Chapter 357 - 356: Sacred Ground Collapsing? (2)

Massive black fissures spread across the firmament, their jagged edges resembling the gnashing teeth of a dying leviathan. Some remained open for only an instant before snapping shut, while others widened until they swallowed entire sections of the distant mountains.

The spatial turbulence produced by these fissures was so severe that even the surrounding landscape appeared distorted, with mountain peaks bending sideways and rivers flowing through the air at impossible angles.

"The spatial anchors are collapsing!" Ku Ming shouted as he rose from beneath the waterfall. His Indestructible Karmic Wheel blazed with golden Buddhist light, and several enormous golden rings spread outward from his body to stabilize the space immediately around them.

The monk’s previously peaceful expression had disappeared, replaced by a grave seriousness that reflected the danger he sensed. "Something is interfering with the fundamental structure of this Dongtian. If the collapse continues at this rate, even the central region may not remain intact!"

Lin Yuan immediately activated his Dao Fruit. Silver-blue rain and golden-purple thunder flooded his perception as he attempted to examine the surrounding changes, tracing the movements of spiritual Qi and searching for the principles governing the spatial distortions.

Countless threads of information appeared before his awareness, each revealing a different aspect of the collapsing environment. Yet the more he examined them, the more troubling the situation became.

For the first time since forming his Dao Fruit, Lin Yuan encountered a phenomenon whose full structure he could not immediately comprehend. The laws were not merely becoming disordered. They were being displaced, pulled away from their original positions by an external force so immense that the entire spatial framework was struggling to resist it.

Every attempt to trace the disturbance toward its source ended with another violent distortion interrupting his perception.

"Nothing is making sense!" Lin Yuan called out, narrowing his eyes against the apocalyptic winds. "This is not an internal collapse. The foundational laws are not simply deteriorating; something is physically uprooting them from outside the realm. Whatever is causing this possesses enough power to drag the entire Sacred Grounds out of its spatial pocket!"

Ku Ming’s golden eyes widened as he understood the implications. He had studied many ancient Buddhist records describing the destruction of independent worlds, and he knew that a Dongtian was not merely a large cave or an ordinary secret realm.

A properly preserved Dongtian possessed its own spatial framework, with countless interconnected laws maintaining its boundaries and internal environment. To forcibly uproot such a place required a terrifying level of power, far beyond what ordinary cultivators could imagine.

"Dragging the entire realm out of its spatial pocket?" Ku Ming repeated, his voice heavy with disbelief. "Such power might belong only to a Grand Ascendant Cultivator. Even one at the Peak of Void Refinement would struggle to interfere with the foundations of a Dongtian, let alone seize control of its entire spatial framework!"

Lin Yuan’s expression grew colder as he looked toward the distant horizon. He did not need to know the identity of the attacker to understand the danger. Whoever was responsible had already demonstrated the ability to destabilize the Sacred Grounds from outside, meaning that the ancient realm’s defensive structure could no longer guarantee their safety. If they remained near the periphery, they risked being caught in a spatial fracture and erased before they could find a way to escape.

"We cannot stay here," Lin Yuan said decisively. "The outer regions will be the first to collapse, and once the spatial framework breaks apart, the resulting turbulence will spread inward. We need to return to the starting stage, where the central jade plaza is located. Its anchors are the oldest and strongest within this realm, so it should remain stable longer than the surrounding regions. If there is still a viable route out of this place, that is where we are most likely to find it."

"Agreed," Ku Ming replied without hesitation. He dismissed the golden rings surrounding the waterfall and allowed his Indestructible Karmic Wheel to rotate at a faster pace, preparing to protect the group during their journey. "We should not waste another moment. The longer this disturbance continues, the more dangerous the spatial passages will become."

Lin Yuan tightened his hold around Bai Qingyue’s waist and glanced at her to make sure she was ready. She nodded, her expression serious as she circulated her spiritual Qi and reinforced the Heaven and Earth luck protecting her body.

The three of them rose into the air together, leaving the ruined waterfall behind as they sped toward the central plaza, where the ancient anchors offered their best chance of surviving the catastrophe.

The journey back quickly became a harrowing passage through a collapsing nightmare. The sky above them was filled with black fissures, and the once-stable mountains had begun to fold into themselves as the spatial laws holding them together were violently distorted.

Rivers twisted through the air, forests were torn from the ground, and entire cliffs disappeared into the void without leaving so much as a trace of their existence. Every passing moment brought another violent tremor, making it increasingly difficult to distinguish between solid ground and the unstable remnants of the collapsing realm.

Lin Yuan relied almost entirely on the capabilities of his Dao Fruit. Through the principle of Three Rebirths, he examined the subtle changes that preceded each spatial fracture, allowing him to detect the dangerous distortions a fraction of a second before they manifested. His Immortal Cloud Step carried the three of them through the shifting landscape, weaving between collapsing mountains and avoiding the black fissures that opened across their path.

Even with his comprehension, however, he could not afford to become careless, because a single miscalculation could send them into a spatial rift capable of shredding a Soul Transformation cultivator’s Primordial Spirit.

Bai Qingyue remained close to Lin Yuan, trusting his judgment while using her own fortune to assist their movement. Whenever an unstable spatial passage threatened to open along their route, the Heaven and Earth luck surrounding her would shimmer faintly, occasionally revealing a safer path through the chaotic environment.

She did not mistake this for absolute protection, but the assistance was valuable enough to reduce the number of dangerous detours they had to make. Ku Ming followed behind them, his Buddhist light spreading across their surroundings whenever a spatial distortion threatened to tear their formation apart.

As they entered a particularly narrow gorge, a foul, rotting stench suddenly spread through the air. It was so strong that even the chaotic spiritual Qi could not conceal it, and Lin Yuan immediately slowed his movement while directing his attention toward the two sides of the pass.

The gorge had once been surrounded by towering cliffs covered in ancient vegetation, but the ongoing collapse had stripped away much of the landscape, exposing jagged rock formations and enormous cracks that descended into the darkness below.

Two massive figures emerged from the dust and collapsing debris, blocking the narrow passage ahead!