131: Chapter 131 Scriptural Resonance, Bell's Approval

Clang—

The chime of the bell surged like a tide, sweeping across Purple Mountain.

This particular tolling of the wushi bell phantom was not triggered by Lin Ye—he had already successfully retrieved the second star token without triggering the bell's automatic defense mechanism. The true cause of the chime was the hostility and Killing Intent directed toward the altar Domain by the Primordial Royal Court players charging from the edge of the valley.

However, this was not the worst-case scenario Lin Ye had anticipated.

As the bronze bell phantom vibrated and the distant, vast sound waves rippled outward from the altar, the first thing Lin Ye felt was not suppression, but a strange sense of "protection."

The sound waves washed over his body like water.

The expected attribute reduction and sluggishness did not occur. On the contrary, the moment the chime reached his ears, the Chaos Divine Power within him—which had become slightly stagnant due to prolonged combat and exhaustion—became lively and fluid as if washed by a clear spring, and his mental fatigue vanished. A warm and vast power seeped into his limbs from the bell's lingering resonance, as if an ultimate existence had cast a brief, benevolent gaze upon him.

[System Notification: You are within the range of the "Wushi Bell Chime"]

[Detected that you once recited a fragment of the Wushi Scripture, creating a weak resonance with the wushi bell phantom]

[The wushi bell's will has determined your "Hostility Level" as: Low (Slight Approval)]

[You have gained the temporary status "Chime Protection":]

[1. Immune to the "Repulsion of All Laws" negative effect of this chime (30% reduction to all attributes)]

[2. Gained "Wushi Dao Rhyme Blessing": All skill effects increased by 15%, Spiritual Power recovery speed increased by 50%, duration 300 seconds]

[3. Gained passive Aura "Chime Resonance": Within a 30-meter radius centered on you, negative status effects on friendly units are reduced by 20%, and negative status effects on enemy units are increased by 10% (This effect is triggered by the residual fluctuations of the Wushi Bell Chime and its duration is synchronized with the fading of the chime)]

Approval from the wushi bell!

Even though it was only a weak resonance based on a three-hundred-word fragment, and even though this "approval" might just be an instinctive reaction from the residual will within the imperial weapon projection—it might only be identifying Lin Ye as "an existence with a trace of connection to Great Emperor Wushi's lineage" rather than a true successor—at this moment, it was enough.

Enough for Lin Ye to stand firm like a reef amidst the waves of the bell's chime.

Enough for him to clearly see the wretched state of those Primordial Royal Court players rushing from the valley's edge, suddenly slowing down and their Auras plummeting as the sound waves swept past them.

And enough for him to make the swiftest, calmest judgment.

"Qingyue! Potian!" Lin Ye's voice pierced through the bell's resonance, clearly reaching the ears of the two hidden at the valley's edge. "The chime suppresses the enemies even more! Now, follow Plan B and break out toward the northwest! I will meet up with you!"

A flash of determination crossed Su Qingyue's ice-blue eyes. The moment the bell rang and the enemies fell into chaos, she had already completed the final syllable of her incantation.

"Vast Cold Descends · Frozen Path!"

She pointed her crystalline ice sword toward the ground, and surging Vast Cold Spiritual Power erupted. A "path" about three meters wide, condensed from extreme ice, suddenly extended from beneath her and Shi Potian's feet. Like a silvery-white giant python, it ignored terrain obstacles, tore through the mist, and rapidly spread toward the depths of the mountains northwest of Purple Mountain!

Wherever the ice path passed, the ground froze and the air turned to frost. Several Archaic Race players who tried to intercept them had their feet frozen solid the moment they stepped on the ice, their movements further hindered.

Shi Potian let out a roar as he forced his Hegemon Body to activate again. Though his face grew a few shades paler, the Battle Intent in his eyes burned like fire. He guarded Su Qingyue's side, and the two of them sped along the frozen path toward the northwest, one in front of the other. Their task was originally to create chaos, draw attention, and prepare for backup; now, with the double blessing of the chime's suppression and the ice path's acceleration, their breakout speed was extremely fast.

Lin Ye's gaze fell back below the altar.

The chime's suppression was slowly weakening. Those Archaic Race players closest to the altar with higher strength—especially several Stone Race and Blood Race leaders above Rank 50—had already begun struggling to adapt to the pressure, attempting to reorganize their offensive. In the distance, the Blood Prince's soaring blood light was approaching at an incredible speed, his angry will like a physical shockwave locking onto the altar from afar.

He couldn't let himself get entangled.

Lin Ye's mind raced as his gaze swept across the twelve white jade pillars burning with altar fire around the altar, then looked up at the wushi bell phantom, which had slowly stopped vibrating but whose light had not yet dissipated.

An extremely bold idea rose in his heart.

He once again held up the special Storage Ring and sank his Divine Thought into it. The two star tokens glowed in resonance within the ring's space, the star chart projection becoming clearer, especially the light point pointing to the third unknown coordinate, which was bright enough to be piercing.

But now was not the time for deep investigation.

Lin Ye concentrated his Divine Thought on the star token he had just taken from the altar, attempting to draw out a trace of weak but pure Star Power. Simultaneously, he once again began to softly recite fragments of the Wushi Scripture in that ancient language of the Great Emperor. This time, he did not recite the full three hundred words but extracted a few lines concerning the Concepts of "protection," "suppression," and "order":

"...The bell suppresses the mountains and rivers, its sound cleansing the universe; external demons shall not invade, internal evils shall not arise; guarding a piece of pure land, protecting the peace of all spirits..."

The recitation was soft but carried a strange rhythm, creating a subtle resonance with the bits of starlight emanating from the star token in his hand. The starlight no longer drifted aimlessly but was drawn as if by an invisible hand, threads of light floating up toward the wushi bell phantom above and merging into the verdigris-covered patterns on the bell's body.

The wushi bell phantom trembled slightly once more.

This time, it was not a violent, alarm-like vibration, but a gentle response, as if a sleeper had been awakened by a familiar voice. The Qilin phantom on the bell's handle, whose eyes had been half-closed, seemed to open them a fraction more. Its indifferent gaze swept over Lin Ye below, over the struggling Archaic Race players, and toward the rapidly approaching blood-colored rainbow in the distance.

Then, it performed an action that completely exceeded Lin Ye's expectations and the understanding of those Archaic Race players.

The wushi bell phantom—the imperial weapon projection that represented the highest rules of the Purple Mountain entrance and had operated independently for countless years—actually adjusted its angle slightly, pointing the mouth of the bell toward the direction of the incoming Blood Prince and the densest area of Primordial Royal Court players regrouping and charging toward the altar from all sides of the valley!

“CLANG—!!!”

A second chime exploded without warning!

This chime was fundamentally different from the first. The first was a wide-range, indiscriminate "Repulsion of All Laws" intended to suppress all uninvited guests entering the Domain. But this chime was like a condensed invisible sword; the sound waves converged into a beam, carrying a majestic and upright terrifying will that suppressed all evil, crashing into the Blood Prince's blood light and sweeping through the charging Archaic Race players!

"What?!"

"The bell phantom... is actively attacking?!"

"Impossible! This altar defense has always been a passive trigger!"

The charging Archaic Race players were horrified; they had never seen, or even heard of, the wushi bell phantom launching an "active" attack! This completely violated their understanding of the Purple Mountain entrance rules!

The first to be hit were three Rank 54 Stone Race elites leading the charge. Their rocky skin was like fragile pottery before the condensed sound waves of the bell, instantly covered in cracks. Their burly bodies were violently hurled away by the invisible force, blood spraying from their mouths. Before they even hit the ground, they turned into three streaks of white light—instantly killed!

The seven or eight Blood Race and Winged Race players following behind were even more pathetic. Their defenses were far inferior to the Stone Race. When the chime reached them, their bodies shattered piece by piece like weathered sand sculptures, and they perished on the spot without even being able to let out a scream.

And the sound wave aimed directly at the Blood Prince collided violently with the rapidly approaching blood-colored rainbow!

“BOOM—!!!”

The explosion of energy collision drowned out the bell's resonance. Piercing blood light and invisible sound waves exploded into a chaotic energy storm in mid-air, the shockwave leveling large swaths of mountain forest below, sending sand and stones flying.

The blood-colored rainbow's momentum came to a screeching halt, and the Blood Prince's figure appeared in the center of the storm. His blood-colored robes fluttered violently, his face so dark it could drip water. In his eyes, besides sky-high rage, there was a trace of unbelievable shock and suspicion.

He had forcibly endured this chime's impact. Although he wasn't injured, his forward momentum was completely broken, and the blood-colored energy surrounding him was momentarily disrupted.

"The wushi bell... would actually protect a human thief?!" the Blood Prince's voice was hoarse, filled with humiliation and rage. "What evil technique did you use?!"

His gaze pierced through the gradually dissipating energy turbulence, locking onto Lin Ye atop the altar.

Lin Ye was also shaken. His intention in reciting the scripture and drawing on the Star Power was merely to try and strengthen the effect of the "Chime Protection" or see if he could establish a more stable connection with the wushi bell to facilitate his subsequent actions. He never imagined it would actually trigger the wushi bell phantom to launch an active attack!

This was no longer just "slight approval"; this was the residual will of the imperial weapon projection, to some extent, viewing him as a "person to be protected," even to the point of breaking convention to actively expel "external enemies"!

Although this "protection" was likely very unstable and stemmed from a misunderstanding caused by those three hundred words of scripture, it was undoubtedly a powerful protective Talisman at this moment.

With no time to ponder the reasons, Lin Ye seized this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

The Blood Prince was blocked, the vanguard elites were cleared by the chime, and the subsequent Primordial Royal Court players were stunned by this sudden turn of events, their offensive faltering.

Now was the time!

Lin Ye no longer hesitated, pushing his Void Step to the limit. His figure turned into a blurry afterimage, leaping directly from the top of the altar toward the northwest. He didn't flee in a straight line but twisted several times in the air, skillfully moving through areas where the bell's resonance had not yet fully dissipated and still suppressed the Archaic Race players.

At the same time, with a wave of his right hand, several already prepared Talismans shot out. They weren't aimed at attacking enemies but at seemingly unremarkable rocks and trees throughout the valley.

[Phantom Mist Talisman], [Spirit Disturbing Talisman], [Echo Talisman]...

These low-level Talismans had their effects multiplied under the stimulation of Chaos Power, instantly creating large patches of rolling thick mist in the valley. The mist was laced with fluctuations that disturbed Divine Thought and layers of echoes, further interfering with the pursuers' vision and perception.

"Stop him! At all costs!" the Blood Prince's furious roar echoed over the valley. He forcibly stabilized the chaotic blood energy in his body and, turning into blood light, gave chase again. However, after launching that active attack, the wushi bell phantom's light seemed to dim significantly, and the bell returned to a state of stillness, with no further movement. Clearly, that level of active intervention was extremely taxing and unsustainable.

Without the direct threat of the bell phantom, the Blood Prince's speed was no longer hindered, and the distance between him and Lin Ye began to close rapidly.

Lin Ye didn't look back. While speeding away, he sank his Divine Thought into the Storage Ring.

The resonance between the two star tokens grew stronger, and the star chart projection almost seemed to bleed out of the Storage Ring. He tried injecting more Chaos Power into one of the tokens—the one he had just obtained from the altar.

[star token · Two (Purple Mountain Altar)]

[Type: Special Key/Token]

[Quality: Legendary (Unique)]

[Description: One of the mysterious tokens containing Ancient Star Road coordinates, with a slight connection to Great Emperor Wushi's Daoist field.]

[Current Status: Activated (Resonating with star token · One)]

[Effects (Unlocked):]

[1. Star Chart Guidance: When resonating with another star token, it can display the approximate location of the third star token (Eternal Star Domain · Unknown Auction).]

[2. Wushi Connection: When holding this token near relics or Formations related to Great Emperor Wushi, one can obtain a certain degree of convenience or weaken defensive forces (Effect depends on the specific relic).]

[part:gemini-3.1-flash-lite]

[3. Star Protection (Weak): Passively increases Star attribute resistance by 10%, and slightly increases spiritual power recovery speed in starlight environments.]

[Hidden Effect (Not fully unlocked): Collect three star tokens to open a stable portal to the "Ancient Star Road" and unlock deeper secrets.]

The moment Chaos Power was injected into the token, the three star patterns on it suddenly lit up, and a cool force containing faint spatial fluctuations fed back, flowing through Lin Ye's entire body.

He felt his affinity with the surrounding space (especially areas covered by starlight) increase instantly; the consumption of Void Step decreased by about 15%, while his speed increased slightly.

More importantly, this force seemed to carry a certain "spatial marking" characteristic, causing a certain degree of interference and blurring to the malicious Divine Sense that the Blood Prince behind him was using to lock onto him.

"As expected, every star token has its own uniqueness." Lin Ye realized in his heart, "The first one (obtained from the Valley of Buried Soldiers) seems related to the clues of the 'Star God Legacy', with an Aura leaning more towards 'summoning' and 'Bloodline'. This second one, due to being long-term soaked in the projection of the wushi bell and altar power, has been tainted with a trace of Wushi Dao charm and spatial characteristics."

With these factors balancing out, although Lin Ye was still slightly inferior in absolute speed to the Blood Prince bursting with full power, he managed to maintain a relatively safe distance between them by relying on his familiarity with the terrain, the chaos created by Talismans, and the slight advantage brought by the star token.

One chasing and one fleeing, the two quickly swept over several mountain peaks, gradually approaching the edge of the northwest region of Purple Mountain. The terrain here was more rugged, and the fog was thicker; it was the exact rendezvous area preset by Su Qingyue.

"Lin Ye! Over here!" From a mountain hollow shrouded in thick fog ahead, came Su Qingyue's cold and urgent voice. An ice-blue spiritual power marker shot into the sky, guiding the way for Lin Ye.

Lin Ye's spirits lifted, his figure accelerated again, and he swooped down towards the marker.

The Blood Prince followed closely behind, the Killing Intent in his eyes almost solidifying: "Want to escape? Stay here!"

He pushed his hands forward violently, and the blood light around him gathered crazily, transforming into a giant blood hand that blotted out the sky. Carrying a pungent bloody smell and terrifying suction, it grabbed fiercely at Lin Ye's back! This strike condensed his full power in anger, far exceeding ordinary power. Before it even touched his body, Lin Ye felt a needle-like stinging pain in his back and a nauseating sensation of his Qi and blood churning.

There was no way to avoid it! Just at this critical moment—

"Hegemon Heaven Strike · Mountain Breaker!"

A dull, thunderous roar exploded from the mountain hollow. Shi Potian, covered in blood but with his Aura undiminished, shot into the sky like a cannonball. The muscles on his arms bulged exaggeratedly, and the Hegemon Blood patterns under his skin shone with golden light. His whole person seemed to transform into an indestructible war hammer, not dodging or avoiding, but fiercely colliding with the grabbing giant blood hand!

"Boom!!!" The golden and blood-colored lights collided, intertwined, and annihilated each other violently. The violent energy shock instantly cleared the fog within a hundred meters, revealing the jagged mountain rocks below.

Shi Potian flew back faster than he had charged up, smashing heavily into the mountain hollow, shattering countless rocks. He spat out blood violently, and his Aura instantly withered; it was clear he had suffered injury upon injury.

But with his body, he had bought the most critical moment for Lin Ye!

That giant blood hand was blocked for a moment by Shi Potian's desperate strike, its power reduced by 30%, and its grabbing momentum also experienced a momentary lag.

Taking advantage of this gap in the lag, Lin Ye narrowly swept past between the fingers, his figure disappearing into the thick fog of the mountain hollow.

"Qingyue!" Lin Ye shouted in a low voice.

"Ice Sealed Absolute Domain · Rise!" Su Qingyue, who had been prepared for a long time, thrust the ice crystal longsword in her hand fiercely into the ground. Centered on the sword tip, the extremely cold Vast Cold Spiritual Power erupted like a tsunami, instantly sweeping through the entire mountain hollow!

The ground froze, rocks were covered in frost, and the moisture in the air condensed into countless ice crystals. A temporary ice-sealed Domain covering a range of several hundred meters formed suddenly! Although this Domain was far less domineering than the wushi bell's "Ten Thousand Laws Retreat", it excelled in the instantly erupting extreme low temperature and its huge hindrance to movement.

The moment the giant blood hand controlled by the Blood Prince rushed into the ice-sealed Domain, a thick layer of ice shell quickly condensed on its surface, and its movements became incomparably sluggish.

"Tricks!" The Blood Prince snorted coldly, and the blood hand shook violently, shattering the ice shell. But just because of this delay, the figures of Lin Ye and the other two had completely disappeared into the depths of the Domain intertwined with thick fog and cold ice.

He dissipated the blood hand and hovered in mid-air, his scarlet pupils scanning the white expanse of the ice-fog Domain below, his face as gloomy as water. He could feel that in the depths of the ice fog, spatial fluctuations were becoming intense—the other party was setting up a teleportation Formation!

"Want to teleport away? Not that easy!" The Blood Prince quickly formed seals with his hands, and a complex blood-colored rune condensed in front of him, "Blood Sea Tracking · Ten Thousand Li Soul Lock!"

The blood-colored rune exploded, turning into countless blood threads as thin as hair, drilling into the ice-fog Domain below as if they had life, attempting to lock onto the Aura of Lin Ye and the other two to track and interfere.

However, just at the moment when the blood threads were about to touch the core area of the ice fog— "Clang..." A faint bell toll echo, as if coming from an extremely distant space-time, actually rang again.

This echo did not come from the direction of the Purple Mountain entrance altar, but seemed to spread directly from Lin Ye's body, or more accurately, from the [star token · Two] in the Storage Ring in his arms!

Although the echo was weak, it carried the unique Dao charm fluctuation of the wushi bell that suppressed all laws. Those omnipresent blood-colored tracking threads, after being swept by this faint bell toll echo, were like encountering a nemesis, trembling, disintegrating, and dissipating one after another, unable to penetrate this seemingly thin invisible barrier!

"The wushi bell again?!" The Blood Prince's pupils shrank, and the shock and anger in his heart had reached its peak. That Human Race brat not only stole two star tokens but actually obtained such extraordinary "favor" from the wushi bell projection?! This was simply inconceivable!

Just at the moment when his mind was shaken, the spatial fluctuations at the core of the ice fog reached their peak, and then suddenly calmed down. The thick fog slowly dissipated, and the ice Domain also began to melt. In the mountain hollow, there was no one left, only traces of the battle and the faint spatial ripples that had not completely dissipated. Lin Ye and the other two had successfully teleported and evacuated!

"Ah—!!!" The Blood Prince let out an extremely angry roar towards the sky, the sound shaking the surroundings, startling countless birds and beasts. The blood-colored energy around him rolled and surged out of control, corroding all nearby mountain rocks, grass, and trees into ash.

"Lin Ye! Heavenly Court! I, the Blood Prince, swear here that I will never die until you are destroyed!" "star token... wushi bell's recognition... what you obtained today, I will make you pay back a hundredfold in the future!"

The furious oath echoed among the peaks of Purple Mountain, declaring the completely broken relationship and the irreconcilable hostile relationship between the Primordial Royal Court and the rising Human Race force, the Heavenly Court.

At this moment, thousands of miles away from Purple Mountain, in a desolate hilly area. Space twisted slightly, and three slightly disheveled figures stumbled out; they were Lin Ye, Su Qingyue, and Shi Potian, who had evacuated through a long-distance directional teleportation Formation.

"Puff—" As soon as he landed, Shi Potian spat out a mouthful of stagnant blood again, his body swaying and about to fall. Su Qingyue quickly supported him, immediately took out an Advanced healing potion to feed him, and at the same time used Vast Cold Spiritual Power to guide his chaotic Qi and blood.

Lin Ye had also consumed a great deal, but his condition was much better than Shi Potian's. He looked around for the first time, and after confirming there was no danger, he let out a long sigh of relief.

"Temporarily safe." He said, his gaze falling on Su Qingyue, "Qingyue, this time thanks to you and Potian."

Su Qingyue shook her head, her ice-blue eyes looking at Lin Ye: "It was you who risked your life to retrieve the token and even triggered the wushi bell. That bell toll... seems exceptionally different towards you?"

Lin Ye took out that special Storage Ring, and with a thought of his Divine Sense, two star tokens appeared in his palm. They lay quietly, the star patterns on their surfaces reflecting each other, emitting a soft starlight.

"It's the credit of the remnant of the 'Wushi Sutra'." Lin Ye explained, briefly recounting the process of reciting the scriptures to trigger the resonance, "The remnant will of the wushi bell may have mistaken me for someone related to the Wushi Great Emperor's orthodoxy. This 'recognition' is not stable, nor necessarily lasting, but it really helped a lot this time."

He paused and showed the attributes of [star token · Two] to the two of them, especially the "Wushi Connection" effect.

"More importantly, we got the second one." Lin Ye's gaze became profound, "The resonance of the two star tokens not only confirmed again that the third one is at the Eternal Star Domain auction, but more importantly..."

He injected more Chaos Power into the two tokens. Hum— The two star tokens left his palm at the same time and hovered in mid-air. The starlight they emitted intertwined, projecting a clearer and more complete star map phantom in the air!

In the center of the star map, three light spots were extremely bright. The positions of two of them were already clear (Valley of Buried Soldiers in Purple Mountain, altar in Purple Mountain), while the third light spot, although still pointing to the vague information of "Eternal Star Domain · Unknown Auction", on the star map, next to that light spot, actually faintly emerged a few extremely ancient and incomplete phantom characters!

Those characters did not belong to the Human Race, nor did they belong to any known Archaic Race characters; their structure was complex and beautiful, as if containing the mysteries of star movement.

Lin Ye stared closely at those phantom characters, trying hard to identify them. In his past life, he had traveled widely and had some involvement with various ancient characters, especially those related to the starry sky and ancient roads.

"Is this... 'Star Alliance'? No... more like 'Star Remains'... or 'Star Burial'?" Lin Ye frowned, unable to be completely sure. Those characters were too incomplete, and they were a type of ancient star script that had long been lost.

But whether it was "Star Alliance", "Star Remains", or "Star Burial", it revealed an ancient, mysterious, and even possibly ominous Aura. The location of the third star token was probably not as simple as an auction; behind it, it was very likely involved with some lost ancient starry sky civilization or some forbidden star burial ground.

Su Qingyue and Shi Potian also looked at the star map and those phantom characters, their expressions solemn.

"It seems that collecting three star tokens opens more than just a road." Su Qingyue said softly, "It may also open a door leading to the unknown and danger."

Lin Ye nodded, withdrew the Star Power, the two tokens fell back into his palm, and the star map phantom dissipated accordingly.

"But we must take this road." His voice was calm and firm, "The Ancient Star Road is the key to quickly improving strength, obtaining top resources, and even exploring the truth of the world. The Dark Turmoil is coming, and we don't have many choices."

He looked at Shi Potian, who was still weak in breath, and then at Su Qingyue: "First find a safe place to let Potian fully recover. Then, we need to prepare for the Eternal Star Domain auction. The third star token, no matter what the cost, must be obtained."

"Before that," Lin Ye's gaze cast towards the distant horizon, as if he could penetrate the Void Realm and see the floating technological city, "We must first digest this harvest, and... figure out what this 'recognition' of the wushi bell can bring us."

In his palm, the starlight of the two star tokens gradually restrained, but that faint yet real "Wushi Dao charm" and "Star resonance" had already quietly been imprinted on them, and also imprinted at the end of this thrilling trip to Purple Mountain.

A new chapter has slowly unfolded under the guidance of the star map. And the Blood Prince's anger and the hostility of the Primordial Royal Court, like a sword hanging over their heads, indicate that the road ahead will by no means be smooth.