System Possession, One Sword Shocks the Gods

162: Danger in the alley, fragment mutationYe Chen’s pace was neither fast nor slow, as if he hadn’t noticed the tracker behind him, and he turned directly into a secluded, dark alley near the Ten Thousand Treasures Tower, piled high with trash. The depths of the alley were filled with a pungent stench and mildew, making it an ideal place for murder and robbery.

As soon as he walked into the depths of the alley, dense and light footsteps sounded behind him. Immediately, five figures quickly blocked the alley entrance, cutting off his retreat. The leader was precisely the Cold Old Man who had been beside Wu Li earlier, an Eighth Layer Earth Fiend Realm expert. The other four were also skilled practitioners at the Fifth or Sixth Layer Earth Fiend Realm, with fierce eyes and interconnected auras, clearly proficient in combined attacks.

”Kid, you have guts,” the Cold Old Man slowly spoke, his voice like a venomous snake flicking its tongue. ”You dared to disrespect my young master in Filthy Earth Black City. Hand over everything valuable on you, along with that fragment, and then sever your own arms. Perhaps we can leave you a complete corpse.”

The other four Cultivators also drew their weapons, approaching with sinister smiles, their Devilish Qi locking onto Ye Chen.

Ye Chen slowly turned. His expression beneath the cloak was indiscernible, but his calm voice emerged: ”Wu Li didn’t dare come himself, so he sent a few old dogs like you to die?”

”You’re courting death!” Killing intent surged in the Cold Old Man’s eyes. Without further ado, he moved like a phantom, closing in. One withered hand instantly turned ink-black, carrying a foul, sinister wind as it clawed straight for Ye Chen’s crown!—The Profound Yin Soul Searching Claw! He actually intended to capture him and search his soul directly!

The other four also attacked simultaneously. Saber light, sword shadows, poison darts, and bone spikes sealed off all of Ye Chen’s space for evasion from four different angles. Their coordination was seamless, and their offensive was fierce!

Faced with the siege of five mid-to-high-level Earth Fiend Realm Cultivators, Ye Chen seemed frozen in fear, standing motionless in place.

Just as the Cold Old Man’s claw wind was about to touch the cloak—

Ye Chen moved!

He did not draw his sword. Instead, he joined the fingers of his right hand like a sword, striking later but arriving first. With a speed undetectable to the naked eye, he pointed precisely at the wrist of the Cold Old Man’s grasping hand!

”Sizzle!”

A faint, gray Sword Qi flashed and disappeared.

The sinister smile on the Cold Old Man’s Face instantly froze, replaced by boundless horror and pain! He felt as if his wrist had been branded by a searing hot iron, yet simultaneously frozen by extreme profound ice. A tyrannical, deathly silent Sword Intent, carrying the characteristic of annihilation, instantly invaded his Meridians, spreading rapidly along his arm!

”Ah!” He let out a short, miserable cry. His entire right arm visibly turned gray and shriveled, as if all vitality had been instantly drained! He desperately activated his Demonic Astral Power to resist, but the Chaos Sword Intent was like a gangrene attached to the bone; his Demonic Astral Power was as fragile as paper before it!

At the same time, Ye Chen lightly flicked his left sleeve.

An invisible power containing a flow of Chaos rippled outward like water.

The saber light, sword shadows, poison darts, and bone spikes attacking from all sides instantly plunged into a swamp upon contacting this invisible force field. Their speed plummeted, their power greatly diminished, and even their trajectories were deflected!

”Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!”

With four muffled thuds, the four Fifth and Sixth Layer Earth Fiend Realm Cultivators were sent flying backward, spitting blood, as if struck by an invisible giant hammer to the chest. They slammed against the filthy walls on either side of the alley, their bones broken, instantly losing all fighting capability!

All of this happened in the blink of an eye!

From the moment Ye Chen attacked until the Cold Old Man’s arm was severed and his four subordinates were defeated, only a single breath passed!

The Cold Old Man clutched his completely ruined right arm, his Face as pale as paper. His gaze toward Ye Chen was filled with terror and disbelief: ”You... what is your cultivation level?!”

He was an Eighth Layer Earth Fiend Realm expert! Yet he couldn’t even withstand a single move from the opponent? He didn’t even see how the other party broke their combined attack! This Black-Robed Figure must be Ninth Layer Earth Fiend Realm, perhaps even Peak Ninth Layer!

Ye Chen did not reply. He walked step by step toward the Cold Old Man, his footsteps clearly audible in the silent alley, sounding like the death knell.

”No... don’t kill me! I am an Elder of the Black Fiend Cult’s branch altar! If you kill me, Altar Master Wu will never let you go!” The Cold Old Man retreated in terror, threatening incoherently.

”Black Fiend Cult?” Ye Chen’s steps did not stop, his voice still calm. ”Perfect, I have some questions for you.”

He extended a finger and pointed through the air.

A more condensed Chaos Sword Aura shot out, instantly plunging into the Cold Old Man’s Dantian Qi Sea!

”Pfft!”

The Cold Old Man trembled violently, feeling his Qi Sea burst like a punctured balloon. The Demonic Astral Power he had painfully cultivated for years leaked out frantically, and his cultivation was instantly crippled! He let out a despairing wail and collapsed onto the ground.

Ye Chen walked up to him, looking down indifferently, and asked, ”How much does the Black Fiend Cult know about stable passages leaving the Demon Abyss and leading to Boundary Severing City or the Upper World? Tell me all the relevant information you know.”

His voice carried intense spiritual pressure, directly assaulting the Cold Old Man’s rapidly collapsing mind.

With his cultivation crippled and death imminent, the Cold Old Man could no longer muster any thought of resistance. To bargain for a sliver of hope, he spilled everything he knew, like beans pouring from a bamboo tube:

”The Cult... the Cult does indeed possess the coordinates of an unstable spatial rift... leading to the area near Boundary Severing City... But that rift is extremely dangerous and could collapse at any time... Furthermore, it is tightly controlled by the Main Altar. Only core Elders who have performed great deeds... or those who pay astronomical contributions are eligible to apply to use it... The coordinates... the coordinates are only known by the Altar Master and a few core Elders... I... I don’t know the exact location...”

”Besides that... reportedly... reportedly deep within the White Bone Wasteland, there is an ancient, abandoned Teleportation Formation... It might lead deeper into the Demon Abyss, or even... connect to other Realms... But that place is the territory of the Bone Demon Lord, extremely dangerous... and no one knows if the Teleportation Formation is still intact...”

The information was largely the same as what Shi Meng and the Ten Thousand Treasures Tower maid had said previously, except for the specific locations of the unstable spatial rift and the abandoned Teleportation Formation.

Ye Chen felt a slight disappointment after listening, but it was within expectations. The routes leaving the Demon Abyss were indeed monopolized by major powers or located in extremely dangerous places.

He asked no further questions, joined his fingers like a sword, and ended the Cold Old Man’s life. He showed no mercy to these Demonic Cultivators who treated human lives like grass. He quickly cleared the battlefield, collecting the belongings from the group, especially the Cold Old Man’s Storage Ring, which might be useful.

Afterward, he flicked out a wisp of Chaos Fire, reducing the corpses to ashes and erasing all traces.

Having finished all this, he did not immediately leave the alley. Instead, he found a relatively clean corner, set up a simple Concealment Formation, and then took out the black fragment he had acquired for a million Demon Cores.

The fragment was icy cold to the touch, and the patterns on its surface were indistinct. But when he slowly injected a trace of Chaos Gang Qi into it, a mutation occurred!

”Buzz!”

The fragment trembled slightly. The indistinct patterns on its surface seemed to be activated, flowing with a faint gray radiance that shared the same Origin as the chaos ancestral talisman! An ancient, vast intention, tinged with sadness and defiance, flowed like a trickle along his arm and slowly entered his Sea of Consciousness!

It was not a specific Cultivation Technique or piece of information, but fragmented, incomplete images, like indelible imprints!

He ”saw” a boundless Void Realm filled with dazzling stars... he ”saw” an enormous palm, wrapped in a flow of Chaos, seemingly capable of supporting the entire Universe... he ”saw” that palm violently collide with an equally massive giant claw burning with endless Demonic Flames. Stars shattered, and space annihilated... Finally, he ”saw” the palm seemingly defeated, shattering into pieces. A small fragment, dragging a stream of light, fell into the endless Dark Abyss... which was precisely the piece he held in his hand!

Simultaneously, as these images flowed, the chaos ancestral talisman deep within his Qi Sea burst forth with unprecedented light and joyful intention! It proactively separated a wisp of even purer Origin Qi, which merged with the ancient intention flowing from the fragment!

In that instant, Ye Chen achieved sudden enlightenment. His understanding of the Dao of Chaos, particularly the profound Concept of ”Chaos” encompassing, sustaining, and evolving all things while simultaneously containing annihilation and Gui Xu, deepened considerably! He felt as if he had touched the very edge of the rules of Chaos!

This fragment did not record any earth-shattering secret technique. Instead, it carried the final trace of Dao Rhyme imprinted by a Great Expert who cultivated the Dao of Chaos, just before their demise! For Ye Chen, who also cultivated the Dao of Chaos, its value far surpassed any Cultivation Technique or Secret Manual!

This was a Legacy imprint that directly pointed toward the Great Dao!

Just as Ye Chen was immersed in this sudden enlightenment of Dao Rhyme, the chaos monitoring compass in his possession once again issued a warning!

Moreover, this warning was not directed at external danger, but... pointed toward the fragment itself!

He suddenly woke up from his enlightenment and focused his senses. He saw that after the black fragment merged with the Origin of his chaos ancestral talisman, a trace of Devilish Qi—extremely subtle, almost undetectable, yet carrying pure malice and an aura of destruction—was faintly seeping out from an incredibly fine crack on its surface!

This Devilish Qi was fundamentally different from the Devilish Qi commonly found in the Demon Abyss. It was purer, more ancient, and carried the high-and-mighty Dao Rhyme of rules, as if it originated from some kind of Origin Demon!

At the same time, in the images transmitted by the fragment, the giant claw burning with endless Demonic Flames seemed to become clearer and more ferocious!

A thought flashed through Ye Chen’s mind like lightning:

Had this fragment been contaminated by a trace of extremely fundamental Demonic Path rule power during its fall, or perhaps during its original owner’s confrontation with that terrifying demonic claw?!