259: The remnants of the army at the bottom of the valley, their indomitable fighting spirit
Deep within the Valley of Buried Soldiers, the massive mountain of bones formed by the collapse of the throne of bones stood like a pale tombstone, recounting the tragic intensity of the battle that had just occurred.
The air was still permeated with dense Devilish Qi and lingering resentment, but having lost the control of the Abyssal Lord's will, they had become chaotic and inert, no longer possessing active corrosivity.
Supported by Qing Lin and Elder Mu Huan, Ye Chen slowly walked toward the ruins.
His steps were unsteady and his aura weak; the dark gray mark on his chest was like a bottomless pit, continuously conveying a craving for energy that made him feel extremely weak.
However, he refused the suggestion to return to the Forest Realm to recuperate immediately, insisting on personally investigating the depths of the Valley of Buried Soldiers.
He had a premonition that the information left behind by the first Walker, "Yu," and the fact that the Abyssal Lord had gone to great lengths to condense a throne here, meant this place was far from being just an ancient battlefield.
The closer they got to the base of the collapsed throne, the more bones and shattered remains of divine weapons were piled up beneath their feet, forming mountains.
These bones had remained uncorrupted through the ages and still emitted a faint pressure; some were even as crystalline as jade, with faint runes flowing within, showing the strength of their former owners.
As for the fragments of divine weapons, although they had lost their spirituality and sharpness, the material itself still contained unimaginable toughness and energy.
"The baleful energy and resentment here are too heavy. Even if the Devilish Qi dissipates, staying here for a long time will be a huge burden on the Divine Soul." Elder Mu Huan looked around, his brows furrowed.
He could even see some vague, painful, and unwilling phantoms of Battle Intent wandering and wailing among the bones.
Qing Lin exuded a gentle emerald radiance, with her life energy forming a barrier that protected her and Ye Chen, isolating them from most of the negative energy.
Her gaze swept over the broken divine weapons as she softly said, "It is rumored that the ancient war between gods and demons shattered the starry sky and caused the myriad worlds to weep blood. What is buried here is likely an extremely important force from that great war, and there may even be... existences beyond the Law Realm who fell here."
Ye Chen nodded silently; his Chaos spiritual sense was sharper than Qing Lin's.
He could feel that in the deepest part of this ruin, there were several extremely obscure yet unyielding wills that made even his Divine Soul tremble!
That was not chaotic resentment, but something... a Battle Intent that had not been completely extinguished even after death and the passing of ages!
Following that trace of sensation, he struggled to push aside the piled-up bones and walked toward the very bottom of the bone mountain.
Qing Lin and Mu Huan exchanged a look, both seeing the solemnity in the other's eyes, but they followed closely, carefully guarding him.
Finally, directly beneath the base of the collapsed throne, in a corner half-buried by huge bones and twisted metal, Ye Chen stopped.
There, three dilapidated objects were inserted at an angle.
The first was half a broken spear. The shaft was dark gold, covered with cracks and corrosive holes; the spearhead was long gone, and the fracture was jagged.
Even so, the half-shaft still pointed straight to the sky, faintly emitting a sharp intent of never bending and piercing the firmament.
The second was a rhomboid shield that had shattered into a spiderweb pattern. The material of the shield was neither gold nor jade, presenting a dull bronze color, with a hole in the center pierced by immense force.
On the surface of the shield, ancient totems, long since blurred, were carved, and one could faintly sense a tragic atmosphere as heavy as a mountain, guarding all living beings.
The third was a palm-sized, irregularly edged, charred black metal fragment; it was impossible to tell what kind of weapon it had originally belonged to.
But this fragment was the most peculiar; it emitted no aura, as if it were just ordinary iron.
However, when Ye Chen's Chaos spiritual sense touched it, he felt an unprecedented stinging pain, as if the interior of the fragment contained a kind of extreme sharpness capable of threatening the Chaos Origin!
And that Indestructible Battle Intent that made Ye Chen's heart palpitate was emanating from these three broken weapons!
They echoed each other, forming a weak force field that repelled the surrounding Devilish Qi and resentment.
"This is..." Astonishment flashed in Qing Lin's beautiful eyes. "These broken weapons... their owners must have been extraordinary existences in their lifetimes! Even after falling for ages, the Battle Intent remaining in their blades can still condense and not disperse!"
Ye Chen did not speak. He slowly reached out, attempting to touch the half-broken spear.
The moment his fingertips were about to touch the spear shaft—
"Hum!"
A vast intention, filled with tragedy and unyielding spirit, rushed into his Sea of Consciousness like a bursting flood!
He "saw" it! In the endless starry sky, a golden figure standing as tall as the heavens, holding a complete spear, fought a desperate battle against a darkness that devoured light!
The spear struck like a Dragon, shattering stars, but the darkness was boundless. In the end, the spear broke, the golden figure bled across the sky, let out an unwilling roar, and fell here...
The image shattered, but that Battle Intent of fighting heaven and earth, of having no regrets even in death, was deeply branded into Ye Chen's mind.
He groaned, his face turning paler, but his eyes became even brighter.
He did not retreat; he touched the broken shield and the charred black fragment in turn.
What the broken shield conveyed was the sorrow and resolution of a mountain collapsing and the thing being protected being destroyed before one's eyes; while what the charred black fragment conveyed was a kind of extreme restraint, a purity and danger as if it would cut off even its own existence just to pursue the ultimate strike!
Three fragments of surviving memory, three kinds of Indestructible Battle Intent!
Their owners were undoubtedly heroes who resisted the Abyss (or similar existences) in the ancient era!
The dark gray mark on Ye Chen's chest actually warmed slightly when it came into contact with these three Indestructible Battle Intents, and the rotation speed of the tiny vortex in the center accelerated slightly.
The "hunger" it transmitted seemed to... have a slight interest in these Battle Intents?
This discovery stirred Ye Chen's heart. Could it be that this mutated demon seal could not only devour energy but also absorb this kind of pure will power?
He tried to actively guide a trace of the sharp Battle Intent he felt from the broken spear, cautiously bringing it close to the mark on his chest.
The dark gray mark trembled slightly, and the suction from the vortex did not repel this Battle Intent, but instead slowly absorbed it.
The mark itself did not change significantly, but Ye Chen felt that the "pressure" required to maintain balance seemed to have lessened by an insignificant amount!
It worked!
These Indestructible Battle Intent wills could actually serve as "food" to maintain this strange balance!
Although the effect was far less obvious than directly devouring energy, this undoubtedly pointed to a new, relatively "safer" path!
At the very least, absorbing Battle Intent would not aggravate the erosion of the Abyss side like devouring Devilish Qi, nor would it consume his own Origin like excessively extracting Chaos Qi.
"High Priest, Elder Mu Huan," Ye Chen straightened up. Although he was still weak, there was a hint of excitement in his tone. "I want to stay here for a while longer."
Qing Lin looked at him, then at the three broken weapons emitting Indestructible Battle Intent, and seemed to understand something. She pondered, "This place is dangerous after all, and although the tide of devils has retreated, the Lord's will may yet peek again."
"However... if Fellow Daoist feels it is necessary, I can set up a 'Restraining Breath Ancient Tree Formation' here to conceal the aura of this place as much as possible, and leave behind some Green Vine Guards to stand guard."
"Thank you, High Priest." Ye Chen said gratefully. He knew this would require consuming a significant amount of the Wood Spirit Clan's power.
"Fellow Daoist has sacrificed himself for my Forest Realm; this little bit of effort is nothing." Qing Lin shook her head, then began to make arrangements.
Soon, a Formation composed of ancient tree seeds and runes rose on the periphery of the ruins.
A verdant radiance formed a hemispherical barrier, shrouding Ye Chen and the three broken weapons within, isolating the inner and outer auras.
Ye Chen sat cross-legged between the three broken weapons, closed his eyes, and no longer actively touched them.
Instead, he let go of his body and mind, using his own Chaos will to carefully perceive and communicate with the Indestructible Battle Intent permeating the surroundings.
Sharp, tragic, pure, restrained...
Different Battle Intents, like different whetstones, tempered his will and were slowly absorbed bit by bit by the greedy mark on his chest, maintaining that fragile balance.
He could almost hear the shouts and roars from the ancient battlefield and feel the resolution and unwillingness of those predecessors when facing the darkness.
"Seniors... your Dao... your will... will not be in vain..."
Ye Chen muttered to himself in his heart. His Dao Heart became more tenacious and pure under the baptism of this tragic Battle Intent.
He did not know where this path would eventually lead, but at this moment, he had found a method to temporarily stabilize himself and potentially improve his strength.
Just as he was immersed in his perception, the charred black fragment that had been motionless seemed to have a tiny, almost imperceptible crack on its surface quietly expand slightly due to his continuous communication with his Chaos will and the subtle influence of the mutated demon seal.
A wisp of extremely weak sharpness, as if it could cut off Karma, flashed and vanished from that crack.