Chapter Seventy: The Beginning of Heaven’s Collapse (End)

The Pantheon.

Under the starry dome, mysterious starlight sprinkled down, illuminating the divine mural walls where gods, demons, beasts, and all manner of beings faced the divine throne in reverent obeisance. Upon the ancient flagstones, the land of Primordial Desolation slowly rose, casting a grand projection of the world itself.

Above the Pantheon, the golden divine throne shed its former disguise and, in splendid majesty, revealed the Seat of All Gods. Lofty and suspended in the heavens, it radiated endless multicolored clouds, the air filled with the vast, solemn hymn of the gods. The three thousand divine patterns that once adorned the Seat had vanished, replaced now by profound and intricate sigils of law.

Only the bearer of the Seat of All Gods could comprehend its ultimate mysteries—no other deity could grasp its principles. The throne’s backrest was a tapestry of the deep, star-strewn void, with celestial bodies in perpetual motion. Its cushion was the broad, ancient earth, teeming with myriad creatures and all living things. The dais beneath was the endless blue ocean, where waves surged in ceaseless layers.

Upon the Throne of Creation sat Nanluo, dignified and commanding—he wore a crown woven with starlight, a robe adorned with gods, demons, and beasts, boots as blue as the tranquil sea. Behind him shimmered projections of all realms, making him seem the master of the heavens, sovereign above all.

In the air above the hall hovered the Mirror of All Gods, radiating endless sacred golden light. It could gaze upon the nine heavens above, peer into the nine netherworlds below, and pierce through all the myriad worlds.

At this moment, the mirror displayed sacred golden light dissolving inch by inch under the oppressive aura of Pangu atop Qilin Cliff.

“The baptism of divine light from the Pantheon not only raises a new generation of believers for the gods, but allows me to witness the true strength of all races. What a pity that such a chance comes but once. I cannot use the baptism of divine light again until I am crowned Emperor!” Nanluo, seated on the Seat of All Gods, gazed at the sacred light in the mirror above, which he had just withdrawn, and spoke with some regret.

Suddenly, Nanluo extended his right hand, his golden eyes fixed on the starry dome. His voice resounded with authority: “Scepter of All Gods, appear!”

Countless stars across the dome whirled wildly, and as the resplendent galaxy flowed, a beam of starlight shot downward. This beam aligned perfectly with Nanluo’s open right hand, and from it slowly emerged a golden scepter.

This was the Scepter of All Gods.

At its apex was a miniature Pantheon, symbol of the divine race, radiating infinite sacred light. Along the golden shaft swirled the forms of three thousand primordial gods and demons, entwined with countless mysterious patterns.

With a resonant clang, Nanluo’s golden eyes blazed as he gripped the scepter firmly. Instantly, it burst forth with boundless golden light, as if celebrating the return to its master.

“The Scepter of All Gods, the Seat of All Gods, the Crown of Stars, the Robe of All Beings, the Boots of the Boundless Sea—these five artifacts are the embodiment of the Pantheon’s limitless might. Each rivals a demi-emperor’s weapon, a step away from an innate supreme treasure.

“The Crown of Stars, the Robe of All Beings, and the Boots of the Boundless Sea correspond to the starry dome, the living mural walls, and the ancient flagstones of the Pantheon. The Scepter and the Seat are the master artifacts, one for attack, one for defense, granting command over the Pantheon.

“With the Pantheon and these five divine artifacts in hand, there is nowhere in this vast world I cannot go! Who could stand in the way of my conquest of the Primordial Desolation? Hahaha…”

Nanluo’s gaze burned as he looked upon the five artifacts, his golden eyes alight with divine flame as he laughed in triumph.

“However, to take the Pantheon itself, one great act remains. Hmph. Let all the divine kings of the Primordial Desolation owe me a debt of gratitude—let the glory of myself and the divine race shine upon the earth.”

Nanluo’s laughter faded, and as he recalled the message delivered from the Pantheon, a mysterious smile crept onto his lips.

“Gate of Heavenly Dimension, appear!”

Nanluo raised the Scepter of All Gods, his eyes fixed upon the reflection of the Pantheon in the crystalline barrier, and thundered with authority.

At the scepter’s crown, the miniature Pantheon suddenly blazed like a tiny sun, and from it shot a dazzling beam of sacred golden light toward the crystalline barrier...

—-

Eastern Sea, Dragon Palace, Star-Picking Pavilion.

The Ancestral Dragon and Lord Yuanxing, deity of the stars, were absorbed in a game of chess. Their pieces interlocked in a fierce balance, neither side yielding.

With a flash, the sacred golden light from the Scepter burst from the Pantheon, streaking like golden lightning into the heavens—brilliant, unmistakable, compelling the attention of every divine lord in the Primordial Desolation.

“Nanluo has finally reached this step. Now, it’s our turn to enter the stage,” Lord Yuanxing said, glancing up at the beam of light, then back at the seemingly indifferent Ancestral Dragon, placing a piece with some excitement.

“It’s still early. Let the beasts cause their commotion. Your mind is unsettled. I’m done here,” replied the Ancestral Dragon, eyes fixed on the board, dropping his piece calmly before vanishing.

Lord Yuanxing looked at the piece, then at the board, realizing the balance had shifted and he was thoroughly trapped.

This game was lost.

With a sweep of his sleeve, he cleared the board and disappeared as well.

The next game would begin anew, with victory yet undecided.

—-

Western Wastes, Blood Hall.

Upon the Throne of Blood, a man with crimson hair sensed the sacred golden light from the Scepter. Instantly, his crystalline blood-red eyes opened, and as he watched the golden beam pierce the layers of earth, water, wind, and fire, he could not help but laugh aloud, “You have finally come! The time of slaughter is at hand!”

A surge of baleful energy erupted from him, storming out of the Blood Hall, forming vast, ominous clouds overhead.

With a thunderous roar, the blood-haired man’s silhouette vanished into the tempest.

—-

The sacred golden light swept effortlessly through the layers of earth, water, wind, and fire, suffering no harm, and swiftly plunged into the reflection of the Pantheon within the crystalline barrier.

Thunder rumbled as the golden light entered the Pantheon’s image, and suddenly an endless sea of seven-colored lightning appeared above the crystal barrier, exploding and raging in wild abandon.

When the thunder at last subsided, the prismatic storm parted slowly, revealing a towering golden gate, ten thousand fathoms high, radiant beyond compare.

The magnificent gate was adorned with intricate golden patterns, carved with countless reliefs of mighty gods and demons—a gate that seemed to suppress the heavens themselves.

The Gate of Heavenly Dimension—it barred the path for divine kings seeking to ascend as divine lords.

“The Gate of Heavenly Dimension?!”

“How can it appear there?!”

“Who can tell me what on earth is happening?!”

All across the land, every divine king saw, as if in their minds’ eye, a golden gate manifesting on the crystalline barrier and instinctively understood that this was the legendary Gate of Heavenly Dimension.

—-

Pantheon.

Nanluo’s vision of the Gate of Heavenly Dimension was unlike that seen by the divine kings of the world. To him, it was not merely a golden gate; behind it stretched countless seven-colored chains of law, forming a grand formation that cleaved heaven from earth.

At the heart of this formation lay the Pantheon itself, an innate supreme treasure. This world-severing array did more than bar divine kings from ascending; it also prevented passage between the great regions of Primordial Desolation.

The Gate of Heavenly Dimension was the very source of the barriers between the Five Great Desolations.

It was only thanks to the Pantheon that Nanluo knew the gate’s true nature—a secret lost to all other beings.

A supreme treasure as the array’s core, the laws of heaven and earth as its workings—who among the divine kings could break through and become divine lords? None, save for one blessed with extraordinary fortune and boundless destiny, could ever unlock the gate.

The barriers between the Five Desolations were otherwise unbreakable.

But after today, the Gate of Heavenly Dimension would exist no more.

The Pantheon was the core of the gate’s formation, and for Nanluo to claim the Pantheon, what must he do?

He could only shatter the gate by force.

Rising from the Seat of All Gods, Nanluo gazed at the legendary gate and smiled calmly, “To claim the Pantheon, I must break the Gate of Heavenly Dimension. Once broken, the barriers between the Five Desolations will shatter—the era of great chaos will descend. Truly, a masterful move.”

That the Pantheon was the array’s core, and thus the source of all barriers, was no coincidence—Nanluo believed it orchestrated. Only the divine race could claim the Pantheon, break the gate, and shatter the boundaries. Thus, all the great powers of the Primordial Desolation permitted the emergence of the divine race, awaiting the gate’s destruction.

The era of great chaos would be the divine race’s greatest opportunity to rise.

Nanluo’s golden eyes blazed as he fixed his gaze on the gate within the crystalline barrier, clutching the Scepter of All Gods, his entire being radiating boundless golden light.

Bathed in this sacred brilliance, Nanluo slowly raised the scepter overhead.

In the crystalline barrier, before the Gate of Heavenly Dimension, a colossal figure, radiant with gold and brandishing the Scepter of All Gods, appeared.

“Now I, Nanluo, for the sake of all beings, shall shatter the Gate of Heavenly Dimension!”

A mighty divine proclamation rang from Nanluo’s lips, echoing in the minds of all the divine kings across the land.

“Praise Nanluo, whose mercy shines upon the world…”

“Praise Nanluo, whose might knows no bounds…”

Amid endless songs of praise, the golden figure before the gate swung the Scepter of All Gods, striking with the force of a falling meteor, thunder’s fury, and rushing rivers. With a resounding cry: “Break!”

Boom!

A deafening crack shook the hearts of all divine kings.

The golden Gate of Heavenly Dimension, struck by the scepter’s immense force, split with blinding fissures, and then, all at once, exploded.