The Myriad Laws Abyss was not truly an abyss, but an independent pocket realm carved out by a mighty expert of the Ye Clan through supreme divine powers.
Within it, there was neither sky nor earth, only countless drifting spheres of light. Every sphere contained a cultivation manual or divine technique powerful enough to stir up winds of blood and rains of gore in the outside world. From the most basic Qi Guiding Art to supreme scriptures pointing straight toward the great Dao of an Immortal King, even several ancient fragments said to originate from the universe's first dawn and hold the secrets of Immortal Emperors—all were displayed here.
Ye Chen appeared at the entrance to the Myriad Laws Abyss. Emperor Xuanwu followed him like a shadow, silently keeping watch thirty feet behind him—a distance that allowed him to respond to any sudden danger without disturbing Ye Chen.
"Greetings, Young Master Chen!"
The guardians of the Myriad Laws Abyss were not living people, but two ancient war puppets clad in bronze armor, each a thousand feet tall. Sensing Ye Chen's aura, their eyes lit up scarlet, and they dropped to one knee with a dull sound like metal grinding against metal. They had been forged by a Ye Clan ancestor obsessed with puppetry, and their strength rivaled that of a peak Immortal King. They had guarded this place for untold epochs.
"Rise." Ye Chen waved a hand casually and stepped inside.
Before him lay an ocean of light. As though alive, countless spheres containing cultivation arts sensed the vast, pure primordial aura emanating from Ye Chen and eagerly flew toward him. They shone with gentle light, as if showing themselves off, longing to be chosen.
A scripture wreathed entirely in golden flames flew before Ye Chen. Its title, "Great Sun Heaven-Burning Art," gleamed brilliantly, and the waves of heat it released could melt stars.
"No. Too fierce and dry. It doesn't suit my primordial Dao." Ye Chen glanced at it. As though doused with a basin of cold water, the golden-flamed scripture instantly dimmed and flew away in wounded dejection.
Another book, made of bone and shrouded in sinister ghostly qi, approached. Countless phantoms of vengeful souls flickered across it. Its name was "Nine Nether Soul-Devouring Record."
"Too much yin qi. Just looking at it feels unlucky." Ye Chen frowned slightly. The bone book shuddered, instantly reined in its ghostly qi, and shot back into the depths with a whoosh, not daring to show itself again.
He strolled through the sea of light, his gaze passing over cultivation arts that could drive the outside world mad. Yet he looked as though he were selecting ordinary goods from a shelf, with a hint of pickiness and waning interest.
"Supreme Forgetting Emotions Record," "Divine Elephant Suppressing Prison Force," "Void Scripture," "Chaos Azure Lotus Art"... He had already browsed most of these supreme arts renowned throughout the heavens and myriad worlds, and had even cultivated many of them to their utmost limits. To him, they were riddles whose answers had long since been revealed. They had lost their novelty.
"Uncle Xuan, tell me, no matter how exquisite these cultivation arts and divine techniques are, don't their roots all stem from the three thousand great Daos inherent to this universe?" Ye Chen casually caught a silver sphere giving off spatial fluctuations as it tried to slip past his eyes, toying with it as he asked.
Emperor Xuanwu pondered for a moment before replying, "You have a discerning eye, young master. Ten thousand changes never stray from their root. These arts were all created by sages of earlier generations who observed the universe's laws and combined them with their own insights. In essence, they are applications and interpretations of existing great Daos."
"So they're all just patching and tinkering within an existing framework, right?" Ye Chen exerted a little pressure with his fingertips. With a snap, the silver sphere shattered into pure fragments of spatial law, which the Primordial Chaos Purple Qi within him quietly absorbed. "Can't there be something outside that framework?"
A trace of a complicated smile appeared on Emperor Xuanwu's honest face. "Outside the framework? Young master, perhaps that would be 'nothingness,' or 'the void'—a realm where even concepts do not exist. Or perhaps..." He paused, lowering his voice. "That is precisely what the clan chief and the ancestors have been searching for all along."
Ye Chen sank into thought. His father and those ancestors always seemed to be planning something, searching for something. Aside from affection, their gazes always held a deeper meaning he could not fully understand. It was more than the hope they placed in a younger generation. It was more like they were waiting for some sort of... opening?
He shook his head, casting aside those tangled thoughts. It was far too early to think about such things. Right now, he only wanted to find some amusement.
Deep within the Myriad Laws Abyss lay a relatively quiet region. There were few spheres of light here, and most were dim, some even damaged. They contained cultivation arts the Ye Clan had collected while conquering various great worlds—arts of unknown origin, impossible to identify, or with cultivation requirements so harsh that some were considered defective. This region was known as the "Remnant Abyss."
For some inexplicable reason, Ye Chen found himself walking into it.
Unlike the lively spheres outside, most of those in the Remnant Abyss were lifeless and still. Ye Chen's gaze wandered aimlessly over them when, suddenly, the Primordial Chaos Purple Qi that had been circulating steadily within him stirred ever so slightly.
Hm?
Ye Chen stopped and looked in the direction of that faint sensation. In a corner of the Remnant Abyss, an almost completely transparent sphere floated silently, so inconspicuous that it was nearly impossible to notice without looking closely. Inside seemed to be a fragment of a page, made of neither metal nor jade, neither paper nor silk. It was inscribed with strange, twisted symbols that were utterly incomprehensible.
It emitted no energy fluctuations, nor did any Dao resonance flow through it. It was like a lifeless object.
Yet Ye Chen's Primordial Immortal Body clearly sensed the "strangeness" that set it utterly apart from everything around it.
"What is this?" Ye Chen reached out and drew the transparent sphere toward him. It felt cold in his hand and showed no reaction.
Emperor Xuanwu glanced at it from beside him and shook his head. "This object is called the 'Nameless Fragment.' Its origins can no longer be traced. It is said that an ancestor brought it back from a perilous land at the universe's remote frontier, but over countless epochs, no one has unraveled its mysteries or managed to destroy it. Since it had no value, it was left here."
"No one has unraveled it?" Ye Chen's interest stirred. Something even the Immortal Emperor ancestors couldn't see through?
He tried sending a thread of divine sense into it, but it was like a stone sinking into the sea. The fragment showed no response. Then he fed in a wisp of Primordial Chaos Purple Qi. This time, the fragment seemed to light up slightly, but the glow vanished in an instant, leaving it unchanged.
"Interesting." Rather than feeling disappointed, Ye Chen's lips curved into a smile. At last, something different. "Uncle Xuan, I'm taking this."
"If you like it, young master, take it." Naturally, Emperor Xuanwu had no objection. The fragment had been in the Ye Clan's possession for countless years. If it truly posed any danger, it would have been dealt with long ago. Since the young master found it intriguing, there was no harm in letting him take it to play with.
Ye Chen put away the transparent sphere and was about to leave the Remnant Abyss when suddenly—
BOOM!!!
The entire Myriad Laws Abyss—no, the entire Ancestral Grounds of the Ye Clan—shook violently without warning!
The tremor did not come from the physical world. It seemed to originate in the laws, in the great Dao itself! As though a pair of invisible hands had savagely shaken this stretch of spacetime, which had remained fixed for countless ages.
"What's happening?"
"An enemy attack?!"
Within the Myriad Laws Abyss, countless spheres of cultivation arts darted about wildly, their light flickering. The two bronze war puppets instantly entered battle readiness, their eyes blazing red as terrifying auras surged into the sky.
Emperor Xuanwu's expression changed drastically. He took a single step forward and was already standing in front of Ye—
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