"What's the point of cultivation? Day in day out we cultivate and let life pass by, when a treasure appears we fight like rabid animals, when someone offends us we fight, when we don't like someone we fight, when we travel the heavens we are confronted by others beyond our race, at every point in cultivation we face hazards that could end our existence and even destroy our soul baring us from reincarnation. How many truly achieve immortality? less than 1 in a trillion? quadrillion? Do numbers even matter or is it up to fate..."
- Leopal the lost ~ Void realm great one
Western physical universe - Galaxy A157 planet Jão-ét
The atmosphere was thin the planet was barren with barely a soul to be seen, cities made of metal and ice covered the majority of the planet with many areas covered by large domes of unknown make.
Oceans of mud and a tar like substance spread from continent to continent making it impossible for anyone to traverse the sea's between them, if anyone should attempt they would sink never to surface.
Large aboveground tunnels like veins on a body covered the planet connecting one zone to the other but they were not made for travel, with the death of the physical universe one could not hope for such luxuries.
Underground chambers deep under the mantle of the planet housed millions of pods, here the people that remained slept not by will but by force.
Brains disconnected from the body they rested during the day avoiding the sleeplessness caused by the calamity even if not entirely.
While their mind was removed from the body the body was kept alive by the many machines that now encased it.
The few that remained awake now had chosen to sacrifice themselves in what would become the greatest accomplishment in the people of Jão's time.
|| Transmission code - aio24fh559/2945Bc... .... .... Checking ... ... ... Code [Valid]... Initiating - final order... ||
A machine roared to life sounding like the wind of a typhoon, clicking and clanking electrical discharges started sparking a chain reaction.
Towers on the planets surface came to life as electrical arcs shot out into the air with a scream.
Each electrical ark spread for hundreds of kilometers as they meant in the air connection the towers without wires.
The thin atmosphere of the planet began to the heat up but with the lack of oxygen in the air a fire failed to start.
Looking from outside the planet had turned into a miniature star exuding a tremendous amount of hear comparable to any sun.
The surface of the planet however was only mildly chilly with no piece of land smelling of smoke or char.
|| Energy capacity 98%... ... Dimensional shift active... Expected outcome Null ... ... ... Shift --- ||
The world shifted like sand turning over creating the illusion of cities disappearing under the earth.
For a brief moment the planet illuminated the surroundings brighter than any star in the night sky while those brave souls on the planets surface melted inside their safety suits.
While the heat generated from the discharge of electricity did not affect them directly the light became as if blades that pierced past them with ease.
One would of course question, why didn't they simply automate the process instead? Why risk their life like this?
Well unfortunately for believers in machine supremacy not everything could be automated simply because one wants to.
This alien race was already one with machine, throughout the many passing millennia they had enacted laws against the use of full automation.
If there is a machine active than a being of flesh and blood must be operating it.
Naturally with such limits imposed new technological paths had to explored in order for advancement to continue, in this case if machines can't operate without an operator than making the operator like a machine was preferable.
Even now while the flesh and blood of one's body died the machines they fused with kept the world running for it felt not the need to sleep or rest.
|| Shift underway... Activating warp tunnels... ... ||
The vein like tunnels hummed attracting light in their direction without any of the heat that should naturally come in tow.
From the physical universe into the spiritual universe the planet slowly made its arrival.
In a forested mountain range on a spiritual world the size of Jupiter a small mercury sized planet phased into existence.
"Huh what's that? Is a secret realm opening?" A young man in a small group looked to the sky, there a planet or moon floated with no signs of falling.
"It must be! Quick inform the sect elders!" Another shouted as they rushed toward the direction of the planet.
"Epa come back! We don't know if it could be dangerous!" Another chased.
"Should we go?" Those that stood still looked at one another.
"Lets send a information jade out first" pulling out a blue-green jade it sparked for a brief second than vanished from the fingers of the one holding it.
"Done, lets go help them"
The planet was more than large enough to be seen across the eastern sky of the Hu continent on the spiritual planet Enpera-Tor while those further away could still see a glimmer of it sight.
It did not take long for the near most sects to gather an impromptu response force.
On the north east side of the Hu continent - Yearning year sect.
"The other sects have already taken action, we can't delay!" An old man gathered his core disciples while looking inside his dimensional bag.
"Yes elder!" A woman in her twenties rushed besides him followed by two young men.
The elder whipped his arm as he pulled out a flying sword large enough to hold all four of them.
"Get on! The other elders will arrive later" the four of them flew into the sky without delay.
"Once we get there do not hesitate! Our sect may be small but we are mighty! Don't let others look down on us!"
"Yes master!"
"Yes elder!"
"Yes elder!"
On the south east of the Hu continent - Three shadow blade sect.
"A hidden realm? Now of all times? Elder Changjian go and see if fortune is on your side, take this rank two spirit treasure. Take Baikun and Jianlin with you"
"Yes sect master! Will this hinder our plans?" A gruff sounding man with bulging muscles looked at a bearded man sitting in front of a pile of information jades.
"No, we have already finished everything we needed. Feel free to act as you please" the bearded man said nonchalantly.
"Than I will be back with souvenirs" The muscled man grinned viciously.
With a step he appeared before a young man and woman taking them away without notice.
On the west of the Hu continent the city of - Red night.
Many rouge cultivators looked to the east mountains their eyes shimmering with delight as crowds ignored the rules of the city taking off into the sky a top of all manner of flying objects.
The city guards had been shocked by the sudden appearance of the secret realm that they simply forgot to do their duty, not that they could have stopped the tide of cultivators either way.
"This day will be the day I rise!"
"I will obtain the best treasure's!"
"Ah what bad timing I just came back from an adventure!"
"Senior Emmet let's go together I will lend you some panacea"
"By the heavens today we will eat well!"
"...will I be able to find a way to travel the void there?"
The city lord and all his attendants looked at the chaos. Windows broken, doors ripped from their frames, businesses scrambling to sell their wares, entire districts emptied in moments as the rush of excitement filled everyone's spirits.
"Prepare my carriage" the city lord gathered his closest generals for a trip.
"And of the city my lord?" An attendant asked.
"The universe is ending might as well go off on my own terms, besides if all goes well then maybe something grander than this city will be my domain" the city lord said.
While he may be a ruler over a vast city even he had failed to procure a flying ship with void travel capabilities, now a flying planet appears from nowhere why not take a chance?
On the eastern most side of Hu continent - Clear sky sect.
"Go, bring back our disciples"
On the western central of Hu continent - High castle sect.
"..."
On the south western side of Hu continent - ...
On the south central...
On the...
From all across Hu continent no matter how far one lived or direction they currently traveled they saw this secret realm and to it they gathered.
Outside of the continent on other areas of the planet Enpera-Tor great forces took note of the new unknown addition to their far away sky.
"A world of the mortal realm? Haha this will be interesting" a young man crushed a purple gemstone vanishing from sight.
"How odd, why is that there" in a hidden chamber a voice sounded as sword light pierced the sky.
"How beautiful, the energy of the mortal realm is simply divine" a woman spread her arms as the world around her twisted.
"What a twist of fate, to end up in a den of wolves like this. Such bad fortune" an old man rolled some dice as the house he lived in flew in the direction of Hu continent.
While the inhabitants of the planet slept the machines that kept it going did not.
While full automation was banned through the laws set by the people certain machines can still operate with little supervision.
|| Unknown location... ... ... Mapping zone of arrival... ... ... Unknown creature detected... ... Danger unknown... Taking preventative action... Shield damaged... ... Approximate time to repair unknown... ... ... Awakening technicians... Approximate time thirty minutes... ... Defensive measure's insufficient... Activating sentry turrets... ... ... Spatial shift unavailable requires 20% energy minimum... ... Charging spatial engines... Approximate time twelve hours... ||
The planet in it's entirety was for the most part automated. This did not mean artificial intelligence controlled the world for no such thing existed on this planet, no what they had here was a pure robotic existence, no emotion, no questioning protocol, no going against it's creator.
From top to bottom this planet was covered in what simply amounts to mechanical computers with a few very simple directives: find safe location, if location unsafe trigger spatial shift until safe, protect the planet from outside forces, only the people of Jão may move freely, follow the directives of the people of Jão, the people of Jão may not order harm upon the people of Jão.
As the first spirit cultivators approached the planet via flying swords the planet fired the first shot.
"Epa are you sure we should be nearing this place?" A small group of cultivators flew up towards what they deemed a secret realm.
"Why should we worry just look at how far it is! At this rate it could take us days to fly up there" the young man named Epa was vexed, the secret realm looked so much closer than it truly was.
"If it takes days to fly up they it is unlikely we will be the first to reach it... Fine let's keep going" the group advanced.
To their side a few others had already reached caught up to them with many more approaching from afar.
"Ah that's Jade sects banner, looks like we get to see many beauty's today"
"The jade sect?! Oh wow it is"
Over there aren't they from the nearby demonic beast ground? So even those animals are interested"
"What should we do?"
"Ignore them keep going up!"
From a distance of over one-hundred-twenty-seven thousand kilometers the first of the turrets on the planet locked in.
|| Multiple unknown entities approaching... Eliminating... Turret type 3 test... ||
A turret fired a single shot upward from its perspective but downward toward the Jupiter like planet where the unknown creatures approached from.
There was no sound, there was no warning, there was no defending against this shot, the moment it fired it took less than three seconds to arrive at its destination.
Bang*
The cranium of one spirit being simply vanished.
The spirit being was alone and away from all other, no one noticed when it died.
|| Test complete... ... ... Result acceptable... ... All targets locked... Firing on 245 targets... 3... 2... 1... Fire ||
<+== Western most point Abner fights alone ==+>
Planetoid Ud covered the void with meteorites each of which could destroy planets with ease, if one thought of these meteors as simply rocks they would be in for a nasty surprise.
The meteors warped reality as they traversed space, one moment they were aflame the next they vanished only to reappear a hairs breath away.
Abner evaded most meteors, he may be a void realm godly being but so was planetoid Ud so even for him each moment could be his last.
These meteors had been refined for millions of year by planetoid Ud whom one would note had no arms or legs, it was after all the spirit of a planet.
To it anything it could control with its spirit or mind was a weapon to be used, if it was smaller than itself than it was lesser than itself or at least that was how planetoid Ud would have thought before it had fallen.
Blocking the meteors Abner could only take a step back as even he darned not block all with his body.
He could deal with a thousand or so meteors but beyond that he would retreat to a safer space.
The spear saint or ex saint Hajl hid among the meteors at times striking at Abner with extreme precision not caring for the fact that Abner was of a higher stage.
With each spear strike he created black holes that further muddled the battlefield obscuring vision forcing Abner to use his spiritual sense.
'Planetoid Ud both attacks and defends while the spear saint launches sneak attacks from behind, if I teleport to the spear saint Ud will attempt to trap me, If I attempt to attack Ud it will face me head on but make it difficult for me to target the spear saint... Ha'
Abner teleported toward spear saint Hajl launching a beam of flaming golden light directly at Hajl's body.
The spear saint evaded the attack by a hair as he counter attacked with his own strike that made Abner swing his arm to brush the attack aside, it would seem that the spear saint simply wasn't a match for Abner but Abner was not taking chances.
Every single part of Abner's enlarged body was a treasure he had meticulously crafted during his lifetime so his current state could be said to be his most powerful state.
When he blocked the spears jab reality shook for a brief moment causing rippling to be seen in the void of space.
A volley of punches far larger than the spear saints body struck nearby space with tremendous force forcing the spear saint to launch his own attacks to mitigate the damage.
The spear saints every strike created black holes from the sheer force of the strike without the slightest of spiritual Qi usage, it was a display of force that even impressed Abner.
Planetoid Ud warped reality to be as he saw fit changing the surroundings into a world of stone.
From beyond nearby space one could only see an impossibly large wall or slab floating in space.
Abner vanished before he could be trapped sighing in annoyance.
The spear saint was proving to be more evasive and resilient than he wished but than again he wouldn't be called a saint for nothing.
Suns came into being and just as quickly popped with a bang.
The world of stone changed back into the void as planetoid Ud resumed his meteor attacks from afar.
'Back to stage one... At this rate they are simply keeping me busy. The army should have gotten away already might as well make my own escape' Abner cared not to linger here, he didn't know why the corruption had already consumed this area of space but either way it didn't matter.
The entirety of the west-most-point lit up brighter than the universe's combined light.
Ex spear saint Hajl froze himself in space-time unable to evade the incoming torrent of attacks.
Planetoid Ud bent reality again, to it the explosion was simply a figment of imagination.
Abner held nothing back as everything in the west-most-point was reduced to cinders, if there was a single living being alive after this they must be equal or beyond him.
If they were allies they would have helped him fight in this occasion right? Otherwise they are clearly enemies.
Planetoid Ud had taken no damage in the attack with no signs of being tired in the slightest yet gave no chase to the fleeing Abner.
Ex spear saint Hajl took heavy injuries but survived the attack fully meant to eradicate him.
Abner was gone, he never planned to fight till the death of him after all, he simply wanted to protect his comrade's and hopefully delay the calamity but now he wasn't so sure anything could be done.
The west-most-point shouldn't have been compromised to such a degree, no even a fraction of this level of corruption shouldn't have been possible otherwise what was the point of the south-western battlefront?
How many had died to keep the corruption at bay only to find out it was already beyond the scope of containment? Did they not check the surrounding universe for any sign of corruption? Of course they did, no sign's had ever presented themselves before now so either something went terribly wrong or everything was simply wrong.
Planetoid Ud retrieved the injured body of ex spear saint Hajl as the corruption in the surroundings had simply healed his wounds as if they never occurred, this fight with no victor was in the end a loss for the Vast tree universe.
Abner was after all one of the strongest fighters left in the universe and even he failed to kill someone well below his own stage of cultivation what would this mean for everyone else once the corruption fully ran rampant?
The spear saint may have been an elite among elites but even he shouldn't heal so quick.
The Calamity has not escaped it's confines on the south-western battlefront, the spear saint and planetoid Ud had not received the full empowerment of the corruption as of yet and they weren't even considered it's main fighters.
Once the full force of the corruption presented itself to the universe how long would it truly last?
Soon the universe would end, for not even it's creators wanted it to remain.
<+== The devils take charge ==+>
South-eastern quadrant, ex-capital of the Kron Khanate.
Devil Batu had slain the khan of kron via a combined attack from many a devil that gathered to destroy the Kron Khanate.
With the last protector slain the devils did not hold back, from the ashes of ruin they would reap the rewards they oh so earned.
A blood light covered the skies bathing everything below in crimson as a devil spoke incantations to the wind that spread far and wide.
With every word spoken all the blood of those that died in the Kron Khanate dried or still flowing separated from the body as it all flowed into a singular speck in the air.
The speck was that of a coin with an image of a skull on one side while the other had an inscription reading 'blood medallion'.
As the rivers of blood flowed into the coin it's power grew exponentially and the blood light it gave of in turn became more vibrant.
The devil cultivator whom owned this coin grinned vilely witnessing his favorite treasure go from a common currency in the devil underworld to a rare artifact.
'With this coin my fortune will change! Soon the bad luck of heaven won't be able to cause me trouble'
To the side another devil started his own incantations and although the scale of his reach was smaller it's might was just as comparable.
With the dried up corpse's having lost all their juices it made it much easier and cleaner for the bones of the dead to be extracted.
Like a soup the bones hidden inside the flesh leaked out from the orifices of all the dead and wormed their way past the mountains of bodies into a single flower with three petals that lay on top.
This flower had many small holes on each petal and as it's roots ate the bone soup the petals gained a few more holes and it's size grew rapidly. From the small twenty centimeters it started with it now grew to well over eighty centimeters while it's roots spread miles wide with many orifices appearing on each root.
"Come now grow a little more my little flower, turn into a bone demon for me" a devil spoke sweetly to the flower yet each word that came out seemed to spit venom.
At yet another location a voice hummed a hymn to an unknown being that caused the flesh that remained after the bones and blood had left to move on its own.
It was a truly grotesque scene that made one go mad from the mere thought of it yet the skin of the dead danced it's way towards the devil humming his hymn.
One by one the skin placed itself over him and he and the flesh of another became one.
This devil stared at another devil that had captured many a living spirit and reveled in their misery.
When the blood devil called for the blood of the world their own blood broke free of their body causing them immense pain, but before they did the devil would protect them keeping them alive for the next round.
When the bone devil called for the bones of the world their suffering multiplied to a level never thought possible in the minds of the living, yet somehow this devil managed to keep them alive even now with just the flesh remaining.
Of course this wouldn't last for long as even that flesh bag would soon become just another skin for the flesh devil.
Far away in a small town the souls of the dead flowed into a sword at the hands of yet another devil.
This devil unlike the rest had not spread his spell to the far reaches of the Khanate but instead kept his reach to only as far as he could see.
°"Why so restrained? Isn't this chance perfect to create a devil artifact?"° the devil Batu asked this sword devil.
"My sword has reached the limit, if I take much more than this the sword will resist me. The others are not creating treasures like my own, one is a life saving treasure, the other births a demon flower to make a yin cauldron, one seeks to advance their cultivation while the last one simply revels in the misery of others. Then there is you, I'm guessing you have already attained what you wished for?" The devil swordsman asked devil Batu.
°"Ah in a sense a mental block has been lifted, now I am not sure what to seek. Maybe I'll try and find the khans remaining kin or maybe not"° devil Batu had said but in reality he had already crafted a devil artifact of his own away from sight.
The devil swordsman as well did not reveal everything to this devil.
Far away up in the void of space a devil of grotesque appearance held up a lantern with many flames inside.
Speaking an incantation with a language one could not understand the souls of the dead all flew up into space and into the lantern held up by this devil.
°"A billion souls gone in a flash, now that is power"° devil Batu smiled at this unknown guest.
Creak*
A floorboard sounded out inside a building drawing the attention of both the devils as they looked toward the small figure hidden inside that had crawled out from its hiding spot.
°"Ah a survivor, shame"° devil Batu took no prisoners.
<+== Echo's of past ==+>
The fifth clone sliced a demonic beast in half as he among many others protected the convoy of carriages from disaster.
He had not yet found the source of the one staring at him much to his dissatisfaction, his sleep had been impacted as of late without the assurance of his safety.
"Let's wrap things up here! Head back to your given charge quickly let's not linger here!" A voice from afar shouted to the various mercenaries and personal guards taking part in the defense.
The fifth clone could only listen and do as told 'Another exhausting day, this trip is looking to be a bad memory at this point'.
The convoy quickly kept moving hoping to reach the nearby mountain range before nightfall.
Still at the back of the convoy the fifth clone along with those guards in the rear had a much tougher time than others.
Not only did they constantly have to be on watch for any demonic beasts and raiders but any problems with the carriages ahead of them made them fall behind further and further from the central pack.
To say that the risk of something going wrong increased greatly with every delay was simply an understatement for every moment out here was a life and death situation.
'Just a bit more... until the mountains, then I will rest' fighting of sleep and the rocking of the carriages the fifth clone leaned back a little.
The next thing he knew nighttime had fallen and the face of a little girl was staring at him.
"Tch tch tch falling asleep on the job, I thought you were an expert"
The fifth clone stared at the little miss Fe'ea.
"Ah I guess even great beings like me aren't immune to sleep" he said self mockingly.
"Hmph" the little girl sat next to him while looking at a campfire that had been set up not far away from here.
"Did you find my earrings?" She asked.
'Earrings?'
"Ah your rings, unfortunately I had no such luck little miss" the fifth clone sighed.
"So it was nothing? I- I mean they are gone?"
The fifth clone didn't know if he should lie or simply tell her the truth but in the end he chose to lie.
"Yeah, whatever it was it's not something we need to worry about"
"Really?" The girl didn't quite believe him seeing as she still felt something was of but chose not to pursue the topic further
"Oh before I forget my dad said he wanted to speak with you, um you -" the girl had another thought but the fifth clone interrupted.
"I'll be there to speak with him soon, I'm going to stretch my legs out a little first" he stood up spear in hand as he waved goodbye to her.
The girl clenched her fist a little but let go soon after.
The fifth clone walked in the forest a little sweating, the feeling of being watched had increased in intensity so much so he didn't know what was real.
The girl innocent as she seemed looked no more than a monster to him at that moment, while the people nearby twisted into monstrous beings that he by all rights should have attacked but instead he held his spear.
The false reality that appeared in his eye's disappeared in a flash and the world returned to normal.
The only thing that remained was the constant feeling of being watched