23: The ancient stele moved strangely, and the divine crystal in the void...

Mo Yuan's appearance and his challenge for a battle were like a giant boulder thrown into Lin Fan's heart, stirring up layers of ripples, but it quickly returned to a deeper calm. Pressure is also motivation; the strength of this Demon Son instead further solidified Lin Fan's determination to continuously improve himself.

Over the next few days, he did not slacken because he had obtained an ancient path token; instead, he became more focused on his cultivation. The introductory chapter of the Nine Nether Reincarnation Art was profound and obscure. The process of visualizing the Nine Nether Reincarnation Vortex and condensing the Indestructible Soul Seal was a great test of one's Heart-Nature and will. Fortunately, Lin Fan's Dao Heart was firm, and with the Eternal Indestructible Body as his most solid support, his progress, though slow, advanced steadily. He felt his Divine Soul becoming increasingly condensed and transparent, and his control over his own power grew more exquisite and subtle.

Lin Xuan, Shi Meng, and the others also sent back news one after another. After investigation, several suspected nodes within the city were either empty or had already been reached by others first, resulting in conflicts. The area outside the city was even more chaotic. To fight for possible tokens, small and large battles occurred frequently, even resulting in casualties. The small team led by Shi Meng also encountered several waves of attacks. Relying on some combined attack techniques taught by Lin Fan and their own bravery, they suffered no losses, but they also failed to find any new tokens.

"Divine Son, the competition for tokens is more intense than imagined. Many hidden experts have emerged; some are not even trying to enter the Ancient Road, but simply to snatch tokens to exchange for resources or to befriend major factions," Lin Xuan reported with a worried look on his face.

Lin Fan nodded to show he understood. This was within expectations; the Ancient Road tokens involved too much and would inevitably attract all sorts of shady characters. He instructed everyone to temporarily pull back and focus on gathering intelligence to avoid unnecessary conflicts.

At dusk this day, Lin Fan was in the courtyard pondering the subtle connection between the remnant fragment of Other-Transformation Freedom Magic and the Nine Nether Reincarnation Art, trying to combine the Concept of blurring one's existence and interfering with locking-on with the concealment of the Soul level and the illusion of Reincarnation to seek deeper applications. Suddenly, the dark silver token fragment he had obtained from the Falling Star Garden in his bosom (System space) slightly warmed up without warning and transmitted an extremely weak, directional spatial fluctuation!

"Hmm?" Lin Fan immediately took out the fragment and saw that the profound patterns on its surface were emitting a faint, almost invisible silver glow. The direction of that spatial fluctuation was surprisingly toward the northeast corner of Tianjiao City!

"Can tokens sense each other? Or has something from the same source been activated over there?" Thoughts flashed through Lin Fan's mind. Without any hesitation, his figure flickered, and he swept out of the courtyard like light smoke, rushing toward the direction guided by the fluctuation.

The northeast corner of Tianjiao City was a relatively ancient area with a rougher architectural style, preserving many giant stone steles left over from ancient times, known as the Ancient Stele Forest. This place was usually sparsely populated and the Origin Qi was relatively thin, so it was not a prime cultivation spot.

When Lin Fan arrived at the Ancient Stele Forest, the afterglow of the setting sun cast a layer of dark gold over the forest of giant stone steles, making it look even more desolate and ancient. The token fragment in his hand grew hotter, and the silver glow became noticeably stronger.

He restrained his Aura and moved through the giant stele shadows like a ghost. Soon, he locked onto a broken stone stele that was half-buried in the soil, with only half exposed. The material of this stele was peculiar, neither stone nor jade, and its surface was covered with ancient sacrificial patterns that had long since blurred. At this moment, at the base of the stele, a fist-sized, constantly twisting and fluctuating silver halo was flashing, emitting a spatial fluctuation that was of the same source as the token fragment but even more dense and pure!

"A second token? No, it feels a bit different..." Lin Fan's eyes were sharp. He could feel that the silver halo was not a physical token, but more like an entrance? Or rather, a token energy condensation point!

Just as he was observing intently, the sound of breaking air rang out. Three figures landed around the stone stele from different directions almost simultaneously, forming a pincer Formation, faintly surrounding both the silver halo and Lin Fan.

The newcomers were two men and one woman. The one on the left was burly, with a ferocious beast head tattooed on his bare arms and a wild Aura; he came from the Northern Region Barbarians. The one on the right was a thin and capable man with flickering eyes, playing with two poisoned daggers in his hands, his Aura cold, like someone skilled in assassination. As for the woman, she was dressed in colorful clothes and had a beautiful appearance, but she carried an air of worldliness, with pink mist swirling around her fingertips, clearly practicing some kind of charm technique or evil art.

The cultivation of these three was at the Early Stage of the Purple Mansion Realm, but their Auras were mixed and unstable, obviously raised forcibly by relying on Medicinal Pills or evil methods, with a superficial Foundation. However, with the three of them joining forces, their Aura was quite impressive.

"Hehe, it seems our luck is good. We caught a big fish and a kid who popped out of nowhere," the barbarian brute grinned, his gaze greedily staring at the silver halo.

The thin man said sinisterly, "Kid, if you know what's good for you, get lost. We, the 'Three Fiends of Mobei,' have taken an interest in the treasure here!"

The woman in colorful clothes gave Lin Fan a flirtatious look, her voice soft and numbing: "Little brother, it's dangerous here. Why don't you come with big sister to a safe place and have some fun?" While speaking, an invisible charm power had quietly enveloped Lin Fan.

Lin Fan's expression remained unchanged. Faced with the charm attack, his Divine Soul vibrated slightly, and the Nine Nether Reincarnation Concept naturally flowed, dissolving the decadent sounds and seductive power into nothingness, as if a clear breeze had brushed over a rock.

He glanced at the silver halo and then scanned the three people in front of him, understanding clearly. These three were likely tracking the token's fluctuations and saw him as a competitor.

"This thing has a fate with me," Lin Fan spoke calmly, taking a step forward at the same time. With just one step, an invisible, mountain-heavy pressure suddenly descended! It wasn't an explosion of Aura, but the natural flow of his Physical Body's blood and Qi, combined with the sliver of Reincarnation Nirvana Intent he had just comprehended, forming a Domain-like existence!

The smiles on the faces of the Three Fiends of Mobei froze instantly. The barbarian brute felt as if a giant mountain were pressing down on him, his bones creaking; the thin man felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar, his whole body cold, and he could barely hold the daggers in his hands; the woman in colorful clothes turned pale, her charm technique backfiring on her, her blood and Qi churning, almost making her spit out a mouthful of blood.

"An expert!" This thought flashed through all three of their minds simultaneously, leaving them terrified. They didn't expect this ordinary-looking young man to be so terrifying!

"Senior, spare our lives! We'll leave right now!" The thin man was the most alert and immediately softened his stance to beg for mercy.

The barbarian brute and the woman in colorful clothes also reacted, repeatedly apologizing and turning to flee.

"Did I say you could leave?" Lin Fan's indifferent voice rang out, like a thunderclap exploding in their ears.

The three of them froze, not daring to move again.

Lin Fan ignored them and turned his gaze back to the silver halo. He could feel that the halo's energy was slowly weakening and seemed unable to last much longer.

He stepped forward and reached out a finger, carefully touching the halo.

The moment his fingertip made contact, the halo suddenly contracted, turning into a silver line that instantly entered the Sea of Consciousness between Lin Fan's brows!

Lin Fan's mind shook as he felt an extremely pure energy containing the Origin of spatial Laws pour into his Sea of Consciousness. It didn't cause any damage but instead was directly absorbed by the star pagoda floating in the center of his Sea of Consciousness!

"Buzz!" The star pagoda, which had been silent for a long time, actually emitted a faint hum after absorbing this energy. A tiny crack on the surface of the pagoda seemed to have closed by an insignificant amount! Although it was still a drop in the bucket for the overall repair, this was undoubtedly a huge surprise!

"Is this the energy of a Void Divine Crystal?" Lin Fan understood instantly. This was not an ancient path token, but a small energy condensation of a Void Divine Crystal! This item contained the spatial Origin and had miraculous effects on repairing spatial Magic Treasures and comprehending spatial Laws; it was incredibly precious! Clearly, the appearance of the ancient path token had triggered the remnants of an ancient spatial Formation here, which temporarily condensed this bit!

Seeing that Lin Fan had no abnormalities after touching the halo but instead stood dazed on the spot, the Three Fiends of Mobei looked at each other. A fierce light flashed in their eyes, and they unexpectedly attacked at the same time!

"Do it! He got the treasure, we can't let him go!" The barbarian brute threw a punch, his Barbarian Qi roaring! The thin man's dagger pierced toward the back of Lin Fan's heart, fast as lightning! The woman in colorful clothes spat out a mouthful of pink poisonous mist, enveloping Lin Fan!

However, just as their attacks were launched, they felt an indescribable, terrifying power erupt from Lin Fan!

Lin Fan didn't even turn his head; he simply threw a backhand punch.

The Fist Intent of the Indestructible Divine King Fist swept out like a tsunami!

"Boom!" The three figures flew backward even faster than they had come, spitting blood wildly. They crashed into the distant steles, their bones broken and tendons snapped, and they instantly fainted.

Lin Fan didn't even look at them, his mind still immersed in the subtle changes of the star pagoda.

["System," he suppressed the joy in his heart and thought, "Sign in at the Ancient Stele Forest."]

[Ding! Sign-in location detected—Ancient Stele Forest (contains residual fluctuations of an ancient spatial Formation and Void Divine Crystal energy). Sign-in conditions met. Sign-in successful!]

[Congratulations to the host for obtaining: Void Divine Crystal (Fragment)!]

Another fingernail-sized crystal flashing with a hazy silver light appeared in the System space. Although it was only a fragment, its value far exceeded many Heaven Rank Materials!

"A bountiful harvest." The corners of Lin Fan's mouth curled up slightly. Not only did he find an opportunity to repair the star pagoda, but he also obtained a Void Divine Crystal fragment.

He sensed it, and the token fragment in his bosom had returned to normal, no longer emitting heat. It seemed the spatial anomaly here had subsided.

He didn't stay any longer. His figure flashed and disappeared into the thickening night.

The Ancient Stele Forest returned to silence, leaving only three unconscious unlucky fellows and that still-broken ancient stele, as if nothing had ever happened.