When that immense pressure descended, Xu Zimo’s body was instantly suppressed in place. Boundless power poured down from the heavens without end.
His five viscera and six organs, his limbs and bones, all seemed to freeze.
Even his True Fate felt as if it were congealing.
He lifted his head slightly, above was nothing but darkness, the sky empty and indistinct.
Though no figure had appeared, this oppressive force alone suppressed everything.
Paimon and Seven-Face were about to emerge, but Xu Zimo stopped them.
He gazed calmly at the heavens.
There was no doubt, this was a Saint Sovereign, a true Saint Sovereign.
“Since you’ve made a move, why not dare to show yourself?” Xu Zimo asked.
“You should be fulfilling your mission, not wasting time here on matters irrelevant to you,” came a faint voice from the dark sky.
“Then come out and speak to me,” Xu Zimo said. “I won’t converse with one who hides his head and tail.”
“Leave this place. Do not meddle in the affairs of the liches. It will bring you no benefit. Leave,” the voice continued, ignoring his demand.
Xu Zimo suddenly felt the weight upon his body loosen, his spiritual energy beginning to circulate again.
That suffocating terror vanished.
“So you won’t face me, do you think I’m too weak?” he muttered.
But all around, there was only emptiness, the endless winds stirring sandstorms across the desert.
“Master, it should be them,” Paimon’s voice echoed.
“If he hadn’t struck, I would have doubts. But with that strike just now, it’s a hundred percent certain.”
Xu Zimo stayed silent.
In the past, he was the one telling others such things. But this time, it was he who sighed.
“This world is really damn vast.”
At that moment, the world before him began to distort.
The sweeping sands faded, and countless cracks split across the sky.
The heavens collapsed.
“The Particle World is shattering,” Paimon said.
The void ahead fractured. Cracks split across the ground, which then collapsed piece by piece.
Xu Zimo’s body plummeted downward.
Boom… boom… boom!
Heaven and earth wailed. Thunder roared, lightning flashed, visions burst forth across the void.
This was Xu Zimo’s first time witnessing the collapse of a Particle World.
The shattering of a Particle World meant only one thing. Bright Emperor had fallen.
Before, Bright Emperor still had a sliver of life remaining, enough to speak his last words, to beg others to kill him.
Now, he had likely fallen forever, becoming a lich.
This was also the question Xu Zimo had been pondering all along. Liches were not a natural race, but something created.
“What’s wrong, friends?” Xu Zimo asked.
“We’ve been deceived,” Bai Tihe replied. Then he glanced at Xu Zimo and asked, “Fellow Daoist, do you know something of this?”
“What could I possibly know?” Xu Zimo shook his head slightly.
“Those liches must have…” Yu Huang sighed, leaving his words unfinished.
They had thought the liches wanted to reignite the calamity of ages past, and they sought to stop it.
But the truth had left them all deeply shaken.
If the Particle World had not shattered, they likely would not have escaped alive.
Now the situation was dire, and they no longer knew the liches’ whereabouts.
“What do you plan to do?” Xu Zimo asked.
“We discussed it,” Jiang Yun replied. “We want to unite with other Dao Courts and form an alliance. Would Brother Daoist like to join us?”
“No,” Xu Zimo shook his head. “I plan to go to North River City to find Gongyang Ce.”
The matter of the Grand-Pivot God-Sword was paramount.
As for the liches, he already understood enough, and there was no need to entangle himself further.
“Do you know anything about the liches’ origins?” he asked.
“We’ve investigated before, but found nothing,” they shook their heads.
“They appear as if from thin air, and vanish the same way. Saint Sovereign Brahma might know something, but he never told us.”
“If you do know anything, please share it,” Yu Huang said earnestly. “For the sake of the entire Mortal Ascension Heaven.”
“Saint Sovereign,” Xu Zimo answered softly with just two words.
As for the rest, whether he explained or not, they would understand.
To fight the liches, they would need to find Saint Sovereign Brahma.
Otherwise, their Dao Courts alone would not be enough.
“Thank you,” Yu Huang nodded.
They had suspected as much.
There were liches at the level of Saint Sovereigns. In the past, Brahma had slain them, shattering the liches’ forces.
But now, things were not so simple.
“You’re going to North River City, let us escort you,” Yu Huang offered.
“No need. I can manage myself,” Xu Zimo shook his head.
He asked for directions, learning that heading northwest, the second city along the road would be North River City.
A city vast and renowned.
“Until we meet again,” they said their farewells and departed the valley one by one.
Xu Zimo checked his bearings, then mounted the Seven-Winged Demon Dragon and set out for North River City.
He did not stop along the way. Perhaps the events he had witnessed made him feel an increasing sense of urgency.
With the Seven-Winged Demon Dragon flying at full speed, after thirty days, he reached the territory of North River City.
From a distance, the city stretched beyond the horizon, seemingly without end.
It was like the Great Wall, stretching all the way to the edge of the sky, with no boundary in sight.
Ancient green bricks formed its unbroken walls.
An ancient, oppressive aura emanated from it unconsciously.
This was one of the greatest cities in the Azure Frontier, famed throughout the land.
The gates were rusted with age.
And yet the city had no ruler.
Though North River City lay within the territory of the Unified God Sect, even they had no authority to govern it.
There was no true sovereign here.
Thus, its powers were many and entangled.
The number of residents alone was in the billions.
Daily traffic exceeded hundreds of billions.
The vastness of the city was unimaginable.
Xu Zimo now stood before its gates.
Merging with the endless crowd, he entered North River City.
Earlier, Yu Huang and the others had already told him where Gongyang Ce resided.