazzling swordlight, fleeting as a moment, shredded the Void Giant Worm into fragments.

But as its name suggested, the brilliant light vanished in an instant, as if it had never existed.

Chu Yang’s face turned pale at once; after all, he was still only at the Battle Saint realm. Even with his full power, he could barely stand against a Battle Emperor.

Yet to slay three beings of Battle Emperor caliber, suffer an attack rivaling a Supreme Emperor, and then unleash the most instantly explosive technique of the Ultimate Sword Arts—all under these conditions—was truly taxing.

His source energy was nearly depleted; even his vast soul power had been heavily drained.

But he was far from exhausted. He turned toward Karl, who had only just regained his senses after the sudden explosion in his mind.

The sudden roar in his mind had nearly shattered Karl’s phantom body; now, he was nearly transparent.

Seeing Chu Yang turn his attention to him, and realizing that the three powerful Void beings had vanished and the Void Rift was nearly sealed, an emotion he had not felt in countless millennia surged within him.

That emotion—

Was it fear? Karl, who had always delighted in creating fear, death, and even pursuing ultimate terror, felt more despair than anyone else when faced with fear himself.

He suddenly recalled several years ago, when Chu Yang first revealed his power on Earth, calling out to him by the name “Pangu.”

“Karl, Itachi love studying death—have Itachi ever considered the day death might envelop Itachi?”

At this moment, Karl truly felt the danger of death. Even without a physical body, even as a mere phantom, he felt a chill run through his entire being.

He had never imagined that one day, he would truly be enveloped by death!

But after a brief moment of fear, Karl became manic again, spreading his arms and laughing wildly: “Come on, Chu Yang!”

“Kill me! Let me taste death!”

Perhaps… experiencing death firsthand might bring him closer to truth? Karl thought so, and calmly closed his eyes, a faint smile curling at his lips.

Chu Yang stared at Karl, raised his hand, and swept out his soul power, shattering the soul barrier surrounding Karl.

He reached out and took the ancient book. Its cover was covered in runes, but its pages held no text—only a faint, Itachi light emanated from within.

“Prehistoric artifact?” Chu Yang raised an eyebrow.

Karl did not open his eyes, only nodded: “Yes. But I could not extract any clues about the prehistoric era from it.”

“I found it in the Void. Perhaps, as Itachi suspect, it holds the secret to preventing historical fractures.”

Chu Yang put away the ancient book and cut off the Pangu livestream.

Then, with a wave of his hand, he summoned a speck of cosmic dust beside them and sat down upon it.

Weary, he rubbed his temples and took a deep breath: “How much do Itachi know about the prehistoric era?”

“Fear! Beyond fear, I know nothing!” Karl kept his eyes shut, a look of rapture on his face.

As if imagining himself rushing toward truth after death.

“Itachi are a genius—an unprecedented genius since the historical fracture.”

Chu Yang’s aura carried no great killing intent: “In a certain sense, even Ding Heige and Jilan are inferior to Itachi.”

Karl shook his head: “I am inferior to my master—we simply pursued different paths.”

Karl was Jilan’s student, yet their attitudes toward the Void were diametrically opposed, leading them down divergent roads.

Chu Yang shrugged: “They say geniuses always carry a touch of madness—but in Itachi, madness dominates.” “The path to truth is inevitably lonely…” Karl smiled: “Chu Yang, I truly wish to see who will prevail—Itachi or the Void!”

“Itachi’ve only seen the soldiers and generals of the Void—the true kings and emperors are far stronger!”

Chu Yang did not pursue the topic further, but said: “I want all of the Grand Clock’s data and core technologies.”

“The Grand Clock lies at the heart of the Dark Nebula. The Four Horsemen of the Ming River cannot stop Itachi—take it if Itachi want!” Karl seemed to have let go of everything, waiting only for death to come.

“Go seek your truth!” Chu Yang rose slowly, glanced at the Void Rift, and turned to leave.

The instant Chu Yang’s figure vanished into the spatial wormhole, Karl’s phantom body exploded into fragments of flickering light, which then dissolved into nothingness.

No matter how Fengkuang or evil he was, Karl was undeniably the greatest scholar in the known universe since Ding Heige and Jilan.

Yet this god of death, who delighted in creating death, ultimately reaped what he sowed.

But at least for Karl, he had few regrets before death.

Though Chu Yang had used him, he had also allowed Karl to successfully connect with the Void and witness ultimate terror.

The soldiers and generals of the Void undoubtedly possessed the power to destroy the entire universe.

But alas—

The universe had produced a freak like Chu Yang!

Where did that power—neither human nor divine, yet terrifyingly immense—come from?

Perhaps this was Karl’s final, greatest question before death.

…………

The Dark Nebula.

Chu Yang walked slowly through the cold hall, three corpses lying at his feet.

Nusa, Sumali, Ruoning.

These three should have been dead long ago, but Chu Yang had kept them alive to ensure Karl’s connection to the Void proceeded smoothly.

Nusa had once attempted to usurp the Dao Tower; Sumali and Ruoning had repeatedly invaded Earth under Huaye’s command—they had long been on Chu Yang’s death list.

She followed closely behind Chu Yang, head bowed.

Looking at the hourglass-like Grand Clock core ahead, She flattered: “Master, as Itachi ordered, I have acquired all peripheral technologies and data of the Grand Clock.”

“This core contains the Grand Clock’s vast database and its core technologies.”

“But the core technologies are heavily protected—even Karl never managed to breach them.”

Chu Yang nodded: “Well done. From today, Itachi are the Supreme Deity of the Dark Nebula.”

“Transfer all peripheral technologies and data to the Pangu Computing Cluster, then reorganize the Dark Nebula as soon as possible.”

“Make every life in the Dark Nebula my believer.”

She knelt on one knee and replied solemnly: “By your command!”

After She left, Chu Yang placed his hand on the hourglass and said softly: “Headmaster, come out and meet me.”

“If I forcibly break through the protection of the Grand Clock’s core technologies, it may harm Itachi.”

“The Super God Academy once protected Earth—we need not become enemies.”

As he spoke, the hourglass flipped suddenly, and the space within the hall began to warp.

Chu Yang narrowed his eyes—he felt himself being pulled into a higher dimension.

When everything around him cleared again, he was surrounded by countless scenes—images from every era of the universe.

Yet most of them were events related to him.

“So stingy? Can’t Itachi let me see the truth of the universe?”

A hazy, massive shadow appeared, speaking in a mechanical, synthesized voice: “The truth of the universe… unknown… suspected… Big Bang…”

Chu Yang shook his head: “The Big Bang merely returned life to its origin—it is not the truth of the universe. Even if Itachi don’t know, Itachi don’t need to deceive me.”

Kieran fell silent for a moment, then said: “I can communicate with Itachi without barriers—have Itachi uncovered the mysteries of the higher-dimensional universe?”

“At least now we can speak normally…” Chu Yang smirked. “I don’t want to become a higher-dimensional being like Itachi, so I’ve never studied the higher-dimensional universe.”

“Still, the higher-dimensional universe lies beneath the same Dao. I merely asked the Dao for a small favor to enable seamless communication with Itachi.”

Kieran fell silent again. Chu Yang and the Void beings had caused such commotion—space collapsing again and again—that the structural integrity of the entire known universe had been compromised, and he had long since taken notice.

So Kieran knew well: what Chu Yang called “asking the Dao for help” was almost certainly a threat directed at the Dao.

Kieran had never imagined Chu Yang could grow so powerful—even the cosmic Dao had to avoid his Fengmang .

“I can give Itachi the core technology of the Great Clock,” Kieran’s voice grew grave. “But Itachi must tell me: what is your true stance toward the Void?”

Chu Yang answered without hesitation: “Intercept the Void, enter the Void, explore the Void, master the Void!”

He had already achieved the first. The second and third would proceed simultaneously. As for the last…

Kieran said solemnly: “Master it? What if Itachi fail?”

“Then destroy it,” Chu Yang replied without a second thought.

“Karl was born in accordance with the Dao, meant to return the known universe to its state ten thousand years ago—life regressing to its origin, all things restarting.”

Kieran finally revealed the secret he knew: “Earth, too, like ten thousand years ago, attempted to defy the Dao.”

“Ge Xiaolun was meant to be Earth’s hope to withstand the calamity.”

“But now Itachi have appeared as an anomaly. Whether Earth’s or the universe’s future, both have become uncertain.”

Chu Yang raised an eyebrow. “So Itachi’re on Earth’s side?”

He finally understood why every clue about the truth of history ultimately pointed to Earth.

It seemed that ten thousand years ago, Earth and the cosmic Dao had fought a great war! Yet both the Shenhe and Deno civilizations had risen to greatness only with Kieran’s aid.

The endpoint of both the Shenhe and Deno civilizations was Earth—does that mean…?

Kieran had been laying his plans long ago—developing the Shenhe and Deno civilizations was merely to cultivate Earth’s chosen one to withstand the calamity? (End of Chapter)