VOL.1 Chapter 7: Void Interception and a Slim Thread of Hope

The earth trembled endlessly.

The tempered glass roof of the archaeological shelter let out muffled creaks of structural compression; its steel support frames twisted and shifted slightly, soil debris sifting down through every crack. Fine reticulated fissures spread across the pit floor in winding patterns, rainwater draining rapidly into the rifts, turning the once flat work platform into a jagged, chaotic ruin.

All civilian personnel fled en masse to safe zones on the site’s periphery, none daring to approach this eerie, turbulent zone. The huge core excavation area fell empty and deathly silent in an instant, only the thunderous vibrations of underground spiritual veins and suffocating Void haze lingering to blanket the entire pit.

With ordinary archaeologists no longer blocking their way, the Ruin Guardian Unit dropped all pretenses and restraint, rushing straight to their combat posts with full strength.

Banbandin darted forward at top speed toward the benchmark point at the pit’s center. Three custom portable barrier generators hung in his grasp, their casings carved with hand-polished lines and circuits—unique hardware he had algorithmically restructured and assembled overnight, engineered solely to sever Void conduits and block extradimensional energy erosion.

“Void conduit parameters locked,” Banbandin’s fingers flew across the control panel as he calibrated device frequencies. The scrolling data streams on the screen pinpointed the energy junction linking the western mountain woods and the underground cavern. “The conduit is ultra-fine with an extremely stable frequency, perfectly synchronized to the rhythm of underground spiritual veins. It has evaded every shielding and detection system to enable invisible transmission all this time.”

This covert energy transfer method was exclusive to Fallen Ancient Realm Wardens. Hiding Void power behind the natural fluctuations of subterranean veins, they disguised it as mundane geological energy, concealing their operations undetected for three thousand years.

Banbandin dropped to one knee, embedding the three generators into ground fissures in a triangular formation, perfectly aligned with the three branches of the Void transmission channel. His fingers tapped the startup buttons in quick succession while manually etching three simple isolation runes to reinforce the barrier boundaries.

“Barriers deployed, ready to sever the conduit.”

Pale blue translucent shields rose from the earth, the triangular array weaving into an unbroken interception barrier that sliced horizontally across the vein network, locking onto the invisible Void conduit dead-on. The shields bore no flashy light shows or explosive effects—understated, exquisitely precise, like an invisible blade planted squarely on the energy’s only path.

Meanwhile, Sage stationed herself beside the Bronze Sacred Tree fragments and activated the Rune Reversal Formation.

Her fingertips brushed the bronze surface of the sacred relic, wispy pale white spiritual light coiling around them, gliding swiftly along the carved grain. The ancient sealing runes she had decoded materialized one by one, linking and looping to form closed circuits that wrapped layer upon layer around the spreading black parasitic veins.

“Reversal Formation activated to suppress parasites in reverse,” Sage’s voice remained cool and steady. “I will temporarily immobilize the Void particles and halt vein expansion, buying us a window to cut the conduit.”

Pale white runes clashed violently against the black Void tendrils across the tree’s surface, the two forces consuming one another in a brutal tug-of-war. The air inside the temperature-controlled shed churned violently, alternating waves of frigid cold and warm spiritual energy surging back and forth. The rapidly spreading parasitic veins froze solid on the spot, their erosion of the bronze metal halted.

Yet everyone knew this was only a temporary stalemate.

Sage’s reversal formation could merely freeze Void particles in place, not eradicate them entirely. Once her spiritual energy was exhausted and the formation faded, the Void parasites would counterattack with far greater ferocity, tearing through the Sacred Tree’s core circuits.

At the battlefield’s outer perimeter, Bangbangtu had secured a full encirclement.

Abandoning regular patrol routes, he climbed directly to the site’s tallest observation tower, commanding an unobstructed view of the entire western mountain woodland. He unfurled his full sensory perception, his danger instincts maxed out—every shift of wind, every flicker of shadow, every wisp of drifting energy could not escape his notice.

Deep in the western woods, four shadow figures moved stealthily. Abandoning their previous peripheral scouting, they advanced in a pincer formation, slowly closing in on the site’s boundary. Suppressing all outward energy signatures and stepping without sound, they used trees and shadow as cover, attempting to slip past the defenses and sabotage the interception barriers.

Four Orb Reaver operatives are advancing as one, aiming to break our setup,” Bangbangtu locked onto their forms instantly and relayed real-time intel. “They operate in a two-distraction, two-assault pincer formation with highly coordinated tactics.”

Kaelor’s motive was crystal clear.

If the Void conduit were severed, his three-millennia-long plan of remote parasitic erosion would be dealt a devastating blow, leaving him unable to manipulate the Wood Ruin Seal from afar for a long stretch of time. He had no choice but to send subordinates to charge in, disrupt operations, and preserve his energy transmission line.

“We don’t block them,” Jam spoke in an unyielding tone, issuing a decisive order.

Bangbangtu hesitated briefly before grasping his captain’s battle logic.

Holding the outer line would trap them in a passive war of attrition. Drawing the enemy out into open sight allowed the unit to converge firepower and wipe them out in one sweep, eliminating all auxiliary forces under Kaelor’s command for good.

“Understood.”

Bangbangtu relaxed his full defensive posture and retreated to the pit’s edge, deliberately leaving three hidden gaps to lure the shadow raiders deeper inside the site.

True to expectation, the four Orb Reavers spotted the weakened perimeter and surged forward without delay, their bodies blurring into four black phantoms as they crossed the site’s border soundlessly, heading straight for the barrier generators at the pit’s core.

At the heart of the battlefield, Daipithy remained stationed beside the Protruding-Eyed Nuo Mask, maintaining constant lock on the Void conduit’s source.

The mask’s panoramic subterranean vision never faltered. Kaelor’s core innate energy anchor hidden deep in the woods, the full transmission path of the Void conduit, and the four raiders’ advancing routes were all laid out crystal clear within his senses.

“The conduit remains stable; all enemy advance routes locked with zero blind spots,” Daipithy reported in a low, heavy voice, channeling continuous bloodline spiritual energy to sustain the mask’s sight. “We may sever the conduit at any time.”

Jam stood at the pit’s central overlook, surveying the entire battlefield with every thread of the fight, its rhythm, and enemy weaknesses laid bare to his eyes. At this moment, the tide of battle had completely shifted.

The deadlock of passive defense, endless attrition, and hasty makeshift repairs was shattered at last. The Ruin Guardian Unit had seized full control of the engagement.

“Banbandin, on my mark—three, two, one, sever it!”

At Jam’s sharp command, Banbandin slammed the terminal’s activation key without hesitation.

The triangular barriers contracted in an instant, the pale blue shield condensing into a razor-thin energy blade that bit clean through the invisible Void conduit, slicing it horizontally in a single cut.

There were no deafening explosions or glaring bursts of light. Only a faint, muffled crack of ruptured energy echoed amid the wind and subterranean tremors.

The three-millennia-long Void energy link stretching between the western mountain woods and the underground cavern was completely severed.

In the blink of an eye, Void concentrations within the cavern plummeted sharply. The rampant black parasitic veins ceased all movement, and the cracking, crumbling rock of the seal stabilized abruptly.

The erosion eating away at the Sacred Tree’s core was forcibly terminated.

Simultaneously, deep within the western woodland.

Kaelor, who had remotely commanded the erosion from the shadows, stumbled violently, a thin wisp of black blood trickling down his jaw.

Forcibly severing the conduit was equivalent to tearing the core veins of his own innate Void power, inflicting severe backlash damage.

All cold indifference melted from his gaze, replaced by bone-chilling malice and unbridled rage.

For three thousand years, no one had ever succeeded in cutting his remote Void transmission line. The Ruin Guardian Unit’s combat prowess and tactical ingenuity far exceeded every one of his predictions.

“You dare sever my conduit?” Kaelor snarled in a hoarse, feral growl. Violent black Void mist roiled around him, his long-suppressed terrifying aura erupting fully, whipping the mountain forest’s wind into a howling gale and sending branches thrashing wildly.

“Slay them all. Leave no survivors.”

With the extermination order issued, the four Orb Reavers already at the pit’s edge unleashed their full power, surging forward with murderous intent. Black Void energy condensed into sharp energy blades in their palms, the weapons cold and tainted with the power to corrode all matter, slicing through the air straight for the unit’s vital points.

“Engage!” Jam roared, surging forward to meet the four shadow assailants head-on.

As the squad’s primary frontline combatant, he did not flinch an inch. Pure untainted Realm Warden spiritual energy swirled around his body, shielding him from Void corrosion as he blocked, dodged, and counterstruck with crisp, precise movements, landing every blow squarely on the enemy’s weak points.

Bangbangtu charged into close combat alongside him, relying on his hardened physique and years of battlefield experience to pin down two raiders, engaging in brutal grappling to prevent them from flanking the squad’s rear line.

Sage held fast beside the Sacred Tree, sustaining the Rune Reversal Formation to fend off residual Void backlash. Banbandin rushed to reinforce the interception barriers, sealing the broken conduit’s endpoint to block any attempt to reestablish the link.

Daipithy stayed anchored by the Nuo Mask, tracking every hidden enemy movement without pause and feeding real-time coordinates and attack premonitions to the entire team.

The five operated as a seamless offensive-defensive unit, front and rear lines perfectly coordinated without a single flaw.

The direct clash between light and shadow, the mortal combat forged by a three-thousand-year fate conflict, erupted fully within Sanxingdui’s core sacrificial pit.