232: The laws were first formed, the origin of chaos

Deep within the Bedrock Fortress, inside a stone chamber enveloped by Restrictions, silence reigned. Ye Chen sat cross-legged, his mind completely submerged within the vast world governed by the chaos ancestral talisman.

His cultivation at the Ninth Level Peak of the Tiangang Realm was like a dam filled to the brim, having reached the limit that the rules of this world could contain. Before him lay that invisible barrier separating the mortal from the Law—solid, ethereal, yet undeniably real. Countless brilliant talents had spent their entire lives stopped here, unable to catch a glimpse of the scenery beyond the barrier.

However, Ye Chen was different.

He possessed the chaos ancestral talisman with its completed core, wielding the embryonic forms of the four great authorities: Heart, Eye, Power, and Origin.

He had experienced the annihilation of the Return to Ruins, forging an Immortal Sword Heart at the place where all things ended.

He had delved deep into the Wall of Origin, facing the Origin of rules directly, and comprehending the true meaning of existence.

On the front lines of the Ancient Path, he had slain a Brood Mother and resisted the rules of the Abyss, his will like steel!

His accumulation had long surpassed the scope of what an ordinary Tiangang Realm Cultivator could imagine. At this moment, the immense energy brought by refining the Brood Mother's core came first, followed by the comprehension of rules brought by resonating with the aura of his predecessors, like two massive forces of thrust, slamming fiercely against that solid barrier!

"Boom—!"

A sound like the creation of the world exploded from the depths of his Soul! That invisible barrier vibrated violently, cracking open a tiny fissure!

Behind the fissure was not the ocean of energy he had anticipated, but something more vast, more essential—a Sea of Rules! It was the collection of fundamental Laws behind all phenomena that constituted the real world! It was gravity, electromagnetism, strong and weak nuclear forces, spacetime, the conversion of energy and matter, the Reincarnation of life and death...

The Tiangang Realm was about inciting and borrowing the power of the rules of heaven and earth.

And the Law Realm was about... condensing one's own Law Origin! Replacing the will of heaven with one's own heart, and transforming all Laws with one's own Dao!

Ye Chen's Dao was Chaos!

"Chaos Limitlessness, encompassing all Laws into one! Today, with my will, I shall condense my Law—Chaos Law, condense!"

He issued a command originating from the Dao Origin! Within his Qi Sea, the chaos ancestral talisman erupted with unprecedented light. The four fragments of Heart, Eye, Power, and Origin rotated and approached at an unprecedented speed, the boundaries between them beginning to blur, and the Dao patterns crazily intertwined and fused!

That gray, seemingly all-encompassing Chaos True Essence was no longer satisfied with filling his Meridians and Qi Sea; it began to penetrate and fuse in reverse towards his Divine Soul, his Physical Body, and the budding Chaos Domain around him!

This was an extremely dangerous process! If not controlled well, his very existence could be assimilated by this nascent, untamed Chaos Law, returning to the most primal Chaos Qi, resulting in death and the dissipation of his Dao!

But Ye Chen's will was like iron. He kept a single point of clarity in his mind, using his extreme obsession with the sword Dao, his desire to protect his loved ones, and his eternal thirst for exploring the unknown as an "anchor" to firmly fix his existence!

His Chaos Domain was no longer just a space outside his body; it began to deeply combine with his Physical Body and Divine Soul! The phantoms of mountains, rivers, suns, moons, and stars evolving within the Domain became more real, and even began to give birth to a faint spiritual light representing "order" and "existence"!

His bones, flesh, and Meridians were undergoing a fundamental transformation under the scouring of the Chaos Law Origin! No longer a mortal body, it began to evolve into a higher-order "Law Body" composed of Chaos rules! Every drop of blood seemed to contain a miniature Chaos world, heavy yet brimming with vitality!

His Divine Soul, under the baptism of the Sea of Rules, became more refined and transparent, as if it had transformed into an invisible "Law Soul". With a single thought, he could incite the rules of the entire world to respond!

He did not know how much time had passed; perhaps it was an instant, perhaps a thousand years.

When the core Dao patterns of the four fragments finally merged completely, indistinguishable from one another, and transformed into a seamless, flowing Chaos-colored—chaos law origin imprint—with countless scenes of worlds being born and destroyed naturally evolving on its surface!

"Crack—!!!"

That invisible barrier separating the Realms shattered with a roar!

A massive aura, overriding heaven and earth, as if he himself were the source of the rules, erupted from within Ye Chen, instantly breaking through the Restrictions of the stone chamber, permeating the entire Seventh Outpost, and even causing a small-scale rule resonance in the spacetime of the Ancient Path!

Law Realm, achieved!

At this moment, Ye Chen officially stepped into the ranks of true powerhouses under this starry sky! A Law Realm expert, even in the myriad worlds, was a rare existence, enough to open up a lineage and become an ancestor!

He slowly opened his eyes.

There was no light flowing in his pupils, only a deep tranquility, as if reflecting the Chaos of the Universe's beginning. He gently raised his hand, not using any Protective Aura, just a slight thought.

Above his palm, a wisp of Chaos Qi naturally appeared. This wisp of Qi sometimes turned into an indestructible barrier of rules, sometimes into a flame of annihilation that burned everything, sometimes into a source of life that nourished all things, and sometimes into folds that twisted space... It was as if all the Laws of the world could be evolved with a single thought!

He felt an unprecedentedly close connection with the surrounding Void Realm. Wherever his thoughts reached, the rules within a thousand miles could be slightly incited and rewritten by him! Although the range was limited, and the degree of rewriting was limited by his own strength and depth of understanding of the rules, this was already a qualitative change!

He stood up, his aura rounded and restrained, as if he had merged with the spacetime of the Ancient Path, unfathomable. The newly formed chaos law origin imprint floated quietly in the center of his Qi Sea, replacing the previous structure of the ancestral talisman and becoming the new core of his power. The will and power of the chaos ancestral talisman had perfectly integrated into this Origin imprint, becoming a part of his own Dao.

He took a step, and his figure appeared outside the stone chamber, like a teleportation, yet without causing any spatial fluctuations, as if he were meant to be there.

Inside the fortress, whether it was the busy Bedrock Giants or Xi who was sitting and resting, they all felt it the moment Ye Chen came out of seclusion and looked over in unison.

When their gazes touched Ye Chen, they all couldn't help but feel a shock in their minds!

The Ye Chen at this moment gave them a completely different feeling than before his seclusion! Before, although he was strong, they could still feel the boundaries and attributes of his power. But now, he seemed to have turned into a bottomless Chaos abyss, his aura ethereal and magnificent. Though he stood right before their eyes, he seemed to have merged with the background of the rules of the entire Ancient Path, giving people a sense of awe that was immeasurable and irresistible!

"My Lord... You... You broke through?!" The commander Rock Mountain's huge rock face was full of shock, his voice even carrying a trace of trembling. As a Bedrock Giant at the Peak of the Tiangang Realm, he had an instinctive perception and awe of the aura of the Law Realm!

Xi also struggled to stand up, a light bursting forth from her sapphire-like eyes that was unprecedented, her voice trembling with excitement: "Law Realm! It really is the Law Realm! Lord Chaos Walker... You have finally... taken this step!"

Ye Chen nodded slightly in response. His gaze swept across the outpost; after this period of repairs, the fortress's defenses had mostly recovered, and the despair on the giants' faces had been replaced by hope.

"How long have I been in seclusion?" Ye Chen asked.

"Reporting to my Lord, exactly forty-nine days." Rock Mountain replied respectfully.

Forty-nine days... The flow of time outside was indeed different from that in his comprehension. Ye Chen understood this in his heart, then looked at Xi: "Is there any new news?"

Xi nodded quickly, her expression becoming serious: "Through the connection with other outposts via the Myriad World Altar, we have received some fragmented but important information."

"Deep within the Ancient Path, near the 'Star Abyss of Extinction' where 'Blazing Venerable' last disappeared, Abyss activity is unusually frequent. It seems a new Brood Mother is gestating, and its scale... far exceeds the one encountered by the Seventh Outpost!"

"Additionally, in the area of the 'Thousand Illusions Maze' that 'Empty Emperor' once guarded, strong spatial fluctuations have erupted recently, suspected to be a new spacetime rift forcibly torn open by Abyss power..."

"Most importantly..." Xi paused, a hint of fear flashing in her eyes, "There are sporadic indications that the will of the 'Terminus Abyss' seems... to be accelerating its awakening from its long silence..."

A new Brood Mother, a spacetime rift, the accelerating awakening of the Abyss will... one piece of bad news after another indicated that the situation on the Ancient Path was deteriorating rapidly!

After listening, Ye Chen's face did not show much fluctuation. Having broken through to the Law Realm and condensed the Chaos Origin, his mindset and vision were already different. Crisis also meant opportunity.

"It seems we can no longer delay." He looked toward the depths of the Ancient Path, that unknown place full of danger, yet containing the Legacy of his predecessors and the key to countering the Abyss.

"Commander Rock Mountain, Watcher Xi." Ye Chen spoke, his voice calm yet carrying unquestionable power, "The crisis of the Seventh Outpost has been resolved. You should rest well and consolidate the defensive line. I will depart immediately for the depths of the Ancient Path."

He needed to follow the footsteps of his predecessors, collect the scattered authorities, and face the accelerating awakening of the Abyss will! Only by gathering enough power could he fight for a glimmer of survival on this final battlefield!

Upon hearing this, Rock Mountain and Xi knew they could not hold him back, and they knew the responsibility was great.

"Rest assured, my Lord! The Bedrock Outpost will coexist with the position!" Rock Mountain beat his chest and saluted, his voice like bedrock.

"May you... have a smooth journey and great martial fortune, my Lord!" Xi bowed deeply, offering her most sincere blessings.

Ye Chen nodded and said no more. His figure slowly floated into the air, the Chaos aura circulating around his body, resonating faintly with the spacetime of the Ancient Path.

The next moment, he took a step, and his figure merged into the bizarre and chaotic spacetime turbulence, speeding away toward the depths of the Ancient Path, where danger and opportunity coexisted!

His back was resolute, moving forward without hesitation.