Lowly Ascent

"So this is it. I couldn't even get revenge....my soul chained. I'm unable to use my other methods...how sad." Dai Tian had given up, he didn't even have a torso anymore, and his head was vanishing at a rapid pace.

Meanwhile, Fang Yuan returned to the rest of the surviving Cultivators.

Lady Moon was among them, one of the three Grand Elders left from the Immortal Sect. Her sister and Disciple were nowhere to be seen and in her arms was a charred corpse, it had the vague shape of a young woman.

There weren't even thirty people left. Those that remained, each of them weak and wounded.

"So this is the end. I never thought it would come this quickly...." One of the younger cultivators was solemn. He was one of the rising stars, a talent that had the chance to reach the Fusion Stage in the next hundred years.

"It had to come sometime, I'm getting on in years anyway." Another Cultivator spoke up, they were old but their body radiated power, it was a past Generation Lone Cultivator who made it to the Fusion Stage. Yet because of the low resources and his old age, he was subpar in the Fusion Ranks, his Dao Incomplete. He could only watch the battles and not intervene in them.

While most cultivators moped or commented on the coming end, a few found Fang Yuan for trouble and berated him. 

"Are you crazy?! Why did you save that Demon!"

"You let him get away!"

"He caused all of this! You sided with him. Why shouldn't we kill you!"

The cultivators that went after Fang Yuan began to make a scene, but Fang Yuan didn't care nor respond. Yet, in the crowd, someone spoke for him.

"It doesn't matter now, does it? The world is ending and killing the Sword Saint means nothing. If you think the Imperial Demon should die then why didn't you chase him? Wait, that's right, you don't have the strength to! And now you're making trouble with someone who has strength but didn't do what you wanted. Despicable, the lot of you! Humans are so distasteful, even more so when they near their expiration date. Hmfp!"

Heads turned, and eyes locked onto the one who spoke. No one dared to meet that person's gaze.

The one who spoke up was none other than a Tier 9 Demon, one of the Three Grand Demons of the Demonic Sect, the Demon of Wrath.

Wrath had many horns protruding and twisting from its head and shoulders, its body was similar to an ox, its entire body layering in dark scales, all with the tail of a scorpion.

Its face was humanlike but resembled something more in-between a beast and man, its eyebrows bushy and eyes pitch black. It was a true powerhouse, one of the only two present to be nonhuman, the other being the Guardian Beast of the Beast Master Sect, the Half-Blood Qilian, who was in the back of the group.

The Qilian was missing most of its body. It had taken multiple hits trying to defend the Sect from the System during the battle. 

The cultivators harassing Fang Yuan backed away. Wrath came forward and peered down at the short human, being 5 feet taller than him.

"You didn't have a choice, your desires have been messed with, although they were already messy, they were tampered with. You hesitated and the result was that man's escape. Over the years I got some reports, I now believe the Imperial Demon Harnessed my fellow brethren, Desire."

Wrath's revelation caused a buzz, many people even brought their gaze away from the brewing sky.

Murmurs filled the group, Desire was well known and if Cain harnessed even him, it was natural for Fang Yuan to lose, seeing as he had a close relationship with Cain.

However the Cultivators weren't given enough time to be left to their devices, Wrath's goodwill was for naught, and the preparations for the end were complete.

Boom! Crash! Crackle!

The world began its end, the earth and sky crying as its flesh ripped from one another. 

Some cultivators intertwined hands, others gave a last-ditch effort to run. There were a few who meditated and peacefully waited.

Bound by chains, Dai Tian felt himself holding on by a thread, he knew he had only a few incense sticks of time to live. The indignation in his heart bloomed.

In his bitterness, he called out, his tone weak and helpless, "W-What are you doing to me? Just what is this? Isn't doing this against your way? I've gathered much information from those other invaders, there's no way you would waste so many resources! So tell me, why are you doing this to my home!? Why pick us?!" At the end, Dai Tian was almost crying, his emotions stirred and a tear left its mark on his cheek.

No one would expect the System to respond, but it had exceptions, the specific rule being called "Assisted Enlightenment" in which the System was allowed to disclose information to those who were sure to die. 

It was made with the reasoning that it would break the spirits of people for easier disposal or recollection, depending on where the souls were taken after death. 

[Request Accepted, Reason Loading....Loading....Complete!]

The System began to explain.

[Resource Usage Low! Reason: Immortal Soul Imbued with Dao! Requirement to Call the Existence Below Halved, Enticement 80% Success Rate!]

Dai Tian's face warped, "Enticement? You are using my soul to entice?!" This came as a great shock. "What are you enticing?!" He gulped, not sure if he wanted to know.

The blue screen turned off momentarily before appearing again, loading for a time. Finally, the System answered as per its cruel rules.

[Many Names Recorded Through Grand Data Stream from System Owner! Listing Now!]

[Names are as follows:]

[Encroaching Profligate From Among The Stars]

[The End]

[Concept of Doom]

[Forbearer of Apocalypse]

[Expiration of All]

[Annihilation...]

The System spewed title after title, screens began to pop up and fill the sky. It was almost as if it was broken, how could one being have so many aliases?

"So many names...." Wrath's jaw dropped.

Moon clutched the charred body in her arms tighter. 'Disciple...this world truly doesn't need us living in it...'

The last screen beamed, the largest and brightest of all.

[Ranked Top 10 for Concepts in Relation to End/Doom/Annihilation/Etc. Currently Feeding off Landfill for Extra Energy Source! System Has No Authority Over... Error! Host Removed Access to Main Files! Change Made 3,087 Years Ago!]

Dai Tian's soul was pale, not only due to the refinement of his soul but because he knew exactly what a concept was, he learned of such beings a very long time ago through whispers. He never thought such beings were real!

"This... you're feeding me to a Concept?! No! This can't be! Send me into the Reincarnation Cycle! Please, I beg you!"

[Error! Subject Cannot be Moved Into Project Rebirth's Folder! Subject is Needed for Territory Codename "Dao Fragment 2" Subject is to be Sacrificed for Enticement!]

The ground shook, the earth split, the length of the crack going into the horizon. Below, the Cultivators could see the Earth Roots of the Landfill, they were being moved aside as the layer beneath revealed itself.

There was only darkness, a colorless world. Around the edges, humongous earth roots larger than any others held orbs just as large as them in their grasp. Farther in, broken orbs and landscapes existed with strange colossal creatures fighting for the scraps.

And in the center, there was a giant gaping maw sucking everything in like a black hole, it gave one chill, like its mouth held within them an inevitable ending, a final destination for all things.

Fang Yuan's knees went weak, and everyone else had similar reactions. Dai Tian had already been sucked into that colorless world and the Territory went with him at a terrifying pace.

One by one, Cultivators lost their strength and were sucked in, their destiny to be eaten by the creature at the center of the vortex, to be consumed by the maws that spelled Doom for their souls.

'I can't....not yet!' Fang Yuan gained a sudden burst of strength in his knees, pushing back on the force sucking him in.

"Immortal Art, Phoenix's Rebirth! Soul Possession!"

'I'll sacrifice everything for this one chance!'

The System long left the Territory, its core gone and the land given to the Concept of Doom. Fang Yuan was free to use the lingering power left. Thankfully, it was enough to activate an ancient spell within the Immortal Sect, a spell Dai Tian would have used if he still had his body and was sane at the time of fighting Fang Yuan and Cain.

Sacrificing his flesh, cultivation, and crippling his soul, Fang Yuan changed the nature of his origin, rebirthing it into a parasite that could possess another. Along with his sacrifice, he gained a burst of power never before seen! His soul moving like a comet out of the territory, looking for an appropriate host!

Seeing this, Wrath laughed, "Haha! Humans are tenacious! Luckily, my soul belongs to someone else, this thing cannot have me!"

In an instant, Wrath was gone.

...

A day later, the Territory known as the Spirit Lands was gone. The nearby territories and dead zones moved together to fill the space it left behind and on the edge of the landfill, new territories filled the open space.

Everything went smoothly, as it had always been.