215: Surveillance outpost, the shadow of the astrolabe
Following the faint yet clear guidance of the chaos ancestral talisman, Ye Chen traveled through the desolate starry sky for more than ten days.
This Star Domain remained deathly silent; the stars in the distance were like candles in the wind, their light dim, as if the stars themselves had entered their twilight years.
Only the stardust debris, occasionally drifting through the Void Realm and containing faint Spiritual Qi, proved that this place was not absolute nothingness.
As he ventured deeper, subtle changes began to appear in the surroundings.
On some floating meteorites, traces of artificial carving began to emerge—not rough etchings, but some kind of precise, orderly geometric patterns and energy circuits.
The style was completely different from any Sect style Ye Chen knew, carrying a cold, inhuman sense of order.
These traces were ancient and broken, clearly having endured an incomparably long time, yet the faint energy occasionally flowing over them still gave one a feeling that could not be underestimated.
"It seems I am not far from the goal." Ye Chen understood in his heart that these traces were very likely the outer remnants of the so-called "Star Boundary Monitor" outpost.
He more carefully restrained his aura, blending himself with the surrounding Void Realm, his Chaos Domain retracted to the surface of his skin, like wearing a layer of invisible starry camouflage.
Finally, after passing through a drifting belt composed of countless huge metal wrecks that looked like a graveyard, the scene before his eyes suddenly opened up.
It was not a star, but a... massive creation suspended in the Void Realm!
Its shape was like an elongated, irregular polyhedral metal fortress, dark silver-gray all over, its surface covered with various sizes of gun ports, observation windows, and complex energy conduits.
Many parts of the fortress were severely damaged, huge cracks crisscrossing like scars, and some areas had even completely collapsed, revealing the pitch-black structure inside.
But as a whole, it still maintained its general outline, quietly suspended there, exuding a coldness and deathly silence that spanned eternal time and space.
This was the "Star Boundary Monitor" outpost? Or rather, a surviving part of it.
An invisible force field that repelled all unauthorized entities, like a huge transparent cover, shrouded the space around this ruined fortress.
Within the force field, the spatial structure was exceptionally stable, making it difficult even for Ye Chen's newly acquired Space Annihilation Law to easily shake it.
The fluctuations of the chaos ancestral talisman pointed clearly to the depths of the fortress.
Ye Chen's gaze was solemn.
Although this outpost was ruined, the level of technology and energy it displayed far exceeded his current understanding.
Even if it had been abandoned, there must surely be dangers within.
He tried to probe with his Divine Sense, only to find that the invisible force field had a very strong interference and weakening effect on Divine Sense, and he could only barely perceive the general structure inside the fortress, as if separated by a layer of thick frosted glass.
Where was the entrance?
He flew around this huge metal fortress for half a circle, and finally, on one of the relatively complete sides, he discovered a huge, gaping hole as if torn open by violence.
The metal at the edges of the breach was twisted and curled, with charred traces remaining, seemingly destroyed by some extremely powerful energy attack.
This was undoubtedly the most direct passage into the interior of the fortress.
Without hesitation, Ye Chen moved, like a slippery fish, and silently slipped in through the breach.
Inside the fortress was a wider, darker space.
Underfoot was a cold metal floor, covered with thick cosmic dust.
Overhead were crisscrossing massive metal beams, like the bones of a giant beast; in many places, they were already broken, with various thick and thin cables and pipes hanging down, occasionally sparking with a weak electric arc, illuminating the surroundings for a moment before plunging back into deeper darkness.
The air (if it still existed) was filled with the smell of metal oxidation, dust, and an indescribable deathly silence, as if precision instruments had completely ceased functioning.
Ye Chen's Divine Sense was even more suppressed here, only able to extend a few hundred zhang.
He was like a ghost, traveling through the huge metal corridors and ruined halls, vigilant against potential automatic defense Systems or... something else.
Along the way, he saw many incomprehensible device wrecks; some things resembling control consoles had screens that had long since shattered, leaving only pitch-black frames; some closed cabin doors were twisted and deformed, and one could vaguely see alien corpses with strange forms frozen in some kind of transparent gel inside; in other areas, traces of intense battles remained, with the walls covered in scorch marks from energy weapons and some kind of huge claw marks.
This outpost seemed to have experienced a brutal attack a long time ago and was eventually abandoned.
The guidance of the chaos ancestral talisman became clearer and clearer, pointing to the very core area of the fortress.
Ye Chen accelerated, avoiding areas with abnormal energy reactions (likely defensive traps that had not yet completely failed), passed through several huge spaces like factory workshops, and finally arrived before a huge, tightly closed metal door.
This door was relatively well-preserved, with complex star charts and some kind of unknown script engraved on it.
The door seams were airtight, seemingly requiring specific authorization to open.
And the source of the talisman's fluctuations was right behind this door!
Ye Chen tried to push it, but the door did not budge.
He condensed Chaos True Essence in his palm and pressed down hard!
"Hum!"
Countless energy lines lit up on the surface of the door instantly, and a powerful counter-shock force came, knocking Ye Chen's palm away!
At the same time, on the wall next to the door, several red warning lights flashed crazily, emitting a sharp alarm sound!
"Warning! Unauthorized access! Initiating purge protocol!"
A cold, emotionless synthesized electronic voice echoed in the empty hall!
"Ssh ssh ssh—!"
On the walls around the hall, dozens of pitch-black gun muzzles instantly popped out, and blazing white energy beams shot toward Ye Chen like a rainstorm!
These energy beams were astonishingly powerful, each one enough to seriously injure a Tiangang Realm Middle Stage Cultivator!
Ye Chen's eyes turned cold, the guixu sword instantly appeared in his hand, and without even needing to use Nirvana Sword Intent, he just gave a simple wave!
"Chaos—Assimilation!"
On the sword body, Chaos Qi circulated, forming a miniature vortex.
The moment the incoming energy beams made contact with the Chaos Vortex, they were like mud oxen entering the sea; the violent energy contained within them was forcibly decomposed and assimilated, becoming nourishment for Ye Chen's Chaos True Essence!
After the Fusion of the source core, his control over energy had reached a new height!
He stepped out, ignoring those futile energy attacks, and arrived before the door.
This time, he did not try brute force again, but instead sank his consciousness into the chaos ancestral talisman, drawing out the trace of homologous fluctuation belonging to the "Monitor" outpost (perhaps information remaining in the source core), and like a key, gently "touched" the door.
"Permission... identifying... Chaos... Origin signal... matched... highest authority... access granted..."
The cold electronic voice paused for a moment, then issued a different command.
The flashing red lights turned into a soft blue light, and the tightly closed metal door slowly slid open to both sides amidst a low hydraulic sound!
Behind the door was a huge spherical space.
In the center of the space was not any control console or equipment, but a huge three-dimensional star map composed of countless starlight points floating there!
The star map rotated slowly, marking countless galaxies, nebulae, and various coordinate symbols that Ye Chen could not understand.
And directly above that vast star map floated an object.
It was about the size of a washbasin, crafted entirely from transparent crystal, yet inside it seemed as if billions of stars were moving along some profound trajectory—a compass!
At the center of the compass was not a needle, but a Chaos-colored point of light that flickered constantly, as if it could reflect the heavens and myriad worlds!
The myriad laws star disk!
The longing and confirming fluctuations transmitted by the chaos ancestral talisman reached their peak!
This was it! The supreme treasure that could locate the authority scattered by other ancestral talismans!
Ye Chen was excited and was about to step forward to collect it.
Suddenly—
"Beep! High-dimensional Chaos reaction detected! Matches characteristics of 'Primordial Taboo Object'! Initiating... final purge protocol!"
A colder, more murderous electronic voice suddenly rang out from all directions of the spherical space!
Different from the previous electronic voice, this one was older and more... hostile!
At the same time, the walls of the entire spherical space instantly became transparent, revealing the endless starry sky outside!
And against the backdrop of the starry sky, countless thick energy chains, like living creatures, reached out from the depths of the Void Realm, coiling toward Ye Chen and the myriad laws star disk!
On the chains, suppression runes specifically targeting Chaos energy were engraved!
And within that star map, a huge, blurry phantom composed of pure energy, seemingly gathered from countless eyes, slowly condensed, and its cold "gaze" instantly locked onto Ye Chen!
"God-defiler who steals authority... following... the ancient contract... I shall... purify you!"