NOVEL NEXT Chapter 275: Nexus Ruin Art: Heaven Opening Spatial Rupture
First and foremost, it was important to keep a safe distance from the White Spring region.
As far as Grey was concerned, unleashing his full power carried too many unknowns. If something went wrong, the consequences would not be limited to a single area. At worst, the entire eastern portion of the southern region could be erased in one catastrophic event.
That was not something he wanted.
He had no intention of killing people.
With that in mind, Grey chose a remote location for the test. A vast stretch of land dominated by towering mountains and winding rivers, blanketed by dense, lush forests that stretched as far as the eye could see.
Life thrived here.
Below him, mutated beasts roamed freely. Tigers with two tails sprinted across the terrain, arcs of lightning coursing through their bodies as they moved. Leopards blurred through the forest, their speed rivaling fighter jets from his old world.
These were second rank mutated beasts.
This area lay deep within the eastern part of the southern region, a place that was isolated and sparsely populated. Cities were rare, provinces even rarer. Destruction here would not ripple outward into civilization.
If anything were to be destroyed, it would only be mountains, forests, and wild terrain.
Grey let out a slow breath.
It was time to begin.
A grin spread across his face as he retrieved several energy restoration potions. The familiar liquid tasted just as refreshing as the first time he had ever drunk it. Back then, he had made a vow to himself.
One day, he would become powerful enough to buy these potions endlessly.
He would drink them like water.
Now, that vow had become reality.
In less than four months, he had reached that stage.
Several days had passed since his enlightenment. Time had quietly flowed onward, and the calendar had already turned to a new month. This marked the fourth month since his transmigration, and roughly three and a half months since he had begun cultivating.
Grey tightened his grip on the potion bottle.
The mountains below remained unaware.
What was about to descend upon them was something they would never comprehend.
….
Soon, after several minutes of continuous recovery, Grey returned to his peak condition. The energy restoration potions worked rapidly, Nexus energy flowing back into his system as both of his elixir fields were filled completely once more.
"Let's begin." Grey spoke calmly.
He naturally noticed Brown and Xia Qingyue standing in the far distance.
They were neither too close nor too far. Just far enough to avoid immediate danger, yet close enough to observe everything clearly.
Brown, on the other hand, had absolutely no idea what was happening.
He had only followed along because he was already there. Turning around and leaving now would feel awkward, wouldn't it?
To make matters worse, Grey Lockhart did not even spare him a single glance. It was as if Grey was completely immersed in whatever he was about to do, treating the entire world around him as background.
Brown swallowed nervously.
He really wanted to know what kind of thing required this level of preparation.
At that moment, Xia Qingyue turned toward Brown.
She opened her mouth, then closed it just as quickly.
She wanted to tell him to leave.
But even if he did, it would not change anything.
From her perspective, what Grey was about to unleash posed a direct threat to the surrounding environment itself. If things continued like this, she genuinely wondered whether the planet would eventually gain consciousness and strike him down for repeatedly tearing apart its terrain and vegetation.
The thought made her temples ache.
…
Boom! Whrmmm!
Nexus energy erupted violently from Grey's elixir fields, crashing outward like an unleashed storm. For a brief instant, the world was drowned in purple light as the overwhelming pressure of Nexus energy suppressed everything in its path.
The mutated beasts below froze.
Their bodies trembled uncontrollably as instinct screamed warnings deep into their minds. Although they had reached a high level of intelligence, instinct still ruled them in moments like this.
A powerful being had descended.
Running was meaningless.
Sword Intent surged forth.
Reality itself bent subtly under Grey's will as his Saint's Eye flared with sharp brilliance. Above his head, a radiant halo manifested, rotating and twisting like a complex mechanical construct forged from light and authority.
At the same time, the patterns of Nexus Overclock spread across his body, lines of power engraving themselves onto his flesh.
Grey was not holding back.
Not even slightly.
He needed to know.
He needed to understand exactly how powerful this attack was, and just how much destruction it could cause when unleashed without restraint.
At higher levels, destruction itself became a measure of combat strength.
Low ranked evolvers tested their power on rocks and metal slabs. Higher ranked evolvers measured themselves against mountains and rivers.
Perhaps beings at the fifth rank and above used continents.
Or entire planets.
The moment Sword Intent fully manifested, the world seemed to fall silent.
A terrifying fluctuation rippled across the land, spreading outward like a shockwave. Xia Qingyue's expression changed instantly, her pupils contracting sharply.
Brown felt his legs go weak.
"He's using it again!" Brown muttered, his voice trembling as he instinctively shivered.
He had seen this once before.
And even now, the pressure alone made it hard to breathe.
Something catastrophic was about to happen!
The molecules in the air twisted violently as the world responded to his will. Reality bent under Grey's intention, space itself yielding as everything within the range of his mental perception was forced to transform.
Air ceased to be air.
Every molecule surrounding him was converted into pure sword energy.
The moment the sword energy finished forming, Nexus Overclock patterns flickered into existence across Grey's body. Power surged instantly, amplification stacking upon amplification as the halo above his head activated its full buffing capabilities.
Everything reached its peak.
Grey's voice dropped, heavy and absolute.
"Senior Xia Qingyue, watch closely."
His words thundered across the land.
"This is my new Art."
"NEXUS RUIN ART: HEAVEN OPENING SPATIAL RUPTURE!"
Boom!
At his command, the sword energy formed from countless air molecules descended.
In less than a second, the mountains below disintegrated. Forests, soil, stone, and rivers were erased completely, reduced directly to their most basic components before even debris could form.
Yet it did not stop there.
The moment the sword energy finished its descent, spatial power erupted outward from Grey.
Boom! Skrrrt!
The world screamed.
The sky and ground cracked open simultaneously as space tore apart. A massive spatial rift formed, its size comparable to several mountains stacked together, opening violently into the chaotic flow beyond existence.
Chaotic currents surged out instantly, rushing to repair the rupture as space attempted to stabilize itself.
Grey did not give it the chance.
The instant the rift formed, Nexus Convergence activated.
Space warped violently as a singularity formed in midair, a black hole-like mass radiating deep purple brilliance. It devoured everything in its vicinity, continuously absorbing the chaotic spatial currents pouring out from the rift.
At the same time, Heavenly Fire Release activated automatically.
Divine purple flames shot directly into the Nexus Convergence, saturating it completely.
Boom!
In the next moment, all hell broke loose.
"No!" Xia Qingyue's eyes widened in absolute disbelief.
But her shock only deepened further.
Whrmmm! Skrrrt! Skrrrt!
The detonation of Nexus Convergence sent a catastrophic shock through the area. The world shook as if struck by a force far beyond what it was capable of bearing. Space twisted violently, layers of space collapsing one after another.
At the point of detonation, countless spatial rifts erupted across the land.
They spread rapidly, linking together into a full spatial storm that annihilated every spatial node within Grey's mental perception.
No.
It went beyond that.
The spatial rifts continued expanding past the limits of his perception.
Within the storm, purple heavenly fire burned relentlessly. Space itself lost all structure. Direction ceased to exist. Forward, backward, up, and down became meaningless concepts, replaced by complete spatial disorder.
Movement became random.
Paths vanished.
Inside this spatial storm, there was no stable space to traverse.
Only void.
Only destruction.
Only burning.
When the expansion finally slowed and crossed beyond the range of Grey's perception, the formation of new spatial rifts ceased. The detonation power of Nexus Convergence gradually dissipated.
Yet the damage remained.
The spatial rifts lingered, heavenly fire continuing to burn violently along their edges, devouring everything that approached.
One thing was certain.
No one.
Absolutely no one caught within this zone would escape unscathed.
Those trapped inside would be thrown into endless disorder, unable to find a path out due to the absence of space itself. Chaotic spatial currents and heavenly fire would tear at them continuously, inflicting damage without pause.
There was no mercy here.
Only annihilation.
One thing, however, was certain.
For Grey, a first level third ranker was no longer a threat. As long as they failed to escape the spatial storm, their body would collapse under the distortion, and their core would suffer irreversible damage.
Crippling them permanently would be inevitable.