Everything in the surrounding area was covered by the Rune Progenitor’s cosmic phenomenon as this entire region sank into darkness. Then, a solitary beam of radiance illuminated one of the Sixth Mainland elders. The old man looked up as his gaze turned sinister and a giant hammer appeared in his hand. “Are you trying to kill me? So what if it’s a Progenitor! One day, I’ll be able to step into that realm, and then I will lead the Toolwielder bloodline to kill our way into the Fifth Mainland, which will forever-”

At that point, his body began to shatter.

The elder screamed as indescribably boundless rune lines swept across his body. His death shocked everyone within the Whitecliff Region as he dissipated before their eyes. The entire Cosmic Sea trembled as the wave flowed out, spreading over the rest of the Innerverse. It was as if it was trying to topple the universe itself.

The strength of this wave of rune lines was something rarely ever seen. Even though Lu Yin had seen Yuan Shi and the other peak powerhouses go all out in the Outerverse, their full power could not match the terrifying power of this elder who had just spoken up. He had not been a Cosmic Imprinter, but rather one level higher—one of the Sixth Mainland’s few Empyrean Imprinters, who were second only to the three Progenitors.

Additionally, he had been carrying the hammer, which indicated that he should have been Ancestor Toolwielder from the Toolcasting family, one of the Four Empyreans of the Sixth Mainland’s Daosource Sect.

Ancestor Toolwielder had been an Empyrean Imprinter with a peerless strength. The Sixth Mainland was divided into nine realms, and Empyrean Imprinters were similar to the Progenitors in that they were not limited by the realms; they were existences that existed above the masses.

Lu Yin had participated in two of the Innerverse’s battles and three of the Outerverse’s border warfronts thus far. However, this was his first time seeing the terror of an Empyrean Imprinter, and this was not a strength that he could even fathom. Just one glance from someone of that level was enough to send his mind spiralling into chaos.

This powerhouse had been strong enough to be an entire universe’s hidden trump, but his runes had been gradually erased along with himself.

The others could not see what was truly happening; they could only see that Ancestor Toolwielder’s body was cracking apart. Only those who had cultivated Truesight like Lu Yin and Tai Yishen were able to see Ancestor Toolwielder’s runes dissipate away. He was being forcefully erased.

Ancestor Toolwielder’s participation in this invasion had been no accident. Even if the Fifth Mainland were even weaker, they would still absolutely have terrifying powerhouses at the same level as an Empyrean Imprinter. Ancestor Toolwielder had come specifically to deal with such powerhouses.

While Ancestor Toolwielder was still being erased, another light ray illuminated a middle-aged man within the Sixth Mainland’s forces. He was quickly overwhelmed, and he quickly charged toward the south in an attempt to escape from the area of the cosmic phenomenon. This man was actually another Empyrean Imprinter.

Everyone from the Fifth Mainland was horrified at this discovery, as they had never expected the Sixth Mainland to actually be hiding an Empyrean Imprinter among their ground forces. This person should be the Sixth Mainland’s true trump card that they had been relying on to break through the region suppressed by the cosmic phenomenon—Ancestor Toolwielder had been nothing more than bait. This second person was the assistant who would have been the one to truly forge a path out of the phenomena for the Sixth Mainland.

Two Empyrean Imprinters had joined this battle, which had given the Sixth Mainland’s invasion a great chance of success. On top of that, the Sixth Mainland had even hid other powerhouses like Cosmic Imprinters with power levels of over 1,000,000 among their forces. Just how many experts of that level could Fifth Mainland defend against?

Only colossal forces like the Hall of Honor or the Cosmic Sect would have old monsters on the same level as Cosmic Imprinters. As for Empyrean Imprinters, perhaps not even the Cosmic Sect had such a powerhouse.

This battle had seemed like a guaranteed victory for the Sixth Mainland, but no one had expected the cosmic phenomenon to transform for a second time.

Ancestor Toolwielder wanted to resist its influence, but as long as he was not a true Progenitor himself, there was absolutely no way for him to withstand the power of a Progenitor.

Under everyone’s horrified stares, Ancestor Toolwielder was simply erased. Only a hammer remained of him, which summarily fell down from the sky and crashed into the sea.

The other Empyrean Imprinter who had been next to the border of the cosmic phenomenon was similarly erased, and he only left a petrified face behind for a moment as he disappeared. In the end, there was not even a trace of his aura remaining.

Everyone watched this scene take place in stunned stupefaction, and at this moment, no matter if they were from the Fifth Mainland or Sixth Mainland, everyone felt that they had just witnessed an impossible event. Two invincible powerhouses had disappeared just like that, and the strength that had erased them was nothing more than a cosmic phenomenon; a Progenitor hadn’t even appeared! No, even more shocking was that this Progenitor was already dead! This had all been caused by a piece of remnant strength left behind by a dead person, but it had easily erased two Empyrean Imprinters.

Everyone was shocked at the terror of a Progenitor, but at the same time, their desire to become one themselves grew stronger than ever.

Lu Yin also had fervent eyes, as he now understood why the Sea King had been willing to risk the entire Fifth Mainland in a gamble. Even if the chances of them losing were greater than 90%, they still had to make this gamble. That was because the Sea King had restored the Fifth Mainland’s skies in hopes of birthing a new Progenitor. Numbers could not make up for a single Progenitor’s might, and the Sea King hoped that the Fifth Mainland could give birth to a new Progenitor so that it could resist the Sixth Mainland.

Three of the Sixth Mainland’s nine realms had joined forces to invade the Fifth Mainland’s Human Domain while another three realms were invading the Astral Beast Domain. In other words, the majority of the Sixth Mainland’s forces were participating in this invasion of the Fifth Mainland. Seizing resources was just one of this invasion’s goals. More importantly, they had to eradicate the Fifth Mainland’s cultivation civilization to eliminate any possibility of the Fifth Mainland ever giving birth to a Progenitor.

Lu Yin had previously assumed that seizing resources and eradicating the cultivation civilization were both equally important motives for the Sixth Mainland’s invasion, but at this moment, his thoughts changed. It might actually be possible that the Sixth Mainland had always wanted to eliminate the Fifth Mainland’s cultivation civilization but that the Progenitor realm was too intimidating for them. The fearsome strength of such powerhouses could not even be imagined.

Millions of cultivators on both sides of the battlefield had been determined to give their all to massacre the enemy, but that conviction suddenly vanished in a puff of smoke. Everyone was in absolute awe of the strength of a Progenitor.

Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed, and he raised his head to see that the phenomena previously filling this region had suddenly vanished. He did not know if the phenomena throughout the entire Innerverse and Cosmic Sea had disappeared or if it was just this area. Actually, it had not vanished entirely, as there were still some remaining remnants.

The sky was still dark, and the crowd was similarly still lost in shock that two Empyrean Imprinters had been erased by the cosmic phenomenon. Countless rays of light suddenly appeared, and everyone’s hearts trembled. These rays of light were like the death god’s hands—whoever was illuminated by them would perish beyond a shadow of a doubt.

At this time, four people had been illuminated; two were from the Sixth Mainland, but the other two were from the Fifth Mainland. They were the two powerhouses with power levels higher than 1,000,000 who had been leading the way.

A familiar scene occurred, and these four experts whose power levels were higher than 1,000,000 were all eradicated by the phenomena without any ability to resist. Although the Empyrean Imprinters had still been able to make a bit of sound before disappearing, these four powerhouses were not able to even speak before instantly vanishing.

The next moment, the older cultivators from the Fifth Mainland who were present all raced out of the region affected by the cosmic phenomenon. They did not dare to remain behind, as the phenomena clearly did not differentiate between friend or foe, only caring about one’s power level. First, it had been the Empyrean Imprinters. Then, it had been the experts with power levels exceeding 1,000,000. Could it be that the experts with power levels of 800,000 would be eliminated next?

The Cosmic Imprinters from the Sixth Mainland also felt their hairs stand on end, and they similarly raced to escape from the suppressed region. The people from the Fifth Mainland wanted to stop their enemy, but they did not. Whoever tried to stop these old monsters at this moment would receive their desperate retaliation, as no one wanted to die.

The top experts were not the only ones terrified, as everyone wanted to leave this region. Who knew how many people would end up being erased by the new cosmic phenomenon? In fact, even some Explorers felt petrified.

Only those like Lu Yin who could see runes were not nervous, and that was because the rune lines that had been previously covering the entire sky had vanished.

Lu Yin’s heart sank, as the disappearance of these rune lines meant that the suppression from the cosmic phenomenon no longer existed. In other words, the Sixth Mainland would be able to unleash their full power now.

A desperate and panicked atmosphere continued to fill the Cosmic Sea. No matter if they were from the Fifth or Sixth Mainland, everybody rushed out of the suppressed region, as they were unable to see the runes and thus uncertain of if the phenomena had disappeared or not.

A chaotic battle inevitably broke out, but everyone did their best to hold back. Most were so anxious that they suppressed their power level all the way to a commoner’s to minimize their chances of aggravating the phenomena.

Lu Yin wanted to let the Fifth Mainland’s older generation know about the phenomenon's situation so that they could make some preparations and go all out with their attacks, but at that moment, an endless amount of rune lines reappeared off in the distance, and Lu Yin’s eyes went wide. This was the same cosmic phenomenon that had just vanished. What had disappeared was merely a portion of the phenomena, and now, it was descending upon this area from other regions.

So even this was possible?

Were the Empyrean Imprinters the fuse that had led to the phenomena suddenly activating? Or was it when the Empyrean Imprinters had approached the edge of the suppressed region that the phenomena had erupted?

Lu Yin did not know what had been the exact trigger, but he could see that the sky was once again covered by an overwhelming number of rune lines.

Nearly everyone charged out of the suppressed region, which meant that Lu Yin and the few others who were still motionless would quickly draw attention. He also raised his foot and moved to the south.

Tai Yishen did the same along with a few others who were from Gods’ Origin, though not a single one of them spoke as they all headed to the south.

The phenomena had completely destroyed the two mainlands’ desire to battle. The Sixth Mainland’s forces were no longer focused on how they could invade the Neoverse. Rather, they were only thinking about how they could survive this situation and what they would do if the phenomena activated again.

Atop the Champions' Stage, Bu Kong and the others were quaking in fear. They were the most powerful elite experts of the younger generation, but they were still just a part of the younger generation. Even if some of them had seen Progenitors before, the power of this cosmic phenomenon was still enough to strike fear into the depths of their hearts.

Little Arrow Saint, the Sword Scholar, and most of the others had never even seen a Progenitor before, but the scene that they had just witnessed had a very deep impression inside of them. They had personally experienced what it felt like to be nothing more than a mere ant. The Fifth Mainland that they had all believed to be easy prey was actually home to such an unimaginable power. Even after a powerhouse of this level died, they still were capable of unleashing an unfathomable power.

Zhi Yi was breathing heavily, and she had long since retracted every last bit of her Vitality Qi. She was like a quail whose foot had been stepped on and had completely withdrawn everything in response, not even willing to show its head. What Sky Dipper? That barrier was as frail as paper in front of this cosmic phenomenon.

As for the few World Imprinters who had not been erased by the phenomena, they all felt their scalps go numb as they stared at the sky. They did not know if they would be able to survive entering the area suppressed by the cosmic phenomenon, so they simply did not know where to go. However, they did not think for too long, as the Neoverse lay to the south, and currently, there was an astounding number of runes approaching from that direction. Everyone could feel a powerful strength approaching them, and they all looked over.

Lu Yin also gazed southwards, and his eyes shrank. Is that… a blood-red bell?

Lu Yin had a very deep impression of a blood-red bell that looked just like this one, as he had once Pilfered a power vessel that looked just like this little bell. It had been a power vessel that was inferior only to a Progenitor’s item, and that bell had come from the Hall of Honor’s Interstellar Supreme Court’s Chief Justice. That bell was actually the Chief Justice’s emblem, and it carried the Chief Justice’s strength with it.

That one blood-red bell had allowed Yuan Shi to contest Ancestor Di, which had changed Endless Weave’s border warfront’s situation and allowed the Outerverse to survive the Bloodburn Realm’s invasion attempt.

At this moment, everyone was still worried about whether or not the phenomena would continue erasing people. Not many noticed that, when the blood-red bell appeared, there was a hand holding it that looked like an insubstantial black shadow without any sign of a humanoid figure. There was just a smear of a black shadow that had torn through the distant void, and as this vague figure descended, it was accompanied by the gentle ringing of the bell.

The sound of the bell stunned everyone, and they felt as though they could see a massive hand descending upon them from the distance. Regardless of their cultivation realm, this vision was the same for all, even Imprinter and World Imprinters. The shadow streaked across the sky as the color of blood rolled over with it, staining the sky red. It was just one attack, but a World Imprinter and two Imprinters from the Sixth Mainland died at that moment. When the crowd was able to finally react, all they could see was a sky darkening once more.

The vague shadow had covered everyone.

“It’s one of the Interstellar Supreme Court’s Judicial Commissioners: the Shadow of Death, Lord Shadow!” someone cried out.