Cosmic Professional Gladiator

772 Catastrophe
To high-dimensional beings, time flowed swiftly. In the blink of an eye, 50,000 years had slipped away.

Through his eyes, he glimpsed hazy scenes unfolding along the timeline, much like a commoner gazing at distant vistas. For Xu Jingming, however, he could “see” both the past and the future the moment he opened his eyes.

I see it once more. Xu Jingming abruptly halted his musings, his intuition revealing a not-so-distant future. In his vision, a cemetery stretched out before him, with him standing alone amidst the graves.

Those graves belonged to his beloved kin—his grandfather, parents, wife, daughter—those whom he held dear.

As they near the end of their journeys, such scenes become increasingly discernible to me. Xu Jingming’s countenance remained impassive. When he had first attained the half-step third realm, he could only glimpse the relatively distant future through concentrated effort. Yet, as his power grew, a mere glance would reveal the unfolding events of the next 20,000 to 30,000 years, bringing forth similar scenes.

Time is merciless. There is nothing I can do. Xu Jingming shook his head with a gentle sigh.

In the past 300 years, he had achieved one breakthrough after another, earning renown as a rising star wielding a third-realm weapon.

But over the course of the past 50,000 years, Xu Jingming had come to realize that the chasm between the half-step third realm and the true third realm was insurmountable.

With legacies in both the psychic weapon and the Abyssal Void lineages, he had honed his skills for fifty millennia, yet still found himself far from attaining the third realm. The lifespans of his beloved ones drew ever closer to their inevitable ends.

Raising his gaze, Xu Jingming caught sight of his wife, Li Miaomiao, in the distance within their newfound home universe, connected through karmic ties. Miaomiao remained at the Human Academy of Sciences, tirelessly pursuing knowledge. As a Lv. 10 Origin lifeform, she had become a distinguished scholar within the academy after countless millennia of arduous toil.

Under Li Miaomiao’s leadership, a team of scholars diligently observed the fluctuations in high-dimensional powers.

“Hmm?” Li Miaomiao’s surprise registered as she suddenly noticed Xu Jingming at her side.

“What brings you here?” she inquired, taken aback.

“How long has it been since you last saw me? Well, here I am,” Xu Jingming responded with a smile.

“I’m quite occupied at the moment,” Li Miaomiao replied with a smile of her own, before returning her focus to the evolving high-dimensional powers.

“World Lord?” exclaimed several members of Li Miaomiao’s academic team. These assistants, whose educational levels ranged from Lv. 90 to Lv. 98, couldn’t surpass Lv. 100. Thus, they regarded Li Miaomiao as their respected mentor.

“Greetings, World Lord.” The assistants immediately bowed with utmost respect.

It was common knowledge that the highest authority among the cosmic human race was the World Lord!

Even the high-dimensional beings in the South Pavilion 3609 Dominion acknowledged that the most formidable half-step third-realm powerhouse in the dominion was Wu Ming! World Lord Wu Ming had engaged in numerous battles over the past 50,000 years, solidifying his eminent position! Even Ancient Tree World Lord paled in comparison to Wu Ming.

“Okay.” Xu Jingming replied, a smile adorning his face as he nodded.

“Of course,” Xu Jingming readily agreed. “How much slower should it be? 1%, 0.1%, or a complete freeze of time?”

As the most capable assistant, Xu Jingming assisted Li Miaomiao in conducting the experiment on high-dimensional strength.

Only when the experiment concluded did Li Miaomiao express her satisfaction. “With your assistance, everything went much smoother. If we were to proceed gradually, it would have taken us several years to collect the data. But with your help, we managed to accomplish it in half a day.”

“Very well, everyone is dismissed! Enjoy a well-deserved break of seven days,” Li Miaomiao declared, wearing a smile.

“Thank you, Teacher.”

“Goodbye, Teacher.”

The assistants bid farewell as they glanced at Xu Jingming with excitement.

“You’re a teacher now,” Xu Jingming remarked with a smile.

“With my Lv. 10 Origin lifeform intellect and over 80,000 years of diligent study—coupled with my Lv. 105 educational level, earned through hard work to compensate for my limitations—why shouldn’t I be their teacher?” Li Miaomiao responded with a smile. “I know you underestimate me.”

“I would never dare,” Xu Jingming assured her. “I’ve discovered that the more you delve into science, the more captivated you become.”

“Indeed,” Li Miaomiao exclaimed, taken aback. “From a scientific standpoint, it unravels the mysteries of everything I observe and comprehend, providing me with a clearer understanding of the world. Much of my knowledge regarding low-dimensional space is virtually indisputable. However, when I delve into high-dimensional powers, I find myself perplexed.”

“That’s because there are countless dimensions,” Xu Jingming explained with a smile. “With each additional dimension, complexity increases by trillions. Countless lifeforms spend their entire existence unable to ascend to higher dimensions.”

For low-dimensional beings to become high-dimensional beings was as arduous as reaching the heavens—one in a trillion!
Similarly, for high-dimensional beings (four-dimensional beings) to attain the third realm (five-dimensional beings) was also a one-in-a-trillion chance! Despite Feather Fire Lord nurturing numerous high-dimensional beings, not a single one had reached that level over the years.

“Hence, one must approach it with reverence,” Xu Jingming advised. “One must dissect and comprehend it from multiple vantage points. The comprehension of beings existing in lower dimensions involves unraveling and expressing the intricacies of higher-dimensional knowledge within the confines of their own limited understanding. Thus, any form of high-dimensional power appears immensely intricate and formidable when perceived through the lens of lower-dimensional comprehension.”

Li Miaomiao nodded slightly.

“Jingming, I’ve noticed a change in you lately. You used to be so relaxed and happy, but now you seem somewhat downcast. Is something bothering you?”

“It’s nothing,” Xu Jingming smilingly replied with a shake of his head.

With his wife still having over 10,000 years to live at the age of 80,000, she felt far from old and thus harbored no worries.

However, whenever Xu Jingming opened his eyes and caught glimpses of the timeline, witnessing the scenes of his loved ones’ deaths, his heart couldn’t help but grow heavy with brooding thoughts.

Huh? Suddenly, Xu Jingming’s expression shifted, his gaze fixed on the distant horizon.

“What’s the matter?” Li Miaomiao asked, taken aback by her husband’s sudden change in demeanor.

Xu Jingming focused intently on the distance. “Our original home universe is now facing catastrophe.”

“Catastrophe?” Li Miaomiao was stunned.

That’s why the species migration had taken place in the past!

The information the human race had acquired from Gumo assured them of safety for 10,000 years. The probability of a calamity occurring within 100,000 years was a mere 1.2%, with the likelihood of it happening between 200,000 to 300,000 years.

Yet, in the end, calamity struck in less than 100,000 years.

…

“The calamity has struck?” The dean, Tower Master, Island Lord, and Redmond sensed an unsettling presence from afar. After all, they were born in their home universe, the very origin of the entire human race.

Their homeworld faced impending disaster, and their connection to it made their perception of it incredibly strong.

“I can sense that our homeworld is in peril, but I can’t gather any specific information,” Redmond voiced his frustration.

“Nor can I,” added the Island Lord. “From a distant dominion, only half-step third-realm powerhouses can discern the truth. Jingming should know what has befallen our former home.”

…

What manner of power is this? Gumo, too, directed his gaze towards his homeworld. Though obscured by distance, he could vaguely perceive the mighty, dual-colored force annihilating everything in its path, yet its full manifestation eluded him.

*******

Xu Jingming’s Heart Realm territory resided within the Fengyi 97 dominion.

From the vantage point of his Heart Realm, Xu Jingming beheld the calamity descending upon them with chilling clarity.

Two titanic forces entwined, rending everything asunder.

One power blazed with fiery red, reducing all to ashes. High-dimensional matter, the fabric of the universe, every living being… all turned to fuel. Even the very fabric of high-dimensional space succumbed to the inferno! The conflagration intensified—a distant blaze that gradually engulfed the expanse of the dominion.

The other power bore the hue of cyan! It gnawed at the timeline wherein their dominion resided, a corrosive tide slowly eating away at its essence. To Xu Jingming’s eyes, the erosion seemed languid, yet when this timeline succumbed—

It signified the complete corrosion and annihilation of the dominion’s entire timeline! The dominion, in turn, would be bereft of a future!

Xu Jingming possessed the ability to peer into the timeline, a privilege not granted to ordinary high-dimensional beings. Thus, they merely sensed the spontaneous emergence of the cyan power throughout the dominion. Over time, the presence of cyan grew, unaffected by the fiery red force, until… the cyan shroud enshrouded the dominion in its entirety.

The red and cyan powers possessed distinct methods of attack, yet their intermingling form belied any mutual interference. Nevertheless, they wrought total devastation upon the dominion.

“Ahhh!!!”

“No—”

“The calamity has come.”

Most high-dimensional beings within the dominion lacked the means to traverse between dominions. They were left to confront the calamity, consumed by despair.

Countless species and lifeforms in the universe met their demise without even a flicker of realization. For no universe could withstand the onslaught of the dual-colored power, eradicating all life within.

The dominion itself was obliterated, absorbed into the chaotic abyss, and ceased to exist.

The Fengyi 97 dominion faded into history!

Albeit a fearsome force of destruction, it left the Heart Realm unscathed.

Within his Heart Realm domain, Xu Jingming gazed upon the dominion transformed into a chaotic chasm.

During my ventures across countless dominions, I traversed numerous chaotic chasms and witnessed the terrors they held. Never would I have fathomed that my once pristine homeworld’s dominion… would fall prey to becoming the same? Xu Jingming’s emotions swirled. The details of the calamity elude me entirely.

He had witnessed the dual-colored powers, yet remained oblivious to their origins or the reasons behind their descent.

…

The Fengyi 97 dominion had been reduced to a chaotic chasm. Dual-colored powers sprawled throughout, obliterating any half-step third-realm powerhouse audacious enough to venture within.

“Why? Still refusing to yield?”

“A mere scratch, nothing more!”

“You lost half your body to my assault, and you call it a scratch? Very well, let us press on then!”