In the blink of an eye, Lin Moyu had spent five years in this spacetime interlayer. In five years, the number of Wildshade Kings under his control had risen to ninety-eight. With two more, he could fuse them into a Wildshade Broodmother. Since Heaven and Earth first birthed Wildshades, no one has ever seen a Broodmother—perhaps it appeared once, but everyone who saw it died without exception. Lin Moyu knew he was about to become the first to see a Wildshade Broodmother and still live. Moreover, this Wildshade Broodmother would serve him.
"Hopefully your abilities won't disappoint me." Lin Moyu had high expectations for the Broodmother. The power source of the Wildshades is almost the same as that of a Time Essence Stone, and the Broodmother also bears space. As the pinnacle among them, gathering the strength of tens of billions of Wildshades, it should be able to push spacetime power to the extreme.
The ninety-eight Wildshade Kings spread out, summoning in Wildshade swarms from afar for Lin Moyu to burn and convert. There were not many Wildshades left in the interlayer—only a few groups could be found in the corners. Another year passed, and at last the final two Wildshade Kings were gathered.
A hundred peak-state Wildshade Kings assembled. The aura they naturally emitted alone threw spacetime into disorder. Time and space here turned bizarre, constantly twisting, disturbing thought, Dao-heart, and soul. Any cultivator below the Chaos Realm would go insane within moments of entering.
"Fuse," Lin Moyu commanded. A fusion beyond imagination began.
The hundred Wildshade Kings grew illusory, each adjusting the timespace it occupied. By an exceptionally special means of communication, every region of each King aligned with the corresponding region of the others, entering the same timespace. Space cracked, time halted and then moved, the entire space swiftly shattered. Fissures spread like spiderwebs, expanding outward until they affected the whole interlayer.
In the next instant, the spacetime interlayer collapsed with a roar. Lin Moyu fell with countless fragments of space into the Ancient Wilds of Chaos. His gaze swept around. "This is the Wildscar."
The Primal Chaos Gem took a look. "Yes."
The Wildscar lay very near the East Extremity, on its border. They had basically returned to Chaos. The shattering of spacetime did not affect the fusion of the Wildshade Kings; their fusion continued, their emitted power growing ever stronger, spacetime continuing to break.
A thought stirred in Lin Moyu and he brought out the Hidden Spirit Pearl. He handed it to Xiaopeng to control. Because he was screened by the rules of Heaven and Earth, he could no longer use the Hidden Spirit Pearl himself. Xiaopeng drove it with all his might, but even its power could not fully conceal the soon-to-be-born Wildshade Broodmother.
The range of spacetime collapse grew wider—ten billion li, a hundred billion li, a trillion li. Space crumbled like tofu. Distant space was forcibly pulled over by some strange power. There were living beings in the Wildscar as well; they were yanked close in an instant and then died without a sound. Whether Chaos Realm minor, major, or perfect, none could escape in that moment. In a blink, all beings within a range of tens of trillions of li were slain. The number of lives in so vast an area was beyond counting—yet all perished at once.
"This is the Great Calamity. As long as you are a living being, you are within it." Lin Moyu sighed. He could only be helpless before it. When the Calamity rises, none can be spared. Those who survive are the favorites of Heaven and Earth.
After the Wildshade Kings fused for a short while, the phantom of a terrifying giant insect slowly surfaced. Its phantom alone made Lin Moyu's heart give a slight tremor. Its might vaguely exceeded a Supreme's. Under its influence, spacetime took on concrete form—countless scenes manifested in the shattered void, chaotic images from who-knows-when and where. Then came another great shattering: more space broke, spacetime grew even more chaotic. Lin Moyu felt a faint discomfort—his own time seemed to go haywire. A glance might be ten thousand years; it might also be a rewind of millions of years. Fortunately, his body and soul were powerful, and with Primordial Qi sheathing his soul-world, he forcibly blocked time's influence.
In this great shattering, a corner of the Wildscar collapsed and the damage spread into the East Extremity. This was originally the borderland between Wildscar and East Extremity; now the border was smashed, and parts of the East Extremity were torn to pieces. Lin Moyu saw several domains: some Perfect-level experts had placed their domains at the East Extremity's edge, some were unowned domains not yet fully formed. When spacetime broke, these domains emerged and were ripped to fragments. No matter how many beings and how many powerhouses were within a domain, all died in that instant.
The Great Calamity is merciless. Heaven and Earth will not care about the lives of mere beings. Not to mention a few domains—even if thousands or tens of thousands of domains perished at once, to Heaven and Earth it would be a trifling matter.
"The Calamity has come," said the Primal Chaos Gem. "Even if they don't die now, they will later. To survive a Great Calamity requires either heaven-defying luck or heaven-defying strength. In short, you must defy Heaven. The rules are Heaven; the Calamity is the calamity of Heaven and Earth. Those who live through it are all defying Heaven."
"I understand," Lin Moyu said. "In a Great Calamity, even Supremes can hardly safeguard themselves. These beings in their eyes are not even ants."
The Primal Chaos Gem chuckled. "If Master wants more people to live, then get a Transcendent out as soon as possible. The Calamity can end sooner."
Lin Moyu shook his head. "Though I don't wish to see too many die, I will still proceed by my plan—step by step. No rushing. Better to go slower and steady."
Lin Moyu is not a heartless man, but neither is he some grand righteous savior. He cares only for those he cares about. As for others' life and death, he cannot manage them. His own domains had already completely fused and were sent into Yushen Heaven and Earth; they were no longer affected by the Calamity. He had no need to mind anyone else. He only had to follow his plan forward and succeed in the end.
The Wildshade Broodmother's fusion continued, its phantom gradually solidifying, its aura swelling. The Hidden Spirit Pearl was mostly ineffective now and could scarcely veil it. But Lin Moyu was not worried. He knew that others would find it very hard to sense the Broodmother's aura; he sensed it so clearly only because he was its master. The Broodmother's aura seeped into different timespaces; after threading spacetime it would appear in corners all across Chaos. Even an existence like the Calamity Supreme would find it hard to pinpoint the Broodmother's exact location by aura alone. They would only know that another being had appeared in Heaven and Earth, one not much weaker than themselves.
Counting the soon-to-form Wildshade Broodmother, this Heaven and Earth now had five beings beyond Supreme yet short of Transcendent—not counting Lin Moyu. The Calamity would grow ever livelier.
Rumble—thunder rolled. The rules of Heaven and Earth suddenly descended. Violet thunderclouds gathered in the void. Bolts of violet lightning shattered spacetime and fell.
The abrupt descent of Heaven-and-Earth's rules exceeded Lin Moyu's expectations. He had thought he was no longer under their notice, and that the same applied to what belonged to him. It seemed his view was too one-sided. The rules of Heaven and Earth were still watching him in secret and would seize chances to make trouble. The first time, they broke the space-passage and dropped him into the Wildshades' interlayer; they failed to kill him and instead gave him a chance. This was the second time: as he fused a Wildshade Broodmother, the rules sent down thunder, wanting to prevent its birth—or perhaps the Broodmother was simply too heaven-defying, giving the rules grounds to strike.
"How strange. Aren't the rules supposed to be without wisdom? Why do I feel like they have some?"
The two interventions made Lin Moyu feel something was off. Before, the rules had seemed normal to him: treating him as a tribulation-bearer, then—after he provoked them again and again—pushing them past the bottom line and finally branding him the enemy of Heaven and Earth. All of that lay within his expectations, fitting his understanding. But that strike in the space-passage had already exceeded expectations. Normally, the rules do not act personally; they are rules, and must be obeyed by beings within Heaven and Earth—and by themselves as well. That incident could still be chalked up as an accident, a slight deviation in his understanding. But this second move by the rules could not be explained away. The appearance of a Wildshade Broodmother at most just barely surpasses Supreme; it should not draw down tribulation lightning. When Lin Mohan surpassed Supreme then, he likewise did not draw thunder.
There was another point he could not fathom: what benefit would killing him bring to the rules? Even if he had become the enemy of Heaven and Earth, it was still someone else's opportunity—someone else could kill him and prove the Dao. If the rules killed him, there was no use. Could the rules themselves prove the Dao?
The Wildshade Broodmother screamed within the lightning. Its cry cut through time, carrying unimaginably far. Like knives, the cries arrived in an instant at distances of trillions upon trillions of li, and vast numbers of beings were erased yet again. The Broodmother had not fully formed, but its power was already showing.
The thunderbolts were tremendous. Driven by the rules, each bolt could annihilate spacetime and wound the Broodmother. But it was useless: the Broodmother was no ordinary lifeform but an Undying Spirit. One trait of Undying Spirits is that they are very hard to kill; even if slain, they soon resurrect. Lin Moyu now possessed an almost unkillable, beyond-Supreme, gold-plated enforcer. Even the thunder of the rules of Heaven and Earth would struggle to destroy it.
Lin Moyu watched awhile, then looked away. "I need your help with something," he said to the Primal Chaos Gem.
Hearing that he was needed, the Primal Chaos Gem perked up. "Since Master asks so sincerely, I will go all out."
"I suspect the rules of Heaven and Earth have consciousness. Help me examine it carefully."
"Impossible," the Primal Chaos Gem said instinctively. "The rules cannot give birth to consciousness. A world will may exist; a domain has a very, very small chance to awaken consciousness, but Heaven and Earth cannot. I have never seen it."
"Never seen does not mean impossible," Lin Moyu said. "What if? I hope I'm wrong. Look closely."
The Primal Chaos Gem made an acknowledging sound and gazed into the distance. No one knew what he was looking at; Lin Moyu did not know either, but he knew the Gem could see things unknown to others. The Primal Chaos Gem stands at a level higher than Heaven and Earth and has watched countless Heavens and Earths be born and die, and Transcendents rise and fall.
At Lin Moyu's request, he observed very carefully—not a casual glance as before. He missed no detail, examining bit by bit. His manifested body slowly rotated, circle upon circle, again and again. At times his brow furrowed; his expression showed faint emotions. Seeing the changes in the Gem's expression, Lin Moyu knew he had definitely discovered something.
The thunder continued, the bolts growing denser, lashing down like a torrential rain without end. Lin Moyu also frowned; something seemed amiss. The rules were acting as though they would not stop until the Broodmother was dead. The bolts had fallen who-knows-how-many times—thousands, tens of thousands—far beyond counting. The Broodmother's body was riddled with holes; every bolt inflicted some small harm. Small, but frightening in accumulation.
Originally Lin Moyu had not planned to intervene, but now he had to. Though the Broodmother could not truly die, it had not yet fully formed. He could not let the rules run rampant. He flicked a finger and sent out a strand of the power of life, which flew like a dragon and fell upon the Broodmother. With the power of life aiding it, the Broodmother's wounds rapidly mended, soon outpacing the lightning's destruction. At this rate, it would recover fully before long. After his last epiphany, Lin Moyu's Undying Dao had grown by unknown multiples; the efficacy of the power of life had increased greatly as well.
The thunder suddenly boiled. The power of life was like cold water poured into a pot of hot oil, provoking a fierce backlash from the rules. The thunder strengthened at once, as if to suppress Lin Moyu's power of life as well.
"I see it!" the Primal Chaos Gem suddenly cried. He pointed; the Balance Gem flared with intense light, shrouding the lightning and the Broodmother. Instantly, the thunder weakened. The Balance Gem balanced the Heaven-and-Earth lightning with the Broodmother, equalizing their forces so the thunder could no longer harm the Broodmother at all.
"This works?" Lin Moyu was momentarily stunned. The Balance Gem was strong, but to balance even the rules of Heaven and Earth was still a small shock.
The Primal Chaos Gem giggled. "Originally it wouldn't work—but because of certain things, it does."
"What things?" Lin Moyu asked by reflex, curious what could turn "won't work" into "works."
"I'll tell Master in a moment," said the Primal Chaos Gem.
With the Balance Gem's help, the thunder lost effect. The Wildshade Broodmother finally completed the last step and fully formed. At the instant it finished, the thunder dissipated, leaving only a scarred void behind. A colossal insect a hundred thousand meters long appeared in the void. It had a hundred feet, each as sharp as a blade. Its vast body flickered, seven parts illusory and hazy. Its sleek scales shimmered with dreamlike iridescence, indescribable—as though containing every color—extremely beautiful.
The Broodmother was more beautiful and more powerful than imagined. Lin Moyu could feel its fearsome might. With a thought, he drew a flood of information from the Broodmother's consciousness. As the strongest among the Wildshades, it now possessed a faint degree of intelligence and could carry out simple exchanges. As Lin Moyu examined the Broodmother's abilities, his eyes grew ever brighter, blazing like a noonday sun.