173: Ancient God Battlefield, Gift of Order
Stepping out of the light gate, the expected sensation of spatial transition didn't occur; instead, it felt like passing through a layer of warm water. The scene before him suddenly opened up—no longer a closed hall, but a... breathtakingly vast and deathly silent ruin.
The sky was an eternal dark red, devoid of sun, moon, or stars, with only twisted clouds hanging low like congealed blood scabs. The earth was shattered, riddled with bottomless rifts and massive craters formed by impacts. Countless huge, broken weapon fragments and armor pieces radiating an ancient aura, along with mountain-sized carcasses that had long since lost their luster, were scattered across every corner of his vision.
There were giants clad in starlight armor, their chests pierced through, leaning against broken mountain peaks; giant birds with wings wide enough to shroud the sky, their bones scattered for thousands of miles; and terrifying nine-headed Dragon-like creatures pinned to the earth by broken spears... Though these remains had been devoid of life for countless ages, they still radiated a faint pressure that made the Soul tremble, as if recounting the brutality and scale of that ancient war.
The air was thick with residual energy fluctuations that were chaotic and violent, yet woven with a trace of both the sacred and the destructive. This place was, shockingly, an unimaginably ancient... battlefield of gods and demons!
The light gate stood solitary on a relatively intact piece of black rock at the edge of this battlefield, like an incongruous coordinate.
Ye Chen stood at the edge of the giant rock, gazing down at the desolate, silent, yet profoundly shocking ruins of the battlefield, his heart surging with waves of emotion. The fragments of the Order Temple actually connected to such a place? Was this one of the battlefields where the temple collapsed, as the Order Keeper had mentioned?
He could feel that the residual energy in this battlefield was extremely complex and dangerous, and the space was highly unstable; in some distant areas, he could even see distorted spatial cracks and energy storms. Yet, at the same time, it contained unimaginable Opportunities—within those god and demon corpses and broken weapons, there might be Law fragments or precious Materials left behind.
He didn't rush in blindly. The priority was to fully recover from his injuries and regain his strength. The edge of this battlefield was relatively calm; although the energy was chaotic, the repulsive force was smaller than inside the Order Temple, allowing the chaos ancestral talisman to slowly absorb and transform it.
He found a relatively hidden nook formed by several large weapon fragments, set up simple concealment and defensive Formations, and then sat cross-legged, fully circulating the Chaos Myriad Transformation Art.
This time, perhaps due to the tempering by order power or the fundamental improvement after the Fusion of the two ancestral rune fragments, his efficiency in absorbing and transforming the chaotic energy here had significantly increased. His depleted Protective Aura began to slowly regenerate, and his damaged Meridians and chaos primordial fetus also accelerated their repair under the nourishment of Chaos Qi.
He immersed himself in his Cultivate sessions, losing track of time.
After an unknown amount of time, when he had recovered about seventy percent of his state, a slight energy fluctuation caught his attention. The fluctuation didn't come from deep within the battlefield but originated from the perimeter of the Formation he had set up.
He quietly opened his eyes, his Divine Sense extending cautiously like invisible tentacles.
About a hundred feet from his hiding place, on a relatively flat patch of gravel, a strange plant had grown at some point. The plant was entirely translucent silver-white, with only three leaves shaped like flickering flames, radiating pure and gentle order energy fluctuations that were completely out of place with the chaotic silence of the surrounding battlefield.
Beside the plant, on an inconspicuous, rust-covered armor fragment, crouched a fist-sized beast shaped like a pangolin, but with a dark gold shell and radiating faint spatial fluctuations. The little beast seemed attracted by the silver-white plant and was cautiously approaching, its small nose sniffing gently, its eyes revealing a look of longing.
"Order Grass? Void Ferret?" Two names instantly flashed through Ye Chen's mind, records he had seen in certain ancient miscellaneous notes. Order Grass only grows in places with dense order power, containing pure order Origin; it is a supreme Saint Grade for Cultivators practicing order Cultivation Techniques, and can even purify Devilish Qi and stabilize one's foundation in the Dao. The Void Ferret, on the other hand, is an extremely rare spatial-type Yao Beast; in its infancy, it can slightly manipulate space, and upon reaching adulthood, it can even traverse the Void Realm, making it priceless.
He hadn't expected to encounter both of these rare wonders simultaneously at the edge of this god and demon battlefield!
The Void Ferret was clearly extremely cautious; though it craved the Order Grass, it didn't eat it immediately, but kept observing its surroundings. Its strength was roughly equivalent to the third or fourth layer of the Earth Fiend Realm, but its innate talent for spatial power gave it an extremely strong ability to escape.
Ye Chen's heart stirred. His injuries weren't yet fully healed, and trying to forcibly capture the Void Ferret might alert it or even lead to unnecessary trouble. But that Order Grass would be of great benefit for tempering his chaos ancestral talisman and accelerating his recovery!
He held his breath, retracting his aura to the absolute limit, as if turning into a stubborn rock. He was waiting for an Opportunity.
The Void Ferret observed for a long time, and after seemingly confirming there was no danger, it finally couldn't hold back. It opened its small mouth and bit toward the Order Grass.
At the very moment its mouth was about to touch the leaves—
Ye Chen moved!
He didn't use any Protective Aura or movement techniques; relying purely on his Physical Body strength, he shot out from his hiding place like an arrow from a bow! His speed was extreme, and almost before the Void Ferret could react, his palm had already descended!
The Void Ferret's reaction was also incredibly fast; sensing danger, a dark gold light flashed on its body, and its form instantly became blurred, intending to merge into space and flee!
However, Ye Chen had already anticipated this! He pointed his fingers like a sword, and a strand of extremely condensed Sword Qi containing the intent of Chaos struck first, not at the Void Ferret, but precisely at the spatial node it was about to enter!
"Buzz!"
Space trembled slightly, and the Void Ferret's escape technique was interrupted. Its form became solid again, and it let out a panicked shriek, turning its head to flee in another direction.
But how could Ye Chen give it another chance? His palm had already fallen, with Chaos Qi swirling between his fingers, forming a small binding field that instantly enveloped the Void Ferret!
The Void Ferret dashed left and right within the field, the light on its dark gold shell flickering as it tried to tear through space. But under the suppression of Chaos power, its innate Divine Ability seemed to be stuck in a quagmire, making it difficult to execute.
Ye Chen had no intention of harming it, only of binding it. With his other hand, he quickly and gently uprooted the Order Grass and stored it in a prepared jade box, sealing it tight.
Having done all this, he then turned his gaze toward the Void Ferret, which was shivering in the field and looking at him in terror with its large, dark eyes.
"Little fellow, don't be afraid. I won't hurt you." Ye Chen tried to keep his voice as calm as possible. He could sense that this Void Ferret possessed significant intelligence.
The Void Ferret seemed to understand; it stopped struggling violently but remained wary of him.
Ye Chen pondered for a moment, then took out a small piece of high-quality spatial-attribute Ore he had collected earlier and held it at the edge of the field. "This will be in exchange for your grass, how about it?"
The Void Ferret's little nose twitched as it looked at the spatial Ore, a hint of hesitation and longing flashing in its eyes. Spatial-attribute Ore was indeed an irresistible temptation for it.
It looked at Ye Chen, then at the Ore, and finally cautiously extended a paw, pulling the Ore into the field and clutching it tightly to its chest. It then nodded at Ye Chen, seemingly agreeing to the trade.
Ye Chen smiled and withdrew the binding field.
Regaining its freedom, the Void Ferret immediately backed away a few steps, but it didn't flee right away. Instead, holding the Ore, it let out two "squeaks" toward Ye Chen, seemingly in thanks. Then, with a flash of dark gold light, it instantly disappeared from the spot, vanishing to who knows where.
Ye Chen watched the direction it disappeared, lost in thought. The appearance of the Void Ferret suggested that this battlefield was not entirely dead; some unique ecology might exist. Moreover, since it could find Order Grass, it might have a better understanding of this area... Suppressing these thoughts for now, he returned to his hiding place and impatiently took out the Order Grass.
As the jade box opened, pure and gentle order energy diffused. Ye Chen could feel the longing intent emanating once again from the chaos ancestral talisman within his Qi Sea.
He cautiously plucked a leaf and placed it in his mouth.
The leaf melted instantly, turning into a cool yet powerful torrent of order that surged into his limbs and bones! This time, there was no repulsion; instead, it was actively guided, embraced, and refined by the chaos ancestral talisman!
"Boom!"
Ye Chen's whole body jolted. He felt his Chaos Gang Qi, with the infusion of order power, become more refined and solid as if tempered a thousand times, even gaining a characteristic of stability and balance! The recovery speed of his injuries accelerated sharply; internal wounds that would have taken several days to heal were now being repaired at a rate visible to the naked eye!
More importantly, his understanding of the rules of "order" instantly deepened several times over! Chaos and order, two opposing forces, reached a subtle balance and Fusion within his body, making his Dao of Chaos even more perfect. The cracks on the surface of his chaos primordial fetus completely vanished, and it even became more translucent, as if containing infinite possibilities!
By the time he had completely refined the medicinal power of the entire Order Grass, his injuries were fully healed! Not only had his Cultivation completely recovered, but it had also stabilized at the Peak of the Eighth Layer Earth Fiend Realm, just one step away from entering the ninth layer!
His state was better than ever before!
Ye Chen stood up, feeling the surging and harmonious power within him, his eyes shining with brilliant light. He looked out over this vast and endless god and demon battlefield, his heart swelling with heroic ambition.
Although this was a land of death, it was also a land of treasures! Perhaps here, he could find the clue to completely leaving the Demon Abyss, or even... obtain an even greater Opportunity!
He didn't linger any longer. Identifying a direction where the energy was relatively stable and the remains were relatively well-preserved, his form turned into a faint gray shadow as he headed deeper into the battlefield to explore.