Chapter 1969

The axe that tore through space slammed into the indigo barrier.

The owner of the axe was delighted to see the barrier shake and wobble under the force of the attack. His delight was, however, short-lived. At first, it seemed that the axe would dig deeply into the barrier, but it still bounced off uselessly.

The problem was that, before he could regain control of the axe, an indigo wave shot back at him.

"Wait..."

The massacre began.

Grid slaughtered the cultivators like they were cattle. He smiled and let the sword dance tear through his enemies, like he was welcoming the hundreds of new cultivators who came his way.

He only had a small amount of spiritual energy anyway. Therefore, he couldn't use the Memory Searching Technique too many times. Plus, the odds of getting actual results from using that technique were low in the first place. It wasn't reasonable at all to capture all enemies and perform the Memory Searching Technique on every single one of them to obtain information.

Above all, there were a total of one hundred and two Full Moon Fortresses on the West Continent alone. Time was running out, and he had to somehow find a way to destroy them all in time.

Two middle-aged men sighed as they watched hundreds of cultivators get slaughtered. "Where did this vicious demon suddenly come from?"

Grid had even destroyed the nascent soul of the white-haired man. The two men were on the same level as Zhang He, who was in the middle stage of the void refining realm, so they were quite confident in their abilities. But this enemy...

They couldn't fathom the strength of the intruder, who was killing everyone with an overwhelming force. Therefore, they didn't want to fight him.

"......"

After exchanging glances, the middle-aged men flew in different directions. For them, who had spent tens of thousands of years training, the most important thing was survival. They hadn't lived so fiercely just to die in vain.

Grid noticed them running away without looking back and took out King Daebyeol's Bow. This was the bow of a god. Normally, it used Divinity as arrows, the power of the arrows being proportional to the user's Divinity. This meant that the bow was even more powerful now that Grid had acquired the Annihilation energy.

There was a clap of thunder followed by a tremendous wave of power. Dozens of cultivators who had turned their backs to Grid to run away suddenly lost their balance and collapsed. They turned to look back at Grid in shock.

Their unidentified killer was pulling the string of a huge bow. A purple dot shot out from the bow, instantly turned into two lines, dividing the sky into three. Blood poured down like rain.

The two middle-aged men were attempting to escape, but the raining blood exploded around them.

"Chief!"

"Master!!"

The faces of the cultivators turned white. They were beyond shocked seeing people who were so much stronger than them die without even leaving a nascent soul behind. They saw no hope of survival and gave up on hope.

Step, step.

They heard footsteps behind them. The monster who slaughtered hundreds of cultivators without even a hint of emotion on his face was getting closer.

A high-level nascent soul cultivator, one of the survivors, barely managed to ask, "W-Why are you doing such a vicious thing?"

Grid saw the fear and resentment in this cultivator's eyes and replied nonchalantly, "I can't simply stand by idly when a few flying insects are swarming my house."

"I-Is this your territory? We're sorry! We were disrespectful...!" The cultivator slammed his forehead into the ground and shouted, "We sinned because we were ignorant. Please take this into consideration!"

The others shivered and imitated him.

So, these were the people who sought eternal life. Grid reaffirmed the cultivators' strong desire for survival and swung his sword without bothering to reply. The death of another cultivator further chilled the atmosphere.

It was only then that Grid spoke. "Why did you build the Full Moon Fortress here?"

"We decided that the space here was relatively unstable and easy to fracture."

"Why do you need the Full Moon Fortress to create a space rift?"

"The structure of the Full Moon Fortress itself is a huge formation. This formation suppresses the dangers created by space rifts. It can be used as a temporary residence for my colleagues who have crossed through the space rifts, which makes it very convenient."

As expected, sheer strength was the best way to gather information. Once he had slaughtered so many, he didn't have to use the Golden Soul Technique or Memory Searching Technique to get the answers he wanted.

"From now on, I'm going to use the Golden Soul Technique on you. Be obedient and accept it.

The spiritual energy that spilled from Grid's hands imbued the cultivator's brow. The cultivator was stunned, but didn't resist. He accepted the ban of his own volition.

[The Golden Soul Technique has succeeded.]

"I will ask you again. Why do you need to use a Full Moon Fortress to create the space rifts?"

Subjects under the effect of the Golden Soul Technique couldn't lie. Their souls would be destroyed if they did. So for this cultivator, it felt like he was wearing a bomb around his neck.

"The structure of the Full Moon Fortress itself is a huge formation. This formation suppresses the risk of space rifts. It can be used as a temporary residence for my colleagues who have crossed through the space rifts, which makes it very convenient."

The cultivator gulped and gave the same answer without making any mistakes. He was showing that he'd never lied to Grid in the first place.

"It looks like this city can accommodate tens of thousands of people. How many colleagues do you have that you need a city as big as this?"

"There are more than twenty thousand people in my sect alone. The Geumheo and Paehyeol Sects that smelted the Full Moon Fortress with us have thirty thousand members each."

"Were you planning to bring the entire sect into this world? Why?"

"We heard the news that a super galaxy treasure has shown up in this world. Super galaxy treasures are among the one thousand most powerful treasures across all dimensions, so the elders said it was worth risking the fortune of the sect."

A super galaxy treasure...

Grid thought about the body he had made. The moment he completed it, a notification window popped up saying that 'The 'God Incarnation Body' created by an unknown person has been ranked 855th on the Super Galaxy Treasures list,' broadcasting it as a world message.

'...Is this all happening because of me?'

He had been wondering why the name 'God Incarnation Body' had been given by the system when it was created. He just thought of it as his alter ego.

However, he didn't know what a super galaxy treasure was and often wondered about it. Now he finally got his answer by pure luck.

'The one thousand most powerful treasures in the entire universe...'

Grid was convinced. Anyone would want a divine body made out of Greed. The cultivators also had a knack for separating consciousness, so it was possible for them to control Grid's clone. Of course, it was unlikely for the cultivators to get their hands on the divine body because that implied fighting Grid over it and winning.

"Are your three sects strong?" Grid wondered.

"Compared to the big families and large sects, not so much, but we are pretty strong compared to the small and medium sized ones. But now... Since you have slaughtered the elders of the Geumheo, Gyodu and the Paehyeol sects, the only thing we have left is past glory."

Grid thought about the white-haired man he'd killed when he arrived and the two middle-aged men he had just shot with the bow. All three of them were Absolutes. However, he'd made this evaluation based on their total amount of spiritual energy. After fighting them himself, they seemed so weak that he wondered if they were indeed Absolutes.

'Even if we are all Absolutes, the level of skill differs...'

Their biggest disadvantage was that they couldn't use Shunpo. Shunpo was indispensable in order to make full use of an Absolute's Transcendent senses.

"Were the people you spoke of void refining cultivators?"

"T-That's right."

"What is the difference in power between them and the ones who reached the synthesis realm?"

"I don't know... The higher the realm, the wider the gap becomes. Think of it like the difference between me and a foundation building cultivator."

"And how much is that?"

"I can kill a foundation building cultivator effortlessly."

It seemed that cultivators were able to show the true skills of an Absolute when they reached the synthesis realm.

Now that this was clear for Grid, he asked another question. Most of his questions were related to the Full Moon Fortress. He focused on how the Full Moon Fortress worked and its exact role in creating space rifts, and how to prevent it from creating more.

In conclusion...

"It's easiest to just destroy it..." Grid muttered.

"...Yes, but as I said earlier, it's very difficult to destroy the Full Moon Fortress. The wisest thing is to take time to slowly weaken it until it stops working."

The reason the Full Moon Fortress was jade-colored was because of the technique of spatial isolation. Until the space rift was completed, the Full Moon Fortress wasn't even part of this world. It actually existed in another space altogether, so it couldn't be physically damaged.

From Grid's perspective, he had no choice but to watch the process of this world being eroded. But Grid had already entered the castle. Here, strange mystical letters dyed in gold and silver floated in the air, making it seem like he was in the middle of the universe, watching the stars around him.

The nascent soul cultivator said, "This is it. Once these characters are completed, the process of creating space rifts will accelerate. In order to prevent this, it's necessary to gradually reduce the mystical text by reversing the order of the formations installed around it..."

The cultivator didn't even get to finish his explanation.

Slash!

Grid drew the Falling Moon Sword and sliced through a cluster of light made by letters. The entire wall of the Full Moon Fortress shook and lost its jade color.

Shocked, the cultivator asked, "Did you do this?"

[The 'Falling Moon Sword' has been listed on the second line of the super galaxy treasures.]

"...Wow."

Grid felt like he was hoarding treasures. He struck the cultivator who was still mesmerized, killing him instantly. He flew up effortlessly and stood on the spire.

The tilted Full Moon Fortress was plummeting to the ground. From a distance, it looked like the moon was falling from the sky.

Grid compiled the information he had obtained and passed it onto Lauel. He performed a Link sword dance, using his connection with Jishuka. His rapidly expanding vision captured every one of the cultivators hiding in the Full Moon Fortress and outside of it. They were trembling and holding their breaths.

Grid didn't see them as people. He didn't show the slightest sympathy as he wielded Defying the Natural Order.

The purple-colored Defying the Natural Order released dozens of streaks of sword energies. The annihilation of these cultivators was decided at this very moment. They didn't respect mortals, so they couldn't avoid divine punishment. This was what Grid had decided.

"The next location closest to me is..."

Grid completed the first mission with ease and headed to his next destination. Similar things were happening across the continent. Some succeeded in their mission, while others failed.

Everyone was trying to do their best.