233: Deep within the ancient road, the abyss of extinguished stars.

Having stepped into the Law Realm, Ye Chen's perception of the Ancient Path had changed completely.

The violent spatial-temporal turbulence, the shattered world remnants, and even the Aura of abyss erosion permeating the Void Realm were no longer incomprehensible Chaos in his "eyes," but had transformed into countless clearly intertwined lines of rules.

It was as if he held an invisible carving knife, capable of to some extent nudging, avoiding, or even slightly rewriting these lines, making his traversal through the Ancient Path unprecedentedly smooth and precise.

He did not immediately head to the "Thousand Illusions Maze" mentioned in the information, but instead chose to first go to the Star Abyss of Extinction where Blazing Venerable had last disappeared.

Compared to the unknown spatial rifts, that gestating, larger-scale Newborn Mother Nest was undoubtedly a more direct and urgent threat.

Moreover, the trace of resonance belonging to Blazing Venerable within his body also faintly pointed in that direction.

Deep in the Ancient Path, the scenery became increasingly desolate and dilapidated.

The spatial-temporal structure became more fragile, and one could often see huge, scar-like spatial rifts, from which cold abyss Auras seeped out.

Most of the floating world remnants displayed traces of being melted by high temperatures or corroded by some kind of strong acid; some areas were even permeated with eerie, never-extinguishing flames or absolute frost that could freeze the Soul, all of which were manifestations of the Laws left behind by past intense battles.

The Chaos Domain around Ye Chen circulated naturally, isolating all harmful rule turbulence and energy radiation, and even partially assimilating them to replenish his own consumption.

Like a traveler walking through a scroll of the apocalypse, he calmly observed and analyzed everything along the way.

Several days later, the light in the Void Realm ahead began to dim, the temperature rose sharply, and a suffocating, searing intent mixed with destruction and deathly stillness surged toward him like an invisible wave.

The Star Abyss of Extinction had arrived.

It was not a canyon in the traditional sense, but an unimaginably vast—graveyard of flames—composed of countless burnt-out stellar cores and shattered solar remains!

As far as the eye could see, countless black "stars" of varying sizes, yet equally dim and lusterless, floated against a dark red background.

The surfaces of these stars were covered with hideous cracks formed after lava cooled, yet inside, they still retained terrifying residual heat capable of incinerating all things, like countless embers that were about to extinguish but were still struggling.

Further away, one could see some nebulae that had completely collapsed and turned into scorching dust filling the sky, as well as some stellar remains that had been forcibly twisted and entangled by invisible forces, forming eerie and magnificent spectacles of the starry sky.

And in the extreme depths of this graveyard of flames, a vast, chaotic will, filled with a greedy desire to devour, was slowly awakening and expanding like a dormant volcano!

Its scale and energy level far exceeded the Mother Nest encountered at the Seventh Outpost by more than tenfold! It was exactly what Xi had warned about, that gestating Newborn Mother Nest!

Ye Chen could feel that this Newborn Mother Nest seemed to be at a critical stage; it was frantically absorbing the residual stellar destruction energy and Nirvana Law in the Star Abyss of Extinction, attempting to gestate a legion of predators that were even more powerful and better adapted to this extreme environment!

He had to strangle it before it fully formed!

He concealed his Aura, lowered his own sense of presence to the minimum, and as if blending into the shadows of the background, he silently crept toward the core area of the Mother Nest's will.

The deeper he went into the Star Abyss, the more chaotic and dangerous the surrounding rules became.

The scorching high temperature was enough to instantly vaporize refined gold, invisible destructive energy rays swept across the Void Realm like a rainstorm, and in some areas, the flow of time was extremely strange; a single step could mean the passage of a millennium.

Relying on the Chaos Law's tolerance and control over all Laws, Ye Chen, like the most agile fish, wove between countless deadly rule traps.

He could even use the rich Nirvana and destruction intent here to further temper his own Nirvana Sword Intent and Chaos Law, making them even more destructive.

However, just as he was gradually approaching the core area of the Mother Nest, a sudden change occurred!

Ahead, from behind a "mountain range" composed of huge stellar remains, there suddenly came the sound of intense energy collisions and a—Dragon cry?!—filled with pain and anger.

Within this Dragon cry, there was actually a trace of weak... life Aura that resonated with the chaos ancestral talisman (especially the "Origin" fragment) in Ye Chen's body? A life Aura that was completely out of place in this dead Star Abyss!

Was there a living being fighting against the abyss minions here? And, it seemed to be a living being related to Chaos?

Ye Chen's heart stirred, his figure accelerated, and he instantly crossed the mountain range of stellar remains.

The sight before him made his gaze tighten.

It was a relatively empty space in the Void Realm, and in the center floated a huge, completely charred—stone tablet remnant—that could still vaguely be seen to have originally been of white jade texture!

On the stone tablet, countless ancient runes that had long since dimmed were engraved, and the style of some of these runes was actually somewhat similar to the Dao patterns of the chaos ancestral talisman!

And at this moment, a fierce battle was taking place around the stone tablet remnant!

One side of the battle was dense, diverse abyss predators, among which were many elite units with huge bodies and Auras approaching the Peak of the Tiangang Realm.

They were like a tide, frantically assaulting the stone tablet remnant, attempting to completely destroy and devour it.

And guarding the stone tablet was, surprisingly... a Dragon!

But it was not any kind of divine Dragon known to Ye Chen.

It was only ten zhang long, its whole body covered in translucent scales that looked like they were condensed from Chaos Qi, its Dragon horns were crystalline like jade, and its eyes were a pure, original color of Chaos.

Its body was covered with deep wounds, Chaos-colored Dragon blood dripped continuously, and its Aura was withered; it was clearly at the end of its rope.

However, it still circled above the stone tablet, emitting an unyielding Dragon cry, spitting out Dragon breath containing pure Chaos Qi, continuously repelling and purifying the predators that pounced on it!

This Chaos-colored young Dragon's Origin Aura actually shared the same source as Ye Chen's chaos ancestral talisman! It seemed... it was only able to survive in this Star Abyss of Extinction by relying on the power of this stone tablet remnant?

And what shook Ye Chen even more was that at the very bottom of the stone tablet remnant, he saw a name written in ancient divine script, almost erased—"Yan"!

It was Blazing Venerable! This stone tablet was something left behind by Blazing Venerable?! This Chaos young Dragon was related to Blazing Venerable?!

Just at the moment when Ye Chen's mind was stirred, that Chaos young Dragon also seemed to sense the same-sourced yet more powerful Chaos Aura within him. Its originally determined and exhausted Chaos-colored eyes suddenly lit up, looking toward the direction where Ye Chen was hiding, emitting a mournful cry filled with urgency and pleading!

At the same time, the will of the gestating Newborn Mother Nest seemed to be completely enraged by the commotion here and Ye Chen's Chaos Aura that could not be fully concealed!

"Skree—!!! Another... Chaos... bug?! Devour... it together... with this... annoying... stone tablet!!"

A devouring will far more violent and condensed than before, like a tangible dark shockwave, instantly locked onto Ye Chen and that Chaos young Dragon!

Immediately after, in the area where the Newborn Mother Nest was located, the flesh blanket squirmed frantically, and several huge tentacles with a diameter of over a hundred zhang, their surfaces covered in dark golden destruction runes, tore through the Void Realm. Like whips of world destruction, carrying the power to annihilate stars, they lashed out fiercely toward Ye Chen and the stone tablet remnant!

The power of this strike had already exceeded the scope of an ordinary Early Stage Law Realm! The power of this Newborn Mother Nest was truly terrifying!

Ahead was the Mother Nest's fatal blow, and behind were the Chaos young Dragon and Blazing Venerable's stone tablet that needed protection!

A cold glint exploded in Ye Chen's eyes; there was no longer any need for concealment!

"Vile beast! How dare you be so rampant!"

He let out a long shout, his figure soared into the sky, and his Law Realm Aura erupted without reservation! The Chaos Domain instantly expanded to a thousand li, shrouding and protecting the stone tablet remnant and the Chaos young Dragon together!

The guixu sword leapt into his hand; on the sword body, the original color luster of Chaos flowed, and the powers of the four great authorities—Heart, Eye, Force, and Origin—perfectly fused!

Facing the terrifying tentacles that tore through the galaxy, he no longer held back, directly utilizing his latest insights into the Chaos Dao after breaking through to the Law Realm!

"Chaos—Guixu Torrent!"

He slashed out with his sword, the sword light not a condensed blade beam, but transformed into a surging, roaring torrent of Law composed of countless Chaos Qi flows!

Within the torrent, it contained countless contradictory and unified rule powers such as Nirvana, devouring, decomposition, and reconstruction, as if it wanted to pull all things into their final destination—Guixu!

"Rumble—!!!"

The Chaos Guixu Torrent and those several dark golden destruction tentacles collided fiercely!

This time, it was no longer an evenly matched confrontation! It was... a crushing victory!

In front of Ye Chen, who had truly stepped into the Law Realm and condensed his own Chaos Origin, the attack of this not-yet-fully-gestated Newborn Mother Nest appeared so pale and powerless!

The dark golden tentacles containing destruction runes, the moment they touched the Guixu Torrent, had the runes on their surfaces instantly dim and shatter, and the incredibly tough tentacle bodies were like metal thrown into strong acid, being decomposed, dissolved, and devoured at a speed visible to the naked eye! Even the abyss will contained within them was forcibly obliterated by the majestic Chaos Law!

"Aww—!!!"

The Newborn Mother Nest let out a miserable howl of extreme pain and terror! Its huge flesh blanket body twitched violently; clearly, it had been heavily injured by this blow!

Ye Chen broke the enemy with one sword, his figure did not pause at all; like a killing god born from Chaos, his gaze coldly locked onto the injured core of the Mother Nest, and he was about to press the attack and completely annihilate it!

However, at this moment—a sudden change occurred again!

The stone tablet remnant that had been protected in his Chaos Domain seemed to be triggered by the intense Law collision just now and Ye Chen's pure Chaos Origin Aura; the ancient runes on its surface that had long since dimmed suddenly lit up with a weak but tenacious light!

A residual will, extremely weak but filled with endless vicissitudes and unwillingness, slowly awakened from the stone tablet, as if crossing a hundred years of time, and was transmitted to Ye Chen's mind:

"Latecomer... you have finally... arrived..."

"Take... my... 'child'... and leave..."

"Go to... the 'initial fire seed'... there... lies... the final... hope..."

"Beware... the abyss... it... has already... infiltrated..."

The will stopped abruptly here, and the light of the stone tablet dimmed again, as if it had exhausted its last bit of strength.

And that Chaos young Dragon emitted a sorrowful whimper, circling beside the stone tablet, refusing to leave.

Ye Chen stood with his sword, looking at the injured and enraged Mother Nest, and then at the stone tablet carrying Blazing Venerable's final will and the reluctant young Dragon, his eyes filled with immense complexity.

The situation seemed to be much more complex than he had anticipated.