# Chapter 4143: Formless and Directionless, Heavenly Desolation Shifted
Zhang Ruochen looked back once, then threw himself into the death vortex without hesitation.
At the center of the death vortex, he sensed the aura of Cihang Zunzhe.
As he advanced toward the vortex center, he condensed a black-and-white life-death imprint above his head, absorbing the life fruits within the death vortex at maximum speed.
Before long, Zhang Ruochen had reached the central zone of the death vortex.
The Lamp of Life and Extinction hovered at the very center.
Beside the Lamp of Life and Extinction, the Bodhi Silver Flower Tree had taken root in the void, supporting a Buddha realm about ten feet across, blocking the invasion of death qi.
Cihang Zunzhe sat cross-legged, her fingers placed before her chest, radiating strands of ancestral Buddha light that resonated with the Buddha inscriptions on the walls of the Life and Death Realm.
At this moment, she appeared as sacred as a Buddha—dustless, stainless, pure and natural.
Zhang Ruochen slowly extended a palm. His five fingers were blocked by the Buddha light surrounding the Buddha realm, stirring ripples.
Cihang Zunzhe sensed something and opened her eyes, about to speak.
Then—
Behind Zhang Ruochen, a gray, hazy death giant hand appeared, silently approaching.
Just as the death giant hand was about to grasp Zhang Ruochen, he turned and swung his sword, cleaving the death giant hand in two.
Looking up.
Fanchen, dressed in white monk's robes, appeared above. There was no trace of his usual laziness or drunkenness; his eyes held a clarity and wisdom reminiscent of Candle Lamp Great Master.
"You have finally returned from the Myriad Forms Red Dust!"
Zhang Ruochen said.
Fanchen nodded lightly. "I received the legacy of Kashyapa Buddha, awakened by the ancestral Buddha light. Unfortunately, I woke too early. If I had waited a little longer, I might have directly advanced to the peak of Half-Ancestor."
"Those who cultivate Buddhism cannot be too greedy. Any later, and you would have waited until the Great Calamity descended! What is the situation now? Where is Soul Mother? Where is Bore?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
Fanchen sighed. "The situation was complicated at the time. I could only save Cihang Zunzhe, protecting her with the Buddha realm of the Bodhi Silver Flower Tree. Soul Mother's incarnation became the World Spirit of the Life and Death Realm, able to control the entire power of the Life and Death Realm. I could only barely contend with her."
"And Bore?" Zhang Ruochen asked again.
Fanchen said, "The death vortex before us contains not only death force but also life force. The World Spirit of the Life and Death Realm requires not only living souls but also dead souls. I do not know where Soul Mother has taken Bore—I cannot deduce it—but I know she intends to refine Bore into the dead soul within the World Spirit of the Life and Death Realm."
Before Fanchen could finish, Zhang Ruochen had already released his Wuji circle, covering the entire Life and Death Realm.
The death force and life force within the Life and Death Realm surged toward him in vast waves.
"Boom!"
Wuji evolved into Taiji.
"Boom!"
Taiji evolved into Two Forms.
His cultivation base recovered at an astonishing speed.
The moment the Two Forms manifested, the black and white yin-yang fish rotated within, their two eyes being the yin pole and yang pole.
Zhang Ruochen sensed something and saw Bore within the yin pole.
"Shua!" With a movement of his body, Zhang Ruochen shuttled through the turbulent vortex of energy, arriving before Bore. He pointed at her brow, intending to dissolve the curse Soul Mother had placed upon her.
Bore suddenly looked up.
Her eyes burned with soul fire. She struck out with a finger, meeting Zhang Ruochen's fingertip.
The moment their fingers touched, an extremely powerful soul attack surged into Zhang Ruochen's body.
"I'm afraid Corpse Nightmare and Empress never imagined you were still alive. And no one would have thought that someone like Dark Lord would actually cooperate with you." Soul Mother's voice sounded from Bore's mouth.
If he had been struck by this finger before evolving the Two Forms, Zhang Ruochen's soul would surely have been injured.
But now, Zhang Ruochen's soul strength had reached the Half-Ancestor level, so he withstood it.
Though it was Bore's body, the soul consciousness was Soul Mother's—truly bizarre. Soul Mother could be called "Soul Mother" precisely because her mastery of the soul level was far beyond what other cultivators could match. The moment Zhang Ruochen entered the death vortex, her soul consciousness had swapped with Bore, preparing this killing move for Zhang Ruochen.
"Hua!"
Within the Life and Death Realm, the Two Forms evolved again, transforming into Four Symbols.
Zhang Ruochen's soul completely stabilized, and his aura surged another level, gradually matching "Bore's."
Seeing Zhang Ruochen's realm elevate so quickly, "Bore's" expression darkened. "Opposing the Nether Ancestor will only lead to death. Zhang Ruochen, you were originally the one the Nether Ancestor favored most, the one who had the chance to enter the new era together with him. But because of your stubbornness and foolish persistence, all that awaits you is annihilation."
The Taiji Four Symbols Diagram Seal absorbed all the life divine light and death divine light flowing into the Life and Death Realm, monopolizing everything. Even the Nether Ancestor's true body could not extract anything from space.
The Four Symbols were constantly transforming toward Five Elements.
Beneath Zhang Ruochen's feet, turbid matter appeared, about to precipitate into soil and earth.
At the same time, more and more Dao light condensed within Zhang Ruochen's body.
"Bore" felt the soul pressure increasing, the advantage shifting toward Zhang Ruochen. She said in a deep voice, "Bore's soul consciousness is within the Sea of Consciousness of my true body. As long as I am willing, that one soul of mine left in my true body can now obliterate her."
Soul Mother had only one soul and one spirit.
"Ten Thousand Buddhas Illuminate Heaven and Earth!"
Fanchen had already arrived at the yang pole of the Taiji Yin-Yang Diagram, finding Soul Mother's true body. Using ten thousand sacred Buddha shadows, he suppressed her, rendering her unable to move.
Suppressing the body also suppressed the soul.
"Zhang Ruochen, don't let her manipulate you. I have this side handled. Defeat her soul. Once the Life and Death Realm loses its World Spirit, the power of the Minor Calamity will greatly diminish." Fanchen said.
Thirty-three yin realms pressed down upon the Ten Thousand Flow Realm, cutting off all branches of the Santu River within the Heavenly Desolation Universe. Among them, the lowest yin realm was the Ancestor Realm of Yellow Spring Great Emperor, with countless ancestral rules and divine qi flowing within.
Fengdu Dadi stood above the thirty-three yin realms, striking out with the Yellow Spring Seal and Soul-Suppressing Ring, forcing back the death divine light and life divine light on the Santu River.
"He actually did it?"
Lady Shiji found it hard to believe. Was the Minor Calamity so easy to stop?
She was not underestimating Fengdu Dadi, but she understood the Nether Ancestor's terror well enough.
Even though the Nether Ancestor's true body was not stationed in the Life and Death Realm...
When one's cultivation reached such heights, there was no need for personal presence. Space was never an obstacle. With a single thought, he could project power and spiritual will to Biluo Pass. With a single thought, he could absorb the life fruits of the Minor Calamity within the Life and Death Realm.
Why was this happening?
Why was the power of the Minor Calamity so weak?
Hao Tian and Yan Huanyu had already fallen. Could there be another unexpected event at Biluo Pass?
Fengdu Dadi also felt a sense of unreality. He had experienced the Minor Calamity of the medieval period. All the great worlds in the universe had been ignited. All cultivators, whether gods or saints, had united to resist, yet many great worlds had still been reduced to wastelands.
It could be said that all the cultivators in the entire universe combined could not resist the Minor Calamity.
It was the Divine Realm that had intervened, forcing back the Minor Calamity.
This time, was it because they cultivators had grown stronger? Or because the Nether Ancestor, heavily injured by the Divine Realm, was no longer what he once was? Or was it because the current Ancestor, Ksitigarbha King, had blocked the main force of the Minor Calamity? Regardless, it was a good thing.
The weaker the Nether Ancestor, the more time they could buy. The more divine armies that arrived, the greater their chances of victory.
The Nether Ancestor stood at the center of a group of powerful beings, discovering that the life fruits from the Life and Death Realm had stopped flowing into his body. He glanced toward the Gray Sea and muttered to himself, "So he actually entered the Life and Death Realm? Is this making a wedding garment for another?"
Ksitigarbha King sensed that the Nether Ancestor's power aura had stopped growing. Knowing that the Gray Sea battle situation must be favorable to their side, he smiled. "It seems luck is still on our side."
"You actually believe in luck?" the Nether Ancestor said unhurriedly.
Ksitigarbha King said, "There is a little bit of luck in this world. Otherwise, why would the Path of Fate be one of the Nine Eternal Paths? But luck is also fought for—it was Hao Tian, Yan Huanyu, Meng Naihe, and the others who bought it with their lives."
"How do you think your luck is today?" the Nether Ancestor asked.
Ksitigarbha King felt the intense killing intent emanating from the Nether Ancestor. The other party was clearly preparing to go all out, heading for the Gray Sea.
To stop him, the only option was to self-detonate his ancestral divine source.
But to self-detonate his ancestral divine source before the Nether Ancestor, Ksitigarbha King had only a thirty to forty percent chance of success.
Both sides had reached the point where they had to fight to the death.
Ksitigarbha King's will was firm. "Sir, do as you will. So many have already sacrificed, and we have fought hard to reach such a favorable situation. This humble monk has no regrets even in death."
"You can only hold on for a few more hours at most. Want to die together with me? How could it be so easy? Today, I will first sacrifice the Desolate Universe, then sacrifice you."
The Nether Ancestor laughed meaningfully, then used his terrifying ancestral divine thought to control all the space rules of the Heavenly Desolation Universe. "Myriad Forms Formless, I too have some understanding! This move, Formless and Directionless, was derived from that understanding."
The Nether Ancestor's two palms were like two universes. One palm grasped all the space rules of the Heavenly Desolation Universe, while the other grasped all the space rules of the Desolate Universe.
He was like the Heavenly Dao itself. Everything in the universe was his plaything.
The branches of the Santu River were severed at the Ten Thousand Flow Realm, then disappeared before Fengdu Dadi's eyes in a rotating manner.
Along with the myriad branches of the Santu River, the desolate great worlds and planets also disappeared, along with the Nether Ancestor, Ksitigarbha King, Wangchuan, the Gray Sea, Heavenly Mother, and the crowd on the Space Chaos Worm.
In an instant, the entire Heavenly Desolation Universe fell silent, empty and hollow, as if only Fengdu Dadi remained.
"Where did they go? Those great worlds and planets, all the matter in the universe—where did they go?"
Fengdu Dadi considered himself well-traveled and deep-minded, but at this moment, he was still shocked beyond measure. He had never seen such a terrifying Dao technique.
No matter how he probed with his divine soul, he could not find the whereabouts of those materials and cultivators of the Heavenly Desolation Universe.
---
Hell Realm, Life and Death Realm Star.
Gods from various factions, some in groups of three or five, some organized into armies, all traveled the Ancient God Path, converging endlessly.
Some of these gods even carried hundreds of thousands of sacred armies within their divine realm worlds.
"The rise and fall of the universe concerns everyone."
Blood Butcher rode a mink beast, his armor gleaming, galloping through the void, releasing indestructible divine might. He roared, "Everyone, don't recklessly charge into the Heavenly Desolation Universe. I know you do not fear death, but the Minor Calamity of the Heavenly Desolation Universe has already begun. With your cultivation, if you go, you will only die instantly, becoming life fruits for the Nether Ancestor."
"All gods must form battle formations, and at least under the leadership of an Indestructible Infinite, can they go to the Heavenly Desolation Universe."
"Those who disobey will be executed!"
"You're all just causing trouble."
Blood Butcher handed over to Hai Shang You Ruo, saying, "You maintain order here at the Life and Death Realm Star. Don't let them rush about recklessly. The quality of these gods nowadays is getting worse and worse. Not like in our time."
Hai Shang You Ruo stood on a cloud, asking, "And where are you sneaking off to now?"
"My master is about to arrive. Once the Heavenly Court gods have left, the next batch will be the Destiny Temple gods gathering. I want to go fight in the Heavenly Desolation Universe with my master. You shouldn't go—you mainly cultivate the Path of Life, your combat power isn't up to par."
Blood Butcher headed toward the Heavenly Desolation Ferry.
"Damn it! Are my Path of Fate, Path of Time, and Sword Dao not strong enough?" If the situation weren't so urgent, Hai Shang You Ruo would have wanted to chase after Blood Butcher and settle things.
Bei Yao Hou, Que, Hai Shang You Ruo, and Blood Butcher had successively broken through to Indestructible Infinite, their cultivation speed astonishing. They could be called the golden generation of Destiny Temple.
If they did not die young, they would be the future three giants of Destiny Temple.
Of course, that was assuming the universe still had a future.
As for the even stronger Jue Miao Chan Nu, she did not cultivate the Path of Fate much, naturally belonging to the White Clothes Valley, the future master of White Clothes Valley.
---
The Heavenly Desolation Ferry was bustling with noise, divine light flashing everywhere.
Pan Yuan Ancient God led a Heavenly Court army. Banners covered the sky, warships formed groups, all assembled at the Heavenly Desolation Ferry. Every god was filled with surging battle intent.
Among the divine army, figures like Bian Zhuang War God, Zhao Gongming, Xuanyuan Lian, and Blade Venerable could be seen, all at the Indestructible Infinite realm.
"Five groups of divine armies have already left. Next, it's our turn."
Pan Yuan Ancient God's gaze fell on Xuanyuan Lian. "You are the most promising cultivator of the new generation in the Heavenly Court. I will advise you one last time. The Heavenly Palace needs someone to govern it. This is more important than revenge."
"I am at Indestructible Infinite. I think I have the right to decide the path I want to take. The future of the Heavenly Palace has nothing to do with me, but I must personally retrieve my father's bones." Xuanyuan Lian said.
"Boom!"
Many exclamations sounded, as if something unbelievable had been discovered, causing an uproar.
"It's her... How did she come..."
"Is she also going to the Heavenly Desolation Universe?"
Intimidated by the aura of Qishier Pin Lian, the gods retreated.
But after arriving at the Life and Death Realm Star, Qishier Pin Lian did not go to the Heavenly Desolation Ferry. Instead, she gazed into the void, muttering to herself, "Space is shifting. The legendary Formless and Directionless actually exists. Nether Ancestor, oh Nether Ancestor, are you already showing signs of decline? Don't you dare die at someone else's hands!"
The next moment, Qishier Pin Lian landed at the Desolate Universe Ferry, carrying the Origin Cause Qin on her back. Alone, she stepped onto the water, heading toward the Desolate Universe.
"Qishier Pin Lian... Kong Fannin..."
Xuanyuan Lian chased to the Desolate Universe Ferry, wanting to stop her. Some unknown emotion stirred within him, along with too many complicated doubts he wanted to ask.
But Qishier Pin Lian had already disappeared into the mist and clouds, walking away resolutely and ruthlessly, as if she had cut off all ties in the world.
Nothing could hold her back.
"Boom!"
Only then did the powerful spatial fluctuations finally reach the Life and Death Realm Star, then spread, shaking the entire Hell Realm. The Yellow Spring Star River seemed about to turn over.