Chapter 4078: Great Change
This extreme darkness did not last long.
After a few breaths, the stars in the universe, like countless lanterns, once again bloomed with radiance.
Heng stars, like eternally unquenchable balls of fire, possessed immense heat that could incinerate all things. Such a strange occurrence was highly unusual.
"Did... did I just hallucinate? I clearly sensed the heng stars in the universe extinguishing, their light vanishing, the world plunged into darkness, as if a great era was being extinguished."
An Undying Blood Clan cultivator at the Great Saint realm stared up at the sky, his head not lowered for a long time. His mind was turbulent, yet he also doubted himself.
If a single heng star suddenly went dark and then lit up again, it could be explained as the work of a great divine power being.
But for the entire starry sky to experience this was far too terrifying.
So terrifying that even powerful cultivators could not accept it.
The only explanation was that the problem lay not with the universe, but with themselves.
"It's an illusion. There must be some existence with unparalleled Dao techniques casting an illusion on all of us."
"Relax. The Imperial Dust, Heavenly Mother, Yama Clan Chief... many great figures are all in Undying Divine City. No matter what happens, they can handle it."
"I hope it really is just an illusion, otherwise..."
...
Many deities resided in Undying Divine City.
They communicated with each other through divine sound transmission, discovering that all of them had fallen under the illusion, all having experienced the previous event where ten thousand stars dimmed simultaneously and the universe lost its light.
Even if it was an illusion, it was extremely terrifying!
It affected deities and covered a vast area.
The key point was, what if it wasn't an illusion?
Above the divine city, beams of divine light flashed. Countless deities were rushing towards the Undying Blood Clan's clan mansion.
"A major event is about to happen. It shouldn't be an illusion. The phenomenon just now didn't only occur in Undying Divine City. I just received news that the same phenomenon appeared in the Death Clan, trillions of miles away." said the Xuan Gu Nine Eyes Dragon God.
He was a top-tier giant of the Death Clan, an existence on par with the Twenty Heavens. Naturally, he had methods to cross the starry sea void and converse with the Death Clan deities.
"What is this? Could it be the divine power of an Ancestor?"
"Can an Ancestor make the entire starry sky go dark?"
"Why not? An Ancestor is omnipotent. Perhaps some Ancestor is absorbing all the light and heat in the universe. An Ancestor wants to destroy the world. The Minor Calamity at the end of the Middle Ages is about to repeat itself."
"Not necessarily, right? From ancient times to the present, many Ancestors have been born, but this is the first time the heng stars of the entire universe have lost their light."
Outside the clan mansion, the deities gathered.
They were very unsettled, talking all at once, all speculating, trying to dig out the truth.
Not to mention them, even Bing Huang, Yan Yu, Ni Xuan Bei Shi, and other Infinite Realm existences had grim expressions, caught in extreme shock.
News came from all sides, asking them what had happened.
"Hua!"
Soon after, the starry sky rapidly darkened again.
This time, the heng stars in the universe did not completely lose their radiance, retaining about one-tenth of their light and heat. But this unknown and eerie darkness lasted for about a quarter of an hour before slowly recovering.
No one doubted it was an illusion or hallucination anymore.
Zhang Ruochen's expression was complex. "This should be the legendary Entropy Epoch."
"Since the Entropy Epoch has occurred, it proves that the Great Calamity of Heaven and Earth, which happens every fifty thousand Eons, truly exists, and the universe is about to restart." Heavenly Mother said.
The Calamity of Quantities once every fifty thousand Eons represented the will of heaven and earth, far beyond the Minor Calamity initiated by the Immortals.
Before this, the Great Calamity only existed in legends. No one could prove it was real.
Not even an Ancestor.
No Immortal had lived that long.
Perhaps the Hongmeng Black Dragon knew something, but that was only a possibility.
"What is the Entropy Epoch?" Yan Yu asked.
Zhang Ruochen said, "The Entropy Epoch is the phenomenon you all just saw. Someone predicted it long ago, but before it happened, no one could be sure it would actually appear."
"What happens after it appears?" Yan Yu asked again.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Once the Entropy Epoch appears, the rules of heaven and earth will undergo further drastic changes. Many truths you once thought were immutable will no longer be reliable. For example, Light, one of the Nine Eternal Dao, everyone believed light would never disappear. That's not necessarily true anymore."
"Another example: in the past, the spatial structure of the universe was stable. Undying Divine City was definitely located in the Hell Realm. But in the future, that might not be the case. You might wake up one day and find Undying Divine City has appeared in the Heavenly Court Universe, or even the Border Wasteland Universe."
Heavenly Mother added a sentence: "It might even be the Void World, or Lihentian."
"That's right. The world barriers of the Three Realms will gradually become blurred." Zhang Ruochen said.
The cultivators present were all shocked, never imagining the universe would become so chaotic.
Ni Xuan Bei Shi said, "Doesn't this mean we are returning to Chaos?"
Zhang Ruochen nodded. "Exactly! Before the universe restarts, heaven and earth are gradually returning to Chaos. How chaotic it will get is hard to say."
"Universe restart? What does that mean?" Blood Absolute Clan Chief asked.
Qing Lu Shen Wang seemed to have understood this long ago. "It means exactly what you're thinking. The Great Calamity, which only happens once every fifty thousand Eons, has arrived! This is not the conspiracy of an Ancestor, nor the harvest of an Immortal seeking to prolong their life. It is the will of heaven and earth."
"The Entropy Epoch has appeared. The countdown to the Great Calamity has begun. The time we have left is only one Eon."
"After one Eon, you, me, the deities, the Ancestors, all living beings, even the Immortals, will all die, turning into cosmic dust. Unless one's strength is great enough to withstand the Great Calamity, can one survive under the butcher's knife of heaven and earth and live into the next epoch. How strong does one need to be? No one knows."
Although everyone present had experienced countless battles and had firm wills, they still felt suffocated after hearing this.
Even if the opponent was an Immortal, at least it was a living existence that could potentially be fought.
But how could one fight the will of heaven and earth?
"If everything is going to be destroyed and cease to exist, then what is the meaning of our continued desperate cultivation?" Bing Huang asked a question that was on everyone's mind.
After a long silence, Yan Yu said, "Maybe the Great Calamity isn't that terrifying. If it could truly destroy everything, why have the Prehistoric Civilization Ruins been preserved? Could it be that the Great Calamity targets life more, and doesn't necessarily completely destroy non-conscious matter?"
Qing Lu Shen Wang said, "The preserved Prehistoric Civilization Ruins are likely fortresses built by cultivators of the previous epoch to resist the Calamity of Quantities. That's one point."
"Secondly, the Five Great Prehistoric Civilization Ruins are just definitions given by later generations, more of a speculation. After all, the last Great Calamity was incredibly distant from the Primordial Era. The chaotic universe went through countless billions of years before the first Primordial life was born."
"Did Prehistoric Immortals really exist? No one can say for sure."
"Third, every Great Calamity is definitely different. Its intensity is unpredictable. Even if a Prehistoric powerhouse survived the Great Calamity fifty thousand Eons ago, allowing the Prehistoric Civilization Ruins to be preserved, it doesn't mean they could survive this one."
"Why are the God Realm and the Nether Ancestor Faction, including the Dark Lord, fighting to the death? Isn't it because they are not confident they can withstand the Great Calamity? They have to find every way to kill each other, then absorb the energy of the entire universe to make themselves strong to the extreme."
Ni Xuan Bei Shi asked, "If even the Immortals are like this, then what about us? Where is our path to survival?"
Everyone's gaze turned to Zhang Ruochen.
If one person was to be chosen to lead everyone against the Calamity of Quantities and fight for a path to survival, that person would definitely be Zhang Ruochen.
The Immortals were unreliable.
History had proven that to prolong their lives and achieve immortality, they could harvest one peak civilization after another.
When the Great Calamity arrives and life is truly in danger, whether it's the Immortals of the God Realm or the Nether Ancestor, they would surely devour the cultivators who fought alongside them to protect themselves.
But cultivators like Zhang Ruochen, Hao Tian, and Heavenly Mother made people believe that when that moment truly came, they would rather sacrifice themselves to fight for a path to survival for all living beings.
Zhang Ruochen looked at Heavenly Mother. "I wanted to buy you as much time as possible. But it seems the Immortals won't wait any longer. If my guess is correct, the God Realm and the Nether Ancestor Faction will likely force all major forces to choose sides next, to prepare for the final decisive battle."
After thinking for a moment, he added, "Perhaps the Hongmeng Black Dragon and the Dark Lord can buy some time. Only they can somewhat restrain the Immortals."
Blood Absolute Clan Chief said, "More and more deities are gathering outside now. Should we tell them the truth?"
"That's not a good idea, right? Even we were disturbed after learning the truth about the Entropy Epoch and the Great Calamity. If they find out, the world will fall into chaos. Human nature cannot withstand such a test." Undying War God said.
Yan Huanyu proposed a different view. "It can't be hidden. Someone will definitely spread the news. Someone will definitely want the world to fall into chaos. Now, while the initiative is still in our hands, we can formulate rules from the top down, stabilize people's hearts, plan for the future, digest the news step by step, and minimize the impact."
"Since we only have one Eon left until the Great Calamity, we should also summon the deities to build an End Times Fortress together. It might be useful. Even if it's not, it at least gives everyone hope. With hope, there won't be chaos, and there will still be a chance."
Several people present nodded deeply in agreement.
"Let's do it this way. Abandon illusions, prepare to welcome the end times." Heavenly Mother said.
...
Yan Huanyu, Yan Yu, Qing Lu Shen Wang, Heavenly Mother, and Ni Xuan Bei Shi left one after another, returning to their respective clans. There was too much to prepare.
Zhang Ruochen did not receive any cultivator. He directly returned to Wuding Divine Sea with Xiu Chen Heavenly God.
Given his current status, he had the right to decide whom to see and whom not to see.
But it still sparked controversy. Many deities were secretly discussing, feeling that after Zhang Ruochen's cultivation had greatly advanced, he had become arrogant, indifferent, and proud, no longer as kind and humble as before.
In the following year, billions of heng stars in the universe flickered on and off thousands of times.
Each time lasted longer than the last.
Gradually, the flickering became less noticeable.
Some deities had been observing the brightness of the heng stars. Even they could only detect subtle changes. For the vast majority of cultivators in the universe, the world had returned to normal.
The news of the Entropy Epoch and the Great Calamity spread to every corner of the universe within a year.
It did cause chaos initially, with rampant looting and killing, and evil cults springing up everywhere.
But the highest echelons had reached a consensus. The lower-level cultivators couldn't change anything fundamentally, nor could they cause major disruptions. After executing a group of the most heinous cultivators, the impact was suppressed.
"The entire starry sky has dimmed by at least a tenth. It seems this will be the case from now on."
Dragon Lord, dressed in a white robe, stood outside the Dragon God Temple. His handsome face was filled with worry.
Chi Xingtian and the Eight-Winged Night Dragon climbed the steps, one by one, and bowed to Dragon Lord with clasped fists.
Chi Xingtian had refined the Demon Qi Great World left by the Nine-Headed Stone Man, absorbing an immense amount of Ancestral Demon Qi and rules. In the past eighty thousand years, his cultivation had advanced by leaps and bounds, stepping into the Indestructible Infinite Realm, leaving the Eight-Winged Night Dragon far behind.
Just from the fact that he walked half a step ahead of the Eight-Winged Night Dragon, one could see the rise in his status over the years.
Dragon Lord said, "You two seem very unhappy. Who has offended you?"
"I dare not say." Chi Xingtian let out a deep snort.
Dragon Lord seemed to understand, leading the two into the Dragon God Temple. He activated the Half-Ancestor Divine Formation arranged by Yunshen Daozhu. "If you came to see me just to say something, why come if you dare not say it?"
The Eight-Winged Night Dragon couldn't hold back first. "Ninth Brother, please go and advise the Imperial Dust. Right now, the Heavenly Court Universe and the Hell Realm are mobilizing all available resources to forge End Times Fortresses to deal with the Calamity of Quantities. Look at him. He's completely changed. He's become dictatorial, arrogant, lascivious, suspicious, arrogant, cold-blooded, and won't listen to any advice."
Chi Xingtian said, "The Summer Sect Leader of the Yunshen Sect has a life-and-death bond with him. He just went to advise him to decide on a location for the End Times Fortress as soon as possible. Somehow, he offended him and was punished by being forced to eat a mountain of rice."
"Eat a mountain of rice?"
Dragon Lord frowned.
Chi Xingtian said, "It's not an ordinary mountain of rice! It looks only a few zhang high, but it contains his profound Dao rules. For every mouthful eaten, another mouthful appears. Neither increasing nor decreasing, unchanging and constant. What cultivation and status does the Summer Sect Leader have now? Yet he is humiliated like this. If he doesn't finish the mountain of rice, he will be imprisoned forever."
Dragon Lord treated Xiao Hei like a nephew. Hearing this, anger naturally arose in his heart.
But he quickly suppressed his anger. "The Imperial Dust's status is different now, after all. Xiao Tian speaks without thinking, still talking like before. Receiving some punishment is only right. There must be rules between superiors and subordinates. Otherwise, internal factions will form, leading to chaos and confusion. The lower-level cultivators won't know who to obey. An emperor must have an inviolable dignity."
Chi Xingtian said, "Lord Dragon Lord, how many cold-blooded and harsh things has he done over the years? He has really changed, swollen beyond recognition. He is no longer the Zhang Ruochen we once knew. In his eyes, everything below the divine throne is an ant."
The Eight-Winged Night Dragon said, "When the Summer Sect Leader went to advise him earlier, guess what he was doing? He was forcing the Moon God and Wu Yue to dance for him, shouting for the 'Double Moons to dance.' Later, he dismissed all the other cultivators in the hall. What was he planning to do?"
Chi Xingtian said, "Don't say I'm bringing up old scores. I'm only blaming him for being too despicable now. A year ago, Xuanyuan Lian of the Heavenly Palace came to visit him on behalf of the Heavenly Court Universe. He pulled her into his arms and forced her to drink, with absolutely no dignity. I heard that in the end, Xuanyuan Lian couldn't take it anymore and fought him, but he slapped her twice on the buttocks. This has become a laughingstock. Countless cultivators in the Heavenly Court curse him in their hearts, but dare not speak out."
The Eight-Winged Night Dragon said coldly, "Forget about Xuanyuan Lian! Have you forgotten how harsh he was to his own children? Five hundred years ago, Zhang Xingchen had his divine bone and divine source cut out and was banished to the mortal world to undergo tribulations. Mu Lingxi brought Bore, who was far away in the Hell Realm, back to plead for him, but couldn't persuade him."
"Zhang Hongchen is already a God Venerable, yet she was locked in the Nether Prison for one Eon, suffering the punishment of thunder and fire. One Eon! Who can withstand that? He wants to kill his own daughter!"
(Chapter End)