429 Apocalyptic Counterattack

Ever been in outer space?

Or pray tell, have you ever been yanked by two titans and tossed around until you lost all sense of up, down, left, right, and whatever dignity you thought you had left?

The Temple of the End was spinning through the void, battered like a toy between gods. On either side loomed the Sun and the Moon, both wearing enormous humanoid forms that dwarfed mountains. Frost bloomed wherever the Moon's power touched, only to erupt into roaring flame the instant the Sun brushed against it. Fire and ice annihilated each other in violent cycles, tearing space apart in their wake.

I clung to the edge of the temple, fingers dug into ancient stone.

Between twinkling stars and collapsing laws of formations scattered in the darkness, I risked killing myself if I just so much made a wrong move courtesy to the rampage of the Sun and Moon. Even so, the Temple of the End sheltered me just enough. Within its boundaries, I could keep healing, resurrecting, and juggling life and death with grim efficiency while the Sun repeatedly tried to pry me off this stubborn chunk of rock.

At some point, I had my players log out.

"Game's updating," I muttered to myself. "Go touch grass. Or… whatever counts as grass where you're from."

The silence that followed made it easier to reach inward and touch the Source.

I still didn't fully understand it.

The Source was my inner world and my soul at the same time, a reflection of who I was and what I could become. I could draw power from it directly, refine my control, and fight with far greater efficiency. In theory, it was incredible.

In practice, it was redundant.

I already had the Hollow Star, an engine that flooded me with absurd quantities of quintessence. Stacking the two felt like overkill I hadn't yet learned how to properly wield.

The Sun's hand closed around the Temple of the End.

Space screamed.

With brute, overwhelming force, he tried to crush it.

The temple didn't budge.

I did.

Every inch of my skin felt like it was on fire. My bones groaned. My vision went white as pain lanced through me.

"YOU HAVE CHALLENGED MY AUTHORITY AGAIN AND AGAIN," the Sun thundered, his voice vibrating through my very being. "I WILL PUT YOU IN YOUR PLACE."

"I've been trying to leave," I shot back hoarsely, though I wasn't sure he cared. "You're the ones not letting me!"

Both of them were quite furious. This wasn't a misunderstanding. Instead, it was punishment.

Gravity compressed around me until I couldn't even lift a finger. My thoughts slowed, crushed beneath monstrous pressure. The Sun's voice continued, rumbling on about limits and patience and consequence…

Suddenly, I felt a tug.

No.

A pull!

Something seized me from somewhere deeper than space and law. The Sun's voice cut off abruptly as darkness swallowed my vision.

I was yanked free.

The world inverted, collapsed, and vanished.

I found myself encased in absolute darkness, drifting in a space that felt wrong in ways I couldn't immediately articulate. I reacted on instinct.

"Blessed Regeneration."

Light flared as my wounds knit together. I reached into my pocket dimension, summoning my armor back to me. White plates wrapped around my body, while a golden cape spilled down my back like liquid sunlight.

I swallowed.

"I know it's you," I said into the dark. "Supreme Void."

My heart was pounding. Unlike the Sun and Moon, I didn't even pretend I could fight this thing. If it wanted me dead, there would be no struggle.

A voice reverberated gently.

"Calm yourself."

The pressure didn't increase. If anything, it eased.

"I have no intention of harming you," the Supreme Void continued. "If I did, the Sun and Moon would notice. And I would suffer for it."

"What do you want?" I asked, keeping my voice steady through sheer force of will.

Laughter rippled through the darkness.

"You are blessed," the Supreme Void said. "Blessed with good people."

Before I could respond, the pull intensified. I tried to resist, digging my will into the Source, the Hollow Star, and everything I had…

"Don't fight it," the voice said mildly. "I am sending you home."

The darkness folded and reality snapped.

In the blink of an eye, I was sitting down on a throne.

I looked up.

Gu Jie stood before me, mismatched eyes shining with restrained emotion. Da Ji was there, my sister, looking just about ready to kill me with anger… And Ding Cai, my disciple, staring at me like she was afraid I might vanish if she blinked.

"Father," called Gu Jie, "welcome home."

Technically, this wasn't home.

As I took in my surroundings, the truth became obvious. We were deep underground, inside a vast, ancient space carved and reinforced by forces far beyond mortal engineering. Above us, a massive rupture yawned open like a wound in the earth. Through it poured light… and enemies.

Winged cultivators bearing the insignia of the Heavenly Temple descended in disciplined waves, gold and silver wings catching the glow as formations activated midair. What should have been a sacred descent looked more like an execution.

Da Ji scoffed beside me. "You really know how to make people worry."

I let out a breath that was half a laugh, half a sigh. "Sorry. I've been busy trying not to get thoroughly beaten to death by a Martial God."

"Master—!"

Ding Cai's voice cracked as she rushed toward me. I reached out instinctively, resting my palm on her head. She was trembling.

"It's fine now," I said gently. "I'm here."

And I meant it.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

As the words left my mouth, I felt the Six Souls, reforming and blooming back into existence from the depths of the Source. One by one, they returned, flowing into me like long-lost limbs.

Their memories hit all at once.

War. Collapse. Sacrifice.

The Holy Empire in ruins. The Heavenly Temple nearing the final stages of world domination. And behind it all… was her. An enemy who knew of my origin, my beginning, and perhaps my end.

The Six Path Souls immediately erupted into noise.

"I had to do it," Ghost Soul declared, unapologetic.

Asura Soul snapped back, furious. "You couldn't wait five breaths before dying on us?"

Animal Soul grumbled, "As if you didn't follow soon after."

"At least Asura died fighting," Human Soul muttered. "Unlike Animal, who—"

"Hey!" Heaven Soul cut in sharply. "None of us saw that coming. Don't pretend you did."

Hell Soul laughed, low and vicious. "Idiots. All of you. I lasted the longest, and that was before unlocking my Hell Path ability."

I exhaled slowly and absorbed everything.

The noise quieted.

I summoned Silver Steel from my pocket dimension. The sword settled into my hand with perfect weight, as if it had been waiting for me all along. Some weapons were powerful. Others were right.

This one was right.

Ahead of me, Jue Bu and Ru Qiu held the line, fighting like demons against the descending Heavenly Temple cultivators. Spells detonated. Curses screamed. Dark fire clashed against divine light. Around them moved familiar figures of Wu Chen weaving through the chaos, Liang Na vanishing and reappearing in blurs of death, Ren Zhe blazing with impossible potential, and Hei Mao's shadows swallowing the battlefield whole.

I fed quintessence into the Six Souls through the Hollow Star.

Power answered.

I divided my strength evenly to twenty-five percent qi, mana, world force, and aura, locking them into balance. Gold light bloomed beneath my feet as I activated Zealot's Stride.

The world dropped away.

I ran on air, kicked against nothingness, and surged upward like a living comet. As I passed Ru Qiu and Jue Bu, I didn't slow.

"Leave the rest to me," I said calmly.

I pulled the helm from my pocket dimension and sealed it over my face. The world sharpened.

I raised Silver Steel.

"Divine Zone: Thousand Smites."

The declaration barely left my lips before reality screamed.

With a single swing, the Smite Series detonated over a thousand times. Divine Smite. War Smite. Searing Smite. Thunderous Smite. Each one layered atop the next, cascading outward in radiant arcs.

Cultivators were torn apart mid-descent.

Divine light crushed defenses. Thunder shattered formations. Sacred fire burned through wings and souls alike. The sky filled with screams, then silence, then falling bodies.

I hovered amid the carnage, sword humming softly in my hand.

The cultivators of the Heavenly Temple closed in on me from all sides, wings beating, formations flaring as they tried to slow my ascent. Their cultivation ranged from the Eighth to the Ninth Realm, normally more than enough to overwhelm a single target.

Emphasize on 'normally', because they couldn't just keep up with me.

I pushed my speed higher, Zealot's Stride chaining through the air as if the sky itself were a staircase. Light and stone rushed toward me, the boundary between the underground ruin and the surface world collapsing in an instant.

I broke through.

At the lip of the massive shaft stood eight cultivators, all firmly in the Tenth Realm. They wore white and dark robes, their faces hidden behind veils marked with a single painted eye. Each of them knelt with one hand pressed to the ground, their qi woven into an intricate series of formations that stabilized the passage below.

Seers.

I didn't hesitate.

"Divine Possession."

My Six Path Souls surged outward like hunting beasts. Six of the Seers stiffened simultaneously, their bodies locking in place as my will seized their souls. The remaining two jerked back in horror, hands tearing free from the formation as the array destabilized.

I vanished.

"Flash Step."

I reappeared beside one of them, Silver Steel already in motion.

"Divine Smite."

My blade passed through empty air, the Seer had twisted aside at the last instant, but it didn't matter. Within the Divine Zone, the judgment followed intent, not trajectory. Radiance cleaved straight through his chest.

His body bloomed crimson, then collapsed into dust, dispersing back to nature.

I felt it clearly.

I had grown stronger.

Strong enough to erase a Tenth Realm cultivator in a single exchange.

The last Seer stood frozen, staring at me as though at a legend come to life. His voice trembled as he whispered, "I know you… the Sunderer."

His gaze darted to his fallen companions. "What did you do to them?"

I answered by taking the Seers' memories.

In a handful of breaths, their lives unfolded before me. They were Seers of the Promised Land, scholars of fate, servants of the Heavenly Master, and architects behind many of the Temple's most grotesque secrets. Children reduced to materials. Futures carved out and repurposed. Lives treated as tools.

Disgust coiled coldly in my chest.

I had my Six Path Souls maintain the underground formation, stabilizing the passage for those below. Above me, winged cultivators hovered in tightening rings, while a massive soaring vessel loomed overhead, its decks spilling reinforcements.

I turned back to the final Seer.

"Xue Wuying," I said, calling him by name.

His eyes widened.

I listed his crimes calmly from inhuman experiments, stolen destinies, exploitation of the powerless, the quiet slaughter hidden beneath the Heavenly Temple's rhetoric of order and enlightenment. The words weren't for him alone. They were for everyone listening.

"You've grown too accustomed to standing above others," I finished. "That's why you forgot what it feels like to be crushed from below."

I ended him with a thought.

Another Divine Smite, magnified through the Divine Zone.

Xue Wuying tried to resist, frantically weaving defensive techniques, but Seers were never meant for direct battle. The judgment passed through him effortlessly, erasing him from existence.

Silence followed.

I lifted my gaze to the cultivators surrounding me.

"This is your last chance," I said evenly. "Flee."

For a heartbeat, hesitation flickered.

Then one of the commanders barked a laugh. "Do not fear! This is Heavenly Temple territory. Hold the line until reinforcements arrive!"

I recognized the place the moment my feet touched the stone.

It was the courtyard of the Heavenly Temple Academy.

I spread my Divine Sense outward in a wide sweep, threading through halls, towers, and hidden formations. The result was… empty. No disciples. No instructors. No students hiding in fear.

Good.

That meant I no longer had to hold back.

Space rippled beside me. Jue Bu stepped out of nothingness, rolling his shoulders as if warming up, while Ru Qiu appeared on my other side, dark fire simmering quietly beneath his skin.

"It's been a while," Jue Bu said with a crooked grin. "A little reunion greeting wouldn't hurt, right?"

Ru Qiu nodded once. "From now on," he said, voice steady, "I fight by your side."

Before I could reply, the ground behind us shook. From the massive opening tore Da Ji no longer in human form, but as an enormous silver fox with nine flowing tails. Illusions bled from her fur like moonlight. Seated upon her back were Gu Jie, Ding Cai, Ren Zhe, and Yuen Fu, each braced and ready.

More presences snapped into place.

Liang Na and Wu Chen appeared behind me. Liang Na bowed slightly. "This time," she said, "I won't be useless like I was during the Civil War."

Wu Chen's voice was calm, resolute. "This time, I'll protect you."

Ahead of me, Lu Gao and Hei Mao emerged. Lu Gao inclined his head. "This time, I will protect you."

Hei Mao snorted. "And this time, you don't get to kick me away."

The sky darkened.

Heavenly Temple cultivators flooded in from every direction, wings blotting out the sun, their formations locking together with terrifying precision. Among them, I could feel the pressure of hidden Tenth Realm experts.

I smiled.

"Time to dole out justice," I said. "Let's start with Final Adjudication."

The sky answered.

One scale became two. Two became many. Enormous golden scales bloomed across the heavens, chains snapping outward with thunderous fury, binding cultivators mid-flight and tearing formations apart.

I followed immediately.

Through the Six Path Souls still inhabiting the Seers' remnants, I cast Exalted Renewal.

Their souls burned.

Their bodies turned to ash.

Power flooded back into me as the Six Path Souls returned, carrying the remnants of sacrifice and judgment alike.

Da Ji threw back her head and howled.

Her voice became illusion itself, space warped, senses fractured, and the enemy ranks faltered as fear and false visions swallowed them whole.

Ru Qiu stepped forward.

"Immortal Art: Defying the Heaven's Decree."

An eclipse devoured the sky. From it burst nine dark, fiery dragons, their roars shaking the academy to its foundations as they tore into the Heavenly Temple's forces.

Jue Bu laughed.

"Immortal Art: Reversal of Heaven and Earth."

Up became down.

The cultivators screamed as gravity betrayed them. Wings were useless. The massive soaring mothership lurched, flipped, and began crashing toward the ground in helpless slow motion.

We remained untouched.

Music filled the air.

Hei Mao knelt slightly, hands moving as if plucking invisible strings. "Immortal Art: Nether Gate Summoning Chant."

The sound of a zither spread outward. Cultivators rushing toward us slowed… then slumped midair, falling asleep where they hovered, weapons dropping from limp fingers.

Purple flames erupted.

Lu Gao tore one of his dark feathery wings free. "Hollow Point: Incursion."

A barrier of violent force wrapped around us as the crashing mothership slammed into it, detonating in an explosion of light and ruin.

Wu Chen's body expanded.

"Guardian of the Forest."

Roots, bark, and stone fused together as she became a titan of forest and earth. With a rumbling growl, she seized what remained of the mothership and hurled it back into the sky, smashing it into panicking cultivators robbed of flight.

The ground ruptured.

Several Tenth Realm cultivators burst upward, two of them radiating unmistakable Heaven Path mastery.

They never reached us.

Liang Na was already moving.

"Shadow Path Execution."

She became a blur of darkness, dagger and sword flashing once. When she reappeared, heads fell, bodies collapsed, and shadows drank the blood before it touched the ground.

Gu Jie's voice carried calmly through the chaos. "We should march to the Promised Land like this. This will be the next step of the counterattack."

"Agreed," I replied. "But first, we clean this place."

No survivors.

Da Ji's massive jaws opened, space itself stretching wide.

"Immortal Art: World-Devouring Maw."

Souls screamed as they were swallowed, erased, and denied even the mercy of reincarnation.

From beginning to end, it was apocalypse.