Meeting Again

Colossal! Even before it had fully emerged from the chaotic void, every Ruler and Dao Ancestor witnessing the spectacle could clearly perceive just how gargantuan this returning, magnificent “Existence” truly was! Six times as large?! Seven times?! Perhaps even eight times! Before such a massive “Existence,” neither the Ancient Immortal Realm nor the Hunyuan Realm could compare even to a small child standing before a full-grown adult. At best... they could only be considered babbling infants. The sheer disparity in scale alone imposed a suffocating oppression upon the Rulers and Dao Ancestors. “How could it be... colossal to this degree...” the Lord of Creation murmured. He did not know how the disparity in strength between universes was calculated. Yet even an ordinary mortal could guess what caliber of power difference lay behind such an overwhelming gap. Just as an eight-meter-tall creature compared to a one-meter-tall creature in the same environment—no matter how great the difference in their physical structure—the former would possess the power to effortlessly slaughter the latter. Right now... what loomed before them was akin to an ordinary adult facing a fourteen-meter-tall monster. How... How were they supposed to fight this?! How could they ever oppose it?! *Buzz, buzz!* As the three worlds drew closer, the force inherent to this “Existence” began squeezing the fabric of the chaotic void, sending the displaced void crashing against the other “Existence” entities. It was much like the wake churned up by a giant vessel bearing down upon tiny skiffs, tossing them violently in the surging waves. With the formal appearance of this gigantic universe, both the Ancient Immortal Realm and the Hunyuan Realm began shaking incessantly. Because the colossal universe had deliberately decelerated to minimize disruption, the tremors were relatively negligible to the Ancient Immortal Realm and Hunyuan Realm as whole entities—so slight they could be overlooked. Yet for the countless living beings inhabiting the Hunyuan Realm and the Ancient Immortal Realm, it was an unspeakable catastrophe beyond description. The spatial dimensions of the universe were directly compressed. Stars and planets that had once been spread across thousands, tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of light-years were abruptly crushed together by the spatial contraction. Planet collided with planet, star collided with star, unleashing apocalyptic explosions that obliterated entire sectors. Countless civilizations and living beings fought with all their might to resolve the crisis and preserve their worlds, but... it was utterly futile. Civilizations capable of destroying planets fired one planet-buster cannon after another, blasting apart the stray worlds hurtling toward them. Yet when star after star came crashing in behind, detonating in colossal supernovas, even civilizations capable of planetary devastation—civilizations that could construct Dyson spheres—could not escape the fate of total annihilation. There were civilizations that had mastered light-speed travel, deploying robots to rapidly herd their populations into evacuation motherships to flee at the speed of light. However, the universal folding caused by spatial compression propagated at faster-than-light speeds. Even their starships racing at the speed of light could not avoid being battered to pieces by the cresting tides of folded space. There were even mightier civilizations that possessed the power to traverse the void and fly at superluminal speeds; some could even siphon energy directly from the vacuum, turning the entire universe into their power source. Yet... when the cosmic rules were washed over by the power of the chaotic void and failed completely, these civilizations that relied on void energy lost all capacity to resist the catastrophe. In fact... when genuine chaotic void forces swept into the universe, even the civilizations possessing the power to locally alter the cosmic rules were washed away into nothingness alongside those rules, without the slightest suspense. Nothing remained. Such a disaster... let alone technological civilizations, even True Immortals who claimed to share their lifespans with heaven and earth and shine alongside the sun and moon were powerless to oppose it. In a collision of cosmic scale, individual strength was too insignificant—so diminutive that beings could not even discern their own place in the grand design. Even though... Yaoguang, who controlled the Chaos World, had already exerted every effort to decelerate well in advance, ensuring he made only the “gentlest” contact with the Ancient Immortal Realm and Hunyuan Realm to minimize harm to both worlds. Even so, when this Chaos World truly ground to a halt before them, the continuous shockwaves of “Existence” assailing every living being who witnessed it still filled them with an unspeakable sense of suffocation. “What kind of... magnificence is this?!” The Lord of Shenluo could not help but let out a pained groan. Despair. Confronted with such indescribable magnificence, even he, a level-twenty Ruler, felt an unspeakable despair welling up inside. The entity was far too beyond the charts. So far beyond that it was simply not an opponent they could ever match. “We... are supposed to fight that thing?! Fight an entire universe?!” The Lord of Tianyuan, the Lord of Creation, the Lord of Dusk, and the other Rulers stood in a daze. Insignificant! They felt smaller than ever before! The aloof, supreme Rulers who governed the Nine Great Conglomerates of the Hunyuan Realm felt like mere ants in this instant, or like mayflies—humble as specks of dust. Facing a war of this echelon... even if they chose to detonate themselves, they likely could not stir up the faintest ripple within that universe. If the Nine Rulers felt this way, the Void Dao Ancestor, Time Dao Ancestor, and Karma Dao Ancestor fared no better. They cast a backward glance at the tragic state of the Ancient Immortal Realm... He had not even attacked! The other party had not lifted a finger against the Ancient Immortal Realm! Merely the draft stirred up by his “stride,” or the “body temperature” radiating from his frame, had already dealt an unspeakably heavy blow to the Ancient Immortal Realm. It was no exaggeration to say that in the three million years of war between the Ancient Immortal Realm and the Hunyuan Realm, the combined destruction wrought by all the immortal spirits, True Immortals, Immortal Venerables, and Immortal Kings of the Hunyuan Realm was inferior to the impact of this terrifying world merely “approaching.” The two were fundamentally not on the same order of magnitude. They had to count themselves fortunate that this universe seemed to have... reduced its speed somewhat. Otherwise, had it simply rammed forward, it would have shattered the entire Ancient Immortal Realm into fragments like dry weeds snapping in a gale. The Gate of Fate would have crumbled. The Three Thousand Daos would have collapsed. Every Immortal King, Immortal Venerable, immortal, Dao Lord, and cultivator would have been reduced to ash. The entire Ancient Immortal Realm would have become debris drifting in the chaotic void, until washed away by the void's forces to become part of the nothingness. Countless years later, no trace of the Ancient Immortal Realm would remain. This world, this universe, would be thoroughly erased in the chaotic void as if it had never existed at all. At this thought, the Void Dao Ancestor, Time Dao Ancestor, and Karma Dao Ancestor felt an indescribable powerlessness. At this moment, even beings as mighty as Dao Ancestors felt all hope extinguish, utterly stripped of the courage to oppose such a magnificent entity. “Is this the great ‘Existence’ you sensed?” The Fate Dao Ancestor's consciousness fluctuated, echoing within the Awareness of the Time Dao Ancestor and Void Dao Ancestor. The two Dao Ancestors gazed powerlessly at the towering silhouette whose boundaries they could not perceive even when it had fully revealed itself, and nodded slightly. “This... should be ‘His’ true body! Yaoguang's true body!” “Yaoguang's true body.” The Fate Dao Ancestor looked up into the distance. The Lord of Yuanxi also studied it continuously. Yet no matter how He analyzed, calculated, or deliberated, He could arrive at no outcome that allowed for victory against this monster. “Even if He were half His current size, we would have a sliver of hope. If He were even smaller, the two of us could join forces, holding the resolve of mutual destruction to force a stalemate or confrontation!” The Lord of Yuanxi sighed. “Yet He is... too colossal. The disparity in scale between us is simply too vast.” “If He is ‘Yaoguang,’ that would explain this impeccably measured scale,” the Fate Dao Ancestor said. “Having lingered in our two universes for tens of thousands of years, possessing level-nineteen authority and the power of a Dao Ancestor, He understands very well what tier of combat prowess our two universes can unleash. Therefore, He would either not reveal Himself, or, once He did, it would guarantee He possessed the absolute power to suppress all resistance from our two universes.” He gazed at the boundless chaotic universe. “Just like this.” The Lord of Yuanxi fell silent upon hearing this. Yet He could not help but admit the truth was precisely as the Fate Dao Ancestor had spoken. With the enemy concealed while they stood in plain sight, their side's information having already been completely and clearly “observed,” the fact that Yaoguang dared to reveal Himself meant He possessed absolute confidence in His own strength. “The power of Fate predicted that the final outcome of the war between our Ancient Immortal Realm and the Hunyuan Realm would either be our Ancient Immortal Realm assimilating the Hunyuan Realm, or the Hunyuan Realm assimilating the Ancient Immortal Realm. In any case, both sides would merge into one.” The premonition of fate's cruel irony grew stronger within the Fate Dao Ancestor's heart. “I saw this outcome and believed it to be predestined. I simply never imagined... it would ultimately be realized in this manner.” The Lord of Yuanxi understood what the Fate Dao Ancestor meant. For both the Ancient Immortal Realm and the Hunyuan Realm to be swallowed whole by this newly arrived universe—in a sense, wasn't that merging into one? It was identical to the destined outcome. Except... The Lord of Yuanxi wanted to say something, yet found Himself at a complete loss for words. *Buzz, buzz!* Right at this moment, an invisible ripple radiated outward from the depths of the chaotic universe. The power of the chaotic universe was extending outward, blanketing this region of the chaotic void. And as this power expanded, a figure strode forward from its very epicenter. It was none other than Yaoguang's true body. With the chaotic universe at his back, the power of the Three Thousand Daos diffused endlessly beneath his feet. Deeper within, the power of the “Lord of Heavenly Dao” rumbled and circulated. Before long, he arrived directly before the Lord of Yuanxi and the Fate Dao Ancestor. Looking at the supreme leaders of the two realms, who were still fused together without a clear victor, he grinned. “We meet again... you two.” Then, with great interest, he even waved a hand toward the Nine Rulers and the three Dao Ancestors behind them, greeting them with a chuckle: “Long time no see, everyone.”