"WHOA!" Lin Mu let out a voice of sheer awe at the act of Xukong.
The Immortal Skeleton was still in its place and was in the motions of attacking again, but its attack never activated. Instead, its body started to fragment and dissipate. As if old straw had started to fray, the skeleton's bones turned into thin filaments and broke apart.
Its robes suffered a similar fate and in less than five seconds, it had been erased from existence. The same thing happened to the area around it, and the ground, trees, and rocks were all erased, leaving behind a dark void.
The large body of the invader let out an unwilling scream and forcefully cut off itself from the base. The top part of the body met a similar fate as the Immortal Skeleton and turned into fine filaments before disappearing in the dark void as well.
The mountains behind it and a large tract of area all the way to the forbidden continent suffered the same damage. It was as if everything was being erased from reality.
Lin Mu's spatial perception worked at full power and he saw each and everything. While it seemed like everything that met the power of Xukong turned into filaments and disappeared, Lin Mu knew that it was not so.
His eyes could see what others didn't and saw the profundities of space and the Dao of space being demonstrated to the greatest extent.
For example, when the skeleton turned into filaments, Lin Mu saw that the filaments were actually individual 'units' of the spatial fabric. It was this fabric which contained the matter of the world and kept it together.
What Xukong's attack had done was simply removing the bindings that kept these 'units' together. With nothing to hold the basic fabric of space together, how can anything continue to exist in it?
It was like removing all electrons from a body. It would no longer stay together and fly apart, turning into fine particles that would continue to wither until they reached a very small stable state.
The way Xukong had interacted with the fabric of space was enlightening to Lin Mu. After all, one of the skills he had did the same too.
Meld was similar in this aspect that it could directly cut apart the spatial fabric.
But the comparison between Meld and Xukong's skill was far too wide. It was like comparing the cut made by a butcher's knife to nuclear cleaving done by a laser.
While Meld too cut the spatial fabric, it couldn't maintain that state. The spatial fabric wasn't weak either, after all. If it was weak, then nothing would ever exist in the world. After meld cut the spatial fabric, it would mend itself moments later.
But Xukong's attack went many steps further.
If meld was like a scissor creating a cut in the middle of a cotton sheet, then Xukong's skill was pulling at the free edge of the sheet, unraveling it. It was basically reversing the existence of the sheet, returning it to its original form of a cotton thread.
~HONG~
While Lin Mu and the rest watched the aftermath of Xukong's actions, the being in question started to disappear. His large body faded away and large white pillars did the same. The dark expanse in the skies also closed up, letting the blue skies return.
It was as if nothing had happened at all and even the sun had reappeared, casting its light over everything.
~SKREEE~
But the silence was soon broken by a loud screech that came from the large fissure.
~BOOM~
A large blob of black tar filled with skulls and bones rose again, letting out an angry screech.
"It's still alive!? How!?" Lin Mu, and many others were confused.
"AHAHAHA! I'm alive!" Gu Yao laughed in joy and rose from the black tar pool.
He had forcefully hid in the deep fissure, with the hopes of avoiding the attack, and he really had. But the truth was, Xukong had never targeted him from the start. Or rather, he couldn't do that without violating more rules of the world.
The ones that he had targeted were the Invader and the Immortal Skeleton, both of which who weren't the beings of the Xiaofan world. This was the leeway that the Xiaofan world allowed him after the use of the World essence crystal.
"The rest is up to you, Lin Mu. You need to get rid of Gu Yao." Xukong's voice was heard in his mind.
This time the voice had come from Xukong's avatar in the ring rather than the main body directly.
"Yes, senior." Lin Mu replied as a determined expression appeared on his face.
He knew that even if Xukong had personally attacked, there were limits to it. He couldn't go beyond a certain level or the Xiaofan world would suffer. And while Xukong's attack had surely injured the invader, it hadn't killed it entirely.
The Invader had tenacious and stubborn vitality and could live on even when torn into shreds.
It was at this moment that Lin Mu spoke to everyone.
"Everyone… The only way to defeat the invader is to kill Gu Yao. He is the link that is allowing the invader to exist in this world. But he is also being kept alive and will be revived continually by the invader's powers." Lin Mu explained.
"We shall kill him together, then!" Jing Luo said with confidence.
"Yeah!"
"WE SHALL DEFEND UNTIL OUR LAST BREATHS!"
Everyone replied, having gathered their wits after seeing everything earlier.
"No… I can't let you all do that. As we speak, the invader is draining the world of its energy. Gu Yao and the invader will stay alive due to this loop. The only way to stop it all is to remove Gu Yao from this world once and for all." Lin Mu stated.
"How will we do that?" Patriarch You Yi questioned.
A bad feeling rose in the hearts of several people as they felt that Lin Mu's tone was different this time.
"I have to… I have to bid you all farewell now. I don't know when we will meet again, but I promise you I will return one day." Lin Mu said, filling everyone with dread.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING LIN MU!?" Patriarch Hua and several others questioned in fear.
But Lin Mu didn't answer them, instead flying towards Gu Yao at great speed.
"Humph! With your master gone, do you think you are my match!? Think you can kill me?!" Gu Yao taunted with new found spirit.
He understood that Xukong had held back to prevent the world from being destroyed. But Lin Mu couldn't kill him here either.
"I don't have to kill you to defeat you!" Lin Mu replied as he stretched his right hand and activated the ring with all his power.
~HONG~
The ancestral bell that had become silent suddenly rang once again and activated.
"What are you doing? How can you control the bell!?" Gu Yao questioned.
Lin Mu didn't care for it though and simply grabbed onto Gu Yao in a crushing grip.
~WOONG~
A portal opened up with the ability of the Ancestral Bell and the power of the mysterious ring, its destination unknown.
"AAAAAAA!" Lin Mu cried out as he pushed forth with all his power while Gu Yao continued to struggle.
~BOOM~
Finally, he pushed Gu Yao into the portal along with himself, disappearing from the sights of everyone.
"LIN MU!!!!!"
