The Spear of Annihilation

Xiao Chen did not follow the others deeper. Instead, he remained in a lush primeval forest to rest and recover. His fierce battle with the Otherworld Ancestral God, Babra, had inflicted grievous wounds that took several days of quiet healing to fully mend.

The battle had been a harsh warning. Even a fallen Ancestral God, with but a fragment of remnant will, could wield inconceivable, heaven-defying power. His own path to the summit was still immeasurably long.

Flipping through the jade book in his hands, Xiao Chen frowned. He could not recognize a single character. The alien script was crooked and bizarre, its meaning impossible to decipher.

Ordinary divine scriptures normally recorded their contents as spiritual imprints sealed within jade. Yet this book was entirely composed of written text, leaving him baffled for a long time.

It was only when he reached the final two pages that he found something of value. Each page contained a diagram.

The first was nothing more than a single war spear, thrusting straight into the sky! Its tip seemed ready to tear through the page, its aura so fiercely sharp it chilled the marrow of his bones.

There was no need to guess—this was the Great Annihilation War Spear!

It was overbearing and tyrannical, radiating an aura of pure destruction! The image alone brought immense pressure, like an unparalleled divine sword pressed against his throat.

"It is only a war spear. Without the preceding text, how can I obtain the mental method?"

Xiao Chen observed closely. In that instant, he felt a soul-shaking power burst forth from the war spear, nearly overwhelming his divine consciousness.

Its edge was sharp, crushing all obstacles—a world-piercing punishment of divine wrath, filled with a terrifying, mysterious aura.

Startled, Xiao Chen retreated a few steps. He pointed a finger, sending a beam of divine light toward the jade book. With a sharp ring, the light struck the page but failed to damage it.

"A truly divine book. Difficult to destroy."

"Although I cannot read the text, I can grasp the essence from the diagrams," he murmured.

He understood. The diagrams were simple, but they directly expressed the true meaning of the Great Annihilation War Spear. Through quiet contemplation, he could unlock its mysteries.

He had already obtained the Heavenly Stele Profound Art. He no longer cared for rigid techniques or mental methods; what mattered was the artistic conception the divine book sought to convey. That was enough.

What he needed was the essential truth of the spear. True to its name, the core of its fierce, overbearing attack was in the words—Great Annihilation.

Xiao Chen struck the jade book with his divine consciousness. Immediately, an aura of utter destruction erupted. The true meaning of the spear seemed to take physical form, piercing through the void and thrusting toward him.

He let out a long cry. Extending his right arm, brilliant light gathered in his palm. Gradually, a war spear formed, wreathed in murderous intent and bearing an aura of pure annihilation.

Though not as powerful as the spear in Babra's hand, it was still fiercely sharp, enough to steal one's soul.

After all, the Eternal Light could only form if ten or more Ancestral Gods were buried together.

Beneath this very land, he knew of at least two Ancestral God-level beings buried. One was Babra, and the other was the "Lord" whom even Babra feared. Perhaps several more lay beneath the earth.

Healing his wounds and comprehending the spear had taken time. Returning to the gathering in the Dead World, he found the situation unchanged. Not a single expert on the scene had died. The Half-Ancestors had not shown themselves. The strong were all watching from the shadows. Those who rushed to their deaths were merely arrogant fools.

Xiao Chen had long since changed his face, hiding his identity. He was not afraid of Old Asura or the Skeleton Sovereign, but he had to guard against an assassination attempt by the vengeful Babra.

Mingling in the crowd, he watched silently. He did not believe the Half-Ancestors would remain unmoved. The Eternal Light could help them complete their cultivation. Every Half-Ancestor coveted it.

Several more days passed before Xiao Chen learned from a Heavenly King that the Half-Ancestors had invited a powerful expert from the Soul Realm. After long, secret discussions, they had prepared to enter the depths of the earth to seek the Eternal Light.

During these days, the Half-Ancestors had not only been secretly meeting but had also busily prepared various materials to set up a divine formation to seal the area. Their goal was twofold: to ensure they could retreat quickly in case of danger, and to block any latecomers from sharing the spoils.

Xiao Chen was not anxious at all. Even if the Eternal Light was real, obtaining it would be incredibly difficult. The "Lord" at the end of the River of Corpses would be unimaginably terrifying.

He had even considered warning the Half-Ancestors, but that very night, they took action. They appeared without a sound, offering no one else a chance, directly deploying their great formation and sealing off the entire area.

Xiao Chen looked at the heaven-obscuring divine formation. "I would have warned you, but you wouldn't let me. If disaster strikes, you have only yourselves to blame."

A hundred great white-bone banners stood amidst the towering mountains and ridges, each over a hundred meters tall. The enormous bones were terrifying, and the banners fluttered in the wind, emitting vast, rolling black mist.

In an instant, the sinister region was sealed. From afar, the sound of wailing ghosts and howling gods could be heard. Around the great bone banners, countless spectral gods and demons gathered, roaring toward the heavens.

This was no divine formation—it was clearly a great nether-god formation. Without looking, one knew it was devised by the Skeleton Sovereign and empowered by several Half-Ancestors.

Sorrowful clouds gathered, yin winds howled, and demonic energy surged into the sky. It blotted out the sun and moon, casting a dark, gloomy pall over everything.

The area was already an ominous ground. With this deployment, it became even more malevolent. Humans, gods, and ghosts would all flee at the sight of it.

That night, everyone outside was shocked. Many cursed the Skeleton Sovereign and the others for severing everyone's opportunity.

From their curses, Xiao Chen learned that the allied Half-Ancestors were precisely his old enemies: the Asura Half-Ancestor, the Skeleton Sovereign, the Yaksha Half-Ancestor, and the Angel Holy God.

By daybreak, the region covered by the bone banners was swathed in impenetrable darkness, showing that the Half-Ancestors had made further secret preparations within. This elaborate setup was primarily to intercept any rival Half-Ancestors.

"You want to keep it all for yourselves. In the end, you will only trip yourselves up," Xiao Chen sneered, watching coldly from the sidelines.

When the great sovereign formation was fully complete, this region seemed like an abyss drifting on the surface of the world.

"We can go deep underground from other paths!" someone shouted. Many echoed the sentiment, but they were disappointed to find the formation extended up to the heavens and down to the underworld, leaving no passage.

Hiding in the crowd, Xiao Chen noticed a few unremarkable-looking men continuously circling the formation. He grew alert, suspecting they might be Half-Ancestors.

In the end, three of them successfully stepped into the formation, shrouded in churning black mist. Several others were blocked outside.

Xiao Chen was still not in a hurry. Even if these people got in, it did not guarantee they would find anything. However, this belief did not last long. He detected the powerful presence of Babra. The Otherworld Ancestral God had hidden his true form with illusion magic, but when he wandered near, Xiao Chen could still sense the unique aura of an Ancestral God's blood.

Babra circled the great formation just once before he began to break it, successfully forcing his way inside.

Xiao Chen was greatly surprised. Babra was clearly terrified of the "Lord" at the end of the River of Corpses. Why was he so impatient to rush in today? Could the Eternal Light truly be here?

From this point, Xiao Chen could no longer remain calm. After observing several Half-Ancestors break the formation, he began to move. The great sovereign formation was extraordinary, but he was not the only one trying. Just in time, three Half-Ancestors succeeded in their assault, and Xiao Chen exhausted all his strength to follow them through the barrier.

What exactly was Babra planning? This was what Xiao Chen urgently wanted to know.

The three in front vanished in the blink of an eye. Although there were still some minor formations within the heartland, they were no obstacle for Xiao Chen. Soon, he discovered an entrance—a massive cave, dug out by the combined efforts of the Skeleton Sovereign and the others, plunging into an unfathomable depth. Xiao Chen hesitated not a moment before leaping down.

Yin winds gusted, and a bone-piercing cold rose from the depths, mingled with the stench of decay. He descended thousands of meters before hearing the sound of rushing water. A great river, its yellow surface enough to chill the bone, roiled past in a thundering torrent.

The River of Corpses!

The current here was swift. Waves of yellow corpse-water crashed high into the air, their stench nauseating.

The experts who had cultivated to the Half-Ancestor realm were all exceptional. The few who entered later had clearly sensed something amiss and were proceeding with extreme caution.

Just then, a furious roar echoed from ahead. It was the Skeleton Sovereign. Xiao Chen felt a chill. If the sleeping "Lord" were to be awakened, scarcely anyone present would survive.

But the worst did not come to pass. The Skeleton Sovereign charged downstream, glaring angrily in all directions. The few Half-Ancestors ahead looked oddly at the old skeleton. Xiao Chen almost burst out laughing. The Skeleton Sovereign's left shinbone had vanished, as if it had been brutally torn away.

"Have you seen a monster with eight bone spears?" the Skeleton Sovereign demanded darkly. Just then, the Asura Half-Ancestor and the Yaksha Half-Ancestor rushed over.

"If no one has broken out, an enemy must have ambushed you. They must still be ahead."

"Let's go!" Hearing this, the Yaksha Half-Ancestor and the others changed expression and immediately charged upstream.

The Otherworld Ancestral God Babra had previously failed to gain Xiao Chen's shinbone. Now, Xiao Chen had ambushed the Skeleton Sovereign, taking his shinbone. To be secretly attacked as a sovereign, having a part of one's body dismantled—how could one not be enraged?

Xiao Chen was growing slightly anxious. Babra had not retreated, clearly having ventured deep to the end of the river. Despite his fear of the sleeping "Lord," he dared to take such a risk. There had to be something there that strongly attracted an Otherworld Ancestral God.

The Half-Ancestors ahead all accelerated, moving like lightning upstream. In the blink of an eye, they vanished from sight. Xiao Chen dared not delay. He raced along the roaring River of Corpses at an incredible speed.

The unbearable stench overwhelmed him. A yellow sea appeared in everyone's vision.

"How can there be a yellow sea of corpses underground?" Xiao Chen was puzzled. Then, as if noticing something, he murmured, "No... this place is a separate realm of its own, a mysterious space carved out by someone... and that is..."

He could not help but show a look of shock. Amidst the endless yellow corpse-sea, the faint silhouette of a massive island appeared, radiating dazzling divine light into the sky. All the Half-Ancestors had already rushed toward it.