214: eerie shadows within the ruins

The interior of the Eternal Ruins was even more bizarre and fraught with danger than what was seen from the periphery.

Time and space were completely chaotic here.

One moment one might be strolling on cold fragments of the starry sky, and the next step could lead into a boiling sea of Chaos magma; one might clearly feel they had been flying forward for months, only to look back and discover they had barely left the starting point by a hundred miles; sometimes, one could even see phantoms of the past and fragments of the future interweaving and flashing, leaving one mentally disoriented.

Violent turbulent law fragments acted like invisible storms of blades, constantly slicing at everything that intruded.

An ordinary High-ranking God Venerable here would have to constantly maintain a powerful Divine Power shield, or they would be severely injured or even annihilated within moments.

But Lin Jingyu was like a fish in water.

The Indestructible Chaos Scripture at the Perfection level operated on its own, and his Intermediate Chaos Divine Demon Body glowed faintly; the turbulent law fragments, capable of strangling a Divine Venerable, washed over him, but instead of causing harm, they were greedily absorbed and assimilated by his body, converting into pure energy to replenish his own consumption.

He was like an eternal, indestructible Chaos stone, standing immovable in this chaotic land at the beginning of the Universe.

"This environment is actually an excellent place for me to Cultivate," Lin Jingyu felt the power growing slowly within him and realized this in his heart.

If it weren't for the heavy responsibility of searching for the secret of eternity, he would have liked to stay here for a long time to practice in seclusion.

He marched firmly in a certain direction within the Ruins, based on the final guidance of the incomplete star map from Qing Li's father's feather plume, and combining his own sensing of the Great Dao of Strength and the Great Dao of Chaos.

Along the way, he was not without gains.

Some exotic Ore containing Innate energy, which had long been extinct in the outside world, and even occasional wisps of ownerless, pure Great Dao law fragments were collected by him at will, or directly absorbed by the System and converted into origin points.

【origin points + 50 million... + 120 million...】

Although the single harvest was not as good as killing a strong enemy, accumulating little by little was also quite good.

He had been flying for who knows how long—perhaps days, perhaps months—it was hard to measure in this place where time was disordered.

A huge continent appeared ahead, floating in the Void Realm.

This continent was a dull bronze color throughout, covered with countless crisscrossing huge gullies, as if it had been slashed by some heaven-shaking Sharp Weapon, leaving behind a heart-trembling sharp Dao rhyme.

And in the center of the continent, a strange fluctuation faintly transmitted, producing a slight resonance with the cyan feather plume in Lin Jingyu's hand.

"Is that the place?" Lin Jingyu perked up and accelerated toward it.

The closer he got, the stronger that sharp Dao rhyme became, making even the skin of his Intermediate Chaos Divine Demon Body feel a slight stinging sensation.

Suddenly!

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Several gray shadows rushed out from those huge gullies without warning, their speed astonishing, heading straight for Lin Jingyu!

These gray shadows had no fixed form, seemingly condensed from pure Evil Qi and resentment mixed with the sharp Dao rhyme remaining in this place, exuding an aura of coldness, dead silence, and a desire to destroy all life.

Their aura strength had actually reached the level of a High-ranking God Venerable, and because of their characteristics, they were extremely difficult to deal with!

"Ruin Spirit?" A term flashed through Lin Jingyu's mind; this was a dangerous existence unique to the Eternal Ruins, sporadically mentioned in the feather plume of Qing Li's father, born from the combination of the lingering thoughts of ancient warriors who died in battle and the environment of the Ruins.

"Scram!"

He couldn't be bothered to waste time on these things, so he threw a punch directly, erupting with Chaos Destruction Fist intent, which was extremely rigid and strong, the exact nemesis of such evil things!

Boom!

Where the fist wind passed, those gray shadows that rushed over let out silent shrieks and were instantly scattered for the most part, but two particularly solid ones twisted and penetrated part of the Fist Intent, extending claws condensed from Evil Qi, grabbing toward Lin Jingyu's head and heart!

"Hmm?" Lin Jingyu was slightly surprised; these Ruin Spirits were more difficult to deal with than imagined.

He did not dodge or avoid, letting those two claws grab onto his body!

Rrip!

The claws, capable of shattering a High-ranking Divine Artifact, landed on his Chaos Divine Demon Body, only sparking two strings of dazzling sparks, failing to even leave a white mark!

"Die!"

Lin Jingyu slammed his arms together, and like swatting a fly, his palms directly clapped the two Ruin Spirits between them!

Bang! Bang!

Divine Power of Chaos erupted, and the two powerful Ruin Spirits were instantly ground into the most primitive energy particles, which he inhaled, swallowed into his body, and converted into pure Origin.

【Ding! Killed Ruin Spirit * 2, gained origin points + 8 billion!】

【Current origin points: 20.37 billion!】

"Good stuff!" Lin Jingyu's eyes lit up; he hadn't expected this thing to provide so many origin points.

He looked down at the huge bronze continent below, as well as those bottomless gullies, as if he saw moving "experience packs".

Just as he was preparing to go down and search for Ruin Spirits, his heart jumped violently, and a feeling of extreme danger descended without warning!

It did not come from below, but from the center of the continent ahead!

The space there twisted slightly, and a figure slowly condensed.

It was no longer the blurry projection or eyes from before, but a seemingly real body!

The visitor wore a simple gray robe, with an ordinary face, looking like a middle-aged scholar; there was no powerful energy fluctuation on his body, as if he were incompatible with the surrounding violent environment, yet he had perfectly merged into it.

He just stood there quietly, looking at Lin Jingyu with calm eyes.

But the hairs all over Lin Jingyu's body stood on end instantly!

The Chaos Divine Demon Body spontaneously erupted with intense Chaos Divine light, and the power within his body surged at an unprecedented speed!

Danger! Extremely dangerous!

This person was more terrifying than any opponent he had encountered before! Including that God Lord projection!

"To be able to walk here, your Physical Body is quite good." The gray-robed scholar spoke, his voice bland, yet it rang directly in the depths of Lin Jingyu's Divine Soul, "Unfortunately, you shouldn't have refined the heart of chaos; that doesn't belong to you."

Lin Jingyu's pupils shrank slightly, and he instantly understood the other party's Origin—it was that God Lord who had made a move in the Chaos Secret Realm, wanting to seize the heart of chaos!

Now, it seemed that what had come was no longer a simple projection!

"Playing god! If you want the heart of chaos, come and take it yourself!" Lin Jingyu suppressed the palpitation in his heart, his Battle Intent boiling.

"It just so happens I can use you to test my current strength!"

The gray-robed scholar shook his head slightly, seemingly regretful: "Stubborn and unyielding."

He slowly raised his right hand, pointing his index finger at Lin Jingyu from afar, and tapped lightly.

There was no heaven-shaking momentum, no vision of swirling Laws.

But Lin Jingyu felt that everything around him had changed instantly!

He felt as if he had been stripped from the Eternal Ruins and fallen into a Domain completely dominated by the other party's will!

Space solidified, time stagnated, and the rules of the Great Dao were all repelling him, wanting to completely imprison and decompose him!

Words become Law! This was the terrifying means of a true God Lord realm existence!

Mobilizing the power of the Great Dao Origin to suppress the opponent!

Lin Jingyu felt like he had fallen into a quagmire of an endless abyss, his movements becoming incredibly difficult, and even his thinking seemed to be solidifying!

"Roar!"

He suddenly let out a roar, the power of his Intermediate Chaos Divine Demon Body exploded completely, and his comprehension of the Great Dao of Strength (35%) and the Great Dao of Chaos (20%) were simultaneously driven to the extreme!

Crack! Crack!

The invisible binding force around his body was forcibly pushed open and shattered by his pure power!

His muscles bulged, veins like coiled dragons stood out, and every step he took made this imprisoned Void Realm groan under the unbearable burden!

"Oh? You can actually break free from my 'Verbal Domain'?" The gray-robed scholar's eyes finally flashed with a hint of surprise, "What a perfect Chaos Divine Demon Body! It seems I can't leave you alive even more!"

He joined his fingers like a sword and pointed out again.

This time, a tiny gray thread, seemingly compressed from countless Great Dao runes, shot silently toward the center of Lin Jingyu's eyebrows!

This strike contained destructive power far exceeding the previous one, locking onto Lin Jingyu's Divine Soul core!

Unavoidable!

A look of madness flashed in Lin Jingyu's eyes; instead of retreating, he advanced, condensing all his power onto his right fist, his Chaos Divine Demon Body's blood and Qi burning, and punched toward that gray thread!

Hard clash! It was still a hard clash without any frills!

Boom!!!

A terrifying collision erupted!

The Chaos Divine light on Lin Jingyu's fist dimmed instantly, his skin cracked, pale golden blood splattered, and his whole body was hit hard, flying backward, crashing through countless floating rocks behind him before he could barely stabilize his figure; his throat felt sweet, and a mouthful of blood sprayed out.

His right fist was bloody and mangled, and he could even see the pearly white finger bones; the gray energy remaining at the wound was still constantly eroding, preventing the self-healing of the Chaos Divine Demon Body.

He was injured!

This was the first time in the true sense that he had been injured since breaking through to the High-ranking God Venerable and completing the Chaos Divine Demon Body!

And that gray thread was also blasted and obliterated by his incomparably domineering punch!

The gray-robed scholar's figure swayed slightly, and a trace of imperceptible paleness flashed across his face; evidently, Lin Jingyu's punch was not without effect on him.

"Such strong power... to be able to defeat my 'God-Slaying Finger' head-on..." The killing intent in his eyes grew stronger, "This boy must not be left alive!"

He was just about to make a move again to completely wipe out Lin Jingyu.

Suddenly!

Hum—!!!

The entire Eternal Ruins vibrated violently without warning!

An even more ancient, more vast, and more indescribable will seemed to be awakened from its slumber by the two's fight, slowly waking up!

Under the shroud of this will, both Lin Jingyu and that gray-robed God Lord felt themselves as small as dust!

In the center of the continent, where the resonant fluctuation came from, a sky-piercing cyan light erupted suddenly!

The gray-robed God Lord's expression changed suddenly, and looking at the place where the cyan light erupted, a trace of deep dread and even... fear flashed in his eyes!

"Damn it... to have disturbed 'It'..." He glared fiercely at Lin Jingyu, seemingly extremely unwilling, but finally gave a cold snort; his figure instantly became blurry, as if merging into an ink painting, and quickly disappeared, along with the terrifying pressure that retreated like a tide.

The strong enemy... actually retreated?

Lin Jingyu panted, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and looked at the sky-piercing cyan light in the center of the continent, as well as that ancient will that made even a God Lord dread and retreat, his eyes extremely solemn.

This Eternal Ruins was far more complex and dangerous than he had imagined!

In that cyan light, something seemed to be calling out to the feather plume in his hand.

Opportunity? Or greater danger?

Lin Jingyu did not hesitate at all, suppressed his injuries, and galloped toward the place where the cyan light erupted.