RUMBLE!

Across the vacuum of space, the rumbling sound echoed. Thanks to the heaven and earth energy acting as a medium, the loud noise could be heard even in the space. The devils' vessels had actually begun their attack!

"No, there are still many places not yet covered by the shield barrier!" One of the leaders of the Orian continent's organization shouted as he raised his energy shield to block a cannon beam. His face twisted in horror as several of the beam cannon attacks shot toward the Orian continent, with no one in position to block them.

The troops from the Orian continent had not yet taken formation, and they could not stop attacks that carried the force of a full strike from a peak pseudo-immortal stage cultivator.

The others could only defend against what was directly before them. Since they were still concentrating in a single area, they could not spread fast enough to cover many parts of the world. Emperor Rozwald, who also saw several beam cannon attacks directed toward his continent, could only grit his teeth. He was not fast enough to move and protect his empire's territory.

However, when all the beings in this space were already expecting the impact of the simultaneous strikes to hit their targets—

DUUM!

Suddenly, the beam strikes collided with something invisible across the world. The space struck by the beams rippled, as if water had been disturbed by a small pebble. All the beings who witnessed this phenomenon were truly astonished. Those who had already raised their shields saw the beams stop against something before ever reaching their barriers.

The beam attacks finally ceased, yet there was none of the destruction they had anticipated. Only silence followed the assault.

The advancing devils, realizing their attacks had been stopped by something invisible, halted in their tracks. They, who had been preparing to land on the Ancient Blue Gate World after the first strike hit its target, now did not know what to do, as the beams had not even reached their mark.

Rulleus, watching this, widened his eyes in shock, and all of his men nearby shared the same disbelief. What had just happened? Why had the beams failed to reach their target?

"That is space laws. The beam attacks are being blocked by a spatial barrier," one of his guards, Vertiz, said in astonishment.

Even after realizing what had stopped their attacks, their surprise did not lessen. The scale of the barrier was truly vast. No—calling it vast was an understatement. It seemed as though the barrier itself covered the entire side of the world, successfully blocking all of their strikes.

"Your Highness, this is Ortiz Group. Our first attack has been blocked by some kind of spatial barrier. We have decided to stop our advance, as the barrier seems to cover a vast area of the world," reported one of the field commanders through the vessel's communication artifact.

"Your Highness, this is Argun Group. Our first strike failed! There is a barrier blocking our attacks!"

"Your Highness, this is—"

One by one, reports came in. All of them said the same thing, their attacks had been stopped by the spatial barrier.

Hearing the reports, everyone present was truly shocked. All of those groups were spread across various directions of the world. They had encircled the Ancient Blue Gate World from many positions, and with the element of surprise, they were certain that at least several of their attacks should have struck the land below.

However, to think that all of their attacks had been blocked—didn't that mean the spatial barrier was covering the entire world?

The moment this thought surfaced, their shock deepened. How was that possible? How could something as absurd as this barrier exist? Was it some kind of formation? Even Rulleus, a noble from the central region of heaven, had never seen anything like it, at least not on this scale.

There were cases where a small world could be covered by a large protective barrier. Such barriers consumed enormous resources, and formations had to be activated from many places across the world to keep them standing. Those small worlds already possessed large-scale formations that could cover their entire realm in situations like invasions.

However, not all worlds could achieve this, and those that did were far smaller compared to the Ancient Blue Gate World. The Ancient Blue Gate World was the largest star in the central star cluster, and to cover something of this scale, a far more complex formation would be required.

Rulleus had already concluded that no formation could accomplish such a feat. There was no formation capable of covering a star the size of the Ancient Blue Gate World. If such a thing existed, then his own star, which was equal in size to the Ancient Blue Gate World, would have been using it long ago.

So how could the people of this star have done it? How could they have erected a spatial barrier that covered a star of this size?

Another question arose, how could they have had the time to erect the barrier? Activating something of this scale would require considerable time. With a surprise attack like this, there should have been no way for them to raise such a defense so quickly. So how?!

Aldrian, who still had his eyes closed, finally opened them. He looked toward the devils' troops in the distance and spoke calmly.

"Where is your commander, devils? You had better come out yourself before I drag you out myself."

His voice was calm, yet filled with authority, and it carried across the devil troops near the Ancient Blue Gate World. It was as if the world itself were speaking to them. But Rulleus and his henchmen in the cabin, along with many others on his side of the world, knew this voice came from a single man, and they knew exactly which man.

Rulleus, still reeling from the failure of their earlier attacks, was momentarily stunned. Then his expression darkened, his pride stung by humiliation. He could not endure it and gave another order.

"Keep attacking! I don't believe this barrier will remain strong if we continue without pause. We have brought enough resources for a long battle! There is no need to hold back—attack with everything you have!" he shouted.

The beam cannons recharged once more, and this time every vessel fired. Yet again, the spatial barrier blocked the assault. At that moment, the forces from the Ancient Blue Gate World understood that this had to be someone's doing.

Those nearest to Aldrian turned to him, wondering if it was his work. He remained calm despite the many attacks just now, and he showed no surprise at the sudden appearance of a barrier they themselves had not sensed. He had already said that he knew of the invasion beforehand, so they began to think Aldrian must have made preparations.

But how could he possibly achieve something on the scale of an entire world? Was this a kind of formation under his control? If so, then where was the formation's foundation? To activate something like this would require enormous resources and many people to maintain it. Yet they had never heard of, nor seen, any formation being built across the continents.

Most of them still did not want to believe that this was purely Aldrian's technique because a scale like this was beyond the scope of a mortal. Yes, Aldrian could fight an immortal because of his overwhelming strength. Yes, he might rule over an entire continent, know everything that happened within it, and be able to use his techniques anywhere on it.

But a technique capable of covering an entire world? That was an entirely different matter.

To accomplish something like this purely through technique, someone would have to control the entire world's space laws—in other words, the entire world's space would be under their command. Such strong control and deep comprehension were beyond what they thought was possible for a mortal.

Still, some of them believed that this might indeed be Aldrian's pure technique. One of them was the spirit ancestor floating not far from Aldrian. She looked at the back of his figure. At this moment, her heart trembled, and her old eyes opened, shaking.

She saw a vision, Aldrian was like a world itself. His figure was so vast that calling the entire world his body was no exaggeration. She could also see that Aldrian's figure was not limited to this world, it expanded so vastly that she could not comprehend its full size.

She wanted to prostrate herself before him, but she refrained because of the current situation.

After continuous attacks, none of which succeeded in piercing the barrier, Aldrian finally spoke again.

"I see that I will have to drag you out myself."

Suddenly, the entire devil force surrounding the Ancient Blue Gate World felt a sudden heaviness in their bodies. Moments later, their bodies were actually pulled toward the star's atmosphere! All of the vessels and cruisers were also slowly drawn in, leaving everyone in shock.

The vessels stopped firing their beam cannons as their massive hulls gradually approached the atmosphere of the Ancient Blue Gate World.

The entire force of the Ancient Blue Gate World was astonished once again.

What is it this time?