365: Chapter 365 Law-Based Beings

But their target was neither the Shadow Aggregate nor the seal; instead, they crisscrossed and swapped positions, simultaneously thrusting the pitch-black daggers in their hands fiercely into the shadows behind each other!

Puchi!

Puchi!

Two dull thuds of sharp blades entering flesh rang out almost simultaneously!

From the "shadows" where the two had stabbed their daggers, dark green "blood" actually spurted out!

Immediately, two smaller "minor shadow monsters" twisted into visibility from the shadows that had been struck. They struggled frantically but were "pinned" by some power attached to the pitch-black daggers, gradually dissipating!

They had actually been lurking in the shadows behind the two assassins all along, waiting for an opportunity to launch a sneak attack!

If not for the two men's seasoned experience and sharp perception, which allowed them to see through the ruse and counter-kill in advance, they would likely have fallen victim by now!

"Shadow Splitters? Or Symbiotes?" Ye Tian was slightly startled. The difficulty and cunning of these Law creatures far exceeded his expectations.

Seeing its splitters destroyed, the Shadow Aggregate in the center let out a furious, Soul-piercing shriek!

Its entire body suddenly swelled and exploded, transforming into countless twisting, writhing shadow tentacles that surged toward the two assassins!

The two assassins were clearly well-prepared and showed no signs of panic.

The True Martial Tenth Level assassin beat a hasty retreat, his hands flicking repeatedly to fire dozens of Bone-Piercing Needles at the shadow tentacles. The needles were coated with potent poison and Evil-Breaking Runes, which also had a restraining effect on energy bodies.

The Zhenwu Ninth Level assassin's body flickered, transforming into three afterimages that darted in different directions to draw fire, while his daggers swung, severing the approaching tentacles.

Held back by the poison needles, the shadow tentacles found it difficult to close in for a moment, and the two sides fell into a brief stalemate.

Meanwhile, that taichu seal remained suspended in the center of the battlefield, unheeded by anyone.

The opportunity!

Just as the aggregate and the two assassins were locked in fierce combat, the long-dormant Ye Tian suddenly raised his right index finger and made a light horizontal stroke beneath the seal.

A "spatial rift" as thin as a hair formed at his fingertip and instantly extended beneath the seal.

In the next moment, the suspended seal paused slightly and then was swallowed by the spatial rift with a "shoo" sound!

Immediately after, about ten zhang away from its original position, in the shadow behind a piece of Shadow Stone, another spatial rift flashed, and the taichu seal was "spat" out completely intact!

This was precisely a short-distance "Chaos Displacement" performed by Ye Tian, combining his newly realized intent of Chaos "Evolution" with his rudimentary understanding of spatial power, at the cost of a significant amount of Divine Soul and true yuan!

He had "cut" the seal from its original spot and instantly "pasted" it to another location!

The seal had changed positions; though the aura fluctuation was nearly imperceptible, how sharp were the Shadow Aggregate and the two assassins at the center of the battlefield?

Almost the instant the seal disappeared and reappeared, they all detected it simultaneously!

The Shadow Aggregate let out an even more enraged shriek, its offensive slowing down.

The two assassins were even more shocked. They had been risking their lives to entangle this monster, and the seal had actually been "stolen" right under their noses?!

The gazes of the monster and the two men shot almost simultaneously toward the seal's new location—behind that Shadow Stone!

However, that place was empty.

The instant the seal appeared, it had already been snatched away by a hand.

And the owner of that hand, at the moment of success, had already dashed away toward a direction where "Inverted Mountains" and "Shattered Mazes" intersected, outside the stone formation!

"Bastard!"

"Pursue!"

The Shadow Aggregate and the two assassins were filled with shock and rage. They almost simultaneously abandoned each other and gave chase in the direction Ye Tian had vanished!

However, Ye Tian's speed was too fast. With a few leaps, he plunged into that region of turbulent Laws and lost his trail.

The two assassins could not catch up and, wary of the enraged Shadow Aggregate pursuing them from behind, they were forced to grit their teeth and give up, fleeing in another direction.

Having lost its target, the Shadow Aggregate vented its fury on the spot, causing shadows to dance wildly within the stone formation. Only after a long time did it slowly calm down, transforming back into a mass of shadows and shrinking back to its original place. But with the seal lost, it seemed to have become somewhat bewildered.

Dozens of miles away, in a landscape composed of slowly rotating "weathered gear-shaped" rocks, Ye Tian stopped his pace, his breath slightly labored.

Continuously performing the Chaos Displacement and his movement techniques just now had consumed quite a bit of energy.

He opened his palm, and the taichu seal lay in his hand. The number on his identity spirit pendant also jumped to "1".

"The first one."

The corners of his mouth curled slightly as he put away the seal, his gaze sweeping over the slowly turning "rock gears" that were hundreds of zhang high.

"The 'Laws' here are truly interesting."

He did not linger, continuing deeper into this "Gear Canyon."

And that gaze peering from the darkness had not completely disappeared.

Although the process of seizing the seal was brief, it might have already been noticed by other existences.

Within this Secret Realm, there were many hunters, and the prey... could also instantly become the hunter.

It had been more than half a day since he left that Shadow Stone formation.

During that half-day, Ye Tian encountered two more attacks from "Law creatures."

One was the "Iron-Feathered Blade Mantis" inhabiting the shadows of the gears. It was shaped like a giant mantis, its body composed of constantly peeling metal plates. Its attacks were swift and carried armor-piercing properties, with strength close to the Peak of the Third Rank.

The other was the "Spirit-Eroding Jellyfish" encountered by a gear-bearing sunken pool. Its translucent body rippled with hallucinogenic colors, and it could release area-of-effect mental erosion waves and tentacles that devoured Spiritual Qi, making it eerily difficult to defend against.

Both times, Ye Tian did not fight head-on but used the terrain to skillfully escape.

It wasn't that he was afraid, but he knew well that in this place, preserving strength and avoiding pointless consumption and exposure was far more important than showing off momentary bravery.

Moreover, he felt that although his process of seizing the first seal seemed clean and efficient, eyes were already fixed on him.

At this moment, he was hiding in a hollow inside a gear that was wedged diagonally against the canyon's rock wall, taking a temporary break to adjust his breathing.

He took a Medicinal Pill to replenish his true yuan and operated his Mind-Cultivation Technique, slowly recovering from the exhaustion brought by continuously using his movement techniques.

As he circulated his technique, he was surprised to find that within this Secret Realm, the efficiency with which he absorbed and refined "Chaos Spiritual Qi" was actually much higher than absorbing Spiritual Qi in the outside world!

The consumption from more than half a day was actually seventy to eighty percent recovered in a short time, and his true yuan seemed to be improving subtly.

"This Taichu Secret Realm might be a perilous land of dead ends for others, but for me, who has preliminarily grasped Chaos Power, it is instead like a blessed cultivation land."

Just then, his heart skipped a beat.

The chaos bead deep within his Sea of Consciousness suddenly sent out a faint throb!

"The chaos bead... has a reaction?" Ye Tian's heart tightened.

He immediately looked inward at his Sea of Consciousness.

The chaos bead was still suspended quietly in the center of his Sea of Consciousness, rotating slowly and emitting a warm, clear glow that nourished his Divine Soul, with no other abnormalities.

"Is it an illusion?"

Ye Tian focused his senses, attempting to communicate with the chaos bead, but there was no response.

He frowned slightly; his intuition told him it was definitely not an illusion.

The abnormal movement of the chaos bead was very likely related to the special "Chaos Primal Law" environment of this place.

Could it be that in this Taichu Secret Realm, there is something, or the special Laws here, that has piqued the "interest" of the chaos bead?

As this thought arose, Ye Tian's heartbeat quickened a few beats.

The chaos bead had always been his greatest reliance and the Foundation of his martial path! If he could truly gain something here...

"I need to pay more attention to the special aspects of the Secret Realm, especially those areas where Laws are exceptionally concentrated or closely linked to the Chaos Origin," Ye Tian noted to himself.

At the same time, he sensed the dormant fire jade essence.

The essence was still warm, but the remnant Soul within showed no signs of waking up, seemingly having no special reaction to the environment here.

Venerable Jiehuo was a great figure of the Fire Dao at the Great Perfection of the Golden Core stage; his Dao was more inclined toward the ultimate path of "Fire," and perhaps it wasn't particularly compatible with the primal Chaos environment here.

After a brief adjustment to recover his state, Ye Tian left the gear hollow where he was hiding and continued toward the direction of "Wendao Mountain" indicated by his identity spirit pendant.

However, he no longer blindly pursued speed, but instead placed part of his attention on sensing any "abnormalities" that the chaos bead might be interested in.

The Secret Realm was vast. After leaving the Gear Canyon, he stepped into a "Law Interweaving Zone."

The sky here was filled with violently rolling Chaos halos, and from time to time, small Law lightnings of various colors struck down, hitting the ground and creating pits that emitted green smoke.

Upon the earth grew many glowing "Law plants," some like crystal coral, some like writhing vines, and some like metal flowers that constantly opened and closed, breathing in and out Law fragments of different attributes.

These plants themselves were not very aggressive, but around them often lurked oddly shaped "Law insects" or "minor Essence Spirits" that lived by devouring the dissipated Law energy, and they were equally difficult to deal with.

Ye Tian walked as if through a minefield, every step taken with caution.