Chen Ran stood at the center of Zeroing Laboratory.
This was no longer a cold steel chamber, but had been transformed into an enormous circular altar.
The altar floor was engraved with divination runes from the most ancient era of Human Civilization.
Before him floated the enormous Demon God Heart, as vast as a mountain.
It had been sealed beneath layer upon layer of powerful restrictions, yet wisps of chaotic aura still leaked from it, warping the surrounding light and laws.
"Executor, the Bloody Wanted List within the Primordial World has been fully launched."
Youchao Shi stood behind him, his expression complicated.
"The alliance has gained immense prestige as a result, and the contribution point system has initially won recognition from every faction."
"But..."
He paused.
"The price has also been tremendous."
"Many of those wanted are elders or even core disciples of major factions. To protect themselves, the clans and sects they belong to have had no choice but to purge their own ranks."
"The entire Primordial World is in turmoil. Old grudges and fresh blood debts have become entangled, turning everything into a complete mess."
Chen Ran did not turn around.
He knew.
This was the unavoidable pain of cutting away poisoned flesh.
Unless these festering wounds were lanced, the alliance could never truly unite.
"Have the disciples of the Western Teachings enter the world to deliver the dead and quell the resentment."
Chen Ran gave the order.
"Tell them that the merit they accumulate can also be exchanged for contribution points."
Youchao Shi's eyes lit up.
This move would not only soothe the people, but also bind the Western Teachings more tightly to the alliance's war chariot.
"Yes."
He accepted the order and departed.
Only Chen Ran and a group of artifact-refining grandmasters led by Taiyi Zhenren remained in the laboratory.
"Tell me the situation."
Chen Ran's gaze shifted from the heart and fell upon Taiyi Zhenren.
Taiyi Zhenren's face was filled with frustration and confusion.
He pointed at a pile of gray powder on a jade platform beside him.
"Executor, we failed."
"This is the Nine Heavens Breathing Soil, an innate spiritual treasure, the mother of all things."
"We tried using it to analyze a Demon God finger bone, hoping to see whether we could cultivate something from it."
"But..."
Taiyi Zhenren pointed at the pile of powder, his voice strained.
"That finger bone directly devoured all the vitality and laws within the Nine Heavens Breathing Soil."
"Then it turned into dust as well."
"It was as though... it refused to acknowledge any law of our world and instinctively destroyed anything that tried to come into contact with it."
Bai Ze also stepped forward and added,
"We encountered the same problem using the demon race's secret blood-refining art."
"The Demon God Blood devoured all Demon Power that attempted to refine it, then vanished together with that Demon Power."
"These materials are like deadly poison."
"We are holding a mountain of gold, yet cannot even pick up a single piece."
All the artifact refiners lowered their heads.
They were the foremost experts in the Primordial World, yet they were helpless before these "materials" from chaos.
All the joy of dismembering the Demon God vanished at that moment.
These things simply could not be used.
They were like objects from another dimension, utterly incompatible with everything in the Primordial World.
"I understand."
Chen Ran stepped forward without looking at the failed samples.
His gaze returned to the massive Demon God Heart.
"You are all wrong."
His words made everyone raise their heads.
"You are using the laws of the Primordial World to analyze creations of chaos."
"It is like trying to scoop up water itself with a net."
"The direction was wrong from the very beginning."
Guang Chengzi could not help speaking up.
"Then what does the Executor believe we should do?"
"If we do not use our laws, are there other laws we can use?"
Chen Ran raised one finger.
He pointed at the Demon God Heart.
"Yes."
"Use its own."
Everyone froze.
Use chaos to deal with chaos?
"Executor, you mean...?"
Taiyi Zhenren asked uncertainly.
"Build a Chaos Crucible."
A nearly mad light flashed in Chen Ran's eyes.
"Throw a piece of Demon God Bone into it."
"Then add a piece of Demon God Blood."
"Let them collide and devour each other within it."
"We will not interfere or guide them."
"We will do only one thing."
"Observe."
"Observe the process of their annihilation and record every smallest change in energy."
"Since we cannot understand chaos, then let chaos reveal the answer to us itself!"
The idea made every great power present feel their scalps tingle.
It was too insane.
Placing the two most unstable and dangerous things together.
This was no crucible at all. It was a bomb that could blow the entire fleet into the sky at any moment!
"No!"
Guang Chengzi immediately objected.
"This is far too dangerous! If it loses control, you and I will both be reduced to ashes!"
"Dangerous?"
Chen Ran asked in return.
"Is staying where we are, waiting for our energy to run out and for the enemy to come knocking, not dangerous?"
"We have no time left."
"Either perish in silence."
"Or find a glimmer of hope amid the explosion!"
His words left Guang Chengzi speechless.
Nuwa's will descended.
She said nothing, merely unfolding the Map of Mountains and Rivers to envelop the entire laboratory.
The saint expressed her support through action.
With the saint's guarantee, no one dared object again.
A colossal gamble began.
A specialized vessel was constructed by the combined efforts of the Chan Sect, the Jie Sect, and the human race, reinforced with countless restrictions and formations.
Two fist-sized pieces of Demon God material, kept under strict surveillance, were carefully placed inside.
One was a bone filled with an aura of destruction.
The other was blood brimming with savage energy.
The instant they made contact.
There was no earth-shattering explosion.
The entire crucible fell into an eerie, absolute silence.
All detection artifacts failed at once.
All divine senses were swallowed by an invisible force.
The interior of the crucible became an absolute "nothing."
Only the Heavenly Derivation Matrix before Chen Ran, representing the highest computing power of Human Civilization, continued flashing madly.
Through the tiniest rune marks implanted beforehand into the cores of the materials.
It recorded everything occurring within that "nothing."
Chen Ran stared fixedly at the constantly leaping stream of data that no one could understand.
At that moment, his divine soul connected with the entire Heavenly Derivation Matrix.
He used his own will as the crucible's "fire."
He used his own civilization to comprehend the chaos that did not belong to this world.
Time passed second by second.
Chen Ran's face grew increasingly pale.
Blood even seeped from his seven apertures.
Forcibly analyzing the laws of chaos placed an unimaginable burden upon his divine soul.
Just as his consciousness was about to be swallowed by that endless void.
On the light screen.
A new, clear line of text was finally deciphered.
[The basic unit of chaos has been successfully analyzed... designated as "Singularity."] [Characteristics of "Singularity": devouring, unification.] [Calculating potential applications of "Singularity"...] [Application One: Create "Return-to-Void" weapons, capable of returning all matter and laws to their most primordial state of chaos.] [Application Two: Construct a Chaos Engine, capable of drawing inexhaustible energy directly from chaotic aura.]
At the sight of those words, Chen Ran's nearly collapsed body jolted violently.
An unprecedented light erupted from his eyes.
They had succeeded!
They had found the first key to unlock chaos's treasury!
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