341: Chapter 276: Picking Up a Divine Remains, Obtaining a Broken Divine Spark

At the edge of the dark golden Divine Kingdom warship fragment platform, Lin Zhou withdrew his gaze from the shadows deep within the skeletal mountain range and turned to his four teammates.

The unusual palpitations of the God King fragment and the river of civilization were like weak phosphorescent fires quietly lighting up in the darkness, both signaling unpredictable danger and potentially pointing toward precious Opportunity buried beneath the endless ruins.

In this Domain ruled by death and oblivion, any intuition or resonance was worth being wary of, yet also worth investigating.

"The target remains unchanged; we head to that skeletal mountain range area." Lin Zhou lowered his voice, his Divine Thought transmitting directly into everyone's consciousness. "However, we will adjust our path slightly. We will bypass from the left flank, sticking to the edge of this larger platform fragment and walking along the shadow of that relatively 'clean' Law chain."

"Yue Yao, continue using moon brilliance to scout the path, focusing on detecting spatial stability and energy flow anomalies."

"Qin Qing, retract the Order Barrier until it is close to your body to reduce consumption. Unless we encounter an attack, prioritize concealment."

"Wang Meng, Zhou Yan, you two are responsible for the flanks and the rear. Pay attention to the gaps in the ruins and those solidified lakes of Divine Blood; there might be things hidden inside."

Everyone nodded and quickly adjusted their formation.

Moon brilliance flowed from Su Yueyao's fingertips, outlining faint light trails ahead. These light trails were not for illumination but were direct projections of spatial folds and energy turbulence, capable of providing early warnings for potential spatial rifts or energy traps.

Qin Qing restrained the light of her Order Barrier, making it cling to the group like a transparent film. Although the defensive power was weakened, it greatly reduced how "conspicuous" they were in the environment.

Wang Meng and Zhou Yan flanked left and right like moving fortresses. Wang Meng's Behemoth Chieftain (LV48) and several elite Behemoths (LV40+) growled lowly, their sharp claws gripping the metal deck; Zhou Yan's Lava Titan Lord (LV50) was silent as a mountain, with lava faintly flowing beneath its thick rocky skin, vigilantly scanning the surrounding darkness.

The team began to move cautiously along the route set by Lin Zhou. Beneath their feet was cold, dead metal, and around them were silently crumbling, magnificent ruins.

The invisible pressure brought by the "Divine Fall Curse" in the air was constant, like cold tides beating against the shores of the Soul.

Although the chanting of the "Song of Righteousness" by the Literary Heart Elves scholars (average LV40) was faint, it flowed through everyone's hearts like a warm stream, resisting the despair and sorrow that threatened to pull them under.

"Thirty meters to the left, beneath that twisted metal structure, there is a weak energy reaction. Its nature is chaotic but inactive," Su Yueyao's moon brilliance detection reported back.

"Go around it," Lin Zhou said decisively. When the underlying details are unknown, avoidance is the primary principle.

The team moved like ghosts traversing a minefield, slowly and firmly approaching the skeletal mountain range.

What they saw along the way was shocking. They saw a crystal fragment hundreds of meters high with mirror-smooth edges, inside which were frozen countless ferocious, humanoid creatures in various poses, as if they had been frozen in an instant;

they passed a purple-black swamp that had dried up but still emitted a pungent sulfurous stench, where half-melted, hideous bone armor could be vaguely seen in the mud;

they even caught a glimpse from afar of a floating, porous boulder growing clusters of strange, coral-like plants emitting a ghostly blue light. That light carried an eerie mental attraction; even when the moon brilliance detection approached, it felt slightly dizzy, so Lin Zhou immediately ordered them to stay away.

Everything here bore the tragic marks of the ancient Divine War, as well as the bizarre ecology formed by the collapse of Law and the mutation of matter over long ages. Danger was everywhere, but as Vice Dean Wang Zhenyue had said, Opportunity often coexisted with danger.

Just as the team bypassed the third larger temple dome fragment and was less than two kilometers away from the shadows of the giant ribs on the outer edge of the skeletal mountain range, Su Yueyao's moon brilliance detection reported back again, this time with a hint of surprise:

"Directly ahead, about eight hundred meters away, in that relatively flat area partially covered by a few broken stone slabs, there are... three relatively 'intact' remains. The energy reaction is extremely weak, almost blending into the environment, but the moon brilliance can distinguish that they retain a trace of... Divine Power fluctuation? It is very mixed and fragmented, but it is indeed Divine Power."

Divine Power fluctuation? In the Ancient Battlefield, Divine Power was not rare; it could come from any soil stained with Divine Blood or fragments of a shattered Divine Artifact. But the words "relatively intact" and "remains" made Lin Zhou's heart stir.

"Stay alert, move in to investigate," Lin Zhou ordered, while secretly communicating with the river of civilization and the God King fragment to see if there was any special reaction to that direction.

The river of civilization rippled slightly, seemingly sensing the mixed Divine Power, but it was not a strong desire; it was more like a tendency of "confirmation" and "analysis." The God King fragment, however, still pointed to the depths of the skeletal mountain range, indifferent to the weak Divine Power reaction here.

The eight-hundred-meter distance took nearly ten minutes to cover with cautious movement. When they arrived at the area Su Yueyao had mentioned, the scene before them made everyone feel once again the cruelty and... cheapness of this ancient Divine War.

They were three "corpses" that had almost merged with the ground environment. They were not lying on the ground but were half-embedded in a strange dark red surface that seemed to be a mixture of glass and rock, in various twisted, struggling poses. This ground was clearly formed by instantaneous melting under some kind of high-temperature, high-energy impact, followed by rapid cooling, which had "sealed" the three remains firmly inside, exposing only parts of their limbs and heads.

The form of the remains could vaguely be identified as humanoid, but their size was far larger than ordinary humans, with an average height exceeding five meters. Their "skin" had long since petrified, showing different colors like grayish-white, dark gold, and dark green, with surfaces covered in cracks and traces of energy erosion. Most striking was that at the center of their foreheads, there was an obvious, irregular, penetrating hole. Residual fine cracks of Law annihilation remained at the edges of the holes, with extremely dim, chaotic light fragments faintly overflowing.

Through the holes, one could vaguely peer into the interior of the skulls. Where the core of the Divine Divinity should have been, there now only remained fine, crystal powder like shattered glass beads, barely held together by a dim energy film, not completely dissipated. It was these fragments that emitted the weak and mixed Divine Power fluctuations.

"Divine Divinity shattered... This means they fell because their Divine Divinity was directly smashed!" Qin Qing's voice was low, carrying a hint of chill. The Divine Divinity is the computational core and Law processor of a deity. A shattered Divine Divinity means the deity's consciousness and the root of their authority are completely destroyed, with almost no possibility of restoration. In the Divine War, this way of dying often implied absolute power crushing or a targeted, fatal blow.

"Look at their poses and the state of the surrounding ground," Zhou Yan squatted down, carefully observing the poses of the remains fixed by the molten ground. "It looks like they were hit simultaneously by some kind of massive, terrifying area-of-effect attack in an instant, their Divine Divinity shattered, and their bodies instantly 'poured' and fixed here by a high-temperature energy field. This is at least... an area-of-effect lethality that only a Mid-Tier Divine Power existence could cause."

Wang Meng clicked his tongue: "Good grief, three unlucky Faint Divinity guys, insta-killed by the aftermath of big shots fighting? This damn place is really..."

Lin Zhou did not join the discussion; his Divine Thought carefully swept over the three remains and their surroundings. Except for the tiny bit of Divine Power remaining from the shattered Divine Divinity, the value of the three Divine remains themselves was no longer great—long years and environmental erosion had long since caused their bodies to lose most of their energy and properties, making them not even as good as some high-quality mineral Materials. Only the trace of Divine Power remaining in the shattered Divine Divinity could be considered a rare harvest.

Divine Power is the key to igniting the Divine Fire and upgrading Divine Divinity; it cannot be converted from faith or Divine Power, but can only be obtained from the Laws of the Universe, specific wonders, or... the Legacy of fallen deities. For any deity, pure Divine Power is hard currency.

"These three Divine remains have severely shattered Divine Divinity, and the residual Divine Power is extremely thin and mixed, filled with resentment of death, pain, unwillingness, and fragments of Law," Lin Zhou analyzed. "Direct contact or rough extraction is not only inefficient but also risks being contaminated by the residual negative thoughts, which is not worth the gain. However..."

His mind flickered, and a wisp of pale purple-gold flame jumped from his fingertips—the Fire of Civilization.

"My Fire of Civilization possesses the abilities of refining, purifying, and converting; perhaps I can try to extract this mixed Divine Power, removing the dross and keeping the essence."

"Are you sure about this?" Su Yueyao asked with concern. "Divine Power extraction is very high-risk, especially this kind of broken Divine Power filled with resentment."

"It is worth a try, but I need you to act as Protector and isolate any disturbances that might be triggered." Lin Zhou looked at Qin Qing, Wang Meng, and Zhou Yan.

Qin Qing nodded: "I will use the Net of Law to construct an isolation barrier, which can shield energy fluctuations and some mental diffusion." Wang Meng and Zhou Yan immediately scattered, occupying advantageous alert positions.

Lin Zhou walked to the nearest Divine remain with dark gold skin and stopped about ten meters away. This distance allowed for effective operation while leaving room for reaction. He sat cross-legged, held his hands in a void embrace, and that wisp of Fire of Civilization floated in his palm, slowly rotating.

"Fire of Civilization, refine all things, purify all evils, manifest the Origin—【Inheritance of Fire · Divine Power Purification】!"

Lin Zhou chanted in a low voice, and Divine Power surged from his Divine Divinity into the Fire of Civilization. The wisp of flame instantly grew, turning into a head-sized, silently burning pale purple-gold fireball. In the center of the fireball, countless tiny, flickering phantoms of civilization were faintly visible—ancestors drilling wood, sages writing books, craftsmen forging iron... This was the manifestation of the Fire of Civilization's "Legacy" and "Purification" properties.

He carefully moved the fireball toward the shattered hole in the Divine remain's forehead. The moment the light of the fireball touched those dim fragments of Divine Divinity—

"Awooo—!!!" A Soul shriek full of endless pain, despair, unwillingness, and hatred suddenly erupted from deep within the Divine remain! It was not a sound, but a mental shock acting directly on the level of Divine Thought! Although the deity had fallen for countless years, the extreme pain and death fear from the moment the Divine Divinity shattered had actually left behind a trace of an almost instinctive "residual thought" filled with negative emotions!

Amidst the shriek, everyone seemed to see a broken image: a brilliant Divine Kingdom collapsing in boundless light of destruction, the prayers of believers turning into wails, and the deity's own Divine Divinity being crushed inch by inch by irresistible power... Despair, despair deep into the bone marrow!

If someone with an unsteady will or insufficient Divine Soul cultivation were hit by this residual thought, at best, their mind would be shaken, and at worst, their Dao Heart would be damaged, or even their own Heart Demon would be triggered.

However, facing this sudden mental attack, Lin Zhou's expression did not change; his eyes became even more focused. He had long anticipated this situation. The Fire of Civilization was precisely the nemesis of this kind of negative mental residue!

The pale purple-gold fireball, at the moment of being struck by the residual thought, not only did not waver but flared even brighter! The phantoms of civilization in the flames suddenly became clear, as if countless sages were speaking simultaneously, reciting chapters about courage, perseverance, hope, and Legacy!

"As heaven maintains vigor through movement, a gentleman should unremittingly practice self-improvement!" "Hardships and bitterness help one succeed!" "Why speak of death? My body returns to the mountain... Relatives may still grieve, but others have already sung..." "Oh Soul, return! Return to your old home!"

These were not real sounds, but the reverse scouring and purification of the residual thought by the Law information contained within the Fire of Civilization! The shriek full of despair and hatred, in the face of this grand, tenacious, and vital information of civilization, melted and disintegrated rapidly like snow meeting the scorching sun!

The fireball continued to deepen, wrapping around those dim fragments of Divine Divinity. Amidst faint sizzling sounds, the gray-black resentment, chaotic Law fragments, and "Impurities" mixed in the Divine Power attached to the surface of the fragments were quickly burned, stripped away, and vaporized by the high temperature and purification power of the Fire of Civilization, like boiling water poured on snow! Wisps of black smoke overflowed from the edge of the fireball and were immediately completely annihilated by the Fire of Civilization.

What remained were tiny, extremely fine, yet much purer pale golden light spots—this was the non-attribute Divine Power essence that had been preliminarily extracted!

This process lasted about five minutes. When the fireball was withdrawn from the forehead of the first Divine remain, its volume had shrunk by a circle, evidently consuming quite a bit. But in the center of the fireball, five pale golden light spots, smaller than sesame seeds, were floating, emitting pure, gentle, yet extremely high-essence Law fluctuations.

【Successfully extracted Faint Divinity shattered Divine Divinity, obtained non-attribute Divine Power: 0.5 units.】 The System prompt appeared in Lin Zhou's consciousness.

0.5 units, which seemed extremely small, but for a Faint Divinity, this was already the limit that could be extracted from its remains. One must know that igniting the Divine Fire only requires 10 units of Divine Power.

Lin Zhou did not stop; he followed the same method to extract from the second (dark green skin) and third (grayish-white skin) Divine remains. The residual thought shocks of the latter two remains were much the same, and both disintegrated under the purification of the Fire of Civilization. In the end, about 0.45 units of Divine Power were extracted from the second Divine remain, and about 0.55 units were extracted from the third.

Total: 1.5 units of non-attribute Divine Power!

When the three clusters totaling 1.5 units of pale golden Divine Power light spots floated in front of Lin Zhou, even with everyone's experience, they couldn't help but hold their breath. This was real, tangible Divine Power that could directly increase the potential and Rank of Divine Divinity! Although the amount was not much, its value far exceeded many epic-level resource cards!

Lin Zhou carefully put these Divine Power light spots into a special Seal crystal temporarily condensed by the Fire of Civilization and stored them in the Divine Kingdom core. He let out a long sigh, his face looking slightly tired; continuously activating the Fire of Civilization for high-precision extraction consumed quite a lot.

"Well done, Boss!" Wang Meng roared excitedly in a low voice. "A great start! We've already got 1.5 units of Divine Power!"

Qin Qing also nodded slightly: "The purification ability of the Fire of Civilization is indeed miraculous. Although the amount of this Divine Power is small, the purity is very high, with almost no Impurities or future troubles."

Zhou Yan grinned and said: "It seems that following Brother Lin, this trip won't be in vain."

Su Yueyao walked to Lin Zhou's side and handed over a pill emitting a cool moon brilliance aura (a restorative item condensed from moon brilliance): "Consumed quite a bit, right? Recover first. This is just the edge area, and we already have such a harvest; then in the depths of the skeletal mountain range..."

Lin Zhou took the pill, feeling the cool aura nourishing his Divine Soul, and smiled gratefully at Su Yueyao: "Yes, this is just an appetizer. The resonance of the God King fragment and the river of civilization points deeper. There, perhaps there is greater Opportunity, and also potentially greater danger. Everyone, adjust your state; we continue moving forward."

He glanced at the crystal in his hand sealing the 1.5 units of Divine Power, and then looked toward the shadows of the skeletal mountain range that looked like the ribs of a giant beast. The first battle was a victory, not only harvesting precious resources but also verifying the unique utility of the Fire of Civilization in this environment of the Ancient Battlefield.

The Ancient Battlefield was indeed a death paradise where crisis and Treasure Trove coexisted. And their exploration had only just begun.