Endless Voyage Realm, City of Guardians.
Above the Time Vortex, Zhangjie Wushu and Su Nianzu hovered with dignified expressions. It's been a full day since Xu You had ventured into the Time Vortex to investigate the area numbered forty-three. This wasn't particularly concerning, as a single trip could take a few days to a week's worth of time to complete any meaningful search, but the current Time Vortex wasn't as it once was.
Before its changes, the Time Vortex was a chasm of chaotic time energies that was filled with Past, Present, and Future Time Energies that could invoke very dangerous changes to all those who came in contact with it. This made it one of the major danger zones of the entire Endless Voyage Realm but also allowed it to be capitalized as a unique cultivation ground for Ascended beings and Realmlords to grasp insights into time.
This served them in completing their Temporal-type Mystic Rune or easing their completion of the lethal Temporal Eye Astral Tribulation. It wasn't to be underestimated as, even in the Endless Voyage Realm, the success rate for the Temporal Eye Astral Tribulation was roughly 8%, while those who spent time comprehending time at the outskirts elevated that rate to 17%, and those who were placed inside of a Protective Flowshell had a staggering 64% success rate.
This didn't account for the survival rate as the numbers were slightly higher due to the various protective measures that the Endless Voyage Realm had for Realmlords, only factoring in eventual success versus failure.
The sudden changes caused its energies to become sporadic and overflowing, and those on the outskirts experienced temporal regression that led to a loss of life and cultivation base. But eventually, the Time Vortex grew docile and flat, like a still sea.
The trio of Worldly Saints—Zhangjie Wushu, Xu You, and Su Nianzu—had taken it upon themselves to investigate while keeping the Lord of the City of Endless on house arrest due to suspicion of her possible involvement. While extremely unlikely, it was best to be safe now than suffer regret later.
The reason for their current dignified expression was due to another change that the Time Vortex had undergone, including their growing concerns.
"The Time Vortex returned to normal," Su Nianzu said with a soft voice, his eyes behind his helmet narrowed ever so slightly. "Emperor Xu has succeeded."
By all accounts, in his eyes, Xu You had investigated and found the cause for the changes to the Time Vortex and promptly solved the issue. Su Nianzu had this belief due to Xu You's strength and power.
However, Zhangjie Wushu's eyes flickered solemnly. The former docile version of the Time Vortex was relatively easier to traverse and resist, its energies less chaotic and powerful than before. Right now, the Time Vortex was a whirlpool of rampant violent power. Xu You was relatively deep, and if he instantly solved the issue, then this could pose an issue.
Su Nianzu completely understood her thoughts. "If he's at area forty-three, chances are he'll be stuck for a few decades—perhaps longer."
Zhangjie Wushu stared at the churning Time Vortex for a long while, shaking her head slightly with a wisp of pity. She knew that the Time Vortex was an abnormality within the Endless Voyage Realm, and it was heavily connected to the Endless Void Mirror as an abnormality formed after its creation, and its powers were somewhat ineffective. If he relied solely on his own power, chances are he'll be in a swamp of chaos, unable to accurately determine direction at his depths.
She would struggle to do so, and he was no different. Moreover, unless all three tokens were joined together to harness the true power of the Endless Void Mirror, escaping using it was a dream. Xu You had one of the core talismans for controlling it, so this led to a dilemma of him being trapped. It was quite funny too if one thought about it.
Xu You was certainly the most irritated by the abrupt changes of the Time Vortex, wanting to solve it the quickest and return to his cultivation, yet he was ensnared by the same thing he eventually fixed. Furthermore, if it had been her, they could've used the Endless Void Mirror to pull her out.
"I'm returning; I'll leave the Guardian to look out for him should he resurface any time soon." Su Nianzu was also impatient. With the issue solved and the Time Vortex returning to normal, there was no issue to linger. When Xu You escaped, he'll be able to debrief them on the cause of the changes.
Zhangjie Wushu nodded; she felt that her ill-feelings earlier might have been merely her imagination. The Time Vortex had completely returned to its normal state. According to their investigations, the cause of the static pathways was largely due to the Time Vortex's changes generating unpredictable effects. It wasn't the only change that the Endless Voyage Realm experienced.
With it solved, the static pathways will change, and the intensity of the conflict within the pathways will slowly decrease. Those fanatics seeking death will slowly retreat to their holes and await another opportunity.
Su Nianzu flew away without another word. He didn't feel the need to stay any longer.
Zhangjie Wushu stared at the chaotic churning of time energies, the great chasm of chaos, and she exhaled a breath of relief. It was unfortunate about Xu You's predicament, but at least they didn't have to worry about the integrity of the Endless Voyage Realm being threatened.
"At least it's not me." She felt happy that she wasn't the one trapped like Xu You. If she had been, the others might not exert their power to extract her or delay it out of pettiness or amusement. As for thinking that something horrible had happened to Xu You, that his life was in danger, it never crossed her mind for the briefest of milliseconds.
He was a Worldly Saint stronger than the average standard, terrifyingly powerful with all sorts of exceptional means. Even she feared him a little. Moreover, he was known for his overly cautious behavior that never took action unless he was confident in the end result. That alongside his Life Talisman remaining intact, there was no need to think that he was anything but trapped.
But a few decades, even a century, to Worldly Saints weren't too long relative to their lifespans. So he'll just suffer a little here.
"That Wei Wuyin…" She recalled that silver-eyed genius that was outstanding to the apex for his age, cultivation base, and appearance. It was hard to celebrate knowing that his life was over, likely due to the plots of others. With a slight frown, she looked towards the City of Endless' direction. She decided to take a trip and interrogate Liu Yinlan properly.
She vanished.
-----
The changes to the static pathways were rather abrupt. With the Time Vortex no longer interfering with various formations of the Endless Void Mirror, it began to commence a sequence of rapid repairs that could send Earthly Saints for a twirl. Moreover, to instigate these changes, the pathways were sealed off automatically.
In Pathway 7754, the black-robed and masked cultivators pushed further inward as if their numbers were essentially endless as Destined fought valiantly against their attackers, slaughtering them with extreme prejudice.
The corpses of Destined lay strewn across the tunnel, from the entrance to the Sealed Region to the entrance of the World Realm. The death was abundant and purely one-sided. It felt like a massacre despite the scent of death that filled the tunnel indicating that the number of individuals who'd died during this period was far, far more than the number of corpses one could see.
The entire tunnel was roughly seven hundred miles long, and while this might seem like a small distance to powerful cultivators, the tunnel was like a snake on the ground, coiled and twisted, and as such it was difficult to determine how many miles one had to truly travel to reach the end
However, the black-robed figures had already pushed halfway there. They roared with the fury of gods as they ignited their Astral Cores, burnt away their Lifeforce, performed overtly suicidal tactics that sought a life for a life, and while the standard of cultivators amongst the black-robed cultivators was considerably lesser in comparison to the Destined, the sheer numbers were utterly overwhelming. This including their tactic of risking their lives left them at a loss on what to do.
The female Unyielding Destined who commanded the other Destined at this moment had the darkest expression, her eyes suffused with anxiety accompanied by strong murderous intent. Her spiritual senses could encapsulate the entire tunnel thanks to various pre-established formations, and she was directing them in real-time through various transmissions.
While it wasn't a strictly cohesive army, they worked in tandem to help each other, to slaughter the enemy, and to survive. One of the reasons that outstanding Timelord could spare time to save that Realmlord earlier was solely due to being told of his predicament, and as such, he saved that cultivator's life.
Of course, that Realmlord ended up as a corpse eventually, but he had been saved.
"Commander, this is not normal!" A Spiritual Destined under her command shouted with fear and panic in his eyes. He wasn't the only one to point this out, and the Commander was not ignorant of this either. She knew that the corpses of those slayed would dissipate unless totally destroyed. She didn't know where they went, but she was certain they were dead through her senses.
While they've fought Trueborn before, the corpses would always do this, so it wasn't unordinary to her who had experience fighting them. It was just a method to prevent them from capturing these fanatical idiots and interrogating them. They had similar methods as well. But this time was a little different.
However, the situation was entirely different than before; the Pathways were static and so the enemies only needed to head to a single location and rush the entrance fully. They expected a rise in attackers, but they never expected THIS level of assault.
They had lost over sixty times their number, all experts at the upper-stages of the Astral Core Realm, and they hadn't stopped sending in reinforcements for a single moment. At first, everyone was energized and full of astral force to resist any attack, but after a long while, the wells of energy ran dry and their fighting strength deteriorated.
Most cultivators were forced to retreat and recover what little energy they could before rushing back to reinforce their positions.
"The entrance!" She softly shouted with gritted teeth and clenched fists. The pathway's currently static location led to these Trueborn bastards allowing them to send themselves forth with brainless intensity. They must be transporting countless of their members over to recklessly implement such a strategy. This wasn't something they could do any other time. These bastards were capitalizing on this opportunity!
Woosh!
BOOM!!
A comet arrived with tyrannical pressure, crashing before the female Commander. It belonged to an older man, roughly in his forties, but his body was fit, sturdy, and tall, and his appearance contained a unique mature charm. His cultivation base was at the Star Core Phase, and it was robust and forceful. On his shoulder rested a bo staff that dripped with fresh blood of various colors.
"Commander! I fought and killed the same person three times now," the cultivator calmly stated without a shadow of a doubt. He had been on the battlefield since the beginning, and this was the first time that he had retreated.
"What?!" The Commander was stunned. How was that possible? She tapped into her viewing formations, inspecting the raging fury of these cultivators, ready to die without hesitation. She still couldn't believe it.
-----
The three Shadow Eggs had concluded their search, forming a triangular orbit around a specific location. At that very moment, they began to glow with a silver light.
At the edges of this space, close to the border of the Aeternal Sky Starfield, a woman sat on a lone Voidship, completely concealed by a formation no less profound as the ones on the Shadow Eggs. She observed quietly with her crimson irises that shone like treasured rubies, brushing strands of her loose white hair away from her face.
At her glabella, a faint golden light flickered with a distinct softness. Behind her were two cloaked figures, both with Ascended auras of Demi-Mortal Lords, and both with feminine physiques that could topple entire nations.
"The cores of these Shadow Eggs better be intact," one of the cloaked figures said with a tone of displeasure and uncertainty. However, she had an icy, chilly aura about her.
"They certainly will be," the white-haired woman assured. She waited in anticipation for these Shadow Eggs to commence their final purpose in this world.
"I trust Miss San, so you should too." The other cloaked woman said with a wisp of a smile. If Wei Wuyin were to feel this aura, he would instantly recall a memory in the Devil War Realm where a cultivator halted his plans to claim all the Elementus Tokens.
"..."
"It's going to start soon."
The Shadow Eggs' emission of light began to gradually intensify!