Chapter 955: Severing the Foundation

The Golden Armor-class Nest Dimension was of utmost importance even to the Annihilation Fiend Race, guarded by layers of patrols, with its spatial entrance heavily disguised. Yet, inside the dimension itself, only a single Golden Armor Annihilation Fiend stood alone on the vast, desolate land, maintaining solitary vigilance.

The Fiend Race understood all too well…

Once the cultivators infiltrated the nest dimension, no amount of Golden Armor Annihilation Fiends stationed inside would make a difference.

Space twisted, and Dongbo Xueying, clad in black, appeared within the nest dimension. At the sight of the scene before him, his face lit up with delight.

“Who goes there?” The guarding Golden Armor Annihilation Fiend whirled around, spotting the black-clad cultivator in the distance. Fear flashed across its face—had they been discovered?

“My King! The third Golden Armor Nest has been exposed! A cultivator’s avatar has appeared!” The Golden Armor Annihilation Fiend immediately sent an urgent message.

“Kill him!”

The ‘Kings’ who received the news were all shocked. None of them possessed ultra-long-range teleportation abilities, and it would take time for them to arrive.

“Die!” Without waiting for orders from the Kings, the Golden Armor Fiend guard launched an attack. A vast, rolling black cloud surged toward Dongbo Xueying in the distance. Yet, Xueying flickered away in successive teleportations, his mastery over the Void evident as he swiftly widened the gap between them. The Golden Armor Annihilation Fiend couldn’t catch up.

As a Voidwalker who had also cultivated the Nine Clouds Emperor’s four diagrams and spent twenty billion years in rigorous training within the Labyrinth Corridor, Dongbo Xueying’s expertise in the Void was absurdly high—surpassing even many Cosmic Deities in this regard. Even as an avatar, his Void techniques were enough to outshine most Chaos Realm experts.

Soon after, the space within the Golden Armor Nest twisted once more, and two figures emerged.

One was an exquisitely beautiful noblewoman—none other than the Radiant Sovereign. Her luminous eyes swept the surroundings before settling on the ancient Void Tree in the distance. Seeing the golden eggs nurtured upon its branches, her gaze blazed with brilliance. She extended a hand, summoning a zither, and her slender fingers plucked its strings…

A melody arose, forming visible ripples that spread in all directions.

Beside her stood the Void Ancestor, his green hair flowing. Though his expression was cold, a flicker of excitement betrayed him at the sight of the Void Tree.

“Too late!” The Golden Armor Fiend guard, who had been chasing Dongbo Xueying’s avatar, despaired upon seeing the Radiant Sovereign and Void Ancestor arrive.

Once the cultivators’ Cosmic Deities arrived, all hope was lost!

“Boom—”

Despite being the highest-tier Golden Armor-class Void Tree, renowned for its resilience, under the Radiant Sovereign’s melody, the golden eggs instantly turned to dust. The Void Tree itself began to twist, holding out for only two breaths before collapsing entirely. The entire dimension started to crumble.

As for the Golden Armor Fiend guard, it had long since disintegrated under the sonic waves.

“Let’s go.”

Amid the collapsing space, the Radiant Sovereign and Void Ancestor departed via Void Teleportation, their moods uplifted. Meanwhile, Dongbo Xueying’s disguised avatar had already dissipated on its own.

—

Within the Labyrinth Corridor, the five ‘Kings’ of the Annihilation Fiend Race gathered.

“Damn it!”

“How could this happen?”

“We had tight security, countless patrols, and even spatial camouflage—how were we still discovered?”

The five Kings seethed with rage.

Losing dozens or even hundreds of low-tier nests meant nothing to them. Even if most of the ‘Blood Armor-class Nests’ were destroyed, they could remain composed. But every ‘Golden Armor-class Nest’ was of paramount importance—these were the true foundation of their race. To date, all fifteen ‘Kings’ had emerged from Golden Armor-class Annihilation Fiends, nurtured within these nests.

The Golden Armor-class Nests bred generation after generation of Golden Armor Fiends—they were the cradles of Kings.

Losing two such nests early on had already pained them greatly, but back then, they had been too weak to resist. As their overall strength grew and their patrols and defenses tightened, no Golden Armor-class Nest had been discovered for an extremely long time.

“Now, out of the six remaining Golden Armor-class Nests, another has been destroyed.” Jun Di sat with his segmented tail coiled around him, his gaunt face shadowed by the bloodlust in his eyes.

Even if a hundred Golden Armor Fiends perished, given enough time, they could be replenished.

But the destruction of a nest meant severing their roots!

“From the intelligence gathered, the enemy didn’t breach the entrance—they appeared out of nowhere.”

“It must have been ultra-long-range teleportation.”

“Indeed. The cultivators likely performed an ultra-long-range teleportation, and one avatar just happened to land inside a Golden Armor-class Nest.”

The other Kings could only sigh.

Though they lacked the means for ultra-long-range teleportation, their infiltration of the cultivators’ ranks had provided them with knowledge of its workings—the farther the teleportation, the greater the deviation. Since there were no spatial markers within the Golden Armor-class Nest, the teleportation must have been wildly off-course.

This deviation just happened to land inside a Golden Armor-class Nest.

Over the eons, countless cultivators had ventured into the Labyrinth Corridor in relentless exploration. It wasn’t impossible for sheer luck to have delivered one into a Golden Armor-class Nest this time.

“Their luck is too good.”

“To teleport straight into a Golden Armor-class Nest?”

They all felt deeply aggrieved.

Jun Di’s eyes remained icy. After a moment of silence, he spoke: “Investigate. Find out who discovered this Golden Armor-class Nest. We must determine whether it was sheer luck or if they possess some special method.”

If it was mere luck, the threat was minimal.

But if they had a detection method, it would spell disaster for the Annihilation Fiend Race.

—

Meanwhile, within Void Fortress, laughter filled the air.

“Hahaha! Destroying a Golden Armor-class Nest has significantly slowed the Annihilation Fiend Race’s growth. It’s been ages since we’ve had such a major victory.” Ancestor Tianyu grinned, his joy mirrored by the other Cosmic Deities present, including the Witch Ancestor and the World Ancestor. Indeed, such triumphs had been rare for a long time.

In the early days, they had crushed the Annihilation Fiend Race, slaying four ‘Kings’ and destroying two Golden Armor-class Nests.

But now, the ‘Kings’ dared to assault the spatial barriers in unison before retreating unscathed. Though the cultivators still held absolute superiority, they could no longer kill the Kings, nor had they discovered a Golden Armor-class Nest in eons. Even hiring the Crimson-Browed Mountain Lord at an exorbitant cost in Sourceworld Stones had failed to locate one.

“The nests are their roots. Severing one buys us more time,” the Witch Ancestor remarked with a nod.

“If our suspicions are correct—that ‘Kings’ emerge from Golden Armor-class Fiends—then these nests are even more critical. The Annihilation Fiend Race must be fuming, especially with so many of their elites infiltrating the Five Great Sacred Worlds.” The Void Ancestor turned to Dongbo Xueying, who stood nearby. “Once word spreads that Dongbo Xueying discovered the Golden Armor Nest, the Fiends’ spies will likely seek vengeance against him.”

“True,” the other Cosmic Deities agreed.

“This must remain confidential,” Ancestor Tianyu declared. “No leaks.”

“Absolutely no leaks!” The Witch Ancestor nodded firmly before turning to Dongbo Xueying with a rare smile. “Lord Dongbo, was this discovery luck, or do you possess a special method?”

…