Chapter 1041: Originally, There Was No Destroyer God!

A subtle shift.

The God of Destruction was concealed in the void, His eyes filled with an ancient weariness, devoid of joy or sorrow, watching her calmly. He appeared like an ancient fresco in an alternate two-dimensional space, inlaid and seemingly kneeling against the wallpaper of ancient epochs, evoking an unnatural sense of reality.

“This... this!” Nathera’s mind went blank. She no longer knew what to do; she couldn't even speak. It wasn't that she hadn't experienced unimaginable adventures before, entering bizarre ancient secret realms and witnessing various unbelievable and diverse ancient ruins. But the scene before her, this so-called extraordinary encounter, and the level of existence she was encountering, had completely surpassed the realm of any previous adventure!

Whoosh—

A faint ripple suddenly spread around the God of Destruction, and Nathera’s form vanished with it. When she regained her senses, she found herself in a special small courtyard.

“Where is this...?”

Lush green grass covered the ground, and in the distance, there were mountains, rivers, and oceans, as if the courtyard contained everything imaginable. However, unlike the vibrant courtyard of the God of Creation, though its style and decor were identical, it was far more dilapidated. It exuded a sense of darkness and despair, as if perpetually shrouded in a faint aura of death, creating an ancient, distant feeling.

“This is... the God of Creation’s dimensional courtyard? In the interstice between spacetime...?” Nathera curled up on the ground. She had naturally seen this scene on forums before. As she looked around the grassy area, she felt a subtle difference, and an incredible thought suddenly occurred to her: “No, this is completely wrong! This is the God of Destruction’s dimensional courtyard...”

To have broken through to the Ninth Rank, her intelligence was certainly not weak! At critical moments, her mind was exceptionally clear and rational. Although she usually joked around in the shop, refining mechanical Dao artifacts and performing miscellaneous tasks at the lowest level to earn resources, for beings like them, who hadn't started from nothing? They had survived countless life-or-death situations in ruins, fought and struggled to seize every sliver of opportunity, and only then gained unimaginable chances to reach this level! Talent, wisdom, methods, and luck were all indispensable. What was called the "lowest level" here was merely relatively low; they were all great beings standing above hundreds of trillions of lives and galaxies!

At that very moment, she quickly understood some things... It was the God of Destruction who had brought her here... But why bring her here? It was because this place was where all 'cause and effect' intertwined! It recorded ancient history, was a secret realm containing the blood of eternal life, and simultaneously, it was meant for her to understand the concept of the 'God of Destruction' and observe His existence through the civilizations here... Once she observed Him, the God of Destruction would truly appear before her, revealing His form. Only by observing and understanding His concept would it collapse into an established reality.

“The God of Destruction...” Nathera gasped sharply, looking around.

Xu Zhi paid her no mind. Instead, he sat in the backyard, observing the newly constructed environment, quite satisfied. In front of the house was originally the 'God of Creation's Courtyard,' enclosed by a surrounding wall. Behind it were storage rooms and other chambers; after all, even simple rural courtyards usually have many rooms. He had now demolished those rooms and built a small backyard. The house was situated in the middle, with the 'God of Creation's Courtyard' in front and this new backyard behind, creating a 'symmetrical pattern,' also enclosed by walls to form a similar structure.

In the courtyard, Xu Zhi sat on a chair, calmly sipping tea. He watched Nathera, whom he had captured, still looking shocked, bewildered, and confused. He humanely decided to wait a moment, allowing her to compose herself. “As expected of a Ninth-Rank Daoist cultivator,” he mused, “to experience such an immense shock, one that overturns an entire lifetime of cultivation beliefs, yet still maintain such composure... It's like watching a bizarre horror movie.” The Zerg protection barrier was indeed powerful. However, it was a wide-area ability, covering an immense range, primarily for cloaking auras and blocking pursuit. Its direct defensive capability against external enemies was quite limited. After all, how much defensive power could a shield that encompassed an entire massive galaxy possibly have? Even though the Zerg's overall strength was formidable, the barrier's maximum capacity could only withstand the invasion of a weakened Ninth-Rank entity. For him to use this method to envelop her and forcibly abduct her in such an environment was quite audacious...

At this very moment, Nathera finally recovered her wits. Her eight spider legs were pressed against the ground, her entire body prostrated. How dared she be presumptuous? With utmost reverence, trembling like a mortal praying and bowing to a deity, she spoke: “O God of Destruction, who exists in the unseen... You have allowed me to perceive Your existence, to observe Your concept, and to come to this place...” She had already guessed that He must need her to do something... The unseen concept of destruction from the future cosmic collapse... Was it finally going to manifest in this prime, flourishing universe, initiating some... action?

At that moment, the entity sitting on the long bench at the courtyard entrance took a faint sip of tea, shrouded in ancient, distant divine light. Its voice emanated from all directions: “You should know everything,” it said. “The 'Dao' of the entire universe is not an inert thing; it is everything... divided into the creation of the world and the return of the universe...” The voice was soothing, giving a sense of ancient gentleness, as if it were omnipresent. “It is like the journey from newborn to elder... With increasing age, vitality diminishes, and the aura of death grows stronger... Light and darkness alternate, and everything is slowly being replaced...”

“The great cosmic collapse.” As the words reached her ears, Nathera involuntarily saw a vision before her: the desolate sight of all things dissolving into particles and rapidly flowing backward, like a multicolored firework sphere playing in reverse. At this moment, she seemed to witness the unseen concept of destruction emerging in a future universe that did not belong to this timeline. Even though it was not the God of Destruction’s will, He was still destined to be the cancer of this world, eroding and destroying everything... This was His authority! An authority that *must* be fulfilled! As the embodiment of all chaotic concepts gathered from sentient beings, these two unseen, ancient, supreme wills were impartially executing the duties bestowed upon them by the vast universe.

The mist gradually cleared from her eyes. She perceived some unseen ancient historical existences and gleaned a glimpse of the future. At this moment, she clearly saw some ancient truths—truths entirely unknown to the lower civilizations on the internet’s knowledge base. The so-called God of Destruction was, in fact... not the God of Destruction at all! Indeed, in this world, there was no such thing as a "God of Destruction." She looked up, her expression complicated, at the ancient entity emanating an aura of death—with the exact same tone, aura, appearance, and movements... The so-called God of Destruction, this mysterious entity of world-ending return, was merely the God of Creation Himself, gradually aging and nearing His twilight years with the passage of time... He was like a newborn child who grew with the ages; the entire universe flourished alongside Him, but gradually, He began to emanate an aura of decay and destruction, much like an ancient, weary elder in his twilight years, leaning on a throne, overseeing the demise of the entire universe that was born with Him and would return to stillness with Him. Prime and twilight years—they should not have coexisted in the same spacetime, for they were fundamentally concepts of the same entity... Yet, a drastic change had occurred: the future, aged God of Creation, having been observed and understood, had collapsed into an established reality, appearing in this spacetime...

“The universe’s return to stillness.” Nathera felt a massive, chaotic deluge of countless biological wills suddenly flood her mind. It was as if countless voices were whispering constantly in her ear. This will seemed to be a mix of innumerable creatures; she heard flying insects, birds, fish, fungi, all living beings perishing, dying, letting out their final cries, turning into a torrent. “This is the sound of world destruction.” An incredible realization dawned on her. “This is truly the One! The only One... Everything, all of it, is... the Dao One.” Her voice was hoarser than it had ever been. She felt that the shock she was experiencing still overwhelmed her heart. It was like ten thousand-degree hot blood furiously pounding with her heart, as if her heart might explode at any moment, bursting forth like the creation of the universe itself in a Big Bang!

At this moment, she finally couldn’t help but look at the conceptual being before her, shrouded in a mist of death, destruction, and stillness—the legendary God of Destruction—and her voice grew hoarse. With a gasp, she completely unraveled the universe's ultimate mystery: “So, there is no such thing as a God of Destruction in this world at all... You are also... the God of Creation!! The God of Creation from the future spacetime... who is about to decay and perish!”