Skyfire Avenue - Chapter 832

Chapter 832

Chapter 832: Forced Advancement

Lan Jue and the others felt the pressure mounting when suddenly the alien offensive reached a wild crescendo .

“Hmph!” The Pontiff lurched with a grunt, and the staff clutched in his hands cracked . The holy light that enveloped him dimmed visibly as a trickle of blood exited the corner of his mouth .

The loss of his perennial adversary lingered in his mind, a sadness that ate away at him . After all, what was light without darkness?

He fought with everything left in him, especially after witnessing the hell that had descended upon Europa . His heart broke to look upon the carnage, to know that the Pontiff’s bloodline would likely end now with him .

The power of his holy light was strong against the heathen alien force, especially under the empowering light of the Queen of Heaven . But his enemies were too strong . A momentary dip in defenses had left him open to a blast from one of the titans . This half beat of exhaustion made his protogenia unstable, it felt like his organs were on fire . Qianlin’s Queen of Heaven Domain had, thankfully, prevented his loss of control from consuming him entirely .

However the Paragons were only just holding their foes back . A single chink in their armor could spell disaster . Luo Xianni reacted quickly, tricking the enemy and sending several of the aliens into deep space . For the moment they were removed from play, but even then the Paragons were on the precipice of losing control .

This wasn’t the first fight these valiant men and women had fought, even within the last few hours . Each of them had fought hard against the Violet Prince and his coterie mere hours before . They had leapt from the frying pan to the proverbial fire the moment they returned to Middle Heaven .

After the Pontiff began to falter, the Bookworm and Keeper began to show signs of fatigue . It was enough for the enemy’s Domain to prosper . Both were blasted away, bleeding from serious injuries .

All seemed lost .

A terrible howl shuddered through everyone . Their eyes were stabbed by a light so bright and resplendent they winced against the intensity . A crystalline, purple blaze spread out all around them that was quickly followed by an incomparably powerful aura .

Purple . A purple that swallowed the entirety of the universe . A noble, terrible purple spreading through the whole battlefield . Even the mighty warriors of the Infinite stopped to stare in wide-eyed wonderment .

Lan Jue’s heart sank, his face stern . The image of his dharma, the Middle Heaven Great Emperor of the North Star of Purple Subtlety, was clearer than ever . The myriad stars the twinkled in the distance dimmed . Even Europa and the three alien planets were less visible .

The aura that enveloped him inflated with stunning speed and intensity, so intense that an entirely new consciousness seemed to spring up in the universe around them . Even the stars submitted themselves to it .

This ubiquitous awareness appeared as Lan Jue’s aura exploded outward by orders of magnitude . His dharma loomed large, golden runes blazing into existence upon the blade of Captus gripped in its hand .

In the same instant a change overcome the image of Quanyin . The outline of an arrow was etched in her forehead and moments later Qianlin’s image was painted a pale shade of gold . So intense was her light that it could be seen burning from the surface of human planets in the far distance . Not only was her dharmic image clearer, but ghost-like copies spread out behind her . Instantly the influence of her light surged and the Paragons each felt no less than ten percent more capable . Those that had been injured felt their protogenia quickly recover .

This…

Did they break through?

The aliens stared in shock, but it was a state mirrored by their human enemies .

Lan Jue’s face vanished, replaced with one very similar but far more imposing . The golden runes etched into Captus flared and as their light spread out the tint of purple was washed away . A beautiful, starry expanse took its place .

It was like the entirety of the universe was being pressed into this small space . The countless stars clustered around the powerful beings present, man and alien alike .

Boom– –!

The vibrations from the explosion reverberated through the souls of everyone present . The Emperor of Heaven expanded to a hundred times its size, making Poseidon look like a child’s toy .

It slowly carved a path with its weapon, leaving behind a curtain of red that covered everything .

Weaker alien monsters felt their vitality vanish, burned away in an instant before the eternity of death overtook them . In the midst of everyone appeared a great portal of light . Three words hovered above it: Gate of Cataclysm 1

Blood-red light flickered from the portal like a giant vortex . It drank up the souls of the monsters from every corner of the battlefield .

The three Infinite-level alien generals were the first to react before being destroyed . They released the entirety of their power without reservation, spreading their Domain out to its limits to ward off the deadly glare of the gate . They were thousands of kilometers away before the gates was fully open .

Other aliens also attempted to flee, but the hunger of the gate was more than they could contend against . The first to be consumed by its light – one of the titans – didn’t even have time to scream before death came for it . One was quickly followed by two, then a third as the slower monsters were swallowed up . Three Nirvana-level generals lost their life to the Gate of Cataclysm .

However in the midst of this terrifying display, the three alien home worlds suddenly grew brighter . Violet light erupted from their surfaces like a haze . It stretched all the way out to the beleaguered alien generals, and when it crested over them they were swept away . Vanished .

The burning words above the portal began to weaken, the majestic image of the Emperor started to fade . Though it shrunk back to its former size the strange consciousness it had birthed remained all around them, omnipotent and eternal .

Lan Jue reappeared among the others, kneeling in the vacuum of space hand in hand with Qianlin . Both of their faces were oddly flushed, eyes closed .

Jue Di looked at them with furrowed brows . He swung his golden staff and a golden light surrounded the human Paragons . In a flash they were gone .

The violet light from the alien home worlds dissolved and suddenly everything was back to normal . And yet it wasn’t, for the aura of those planets was still palpable . Who could say if they were now capable of fighting back?

A few breaths later the alien generals returned, though they weren’t alone . This time they were joined by the Violet Prince and Princess, and their horde . They started for the main battlefield .

Poseidon and Middle Heaven gave the enemy creatures no quarter . With the aid of their drones, the aliens were on the verge of destruction . Poseidon’s trident was particularly devastating, obliterating anything unfortunate enough to be in the path of its light .

Hummmmm! The buzzing sound came over them like a wave . Finally the aliens, until now indomitable in their will to fight, broke off their attack and retreated . The Violent Prince, riding his giant monstrosity, came bearing down upon the armada with his generals at his side . Their eyes burned with lust for destruction .

The fighting stopped . Middle Heaven and Poseidon paused, waiting . The allied fleet had suffered significant losses over the last few hours, but the aliens had suffered far worse . In terms of sheer numbers the humans had come out of the battle victorious . But whether that would remain true if the fight continued was hard to say . After all, for all their strength the Paragons had proved incapable of defeating the alien commanders .

The alien horde fell back behind the Prince, falling into formation . The two armies kept their distance, staring .

Drones from the various bastions returned to their ships to charge . Once more, they found themselves in a stalemate . Their war shook the heavens, both sides needed a moment to catch their breath .

Lan Jue and Qianlin were teleported back aboard Middle Heaven with the Photographer’s help, though they themselves remained unchanged . They knelt across from one another as flows of protogenia whipped around them erratically .

Qianlin’s Domain appeared and disappeared in maddening flickers of power . From time to time her pretty face would twist into expressions of pain .

In those last moments their situation had become critical . To save the lives of his compatriots, Lan Jue had decided to force a breakthrough .

His cultivation had already been at the border of Reflection of Heaven and Earth, as had Zhou Qianlin’s . Both of them had been trying to repress the draw of Nirvana .

They had no choice . The only way to free themselves from the alien onslaught was to take drastic measures . They were in danger of being overrun, and the creatures had left them no opportunity to flee .

They couldn’t afford to die . If they did, if the Paragons were lost, then humanity was lost . Lan Jue was forced to decide, and he chose to break through .

Rising to new heights of power galvanized his protogenia . It also solidified the disparate pieces of his inheritance and summoned the consciousness of the Emperor of the North Star . As Lan Jue had hoped, gathering the spirit of the emperor had temporarily catapulted him into incredible levels of power . The power and influence of his Boundless Starlight Domain soared, to the point where it unlocked the profound truths hidden with Captus and summoned the Gates of Cataclysm . Three of the mighty alien creatures were swallowed up by its terrible power .

But this time his breakthrough was different . He was rising to a new level of Paragon, whereas before he was transforming from an Adept . Crossing the threshold to a new understanding of protogenia and the changes it wrought were distinct .

Before he rose sharply as a result of accumulated learning . This time he forced a breakthrough . Power summoned from the vestiges of the Emperor of the North Star was less potent .

 

The name of Lan Jue’s sword in Chinese is directly translated as ‘collapsing immortal sword’ or ‘trapping immortal sword’ . The portal shares the same name, but I changed it to cataclysm due to the manifestation of the sword’s power . You can see it in action when parts of reality collapse after its use .  Please download our sponsor's game to support us!