Chapter 327: Sea of Laws

After parting with Wang Ping and Youying, Cang Xuan and Yu Liuli did not head straight for the Western Extremes Geng Metal Killing Ground. While the Star Guide Disk passed through a region called the Void Fold, it underwent a subtle deviation.

When the two emerged from a short-range spatial leap, steadied their forms, and looked ahead, they were both struck speechless by shock.

Before them was no longer an ordinary world.

This is an endless, beyond-common-knowledge "sea". Beneath their feet there is no solid ground, only a misty void foundation that carries the flow of myriad colors.

And what composes this "ocean" is not water, but the living manifestation of the "Law" itself!

The blazing, piercing lightning no longer fleeting, it roared and surged, gathering into broad, tumultuous "Thunder Rivers" of rolling thunder‑slurry, whose waves threw up myriad leaping electric serpents, each wisp of escaping aura holding destructive power that makes Nascent Soul cultivators tremble.

The cyan‑black hurricane condensed into shape, forming towering "Wind Pillars" or arc‑shaped "Wind Walls" whose edges were sharp as heaven‑splitting divine blades, slowly rotating or swiftly cutting.

Wherever they passed, space was plowed into long‑lasting black fissures that emitted a grating, teeth‑aching screech.

Pale‑silver "Space Fragments" of various sizes, like shattered mirrors, hovered still or drifted with the flow, reflecting the surrounding bizarre, broken scenery; when they occasionally collided, they triggered minor spatial collapses or strange refraction phenomena.

Crimson fire‑law condensed into sheets of eternally blazing lava lakes, suspended in the air, with molten rock churning.

Azure water‑law became still waterfalls and deep pools, the water light shimmering yet hiding extreme cold.

Heavy earth‑law rose into floating islands and miniature mountain ranges, even bearing phantom silhouettes of solidified soil, stone, and vegetation.

Moreover, there were many wondrous, oddly shaped streams of law‑light, like ribbons, vortices, and stars interweaving, representing more profound and rare regulatory powers.

The whole "ocean" brimmed with violent, primal vigor, yet also contained the abundant aura of heaven‑earth's supreme principle.

"Sea of Laws…" Cang Xuan's voice carried a barely perceptible tremor, not fear, but a stirring and yearning from deep within his soul upon facing the most direct manifestation of the Great Dao.

His cultivated Star‑Dao was inherently linked to space, light‑dark, sharpness and the like, so this place was undoubtedly a sacred sanctuary for enlightenment he had long dreamed of.

The Star Guide Disk hovered above his head, shedding clear radiance to protect his surroundings; he exerted himself to restrain his own sword intent, so as not to trigger a chain reaction from the surrounding violent laws.

The seven‑colored halo on Yu Liuli's gauze robe flowed on its own, forming a soft barrier.

The Fallen Immortal Clan, close to nature and vitality, found this place's mostly violent, rigid laws unfavorable for her, yet it also held an opportunity to comprehend the way of opposition and harmony.

"Fellow Daoist Cang Xuan, here the laws manifest, fortune and peril intertwined. The Star Guide Disk shows a faint sense of the Geng‑Metal Key, seemingly resonating with a spot deep in this sea where the Geng‑Metal law is unusually concentrated."

Cang Xuan nodded, his gaze sweeping over the wandering Geng‑Metal sword‑lights and blade‑glints, his sword heart faintly humming: "Not bad."

"The key is the essence of condensed law; it fits reason here. We must proceed cautiously, searching while… we may carefully contemplate." He looked at Yu Liuli,

"Fairy, the laws here are violent and suppress your cultivation; it would be better for you to sit in quiet contemplation at the relatively calm outer edge, leaving the search to me."

Yu Liuli pondered briefly, then shook her head, eyes firm: "Daoist, your sword heart is clear; here you are indeed like a fish in water. But my clan also possesses a secret method to sense specific law‑objects, which could help you locate them faster. As allies, we should advance and retreat together, watching over each other."

Seeing her insistence, Cang Xuan said no more, yet kept this kindness in mind: "Very well, thank you, Fairy. Let's go."

The two reduced their escape light to a crawl, like two tiny, carefully steered boats, sailing into this violent yet splendid sea of laws.

They detoured around the surging Thunder Rivers, carefully avoided the wind blades that cut everything, and threaded through the gaps in the relatively "calm" streams of law‑light.

Whenever they encountered a small, stable, mild‑attribute fragment or stream of law‑light, they would pause briefly, cautiously probing with their divine sense to capture the true intent of the law flowing within.

For Cang Xuan, every moment here was a baptism and enlightenment of his sword‑dao.

This time, upon breaking through to Nascent Soul, his primary cultivation was the clan‑protecting art "Heavenly Azure Sword Technique", which takes its meaning from the vast starry sky and the boundless heavenly Dao, its core being to draw heavenly‑earthly power and transmute law into the sword.

At this moment, personally witnessing and feeling the manifestation and flow of myriad laws, many previously obscure cultivation knots suddenly cleared.

The violence and swiftness of lightning added to his sword intent a decisive, unstoppable resolve and the speed of flashing thunder.

The hurricane's tearing and omnipresence made his sword techniques change more deviously sharp.

The coexistence of stability and fragmentation in the space fragments deepened his understanding of sword techniques' virtual‑real conversion and spatial use; the wandering Geng‑Metal sword‑shadows further refined his own sword aura, concealing sharpness within.

No longer satisfied with passive insight, he began to actively engage with the surrounding laws, especially the Geng‑Metal law, using his sword intent as a guide to touch, mimic, and even… preliminarily direct its power!

Upon reaching a relatively open area where several thin Geng‑Metal sword‑qi and a few space fragments drifted slowly, Cang Xuan suddenly halted his movement and sat cross‑legged in midair.

"Fairy Liuli, please guard the Dharma for a moment." He closed his eyes, focused, and immersed his mind completely in resonance with the surrounding laws.

The light of the Star Guide Disk above his head intensified, forming a rotating miniature nebula that enveloped him. His aura gradually synchronized with the surrounding streams of law‑light, especially those Geng‑Metal sword‑qi, producing a wondrous synchronous pulse.

Yu Liuli understood, silently retreated several zhang; her gauze robe moved on its own, the phantom of the fairy‑bell appeared around her, emitting a low, pleasant tone, laying down an invisible sonic barrier that both shielded Cang Xuan from some interference and warned of any sudden danger.

In Cang Xuan's sea of consciousness, countless sword‑art essences, star trajectories, and the various law‑images he was now perceiving surged like a hundred rivers colliding, wildly merging and reshaping.

"What is the sword? A vessel? The Way? The Heavenly Azure Sword Technique takes the lofty, boundless heavenly intent. But what does heavenly intent refer to? What is the boundless? Is it star trajectories? The turning of the seasons? The law of all things' birth and death?"

"Law…… is the ironclad rule governing the motion of all things in heaven and earth, the manifestation of the Great Dao. Sword‑dao, too, is an embodiment of law. Sharpness, swiftness, hardness‑softness, virtual‑real, birth‑death…… all are nothing but law!"

"My sword should not merely bear stellar power; it ought to…… align with the Great Dao, command the law! With the sword heart as pivot, the starry sky as bridge, draw law into the sword, turn the sword into law!"

Inspiration struck like sudden thunder! Cang Xuan's aura abruptly transformed, a more profound, lofty resonance close to the source of the Dao spreading forth. He pointed his finger like a sword and thrust forward slowly, the motion simple and unadorned.

No sword qi lashed sideways, no brilliant starlight. Only the void before his fingertip rippled with extremely fine, transparent waves that seemed to contain the essences of "sharpness" and "breaking space", spreading silently.

As the ripples passed, a formerly aimless drifting thread of tiny Geng‑Metal sword‑qi, as if pulled by an invisible hand, slightly altered its course, merged into the ripple, and suddenly accelerated, becoming as solid as substance.

With a soft "hiss", it easily pierced a distant floating dark stone whose hardness rivaled fifth‑grade spirit material!

This was not object control, but rather using his own sword intent to stir and empower the law itself! This is the embryonic form of a "Law‑Sword"! Though only a first glimpse of the path, it marks his sword‑dao stepping into a brand‑new realm of infinite possibility!

Cang Xuan opened his eyes; the starlight in his pupils withdrew inward, while deep within countless minute law‑runeful flickered. He exhaled slowly, his aura fluctuating slightly, but his gaze sharpened like a newly honed blade, his whole demeanor becoming more calm, profound, and abstruse.

"Congratulations, Daoist, your sword‑dao has reached perfection, rising to a higher level!" Yu Liuli sincerely praised. She clearly sensed that the wondrous power contained in that ripple of his surpassed ordinary divine abilities.

"Only a slight advance, thank you for your protection, Fairy." Cang Xuan rose, a faint smile crossing his face. This realization was priceless. At the same time, his sense for the Geng‑Metal Key suddenly became clear! The needle of the Star Guide Disk steadied, pointing firmly toward a certain direction deep in the Sea of Laws.

"The key's whereabouts are now known. Let's go."

The two set out again, heading toward the sensed direction. The deeper they went, the denser and more violent the manifestations of law became, even giving rise to "Law Storms" formed from mixed laws, greatly increasing danger.

But relying on his newly acquired embryonic Law‑Sword, Cang Xuan could often sense danger ahead, using clever sword intent to interfere with or guide part of the incoming law turbulence; though peril surrounded him, he invariably turned hazard into safety.

After half a day, passing through a splendid mist zone formed of tiny ice crystals (Ice Law) and jumping electric sparks (weak Thunder Law), the view ahead suddenly opened up.

Ahead lay a relatively stable "Void Lake Surface"; at its center stood a mountain entirely condensed from Geng‑Metal law, the "Sword Mountain"!

The mountain was no more than a hundred zhang tall, yet wholly dark‑gold, rugged and steep; every edge resembled an unsheathed divine sword, emanating a fierce aura that could cleave all.

The Sword Mountain slowly rotated, scattering specks of dark‑gold radiance; once detached, they turned into strands of tiny sword‑qi that flowed into the surrounding sea of laws.

At the summit hovered a point of pure, blinding golden light, a fist‑sized orb that seemed the source of all Geng‑Metal sharpness in the world, emanating a terrifying Dao resonance that could cut anything and shatter all resistance——this was precisely the "Geng‑Metal Key"!

However, almost as Cang Xuan and his companion discovered the key, on the other side of the void four chilling escape lights tore through a sheet of crimson fire‑wave (manifestation of fire law), suddenly appearing at the opposite end of the "Void Lake Surface"!

Four arrivals, all women, dressed in standard moon-white palace attire, style ancient and simple, tailoring proper, outlining graceful figures, yet emitting an icy aura that keeps strangers away. Their looks are all top-notch, but each face is as cold as frost, eyes indifferent and waveless, as if stripped of all emotion.

The leader held a lustrous white jade ruyi, her aura deep and condensed, already at late Nascent Soul stage.

The others: one stroked a seven-string ice zither, one wielded a cold jade flute, one held a profound ice scroll, all at mid Nascent Soul.

They were surrounded by a strange dao rhythm of chill, aloofness, and severing desire, which clashed with the violent Sea of Laws yet formed its own entity, suffering little interference.

"Absolute Emotion Palace!" Cang Xuan's pupils constricted slightly as he whispered their origin.

The Absolute Emotion Palace is not a power of the Spirit Realm; it hails from the "Supreme Forgetting Emotion Realm", specializing in the "Absolute Emotion Heavenly Scripture", aiming to exterminate emotion and sever nature, pursuing absolute rationality and the "Heavenly Dao is unfeeling". Its disciples are formidable, their arts uncanny, their conduct extreme, famed throughout the heavens.

Yu Liuli's expression also grew grave. Absolute Emotion Palace cultivators are hard to deal with, and these visitors are hostile; their target is clearly also the Geng-metal Key.

The woman holding the jade ruyi, leader of the group, swept her icy gaze over the mountaintop light cluster, landing on Cang Xuan and the other, her voice like the collision of ten-thousand-year-old profound ice, devoid of inflection: "The Geng-metal Key belongs to the Absolute Emotion Palace. Idlers, withdraw. In three breaths, violators will be slain."

Her words were brief and overbearing to the extreme.

Cang Xuan's eyes turned cold, he stepped forward, his starlight sword intent held but not released, voice calm: "Heavenly treasures go to those fated. Absolute Emotion Palace, you are being overly domineering."

"Two." The zither woman lightly plucked a string with her fingertip, emitting a single icy, clear note; the air temperature plummeted, faint ice crystals condensing.

The flute woman already held her cold jade flute horizontally to her lips, eyes indifferent; the scroll woman slowly unfurled her book, frost-like characters flowing.

"It seems reason won't work." Cang Xuan sighed lightly, yet his aura surged like a dragon emerging from the abyss, suddenly peaking; his newly comprehended law sword intent flowed in his pupils, "Fairy Liuli, please step back temporarily and protect yourself. Leave them to me."

Yu Liuli knew she was limited in this environment, decisively retreated, activating her Immortal Sound Bell to lay layers of sonic protection, and readying to assist with secret arts at any moment.

"Three." The woman with the jade ruyi flashed a cold light in her eyes, "Obstinate, kill!"

"Ding ding dong dong!" The zither woman's ten fingers flew, notes bursting forth, turning into countless visible ice-blue sound blades, like a torrential blizzard, sweeping over Cang Xuan! Where the sound blades passed, even the law-flow light congealed and froze.

The flute woman's flute sounded deep and remote, its invisible sound waves drilling straight into the sea of consciousness, bearing a strange power that freezes thought, shatters will, and arouses inner icy loneliness.

The scroll woman jade-hand lightly waved, and from the scroll flew frost-covered ancient characters, each radiating cold light, containing sealing, suppressing, and delaying power, enveloping from all directions.

The leader lightly tapped her jade ruyi, releasing a supremely condensed pale-white beam that seemed able to freeze the flow of spacetime, shooting straight at Cang Xuan's forehead!

This strike contained the true meaning of the "Absolute Emotion" law; those hit would have their bodies frozen in ice, and their souls would fall into eternal loneliness of frozen emotion.

The four joined forces, their assault like a tide, seamless coordination, instantly sealing all escape routes, physical, soul, and law attacks intertwining into a net, ruthless and absolutist.

"Glad you came!" Cang Xuan gave a long cry, not retreating but advancing, stepping forward! The light of his Star-guiding Disk above his head surged, transforming into a rotating galaxy vortex, hard-clashing the ice-blue sound blades and the pale-white beam! Simultaneously, he flicked his sword finger!

"Heaven Azure Sword Art, Law Sword—Breaking the Void!"

A semi-transparent arc of sword qi burst forth, its edges flowing with starlight and minute law runes! Where the sword qi passed, space was as if cut by an invisible blade, leaving a fleeting black mark! The frost characters shattered on contact! The strange flute's sound waves were dispersed by the sword intent that cuts through all.

The sword qi's residual force undiminished, it straightaway slashed at the zither woman!

The zither woman's expression shifted slightly, her notes turned urgent, she laid layer upon layer of ice-crystal sound barriers. Yet the sword qi imbued with law power was sharper than imagined!

"Crack! Crack-crack!"

The sound barriers shattered one after another! The sword qi finally struck the ice zither!

"Clang——!"

A mournful cry rang out, all strings snapped, the zither split! The zither woman, as if struck hard, spat blood wildly, flew backward, her aura instantly wilting!

One sword broke the multilayered assault, heavily wounding one!

The remaining three of the Absolute Emotion Palace finally showed ripples in their icy eyes.

"Power of laws… just glimpsing the threshold?" The woman holding the jade ruyi spoke a bit faster, "Still not enough!"

She pointed her jade ruyi repeatedly, three pale-white beams shot in a pin formation, her figure flickering forward, the ruyi raising a sky-full of cold shadows to strike vital points! The flute woman's flute turned into a sharp piercing tone, the scroll woman's book shot out more frost chains, entwining and binding.

Cang Xuan's figure swayed in the starlight, treading the stars, moving freely through the assault. His sword finger tapped repeatedly, sending forth sword qi containing various law nuances, crisscrossing and attacking defensively.

"Heaven Azure Sword Art, Law Sword—Chasing Stars!" The sword qi, swift as a meteor, pointed straight at the flute woman's throat.

"Heaven Azure Sword Art, Law Sword—Suppressing Mountains!" The sword qi, heavy as a mountain, shattered the frost chains.

"Heaven Azure Sword Art, Law Sword—Splitting Light!" The sword qi differentiated into myriad strands, enveloping the woman holding the jade ruyi.

Fighting three alone, he actually attacked more than defended, using his newly comprehended law sword to a miraculous degree. Sword intent and law resonated, each strike aimed at the opponent's weakness, breaking the greatest offense with the least cost.

The three Absolute Emotion Palace cultivators grew more astonished as they fought. The opponent's sword qi was not only extraordinarily powerful, but could also draw interference from the surrounding law environment, causing their joint techniques to repeatedly stagnate.

After prolonged attack without success, the woman with the jade ruyi flashed resolve in her eyes. She bit her tongue hard, spraying a mouthful of essence blood onto the ruyi. The ruyi instantly glared with bloody light, a more icy, heartless aura that freezes myriad thoughts spreading!

"Absolute Emotion Forbidden Technique: Ice-Sealing Myriad Thoughts!"

She raised the jade ruyi high and slammed it down into the void! A ring-shaped pale-white ice halo instantly expanded! Where the ice ring passed, space froze into fine ice crystals, even the surging law-flow light came to a halt! This technique freezes material energy, and also freezes the "thought" within the soul—fighting spirit, cognition, even the will to survive!

Cang Xuan bore the brunt, instantly feeling bone-deep cold invading his soul, thought slowed, his surrounding starlight sword qi seeming on the verge of freezing!

In the distance, Yu Liuli's face changed; her Immortal Sound suddenly rose, transforming into sound waves brimming with vital will to resist, striking the ice ring, seeking to buy Cang Xuan a moment.

At this life-and-death instant, the newly comprehended, not-yet-consolidated law runes in Cang Xuan's eyes, under extreme icy pressure, instead frenetically condensed! Inspired, he abandoned sensing all laws, gathering his entire mind, sword intent, and insight into a single point at his fingertip!

That point was pure "Break"! The true sword intent that severs all bonds and splits ancient ice!

"Heaven Azure Sword Art, Law Sword—Destroying Delusion!"

In a low roar, a thread of sword qi condensed to the extreme, fine as a spider silk yet seemingly able to pierce all illusory freeze, burst from his fingertip!

The sword thread made no sound, contacting the pale-white ice ring.

"Crack……Boom!"

Centering on the point of contact, countless cracks instantly spread across the entire ice ring! The ice ring exploded! The woman holding the jade ruyi, as if struck by lightning, turned deathly pale, retreated several steps, her ruyi's luster dimmed, cracks lining it!

"Retreat!" she hoarsely uttered, gathering her severely wounded companions, and with the remaining two turned into white light, fleeing without looking back into the depths of the law-flow light, vanishing.

Cang Xuan did not pursue, his face slightly pale, aura fluctuating. That all-encompassing sword "Destroying Delusion" just used had consumed enormously. He put away his Star-guiding Disk and took an elixir.

Yu Liuli stepped forward: "Fellow Daoist, are you unharmed?"

"Minor injury, a brief rest will suffice." Cang Xuan shook his head, gaze falling to the peak of Sword Mountain: "First, take the key."

The two flew up the mountain. As they approached, the aura of the Geng-metal Key grew fiercer, like myriad fine blades cutting. Cang Xuan circulated his sword intent, carefully sealing the golden light cluster into a special jade box.

With the key in hand, Cang Xuan sat cross-legged on the mountain peak to rest and consolidate his new realm, while also sensing the dense Geng-metal laws of this place. Yu Liuli guarded the law, also perceiving the faint vital rhythms within.

Three days later, Cang Xuan's injuries fully healed, his law sword prototype stabilized, his combat power greatly increased. Following the Star-guiding Disk's guidance, they sought a path out of the Sea of Laws and embarked on their return journey.

The cold wind of the Northern Ice Plains had not yet touched Wang Ping's sleeves; an accidental disturbance during a crossing of an unstable spatial node flung him into a region more unsettling than any desperate place he had imagined—the Forbidden Abyss Ruins.

This place seemed to be a heap of debris left after the world's destruction, the final resting place where all vitality had been completely cut off.

There was no light, only the occasional pallid, twisted gleam at the edges of rifts tearing through the pitch‑black space, and the faint phosphorescence emitted by churning masses of destructive energy in some regions, their hue dark as bruised blood.

Beneath his feet there was no solid ground; his perception was of a void base, broken, twisted, riddled with jagged cracks and eerie holes. The air reeked of suffocating rot, decay, and ending, each breath feeling like inhaling annihilated dust.

The spatial structure was shattered, fissures of various sizes like the mouths of lurking evil beasts, ready to devour anything at any moment.

Temporal turbulence was even harder to defend against; in some regions time flew, a moment feeling like ten thousand years, while in others time congealed, making thoughts viscous and slow.

Invisible tides of destructive energy surged silently; wherever they passed, all things returned to oblivion, and even the laws seemed to be slowly eroded and dissolved.

Wang Ping found himself amidst this; his Chaos Domain unfurled of its own accord, a dull gray mist swirling around him, desperately resisting the all‑penetrating erosion of the destructive aura.

He could feel that even maintaining his Chaos Domain here was extraordinarily taxing; the destructive energy was of an extremely high order and possessed a stubborn 'end‑all' characteristic, its rate of decomposition and assimilation far slower than elsewhere.

"We must find a way to leave as soon as possible… or… if the 'Profound Darkness Key' or any related clues are here, we also need to settle it quickly."

Wang Ping's heart tightened. He dared not fly away at will, relying only on his Chaos Domain's keen sense of energy to trek with difficulty through this shattered abyssal ruin, avoiding obvious spatial rifts and temporal turbulence.

The Five Elements Divine Light also proved useful here. At times he activated Earth Element Divine Light to solidify the surrounding void, guarding against spatial tears.

At times he used Water Element Divine Light to harmonize the assault of extreme cold and destruction.

Metal Element Divine Light, when encountering certain solidified masses of destructive energy, attempted to cleave or deflect them. Yet the energy's nature here was too malign, consuming enormous amounts.

After several days of arduous advance, he endured multiple dangers—once a sudden spatial rift nearly severed his protective ward at the waist; he stumbled into a temporal sluggish zone, taking a long while to break free; furthermore he faced several clusters of pure destructive intent condensed into the "Abyssal Ruin Demon Shadow," which instinctively attacked all vitality, fighting desperately until they ceased.

That day, tracing a faint fluctuation reminiscent of the aura of the "Key of Destruction" recorded on his jade slip—half‑similar, filled with connotations of ruin and ending—he arrived at the edge of a vast, ring‑shaped abyss that seemed to have been blasted out by tremendous force.

Below the abyss surged a black mist, viscous as ink, exuding utter yin chill and deathly stillness; within it flickered specks of dim red light like congealed blood scabs. At the abyss's center, a thick stone pillar, half buried in the black mist and half exposed, bore at its top a hovering cluster of light, intertwined dark red and black, flickering uncertainly.

The light cluster exuded a pure, unmatched 'destruction' aura—not mere destruction, but a principle that drives all things toward ending and absolute nothingness! It was exactly the 'Key of Destruction'!

Yet Wang Ping's heart suddenly sank. Around the key's light cluster, the dense black mist churned violently, faintly coalescing into a huge, blurred face twisted with endless suffering, resentment, and madness!

The face let out a silent roar; torrents of resentment and malice turned into substantive blows, like billions of icy poisonous spikes, fiercely stabbing at Wang Ping's soul! The strength, wickedness, and antiquity of this resentment far surpassed any demonic soul or negative energy he had encountered before.

"An ancient resentment… and moreover a terrifying entity forged in the fires of a destruction‑scarred land, nearly fused with the law of destruction itself!"

Wang Ping's face grew grave. This resentment possessed no clear consciousness, only the primal urge to devour living beings' vitality and souls, to spread destruction and pain; it clung to the key, having become part of its 'guardian'.

Wang Ping drew a deep breath; his Chaos Domain contracted and refined into a close‑fitting shield, while a faint radiance flowed at his brow as the Refine Spirit Technique silently turned, steadying his soul. He slowly raised his hand, seeking to draw a thread of Five Elements Divine Light—especially the fire of true solar flame and the wood of vital Yi—forming a purifying light stream to probe‑sweep at the resentment's face.

The purifying light stream touched the black mist.

"Roar——!!!"

A silent roar exploded in the depths of his soul; the resentment's face twisted violently, the black mist surged madly, and it swiftly eroded and swallowed the purifying light stream!