System Possession, One Sword Shocks the Gods

174: Divine Remains Enlightenment, Black Tower HorrorWith his state back at its Peak and even better than before, Ye Chen felt much more confident. Like a cautious hunter, he moved slowly through this desolate and silent battlefield of gods and demons. His Divine Sense acted like an invisible radar, constantly scanning the surroundings to avoid dangerous areas filled with violent, chaotic energy and dense spatial rifts.

His goal was clear: to find potential clues for leaving this battlefield or valuable opportunities to enhance his strength.

Within the battlefield, besides the mountain-sized corpses of gods and demons and broken weapons, he occasionally saw traces left by latecomers—long-weathered skeletons, rusted weapon fragments, and even some ruined Formation bases. Clearly, over the long ages, he wasn’t the only one to set foot here, but those who could survive this desperate land were likely very few.

He tried to approach the relatively intact corpse of a giant clad in Starlight Armor. Even from several miles away, that invisible pressure originating from a higher level of life still made his breathing stagnate, and the circulation of his Chaos Gang Qi became sluggish. Faint, long-deactivated Starlight Power flowed over the surface of the remains, along with an unyielding Battle Intent that had endured for eternity without fading.

Ye Chen didn’t dare get too close. He simply sat cross-legged at a safe distance, attempting to comprehend the residual Concept within the remains. Although the vastness of the stars and the giant’s unyielding Battle Intent were not of the same source as the Chaos Dao he cultivated, observing the remnants of a higher being’s Dao rhyme was of great benefit for broadening his horizons and deepening his understanding of ’rules’.

His mind became immersed in it, as if crossing time and space to see blurry scenes of the giant plucking stars and moons and fighting bloody battles against powerful enemies in life, feeling a majestic will that stood tall between heaven and earth to protect its beliefs.

Several days later, he slowly opened his eyes, a glint of starlight seemingly flashing through his pupils. Although his cultivation hadn’t directly increased, he felt his Dao Heart had become firmer, and his Divine Sense seemed to have caught a hint of the stars’ vastness, becoming more condensed.

He continued forward, stopping before a broken giant sword burning with a faint Eternal Fire to comprehend the fragments of the Laws of ’Burning’, ’Destruction’, and ’Immortality’ contained within. Beside the ice-sealed corpse of a giant bird resembling a Phoenix, he experienced the extreme rhymes of ’Freezing’ and ’Nirvana’... This battlefield of gods and demons was a desperate land for low-level Cultivators, but for those who could survive and gain enlightenment here, it was no different from a supreme treasury containing countless Law fragments!

Like a sponge soaking up water, Ye Chen continuously absorbed these scattered yet profound rule rhymes, integrating them into his own Chaos Dao. His Chaos Gang Qi became more agile, and the rhymes it contained grew richer; though diverse, they maintained a perfect balance and core under the governance of the chaos ancestral talisman. His understanding of the true meaning of Chaos—’evolving all things’—became increasingly profound.

One day, he came to a relatively unique area. The ground here was an eerie dark purple, as if soaked by some terrifying blood. In the center stood a semi-collapsed spire constructed entirely of some kind of black metal. The spire wasn’t tall, only about a hundred zhang, but the aura it emitted was exceptionally cold and sinister, starkly different from the majestic righteousness or chaotic violence of the surrounding god and demon remains.

Around the spire lay many corpses clad in uniform black armor, their sizes similar to humans. These remains had long since weathered, but their armor and weapons still shimmered with a ghostly cold luster, faintly emitting an energy fluctuation of erosion and corruption.

“Are these... Demon Race corpses?” Ye Chen’s gaze narrowed. The style of these remains was somewhat similar to what he had seen in the Nirvana Demon Palace, but older and purer. It seemed that of the two sides in this ancient war of gods and demons, one side was the gods protecting order or their followers, and the other side was likely the Demon Race driving the ’return to silence’!

And that black spire was likely a Demon Race outpost or some kind of device.

Ye Chen’s internal vigilance increased greatly. Things belonging to the Demon Race were often accompanied by ill omens and bizarreness. He originally intended to bypass it, but the chaos monitoring compass in his robes faintly pointed toward the spire, transmitting a fluctuation that wasn’t danger, but... some kind of attraction?

The chaos ancestral talisman also vibrated slightly, seemingly reacting to something inside the tower.

Something inside the tower was attracting the chaos ancestral talisman?

Ye Chen pondered for a moment and decided to approach and investigate. He restrained all his aura and compressed his Chaos Domain to the surface of his body, approaching the semi-collapsed black spire silently like a ghost.

The tower’s body was covered in deep claw marks and traces of energy impacts, clearly having experienced a tragic battle. The entrance was a broken archway, the interior dark and deep, emitting a thick Devilish Qi and a deathly rhyme similar to the Nirvana Demon Palace, yet different.

He stepped into the tower with caution. The space inside wasn’t large; the ground floor was an empty hall with a complex and evil Formation carved into the floor that had long since stopped functioning. At the core of the Formation were several black crystals that had lost their luster. More Demon Race corpses were scattered around, along with some broken containers and experimental devices.

This place seemed to be a Demon Race laboratory or energy node.

Ye Chen’s gaze was soon drawn to a relatively intact, sealed container made of transparent crystal in the corner of the hall. Inside the container, immersed in a dark purple viscous liquid, suspended a fist-sized, irregular, pitch-black... metal block with dark gold profound patterns flowing on its surface?

The aura emitted by that metal block was extremely ancient and heavy, carrying a characteristic that swallowed all light and energy, even causing the surrounding space to slightly distort due to its existence. And the yearning intent coming from the chaos ancestral talisman originated precisely from this object!

“Is this... ‘primal dark god iron’?!” A name he had seen in ancient texts flashed through Ye Chen’s mind, and his heart shook violently! This was a type of Innate divine material that existed only in legends. It was said to be a miraculous object nurtured by the combination of Chaos Qi and some extreme darkness rule when the Universe first opened. It contained the supreme characteristics of ’heaviness’, ’devouring’, and ’breaking Laws’, making it one of the ultimate Materials for forging supreme divine weapons! Even a piece the size of a fingernail was enough to cause beings at the level of immortals and gods to fight over it!

And here, there was actually a piece the size of a fist!

No wonder the chaos ancestral talisman was so hungry! The Chaos and darkness Origins contained in this item were a great supplement for the talisman!

Ye Chen suppressed the excitement in his heart and didn’t step forward immediately. Things of the Demon Race would never be easily taken away. His Divine Sense carefully scanned the entire hall, especially around that crystal container.

As expected! He discovered several extremely fine energy threads at the bottom of the container, almost merging with the ground, which were connected to the inactive Formation in the center of the hall. Once the container was moved or destroyed, it would likely trigger some unknown Restriction or alarm!

Furthermore, he could feel that the crystal container itself was extremely sturdy and contained a type of backlash energy.

Tricky!

Ye Chen’s brow furrowed as his brain worked rapidly. Forcing it open was too risky. Try to refine it? With such a divine material and his current strength, it was impossible to refine and subdue it in a short time.

Just as he was at his wits’ end, his gaze swept over the uniform-style Demon Blades held tightly in the hands of those Demon Race corpses in the hall. Although these blades had lost their spirituality, their material seemed to be of the same source as the Formation base... An idea took shape in his mind.

He cautiously walked to a Demon Race corpse further from the Formation and took the Demon Blade from its hand. Then, he retreated to the entrance, circulated his Chaos Gang Qi to simulate a trace of pure Devilish Qi (Chaos transforming into all laws) he had sensed earlier from the remains, and poured it into the Demon Blade. Then, he forcefully threw the Demon Blade toward the inactive Formation base in the center of the hall!

Whoosh!

The Demon Blade turned into a streak of black light, accurately shooting toward the Formation core!

Just as the Demon Blade was about to touch the Formation base—

Buzz!

That Formation, which had been silent for countless millennia, was suddenly triggered by the same-source energy and lit up with a faint ghostly light! Although it couldn’t fully start, several main energy circuits were instantly activated!

And almost simultaneously, those energy threads connected to the crystal container shone brightly!

Crack!

Countless fine cracks suddenly appeared on the surface of the crystal container! A terrifying energy fluctuation erupted from inside the container! The dark purple liquid soaking the primal dark god iron instantly boiled and evaporated!

“Not good! It’s a self-destruct Restriction!” Ye Chen’s expression changed, and his figure retreated violently!

However, at the critical moment just as the container was about to completely explode and destroy the primal dark god iron along with it—

Another change occurred!

The fist-sized primal dark god iron seemed to be provoked by this sudden energy impact, and the dark gold patterns on its surface suddenly lit up! A terrifying suction that seemed capable of suppressing the heavens and devouring all Daos erupted from within the god iron!

Boom—!!!

All the residual Devilish Qi in the hall, the energy triggered by the Formation, and even the shockwave from the container’s explosion were all crazily swallowed by the primal dark god iron in an instant, like a hundred rivers returning to the sea!

In just a single breath, all the rampaging energy in the hall was swallowed whole! Even the shards of the crystal container turned into powder as they approached the god iron and were absorbed by it!

The god iron suspended in mid-air, the dark gold patterns on its surface flowing slowly. As if it had eaten its fill, the aura it emitted became deeper and more restrained, and even the distortion of the surrounding space calmed down.

The self-destruct Restriction had actually been ’eaten’ by it!

Ye Chen watched dumbfoundedly, then felt wild joy in his heart! This primal dark god iron was truly extraordinary!

He no longer hesitated and immediately stepped forward to try and collect it. He didn’t dare touch it directly with his hand but instead activated the chaos ancestral talisman to emit a wisp of pure Chaos Origin Qi, which slowly wrapped around the god iron like a ribbon.

Sensing a higher-level power of the same source, the primal dark god iron vibrated slightly and didn’t resist. Instead, it sent a trace of friendly intent, allowing the Chaos Qi to envelop it. It then slowly flew toward Ye Chen and finally entered his Qi Sea, suspending next to the chaos ancestral talisman to be nurtured by the Chaos airflow.

Success!

Ye Chen breathed a long sigh of relief, his excitement beyond words. Obtaining this piece of primal dark god iron, even if he couldn’t refine it for now, would surely be a major trump card in the future! Moreover, with the chaos ancestral talisman nurturing it, the item’s spirituality would gradually recover and become more compatible with him.

He didn’t dare stay long. After a quick scan to confirm there were no other valuable and safe items to take, he immediately exited the black spire.

However, just as he stepped out of the tower door, before he could even breathe a sigh of relief, a strong sense of crisis suddenly descended!

Buzz!

The space not far ahead rippled like water, and a figure slowly stepped out from it!

It was a figure wearing tattered blood-colored robes, its face hidden in the shadows of a hood. The aura it emitted was cold, bloody, and carried a thick Law of Death. It had actually reached the Tiangang Realm! Furthermore, its energy characteristics were faintly similar to those Demon Race corpses in the battlefield!

It looked up, two points of crimson light lighting up under the hood, locking onto Ye Chen. A raspy voice like sandpaper rubbing together, filled with bone-deep killing intent, slowly rang out:

“The one who steals the holy object... must die!”