Chapter 55: One of the Few Joys of His Childhood

If the Gu family were truly that powerful, they would have directly dispatched people to crush their enemies at their doorstep instead of resorting to such blustering and hollow tricks.

It had to be this way!

They were putting up a false front of strength while being weak on the inside, relying solely on some one-time trump card or one bound by massive restrictions just to scare people!

"The Sovereign is wise!"

"We were fools!"

The commanders chimed in one after another, their morale reignited.

"However, we must no longer directly touch their ancestral land." The Sovereign changed his tone. "That 'protective mechanism' is bizarre. Until we fully decipher it, we should not take further risks."

"Then what is your command?"

"Kill the chicken to scare the monkey."

A chilling, murderous intent seeped from the Sovereign's will.

"Since their core is just a turtle hiding inside its shell, we will go and smash their limbs!"

"Pass down my command: assemble the Third, Fifth, and Ninth 'God-Devouring Fleets'. Destination—the Heavenly Pivot Great World!"

"The Heavenly Pivot Great World?" One of the commanders looked somewhat surprised. "That... is one of the Gu family's most important vassal worlds, permanently guarded by three Gu family elders with extremely formidable defensive power."

"It is precisely the strongest that we must strike," the Sovereign said coldly. "I want to force them to drag that 'infant' out of its cradle. I want to see just how many times that so-called 'peerless divine weapon' can actually be used!"

"As you command!"

Following the Sovereign's order, within the massive mobile fortress, three colossal fleets slowly sailed out of their lair like three dormant prehistoric beasts of the deep sea.

Every single warship was forged from the skeletons of gods and demons, their hulls engraved with twisted runes of law, radiating a terrifying aura that corrupted everything.

Their target pointed directly at that prosperous world within the distant starry skies.

A war that would sweep across the heavens was about to begin.

Meanwhile, back in the Gu family's small courtyard.

Gu Changsheng woke leisurely from his afternoon nap, feeling refreshed and revitalized.

It was just that... he was bored again.

The joy of gardening came quickly and went just as fast.

He now urgently needed a new toy to pass the long and tedious afternoon.

"Uncle Fu, is there anything... fun at home?" Gu Changsheng asked listlessly.

Looking at his young master's expression of utter existential boredom, Uncle Fu pondered inwardly.

Having evolved the "Dao of Creation," the Exalted Ancestor had once again grown bored. This indicated that mere "creation" could no longer satisfy his exalted realm.

So what would come next?

Would it be the evolution of the "Dao of Destruction"?

Uncle Fu shivered and hurriedly chased this dangerous thought out of his mind.

"Young Master, this old servant does indeed have... some old toys left over from your early childhood."

Uncle Fu said respectfully.

The "early childhood" he spoke of naturally did not refer to Gu Changsheng's current lifetime, but rather to that unimaginably distant era before the Exalted Ancestor's first slumber.

"Oh? Bring them out for me to see." Gu Changsheng instantly grew a bit interested.

Uncle Fu bowed and retreated, returning a moment later while cautiously holding a completely ordinary-looking wooden box.

This wooden box was crafted from an unknown divine timber, devoid of any decorative patterns, yet it exuded an ancient aura that seemed to freeze time itself.

Uncle Fu opened the box and presented it before Gu Changsheng.

Inside the box lay quietly a dozen or so "marbles" of varying sizes and different colors.

Some were crystal clear, with what looked like revolving star-rivers inside.

Some were as black as ink, capable of swallowing even light itself.

Others presented a chaotic hue, constantly shifting in shape.

These were by no means ordinary marbles.

Back when the Exalted Ancestor first grasped the authority of creation, out of sheer boredom, he had casually conjured these... "world embryos"!

Each one contained a complete set of cosmic laws, albeit potentially riddled with various flaws. Because he deemed them failed products, the Ancestor had casually tossed them into this box back then and never glanced at them again.

Yet in the eyes of Gu Changsheng, a modern man, these things were exceptionally cool.

Weren't these just the glass marbles he used to play with as a kid? And they were even ultra-rare limited editions!

"This is good, this is good!"

Gu Changsheng's eyes lit up. Like a child who had obtained a beloved toy, he reached out and pinched one from the box.

The one he selected was pitch black all over, with a perfectly smooth surface that looked the most like an "iron marble."

This was the failed byproduct from when the Ancestor once attempted to create a world of "absolute annihilation." Its internal laws consisted of only one thing—"Return to Nothingness." Its mass was roughly equivalent to a macrocosm compressed to the absolute extreme.

Gu Changsheng placed it in the palm of his hand and weighed it, feeling the heft was just right.

He stood up, drew a circle on the open ground of the courtyard with his foot, and placed several other "marbles" inside the circle, preparing to play a game of marbles.

This was one of the few joys of his childhood.

He squatted down, placed that black iron marble on his thumb, squinted one eye, and began to aim.

Right as he was concentrating fully, preparing to flick this "memory of childhood"...

His brow suddenly furrowed.

He discovered that the surface of the black marble on his thumb was not perfectly smooth.

At a certain extremely inconspicuous spot, there was a tiny dot smaller than a speck of dust, an insignificant... flaw.

This flaw ruined the perfection of the marble.

For someone with mild obsessive-compulsive disorder, this was simply unbearable.

"Such an eyesore."

Gu Changsheng curled his lips, a look of distinct annoyance appearing on his face.

He couldn't even be bothered to put it back in the box and swap it for another.

He felt that this flawed piece of trash did not deserve to stay with the other pretty marbles.

Thus, he applied a little force with his thumb.

"Swoosh—"

That "marble," which contained the law of "absolute annihilation" and possessed a mass comparable to a macrocosm, was casually flicked away as if he were disposing of garbage.

It did not fly toward the circle drawn in the courtyard.

Instead, it transformed into a streak of invisible dark light, instantly tearing through the courtyard's space, piercing the crystal wall of the mortal realm, shattering the dimensions of the nine heavens and ten lands, and shooting away toward the infinitely distant, unknown starry skies!

The Heavenly Pivot Great World.

At this moment, this place had been transformed into an apocalyptic scene.

The firmament of the entire world was completely shrouded by the three massive God-Devouring fleets that blotted out the sun and sky.

The black warships resembled abysses suspended overhead, and the aura of corruption they radiated caused the origin of the world to wail. The earth cracked, rivers flowed backward, and countless living beings trembled in fear.

"Gu family scum, listen up!"

From the lead flagship came a cold and arrogant divine will fluctuation.

"Surrender the origin of the Heavenly Pivot Great World and kneel to surrender; the Sovereign Lord might spare your lives! Otherwise, today shall be the death anniversary of you all, and of every living being in this world!"

In the central sacred ground of the Heavenly Pivot Great World, three Gu family elders with hair and beards as white as snow hovered in the air with grave expressions. Behind them stood countless Gu family disciples and cultivators from vassal forces who were standing by in strict formation.

"Wishful thinking!" the lead Great Elder roared angrily. "We members of the Gu family only die standing; we never live on our knees! If you want to seize the Heavenly Pivot World, step over our corpses!"

"Very well, you have backbone." The God-Devouring commander sneered. "Then... grant your wish!"

"All fleets, charge main cannons!"

"Target, the sacred ground below, indiscriminate... fire!"

"Hum—"

The main cannons of the three fleets and tens of thousands of warships simultaneously lit up with a destructive radiance.

That light was enough to completely vaporize the entire Heavenly Pivot Great World, along with every living being within it, from the physical plane in a single instant!