57: Chapter 57 Ancient Battle Remains

The violent explosion from purifying the "Blood Evil Core" and its turbulent, destructive aura triggered a small-scale Chaos on the periphery of the Heavenly Ruins.

The spatial turbulence became even more violent, and some Vicious Beasts and evil spirits lurking on the periphery were startled and scattered, making the Cultivators who subsequently entered the Heavenly Ruins to explore even more jittery and suspicious.

Meanwhile, Lin Wan and his two companions had long since ventured deep into the Heavenly Ruins, far from that area.

They rode their escape lights, weaving through the thick grey-black fog, shattered floating mountains, and intermittently flashing spatial rifts.

The deeper they went, the more the harshness of the environment increased exponentially.

Not only was the "Ruins Destruction" aura thicker and the corrosive power stronger, but various bizarre, counter-intuitive natural phenomena (or rather, phenomena of the Heavenly Ruins' Law) also appeared.

Sometimes, they would stumble into an area with inverted gravity, requiring them to constantly circulate their magic power to resist, otherwise they would fall toward the "sky."

Sometimes, they would accidentally enter a place where the flow of time was abnormal; a fleeting moment outside might be several days here, or several days outside might be only a single breath here.

There were even regions filled with chaotic "Illusion Evil," which could trigger Heart Demons and conjure scenes of endless fear, as well as "Spirit-Devouring Fog" capable of twisting and devouring Divine Sense.

Facing these, Liao Chen's Buddhist Divine Ability played an important role.

His Buddha light was upright and peaceful, capable of stabilizing the mind to a certain extent, seeing through falsehoods, and purifying some negative auras.

Han Lingtian's Sword Heart was clear, his will as firm as iron, and he could also resist most mental shocks.

As for Lin Wan, relying on the Five Elements Guixu Dao Seed's powerful control and assimilation ability over chaotic energy, as well as his Divine Sense strength which far exceeded his peers, he could always be the first among the three to discover danger and find a relatively safe path.

The resonance between the five elements token and the Dao Seed was like an inextinguishable lighthouse, guiding them in a clear direction within the chaotic and hazy depths of the Ruins Realm.

That sensing did not weaken as the distance increased; instead, as they ventured deeper, it became clearer and more intense, as if the "War Barrier" were slowly awakening from its slumber and actively sending out a summons.

Thus, they trekked and explored for several more months in the perilous Heavenly Ruins.

On this day, the three of them crossed a zone filled with eerie "Mysterious Underworld Cold Currents" capable of freezing the magic power of a Nascent Soul; suddenly, the mist ahead became thin, and the scenery changed once again.

It was a vast, boundless, iron-grey, hard, cold, and covered in crisscrossing giant trenches and impact craters — a metal earth!

Yes, an earth. Unlike the shattered floating mountains on the periphery, this area seemed to be an entire, unimaginably massive, complete land fragment made of some unknown metal, suspended in the depths of the Heavenly Ruins.

On the ground, those trenches were bottomless, up to tens of miles wide, as if hacked open by a Heavenly God with a giant axe.

Impact craters were scattered like stars in the sky; the smallest were several miles in circumference, while the large ones were even like basins, their edges curled with solidified, dark-red metal substances that looked like cooled lava.

The entire metal earth was permeated with an ancient aura that was heavy, murderous, cold, and at the same time contained a certain unyielding, tragic will.

In the air, Five Elements Spiritual Qi (especially Gold and Earth attributes) was unusually dense, but it was also mixed with a thick, ancient aura of weapons and blood, as well as... a faint yet incredibly clear resonance of Battle Intent, which was of the same origin as the Five Elements Guixu Dao Seed but even more magnificent, majestic, and seemingly from an ancient military formation!

This was the periphery of the area where the Five Elements Sect's "War Barrier" was located! Or rather, it was a huge remnant of one of the main battlefields from that ultimate war back then!

"What an ancient battlefield!" Han Lingtian gasped, looking at the dead, desolate, yet endless murderous metal earth before him, as if he could hear the tragic slaughter from eons ago that decided the fate of the Five Elements Sect and even this world—the clashing of metal, the explosions of Divine Abilities, roars and wails seeming to still whimper in the wind.

"Amitabha... The aura of resentment and evil here, while not as intense as that flesh-and-blood evil nest from before, is more vast and pure, containing unyielding Battle Intent and the sorrow of the fallen. Countless heroic spirits sleep here forever." Liao Chen looked compassionate, pressed his palms together, and silently recited scriptures for the deceased.

Lin Wan concentrated on sensing. The residual Battle Intent and Five Elements aura here resonated most strongly with his Dao Seed.

He closed his eyes, and it was as if he could see, from countless years ago, countless Five Elements Sect Cultivators dressed in Five Elements battle armor, holding various Magic Treasures, forming towering battle arrays, and engaging in a life-and-death struggle on this metal earth against the overwhelming, bizarrely shaped "the end" monsters that radiated an ominous aura.

Divine light illuminated the world, demonic shadows covered the sky, blood stained the metal earth red, and the roars of battle souls and their unyielding will were branded into every inch of this land, into every grain of dust.

"The War Barrier is in the depths of this ancient battlefield ruin." Lin Wan opened his eyes, casting his gaze toward the center of the earth, to the area shrouded in even thicker grey mist and distorted light and shadow.

He could feel that the spatial structure there was more stable, and there were even faint fluctuations of powerful, unique defensive Restrictions belonging to the Five Elements Sect, forming a sharp contrast with this desolate, almost completely shattered battlefield on the periphery.

"It seems that back then, the Five Elements Sect used the 'War Barrier' as the final defensive core, while the surrounding battlefield was the buffer and attrition zone for the bloody battle against the 'the end' army. In the end, the barrier might not have been breached, but its connection to the outside world was severed, and it fell into silence until now..." Lin Wan analyzed.

"Then shall we head directly to the barrier core?" Han Lingtian asked.

"No." Lin Wan shook his head, his expression grave. "Although this place has been broken, the battlefield Restrictions and killing arrays set up by the Five Elements Sect back then, as well as the traps left by the erosion of 'the end', are likely not completely ineffective."

"Furthermore, such a vast ancient battlefield, having experienced such a tragic war, likely still 'breeds' or 'retains' some... unimaginable 'things.' We must explore carefully and confirm a safe path before we can approach the core."

"Fellow Daoist Lin is absolutely right." Liao Chen nodded.

The three stopped flying and landed on the cold metal ground.

With their feet on the ground, they could better feel the heaviness and murderous aura of this land.

The ground was extremely hard, comparable to refined iron, and retained fragments of Law. Walking on it required constantly circulating magic power to protect their bodies; otherwise, even the Physical Body of a Nascent Soul Cultivator could be cut by the invisible, sharp Qi.

They began to explore on foot, cautiously.

Lin Wan pushed his Divine Sense to the limit, combining it with the Dao Seed's sensing, constantly scanning every inch of land in front and beneath them, trying to find a relatively safe path and discover any potentially valuable relics or warning signs of danger.

After traveling less than a hundred miles, they discovered the first noteworthy "relic" on the edge of a huge impact crater with curled edges.

It was a... skeleton.

It was not a human skeleton, nor that of an ordinary Yao Beast. It was three zhang tall, with a body presenting a strange, jade-like yet cracked dark golden color. Its form was humanoid, but it had two extra pairs of arm bones, a triangular skull, and a protruding forehead, as if it once had a single horn.

The skeleton was deeply embedded in the metal ground in a half-kneeling posture, its arms crossed over its chest, as if it had maintained some kind of defensive or blocking posture before its death.

Around the skeleton were scattered some metal fragments that had long since dimmed and lost all spirituality, seemingly the remains of its armor or weapons during its lifetime.

The skeleton itself, despite having gone through eons, still radiated a faint yet extremely pure and sharp "Gold" element Law aura that seemed capable of cutting through everything.

On its bones, at those cracks, there were even faint, subtle dark golden halos slowly flowing like living things.

"Is this... the remains of a 'Gold Armored War Puppet'?" Lin Wan carefully identified it, finding relevant information from the memory fragments inherited from the Five Elements Sect.

The Gold Armored War Puppet was one of the Peak creations of the Five Elements Sect's Artifact Refining lineage. It was refined from special metals, Five Elements refined gold, and supplemented by powerful battle souls. It possessed autonomous combat consciousness, with strength ranging from Golden Core to Soul Transformation, and was an important component of the Sect's war machines.

Judging from the residual aura of the one before them, it was at least Late Stage Nascent Soul, or perhaps even Soul Transformation level, during its lifetime!

However, it was now completely destroyed, its core shattered and battle soul dissipated, leaving only a skeleton containing pure Gold element power.

"The bones of this object are excellent Materials for refining Gold-attribute Magic Treasures or for Cultivating Gold-element Cultivation Techniques. The Law fragments contained within are also of great benefit for comprehending the Gold-element Dao." Lin Wan said to Han Lingtian, "Senior Brother Han Cultivates the Sword Dao, which focuses on sharpness and is compatible with the attributes of this object. You may take it."

Han Lingtian's eyes lit up, and he did not stand on ceremony, stepping forward to carefully collect the massive skeleton, along with the valuable fragments around it, into his storage Magic Treasure.

This was indeed a rare Opportunity.

Continuing forward, similar discoveries became more and more frequent.

There were not only Gold Armored War Puppets but also remains of various attribute war puppets, such as "Wood Spirit Guards" (skilled in healing and crowd control, the remains containing Wood-element vitality), "Mysterious Water War Generals" (skilled in water control and defense, the remains containing Water-element flexibility), "Li Fire Divine Soldiers" (aggressive attacks, the remains containing Fire-element explosiveness), and "Wu Earth Warriors" (unrivaled defense, the remains containing Earth-element solidity).

There were also some strangely shaped bones and carapace fragments that clearly belonged to the "the end" monsters and radiated evil, erosive auras, as well as a large number of long-decayed human Cultivator skeletons and Magic Treasure fragments that were indistinguishable between friend and foe.

This ancient battlefield was practically an open-air treasure trove!

Although eroded by time, most items had lost their spirituality and turned into ordinary iron and stone, but a small amount still retained some essence and Law fragments due to special Materials or coincidences. For a Nascent Soul Cultivator, these were all rare Materials for Artifact Refining and Alchemy, or mediums for comprehending Laws.

Lin Wan and his two companions also each harvested some spoils that were compatible with their own Cultivation Techniques or that they deemed valuable.

Liao Chen collected several bone fragments containing pure Buddha Power (possibly from a fallen Buddhist expert) and a damaged prayer bead.

Lin Wan was quite interested in several broken metal plates engraved with ancient spatial runes, as well as a strange bone emitting weak starlight fluctuations.

However, harvests are often accompanied by risks.

When they ventured deep into an area covered by huge metal remains standing like a forest of swords, a sudden change occurred.

Those remains that seemed dead and were merely ordinary metal suddenly lit up with a ghostly blue light the moment the three of them stepped into the central area!

On the remains, dense, incomplete, yet still radiating sharp murderous intent, ancient array patterns appeared!

"It's the remaining 'Geng Metal Absolute Kill Sword Array'!" Lin Wan's expression changed slightly.

This array was one of the fierce arrays used on the Five Elements Sect battlefield to strangle invading enemies; even if incomplete, its power could not be underestimated.

"Hum—!!!" Countless "Geng Metal Sword Qi," as thin as ox hair but incomparably sharp and presenting a ghostly blue color, erupted from the remains in all directions, top and bottom, like a violent storm, instantly covering the space where the three were located!

Within the Sword Qi was contained the will of cutting, piercing, and a sharp "Absolute Kill" that seemed capable of severing life, cutting countless fine black cracks into the space.

"Buddha Light Illuminates, Vajra Protects the Body!" Liao Chen reacted the fastest. With a thud of his Zen staff, the golden Buddha light transformed into a solid golden giant bell, enclosing the three of them inside.

However, the Geng Metal Sword Qi was too sharp and dense. The surface of the golden giant bell was instantly slashed with countless ripples, emitting tooth-aching cutting sounds, and the Buddha light dimmed rapidly.

"Mysterious Heaven Sword Wall!" Han Lingtian swung his heavy sword, transforming it into a thick, dense cyan sword curtain, blocking inside the Buddha light golden bell to assist in the defense.

Lin Wan's gaze was like lightning, instantly capturing several key energy nodes of this incomplete sword array.

He pressed his fingers together like a sword, condensing his Chaos Infant Essence, and instantly pointed several rays of Chaos Sword Qi toward those nodes.

"Five Elements Guixu, Gold is for use, and can also be the foundation—Break the Array!"

The Chaos Sword Qi entered the energy nodes without triggering an explosion; instead, like the most precise key, it instantly interfered with, twisted, and assimilated the Geng Metal Qi flowing within the nodes.

The violently erupting ghostly blue Sword Qi suddenly stalled, then became chaotic and disordered, colliding and annihilating each other, its power greatly reduced.

Taking this Opportunity, the three flashed their figures and rushed out of the sword array's coverage area.

Behind them, the remaining Geng Metal Absolute Kill Sword Array, because its core nodes were disrupted by Lin Wan, flickered with ghostly blue light, finally slowly extinguished, and returned to silence.

"That was close!" Han Lingtian wiped away cold sweat. The Sword Qi just now, every ray was enough to threaten an Early Stage Nascent Soul; if not for Liao Chen's Buddha light and Lin Wan breaking the array in time, they would likely have suffered some minor injuries.

"The Restrictions here, although incomplete, are still dangerous; we cannot be careless." Liao Chen was also still shaken.

The three were even more careful. After that, they successively encountered several similar, residual battlefield Restrictions or traps, such as the "Li Fire Explosion Array," "Mysterious Ice Sealing Domain," and "Wu Earth Gravity Field," all of which were resolved or avoided one by one by relying on their strength, keen eyes, and Lin Wan's profound understanding of the Five Elements Dao.

At the same time, they also discovered some relatively "safe" areas, which seemed to be the ruins of temporary camps, healing stations, or small warehouses of the Five Elements Sect Cultivators back then.

In these places, they found some relatively well-preserved Jade Slips (recording some Cultivation Techniques, battle arrays, or sporadic records of that great war), Medicinal Pills (mostly expired, but a few rare items with intact Seals remained), Artifact Refining Materials, and even a few standard-issue Magic Treasures that had not lost their spirituality but were severely damaged.

These gains not only made the three of them wealthier but also gave them a more intuitive and profound understanding of that great war, and the glory and tragedy of the Five Elements Sect.

"According to the records in these Jade Slip fragments, the 'the end' that invaded back then had various forms, bizarre abilities, could erode Spiritual Qi, corrupt Divine Souls, and twist Laws, making them extremely difficult to kill."

"The Five Elements Sect used the strength of the entire Sect, with the help of the 'War Barrier' and countless battle arrays, and only managed to barely resist, while suffering heavy casualties."

"In the end, the barrier seemed to have activated some kind of ultimate measure, sealing itself in the Void Realm and cutting off its connection to the main battlefield, which avoided the fate of being completely breached..." Lin Wan organized the information he obtained, his expression growing more grave.

The terror of "the end" far exceeded his previous imagination.

"Look, ahead!" Han Lingtian suddenly pointed forward.

They saw that at the end of the metal earth, in the area where grey mist and distorted light and shadow intertwined, a... huge light screen that connected heaven and earth, presented five chaotic colors, was semi-transparent, and seemed to be composed of countless Law runes—appeared vaguely!

On the light screen, the Five Elements rotated, stars appeared and disappeared, the void was born and destroyed, emitting a vast, majestic, ancient, yet also a powerful aura that carried a kind of slumber-like calmness.

Behind the light screen, the scene was blurry; one could only vaguely see some more towering, more complete building outlines, as if it were a war fortress suspended in the Chaos that would never fall.

The Five Elements Sect's "War Barrier"! The true core area!

That light screen was the outermost defensive Restriction of the barrier, or rather, the "boundary membrane" that isolated and protected it from the outside world!

After experiencing hardships and crossing the ancient battlefield, they had finally arrived at their destination!

However, just as the three were looking at that magnificent light screen, their hearts stirring—

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

Heavy, slow footsteps that seemed to tread on people's heartbeats came slowly from behind them, from the shadows of a huge, mountain-like metal ruin.

At the same time, a terrifying aura that was ferocious, violent, filled with pure desire for destruction, yet also carried a trace of ancient Battle Intent, exploded like an awakened prehistoric Vicious Beast, firmly locking onto the three!