From the various civilizations and True Worlds of the Vast Expanse, all were watching and speculating; at this time, no one dared to intervene rashly. In the various territories currently occupied by the Dark Beings, formidable gazes pierced through space-time, staring intently at this great battle.
Many hidden clans that had already descended were equally shocked and astonished. The era had changed; it was no longer the time of brilliant stars, of various races competing, and civilizations of the True Worlds checking and balancing one another.
Whether it was the Heaven-Slaying Alliance or the Alliance of Righteous Unity, both had grown powerful far beyond ordinary peak True Worlds. At this stage, a solitary clan or civilization was no longer qualified to contend with such terrifying forces.
Once this war concluded, the entire Vast Expanse would likely welcome a brand-new era. After all, counting the countless epochs since the birth of the Vast Expanse, how many factions had ever reached such a height? In ancient times, the birth of a single power comparable to the Alliance of Righteous Unity was enough to intimidate the entire Vast Expanse, causing all races and civilizations to feel wary and fearful.
It was even more unprecedented to see the current three-way standoff between the Heaven-Slaying Alliance, the Alliance of Righteous Unity, and the Dark Beings. One could say all of this was far too incredible and a bit too coincidental. If not for the revival and reappearance of the Dark Beings, the Alliance of Righteous Unity would never have been born. Everything felt as though it had been predestined long ago. It was as if a giant hand were plotting and directing these events from the shadows.
The various races and civilizations could no longer remain detached as they once had.
The entire situation of the Vast Expanse began to fluctuate and become unpredictable due to this war between the two alliances. No one knew if the flames of war would spread to them the next day. The destruction and extinction of a clan seemed trivial at a time like this, when even the surrounding cosmic space-time could be annihilated without a sound.
At the headquarters of the Heaven-Slaying Alliance, a magnificent tower stood tall, its height reaching tens of thousands of feet. It was shrouded in boundless, brilliant light, with rings of nebula-like chaotic mist swirling around it. Within that nebula-like matter, one could see small worlds floating and life-stars revolving; as they collided, they emitted a rumbling sound like the turning of worlds.
Around this tower, one could faintly see terrifying, blurred figures. Each figure was as tall and sturdy as an ancient god, clad in golden armor and wielding war-halberds.
They stood guard nearby, flickering in and out of the void, suffused with a terrifying aura that made one's heart palpitate.
On the long jade staircases leading to the tower, clouds rolled and radiance overflowed. The stairs were crowded with figures bearing expressions of excitement and exhilaration. However, due to the array runes, the true faces of those coming and going could not be seen clearly.
This was the Military Merit Tower, constructed by the Heaven-Slaying Alliance at a great cost, consisting of eighty-one floors. Each floor was an independent grotto-heaven universe, boundless and inscribed with numerous complex array runes. Any member of the alliance could enter with a Military Merit Token to exchange for corresponding opportunities.
From Daoist Treasuries and Divine Sources, Heavenly Deeds and Ancient Methods, to Forbidden Inheritances; down to various records, secret hoards, divine herbs, immortal pills, Daoist artifacts, and divine ores—it encompassed everything in the world. Within the Heaven-Slaying Alliance, various sayings circulated: there was nothing a cultivator could think of that couldn't be exchanged for within the Military Merit Tower.
Even those in the Ancestral Dao realm hungered for the various treasures and Daoist hoards within the tower. From this, one could see how vast and profound the foundation of the Military Merit Tower was.
Since its birth, the Heaven-Slaying Alliance had swept through and occupied countless territories of the Vast Expanse. The accumulated foundations of countless civilizations, True Worlds, and clans over endless ages had all been gathered by the alliance. Now, those foundations were openly placed by the Lord Alliance Leader within the Military Merit Tower, allowing cultivators to exchange for them using military merit.
When the tower was first established, it caused an unimaginable sensation. Every cultivator within the alliance was shocked and horrified, as this act was equivalent to opening the granaries to the public with total transparency. The foundations of various races and orthodoxies were usually treated as family heirlooms or clan-protecting treasures, guarded with great weight. Who would easily show them to others, let alone publish them so that everyone had a chance to glimpse the true works and learn from them?
The grand magnanimity of the Lord Alliance Leader was beyond what ordinary people could imagine or surmise. Many civilizations and True Worlds were shook upon learning this; some clans even chose to join the Heaven-Slaying Alliance just to gain the qualification to enter the tower.
After its construction, the tower indeed played a massive role. No member of the alliance did not crave the divine items within. During this period, everyone was fighting desperately to kill enemies and conquer territories to accumulate merit.
Even those who had followed the Alliance Leader Gu Changge for a long time—such as the Zhuo Clan ancestor Zhuo Fengxie, the Hun Clan ancestor Hun Yuanjun, and Emperor Ling of the Spirit Ruins True World—were killing enemies and performing tasks to accumulate merit. Only those who had truly entered the Military Merit Tower would understand how vast the treasures were; describing them as "shimmering like a river of stars" or "the sands of the Ganges" was far from enough.
In recent years, besides building the tower, the Lord Alliance Leader had also instructed the high-level members to summon learned scholars from all races and collect treasured records from every clan, intending to compile a grand canon. No one knew the true intention of the Alliance Leader. While ordering conquests to expand territory, he was also compiling a canon and collecting secret hoards. Was he truly intending to open a new era?
"Even I was nearly intoxicated by it, forgetting the heavy responsibility I bear. I truly don't know how many more rare treasures and divine items are waiting to be discovered in this tower..."
At this moment, a cold and elegant woman dressed in black, holding an ancient scroll of scripture, finished reading with a look of obsession before snapping back to reality like waking from a dream. Looking at the crowded scene around her, she shook her head with a bitter, helpless smile. Even she had nearly been immersed in the vast treasures of the tower, almost delaying her important business, let alone others.
The Jin Chan Clan—wherever they passed, years were exchanged, eras cycled, and all things were renewed. They were hailed as the historians of heaven and earth. They wrote history for the world and biographies for eras. Their clan's collection of records was naturally as vast as smoke, and items that could catch their eye were few and far between.
However, within the Military Merit Tower, she had recently seen many records that piqued her interest. For this reason, she had specially taken on many tasks to accumulate enough merit to exchange for those few volumes. It made her almost forget her purpose for coming to the alliance, nearly getting lost in the pursuit of being a military merit fanatic.
"The fate of the Jin Chan Clan is still waiting for me to change. My eldest sister's situation is unknown, her life or death uncertain. Little Nine, for the sake of the clan, also went to the Great High Priestess to quell her anger and will likely suffer humiliation..."
"I actually wasted the merit I worked so hard to accumulate on these scriptures."
The woman in black sighed and carefully put away the scriptures, her expression returning to its usual cold solemnity. Before joining the Heaven-Slaying Alliance, she thought that with her strength, meeting the Alliance Leader Gu Changge would be easy. But after joining, she realized that even the current high-level members found it incredibly difficult to see him.
For an outsider like her, the only chance was to accumulate enough merit to earn the qualification to request an audience. As for whether he would see her, that was up to fate. Nonetheless, she had to find a way to change the situation of the Jin Chan Clan in the Ancient Treasure Civilization.
Because of its connection to the Land of Truth, the Ancient Treasure Civilization held a very special status. Even with wars breaking out across the Vast Expanse, it remained largely unaffected. Neither the Dark Beings nor the Alliance of Righteous Unity had ever spread their influence there. But the Heaven-Slaying Alliance was different—unrestrained and reckless. Even the Ancient Treasure Civilization was extremely wary of them, unwilling to provoke them and trying to avoid any connection.
Precisely because of this, her only chance to change her clan's fate lay here.
The woman in black gathered her thoughts and disappeared, reappearing in a vast, wide plaza. Great pillars stood tall like mountains, suffused with the aura of Daoist laws. Jade slips floated around the pillars, waiting for cultivators to take them. Upon arriving, she scanned the task contents on the slips one by one, selected a few that currently suited her best, and then vanished as a streak of light.
For decades, the flames of war spread across various cosmic spaces and times, burning incessantly and reaching every corner. The various borderlands of the Alliance of Righteous Unity were torn apart by the vast, surging armies of the Heaven-Slaying Alliance, who drove straight in. Terrifying shouts of slaughter echoed through the universe.
Battlefields of every level saw tragic slaughters. Dao Realm existences were no exception, constantly entering the fray, getting injured, and staining the long sky with their blood. This was only the beginning; no one knew how long this slaughter would ultimately last.
In the border battlefields between the two alliances, no clans remained; all had chosen to evacuate and migrate over the years to escape the war.
The territories occupied by the Dark Beings remained a bleak scene of lingering black mist and vanishing life. The dark clans did not intervene in the war between the two alliances. Instead, they seemed to intend to truly take root in the Vast Expanse again, recreating the dark kingdoms of the past.
Due to the peace treaty with the Alliance of Righteous Unity, the Dark Beings seemed to have truly become restrained, no longer invading other civilizations. Instead, they raised various races within their original universes, even creating separate worlds suitable for their survival.
This scene was quite colorful. Amidst the current turbulent situation, the Dark Beings actually provided a peaceful land for the races within their borders. Of course, many races knew this wasn't due to the kindness of the Dark Beings, but because they were being raised like livestock, waiting for the appropriate time to be harvested.
"I knew this war would break out sooner or later. That Alliance Leader of the Heaven-Slaying Alliance has grand designs; it's definitely not as simple as just the Vast Expanse..."
"There is another mastermind behind the Alliance of Righteous Unity, but they refuse to show their face even now. It's quite interesting; I wonder if it's an old acquaintance."
Meanwhile, within a vast, lush world filled with primordial aura:
A heroic and upright man stood with his hands behind his back on a mountain cliff. Mist rolled before him, and chaotic Qi swirled, resembling a place of primordial beginning before the creation of heaven and earth. Before his eyes, as the mist rolled, bubble-like substances emerged one after another. These substances were as crystal clear as mirrors, suffused with the aura of worlds, while also reflecting scenes from across the Vast Expanse. It was exceptionally mysterious.
"Now that you have reshaped your body, when will you fulfill your promise regarding the Transcendence Codex?"
A beautiful woman in a golden dress, her gaze cold, walked through the air from the other side of the cliff.
"Since I promised to give you the Transcendence Codex, I naturally will. It's just that when I was besieged by great enemies back then, to prevent the outline from falling into their hands, I specially left a notebook in my dwelling to mislead future generations. The true outline was actually left elsewhere by me..."
The heroic man gave a faint smile. His eyes were deep, carrying a few strands of brilliant golden light. In the brief moment they opened and closed, scenes of chaos being born and destroyed, and universes collapsing, appeared from nothing and returned to void.
The woman in the golden dress frowned and said coldly, "If that's the case, why won't you let me leave the ancestral land of the Eternal Divine Clan?"
"I'm afraid that if you leave, you'll leak my whereabouts. After all, I faked my death and specially left behind a legacy; who knows if those great enemies are still watching."
"I am only asking you to stay in the ancestral land; I am not restricting your freedom. Speaking of which, didn't you once impersonate the Holy Maiden of the Eternal Divine Clan? What's wrong with staying here?" the man laughed.
Hearing this, the woman's frown deepened, her eyes showing unhidden coldness and disgust. She never expected the Eternal Primordial God to keep his promise. After finding his clansmen and reshaping his body, she didn't think he would hand over the Transcendence Codex she had been searching for. But she hadn't expected that even after reshaping his body, he would refuse to let her leave, restricting her to the current ancestral land.
Luo Xiangjun had been trapped here for years. She had personally watched the Eternal Primordial God go from a weak state after reshaping his physical body to his current unfathomable level. Reaching such a stage in just a few short years—she didn't believe he had specially asked her to find his clan just to reshape his body. He had definitely left some backup plan within the bloodline descendants to help him quickly recover to his peak in the future.
Such an old fox—his mind and methods could only be described as terrifyingly mysterious. Luo Xiangjun even suspected that the news of the Transcendence Codex being with him was something he intentionally leaked, using it to fake his death and hide for countless eras.
What exactly was an existence that had been around since the Innate Era plotting by setting such a large board? Who were his so-called "great enemies"? Or was it just his one-sided rhetoric?
"Are you sure your former enemies are still alive in this world? You should know that after the birth of the Vast Expanse, the Great Dao faded and worlds derived rules. Every clan in the Vast Expanse must endure the baptism of the Quantitative Calamity. Every universe, Great Thousand World, and even True World will face the liquidation of the Quantitative Calamity. Like a cultivator sailing against the current, only after experiencing a thousand disasters and ten thousand hardships can one remove the dross and shed the filth. Every world and universe that wants to undergo transformation and leap will encounter the Quantitative Calamity."
"From the Innate Era until now, an unknown number of epochs have passed, and many liquidations have occurred. Countless civilizations, True Worlds, and clan forces have withered and been destroyed, only to be gestated and reborn like the coming and going of tides. Can your former enemies truly endure so many liquidations and still survive?" Luo Xiangjun asked, looking coldly at the Eternal Primordial God.
She knew he wouldn't let her leave. Rather than waiting for death, she might as well take the opportunity to see if she could get something out of him. How did the Transcendence Codex drift into the Vast Expanse? How did he seize it? After the end of the Innate Era, basically all Innate Beings and clans had withered away. Even the few who survived that terrifying catastrophe would be cautious and hide their location. Why would they be so ostentatious as to snatch the outline?
"You think too simply of me. Do you really think you can trick me with such wordplay? How could I not understand what you're saying? My great enemies are naturally not simple; they are not someone a Postnatal Being like you can surmise."
Hearing this, the Eternal Primordial God smiled faintly, completely indifferent.
Luo Xiangjun continued to look at him coldly and said, "Since Innate Beings are so powerful, why did you end up faking your death to escape?"
The Eternal Primordial God did not get angry. With a sense of reminiscence and sentiment, he said:
"At the end of the Innate Era, heaven and earth were not divided, and purity and turbidity still coexisted. Even the Vast Expanse had not been born, let alone the quintillions of universes of the later generations. At that time, the world was a vast chaos, boundless, without top or bottom, without end or root..."
This is the last chapter that I translated