Chapter 180 The Annihilation Array: All My Past Self (Part Two)...
There isn't just one apocalyptic world.
The scene that unfolded in her vision in an instant was like a neatly woven net. Each square hole in the net was a world, and in each world, she saw herself.
I'm the version of myself chasing wild deer in a primeval forest with a stone axe in hand; I'm the version of myself walking through the streets in a black robe and sword in hand; I'm the version of myself standing blankly at one end of the road, carrying a satchel, waiting for the traffic light to change; I'm the version of myself sitting in a mecha, wearing a helmet and with the accelerator fully extended...
The scene depicts countless versions of themselves busily living ordinary lives. Then, in the next second, all of them look up, their clear pupils gazing at their respective skies, and through the reflection, at the version of themselves standing before the divination sword, looking at them.
In that instant, she met the gaze of all her past selves.
The next second, all their vision returned, and at that moment, all the worlds were struck by an unprecedented shock. War, torrential rain, frigid cold, meteorites, plagues—different factors suddenly erupted, plunging all the worlds into calamity.
The crowd around me surged about like startled birds, each of me jostled and pushed, drifting aimlessly in the sea of people like a rootless duckweed.
Gradually, the crowd thinned out, and eventually, only she remained.
One apocalypse after another, and one woman after another.
She crouched and crawled in the biting snow, then suddenly rose, her bow taut, and the flying arrow pierced the heads of three giant lizard monsters.
She leaped between the rooftops and buildings, her sword flashing as rotting flesh, bones, and heads fell from the shadows.
She lay in wait among the mutated crowd, halfway across the sidewalk, when she suddenly rushed toward a car, opened the door, kicked out a dead body, seized the car, and ran over the roaring monster.
She desperately clung to the stinking, mutated beast in the rushing water, raising her dagger and stabbing it repeatedly.
She piloted the fighter jet high into the sky, pushed the stick all the way up and pressed the button. The plane spun low, and the flames spewed from its wings scorched the zombies that lunged at her.
...
Starting from the top left corner of the net, the screen freezes after each successful kill, one after another.
The final image captured was of himself successfully killing the last mutated species in the corresponding world, then closing his eyes and disappearing into nothingness along with the world.
One cell disappears, and one cell closes.
In the end, only one square remained, representing my memory of being slapped in the face by a colossal mutant, my head and body severed.
Ji Mingran stared intently at the last square.
The grid kept playing on repeat, as if constantly reminding her of the horrific state of her death.
After a long pause, Ji Mingran asked in a hoarse voice, "And then?"
All the squares went out. Then, the large net merged into a single entity, displaying only one image.
In the darkness, a small, wounded corpse in the jungle suddenly opened its eyes.
The child scrambled to his feet, his round, innocent eyes revealing a wariness and alertness beyond his years. He quickly surveyed his surroundings, then nimbly ducked into the bushes, holding his breath in silence.
She lay in ambush for a long time until the ghoul suddenly appeared. She leaped up like a leopard and struck the enemy fiercely.
Then she and her companions became partners. She gradually grew, crossed the Heavenly Gate, joined a sect, participated in the Grand Competition, and then found the Divination Sword.
The moment the divination sword appeared, she glanced at it.
Just like her in every other world before, she looks at herself through the images.
Blood rushed to his head, his heart pounded, and Ji Mingran felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave, his whole body ice cold.
She looked directly into herself and asked, "So, what am I?"
Image changes.
One by one, the squares lit up again.
This time, she saw every single planet. Each planet was different in shape, but they had one thing in common: the wisps of mist that surrounded them.
Ji Mingran knew that if she were still herself in those small worlds at this moment, seeing the same scene, she would definitely not be able to identify what was orbiting the planet.
Now that she is a cultivator, she can instantly recognize the spiritual energy wandering in the world. The wisps of mist surrounding a planet are spiritual energy unique to each planet, intertwined with its destiny.
Now, in the hundreds of screens, the spiritual energy of every ring on every planet is thin and dim, just like the planet's fortune.
The images displayed by the divination sword were so straightforward that even the most foolish cultivator could understand from them that the fate of those planets had run out.
Moreover, Ji Mingran also saw a dark gray wisp drifting into each cell from outside, slowly touching the planet's mist, and gradually completely engulfing the mist.
Just as the dark gray pierced through the mist and touched the planet, a beam of light was born from the universe, fell upon the planet, and annihilated it before its fate was sealed.
Ji Mingran's eyelashes trembled slightly, and his fists clenched tightly.
She is a formation master, familiar with countless formations. Even if she has never seen a formation before, she can understand its essence and function as long as she can glimpse even a little bit of it.
This pillar of light is a grand formation born from the power of the heavens, condensing the spiritual energy of the sky.
I've seen similar formations before, such as the Transcendental Formation.
However, unlike the Transcending World Formation, this great formation is for Annihilation.
One beam of light after another destroyed the planet. Until the fifth square, a beam of light born from the universe fell upon the planet, but this time, the light spread and covered every corner of the planet before disappearing into nothingness.
The scene changed, and Ji Mingran saw his own face.
"So that's how it is." She heard Fu Yin murmur.
Even Fu Yin understood everything, let alone her.
The waves of her consciousness surged and crashed, cleansing and reshaping her primordial soul. She saw every lifetime she had lived, and thus remembered and understood everything.
The three thousand worlds are infinite in number; above them lies spiritual practice.
The world's fortune has run out, and strange monsters are waiting to invade. Heaven has taken notice and sent down an array to destroy the world, thus saving spiritual cultivators from disaster.
However, all things have a spirit, and although time changes, the spirit also gives rise to wisdom.
The World-Destroying Array activated its fifth cycle, giving birth to an array spirit. The array spirit gained intelligence, identified itself as human, and although confused about its mission, it also regarded the monsters as aliens and vowed to eradicate them.
The spirit of the World-Destroying Array only failed once.
This time, the otherworldly monsters finally carved a hole in the apocalypse and reached into the realm of spiritual cultivation.
Ji Mingran lowered his eyes and looked at his palms.
No wonder she was so adept at using formations, no wonder the Soul-Devouring Formation that suppressed Yu Tianxing was afraid of her.
She was actually a spirit array, a spirit array born of the Heavenly Dao, destined to slaughter and destroy the world.
Humans are born with destiny, and destiny changes with fate; the two influence each other. But she is different; she is destined to be connected to the apocalypse, and the world she exists in will only be the apocalypse.
Her fate seemed predetermined from birth.
The divination sword landed in his palm, and the blade that had been pressed against his neck simultaneously dropped.
Fu Yin sighed, "Spiritual cultivation is destined for destruction. Even if you are eliminated, the Heavenly Dao will only eliminate another one like you. It's a dead end, and we can't break free from it."
Ji Mingran brushed the runes on the sword, his fingertips resting on the center of the blade.
“True Lord Fu,” she asked, “if the Divination Sword had shown you back then the impression that Hongqi Sect would ultimately be devoured by evil, would you have given up?”
Fu Yin hadn't expected this question. After a moment's hesitation, she said, "I don't know."
"Yu Tianxing," Ji Mingran called softly.
Fu Yin was startled and turned around, only to find that there was a person standing silently behind her!
When did he arrive? Fu Yin immediately looked around and saw that he was alone, with no other Hongqi Sect cultivators following him.
She relaxed slightly, then re-examined the tall, slender, and icy-sounding black-robed cultivator.
Yu Tianxing dealt with those evil creatures so quickly. How much of the scene did he see just now?
As her thoughts raced, Fu Yin heard Ji Mingran ask, "Do you believe in fate?"
Fu Yin understood that the question wasn't directed at her, but it also wasn't directed at Yu Tianxing.
Sure enough, with a clang, the divination sword under Ji Mingran's two fingers broke in two and fell to the ground.
The girl smiled and said, "I've never believed it."
Fu Yin slightly opened her eyes.
Ji Mingran shoved the broken sword into Fu Yin's arms, who was still in a daze, and stared at the black-robed cultivator who had arrived.
The handsome young man immediately noticed her gaze and smiled, "I'm fine. I've cleaned up all those Hongqi Sect cultivators whose souls were corrupted."
Yu Tianxing's voice was soft and gentle. Dressed in a black robe, he stood under the night sky like a shadow blending into the darkness. His ethereal beauty resembled the moon hanging in the sky, something to be admired from afar.
But the pure, clear moonlight spontaneously approached her, bowing its head and gently brushing its slender fingertips across her forehead to confirm the stability of her primordial spirit: "Are you alright?"
A faint, bloody scent wafted from the quiet, cold night air. Ji Mingran sniffed the aroma, carefully examined Yu Tianxing's clothes, and reached out to touch the collar.
Everything was soaking wet. He pulled his hand back; his fingertips were covered in blood.
He was always dressed in dark black; if he hadn't rushed over, he could have concealed himself even better.
One person wiped out an entire mutated species; if it weren't for a death match, how could they have arrived so quickly?
Pale blue light, like fireflies, danced and gathered towards Yu Tianxing, landing on him in small spots.
"Yu Tianxing," Ji Mingran called out again.
He didn't tell her about his injuries, and she didn't ask.
She asked about something else: "Now that the ten cultivators of the Dao Sect will no longer be a hindrance to you, if you were to focus all your efforts on eliminating those evil beings, how long would it take to completely eradicate them?"
Yu Tianxing lowered his gaze and blinked very slowly, his deep black pupils misting over. He stared at her intently, seemingly unable to understand her question, and uttered a muffled sound: "Hmm?"
“You heard me right.” Ji Mingran looked up and met his eyes. “I mean, excluding me, without protecting me, just go all out. How long will it take you to figure out all the mutated species?”
Yu Tianxing looked at her quietly and asked in a low voice, "Where are you going?"
Ji Mingran stood on tiptoe, his forehead touching his, their eyes meeting: "Go back and continue what I haven't finished."
Yu Tianxing said sullenly, "I'll go with you."
Ji Mingran shook his head: "You have things to do too, don't you?"
Yu Tian remained motionless and silent, seemingly completely blending into the still night.
Ji Mingran released him, took a few steps back to create distance between them, and said definitively, "You also have things to do."
The teleportation array patterns extended from beneath his feet, a faint light rising from it.
The long shadow standing under the moonlight, though upright like a pine or bamboo, seemed to have lost its balance, exuding a sense of collapse. His dark eyes, as deep as a still pool, gazed at her as he asked in a cold, low voice, "Have you made a decision?"
Ji Mingran looked back at him. "Yes."
The sound was like a stone thrown into a pool, creating ripples that shattered the dark pool's eyes. Yu Tianxing's Adam's apple bobbed slightly, and his voice was hoarse and dry: "What I gave you, is it still not enough for you to stay?"
"Yu Tianxing." The array of light surged upwards, almost engulfing the person within. Ji Mingran gazed at those eyes filled with deep sorrow, then at the slender fingertips that were gripping the Hidden Life Sword tightly: "What I want is much, much more."
Before disappearing completely, she said, "I will not die."
The figures and the burst of light vanished in an instant, leaving not even a word of farewell.
Yu Tianxing sighed softly, and finally loosened his grip on the sword hilt.
“You could have easily blocked her teleportation array,” Fu Yin said. “You could have caught up with her. Why didn’t you go?”
Silently gazing in the direction the girl had departed, the black-robed cultivator stepped away after a long while, his long robe brushing against the spot where the girl had stood: "What she has decided to do, she will do. I know, and she knows too. I will arrange her return journey."
......
Even though Dingsheng Sect is located in the center of the spiritual cultivation world, it spans more than 100,000 miles across two seas from Yanzhou to Jiwuzhou.
Yu Tianxing was capable of using a technique to travel across continents in a single step, but she was not.
Yu Tianxing was left behind in Yanzhou by her, and she could only rely on herself to return, so coming was easy, but returning was difficult.
But this journey was not unfamiliar to her.
Alternating between teleportation arrays and flying on his sword, Ji Mingran mustered all his strength and returned to Dingsheng Sect on the tenth day after leaving Hongqi Sect.
As usual, her fellow disciples sent her messages every day along the way.
However, the news of Chongjue's death had already spread to spiritual circles the following day.
Shen Qingluo: "Mingran, Chongjue died last night."
Zhu Shibai: "Grandma, of the twelve elders of Hongqi Sect, only Fuyin Zhenjun remains, which reduces the strength to surround and kill you."
Guan Wangzhen: "My God, I heard that all ten cultivators of the Dao Sect have been ravaged by the Soul-Devouring Evil. The Hongqi Sect is even more terrifying, having cleared out a large number of Soul-Devouring Evil! Even old man Chongjue was among them! The entire spiritual cultivation community is in a state of panic!"
Even though they were on their way, Ji Mingran still managed to take a moment to reply: "I know, I killed him."
Shen Qingluo, Guan Wangzhen, and Zhu Shibai: "Huh??"
The three of them asked in unison, "Are you alright?!"
Ji Mingran smiled: "I'm fine."
Shen Qingluo: "Mingran, I think I hear the sound of wind that only occurs when flying on a sword. Where are you going?"
Guan Wangzhen's voice immediately drowned out Shen Qingluo's: "As expected of you, Grandma! Hey? You were clearly there, so why did True Monarch Fuyin only say that he used Yu Tianxing's power to wipe out the Soul-Devouring Evil within the sect? You clearly had a great deal of credit! No way, I'm going to find her and reason with her!"
Upon hearing Zhu Shibai's voice, one could tell he was desperately trying to calm Guan Wangzhen down: "Don't be impulsive! Grandma, although we don't know what happened, Fu Yin Zhenjun's actions seem more like she's deliberately hiding your whereabouts. Have you met her?"
Ji Mingran: "Yes, she helped me kill Chong Jue."
"What!" Guan Wangzhen exclaimed, her voice breaking, "She's from the same sect, and she just went straight for it?! What a heroine! I've heard that many sects, after discovering the existence of evil spirits, are reluctant to eradicate them, but instead imprison them and try to find the people from the past. However... I've heard that the hope is slim."
Zhu Shibai's voice was slightly low: "My Zhu family has also discovered a lot, but things have come to this point. I have advised the family head to make a decision as soon as possible, and to cut ties where necessary."
Shen Qingluo: "The Shen family too. Elder Shen has already sent me a message, hoping I will go back and help with the execution." She said sarcastically, "They are family, I can't bring myself to do it."
Guan Wangzhen immediately asked, "What about Chenning Manor?"
"Heh, he isn't. His ambition to become the family head is more steadfast than any other Shen family disciple." Shen Qingluo sneered: "Of course, not as much as mine."
Zhu Shibai: "So, are you going back? I think it's best not to get involved."
Shen Qingluo: "I won't get involved. If I really do it, the others will hate me for who knows how much. I'll leave these thankless tasks to Shen Ning Manor."
Guan Wangzhen: "Why do I feel like the two of you have some kind of sinister tacit understanding?"
Shen Qingluo and Zhu Shibai: "Shut up."
This was the first day of the telepathic communication. Gradually, the content of the communication was not as lighthearted as it had been at the beginning. Even though they tried to conceal it, Ji Mingran could still hear the unease and anxiety in their words.
“Mingran, why can I still hear the sound of flying on a sword? Are the ten cultivators of the Dao Sect chasing you? You'd better hide well.” Shen Qingluo could hear it every time, but she was always alert and never asked her for the exact location.
Ji Mingran: "Don't worry, no one is chasing me."
Zhu Shibai: "Grandma, you must hide it carefully. The ten cultivators of the Dao Sect have already set about searching for you. They have visited Ancestor Jiang several times in the past few days."
If Ji Mingran were to speak only with Shen Qingluo and Zhu Shibai, she would not detect anything unusual. The two were always afraid that she would overthink things, so they kept their mouths shut and never revealed any other information.
Fortunately, there is still Guan Wangzhen.
"Grandma, be careful of those evil creatures while you're hiding! It's not just the Soul Devouring Bodies!" Guan Wangzhen shouted. "Different evil creatures have been discovered in the Six Continents and various seas. The Ten Daoist Masters extracted more information from those Soul Devouring Bodies, saying that there are different types of them. Anyway, they are all extraterrestrial beings that have invaded the spiritual cultivation world! The Ten Daoist Masters are terrified and have started searching for you like crazy!"
Zhu Shibai warned in advance: "Wang Zhen!"
He quickly smoothed things over, saying, "Grandma, don't worry. They were just hit by the news and it's quite a blow. They should feel better after a while."
“Hey! Shibai, we can’t just report good news and not bad news. The clearer the information Grandma has, the better!” Guan Wangzhen was obviously not with the others, and Shen Qingluo and Zhu Shibai could not interrupt him by force: “Now the number of extraterrestrial evil creatures reported every day is increasing. Considering the cultivators whose souls have been devoured, there are now far more extraterrestrial evil creatures than cultivators in the spiritual cultivation world.”
“The spiritual cultivation world has indeed been completely invaded by these things.” Guan Wangzhen’s tone suddenly became heavy and serious.
"Grandma, the spiritual cultivation world may really be doomed. Just in case something happens in the future, I'm telling you this now. Take care."
Shen Qinglu was furious: "Guan Wangzhen! You're undermining her!"
Zhu Shibai was equally furious: "Wang Zhen, what you're saying is no different from what those people did to force Old Ancestor Jiang to hand over Granny!"
Guan Wangzhen: "Ah? That's not what I meant! I'm still protecting my people in the forest. The war has been intense these past few days, and I'm afraid I won't have the chance to say goodbye." He hurriedly said, "Grandma, that's not what I meant."
Traveling day and night, although the three of them spoke to her almost constantly, Ji Mingran also heard the faint sounds of weapons clashing and Taoist magic exploding from the sect's jade tablet.
All three of them were fighting.
Hearing what Guan Wangzhen said, he returned to his clan to defend against attacks from various mutated species.
His voice was loud, but it revealed an undeniable weariness.
Guan Wangzhen has always been optimistic and naive; he would not have said such a thing unless he was in dire straits.
How could Zhu Shibai and Shen Qingluo, two such intelligent people, not understand that Guan Wangzhen was in trouble? The fact that they neither asked nor offered to help shows that they were also unable to extricate themselves.
Although the parasitic mutant species, including Chongjue and the other cultivators of Hongqi Sect, have been wiped out, their demise seems to be sending a signal to the mutant species that have been lurking and multiplying in the spiritual cultivation world for many years.
A signal of a full-scale offensive.
During this time, Boss Jiang and his two senior brothers asked fewer and fewer questions.
Xiao Ji reported that he was being led by Yu Tianxing in a frenzy of killing enemies and would not be able to reply for a while.
In just ten days, the spiritual community has already fallen into a predicament.
The three of them were in different places, arguing incessantly, which added a touch of normalcy to the tense situation.
Ji Mingran finally stopped his relentless pace: "Hold on a little longer, and all of this will be over soon."
Zhu Shibai immediately sensed something was amiss: "What do you mean? What is Grandma trying to do?"
Shen Qingluo went a step further and, disregarding everything else, asked directly, "Mingran, you've been flying on your sword for ten days. Where are you going?"
Suddenly, the blue sky overhead was covered by dark clouds, and in an instant, a violent storm descended.
The raindrops, as big as fists, pounded through the Vajra Formation, pounding hard against her head, her face, and her body.
His flesh and bones quickly turned blue and purple. Ji Mingran covered his head, grimacing as he looked up at the dark clouds that were rumbling with thunder.
Boss Jiang is really going all out!
Such a large area of images is used for practicing formations.
It is true that as soon as a disciple of the Dingsheng Sect enters, they must first undergo a trial by the founder of Luanfeng to distinguish the genuine from the fake.
Boom!
The burst of light was dazzling, and purple lightning cleaved through the clouds, whipping down towards her with menacing force.
"Mingran!" The urgent shouts from his companions, transmitted through the sect's jade tablet, still rang in his ears.
Ji Mingran covered his head with one hand on his forehead, then reached out and grabbed upwards.
He caught the lightning that was about to strike his head.
A crackling electric current traveled from his palm to his entire body, causing the blood flowing in his spiritual meridians to surge and boil once more, and a huge wave rose in his sea of consciousness, making his mind dizzy.
The air smelled of coke.
He couldn't tell if it was her skin or her hair. Ji Mingran thought to himself as he yanked hard.
The lightning seemed to freeze, as if it were about to retreat back into the clouds.
Ji Mingran immediately placed his other hand on top, gripped both hands tightly, tensed his dantian, and pulled hard!
The lightning bolt was completely torn off.
The electric current crackled and surged through the forest.
Ji Mingran, seemingly tireless, kept pulling and pulling, the smoke billowing and the aroma of burning filling the air, the lightning hidden in the dark clouds being torn off like noodles.
Finally, it slumped to the ground, completely powerless, emitting only tiny sparks of electricity.
Ji Mingran picked up the sect's jade tablet again and looked up at the three large characters written in bold strokes between the stone pillars: "Dingsheng Sect".
"I'm going back to my sect," she told her three companions.
"You've gone back?" Shen Qingluo asked anxiously. "The sect still has a training array. This is a doubled array created by Ancestor Jiang. Be careful."
Ji Mingran let the lightning bolt slip weakly from his palm and fall to the ground without even glancing at it. He walked past the sect plaque and arrived at the sect's territory. "I have already experienced three lightning tribulations. The lightning from the Tu Lian Formation cannot trap me."
Zhu Shibai: "Grandma, what are you going back for?"
The emerald green light emanating from the ancient spirit stone fell upon her face, and the spirit stones suspended within were reflected in her clear eyes.
With his charred fingers clenched together, he took out the Spirit Stone.
"I'll go and solve the problems I haven't been able to solve before."
Author's note: Here comes the word count I made up for yesterday!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
