Chapter 1798: Chapter 1665: Ancient Star
This was a desolate, ruined planet.
The earth looked as if it had been soaked in blood, a reddish-brown, cold, hard and lifeless. Everywhere the eye fell was barren and empty, with scattered gigantic rocks standing on the ground, like rows of tombstones stretching into the distance.
The light between heaven and earth was dim, all in a murky haze, as though a dead, stagnant dusk was shrouded in faint black mist, stirring up a sense of ominous foreboding in one’s heart.
"Judging from the seven or eight small Transmission Array Platforms we passed earlier, we’re indeed no longer in that world—or rather, no longer on that vibrant, living planet."
The Bai Yan wolf’s face was grim as it kept running across this dry, icy land.
Ye Fan also wanted to quickly figure out the environment he was currently in, and began to search aimlessly, hoping to obtain some useful information.
"This is..."
Ye Fan’s eyes abruptly narrowed. Not far ahead of him, half a skull was lying quietly on the desolate, rock-hard ground.
This half skull was very similar to that of a human, yet it was definitely not a Human skull—most likely something left behind by Human-shaped creatures.
Because this half skull was actually a ghostly blue, like metal, and no one knew how many tens of thousands of years it had existed without weathering away. Its toughness was evident.
"Awooo..."
Just as Ye Fan was about to pick up the half skull for a closer look, a howl from the Bai Yan wolf suddenly sounded in his ears. Immediately after, the Bai Yan wolf, as if it had seen a ghost, cried out in a fluster, "Ye, hurry over, come see what this King has discovered!"
Hm?
Ye Fan’s heart stirred. With a wave of his large hand, he swept the half skull into his sleeve, then walked toward where the Bai Yan wolf was.
So long as this fellow hadn’t run into danger, it was fine. Here, they had plenty of time.
Before he even reached it, Ye Fan saw the Bai Yan wolf circling around a massive boulder. That boulder was also ocher-red, as if it had been drenched in countless amounts of fresh blood, emanating a chilling murderous aura.
"There are words on this boulder. It’s your Human Race’s Elder Gu script. Come take a look—I don’t recognize it."
Seeing Ye Fan approach, the Bai Yan wolf led him straight to the other side of the boulder, its expression solemn as it spoke.
Walking around to the far side of the boulder, Ye Fan clearly saw two enormous Elder Gu characters carved into the stone. Each character was five to six meters tall, strokes like iron hooks and silver strokes, vigorous and forceful, grand and imposing, like two enraged dragons coiling together.
Ye Fan carefully studied them for a long while, discovering that the second character was very close to the "Gu" character currently in use, while the first character really did look like some ghost talisman—extremely difficult to make out.
The Bai Yan wolf stared at him anxiously, urging non-stop, "Recognize it yet? What the hell are these two ghost talismans supposed to be?"
Ye Fan shook his head and said, "The calligraphy is too ancient. I only recognize one of them—it should be the ’Gu’ for ’ancient’. The other one is simply impossible to identify. The eras are too far apart; the script has changed a great deal."
"Drum? This big rock is a drum?"
The Bai Yan wolf twisted its big paw into a strange angle to scratch the back of its head, mumbling in puzzlement.
Veins popped on Ye Fan’s forehead. He snapped, "More like a gong. It’s the ’Gu’ for ’ancient’, not the drum you beat."
"You should’ve said so earlier, would’ve saved this King the misunderstanding."
The Bai Yan wolf’s mouth stayed stubborn as a dead duck’s, even blaming Ye Fan for not making it clear.
Wooo, wooo! Wooo, wooo!
At that moment, Ye Fan suddenly heard waves of ghostly wails drifting closer from afar.
The Bai Yan wolf also alertly looked toward the direction of the sound, seeming faintly uneasy, though it didn’t show it on the surface.
However, Ye Fan had been with it for too long; just from its eyes, he could guess what it was thinking inside.
Right now, Ye Fan himself also felt a faint sense of oppression and panic in his heart, as if these ghostly wails really foretold the arrival of some terrifying Ghost.
The ghostly crying was shrill and piercing, quickly growing louder and louder, and at this moment Ye Fan finally saw what was actually causing that noise.
In the distance, thick, ink-black miasma was sweeping across the land, and that gale alone would absolutely be enough to tear an ordinary person into shreds in the sky.
"Death Aura?"
Ye Fan’s heart gave a violent thump. He was far too familiar with this aura. Back in the Trial Arena, he had slain three Human-shaped creatures, and those Human-shaped creatures all carried this same dense Death Aura on them.
Aside from the overwhelming Death Aura, there was also a sky-piercing killing intent, all churning and entangled within that storm of black mist.
"Heavens, don’t tell me we got transported straight into the lair of the Human-shaped creatures? How can the Death Aura be this thick?"
The Bai Yan wolf bared its teeth uneasily, every strand of its white fur standing on end, looking as if it were fully prepared for battle.
"Clang!"
A long spear crackling with lightning appeared in Ye Fan’s hand as well. He focused his mind and stood on guard, strongly suspecting that some powerful Human-shaped creature lurked within this black fog.
However—
The black mist, surging like a raging sea, halted a hundred meters away from the massive stone, as if blocked by some invisible Barrier.
Only then did Ye Fan notice that the two Elder Gu characters on the stone behind him were emitting a blood-red light, and it was precisely this light that was stopping the black mist from advancing.
"Could this actually be a Spiritual Treasure?"
Realizing this, Bai Yan wolf’s drool immediately flowed out; it even forgot to be afraid. One streak of Mystic Light after another shot out as it tried to put the giant Stone away.
However—
Even after it worked itself to the point of foaming at the mouth, the stone remained as steady as Taishan, not budging in the slightest.
"Stop wasting your strength. This stone does indeed possess this kind of Divine Power, but it’s definitely not a Spiritual Treasure. It’s just that those two Elder Gu characters seem to carry the undying resolve of endless heroic spirits, which is what allows it to unleash such power. There’s no way you can take it." Ye Fan advised.
"This King refuses to believe that. I’m definitely going to take it, no matter what."
Bai Yan wolf’s stubbornness flared. After resting for a short while, it began carving Array Patterns into the ground around the stone, planning to use the power of the Patterns to take it away.
After toiling for most of the day, Bai Yan wolf finally finished inscribing the Array Patterns, then let out a triumphant roar: "Rise for me!"
Countless Array Patterns emitted blazing light, enveloping the entire stone; it really did look like it might be Refined and taken away.
But after a quarter of an hour, the light of the Patterns grew weaker and weaker, until it completely vanished, while the stone seemed utterly unaffected, still exactly the same as before.
Looking again at the ground, all the Array Patterns had disappeared, as if erased completely by some invisible force.
"Serves you right for being greedy, for being money-mad. Stunned now, huh?"
Ye Fan said irritably, "Whatever methods you’ve got, just use them all. Let’s see if you can take this stone away."
"Damn it, is this a stone or a whole planet? How can it be this heavy?" Bai Yan wolf muttered unwillingly under its breath.
Though it complained, it no longer butted heads with the stone.
It understood very well that even if it used every trick it had, it probably still wouldn’t be able to shake this stone in the slightest.
After they had tossed and turned for half a day, the black mist gradually receded into the distance. Ye Fan and Bai Yan wolf leaned against the stone, pondering how to get back.
There was no doubt this was a desolate Dead Star. Don’t even talk about Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi— even oxygen was extremely thin; ordinary people simply couldn’t survive in such an environment.
Even Ye Fan had to constantly use Divine Power to protect his body. In this sort of environment, never mind Cultivation— even survival would become a problem.
"We can forget about going back the way we came. That altar should be a one-way teleport. I’ve already figured it out: if we had the materials, I could carve a giant Transmission Array Platform capable of crossing a Star Domain, but here, I’m afraid we can’t possibly find the materials needed to inscribe a cross–Star Domain array." Bai Yan wolf said dejectedly.
It felt especially embarrassed. After all, it was a Grandmaster Level Array Patterns expert, yet it had been accidentally teleported to such a gods-forsaken place.
"Buzz~"
Right at that moment, the giant stone behind them once again burst into blazing blood light, instantly enveloping the two of them.
Ye Fan felt as though his vision turned into a Blood Sea. When he regained his senses, he suddenly heard waves of battle cries ringing in his ears.
He instinctively glanced at the Bai Yan wolf beside him and found its eyes were also full of confusion, unfocused, as if it too had entered an Illusion Realm.
"Luan Gu is undying, the Human Race is eternal!"
Ye Fan heard such an angry roar, and then saw the Human cultivator who had roared those words being torn to pieces alive by a Human-shaped creature, blood pouring down like rain.
Battle raged everywhere. Countless Human cultivators were dying tragic deaths, and their opponents were Death Creatures covered in Scale Armor— from ink-green, to dark cyan, then to purple, gray, black, white...
With only a brief observation, Ye Fan discovered the Level divisions of these Human-shaped creatures. Ink-green was only equivalent to the Peak of Divine Power Realm among Humans, not very strong; among the Human-shaped creatures, the ones dying the most were this type.
Those with dark cyan Scale Armor, however, were equivalent to the Early Lord Realm of the Human Race, extremely powerful. Above them were the purple Scale Armor ones, equivalent to Late-stage Lord Realm to Peak among Humans.
On the ground, in the sky, battles were everywhere. The Human-shaped creatures were extremely powerful, and in the midst of combat they could even absorb Death Aura to strengthen themselves and heal their injuries.
During the battle, Human-shaped creatures kept advancing in Level, becoming higher-level Human-shaped creatures, their power skyrocketing in an instant.
Countless Human cultivators were composing a tragic battle song with their own blood and lives.
Countless mountains were blasted to dust, rivers were boiled dry, and huge fissures crisscrossed the earth. Every strike from the Death Creatures reaped the lives of swathes of Human cultivators, and yet the Death Aura these cultivators released upon dying became the nourishment and tonic for those creatures.
Ye Fan’s eyes were bleeding; the battle was too brutal. It set the hot blood in his body ablaze, making him itch to strike immediately and contribute his own strength.
However—
When he threw a punch at one of the Human-shaped creatures, his fist actually passed straight through its body, without causing it any harm at all!
Only then did he gradually calm down, realizing that everything before his eyes was merely something that had happened in the past, and he was nothing more than a spectator, unable to participate in it— no matter how tragic the final outcome of this great war might be.
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