Chapter 475 - 474-

However, its appearance alone was more than enough to nearly put an end to Grey’s life. If the corruption had continued for even a little longer, he would definitely have suffered severe repercussions and might have died outright.

Suddenly, just as Grey was on the verge of completely breaking down and losing his sanity from the nonsense ravings and incomprehensible murmurs, he heard the sounds beginning to grow fainter and fainter.

It was as if the owner of that voice was still talking fervently to himself, endlessly muttering words that Grey could not understand. Yet, the voice was gradually getting farther and farther away from him.

The strange tendrils of blood and flesh that had already begun to deviate from Grey’s body slowly stopped their violent movements. One by one, they began retracting back into his flesh.

The abnormal growths disappeared.

The writhing flesh gradually returned to normal.

The terrifying sensation of his body transforming into something completely different also began to subside.

Normalcy slowly returned to Grey’s body.

Yet, just as those strange sounds were about to completely fade away into obscurity, Grey suddenly heard a sentence from the being that had been muttering those incomprehensible ravings.

Unlike everything that came before it, this sentence was surprisingly clear.

There was no madness in it.

There was no hatred.

There was not even the slightest hint of evil intent.

Instead, the voice carried an indescribable calmness, as though the being was merely stating an unavoidable truth.

"When God dies and the world is reborn, who can delay my divinity?"

Those were the final words Grey heard.

The instant he heard them, a muffled boom exploded inside his mind.

"Boom!"

Grey’s body trembled violently, and blood once again spilled from the corner of his mouth.

His expression changed drastically. Shock appeared in his eyes.

That single sentence had somehow transcended the barrier between his mind and his sea of consciousness. It forcefully penetrated into the deepest reaches of his consciousness and imprinted itself there.

The words began to echo repeatedly in his head.

Again.

And again.

And again.

It was like a broken record that refused to stop playing.

"When God dies and the world is reborn, who can delay my divinity?"

The sentence continued to reverberate inside Grey’s mind, each repetition making it feel increasingly profound. He could not forget it, even if he wanted to.

There was something terrifying about those words.

Grey did not understand what the being meant by them, nor did he know who the "God" in the sentence referred to. Could it be the oppressive hand of God in the sky or another being in question.

But for some reason, the moment he heard those words, he felt an indescribable sense of dread.

It was as if he had accidentally glimpsed a fragment of some enormous secret that he was absolutely not qualified to know.

And the most frightening part was that he could not determine whether the sentence was a prophecy, a declaration, or merely the casual words of an existence that had lived for an unimaginably long period of time.

As the corruption brought about by witnessing divinity finally began to fade, the purple crystal inside Grey’s body immediately sprang into action.

A faint purple radiance spread throughout his body. The enormous injuries within him began to heal at a visible rate.

His damaged flesh slowly regenerated, while the terrifying wounds within his body began to close. Even his internal organs, which had suffered severe damage from the overwhelming corruption, gradually stabilized.

However, the healing process was extremely slow. The injuries Grey had suffered were simply too severe.

The corruption caused by witnessing true divinity was not something that could be treated easily. Even with the extraordinary ability of the purple crystal, it would still take a considerable amount of time before his body could completely recover.

Grey remained motionless for several moments, allowing the purple crystal to stabilize his condition.

His breathing was heavy. His body felt as though it had been crushed and reconstructed several times.

Every inch of his flesh was filled with an intense, dull pain. But at least he was alive.

After a few moments, Grey finally managed to gather his thoughts and regain control of his body. It was only then that he noticed the figure standing directly in front of him.

It was the Captain.

Her cracked face carried a faint expression of concern as she stared at him. However, the state of her body was far from good.

Bloody cracks had appeared across her entire body, spreading from her face down to her limbs like countless fractures in a broken statue. Faint mist continuously escaped from within those cracks, giving her an eerie and almost otherworldly appearance.

Above the two of them floated a gigantic pitch-black umbrella.

The umbrella was not made of ordinary material.

It appeared to have been formed entirely from dense black mist, constantly swirling and churning beneath its surface.

It protected Grey and Violet from the closed gaze of the divine entity in the sky. However, even this strange umbrella was already showing signs of breaking apart.

Numerous cracks had appeared across its surface. The overwhelming divinity radiating from the enormous closed eye was simply too powerful.

And now, with the addition of that single drop of blood that had fallen from the tip of the heavenly vine’s leaf, the pressure bearing down on the umbrella had increased dramatically.

It was obvious that the black umbrella would not last much longer.

Once it shattered, the consequences would be unimaginable.

"Are you okay, Little Grey?"

Violet’s voice carried a faint hint of concern. Grey looked at her before slowly glancing around. Only then did he realize just how badly injured the Captain was.

Her entire body was covered in blood.

The cracks covering her flesh continued to spread, and faint wisps of mist leaked from them. Despite her injuries, however, she continued to maintain the black umbrella, preventing the terrifying blood rain from reaching them.

The blood rain continued to fall from the shattered sky. Every drop of blood contained an extremely terrifying aura.

Yet none of it managed to touch Grey or Violet. Grey shook his head slightly, signaling that he was fine.

His sanity was slowly returning. The maddening influence that had nearly driven him insane was gradually fading.

However, the intense corruption still lingered throughout his body. If it were another person, their body would have already mutated beyond recognition.

Or perhaps they would have died the instant they witnessed that terrifying divinity. Fortunately, Grey’s body was far stronger than that of an ordinary cultivator.

His physical foundation had been tempered countless times, allowing him to endure the horrifying pain.

Even so, Grey could still feel something changing within him. It was a strange sensation. At times, he felt as if his flesh no longer belonged to him.

It was as though something foreign was attempting to crawl out from beneath his skin.

Something that was not human and that should never have existed within his body. Grey gritted his teeth and endured the sensation.

His body felt incredibly heavy. Every movement required an enormous amount of effort.

Then, the gigantic black crack in the sky suddenly trembled.

"Rumble!"

The entire world seemed to tremble alongside it.

Grey and Violet raised their heads simultaneously. The enormous crack in the sky began to squiggle and contort.

It was no longer simply a crack. It looked more like something alive. Something was struggling intensely behind it.

And then Grey realized the terrifying truth.

The crack was not merely a crack.

It was the space surrounding a gigantic eye. The closed eye was struggling to open.

The mere thought caused Grey’s heart to sink.

If that eye opened completely, neither he nor Violet would stand a chance. Against true divinity, even if the divine entity was incomplete or severely weakened, their strength was simply insignificant.

They would die within a few breaths. Perhaps they would not even have the opportunity to resist.

At that moment, the single drop of blood suspended at the tip of the heavenly vine’s leaf suddenly trembled.

Then

It fell. The drop of blood descended several meters.

But suddenly, it stopped. It hung motionlessly in the sky.

Grey’s pupils contracted. Violet also stared at it. The tiny drop of blood began to convulse.

It squirmed and it twisted. It moved in an identical manner to the gigantic crack in the sky.

Their movements were synchronized and every time the crack trembled, the drop of blood trembled. Every time the crack contorted, the drop of blood contorted.

It was as if the two were connected by some invisible force. Then, before Grey could understand what was happening, the drop of blood began to change.

Its shape distorted violently.

Flesh began to emerge from within it.

Bones formed.

Scales grew.

Limbs stretched outward.

In the blink of an eye, the single drop of blood transformed into a small and extremely strange creature.

The creature was not large.

Yet its appearance was enough to make Grey’s heart tremble.

It possessed three arms and six eyes. Strange scales covered its back, protruding outward like enormous bumps growing from its flesh.

Its six eyes were positioned strangely across its face, each one burning with a fiery red light.

There was an intense killing intent within those eyes. But surprisingly, that killing intent was not directed toward Grey or Violet.

It was directed toward the enormous squiggling crack in the sky.

The strange creature stared at the crack.

Then—

It took a step forward.

The moment it did so, Grey and Violet both felt something terrifying.

The divinity within their bodies began to surge.

It was as if an invisible force was pulling the divinity out of them.

Grey’s expression changed.

He could feel the divine energy within his body rushing toward the strange creature.

Even Violet’s divinity was reacting.

Fortunately, both of them had already suppressed the divinity within their bodies.

Otherwise, they might have completely lost control of themselves.

At the same time, a drastic change occurred to the heavenly vine.

After the drop of blood separated from it, the enormous heavenly vine suddenly took on a sickly appearance. Its once magnificent branches began to wither.

Its enormous leaves curled inward. Some of them became yellow and brittle before falling from the vine entirely.

The heavenly vine, which had previously radiated an overwhelming aura of divinity, suddenly appeared as though it had aged countless years in an instant.

It was like an ancient tree that had been deprived of its life force. Seeing this, a strange glint appeared within the Captain’s eyes.

A dangerous smile slowly formed on her cracked face.

"Now is the time." Her voice suddenly became serious.

"Little Grey, slash at the sections when I reveal them to you." She glanced toward the weakened heavenly vine.

"This is the crucial moment. The Vine is at its weakest right now. Even an attack from you at your strongest can significantly harm it."

The moment Violet finished speaking, she suddenly opened her mouth and spat out a strange red-and-black bead. The bead was incredibly small.

It was barely the size of a toenail. Yet the moment it left Violet’s mouth, it immediately began expanding.

In the blink of an eye, it transformed into a massive canvas measuring several meters in length.

The canvas floated in the air. An oil painting covered its entire surface.

And the painting depicted something Grey was extremely familiar with.

The galaxy. Countless stars filled the dark expanse of the painting, forming an endless cosmic landscape.

However, there was something particularly strange about the painting.

Six stars were clearly different from the others. Each of them possessed a different color.

They shone with dazzling brilliance.

Their radiance was so intense that their light actually escaped from the canvas and illuminated the surrounding real world.

Grey stared at the painting with a strange expression.

Then, the Captain raised her hand. A brush suddenly appeared between her fingers.

It was a strange brush. It did not appear to truly exist in the physical world.

Its body seemed to be composed of colors and lines, almost as though it had been drawn directly out of the oil painting.

An oil painting brush.

Grey’s expression changed slightly. When he saw the canvas and the brush, his mind immediately thought of a particular race.

The Inhuman Painting Race.

This was a peculiar Inhuman race that was not particularly well known throughout the world.

Unlike many other races that actively sought territory and resources, the members of the Inhuman Painting Race preferred to remain hidden within their oil paintings.

They lived their lives inside those paintings. Their worlds were constructed through paint. Their cities were made from brushstrokes and their landscapes were created through colors.

In a sense, they had practically grown up inside their own paintings.

Their existence was extremely mysterious. Most outsiders rarely had the opportunity to encounter a genuine member of the Inhuman Painting Race.

Normally, an oil painting could be carried around by one of their members and hidden away somewhere, allowing an entire world to remain concealed from outsiders.

Grey knew about this particular race because the Captain had once included information about them in a report concerning the few Inhuman races in Kamii County that were friendly toward the human race.

In a sense, the Inhuman Painting Race could be considered an ally of humanity.

They did not harbor the same hostility toward humans as many other Inhuman races. In fact, they were somewhat fascinated by human civilization.

They enjoyed creating their own oil-painted worlds to imitate human cities, villages, buildings, and even entire landscapes. The worlds they created were often bizarre, yet strangely beautiful.

Therefore, when Grey saw Violet spit out a bead that transformed into an enormous canvas depicting the galaxy, he immediately understood.

The Captain had employed the assistance of several members of the Inhuman Painting Race.

They had created this oil-painted world specifically for her.

"Quickly!"

Violet’s voice became urgent.

"Slash at these six sections in the oil painting with your Sword Dao art. Their locations are different, and if we try to find them ourselves, it will take far too much time!"

Grey immediately looked toward the six colored stars.

At that moment, the strange creature formed from the drop of blood took another step toward the crack in the sky.

The instant its foot landed,

"Rumble!"

The gigantic crack contorted violently.

It was as though the being behind it was struggling even harder to open its enormous eye.

The pressure descending from the sky increased sharply.

Even the black-mist umbrella trembled violently.

More cracks appeared across its surface.

Grey knew there was no time to hesitate.

He immediately summoned the shadow of the purple sword that he had been nurturing within his sea of consciousness.

Although his sea of consciousness had suffered severe corruption, the Sword Dao he had been preparing was completely unaffected.

The sword had been nurtured within the deepest part of his consciousness.

And because of that, even the terrifying corruption had failed to completely contaminate it.

The moment Grey summoned it, a faint, illusory purple sword slowly materialized within his hands.

His eyes narrowed.

His killing intent condensed.

Without hesitation, Grey raised the purple sword.

He focused all of his attention on the first of the six colored stars within the oil painting.

Then—

He slashed.

But just as the sword was about to descend, Grey suddenly froze.

Something was wrong.

He was no longer standing in the real world.

His body had somehow become part of the oil painting.

Grey’s pupils contracted.

The world around him had completely changed.

There was no longer a heavenly vine.

There was no longer a black umbrella. There was no longer a shattered sky raining blood.

Instead..

Grey found himself floating within the endless vastness of the galaxy.

Countless stars surrounded him.

The darkness of the cosmos stretched endlessly in every direction.

There was no ground beneath his feet. There was no sky above his head.

There was only the boundless cosmos.

Grey looked down at himself. His body had become strangely illusory, as though he had been transformed into a figure painted directly onto the canvas.

Yet the purple sword remained in his hand.

And before him—

Was a star.

An enormous star.

It radiated an overwhelming brilliance that illuminated the surrounding darkness.

Grey’s expression became solemn.

He raised the purple sword once more.

He suddenly realized that it might be more accurate to say that he had entered the cosmos itself.

And now, he was about to execute an attack powerful enough to destroy a star.