What lay beyond the rift was the Astral Web—a cosmic structure that connected countless worlds like a vast network, holding together the very fabric of the Multiverse!
Hengsheng was shocked as he gazed at a massive Astral Rift tearing open in the middle of 3-D space.
His expression darkened as he recalled what he knew about it.
'Normally, the Astral Web's thread was directly connected to the Realm Core, but it was hidden within the multi-layered structure of high-dimensional space. It was not supposed to manifest openly in 3D space like this.' Hengsheng thought.
Then, it was just as Hengsheng had been concerned.
The appearance of a high-dimensional structure in 3-D space won't come without consequences.
The space around the rift was distorted and unstable, then…
Crack!!!
The Astral Rift expanded!
As it grew, the rift swallowed part of the realm, pulling it into the Astral Web beyond the rift like a black hole.
The terrain twisted and vanished into a shimmering tear. The rift continued to grow without any sign of stopping!
Hengsheng looked at the scene in shock—the incident with the cultists and the Wu God had just ended.
He didn't even have time to celebrate his victory before another incident unfolded before his eyes!
"This is too much, Heavenly Dao! One incident after another—can't you let me rest for a moment?!" Hengsheng cursed his fate and directed his complaint straight to the boss of the fate itself—the Heavenly Dao.
Hengsheng observed the rift's expansion as it grew faster and faster.
"At this rate, the Pagoda will be swallowed in an hour… and my Lan Clan Cave won't be an exception either. Hm…" Hengsheng murmured.
He noticed the presence of a bunch of people near the rift. Hengsheng quickly zoomed the map in for a clearer view, wanting to know who they were.
His eyes turned red with anger when he saw the face of the man who seemed to be the group's leader—it was another cultist leader!
Hengsheng tried to recall the man's name. Jian Zixuan had told him once… Bao… Bao… whatever.
Hengsheng instantly knew these guys must be the ones responsible for dragging a High-D structure into 3-D space. Their goal? To sabotage everyone after being defeated? What a bunch of sore losers.
"Huh!" Hengsheng exclaimed softly as he saw the cultist group willingly walk into the rift, each one holding hands tightly. Hengsheng thought he might have just witnessed a mass suicide.
Even though traveling across worlds through the Astral Web was safe from the void's erosion, low-level cultivators without the guidance of powerful experts who possessed strong Divine Senses had no way of knowing what kind of world they were heading toward.
It could be a Hell Realm of the Six Samsara, which was fatal to all living beings.
It might be a realm ruled by Demons or other hostile races—hardly welcoming to human cultivators.
Or worse, it could be a Forbidden Realm, one so dangerous that even True Immortals wouldn't dare set foot in it.
A group of weak cultivators stepping into the Astral Web without knowing their destination was like an ancient human venturing into the vast ocean on a small wooden raft, hoping to find safe new land.
A Complete suicide!
Hengsheng thought, "Maybe they're not committing suicide... maybe they have a method to find a safe place to land?"
"What should I do… No, what can I do?" Hengsheng turned grim as he watched the scene unfold on the Dimensional Map.
Then, Jian Zixuan and the other young cultivators seemed to notice the presence of the astral rift approaching them, yet none appeared panicked.
"Oh," Hengsheng muttered as he watched Jian Zixuan work on the Seal Formation Table, where five elemental seals were already placed.
"OHHH!" Hengsheng exclaimed as he noticed the realm itself beginning to react. A massive surge of Heaven and Earth's Qi gathered, flowing toward the rift, stabilizing its turbulence.
Glancing at the Dimensional Map, Hengsheng's eyes widened. The realm was actively repairing the Dimensional damage caused by the appearance of the Astral Web!
The massive rift is slowly narrowing back to where it appeared.
"So that's why the realm itself didn't repair the dimensional deterioration immediately when the astral rift appeared… it turns out the realm was being controlled," Hengsheng said in understanding.
"This Seal Formation can control the power of the realm…" Hengsheng murmured. He began to realize just how useful the formation truly was. If it could harness the boundless power of Heaven and Earth, what couldn't it do?
He even wondered—if a high-level formation master had the chance to study it in depth, could they possibly replicate the powers of his system?
"Above all… this might be the reason this dimension came to exist…" Hengsheng thought, and he dug into the information about the Realm and its Core.
While he did so, something came up to distract him.
Ding!
"Hm," Hengsheng muttered in confusion. Suddenly, a system notification appeared on its own. Without giving any command, he opened it to see what it was about.
[Quest Failed]
[Quest Title]: Crisis!
[Status]: Objective Failed – The Golden Pillar's Seal has been broken.
[Failure Penalty Applied]: The Incarnation of Vishnu, the Lord of All Senses, has been unsealed.
"WHAT?!" Hengsheng was stunned. He had completely forgotten about the quest—what did it even mean to fail? Wasn't that the Lord of All Senses already dead?
Ding!
[Failure Penalty Application: Failed]
[Status: Failure Penalty Invalidated]
Before he could think further, the massive pillars surrounding him began to tremble violently.
Crack!
A small fracture carved across the surface, then another, and another. The cracks widened rapidly before his eyes, spreading like spiderwebs through divine stone.
Then—
Boom!
…
…
Hengsheng was shocked as he had just witnessed the massive pillars shatter into countless pieces one after another.
BOOM!!!
When the last pillar shattered, Hengsheng felt the seal's power no longer suppressing him, he felt the weight lift from his body.
Then, his surroundings began to transform.
Slowly, the infinite darkness around him faded, replaced by a light of the outside world taking form before his eyes, the first light after complete darkness, shining in his eyes, hurting his eyeballs.
"Am I out? What's going on?" Hengsheng murmured as he opened his eye and discovered that he stood at the spot where he was being dragged to the seal dimension, where the rift that had spawned the God Spawn used to be located.
He felt the ground trembling violently, then his gaze landed on the Golden Pillar far away at the heart of the Secret Land—he saw it falling apart.
The massive structure of the Golden Pillar seemed unable to support its own immense weight any longer and collapsed vertically.
BOOM!
Hengsheng was no longer shocked by the absurd events that kept happening nonstop. Only one thought flashed through his mind—survive!
Hengsheng gazed at the Dimensional Map and observed the situation at the pagoda. The God Spawns were all gone; they no longer had any battle, yet the situation was far from good.
He noticed that the formation table and the elemental seal had been completely destroyed, while Jian Zixuan knelt before it, as if in defeat.
Hengsheng's eyes narrowed as he shifted his gaze toward the Astral Rift. Just as he had assumed, with the realm's power disappearing, the rift began to expand once again.
Hengsheng closed his eyes to focus on calculating his next move. The destruction of the Golden Pillar could only mean one thing—the situation on the continent's surface was clear: the Golden Sword Sect had somehow lost to the Heavenless Dao Cult.
When he thought about it, he felt worried about his clan, especially his mother.
He quickly zoomed out the Dimensional Map until it reached beyond the Realm Core dimension and displayed the situation above ground. Hengsheng's eyes widened at what he saw.
The Golden City, once a major city of the Golden Pillar Continent, had now become a ruined city filled with countless corpses and seas of flame.
This scene ignited wrath in Hengsheng—not just his personal nonsensical wrath, but it was a rage at the human cruelty, at how far people could go for their own benefit. It was a complete disregard for morality, and it was unacceptable.
"Human!" Hengsheng felt disgusted for being one too for a moment.
In the inner city, a battle was raging, with countless powerful cultivators and cultists clashing. The Golden Sword sect's gate had been destroyed, and the flames of war showed no sign of calming anytime soon.
Above the ruined city, floating mid-air, he saw 4 figures. Just by their appearance and attire, he could tell they were not cultivators.
They were Wu God, or more accurately, incarnations of powerful Devas from the Great Loka World.
They were attacking the Golden Pillar nonstop, even though it was already half collapsing. Their sole focus was to destroy the Golden Pillar, showing no interest in killing the cultivators below.
On the Dimensional Map, Hengsheng discovered that there was another layer of dimensional space above the Five Pillar Realm.
This dimension was not meant for living beings. It had an incredibly durable dimensional structure, served as a battlefield for powerful beings. Hengsheng noticed more than ten Tier 10 beings clashing within it.
In fact, he could not perceive the battle with his naked eyes. He saw nothing on the map, but the data revealed that a battle was occurring.
He put aside his curiosity and shifted the Dimensional Map's display to his clan's territory.
"What? It's gone?!" Hengsheng almost panicked when he saw that his Clan Territory was empty. The Lan City was also gone, and his house was missing—everything had disappeared as if the Lan Clan had never existed!