155: Ancient ruins, the origin of energy appears

In the battle of Chaos Sea, Xiao Chen, with a thunderous momentum, slew the three great powerhouses of Heavenly Secret Pavilion, including Xuan Mingzi, a Peak Eight Star Dou Zun. Although the news had not spread, the causal fluctuations it caused had already alerted certain existences. Xiao Chen knew it was not wise to stay here for long. He piloted the flame dragon flying boat, following the coordinates guided by the ancestor inheritance crystal, and sped towards the ancient ruin that might contain Origin Qi.

This voyage was far more perilous than before. In the depths of the Chaos Sea, the spatial structure became increasingly bizarre. Sometimes, absolute dark regions that swallowed light would appear; other times, temporal turbulences that reversed time would be encountered. There were also some law-condensed life forms, whose terrifying strength was comparable to high-level Dou Zun, roaming about! Xiao Chen, relying on his formidable strength as an Eight Star Dou Zun and his late-stage Heavenly Realm Soul perception, narrowly escaped danger multiple times before finally overcoming the numerous obstacles.

Months later, the flying boat finally broke out of a violent chaotic lightning storm area, and the scene ahead suddenly cleared. It was a shattered continent suspended in the chaotic void! The continent stretched for an unknown number of miles, with mountains, rivers, and palace ruins faintly visible, but it was overall fragmented, as if struck by an unimaginable force. In the center of the continent, there was a majestic, giant pyramid-shaped building soaring into the chaotic void. It was entirely constructed from a dark gray material that was neither metal nor jade, and its surface was covered with traces of erosion from time and incredibly profound ancient runes! A vast, ancient, faint fluctuation, as if from the dawn of the universe, was emanating from the top of the pyramid!

“This is it! Primordial Ancient Palace!” Xiao Chen’s heart pounded with excitement. The tremor deep within his bloodline told him that this pyramid was the ancient ruin mentioned in the ancestor inheritance, which might seal a wisp of unclaimed Origin Qi!

He landed the flying boat and stepped onto this shattered continent. The moment his feet touched the ground, a heavy sense of history washed over him. The air was filled with dead silence and desolation, but beneath this silence, there was a trace of the vital essence that nurtured all things!

“What a strange feeling... destruction and creation coexist...” Xiao Chen’s Heavenly Realm Soul carefully perceived that the laws of this continent were extremely special. The flow of time was unstable, and the spatial structure was layered, as if it were forcibly melded from countless shattered planar fragments. And that pyramid was the energy core and stable anchor point of the entire continent.

He restrained his aura and cautiously approached the pyramid. Along the way, he saw some enormous biological skeletons, some resembling dragons, while others he had never seen before. The residual aura on the skeletons made even him feel a tremor of fear! There were also some broken weapon fragments, made of extraordinary materials, at least of the Heavenly Rank, but their spirituality was lost. The entire continent seemed to be the ruins of an ancient battlefield of gods and demons.

The closer he got to the pyramid, the clearer the faint Origin Qi fluctuation became. But at the same time, a powerful repulsive force field also enveloped him, as if rejecting all outsiders. Within the force field, there were chaotic spacetime laws and a soul-eroding aura of annihilation!

“It seems it won't be easy to get in.” Xiao Chen stopped in front of the pyramid's base and looked up. The pyramid was tens of thousands of feet high, and the entrance was a tightly closed dark gray stone door. Engraved on the stone door were nine ancient murals depicting the creation of heaven and earth and the birth and death of all things. Above the murals were nine dim star-shaped grooves.

“Do I need a key?” Xiao Chen frowned, trying to push the stone door. The stone door remained motionless, and the repulsive force field grew stronger. He circulated his Dou Qi and punched the stone door. The force, enough to shatter mountains, only left a shallow white mark on the stone door!

“Such hard material!” Xiao Chen was startled. This stone door would probably be difficult for even a Dou Saint to forcibly break open!

He carefully studied the nine murals and the star grooves. The content of the murals was profoundly mysterious, seemingly expounding some cosmic truth. And the nine star grooves subtly resonated with the Power of Starlight within his body.

“Could it be... that I need to inject Power of Starlight?” Xiao Chen's heart stirred, and he tried to inject a trace of pure Power of Starlight into one of the grooves.

“Buzz!” The groove lit up slightly, but instantly dimmed again.

“Not enough energy? Or is the order wrong?” Xiao Chen pondered. He recalled the scattered records about the Primordial Ancient Palace in the ancestor inheritance, which seemed to mention that it required a specific stellar trajectory and sufficient primordial energy to open.

“Try this!” Xiao Chen had a flash of inspiration. He immersed his Heavenly Realm Soul Power into the murals, trying to comprehend their artistic conception. At the same time, he formed hand seals, and according to the celestial stellar trajectories recorded in the “Star God Contemplation Method,” he transformed his Power of Starlight into nine streaks of light, which he then shot into the nine star grooves in sequence!

The first, the Ziwei Star, governs order!

The second, the Sun Star, governs vitality!

The third, the Lunar Star, governs annihilation!

...When he injected the Power of Starlight representing the return to chaos into the ninth groove!

“Rumble——!!!”

The nine star grooves suddenly burst into brilliant light! The nine murals seemed to come alive, their patterns flowing endlessly, finally converging into a chaotic light that shone on the center of the stone door! The incredibly heavy stone door let out a creaking sound and slowly opened inward! An ancient aura, extremely pure and seemingly capable of evolving all things, rushed out from behind the door!

“It worked!” Xiao Chen was overjoyed, and without hesitation, he stepped inside the stone door!

Behind the door, it was not the palace he had imagined, but an boundless chaotic starry sky! In the starry sky, nine giant stars of different colors slowly rotated! Invisible law threads connected the stars, forming an incredibly profound starry sky array! In the center of the array, a fist-sized mass of gas, constantly changing shape and emitting a soft white light, was suspended!

The gas mass looked ordinary, but the moment Xiao Chen's Heavenly Realm Soul touched it, he felt a longing and reverence originating from the instinct of life! His soul trembled, and his blood boiled! Around the gas mass, space formed its own entity, and time was almost frozen! It was as if it was the beginning of everything and the ultimate destination of all things!

“Origin Qi! This is Origin Qi!” Xiao Chen’s heart pounded, too excited to control himself! Although it was just a wisp, the energy level and the law's artistic conception it contained far surpassed any energy he had ever seen! This was the source of a Dou Emperor, the key to transcending this realm!

He suppressed his excitement and cautiously approached. The closer he got, the stronger the sense of creation and vitality became, but at the same time, he also felt an invisible pressure, as if warning him that this object could not be controlled by ordinary power.

“How do I collect it?” Xiao Chen tried to touch it with his soul power. The Origin Qi fluctuated slightly, not repelling him, but also not being drawn by him. He enveloped it with Dou Qi, but the Origin Qi remained motionless. It seemed to exist in another dimension, incompatible with ordinary energy.

“It seems a special method is needed.” Xiao Chen sat down cross-legged, his Heavenly Realm Soul carefully sensing the characteristics of the Origin Qi. He discovered that this wisp of Origin Qi seemed to be in a dormant state, requiring a power of the same origin or a specific ritual to awaken and guide it.

“Power of the same origin... my Xiao Clan bloodline... or... ancestor imperial qi?” Xiao Chen's heart stirred, and he tried to force out a drop of his vital essence blood containing the ancestor's imprint, dripping it towards the Origin Qi.

The moment the essence blood approached the Origin Qi, a sudden change occurred!

“Buzz——!”

The Origin Qi suddenly vibrated violently! The soft white light became dazzling! The essence blood was instantly absorbed! The Origin Qi seemed to be injected with vitality and began to actively float towards Xiao Chen! At the same time, the surrounding starry sky array also burst into brilliant light, and the nine stars projected nine law light pillars of different colors, enveloping Xiao Chen and the Origin Qi!

“Is this... a recognition ritual?” Xiao Chen was both surprised and delighted. He dared not delay, fully operating the Heaven Burning Furnace Art, guiding the Origin Qi into his body!

The moment the Origin Qi entered his body, Xiao Chen felt as if his entire being was about to sublimate! An indescribable sense of comfort spread through every cell of his body! His meridians, bones, internal organs, soul... all were undergoing a transformative metamorphosis! The star furnace within his Qi Sea, nourished by the Origin Qi, became even more solid, and vague world phantoms began to appear on its walls! Although his cultivation did not immediately skyrocket, his foundation was solidified to an unprecedented height! His understanding of the laws of heaven and earth also became incredibly clear!

However, just as he was fully refining the Origin Qi and immersed in the wonderful insights, another change occurred!

“Hehehe... It's indeed here! Xiao Chen, thank you for opening this Primordial Ancient Palace for me!”

A cold, hoarse, eerie laugh, as if from the netherworld, suddenly echoed in the starry sky! At the edge of the starry sky array, a blurry black shadow slowly condensed! The black shadow had no specific form, as if composed of pure shadow and malice, and its aura... had actually reached the Peak Nine-Star Dou Zun! Moreover, its energy attribute was of the same origin as the Heavenly Secret Pavilion, yet it was even more profound and evil!

“The mastermind behind the Heavenly Secret Pavilion?!” Xiao Chen suddenly opened his eyes, a strong warning sign flashing in his heart! He hadn't expected the other party to be able to track him here, and it seemed they had been lying in ambush outside, waiting for him to open the ancient palace!

“This wisp of Origin Qi is the key to my recovery... How can I allow a junior like you to covet it?” The black shadow let out a sinister laugh, and a gigantic shadow hand, covering the sky and sun, tore through the starry sky, carrying a terrifying power that devoured all light, and grabbed towards Xiao Chen and that wisp of Origin Qi! Wherever the giant hand passed, stars dimmed, and laws collapsed!

“Bastard!” Xiao Chen was both shocked and enraged. He forcibly interrupted his refinement, and the aura of an Eight Star Dou Zun erupted! The Chaos Opening Axe instantly condensed, and a Return to Chaos Axe Light slashed towards the giant shadow hand!

“An ant trying to stop a chariot!” The black shadow snorted disdainfully. The giant shadow hand trembled slightly, and the Return to Chaos Axe Light was swallowed silently, like a mud ox entering the sea! Not even a ripple was stirred!

The disparity in strength was too great! A Peak Nine-Star Dou Zun, and an extremely bizarre existence, was definitely not something Xiao Chen could contend with in his current state!

“Leave the Origin Qi!” The giant shadow hand continued its momentum, about to seize Xiao Chen along with the Origin Qi!

At this critical moment, a look of madness flashed in Xiao Chen's eyes! He suddenly forced out the wisp of Origin Qi he had just absorbed into his body, and at the same time, burned his essence blood and soul origin, injecting all his power into the Origin Qi!

“With my blood, ignite my soul! With Origin Qi as the guide, laws resonate! Explode!”

He was actually going to self-destruct this precious wisp of Origin Qi, to perish together with the opponent!

“Are you insane?!” The black shadow let out an angry roar, clearly not expecting Xiao Chen to be so resolute! The power of the Origin Qi's self-destruction was enough to severely wound or even annihilate this clone of its!

“Boom——!!!!”

An indescribable destructive energy erupted in the starry sky array! The nine stars instantly dimmed! The entire Primordial Ancient Palace shook violently! The giant shadow hand shattered inch by inch in the explosion! The black shadow let out a shrill scream and became much more illusory!

The shockwave of the explosion also sent Xiao Chen flying, crashing heavily against the starry sky barrier, spitting out blood, severely injured and on the verge of death! That wisp of Origin Qi was also largely consumed in the explosion, leaving only a faint trace of its origin, which floated back to Xiao Chen and entered his body.

“You little bastard... I'll remember you... When my true body descends... I will make you wish you were dead...” The black shadow's venomous voice gradually faded, eventually disappearing completely.

The starry sky array slowly calmed down, but it was already in tatters. Xiao Chen lay in the cold starry sky, his aura weak, his consciousness blurry. Although he had miraculously survived, his injuries were extremely severe, and his Origin Qi was almost depleted.

“Still... too weak, huh...” He smiled bitterly and fell unconscious.

After an unknown period, a faint wisp of Origin Qi circulated within him, slowly repairing his injuries. When he woke up again, he found himself lying at the entrance of the pyramid, the stone door already closed.

He struggled to sit up and examined himself. His injuries had recovered a lot under the nourishment of the residual power of the Origin Qi, but his cultivation had fallen to the early stage of Eight Star Dou Zun, and his soul was also severely damaged. That wisp of Origin Qi had only a faint trace of its origin left, deeply hidden in his bloodline, temporarily unusable.

“Although the price was heavy... I finally survived... And, having personally felt the power of Origin Qi... the path ahead is clearer...” Xiao Chen's eyes remained firm. This desperate struggle for survival deepened his understanding of power.

He looked towards the depths of the Chaos Sea, knowing that he could no longer stay here. The true body of that black shadow would probably descend before long.

“I must leave the Chaos Sea as soon as possible and return to the Anti-Alliance! The threat of the Heavenly Secret Pavilion is even more terrifying than imagined!”

He took a pill, barely recovered some strength, and piloted the damaged flame dragon flying boat, heading back in the direction he came from, struggling onward.

Soon after he left, the space around the shattered continent where the Primordial Ancient Palace was located twisted, and a figure enveloped in mist quietly appeared. Its gaze turned towards the direction Xiao Chen had left, and it murmured:

“A variable... an even greater variable has appeared... It seems the plan needs to be moved up...”

The figure slowly dissipated, as if it had never appeared. The Chaos Sea returned to its dead silence. But a ultimate storm, sweeping across the entire continent, was already brewing!