Of the entire battlefield, Luo Chan was the most frustrated participant. No matter where it went, it would crash into karmic walls. Unless it simply stopped attacking completely and left the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, it would not be able to move around without slamming into more barriers.
Being constantly restrained left the bug seething, but it was also utterly helpless.
Just wait, humans! Your extinction is inevitable!
Elsewhere, in the Spirit Nidus, more than one Verdant Sage had appeared outside the Arcanum Domain. After the insects discovered that the war in that megaverse was centered around the Arcanum Domain, they had evaluated that place as vital to the humans and had resolved to destroy it first.
So far, nearly half of the thirty-six domains had been destroyed. This was not because those domains had been deliberately attacked, but rather from collateral damage of the ongoing war.
The Arcanum Domain was the first true target to be destroyed.
The person leading the defense there was Qing Xing, with his Chaotic Ancient Qi Art.
He obliterated one Verdant Sage outright, while another, which was far stronger, though still weaker than the Insect Lords, managed to survive Qing Xing’s assault thanks to its unique abilities.
Qing Xing had not yet revealed his full power of multiple spirit seeds. He was keeping that hidden to serve as his trump card.
All around him, the insect swarms gathered together before surging toward the Arcanum Domain.
However, with someone as powerful as Qing Xing standing guard, the bugs could only be slaughtered.
Behind Qing Xing, the Arcanum Domain was also shielded by the Terminus Cycle. It would not be easy to break through the sequence base.
Just then, the Great Master arrived, and she raised a hand in the direction of the Arcanum Domain.
Instinctively, Qing Xing blocked her. “What are you doing?”
The Great Master coldly replied, “I’m going to use the Terminus Cycle to deal with Luo Chan.”
Qing Xing frowned. “No. Awe Gate explicitly told me to do nothing aside from guard the Arcanum Domain.”
The Great Master snapped back, “If the entire human civilization falls, what is the meaning of protecting a single domain?
“You already know about Luo Chan’s ability. If it keeps sapping our strength like this, we’ll all die.
“Believe me, I want to protect the Arcanum Domain even more than you, but there’s no other choice.”
Qing Xing hesitated, and the Great Master proceeded to ignore him. She pressed a hand to the domain’s boundary. Ripples spread from the top, reaching outwards and sweeping across the entire Arcanum Domain.
From the outside, the Arcanum Domain appeared to be covered by an inverted bowl. The barrier was transparent, and yet everything within was concealed.
Inside that barrier, within the Zhan family’s territory, cultivators looked up in alarm. What was happening? Was someone trying to break the Terminus Cycle?
Zhan Ming’s expression grew stern. That should be impossible. Who would try to break the Terminus Cycle?
It was not that the Terminus Cycle could not be broken, but rather that no one should even wish to do so.
The Zhan family’s records stated that whenever the Arcanum Domain was protected by the Terminus Cycle, no outsider could touch the domain. This was not because the sequence base was invincible, but simply because it would never be attacked.
Zhan Ming had never known why his ancestors had mentioned that in the family records. When he became the patriarch, he had asked why and had been told quite firmly that no one would ever attack the Terminus Cycle. If it was released, the domain would be safe.
That was why, after Emperor Wu’s death and before the High Seraph had led the campaign against the Consciousness Megaverse, Zhan Ming had released the Terminus Cycle so that he could seal off his family from any outside affairs.
Matters outside of the Arcanum Domain had gone completely out of control. The Zhan family simply needed to weather the storm.
But why was the Terminus Cycle faltering at this time?
In the Garden of Passing, Zhan Qianguhou was muttering to a tomb when he looked up, mouth agape. He could also see that the Terminus Cycle was failing.
Every member of the Zhan family stared upwards.
The barrier was supposed to stand for millennia; just how much time had passed?
What on earth was happening?
There was a swish, and the sky above grew dark. The stars which had been missing for so long returned, replacing the bright sky that the Zhan family had fashioned for themselves.
The entire domain saw what looked like a fisherwoman step into view, an oar on her shoulder. “I’m borrowing the Terminus Cycle. If I don’t die, I’ll return it.”
Zhan Ming was struck dumb, and he just stared upwards, unable to believe what he had just heard.
“Wh- what is that?” someone screamed in terror.
From all directions, swarms of insects surged into the Arcanum Domain. There were a great number of cultivators gathered above, and they all looked down.
“Hey, you people from the Spirit Nidus! Stop staring and get out here and kill some bugs!”
“We’re the ones protecting you.”
“Hurry up...”
Zhan Ming had no clue what was happening, but the fact that there were humans on one side of the conflict and insects on the other was enough for even a fool to know who they should help.
What baffled him the most was where these cultivators had come from. They all had auras of being from another megaverse. One in particular was releasing surging currents that were so oppressive that the man’s presence eclipsed even the High Seraph’s. Such power!
Qing Xing’s face grew grim. Without the Terminus Cycle, his burden had grown much heavier. He could only hope that the Great Master was not mistaken.
The Great Master quickly returned to the Nine Odysseys Megaverse, Terminus Cycle in hand. She quickly disappeared into the sky. “Mister Lu, help me trap it here.”
Lu Yin observed what the woman carried with a strange expression. A... bowl?
He did not know that the bowl was the Terminus Cycle. While he was able to observe both the Nine Odysseys Megaverse and the Spirit Nidus, the fact that he had been focused on Luo Chan had prevented him from knowing where the Great Master had just gone.
However, the sight of her carrying a bowl made him feel like he was part of a bad joke.
The Great Master sneered. She held her oar in one hand and a bowl in the other. The two did not appear to contradict each other at all.
“This is the Terminus Cycle. It forms an independent space, severing all flows of energy and all senses. Unlike the Spirit Nidus’s other sequence bases, this was created by Greater Sancte Green Lotus himself. I refuse to believe that even Luo Chan can escape from this.”