"Do it!"

Blue Bird and Zi Yuan were the first to rush out.

The Thunder Spear transformed into a dragon, roaring as it tore through two tentacles; the purple electric blade arc fell like a crescent moon, slicing another two into a spray of black water.

But the tentacles were endless, regenerating instantly where they were severed, with even more tentacles surging out from the vortex.

Leng Ningxue and Lu Duo deployed their domains simultaneously.

Extreme cold ice crystals spread from ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) beneath Leng Ningxue's feet, freezing the sea surface for miles around into a pale blue ice plain, forcibly slowing the regeneration speed of the tentacles.

Lu Duo's Life Barrier covered the battlefield like a Verdant Canopy, its gentle life force constantly purifying the erosion of resentment clinging to the tentacles.

Yu Nian pressed both hands onto the deck, and countless thick, deep green vines burst through the ice, entangling and strangling the tentacles. Though unable to destroy them completely, they greatly disrupted the rhythm of the attacks.

Bai Cheng's figure flickered, and she was already directly above the vortex.

Her silver hair danced in the violent turbulence of energy. She held the guiding lamp aloft with both hands, pouring the stream of faith into it with all her might.

"With the Gate as the guide, and Faith as the key... reveal the path to the void!"

The lamp's fire suddenly flared brilliantly!

A warm, clear pillar of light shot into the sky. It wasn't an attack, but instead shone straight toward the center of the Abyssal Pupil's giant nebula eyes.

Wherever the light reached, the constantly rotating star-swirl actually stalled slightly, as if temporarily suppressed by some higher level of power.

"Now!"

Within Bai Cheng's silver eyes, the spatial meridians bloomed like a galaxy.

She formed hand seals, and behind her, a hazy, massive light gate—formed by the overlapping phantoms of countless doorways—slowly emerged.

That was the ultimate manifestation of her bloodline's origin, the void behind the gate leading to the Return to Ruins of all things.

The pillar of light from the guiding lamp merged into the light gate, causing its solidity to surge threefold!

From within the gate came an absolute silence that devoured everything.

For the first time, the Abyssal Pupil showed clear anger and... a hint of wariness.

"The Bloodline of the Gate... can actually trigger this technique?!"

The giant nebula eyes spun frantically, and the remaining four chains vibrated violently.

The seawater of the entire Abyssal Trench surged upward, transforming into a dark waterspout that pierced heaven and earth. Along with the resentment of countless civilizations within it, it crashed toward Bai Cheng and the light gate!

This strike had already surpassed King Rank Three, infinitely approaching the threshold of an Emperor!

"Stop it!" Blue Bird's eyes nearly split from strain. She and Zi Yuan recklessly burned their origins, merging lightning and blade intent into a purple-gold barrier that blocked the path of the waterspout.

Leng Ningxue pushed the laws of ice to their limit, freezing ten thousand miles.

Lu Duo's Life Barrier shrank to its smallest size to protect Bai Cheng with all its strength; Yu Nian roared as all her vines wove into a final line of defense.

The barriers shattered layer by layer, the ice plain cracked, the vines withered, and the Life Barrier teetered on the brink of collapse.

But they had bought the most critical moment.

Bai Cheng turned a deaf ear to the tragic scene behind her, pouring all her mind and faith into the light gate.

Deep within her silver eyes were reflected the expectations of the desert survivors, Atum's entrustment, her companions' trust, and the blessings of countless lost civilizations within the guiding lamp.

"Annihilation: Gate of the Return to Ruins!"

The light gate swung wide open with a roar!

There was no sound, no explosion of light.

What surged from within the gate was pure 'nothingness'.

The waterspout, the darkness, the resentment, and even the portion of will and energy projected by the Abyssal Pupil—the moment they touched the doorway, they vanished silently like pencil marks erased by an eraser, returning to total void.

"No—!!!"

The Abyssal Pupil let out a shrill shriek that overlapped the voices of billions of souls.

The giant nebula eyes struggled frantically, attempting to sever the connection with the portion of power being devoured.

But the light of the guiding lamp was like a maggot on a bone, firmly locking onto its core. The suction of the light gate grew stronger and stronger, beginning to tear at its true body hidden deep at the bottom of the trench!

The remaining four chains snapped one by one!

The seventh, the eighth!

With every chain that broke, the Abyssal Pupil's aura weakened a notch, while the light gate's suction increased by a fraction.

When the final chain completely shattered, the Abyssal Pupil's true body...

A chaotic core of constantly shifting forms, composed of countless civilization remnants and nebula energy, was finally forcibly dragged from the deepest part of the trench and cast irresistibly toward the Gate of the Return to Ruins.

"I... unwilling... Leader... you plotted..."

The Abyssal Pupil's final thoughts were intermittent, filled with endless malice and a hint of unbelievable shock.

Leader?

Bai Cheng's heart jolted.

But the Annihilation Technique had reached its final stage and could not be stopped.

She gritted her silver teeth, pushing her resolve—having sacrificed half her origin—to the extreme.

Sharp pain erupted from the depths of her soul, as if her entire being was being torn apart.

At the same time, Blue Bird and the other four groaned in unison, the star marks on their foreheads shining.

The damage-sharing secret technique suggested by Lu Duo took effect; the five of them shared a portion of the soul-burning pain, barely managing to preserve Bai Cheng's foundation.

The chaotic core finally vanished completely into the light gate.

The doorway slammed shut, then dissipated into a sky full of light specks along with the guiding lamp.

Heaven and earth suddenly fell silent.

The upended seawater crashed down, stirring up monstrous waves.

The dark clouds parted, and a ray of heavenly light pierced the darkness, spilling onto the devastated sea surface.

Those terrifying giant nebula eyes had disappeared without a trace.

Is it over?

Blue Bird leaned on her Thunder Spear, panting; Zi Yuan used her blade to support herself on the ground; Leng Ningxue's face was as pale as paper; Lu Duo and Yu Nian were nearly exhausted.

Bai Cheng knelt in the void, her silver hair disheveled and her aura withered, but her eyes remained clear.

However, just as everyone's guard relaxed slightly,

At the spot where the Abyssal Pupil's core had been devoured by the void and disappeared, space suddenly distorted and collapsed violently!

An extremely condensed dark blue light core, flickering with eerie starlight, actually forcibly broke free from the cracks of the void. Though covered in cracks and on the verge of death, it had not been completely annihilated!

"How is that possible?!" Zi Yuan cried out.

The Annihilation Technique should theoretically have banished it completely to the void behind the gate, never to be released.

The dark blue light core suspended in mid-air transmitted the Abyssal Pupil's weak but extremely malicious remnant thoughts:

"Heh... hehe... self-righteous ants... you... and I... are all pawns..."

Before the words finished, the cracks on the surface of the light core suddenly expanded. It wasn't natural disintegration, but rather being triggered from within by some more domineering and secretive power!

"Is this... a mandatory extraction of laws?!" Leng Ningxue's icy eyes shrank as she recognized the technique.

Within the light core, the vast and jumbled law origins that the Abyssal Pupil had accumulated by devouring and merging countless civilizations—

Water, darkness, soul, devouring, space-time fragments, and so on—were being crudely stripped and refined by an invisible force!

Those law powers that originally belonged to countless lost civilizations, filled with resentment and impurities, were actually beginning to transform into purer, more primordial forms under the intervention of some supreme level!

The dark blue light core shattered completely, turning into a sky of light dust.

But this light dust did not dissipate; instead, pulled by some profound regularity, it began to spontaneously combine and evolve.

Amidst the light dust, twelve blurry constellation phantoms faintly emerged, connecting with one another to form a magnificent array that shrouded heaven and earth.