Seal of Chaos

Seal of Chaos

At this moment, Xiao Liang recalled the terrifying sight he had glimpsed from that apocalyptic world after opening the passage.

The entire world had fallen into darkness. The boundary between heaven and earth no longer existed; only ruins floating in the void proved that civilization had once existed there.

Unlike the Resident Evil World, where survivors still remained, this world had sunk into absolute deathly silence.

Nothing existed there but destruction itself.

The supreme deity who had lent him power was not, as ordinary people imagined, some transcendent figure seated high upon a heavenly throne.

Its true form could not be described as humanoid or beast-like, like some ancient totem. It was an utterly twisted, frantically writhing mass of strange flesh!

That bizarre lump of flesh was incomparably enormous. From afar, it looked exactly like a gigantic planet.

A vague yet savage enormous mouth grew upon the flesh planet, dripping thick mucus that even corroded holes through the black void.

Its surface was also covered in a dense layer of "cilia" that swayed like seaweed.

Yet upon closer inspection, those so-called "cilia" were all irregular arms and legs, hooves, fins, and even fleshy tentacles.

To his horror, Xiao Liang discovered that he could find the traits of every living thing he knew upon that flesh planet, while what he could comprehend was only an infinitesimal part of it.

It was as though he could not bear witness to the grandeur and shock contained within it.

That fleeting glimpse across endless worlds had sent Xiao Liang's sanity plummeting. His emotions were instantly washed away, nearly reduced to nothing.

And he had unconsciously begun chanting a hymn, with no room whatsoever for resistance.

Had the supernatural passage that required his sanity to sustain it not quietly closed, Xiao Liang suspected he would have continued chanting in that bizarre state forever.

Chaos, idiocy, madness!

Yet it also carried an indescribably strange sense of divinity, an unimaginably pure vitality, and a power of creation capable of reversing life and death!

It was absolutely not some lowly beast, monster, or fiend.

Other than the word god, Xiao Liang could not think of any second word to describe it.

When Xiao Liang prayed to it in his desperate plight, that strange deity had actually shared its power with immense generosity!

No, that power had not been lent out deliberately. Xiao Liang even felt that he had never truly drawn its attention at all.

Like a star in nature radiating light, it naturally released endless vitality.

When Xiao Liang briefly opened the passage with his supernatural ability, a trace of that insignificant vitality leaked through.

It not only instantly replenished the blood essence and lifespan Xiao Liang had lost, but nearly burst him apart in the end!

But clearly, miracles and magic did not come without a price.

Xiao Liang covered the strange mark behind his ear, his heart dark as though storm clouds hung overhead. No matter how he looked at it, it resembled a mark.

Perhaps one day, the God of Chaos would use this mark to notice him, a little snack from another world, and decide to see how he tasted.

"Ghost Shadow... are you all right?"

"The Golden Crow Sun-Refining Divine Art is suited to cultivators with fire Spirit Roots. I never cultivated it myself, so I didn't know the Sun True Fire consumed so much..."

Qin Long had also seen the mark behind Xiao Liang's ear and instinctively connected it with his earlier display, as though a god had descended into the world.

She then pursed her lips and quietly explained why she had given him the jade slip earlier.

When she had faced possession, she had been utterly frantic and treated Xiao Liang as a lifesaving straw. She had offered him a true inheritance technique, only for it to be something someone at the Early Qi Refining Stage simply could not handle.

Had it been another cultivator, she probably would have gotten them killed without even leaving a corpse behind.

Xiao Liang weakly waved a hand and glanced at her. Her eyes held a rather sincere and serious expression. If it was not an act, then this woman at least had some conscience.

"For now... I should be not dead."

Xiao Liang casually brushed it off, only to draw mockery from the Hundred Tribulations Daoist beside him.

"Heh heh, little devil, though I don't know what method you used to borrow that power, based on this old ancestor's centuries of experience roaming the cultivation world, you may already have become some mighty being's puppet pawn."

"If you die suddenly soon, perhaps our oath won't need to last a full hundred years."

By the end, the Hundred Tribulations Daoist's eyes gleamed strangely, and the corners of his mouth curled upward. Little thing, let's see how much longer you can keep jumping around.

Xiao Liang shot the suddenly crazed spirit a disdainful glance. "My danger is your danger now. Are you sure you should look so happy?"

The Hundred Tribulations Daoist's wide grin vanished, his good mood instantly ruined beyond recognition.

Then the Hundred Tribulations Daoist encountered something that soured his mood even further.

"Little devil, what are you doing?"

Looking at the large hand extended before him, the Hundred Tribulations Daoist's Golden Core bobbed up and down as it gave an uneasy, puzzled voice.

"The treasures in the Earthfire Hall should be in your possession. Hand them over."

Xiao Liang held out his hand and spoke calmly.

"What treasures? This old ancestor has nothing left but a damaged Golden Core. The Earthfire Hall is only so large; it was emptied long ago by the cultivators of that era."

The Hundred Tribulations Daoist sounded deeply regretful, his voice filled with resentment.

Could there really be no treasure? Even Qin Long, who was listening nearby, wavered slightly.

Yet Xiao Liang had no intention of withdrawing his hand. As expected of an old demon who had lived for years. What an actor.

"This isn't a negotiation, old ghost. I'm ordering you."

"You..."

The Hundred Tribulations Daoist instantly felt the power of the oath. This command would not endanger his life, so he could not resist. He could only helplessly send a thread of spiritual power toward a certain spot on his former remains.

Crack!

A uniquely designed bracelet suddenly detached from the ribs of the remains and floated into the air.

Old bastard, you really did drop some loot.

Xiao Liang curled his lip and, beneath the Hundred Tribulations Daoist's pained gaze, grabbed the bracelet in his palm.

"This is called the Heaven-Earth Bracelet, a third-rank spatial artifact. It can hold an entire mountain, whether living things or dead objects. It is this old ancestor's proud creation; even ordinary Golden Core cultivators cannot afford it."

The Hundred Tribulations Daoist listlessly introduced it from the side, though a trace of pride naturally emerged by the end.

Xiao Liang gave a soft sound of surprise. Only then did he recall that the old ghost had called himself a third-rank artifact refiner before, an exceedingly rare and prestigious profession in the cultivation world.

He then tried to send his spiritual power into the Heaven-Earth Bracelet, only to be blocked by a layer of array markings. Two or three attempts at forcing his way through were like an ant trying to shake a tree. Clearly, something this high-end would not be so easily opened.

The Hundred Tribulations Daoist looked disdainful, yet under Xiao Liang's gaze, he had no choice but to remove the ownership restriction from the third-rank spatial artifact.

The instant Xiao Liang's spiritual power entered the Heaven-Earth Bracelet, the glittering treasures before him seemed to dazzle his vision. He nearly wept.

(End of chapter)