Chapter 3337: Silence Against Silence

Bao Qi was a peculiar individual, and he had been destined for the path of sound from birth. On the day he was born, all sounds had been silenced, aside from his own earth-shattering cry, which had become a famous story. As a child, he had been taken into the Ascendant Hall, specifically to cultivate the Sound Sequence Technique. His talent for the sequence technique had proven to be unparalleled, and he had surpassed all others who had ever cultivated those sequence particles.

In particular, his innate gift, Sound Mimic, had merged with both the sequence technique and his own natural talent. That was what made him truly terrifying. He had barely struggled to become an Ortuser, and even without the Cauldron Bell, he was among the most powerful Origin realm cultivators. With the Cauldron Bell, he had managed to become one of the Seven Seraphs.

The High Seraph had once said that the Cauldron Bell had been specifically created for Bao Qi.

Without the Cauldron Bell, Bao Qi was a powerful Ortuser, but with it, the entirety of the Spirit Nidus would tremble before him.

The fact that Bao Qi had brought out the Cauldron Bell meant that the Seraph was prepared to unleash his true power.

The Cauldron Bell was not particularly large, and it could barely encase a single person.

Bao Qi stood behind the Cauldron Bell and sneered again as multicolored light surged out from his arm and into the bell. At that moment, the Cauldron Bell released a dazzling light that shot out like blades that stabbed in every direction. The entire battlefield was touched by the light, and everything—weapons, battle techniques, and even the void itself—began to tremble. Starting from the Cauldron Bell, the universe itself began to collapse as an endless flood of sequence particles erupted from it.

Garan Zhiluo’s pupils constricted, and behind her, both Sovereign Dou Sheng and Lord Xu were equally horrified. What kind of power was this? It was like they were looking at an ocean of sequence particles. They appeared to be endless as they spread across the universe. Not even an Ortuser’s ability to repel the laws of the universe would be enough to keep so many sequence particles at bay; they would only be able to protect a small area directly around their own bodies.

Lu Yin was still wary of the round-faced old man’s spiritual transformation weapon, but he still turned his attention towards Bao Qi. Lu Yin’s skin tingled, even if he was not seeing an actual attack.

This was the power of a sequence base.

If Lu Yin had not been able to reverse time earlier in the battle, he would have already suffered greatly. The Impression Realm was terrifying, and the Cauldron Bell was just as dreadful.

These were truly the most powerful weapons possible.

“Young man, are you really able to divert your attention?” The round-faced old man aimed his Impression Realm at Lu Yin while also waving his golden pen about, its golden light constantly lighting up the universe.

Lu Yin had already become familiar with the old man’s methods. He avoided looking at the Impression Realm to prevent the old man’s impression of Lu Yin from appearing again, and at the same time, Lu Yin avoided letting the golden pen point at him.

Overhead, Wu Tian and Hongyan Mavis had emerged from Lu Yin’s Investiture of the Gods and were fighting back against the old man’s golden light. No one dared to get close to where the old man was fighting against Lu Yin.

“Heh, none of you can stop Bao Qi. He’s a true Seraph. How can your Tianyuan Megaverse resist such a person? Bao Qi’s attacks are exceptional, and as soon as he takes action, the battle is decided.” The round-faced old man chuckled. He was absolutely confident in Bao Qi’s abilities.

Bao Qi was different from the old man. The round-faced elder was a specialist at controlling his opponents, but if his opponent understood his techniques, then he would struggle to win. In contrast, Bao Qi specialized in destruction and devastation, and his area attacks were particularly intimidating.

Lu Yin’s eyes grew cold. “If the Tianyuan Megaverse could be defeated so easily, you would have reset this place long ago.”

Far away, Palace Master Yao frowned as she looked at Bao Qi. She considered him to be insane.

If not for the Cauldron Bell, there was no telling whether Bao Qi or Palace Master Yao would have succeeded in becoming a Seraph. But with the Cauldron Bell, Bao Qi was utterly terrifying.

In front of the woman, Chu Yi was also staring into the distance. The battle had started to spiral out of control. They had known that there would be a brutal battle as soon as the Spirit Nidus invaded them, but this level of intensity was unexpected.

There may have been more people fighting in the Immemorial Citadel’s final battle, but there had been fewer top-tier experts among Aeternus and humanity.

At the Immemorial Citadel, the Three Pillars and Six Skies and the Three Realms and Six Daos had all been a level below those at the level of Mister Mu and the old freak, Yuan Qi. It was difficult to deal with cultivators at that level, but the Spirit Nidus had unleashed two such experts upon arriving. On top of that, Chu Yi’s opponent was almost at that level as well. If he had not broken through and become an Ortuser, he would not have been able to stop her at all.

The Spirit Nidus had at least twenty sequence powerhouses, as well as nearly 100 peak powerhouses.

There was also no chance that this was their megaverse’s full power.

Chu Yi’s expression turned grim. As long as the Tianyuan Megaverse fought on its own, they would struggle to resist the invaders.

Bao Qi’s sequence particles surged out from the Cauldron Bell. Pressure descended upon the entire universe, making it hard for everyone to breathe.

The man slammed a palm down, and the area around the Cauldron Bell turned absolutely black as the Hollow was exposed and spread out, devouring the fabric of the universe as it silently expanded in all directions.

Garan Zhiluo and everyone else retreated as fast as they could. They did not want to get anywhere close to this attack. They might not know what kind of destructive power Bao Qi was able to unleash with his Cauldron Bell, but the danger they felt all warned them to retreat further and further.

The Hollow did not spread too far. It just reached the area where Garan Zhiluo and the others had been standing moments earlier.

Bao Qi sneered as he slapped the Cauldron Bell again. This time, the silent power spread out even further, and the entire universe seemed to be falling into a bottomless abyss. Bao Qi looked like he was the only one standing on a stable location as everything else began to crumble.

Everyone, from both the Spirit Nidus and the Tianyuan Megaverse, fled to distance themselves as much as possible from where Bao Qi was fighting.

Bao Qi laughed maniacally. His gaze swept past Garan Zhiluo as he looked over at Lu Yin. The Seraph slammed his palm down once more, and the silent power expanded yet again. All who failed to retreat in time were torn apart by the soundless power, and they vanished into the Hollow.

People from both megaverses died, unable to endure the attack.

Many from the Spirit Nidus cursed Bao Qi as a madman.

Beyond the stone gate, the battleship was still retreating, the people aboard it terrified of falling into the Hollow. All of the ship’s occupants had pale faces. They had not been forced to retreat by the Tianyuan Megaverse, but rather by one of their own. Bao Qi was truly a madman.

There was nothing within the Hollow other than endless darkness and the collapsing universe. When Bao Qi slammed a hand down onto the Cauldron Bell for a fourth time, a rainbow burst out from his body, and it stretched out to connect heaven to earth.

Bao Qi froze and looked up.

What is that?

He was not alone, as rainbows had burst out from every single person on the entire battlefield, regardless of which megaverse they were from. Each person had a rainbow rising up from them, and someone strode among those rainbows.

“The mad headmaster?” someone shouted in surprise.

The person strolling among the rainbows was none other than the formerly mad headmaster of Astral-10, Shao Chen. The rainbows that had appeared were memories; they were the manifestation of every single person’s mortal world.

Only Shao Chen could use the mortal world as a means of cultivation. It was a path that only he could tread.

He walked past each rainbow, unaffected by the mortal world. Even the expanding Hollow and the shattering universe that was being destroyed by the silent power could not stop the man from moving forward. Finally, he stepped into Bao Qi’s rainbow.

The Seraph’s eyes blazed with madness. "You’re courting death!"

Shao Chen was only a Progenitor. While he had forged his own path, that did not mean that he could cross multiple realms to fight a top-tier cultivator like Bao Qi. Shao Chen might have cultivated the mortal world, but Bao Qi could still easily kill the Progenitor.

Shao Chen looked down at Bao Qi. "Your path has been smooth, but a mountain blocks your way. You should remove that mountain."

With that, Shao Chen threw a palm strike. As he did so, a blurry shadow appeared behind Bao Qi. The former’s eyes were filled with confusion.

Bao Qi's eyes went wide with shock, and he reached out with a hand to grab Shao Chen.

There was no way for the Progenitor to avoid the hand. His cultivation method meant nothing in the face of such an enormous gap in power.

However, Shao Chen just watched the hand approach him calmly. To him, death would be nothing more than another experience in the mortal world.

He had seen through the mortal world and gained true enlightenment. He had crossed from the realm of existence to the realm of non-existence, and then he had used non-existence to break through existence.

I am mortal, and the mortal life is me!

Just as Bao Qi was about to grab Shao Chen, a familiar power appeared, startling him. He turned his head, unable to believe what he sensed. "Impossible..."

In the distance, a silent power was spreading out, and it was heading straight at the Seraph.

Bao Qi was stunned.

Isn’t that my power?

Garan Zhiluo had used her innate gift, Eight-Star Garan. It allowed her to borrow any power that had been used in the universe in the past within a certain range. She had chosen to replicate Bao Qi’s own attack, using force against force—silence against silence.

The silent power continued to spread towards Bao Qi, leaving everyone from the Spirit Nidus stunned in complete shock. Was this even possible?

Even the round-faced old man and Palace Master Yao were taken aback.

Lu Yin seized the opportunity and attacked. “Are you really able to divert your attention?”

The old man looked away from the other battle to refocus on Lu Yin. There was no denying that the Spirit Nidus had grossly underestimated the Tianyuan Megaverse. While the megaverse lacked a unified cultivation system, they had succeeded in developing many strange powers. Time and time again, those powers had succeeded in reversing the tide of a fight at a critical moment.

Lu Yin let out a sigh of relief. He had not expected Shao Chen to make a move. Bao Qi possessed an overwhelming strength that no strategy could compensate for. It was impossible for Lu Yin to suppress Bao Qi on his own, but, fortunately, Shao Chen and Garan Zhiluo were present.

However, Garan Zhiluo’s innate gift could only be used once, and for a short amount of time at that. What would they do afterwards? Also, just what had Shao Chen done to Bao Qi?

The Seraph slammed his hand down onto the Cauldron Bell, and the silent power spread out to clash with the attack that Garan Zhiluo had replicated. The two forces met in absolute darkness, and they devoured and wore away at each other.

Shao Chen seized the opening and fled. Even if he had been enlightened by the mortal world, it did not mean that he was looking to die. If he had any other choice, he would not have attacked Bao Qi. The gap between them was far too vast. Shao Chen’s opponents had always been peak powerhouses. He had not even fought against sequence powerhouses before.

Bao Qi stared at Garan Zhiluo, his eyes wild. “To think that you possess such an innate gift. Woman, you’ve piqued my interest. Come with me, and I will ensure that you join the Ascendant Hall.”

Garan Zhiluo remained silent as she frantically considered what she would do after her innate gift stopped working.

The annihilating darkness continued to spread out, expanding across the battlefield.

Far away, in a frigid region of the universe, a woman stood atop a shattered mecha. The twelve-ring mecha had been completely frozen through, its pilot long since dead. Nearby lay the corpse of one of the Tianyuan Megaverse’s peak powerhouses. It was Yang Jia, who had once hosted the auction for the Peaks and Rivers Rock.

More and more of the Tianyuan Megaverse’s peak powerhouses were hurrying to the battlefield, but ordinary peak powerhouses only had a slightly better survival rate than the mechas.

Of course, the mechas had the greatest number of casualties. Their massive size made them vulnerable, and while their offensive and defensive capabilities matched those of peak powerhouses, the Spirit Nidus simply had too many powerful cultivators. Less than half of the mechas were still intact. All of the others had been shattered.

The woman crushed the mecha beneath her feet. Before her, blades of ice sliced out in all directions, tearing open the void to expose the Hollow.

The Hollow, which had once been regarded as a terrifying and dangerous layer of the universe, had become a battleground for the strongest combatants on the battlefield.

The woman was named Shui Hua, and she was an elder of the Ascendant Hall’ Bifrost Palace. She answered to Palace Master Yao, who was regarded as the strongest person beneath the Seven Seraphs.

Shui Hua was strong enough to be famous even within the Ascendant Hall, which was why she was one of the Bifrost Palace’s elders.

Another mecha shattered as an ice shard completely pierced through it.

It had only been a ten-ring mecha, and it was unable to withstand Shui Hua’s attack.

At that moment, a sharp blade sliced down from above.

Shui Hua looked up, and a dome of frigid ice appeared over her head. The blade proved to be completely ineffective, as it caused no harm at all to the dome when the two met.

The freezing cold traveled back along the blade.

Leng Qing had been the one to attack, and as soon as his blade touched the ice, his instincts had screamed at him to release his weapon. Had he been the slightest bit slower, he would have been frozen solid.

The woman before him had cultivated an incredibly powerful ice-based technique.