Chapter 4057: The Bell Sound
"Void Annihilation Law One!" On the River of Time, twelve Gates of Destiny appeared, floating above Gong Nanfeng's head behind him.
The light was brilliant, the Dao resonance innate. The powers of the Twelve Phase Daos—Life, Death, Calamity, Fortune, Joy, Anger, Auspiciousness, Misfortune, Void, Reality, Past, and Future—contended against the rules of heaven and earth.
The twelve Gates of Destiny moved swiftly, then merged into one. All Dao methods converged, forming a new, mysterious wave of power beyond anything in the world. Spiritual Qi, Saint Qi, and Divine Qi seemed insignificant before it.
"Chi chi." A snowflake-shaped Ancestral Mark of Fate manifested within the light of the fusion, crystalline and translucent, exquisitely beautiful, with sharp, distinct edges.
The snowflake Ancestral Mark spun rapidly behind Gong Nanfeng, forming ripples like halos that struck back all the surging rules of heaven and earth.
The power fluctuation was too intense, dissolving into the Dharma, not existing in the heavens. It could be described as lawless and heaven-defying.
"Splash!" The River of Time churned violently, waves surging into the sky, making it impossible even for Indestructible Infinite cultivators to remain within.
After leaving the sundial to Gong Nanfeng, Zhang Ruochen's clone, Xiu Chen Heavenly God, and Bore retreated from it, all the way back into the Relic Ancient Realm, standing beneath the Destiny Divine Temple.
"You left the sundial to him, but what about me? He is contending against heaven and earth, dueling with fate. Anything is fragile before such power. If the sundial is destroyed, the loss is yours." Xiu Chen Heavenly God grumbled endlessly, his face full of resentment, unwilling to start over.
Gazing into the distant River of Time, Bore exclaimed in awe, "This is Void Annihilation Law One, the realm Feng Tian has always pursued, the ultimate goal of cultivators on the Path of Fate. Watching him derive this Dao, I have gained new insights into the Path of Fate."
"Does everyone feel it? The Path of Fate is pushing aside all other Daos in heaven and earth." All cultivators under the Destiny Divine Temple felt their Divine Qi flow faster and their Rule Divine Marks become more active at that moment.
"Whoosh!"
"Whoosh!"... As if responding to some summons, the Gates of Destiny they had cultivated automatically flew out from their bodies, like stars suspended above the River of Time.
"This is the true Ancestor of Fate, the ultimate power of destiny!" Some gods were so moved they could not contain themselves, kneeling and bowing toward the place where the Ancestral Divine Light was strongest.
They bowed not only to the Ancestor of Fate but also to their faith and their ultimate pursuit of the Great Dao. For any god who believed in fate and cultivated the Path of Fate, no words could describe the shock and joy in their hearts at this moment.
The Great Dao was right before their eyes. The true essence of fate was not illusory or intangible.
"Let us all assist the Ancestor of Fate in descending, contributing our meager strength."
"To witness the true essence of fate even once in this life is worth sacrificing everything! Welcome the Ancestor of Fate, let the light of destiny spread across the entire universe."
"Life and death, auspiciousness and misfortune, fortune and calamity, void and reality, past and future—they are destined to be reversed today. To participate in this is the blessing of three lifetimes."... The gods became fervent devotees, their faces glowing red, as they shot beams of Divine Qi toward the Gates of Destiny.
With the help of the gods, Gong Nanfeng's body shifted further outward. Space trembled violently, and the River of Time alternated between void and reality. One of his feet stepped out.
The Ancestral aura surged even more powerfully, sensed by all living beings.
"Boom!" The entire Nether Kingdom shook. Centered on the ruins of the Wind Pavilion, several cracks tens of thousands of miles long appeared, extending further into the distance.
The Nether Sea Spirit stood atop the Eighteen Layers of Nether Prison, decisively abandoning its assault on the Celestial World. Instead, it gathered the power of the divine formation, channeling it toward the sky above the Wind Pavilion.
Above the Wind Pavilion, the waters of the Nether Sea swirled, flashing with formation light, releasing a terrifying aura that suffocated even gods.
"Whoosh!" A beam of formation light, drawing power from the eighty thousand towers of the entire Nether Kingdom, descended from the sky like a heavenly waterfall, like a world-destroying divine radiance.
One could imagine that if this formation beam struck, the River of Time would inevitably collapse. Even if the Ancestor of Fate's cultivation was formidable, he would be annihilated by the backlash of time.
"Bang!" Zhang Ruochen struck out with a palm, unleashing the Witch Cauldron first. The cauldron was as large as a star, heavy and dark.
The moment it touched the formation beam, the Witch Cauldron was sent flying, crashing violently into the Relic Ancient Realm, forming a ring-shaped mountain, sinking into the divine mud, raising clouds of dust.
Gong Nanfeng's right hand had already moved out of the Ancestor of Fate's Auspicious Gate. His eyes looked upward, his pupils seeming to contain two star seas in motion, immense power gathering and flowing through his arm.
He pointed a finger! A light wave shot from his fingertip, colliding with the descending formation beam.
"Boom!" The two supreme forces met, creating a destructive energy like the collision of heaven and earth. In an instant, the formation beam was dispersed.
The light wave, like a force splitting bamboo, entered the formation vortex above, and then the Nether Sea exploded into a massive hole a thousand miles in diameter.
The formation inscriptions around the hole were all erased.
"Splash!" It was as if the sky had sprung a leak, rain pouring like a torrent. This finger strike was earth-shattering, beyond the comprehension of any cultivator.
Both allies and enemies, including those hidden in the shadows, were shocked. This meant the Ancestor of Fate had truly descended into this era, bringing the power of the past into the present, altering the normal course of this age.
"Is he really going to break the rules of heaven and earth, shatter fate, and rewrite history?"
"This is the power of a true Ancestor!"
"Impossible, right? Crossing the River of Time from the past, and still so formidable? Doesn't the rules of heaven and earth suppress him? Or can they not restrain him?"... Outside the Thunder Altar, several pillars as thick as several men standing side by side cast shadows that sometimes disappeared and sometimes reappeared as the light in the sky flickered.
When the light appeared, careful observation would reveal that within the shadow of one of the pillars stood an old man in a green Confucian robe.
No one had expected that the Fourth Confucian Ancestor had long entered the Nether Kingdom, standing at one of its most important formation hubs, the Thunder Altar.
The rain grew heavier. At the eaves of the Thunder Altar palace, the rain formed a curtain.
"Ancestor of Fate, is this heavenly variable so fierce?" The Fourth Confucian Ancestor seemed to be asking himself, or perhaps falling into deep doubt.
He did not believe the Ancestor of Fate could succeed, but he felt worry. And worry meant that deep in his heart, beyond rational control, he believed the Ancestor of Fate might actually succeed.
...
"If you want to defy heaven and change fate, you must first pass through me. In the Ancient Era, you were suppressed by the Nether Ancestor. In this era, don't even think about turning things around!" The Nether Sea Spirit emerged from its brief shock and flew directly to the hole in the Nether Sea, appearing above the Wind Pavilion ruins, once again mobilizing the formation's power.
Dense formation inscriptions gathered beneath its feet like a cloud.
"You seem to have forgotten that the formations in this Nether Kingdom were originally laid out by me. At least half of the eighty thousand towers were built by me. Today, I will reclaim that half!" Gong Nanfeng's foot that had stepped out stomped down heavily.
"Boom!" The power of the Ancestor, the radiance of fate, the ripples of space, the mist of death, the aura of nothingness... a force surpassing that of a Half-Ancestor spread across the entire Nether Kingdom.
The speed of its spread was ten, a hundred times the speed of light. One Nether Tower after another either collapsed or sank into the ground.
Across the vast land, formation light pillars vanished one by one. The Nether Kingdom crumbled continuously, many territories turning into chaotic, ruined zones.
Earlier, when all the gods of the Destiny Divine Temple had acted together, they had only destroyed a little over two hundred Nether Towers. But now, in just a few breaths, thirty to forty thousand towers had disappeared. The Nether Kingdom's formation power sharply declined, showing signs of slipping from the Nether Sea Spirit's control.
A fierce wind howled. The Ancestral aura dominated the entire scene. The Nether Sea Spirit released its Half-Ancestor Divine Qi, exerting all its strength to unleash the formation's power.
Gong Nanfeng struck out with a seemingly light palm, and the formation in the sky was completely shattered. The Nether Sea Spirit let out a miserable scream as its body was torn apart by this palm print filled with Dao resonance.
The Nether Sea floating in the sky further fragmented. Seawater poured down like a waterfall, like a torrent.
"This is too strong, a complete crushing." Blood Butcher, standing in the Demon Ancestor Ridge, his teeth chattering, felt conflicted—hoping Gong Nanfeng would descend into this era, yet deeply worried.
"Caw!" A crow's cry resounded through heaven and earth. Red Crow King, riding Star Cliff Heaven, flew over the twenty-seventh level Celestial World, striking heavily toward the River of Time.
Gong Nanfeng spat out a Heart Furnace Calamity Fire from his mouth, turning it into a cloud of fire that enveloped Star Cliff Heaven, igniting all the Red Crow Trees on the cliff.
Even the Red Crow King was engulfed in flames, screaming incessantly, and immediately fled far away. Having severely wounded two Half-Ancestors in succession, Gong Nanfeng showed no joy, but rather deep worry.
Above his head, the calamity clouds grew thicker. His opponent had never been the Nether Sea Spirit or the Red Crow King, nor did he pay any heed to the hidden Fourth Confucian Ancestor or the Dark Remnant Body.
His opponent was heaven and earth. The might of heaven was unfathomable, and heavenly punishment cut down all who defied the Dao. Gong Nanfeng took a deep breath, drawing the endless rules of heaven and earth that surged to suppress him into his body. His belly contained a hundred thousand Daos, swallowing heaven and devouring the earth.
Then, he burned the Ancestral Divine Blood within him, and the Ancestral radiance emanating from his body grew even more dazzling.
Zhang Ruochen could see his determination to reverse fate, even at the cost of utter annihilation. He sighed, his heart in turmoil.
To help or not to help? To help was already beyond his ability. Not to help... Zhang Ruochen thought of Gong Nanfeng's earlier possession attempt, of his unwillingness when he had rammed into the Nether Prison.
If Gong Nanfeng had truly wanted to possess him, he could have done so completely. But he had wanted to preserve Zhang Ruochen's divine soul, to merge their souls, to become him, and thus had failed at the last step.
At that time, killing Zhang Ruochen had not been an option he had ruled out.
"Back then, you chose not to kill me and instead took your own life. Today, I will grant you your wish, no matter what!" Zhang Ruochen's gaze turned resolute. Then, his true body flew toward the River of Time.
"Let me hold an umbrella for you!" Zhang Ruochen raised the leg of the Universe Cauldron with one hand, unleashing the power of space to form a circular, condensed space.
That space seemed to have been tempered a thousand times, layer upon layer, like an umbrella suspended above Gong Nanfeng.
A flicker of surprise passed through Gong Nanfeng's eyes, a look of disbelief. After all, Zhang Ruochen was no longer alone; countless cultivators relied on his protection.
If he died, countless others would die. So every decision he made had to be carefully considered. He was so rational, knowing how slim the chances of defying heaven and changing fate were, yet he still flew over without hesitation, using the Universe Cauldron to hold up a piece of sky for him, buying him time.
This was Zhang Ruochen—both rational and willing to risk his life for a friend.
The surprise in Gong Nanfeng's eyes faded, replaced by a smile and determination. Within his body, twelve beams of light burst forth, forming a rainbow bridge that shot out of the River of Time, out of the Nether Kingdom, surging toward the cosmic starry sky.
He wanted to use this rainbow bridge to pierce the universe, drawing the power of the entire universe to aid him.
In the distant cosmos, countless stars trembled, giving rise to various anomalies.
On the distant Abyss of Darkness defense line, the World Tree formed by nebulas stood in space. At the center of the Fate Divine Domain atop the World Tree, the Fate Divine Mountain churned with clouds and mist, and the Fate Rules burned, forming fiery red clouds.
The Fate Stream flowed backward, flooding the divine temple at the mountain's peak. This phenomenon had occurred for the second time. This time, it was even more perilous—the divine mountain was collapsing continuously, and the temple was becoming unstable.
Nutian Shenzun arrived at the Fate Divine Mountain, landing on the top of the Destiny Divine Temple. Using his Half-Ancestor Divine Qi, he suppressed the resonant force coming from the depths of the universe.
He looked up toward the direction of the North Marsh Great Wall and muttered to himself, "The divine mountain is about to be destroyed, the temple is about to collapse. Who is it? Is it him? Is he trying to break the Path of Fate?" The person Nutian Shenzun guessed was Zhang Ruochen.
After all, Zhang Ruochen had triggered the phenomenon of "the Fate Stream flowing backward, flooding the temple" before, but at the time, he had shifted the blame onto Fengdu Dadi.
...
"Blood Devouring Curse!" The Nether Sea Spirit re-formed its body, its face twisted with rage, as it flew toward the River of Time, unleashing the Ancestral Curse Mark left by the Corpse Demon.
Although it believed the Ancestor of Fate could not contend against heaven and earth, it dared not gamble on the one-in-a-million chance. So, for the Nether Ancestor, to protect the Nether Kingdom, it would risk its life to strike again.
Both of Gong Nanfeng's hands had already moved out of the Ancestor of Fate's Auspicious Gate. He brought his ten fingers together. Rings of fate radiance spread from his palms, dispersing the incoming Blood Devouring Curse.
The Nether Sea Spirit exploded, scattering like a puff of smoke, blown away.
Four-fifths of Gong Nanfeng's body had emerged from the Ancestor of Fate's Auspicious Gate, with only one foot remaining.
In the sky above, calamity thunder descended, striking the space umbrella formed by the Universe Cauldron. The killing intent of heaven and earth toward those who defied fate and changed destiny far exceeded Zhang Ruochen's expectations.
The power of the calamity thunder was like a heavy punch from an Ancestor, unparalleled, tearing through the space umbrella as easily as tearing paper, landing on the Universe Cauldron.
It pierced through the Universe Cauldron and struck Zhang Ruochen. Zhang Ruochen's chest was blasted open, blood spilling through the air, and his body fell into the River of Time.
"Clang... clang... clang..." From somewhere unknown, the sound of chime bells rang out.
Gong Nanfeng, who had remained calm and composed even in the face of the heavenly calamity clouds, suddenly changed expression. His lips moved, "I knew it, I knew it... you have finally appeared..."
Then, in the River of Time, at the spot where Zhang Ruochen had just fallen, one bronze chime bell after another flew out, neatly arranged.
They were the Annihilation Bells that Zhang Ruochen had taken from Bai Qinger and sealed. They had clearly been sealed, but now, it seemed as if an invisible hand was striking them, producing clear, bright, melodious notes.
It was so eerie.
...
(The college entrance exam scores have come out. First, congratulations to the senior high school readers who achieved excellent results. For those who didn't do well, don't be too upset. As a senior who once didn't do well, I was still brooding over it during my freshman year, often having nightmares about the exam, about not knowing how to solve the problems.
In fact, years later, you will find that the college entrance exam's impact on your life is not as severe as you imagine.
Whether studying is useful, whether it can become capital for survival in society, ultimately depends more on learning itself.
Whether you go to a first-tier university, a second-tier university, or a vocational college, you must always maintain the habit of learning, even after entering society.
Here, I open a separate section for everyone to report their college entrance exam scores this year, to see the highest score.
There's no point in bragging or joking around.)