Chapter 39: The Cycle Never Ends (Finale)
Above, rumbling dark clouds swirled in a vortex. As the elemental forces gradually receded, raindrops began to fall, quickly turning from sparse droplets into a torrential downpour.
Su Xiao and the Supreme Being stood a hundred meters apart. Neither made the first move; instead, their auras locked onto each other. If either showed the slightest opening, they would face irreversible defeat and destruction.
Two afterimages flashed out, and their weapons clashed with a thunderous roar. It was Su Xiao and the Supreme Being, both having enlarged their forms to several hundred meters—or rather, their powerful soul bodies. Two soul blades met.
Crack, crack, crack~
Cracks began to appear on the soul blade held by the Supreme Being's towering soul form. With a shattering sound, the soul blade broke apart, and a soul blade tinged with dark blue smoke slashed down.
Below, the Supreme Being's golden aura, which had been surging outward, suddenly stalled. A crimson, berserk, and highly corrosive blood aura pressed forward. At a glance, the auras of Su Xiao and the Supreme Being would make anyone instinctively think that the Supreme Being was the righteous one.
This notion was, of course, wrong. However~, Su Xiao could hardly be considered a benevolent person either.
An afterimage flickered through the spreading crimson blood aura. The Supreme Being had just shaken off the daze from his damaged soul body when a long blade came slashing toward his face.
Clang! The long blade clashed with the lightning blade. The spreading realm lightning forced Su Xiao to shatter several life cores in quick succession. This was only possible because he had stacked his realm lightning resistance high enough in the past; for this very reason, the Supreme Being had used little realm lightning in this battle.
The moment the slashing force erupted, the pouring rain instantly evaporated. The massive dark cloud vortex above also vanished instantly, revealing countless slash marks at the top of the Star Realm.
On the final battle platform, the Supreme Being had just blocked Su Xiao's charging slash when two slash marks appeared on his chest and shoulder. This was Su Xiao's limit-breaking slash. This also convinced the Supreme Being that if he continued to give this Law Destroyer close-combat opportunities, he would surely lose this battle.
'Retreat.'
The Supreme Being seemed to issue a silent command. It wasn't a command to Su Xiao, but a command to the Star Realm to make this a reality. The next second, the distance between Su Xiao and the Supreme Being suddenly widened.
Su Xiao felt the world's rejection he used to experience when entering mission worlds, but this time, the sensation was tens of thousands of times stronger.
An object appeared in the Supreme Being's hand—a bone ring. The moment this item appeared, Su Xiao immediately felt a resonance of power.
'Banishment.'
A low hum sounded, and a chaotic vortex appeared behind Su Xiao, intending to banish him.
Su Xiao raised his long blade and made a virtual slash downward, instantly severing the two Star Realm concepts of 'Retreat' and 'Banishment' for the moment, easing the immense pressure on him.
The battle was now becoming clear. As long as close combat began, it was Su Xiao's advantage. If he continued to be suppressed at this medium range, he would surely lose. His health was continuously decreasing, and the entire Star Realm was being dominated by the Supreme Being.
'Extreme Blade: Realm Severing.'
A powerful slashing force erupted from the Dragon-Slaying Flash, which was pointed diagonally at the ground. Su Xiao turned into an afterimage, causing the space along his path to shatter in terror as he charged toward the Supreme Being. Midway, the Supreme Being raised his hand. His disheveled hair flew, and a glint of gold appeared in his eyes.
'Extreme Blade: White Night.'
Clang!!
The crisp sound of a perfect block rang out. Along with it, as droplets of blood splattered, Su Xiao's charging slash was interrupted. The reason was that he himself had suddenly appeared and directly slashed with a 'Extreme Blade: White Night.'
This was clearly his own self from earlier in the battle, dragged here by the Supreme Being's domination of time, and he had immediately slashed himself. One could only say that this use of time domination was simply inconceivable.
A crimson light spot appeared. Initially, it was a single dot that bloomed into a cross-shaped starlight, and then this crimson suddenly expanded.
Amidst a rumbling roar, the layers of defensive barriers around the Supreme Being shattered. One layer, protected by lightning spots, was particularly tough, but under the impact of the crimson blood aura, it eventually broke as well. Just as the crimson blood aura was about to engulf the Supreme Being, it suddenly contracted, compressing into a crimson cross-shaped starlight.
'Extreme: Crimson Malignant Devour.'
When the crimson cross-shaped starlight was no longer so dazzling, one could see a compressed, finger-thick crimson blood smoke cannon firing from the gaping maw of a massive blood beast.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The Supreme Being's multiple layers of defense were shattered in succession. Just as it was about to hit his head, he met the crimson ray with one hand. The most fundamental power of the Star Realm in his hand continuously offset the power of the crimson ray, producing a rumbling roar. At this moment, a crimson glow enveloped the entire Star Realm.
Even several eras later, historical records of the Crimson Sky existed, which was also the main reason for the formal rise of the blood system in this current great era.
The crimson ray gradually thinned and eventually dissolved into the air. On the circular final battle platform, Su Xiao's aura was unstable. Across from him, the Supreme Being was calm and composed. Of course, from a behind-the-scenes perspective, the Supreme Being's left hand was a bloody mess with pale golden bones exposed, the powerful regeneration suppressed by the crimson at the wound.
'Extreme Blade...'
Boom!
A heavy pressure crashed down on Su Xiao, causing the circular battle platform beneath him to be covered in cracks. Under the Supreme Being's domination, the weight of the entire Star Realm was crashing down on him.
Boom!!
A pressure resembling translucent black gravity crashed down on Su Xiao again. Moreover, after this second crash, the pressure began to pour down continuously, forcing Su Xiao from a slightly bent posture to almost kneeling on one knee.
"You are not... qualified."
The Supreme Being, with his robes and hair flying, spoke for the first time in the battle. With one hand governing the Star Realm, his left hand began to press down, intensifying the crushing weight of the Star Realm, even causing large cracks to appear at the top of the Star Realm. These were not spatial cracks; the top of the Star Realm was on the verge of collapse.
To be precise, the Supreme Being was now dominating not only the weight of the entire Star Realm but also the causal weight of all living beings within it.
The cracks on the circular platform beneath his feet became denser. Su Xiao looked at the Supreme Being. The gaze in his eyes, with the crimson at the center becoming more piercing, showed no sign of impending death. Instead, he had truly entered the final stage of a life-or-death battle, a feeling he hadn't experienced in a long time.
Crack, crack~
Su Xiao took a step forward, more cracks appearing on the platform beneath him. The next moment, a deafening sonic boom exploded from his position. He was in front of the Supreme Being, the space he trampled along the way emitting cracking sounds.
'State of No-Self: Azure Shadow King.'
The long blade in Su Xiao's hand suddenly erupted with black blade flames. This was no blade flame; it was the excessively dense Azure Shadow King energy undergoing a qualitative change, burning through the world it touched, thus appearing as black blade flames. This slash condensed everything Su Xiao had accumulated—where his normal attacks were ultimate moves.
A spatial explosion sounded, and the Supreme Being suddenly retreated to his position from over ten seconds ago. But what made his pupils contract was that the power of time had been severed and shattered. He was forcibly pulled back to his original position by this slash.
Clang!!
The black blade clashed with the lightning blade. The Supreme Being was immediately sent crashing downward through a wave of air, slamming heavily onto the circular battle platform, sending crystal fragments flying. The moment he landed, he was about to float back up, but unexpectedly, the Law Destroyer was already in front of him. The crimson blood aura scorched several blood marks onto the Supreme Being's body.
'State of No-Self: Azure Shadow King!'
The Dragon-Slaying Flash transformed into a black blade again. This attack could not be dodged by any existence—note, any! Any existence could only withstand it head-on. Because the moment this slash was made, before the cut even arrived, the slashing force had already pierced the enemy's causality. No matter what method the enemy used to move away, the moment the slash landed, they would be dragged back.
The simpler the ability, the more unsolvable it became when developed to its extreme. And Su Xiao, from the first rank to the peak, had been honing this single slash.
The black blade struck the lightning blade. The Supreme Being's loose robes became tattered, and large amounts of blood scattered. He staggered back several steps. He hadn't been this disheveled in too long. So, ignoring the damage to his body, he raised his hand...
'State of No-Self: Azure Shadow King.'
The black blade slashed for the third time. This time, the majestic anger in the Supreme Being's eyes disappeared. As a fellow peak existence, he couldn't understand how an ability of this level could be used three times in a row.
Pfft!!
The black blade slashed down, severing the Supreme Being's entire left arm. A faint Star Realm light appeared on the lightning blade in his hand. With this slash, the Law Destroyer in front of him would have his soul body annihilated. Without the soul body, the 'Heart Soul Technique' would be incomplete, and the power of the technique would drastically decrease.
A black blade slashing toward his face caused the Supreme Being, who had looked down on all living beings from the heavens, to be slashed back into the strongest individual he once was. At this moment, he even seemed to sober up a bit from the erosion of time.
'Star Realm: Domination.'
Thump~
The stasis of the Star Realm spread outward from the Supreme Being.
'Extreme Realm: Star Realm.'
Two abilities of the same origin but different systems, both capable of 'Star Realm Stasis,' suddenly collided. With a crack, the entire Star Realm froze. Unlike the expected mutual cancellation, 'Extreme Realm: Star Realm' and 'Star Realm: Domination' suppressed each other. As the blades in their hands clashed together, this duel reached its peak.
With a snap, a certain rule of the Star Realm shattered. The clock tower that had stood eternally at the top of the Star Realm, its hand always pointing to 12 o'clock to indicate 'Now,' began to turn backward during this clash.
Amidst the temporal chaos, two blades pressed against each other. A massive temporal vortex formed around Su Xiao and the Supreme Being. This temporal vortex rotated counterclockwise. The collapsed land at the top of the Star Realm quickly recovered. As the temporal vortex spun faster, everything around began to flow backward.
It reversed from the current Third Era to the Second Era, then to the First Era. In the blink of an eye, it traced back to the Abyss Era. Finally, it simply reversed in spans of a single great era. When the temporal vortex suddenly stopped, the Star Realm had returned to its original form. This was the Star Realm in its initial formation amidst the extreme darkness of chaos and the light above—the beginning of everything.
The surrounding temporal vortex dissipated. The auras of the two combatants clashed. A giant beast formed of crimson blood aura ferociously bit into a four-armed towering phantom.
'State of No-Self: Azure Shadow King.'
Simultaneously with the aura clash, the black blade in Su Xiao's hand had already slashed down. This brought a hint of bewilderment to the Supreme Being's eyes. This god standing at the peak was finally completely shattered of his divinity.
Boom!!
The black blade struck the lightning blade. The crystal ground beneath the Supreme Being's feet shattered. He turned into an afterimage, crashing into the Star Realm below. The force of his backward flight was so terrifying that it shattered the gradually forming worlds one after another. Finally, he slammed into the bottom of the darkness—the endless, pitch-black ocean-like floor of the Star Realm.
An afterimage landed in front of him. The moment it landed, it vanished. The black blade, now with a few nicks, slashed forward. Compared to the lightning blade, which was nearly serrated, the Dragon-Slaying Flash was in much better condition.
The blade hummed. The Supreme Being commanded various conceptual rules of the Star Realm. But these once-unsolvable, top-tier powers, under the combination of one man and one blade, went from unsolvable to severable.
A slash shattered the 'Elemental Concept' of the initial Star Realm. Su Xiao clearly felt the initial Star Realm they were in suddenly crack. Under the slashing force of 'State of No-Self: Azure Shadow King,' even the Star Realm could be severed.
The long blade cut into the Supreme Being's neck. Just as the blade was about to continue its cut, the Supreme Being's large hand pressed against Su Xiao's face. With a loud bang, Su Xiao was sent flying backward. The Supreme Being staggered a few steps to the side.
Fighting until now, both sides had utilized everything to the extreme: soul, physique, conceptual rules, causal existence, core abilities... They had even reversed time and space, bringing them to the initial Star Realm. As opponents of the same level, in this place of darkness at the bottom, where even the flow of time was unclear, they had fought for an unknown duration. Both were nearing their limits.
Drip, drop, drip, drop~
Blood from Su Xiao's chin dripped into the dark liquid beneath his feet. He stared intently at the Supreme Being. Regardless of victory or defeat in this battle, it had been a satisfying fight. Such a peak battle would only be experienced once in a lifetime.
Across from him, the Supreme Being stared at Su Xiao. He was now convinced that by devouring the causal fate of this Law Destroyer, he would find what he had lost in the past.
Suddenly, the darkness and light of the initial Star Realm were stripped away and infused into the lightning blade in the Supreme Being's hand.
Compared to the Supreme Being's power to dominate the Star Realm, Su Xiao had no temporary power-up. He had never possessed such an ability. He only had his own strength. Therefore, the flesh on his body began to wither and dry up. In a very short time, except for his right arm holding the blade, his entire body presented a kind of powerful emaciation. This was him concentrating all his bodily energy into this single slash.
'Star Realm: Absolute Domination.'
'State of No-Self: Eternal Night.'
The two transformed into a golden strong light and a pitch-black slashing line, passing through each other.
Zheng!!!
Everything froze after this slash. The dark Star Realm, the scattered embers of golden light, and the pitch-black slashing line that had carved a black mark—all of this seemed like an eternal painting. Unfortunately, the initial Star Realm, serving as the canvas, could not withstand it and shattered with a bang.
The Supreme Being, holding the lightning blade, had a slash mark burning with black flames across his chest. He raised his hand and looked at the weapon in his hand, which was about to shatter. Behind him lay the fallen Law Destroyer, blood spreading beneath him.
At this moment, the Supreme Being woke up. He turned to look at the Law Destroyer lying in a pool of blood and said:
"You have awakened me. I will continue to watch over the Star Realm. After all, it is my possession..."
Just as the Supreme Being reached this point in his speech, the Law Destroyer lying in the pool of blood stood up.
Tap, tap, tap~
As Su Xiao walked forward step by step, the blood flowing from his body had already formed a pool ahead of him. So, he was walking step by step on his own blood.
The Supreme Being looked at this figure walking on his own blood pool, his eyes glowing red, a blood beast of indeterminate form with a cruel grin formed from the blood aura behind him. The background behind him seemed to transform into a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. For a moment, the Supreme Being sincerely felt that this was something more evil, ferocious, and violent than the 'Ancient Original Sin,' 'Chaos Calamity,' or 'Primordial Doom.'
Clang!
The long blade clashed with the lightning blade. The Supreme Being immediately realized that this Law Destroyer's current strength was actually a notch above his own.
Bang! The Supreme Being was forced down onto one knee. Layers of ripples spread across the bottom of the darkness. Just as the Star Staff was about to fire a ray, it was entangled by numerous Spirit Shadow Threads.
Crack, crack~
More cracks appeared on the lightning blade. Su Xiao's current state was clearly slightly better than the Supreme Being's. And it was this slight difference that decided the outcome of this battle.
With a snap, the lightning blade shattered. Almost simultaneously, Su Xiao delivered a straight kick.
The Supreme Being was sent flying backward, leaving a trail of golden-red blood beads. After delivering the straight kick, Su Xiao's shattered right lower leg and foot were quickly replaced by a spreading combat prosthetic. The crystal right foot stepped onto the bottom of the darkness.
Looking now, one could see that more than half of Su Xiao's body seemed to have been replaced by Aoge crystals. He walked step by step to the Supreme Being's side and stabbed down with his blade, but the Supreme Being blocked it with one hand. In his palm was the last bit of Star Realm power he could command.
The tip of the blade gradually shattered this Star Realm power in his palm. Finally, the long blade pierced through, stabbing into the Supreme Being's head. Time seemed to stand still at this moment.
'Blade Path Sword: Time.'
Why didn't Su Xiao use 'Extreme Blade'? Because he had no remaining stamina or bodily energy to support using the 'Extreme Blade' system abilities. Instead, his old 'Blade Path Sword' series had very low consumption, although its power was far inferior to 'Extreme Blade.'
The impact of time characteristics spread. Time is also years. The Supreme Being had degenerated from a watcher into a dark dominator due to the erosion of time. And Su Xiao's 'Blade Path Sword: Time' was purely kicking a cripple's bad leg.
What is a Technique Grandmaster? It is, of course, delivering a fatal blow to an enemy's weakness.
The Supreme Being, with a blade piercing his head, was not dead yet. In terms of combat ability, Su Xiao was stronger. But in terms of perfect all-roundedness, the Supreme Being was definitely stronger. Perfect all-roundedness naturally includes recovery power. He only needed to survive for a few seconds without dying to recover quickly and eventually become the victor. But now, the 'Time' slash became the last straw that broke his back.
At that moment, the power that had reversed time and space, lacking one of its components, could no longer be maintained. A temporal vortex appeared. Time returned to its original order. Su Xiao and the Supreme Being returned to the top of the Star Realm in the Third Era, standing on the hundred-meter-diameter final battle platform.
With a bang, the flesh and blood of the Supreme Being's entire body exploded. His bones seemed to have their own consciousness, struggling to break free from this body. These were, in fact, the supreme causalities that the Supreme Being had devoured in the past. In essence, supreme causalities could be devoured, but they must never be completely absorbed and digested.
After a series of bone explosions, various bones flew everywhere. Before long, they turned into powder. Only the head of the Supreme Being remained, seemingly examining Su Xiao. Then, he said coldly:
"Do not... lose yourself..."
The moment the Supreme Being finished speaking, Su Xiao's blade slashed through. The Supreme Being's head turned into powder and scattered. He never showed mercy in battle, let alone against his ultimate enemy.
Just after slaying the Supreme Being, Su Xiao's vision went black. He nearly fell and slept forever. A potion appeared in his hand. He crushed it, and his injuries recovered somewhat. At least, the intermittent blackness before his eyes stopped.
The long blade in his hand pointed diagonally at the ground. Bare-chested, covered in scars, with more than half of his body replaced by Aoge crystals, Su Xiao flicked the dark blue smoke off his blade and slowly sheathed it.
The Supreme Being had been slain!
The peak had been climbed!
The causality of the Original Sin Guardian was absorbed into the 'Peak Position.' This was the causal price Su Xiao paid for sealing the peak. To him, it wasn't really a price.
Su Xiao didn't shout in catharsis. He just slightly tilted his head back and looked up at the sky. The scenery along the journey was beautiful, and the scenery at the peak was even more beautiful.
Several vast auras of original sin faintly appeared within the chaotic mist outside the Star Realm. Su Xiao knew he wouldn't be lonely at the peak. But in his current state, it was best to return to the Reincarnation Paradise first. He would have time later to deal with these 'Ancient Original Sins' one by one.
On a desolate plain in the Void, an Element Scholar looked up at the sky. A relieved smile appeared on his heavily cracked face. Then, he shattered with a bang.
As for his identity, he was closely related to the Supreme Being. To be precise, the Element Scholar was simply the emotional part of the Supreme Being that had been washed away by time. Because the Supreme Being was too powerful, this part had formed an independent entity.
Therefore, the Element Scholar needed to be reincarnated into a Spellcaster's body, because the two were of the same origin. No one knew better than the Element Scholar how terrifying and dangerous the main body, gradually eroded by time, truly was.
...
When the sensation of teleportation faded, Su Xiao had returned to his exclusive room. Bubu Wang, Amu, Baha, Beini, and Jila were all waiting there. The healing authority was activated. It was worth mentioning that this treatment was the free highest-level treatment authority obtained during the Abyss Campaign.
Leaning back on a single sofa, Su Xiao was surprised to find that killing the Supreme Being actually came with a kill notification and rewards.
[You have slain the Supreme Being.]
[You have obtained the exclusive authority: Cycle Transcendence.]
[Cycle Transcendence (Exclusive Authority): This authority possesses the following functions: