473: Higher-level rune combinations

He couldn't fully identify the material of this broken spear; it was definitely not any divine metal or immortal material he knew of.

Within it, there was an extremely faint, yet intrinsically high-grade, strange energy. It was this trace of energy that resonated with the three thousand Spiritual Root Runes he had comprehended!

"This is the power of Origin... Could this object be related to the Saint who opened this realm, or to the Great Dao outside this realm?" A startling conjecture arose in Xiao Zhuo's mind.

He reached out a finger, carefully touching the dark golden, broken spear shaft.

Just as his fingertip was about to touch the spear shaft—

"Buzz!"

The broken spear suddenly trembled!

That trace of strange energy abruptly became active. The cracks on the spear shaft seemed to light up for an instant, and a blurry, incomplete phantom suddenly lunged out from the spear shaft, letting out a silent roar that directly shook the Divine Soul, charging towards Xiao Zhuo's face!

This phantom was not a living being; it was more like a remnant battle will, filled with an unyielding, angry, and destructive obsession!

Its intensity was actually comparable to a Divine Soul impact from an Early Stage True Immortal!

If it were an ordinary Quasi-Immortal, or even an Early Stage True Immortal Cultivator, caught off guard, their Divine Soul would likely be damaged!

However, Xiao Zhuo merely raised an eyebrow slightly.

"A remnant thought dares to act."

He didn't even adopt any defensive posture; instead, the three thousand Spiritual Root Runes he had already comprehended naturally circulated in his eyes, forming an invisible, insubstantial barrier that contained the profundity of the Origin of wan fa.

The fierce phantom, formed from battle will, crashed against this rune barrier, like ice and snow meeting a scorching sun, emitting a piercing shriek that, though silent, echoed on the Divine Soul level.

The phantom instantly dissolved and disintegrated, transforming into the purest mental particles, which were naturally absorbed by Xiao Zhuo's Divine Sense.

It even fed back some extremely fragmented, chaotic image fragments: the collapse of an endless starry sky... a giant palm covering a galaxy... an unwilling roar... and a gun gleam that astonished all ages, seemingly composed of countless Laws and Great Daos... Xiao Zhuo closed his eyes, quickly analyzing these fragments.

"A battle outside the realm... a powerful enemy invasion... a Saint fighting with a spear... the spear breaking... the enemy also wounded..."

Though the information was scarce, it was enough to be shocking.

This confirmed part of his conjecture: the Saint of this realm once fought a great battle with a powerful enemy from outside the realm, and this broken spear was a witness to that earth-shattering battle!

And the fact that this spear could resonate with the Spiritual Root Runes most likely meant that it was an origin divine weapon that had reached the Divine-Grade, the weapon of a Saint!

Xiao Zhuo reached out again, this time firmly grasping the half-broken spear shaft, which was cold and bone-chilling.

It was incredibly heavy in his hand, far beyond imagination, as if he were holding a collapsed star.

That trace of strange energy seemed to sense the homologous yet more complete and powerful rune energy within his body, no longer repelling it, but instead becoming docile.

He tried to inject a trace of immortal power into it.

Buzz—!

The broken spear trembled slightly, faint light glowed in the cracks, and the blurry ancient patterns on the spear shaft seemed to come alive, slowly flowing and combining. Finally, they projected a fragmented star map composed of countless light spots into the Void Realm before him!

No, that was not a star map!

Xiao Zhuo's pupils suddenly contracted!

He was extremely familiar with the arrangement and combination of those light spots—it was an advanced arrangement of Spiritual Root Runes!

Its complexity and the Profound Truths it contained far exceeded the three thousand basic runes he had comprehended. It was more like a "phrase" or even "sentence" level structure formed by combining these basic runes a second or even third time!

And the direction indicated by this fragmented "rune star map" was not a star, but a blurry coordinate mark, and a... constantly changing phantom of an artifact!

The artifact was like a cauldron yet not a cauldron, like a door yet not a door, surrounded by Chaos Qi, as if containing the mysteries of heaven-opening.

"This is... a clue to another part of the Legacy? Or rather, a more complete 'key' than the heaven-opening cauldron?" Xiao Zhuo instantly understood.

This broken spear was not the Legacy itself, but its former owner, the Saint who fought with the spear, must have known more secrets about the Spiritual Root Runes and even the Origin of this realm, and left clues within this natal divine weapon that accompanied him in battle!

Though the spear was broken, its will remained.

This unexpected gain might even be as valuable as the rumor about the Time Spirit Root!

Xiao Zhuo carefully pulled the half-broken spear from the crystallized ground.

The moment it left the ground, the broken spear's light completely receded, becoming plain and unadorned, and the rune star map also disappeared.

But he had already firmly imprinted everything he had just seen deep in his Divine Sense.

He put the broken spear into his sleeve (Xiao Zhuo, who Cultivated the Dao of Space-Time, no longer needed storage equipment) and placed it with the heaven-opening cauldron.

A faint connection seemed to form between the two.

After doing all this, he once again surveyed this silent ancient battlefield, his Divine Sense carefully sweeping over every inch of land. After confirming there were no other valuable discoveries, he no longer lingered.

With a flash of his figure, he appeared at the edge of the basin.

Just as he was about to continue westward, towards the ethereal "Ruins of the Lost," his brow suddenly furrowed again, and he looked up towards the southeast.

He saw three brilliant streaks of light at the edge of the sky, speeding towards this ancient battlefield at an extremely fast pace!

Their auras were undisguised; they were clearly three Quasi-Immortals, and the leader among them had even reached the Peak of Quasi-Immortal, just a step away from True Immortal!

They had obviously also detected the faint fluctuations that had just emanated from the broken spear's anomaly, and were attracted by it.

"It seems the commotion still alarmed some flies," Xiao Zhuo said with a calm expression, showing no surprise.

In this barren Northern Region, any abnormal energy fluctuation was enough to attract the attention of Cultivators seeking Opportunity.

He originally didn't want to get involved, but the three streaks of light were clearly heading for him, the only living being in the basin.

Their speed was extremely fast, and in a moment, they had approached, landing in a triangular formation, subtly surrounding him.

The newcomers were two men and one woman, dressed luxuriously and with extraordinary bearing, clearly from a major Sect or power.

The old man, the Quasi-Immortal Peak leader, had an aquiline nose and eyes as sharp as lightning. He scrutinized Xiao Zhuo, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.

He found that he couldn't see through the specific cultivation of this seemingly young man in green, but the fact that the other party could stand safely in the core area of this ancient battlefield meant he was no ordinary person.

"Greetings, Fellow Daoist," the old man said, suppressing his doubts, cupping his hands. His tone, however, carried a hint of condescension. "This old man is Hao Canghong, an Elder of 'Xuanbing Palace (Mystic Ice Palace)'. I just sensed a strange treasure's light piercing the sky here and came to investigate. I wonder if Fellow Daoist has seen anything unusual? Or... gained any Harvest?"

As he spoke, his gaze involuntarily flickered towards the fresh traces and lingering aura left by the broken spear being pulled out in the distance, a hint of fervor flashing in his eyes.

The other two Cultivators, a man and a woman who were Middle Stage Quasi-Immortals, also stared intently at Xiao Zhuo, their immortal power secretly circulating, subtly forming a Encirclement.

Xiao Zhuo glanced at them indifferently, as if looking at three talking stones.

"I saw it."

"Oh? What was it? Where is it now?" Hao Canghong's breathing quickened slightly, and he eagerly pressed.

The other two also subconsciously took half a step forward.

Xiao Zhuo's lips curled into a half-smile as he slowly uttered six words: "Of course, it's in my hands!"