Chapter 1024: Land of Annihilation

Heaven.

Li Xiaofei met with Old Tan.

"Let’s go," Old Tan said.

He had already been prepared for this day. He had spent ten years eating peaches for the sake of this very moment.

Tan Qingying did not appear. Instead, it was Little Aunt who came to see him off. She didn’t say much.

She simply stepped forward, gently straightened his robe, and then smiled. "Go early, come back early. Everyone’s waiting for you."

Li Xiaofei responded quietly, "Mm."

Words were often unnecessary between close family. He opened his arms and embraced his aunt. Then, he turned around.

Old Tan gripped the space in front of them with both hands and yanked it open like ripping a sheet of paper. A massive passage appeared behind the tear.

He grabbed Li Xiaofei and stepped directly into it. The world transformed as Li Xiaofei and Old Tan entered subspace. It was Li Xiaofei’s first time witnessing Old Tan’s spatial ability in action. It was nothing short of walking through the void.

Old Tan did not travel fast as they moved within the subspace. They could still see the world outside, but Old Tan wielded a special technique. He extended his hands, and compressed space before them as if he was folding a piece of paper. Then he tore open a slit down the center and led Li Xiaofei through.

When they appeared on the other side of the slit, they had already reached the other side of space. Li Xiaofei was utterly shocked.

Is this not the same as casually creating black hole passages at will?

thought Li Xiaofei.

Old Tan manipulated space as effortlessly as a child playing with mud. He was skilled, intuitive, and completely uninhibited.

Li Xiaofei even spotted a familiar face while walking through subspace: the King of Terror, Number 88. Li Xiaofei had installed this little puppet long ago, but had rarely used it since. Even during the search for Li Anyi and Li Anxin, it hadn’t played any useful role.

Li Xiaofei swept his gaze over it and considered killing it. After all, it had once been an enemy of humanity. But after a brief moment of hesitation, he held back.

Unaware that it had just brushed past death, Number 88 continued flaunting its strength within subspace. Everything outside passed by like fleeting reflections in water. Li Xiaofei gave it only a passing glance.

Moments later, they entered the Realm of Ruins. It wasn’t his first time there and yet, the experience felt surreal. His last sojourn into the Realm of Ruins had been an arduous journey. He had wandered endlessly in that harsh environment, drained of time and energy while killing countless high-level Reapers.

But this time, it felt no different from a casual stroll through the city. Li Xiaofei was deeply impressed by Old Tan’s void-walking technique. This was an Emperor-level technique. There was no doubt about it. It could even rival the super-stage arts of the Emperors.

With a simple sweep of his hands and a casual tear through space, Old Tan effortlessly moved from one region of the Realm of Ruins to another. The movements looked clumsy but the effect was astonishing.

Li Xiaofei could see the paths he had once taken through a thin membrane of light. He also saw countless Reapers undergoing trials and hunting Void Beasts.

Since the Reaper race's situation in the Ancestor Court star system was growing increasingly dire, more and more of their powerhouses had chosen to enter the Realm of Ruins to temper themselves, pursuing evolution at any cost.

As a result, the number of Reapers in the Realm of Ruins had increased several hundredfold. It was said that the Ancestor Court had lifted all restrictions on the Realm of Ruins. Now, entering and exiting required no more applications or approvals. In addition, Li Xiaofei also noticed several squads of human cultivators making their way into the Realm of Ruins.

"These are all heroes of the human race," Li Xiaofei sighed with emotion.

The Realm of Ruins was unimaginably dangerous. Reaper kings and nobles had gathered in droves. Any encounter with the enemy would surely lead to disaster for these human cultivators.

"Let’s slow down and take a look," Li Xiaofei said.

Old Tan understood his intention right away. So the two of them silently monitored several human teams from within subspace.

As expected, several of the teams did indeed encounter Reapers, which instantly sparked battles. The commotion quickly drew more and more Reapers to the scene. The human cultivator squads waged a fighting retreat, but in the end, they were surrounded on the frozen plains.

"For the human race."

"Kill!"

"Fight to the death! Fight to the death!"

The dozen or so human warriors wore expressions of tragic resolve. As scouts, they bore the hopes of the resistance. They had stepped into the Realm of Ruins fully prepared to sacrifice their lives. Still, not being able to witness the birth of the Human Empire with their own eyes left a lingering regret.

"Kill them all!"

A level thirteen Reaper prince roared in fury. But a flash of sword light streaked across the sky. The prince’s body shuddered slightly, then split into dozens of pieces. At almost the same moment, countless Reapers fell like stalks of wheat beneath a scythe, cut down in an instant. The icy storm of the frozen domain swept over them, turning them into shattered fragments of frost and snow.

The human cultivators who had just been steeling themselves for a heroic death stood stunned.

What just happened?

"It’s the Guardian Emperor!" Someone suddenly exclaimed, "It’s the aura of the Guardian Emperor!"

The sword intent lingering in the void carried the unmistakable trace of Li Xiaofei’s presence. The rest of the human warriors instantly understood. One by one, they dropped to their knees, offering prayers and heartfelt gratitude.

For a long time, whenever human forces faced desperate situations, they would pray to the Guardian Emperor. And almost every time, their prayers were answered. The worship of Li Xiaofei had practically become a custom within the human race.

In the days that followed, similar incidents continued to occur within the Realm of Ruins. Eventually, the Reaper race became so fearful of these encounters that they stopped ambushing human teams altogether. Even when they came across them by chance, they would keep a careful distance.

"Let’s go," Li Xiaofei said.

Old Tan immediately increased his void-walking speed. When they arrived at the high-risk zone of the Realm of Ruins, Li Xiaofei witnessed a grand spectacle.

An endless army of the undead, led by Priestess Qin, was launching an assault on the Oblivions that dwelled in the depths. A hidden war had already begun in a place unseen by the world. However, Li Xiaofei was surprised by the dense aura of death around Priestess Qin.

But he soon felt a surge of respect. In that moment, he finally understood the true meaning of the message Priestess Qin had once entrusted to Lin Beichen.

She had offered herself as a sacrifice to heaven and earth, to enter the cycle of reincarnation through one’s body. The undead of the Burial Sea, under Priestess Qin’s command, were hunting down the awakened Oblivions and rapidly clearing the regions surrounding the Land of Annihilation.

Li Xiaofei also saw the crown prince of the Pure Sea Dragon Clan among them. The skeletal dragon had become Priestess Qin’s unstoppable mount as it soared across the battlefield.

Compared to the battles in the Ancestor Court star system or the ordinary zones of the Realm of Ruins, this was the true war, one that would decide the fate of all life in the universe.

All the Oblivions that had already emerged from the Land of Annihilation and infiltrated the Realm of Ruins needed to be eliminated before confronting true Oblivion.

Li Xiaofei’s previous interventions were not merely acts of salvation. They were also to consolidate belief. His path toward the Emperor Realm was closely tied to the destiny of the human race. It was a path of faith.

"We’re almost there," Old Tan spoke. "The path ahead won’t be easy. Stay alert."

Li Xiaofei tensed and gave a slight nod.

Old Tan seized the spatial barrier with both hands, violently folding it. The veins on his arms bulged as he exerted force and tore it open, drilling through the gap.

Li Xiaofei followed closely behind. The moment he passed through, he immediately sensed something was wrong. Everything around him had turned gray and dim. His vision was filled with drifting, strange particles, like floating strands of willow fluff. When he turned to look at Old Tan, Li Xiaofei suddenly paled in shock.