System Possession, One Sword Shocks the Gods

263: The gate to tranquility, with chaos as the key.The bone hall was silent.

Only the ghostly blue soul fire burning in the eye sockets of the Dragon skull on the dome cast a cold, flickering light, illuminating the towering bone gate in the center of the hall, which was made of flowing dark gray energy.

The gate was tightly shut, and the ancient runes carved upon it writhed slowly like living creatures, emitting a heart-palpitating aura of return to silence.

This aura was pure and vast, as if it were the source and destination of all ”end” and ”perishing” Laws within the entire Valley of Buried Soldiers, and even the wider world.

Merely standing before the gate, Qing Lin felt her own life aura fluctuating violently, as if it could be triggered at any moment, leading toward decay and ending.

She had to exert her Life Law with all her might just to barely resist this omnipresent erosion.

Ye Chen’s state was even more peculiar.

When the demon seal on his chest felt the aura of return to silence coming from the gate—which was of the same Origin but even more fundamental—it was not suppressed, but instead transmitted a throbbing and longing that felt almost like a pilgrimage.

The power of balance after its mutation circulated autonomously, helping him resist most of the negative effects of the power of return to silence, and even slowly and greedily absorbing the wisps of pure Qi of return to silence dissipating from the gate to replenish himself and stabilize that fragile balance.

The ”broken thought” fragment in his hand shone with intense black light, conveying an incredibly clear thought—the source core is behind the gate!

But how to open this gate?

Ye Chen tried to step forward and reached out to touch the flowing dark gray energy.

As soon as his fingertips touched it, a force of unparalleled power, as if it could annihilate all things in an instant, surged forth, attempting to melt him and his Divine Soul away completely!

He let out a muffled groan as his Chaos Qi burst forth autonomously, fiercely resisting the power of return to silence, allowing him to barely pull his finger back; however, his fingertip was already covered in a layer of gray Death Qi that could not be dispelled for a long time.

”What a powerful Seal!” Ye Chen’s expression was grave.

The power of the Seal on this gate far exceeded his imagination and could by no means be broken by brute force.

Attacking it by force would likely trigger a backlash from the entire source core’s power, with unimaginable consequences.

Qing Lin carefully observed the runes on the gate, her delicate brows furrowed: ”These runes... are of the same Origin as the runes on the stone tablet at the bottom of the Pool of Origin in our Holy Land, but they are more complex and profound.”

”They seem to constitute an extremely ancient contract or... authentication mechanism.”

”Those who are not recognized cannot open it.”

”Authentication?” Ye Chen’s heart stirred, and he looked at the ”broken thought” fragment in his hand again.

Could Senior Yu have left this fragment merely as a guide?

He tried bringing the ”broken thought” fragment closer to the gate.

”Hum!”

The black light of the fragment grew brighter, resonating strongly with the aura of return to silence on the gate, causing the gate to vibrate slightly, but the heavy Seal did not open.

It seemed that this fragment was a part of the ”key,” but not the whole thing.

”What else is needed?” Ye Chen fell into deep thought.

The information in Yu’s Legacy did not mention a specific method for opening it.

His gaze swept over the writhing ancient runes again, and his consciousness sank into them, attempting to understand and communicate with them using his Chaos will.

In an instant, countless fragments of information flooded his mind—these were expositions on ”ending,” the true meaning of ”return to silence,” and the trajectory of the Laws regarding how everything in the Universe moves from order to disorder, ultimately turning into the Dao and becoming void...

These pieces of information were cold and dead, seemingly incompatible with his own Dao of Chaos, which was full of ”vitality” and ”inclusivity.”

But when he tried to parse and encompass these true meanings of return to silence from the perspective of Chaos, a marvelous chemical reaction occurred.

Chaos can give birth to all things, and it can also contain the ending of all Laws!

This return to silence is merely an extremely special ”facet” that Chaos can derive!

He no longer resisted this information; instead, he opened his mind and took the initiative to use his own Chaos Origin to simulate and derive that Concept of ”return to silence”!

Gradually, the aura around him began to change.

The originally vast and uncertain Chaos Qi began to retract inward, becoming deep and reserved, as if it were about to return to eternal silence.

The demon seal on his chest also stopped its agitation, and its dark gray luster became increasingly compatible with the aura of the gate.

He slowly raised his right hand, not holding the ”broken thought” fragment, but pointing his fingers like a sword, and at his fingertips, a point of extreme, dark Chaos-colored light that seemed capable of devouring all light and heat began to condense.

This was not simply the power of return to silence, nor was it pure Chaos Qi; it was a brand-new Chaos return to silence Sword Qi, derived from his own Chaos as the foundation after simulating and encompassing the true meaning of return to silence, existing between ”existence” and ”nothingness”!

Meanwhile, the ”broken thought” fragment in his left hand seemed to be summoned, automatically flying up and merging into that point of dark Chaos-colored light at his right fingertips!

”Clang!”

A sword hum that seemed to come from the ancient primordial era rang out from that point of light!

The dark Chaos-colored light suddenly stretched and condensed, transforming into a phantom of an ancient sword about three feet long, with a dark body that seemed capable of devouring even light!

On the sword body, one could faintly see the same runes as those on the gate flowing, emitting a Sword Intent of return to silence that originated from the same source as the gate, yet contained an additional Concept of Chaos’s inclusivity!

This sword shadow was both a sublimation of the ”broken thought” fragment and a manifestation of the Fusion of Ye Chen’s own Chaos and the true meaning of return to silence!

Holding this Chaos return to silence sword shadow, Ye Chen looked at the bone gate with a determined gaze.

He felt an unprecedentedly close connection between the sword shadow in his hand and the gate before him.

”So that’s how it is... The key to opening this gate is not an external object, but... a Dao of the same Origin!” Ye Chen realized, ”Only those who have comprehended the true meaning of return to silence and can carry and master it with their own Dao are qualified to inherit this power of the source core!”

He hesitated no longer, stepped forward, raised the Chaos return to silence sword shadow in his hand, and gently thrust it toward the tightly shut bone gate.

There was no earth-shattering momentum; the sword shadow silently submerged into the flowing dark gray energy.

The next moment—

”Hum... Rumble...”

The entire bone hall began to shake violently!

On the gate, the countless writhing ancient runes suddenly lit up, erupting with brilliant dark gray radiance!

The tightly shut gate began to slowly open inward from the central seam!

A pure aura of return to silence, countless times more vast and majestic than before, surged out from the gradually opening crack in the gate like a primordial beast that had slept for eons!

Qing Lin’s face turned pale, and she retreated repeatedly, her life barrier teetering under this aura.

Ye Chen bore the brunt of it, but holding the Chaos return to silence sword shadow, with an aura of the same Origin radiating from his body, he stood firm in the torrent of aura like a stabilizing pillar.

The demon seal on his chest frantically absorbed this pure power of the Origin, and its dark gray luster became increasingly deep and stable; the rotation speed of the vortex at its center even slowed down, as if it had fallen into a deep sleep after being well-fed, its balance more stable than ever before!

Under the scouring and nourishment of this power of the Origin of return to silence, his chaos minor world also began to undergo earth-shattering changes.

The originally fractured sky and earth were rapidly repaired and consolidated, and the space became more vast and resilient.

The three-leaved Chaos seedling in the center grew at a speed visible to the naked eye, as the fourth and fifth leaves, containing the Dao patterns of return to silence, unfolded, and the entire seedling emitted a strange radiance where grayness and vitality coexisted!

The gate opened completely.

The scene behind the gate came into view.

It was not some magnificent Treasure Trove, but a boundless and eternal darkness.

In the very center of that darkness, a fist-sized, irregular, multi-faceted crystal was suspended.

The crystal was entirely dark gray, and inside, it seemed as if scenes of countless nebulae being born and perishing, and all things returning to the void, were flowing.

It floated there quietly, as if it were the embodiment of the entire ”ending” rule, the final destination of all things.

The source core of silence!

The key fragment representing ”ending and return to silence” finally appeared before Ye Chen!

However, just as Ye Chen was preparing to step inside and collect this long-desired source core—

A sudden change occurred!

The suspended source core of silence trembled violently, and the scenes flowing inside it suddenly accelerated!

A cold, indifferent consciousness of the source core, as if devoid of any emotion and containing only the absolute will of ”ending,” descended with a boom like an awakening ancient deity, firmly locking onto Ye Chen, who was holding the sword shadow and attempting to approach!

To obtain the source core, it seemed one still needed to pass this final... test from the source core itself!