Chapter 4731: The World Core Ran Away
The Eighth-Cycle world should still be manageable.
Lin Moyu let out a breath of relief.
The fact that the world core took the form of an eight-tiered pagoda meant this world was an Eighth-Cycle world and had not yet reached the Ninth Cycle.
"The strength of Eighth-Cycle worlds varies as well," the Primordial Stone said.
"This world should be stronger than the Silver-White World. Master still needs to be careful."
"Of course."
Lin Moyu had always been cautious.
With a sweep of his great hand, he sent the World‑Burning Flame shooting toward the eight‑tiered pagoda.
As long as the World‑Burning Flame could fall upon that pagoda, the battle here would be decided.
This world would not escape the fate of being refined.
The world core was both strong and weak.
The world revolved around it, and it was the origin of all rules, able to manipulate the entire world.
At the same time, its actual body was pitifully fragile and easy to shatter.
No matter how powerful the world's rules were, once the core was under control, the entire world would fall into one's hands.
The instant the World‑Burning Flame appeared, it was like throwing cold water into a pot of boiling oil.
Waves surged in an instant.
The eight‑tiered pagoda spun madly, spewing out endless black mist as it rotated.
That black mist was made entirely of rule lifeforms.
The black mist wrapped completely around the pagoda, and in a blink, it was nowhere to be seen.
"It actually ran!" the Primordial Stone cried out in shock.
The world core had fled.
This was something that had never happened before.
Lin Moyu was also surprised.
How had the world core slipped away so cleanly?
The dark rules that the core spewed out completely blocked his vision.
There was no way to tell which direction it had escaped in.
The rule lifeforms that the Elemental Stone had inverted were once again swallowed by the darkness.
All around, everything fell back into endless black.
The World‑Burning Flame continued to burn, but Lin Moyu could not see it.
Countless rule lifeforms were assaulting the World‑Burning Flame.
They were not normal living beings.
They were so minuscule they did not even possess souls.
The World‑Burning Flame was therefore less effective on them than usual.
With a thought, Lin Moyu detonated the World‑Burning Flame, turning it into a sea of fire.
A vast amount of dark rules was burned away, but even more, and stronger, dark rules surged in immediately.
They pushed back against the World‑Burning Flame and compressed the sea of fire, causing its range to shrink rapidly.
For the first time, the World‑Burning Flame was being suppressed.
Lin Moyu had no choice but to recall it.
"This world really is no simple thing," he muttered.
"For an Eighth-Cycle world, it has probably reached an invincible level."
"Dark Worlds are very rare to begin with," the Primordial Stone said.
"Now it seems their rarity has its reasons."
What was weak existed in great numbers; what was strong existed in small quantities.
Dark Worlds were few, but each one was terrifyingly powerful.
The dark rules pressed in once again.
Among them, those numberless worm‑like rule lifeforms were constantly wearing down the Power of Death.
Lin Moyu was already surrounded.
Because of the world core's presence, the density of dark rules here had multiplied several dozen times over what it had been.
Even together, the Elemental Stone and the Power of Death could at most keep him safe.
If he wanted to locate the world core smoothly under these conditions, it would be extremely difficult.
"A different approach is needed."
"You may be many," he thought, "but I am not exactly few either…"
With a single thought, he summoned all one trillion Undying Spirit Soldiers.
Every Undying Spirit Soldier carried a portion of the Power of Death.
In an instant, countless rule lifeforms were corroded, and the screams multiplied beyond measure.
Lin Moyu had used his trump card.
This was the first time he had deployed every Undying Spirit Soldier at once.
A full trillion Undying Spirit Soldiers—this number alone was enough to sweep across entire worlds.
They surged out, bearing the Power of Death, and in a single charge, they corroded an enormous swath of dark rules.
Lin Moyu had not originally wanted to take this step.
Doing so would consume a tremendous amount of power from the Undying Dao, and that power would not recover in the short term.
The Undying Dao was his fundamental Great Dao, and its power was not infinite.
As long as he did not consume it too heavily in a short span, the Undying Dao could replenish and restore itself.
But the situation now forced his hand.
He could not keep dragging this out.
Lin Moyu understood his own limits.
He could not afford a battle of attrition against an Eighth‑Cycle world—even if this world was already a wreck.
Not even the Sky‑Rending Emperor could have outlasted it back in those years, never mind Lin himself.
This had to end quickly.
He needed to conclude the fight in a short time and refine the world core.
The Undying Spirit Soldiers charged in all directions with the Power of Death.
Wherever they passed, oceans of dark rules were corroded away.
Then the soldiers formed battle formations.
Ring after ring spread outwards, sweeping the surroundings clean.
The world core might have fled, but Lin Moyu was certain it could not have gone far.
The fact that it could move already exceeded his expectations.
If it could also escape at high speed, he would never believe it.
In the span of a few heartbeats, a vast region had been cleared.
The darkness thinned, and the ashen‑white radiance from the Undying Spirit Soldiers lit up a broad area.
"Find the world core," Lin Moyu ordered quietly.
The power of the Undying Dao was draining at a staggering rate.
More dark rules were surging in from the distance.
He could not afford to waste time.
The Primordial Stone had already begun searching.
Very soon, it pointed in a direction.
"Over there!"
With another thought from Lin Moyu, several hundred million Undying Spirit Soldiers turned into arrows of light and shot toward the location of the world core.
Along their path, still more dark rules were corroded.
Screams rang out across the entire world.
Lin Moyu sped after them and once more caught sight of the world core.
The core seemed to be in a panic.
It spun rapidly, spurting out black mist as if desperate to flee again.
"You cannot escape."
The World‑Burning Flame flew out once more, streaking toward the core.
The world core appeared to fear that flame deeply.
Its spinning grew even faster, and endless black mist sprayed from the pagoda.
"Ah!"
A roar, several times louder than the previous screams, suddenly rang out.
It was not a shriek of pain, but a bellow of fury.
Outside the eight‑tiered pagoda, a gigantic black insect abruptly emerged—
A magnified version of the world's rule lifeforms, and the combined form of countless such beings.
The eight‑tiered pagoda burrowed into the body of the giant insect, letting the insect shield it.
Numberless rule lifeforms had gathered together into this colossal worm.
From silent, unseen invasion, the Dark World had now moved to open, direct confrontation.
"It is useless," Lin Moyu said with a small shake of his head.
He had long anticipated that something like this might happen, so he felt no surprise.
This world core was unlike any he had seen before.
On top of its instinctual nature, it seemed to possess a trace of awareness.
Normally, a world core should not develop consciousness.
However, too many beings had died here.
The remnants of their will had inevitably seeped into the dark rules and, through them, influenced the world core.
So one could say that the world core had birthed a sliver of its own awareness.
One could also say that an even more powerful rule lifeform had been born in this place.
That stronger rule lifeform used the world core as its vessel.
Through it, it controlled the entire world, including all the rule lifeforms within it.
The giant insect smashed into the World‑Burning Flame.
The flame dimmed for an instant.
An uncountable number of rule lifeforms were burned to ash in that moment, but at the same time, part of the flame's power was consumed.
The number of rule lifeforms destroyed in that single impact was beyond calculation—
Probably in the hundreds of billions or even trillions—
Otherwise even the slightest weakening of the World‑Burning Flame would have been impossible.
With the giant insect shielding it, the World‑Burning Flame struggled to reach the world core.
If the flame could not touch the core, the battle would never end.
Countless undying spirits hurled themselves at the giant insect.
The dark rules composing its body were quickly worn away, but more dark rules relentlessly flowed in to take their place.
This was its home ground, its main battlefield.
In a contest of endurance, Lin Moyu could not hope to win here.
"Ultimate Undying."
Lin Moyu activated Ultimate Undying.
His aura soared dramatically as he entered a state of true undying and indestructible existence.
Gripping the World‑Burning Flame, he turned himself into a fiery arrow and slammed straight into the body of the giant worm.