Chapter 364: Battle of the Force Field

They intertwined and mutually influenced, jointly forming a vast and boundless yet extremely chaotic scroll of laws.

"Law Corridor……" Tianyan Shangren murmured, his eyes full of shock, "Indeed it is the Law Corridor! The ancient records did not lie!"

Ban Shan Lao Zu scratched his head: "Is this the corridor? It's not quite what I imagined."

Xian Hu Fu Ren gently shook her fan, her eyes flowing: "What did you imagine?"

Ban Shan Lao Zu grinned: "I reckon, since it's a 'corridor,' there should be walls, a ceiling, and a path, right? This… this has nothing at all!"

Cang Xuan said coldly: "The law itself is the wall, the ceiling, and the path."

Wang Ping gazed at the intertwining law lines, a strange throbbing rising in his heart. Within his dantian, the Building Tree Seed trembled slightly, the chaotic nebula pattern on its leaves flowing and accelerating, as if greedily absorbing all surrounding information.

"Those lines……" he said slowly, "They are not static. They flow, change, and transform into each other. This is not a fixed space, but rather a… living law ecosystem."

Tianyan Shangren nodded, his whisk-brush pointing far away: "Young friend, you speak well. Look over there——"

Everyone followed his gaze and faintly saw, at the end of countless law lines, a more profound region. There the law lines were no longer chaotic intertwining but displayed a certain regular arrangement, like a meticulously designed huge labyrinth.

"That is where the true 'Law Corridor' entrance lies." Tianyan Shangren took a deep breath, "The region we now occupy is merely the 'Law Wilderness' outside the corridor. To enter the corridor, we must pass through that Law Labyrinth."

Ban Shan Lao Zu rubbed his palms: "What are we waiting for? Let's go!"

"Wait." Xian Hu Fu Ren suddenly spoke, her fan swaying lightly, a hint of gravity flashing in her eyes: "Have you noticed that those law lines…… are watching us?"

Everyone startled, then focused their senses.

After a moment, everyone's complexion changed.

Those lines were indeed "watching" them.

It was not actual sight, but a more uncanny method—each law line vibrated at an ineffable frequency, as if probing, analyzing, scrutinizing. And when everyone's divine sense touched those vibrations, it gave rise to an illusion of being "identified."

Tianyan Shangren said solemnly: "These law lines have been endowed with a kind of 'consciousness.' They are not dead objects, but… guardians."

"Guardians?" Yu Liuli frowned slightly, "Are these the guardians left by the ancient Myriad Phenomena Stargazers?"

"Probably." Tianyan Shangren nodded, "Everyone be careful; each step ahead may trigger the law's backlash. Follow closely, do not act rashly."

The six restrained their aura, closely followed behind Tianyan Shangren, and cautiously advanced toward the Law Labyrinth.

When they approached, the law lines vibrated more intensely. But perhaps sensing no malice from them, or perhaps Tianyan Shangren's deductive method happened to match a certain passage rule, they did not launch an attack, merely allowing the six to pass through them.

After an hour, everyone finally stepped into the Law Labyrinth.

Here is completely different from the outer "Law Wilderness."

Countless law lines here were meticulously arranged, forming towering "Law Walls" that reached into the clouds. Between the walls lay narrow, winding passages, each leading to unknown depths. Looking up, no top could be seen; looking down, no bottom. Only endless law lines constructed a boundless three-dimensional labyrinth on all sides.

And most strangely, this labyrinth is not stationary.

Those Law Walls slowly moved, rotated, and reorganized. A passage that existed a moment ago could be blocked by another wall the next; a previously sealed dead end could suddenly open. The entire labyrinth resembled a living, constantly changing massive machine.

"Troublesome." Tianyan Shangren's face grew grave, "This is no ordinary labyrinth, but a living formation built around the 'Space Folding' law. Each passage, each turn, could teleport us to any spot within the labyrinth. Trying to exit by conventional means…… is nearly impossible."

Ban Shan Lao Zu glared: "What do we do? Get stuck here to die?"

Xian Hu Fu Ren gently shook her fan, her eyes flowing: "Tianyuan Old Man, you've deduced for three days and nights—did you just work out 'impossible'?"

Tianyan Shangren gave a wry smile: "Madam, don't mock this old man. The labyrinth's complexity far exceeds anything I've ever seen. But……" He paused, a glint of light flashing in his eyes, "Although I cannot deduce the whole picture, I can sense that the movement of these Law Walls follows a pattern. They obey a certain 'cycle,' like tides rising and falling, endlessly repeating."

Wang Ping pondered, "The senior's meaning is, if we can find this cycle, we can enter the appropriate passage at the right moment, thereby avoiding being teleported?"

"Exactly." Tianyan Shangren nodded, "But this requires time and precise perception. I alone lack the strength."

Xian Hu Fu Ren smiled faintly: "I can help. Though I don't understand formations, I have some insight into sensing 'vibrations.'"

Cang Xuan said coldly: "I will handle vigilance."

Yu Liuli said softly: "I will assist with Immortal Sound to steady the mind."

Ban Shan Lao Zu grinned: "Old Stone will clear the path! If anything goes awry, this old body can still bear it!"

Wang Ping surveyed everyone, nodded slowly: "Good. Then I'll trouble you all."

Next came a long wait and deduction.

Tianyan Shangren and Xian Hu Fu Ren stood side by side at a relatively stable passage entrance, one forming seals to deduce, the other closing eyes to sense. Countless talismans flew from his whisk-brush, merging into the surrounding Law Walls and returning with vast information; Xian Hu Fu Ren's body was surrounded by a faint silver glow, each movement of the Law Walls leaving an imperceptible tremor at her brow.

Yu Liuli sat cross-legged to one side, her hands lightly stroking an ancient zither; its notes flowed like water, filling the passage. That sound was ethereal and profound, able to calm the mind and not be disturbed by the labyrinth's uncanny aura.

Cang Xuan stood with his sword on his back, eyes like lightning, scanning the surrounding Law Walls, ready to respond to any sudden situation.

Ban Shan Lao Zu sat loosely in the passage's center, a yellowish earthen halo surrounding him like a silent mountain, guarding this expanse of void.

Wang Ping stood quietly among them, his Chaotic Nascent Soul slowly turning, the Building Tree Seed trembling faintly. He closed his eyes, extending his divine sense into those Law Walls, trying to perceive their mysteries.

Under the touch of divine sense, those law lines displayed a strange "folded" state. They did not simply extend; at each node they were folded, compressed, twisted, forming a three-dimensional spatial structure. As divine sense followed the lines inward, it would in an instant pass through countless layers of folded space, arriving at a completely unfamiliar position.

"Now I understand." He murmured, "This is not a labyrinth, but… a superposition of countless spaces."

Tianyan Shangren heard this, a flash of light in his eyes: "Young friend, what do you mean by that?"

Wang Ping opened his eyes and said slowly: "Senior, each Law Wall connects to countless different space nodes. We stand here seemingly in a passage, but actually exist simultaneously in countless possible positions. Our 'true position' depends on our 'choice'—choosing which passage to step into, choosing the moment to step in, which will 'fix' us to the corresponding space node."

Tianyan Shangren stroked his beard, pondered a moment, then his eyes lit up with realization: "Marvelous! Marvelous! Young friend's single sentence awakens the dreamer! This is not ordinary space folding, but using law as a medium to bind 'position' and 'choice'! No wonder I couldn't deduce the whole picture—because the whole picture doesn't exist; there are only countless 'possibilities'!"

Xian Hu Fu Ren opened her eyes, the corner of her mouth lifting in a smile: "Young friend, this Chaotic inheritance truly lives up to its name."

Wang Ping gave a slight smile: "Madam, you overpraise. It's merely that the Building Tree Seed is sensitive to spatial changes, and I happened to notice a bit."

With this direction, Tianyan Shangren's deduction found a new breakthrough. He no longer attempted to deduce the whole, but focused on finding the correspondence between the "cycle" and "choice."

Another three hours passed.

Tianyan Shangren suddenly rose to his feet, whisk-brush waving: "Found it!"

Everyone's spirits lifted.

Tianyan Shangren pointed ahead at a passage about to close, speaking extremely fast: "This passage will open in three breaths, staying open for two breaths. After entering, one will be teleported to the labyrinth's third layer. Then proceed along the left side's seventh passage, await the next cycle, and step into a passage flashing with faint silver light; that will teleport us to the fifth layer. Repeating this, a total of nine teleportations are needed to reach the labyrinth's core—namely the entrance to the true Law Corridor."

Ban Shan Lao Zu stared wide-eyed: "Nine times? So troublesome!"

Xian Hu Fu Ren gently shook her fan: "Having a path is already good; why complain about the trouble?"

Ban Shan Lao Zu gave an embarrassed laugh: "No complaints, let's go!"

After three breaths, that passage indeed opened. The six filed in; after a sensation of dislocation, the scene before them changed dramatically—the surrounding Law Walls became denser, the lines brighter, clearly they had entered a deeper layer.

Next came repeated waiting, transmission, waiting, transmission.

Each transmission required precise timing; a slight delay would send one to a completely wrong position, while a slight advance could leave one trapped between two walls of law, torn apart by spatial force.

But before this team, these crises were resolved one by one. Tianyuan Shangren's deductions were precise to the minutest detail, Xuanhu Furen's perception was keen to the finest thread, Banshan Laozi's path‑opening was brave yet steady, Cangxuan's vigilance was flawless, Yuliuli's celestial music soothed the mind, and Wang Ping's Chaos Power repeatedly resolved the abnormal fluctuations of the Law Wall at critical moments.

Finally, after the ninth transmission, the scene before the six people suddenly opened up.

The Law Wall vanished.

In its place lay a vast platform.

The platform was circular, about three hundred zhang in diameter, cast entirely from an unknown dark‑gold metal. Its surface was etched with dense arrays of runes; those runes resembled the primordial runes on the shell of the Breaking Void Shuttle, but were far more complex and ancient, each slowly flowing and emitting a faint starlight.

The edge of the platform was endless void. There were no law lines, no starlight, no existence whatsoever—only an absolute, pure 'emptiness'.

At the platform's center stood three huge metal giants, silent and immobile.

They were about ten zhang tall, made of the same dark‑gold metal as the platform, their surfaces covered in overlapping rune patterns. These patterns were not inert; they writhed like living things, and with each writhing a thread of starlight‑like light streamed across them.

The giants' form resembled the silver‑robed puppets we had encountered before—likewise humanoid, likewise cold metallic texture, likewise lifeless deathly aura.

But unlike them, these three giants are far older.

Their metal surfaces are covered with the marks of time—countless fine cracks, mottled rust, and pits left by some force eroding them. Yet it is precisely these marks that give them an indescribable majesty, as if three ancient gods who have slept through endless ages might awaken at any moment.

The strangest thing is that their eye sockets flicker with spiritual fire.

That is not ordinary spiritual fire, but a deep, pure, seemingly star‑filled azure flame. The flame sways slowly; each sway releases a thread of starlight from the eye sockets, flowing down the facial runes and finally merging into the core at their chests.

"Are they... alive?" Ban Shan Lao Zu rarely lowered his voice, a hint of apprehension flashing in his eyes.

"They are not alive." Tian Yan Shang Ren shook his head, whisk swaying, as probing runes silently flew out. "But they are not dead either. They are… guards driven by some program. Those spiritual fires are their energy cores, and also the carriers of their 'consciousness'."

Cang Xuan pressed his sword hilt and said coldly, "Can we go around?"

Xuan Hu Fu Ren closed her eyes to sense, then after a moment opened them, her face unusually grave: "No. This platform is the only path to the corridor. And those three giants… happen to block every direction. To get past, we must go through them."

Wang Ping calmly gazed at the three giants; inside his dantian, the chaotic nascent soul trembled slightly. The Heaven‑Overturning Seal and the Chaotic Tribulation Sword simultaneously emitted a faint hum, as if warning of something.

"Be careful." He said in a low voice, "They… are watching us."

As his words fell, the three giants moved simultaneously.

Their movements were uniform and synchronized, as if a single entity.

Six azure eyes turned together toward the six of them. That gaze held no emotion, no fluctuation, only absolute, pure "scrutiny".

Then they spoke.

The sound issued from the giants' mouths was not language but an indescribable resonance. That resonance merged with the platform's rune arrays, with the surrounding void, and with the entire law corridor.

Tian Yan Shang Ren's face suddenly changed: "Not good! They are activating the force field!"

Before his words finished, three terrifying forces erupted simultaneously from within the three giants.

The first giant raised its right arm, palm aimed at the crowd. In an instant, the space on the platform seemed to solidify. Not a simple "seal," but a true "freeze"—air ceased to flow, spiritual energy ceased to circulate, even the laws themselves seemed frozen in place.

Ban Shan Lao Zu roared, his whole body glowing with earth‑yellow light, straining to break free of the spatial seal. But his flesh, capable of rushing through void turbulence, now felt like mired in mud; each movement became extremely difficult. He gritted his teeth and took a step, yet it took three breaths to move less than half a zhang.

"What… what is this!" he bellowed, veins bulging on his forehead, "Old Stone… I can't move!"

The second giant likewise raised its right arm. A strange wave spread from its palm; wherever it passed, everything began to "disintegrate".

Cang Xuan snorted coldly, sword light flashing. A sword aura imbued with the intent of the "Law‑Cutting Sword" shot toward the second giant at a speed beyond perception. But the moment the sword aura touched that wave, it melted like snow under a blazing sun, visibly dissolving, disintegrating, and turning to nothing.

Cang Xuan's brow furrowed slightly; he unleashed another sword strike. This time he used seventy percent of his cultivation, the sword aura condensed into substance, containing sword‑dao law enough to pierce the defense of a typical late‑stage Nascent Soul cultivator. Yet the result was the same—the sword aura persisted in the disintegration field for three breaths before finally being completely melted away.

The third giant likewise raised its arm.

An even stranger wave spread out. This was neither spatial seal nor energy disintegration, but a more fundamental, more terrifying "law interference".

Yiu Liu Li's zither notes, originally ethereal and distant, able to soothe the mind and dispel stray thoughts. But the moment her notes sounded, they were shattered by that wave into piercing noise. Her face changed slightly; she plucked the strings repeatedly, trying to counter with stronger immortal music, but the harder she tried, the more chaotic the notes became, until she finally had to stop playing.

Tian Yan Shang Ren's deduction runes were likewise scrambled into chaos. As soon as those runes flew out, they lost control in the law interference, darting about like headless flies, and finally vanished into nothing.

The three force fields simultaneously covered the entire platform.

They were independent yet coordinated, forming a perfect "order cage". Space was sealed, movement impossible; energy was disintegrated, attacks impossible; law was interfered with, spellcasting impossible.

This was almost a dead‑end situation.

But in Wang Ping's eyes, a strange light flickered.

"Order…" he murmured, the chaotic nascent soul slowly turning, "Indeed, it shares the same source as those silver‑robed puppets."

He clearly sensed that these three force fields were essentially identical to the previous "order eradication"—that absolute, rigid, unquestionable "order power". But unlike before, the order power of these three giants was vaster, more exquisite, and… more natural.

They were not imposing order on the outside by force; instead, they merged with the environment of this law corridor, borrowing the corridor's own law power. Therefore, their might far surpassed that of the silver‑robed puppets, yet they were more stable, more enduring, and harder to oppose.

"But…" a gleam flashed in Wang Ping's eyes, "Since it is order, it must have a pattern."

He closed his eyes; the chaotic domain quietly unfolded.

But unlike conventional "domain confrontation," his chaotic domain did not try to crash into, tear apart, or destroy those three force fields. Instead, it permeated them in a gentler, more inclusive way.

Chaos embraces all things, evolves all things.

Order, too, lies within chaos.

Those three force fields, appearing absolute, rigid, and inviolable, are in the eyes of chaos merely three special "states of existence"—a particular application of spatial law, a particular expression of energy law, and a particular interference of law itself.

As long as we find their operating rhythm, we can find their weakness.

The chaotic domain, like a drop of water, silently merged into the ocean of those three force fields. It offered no resistance, no clash, drew no attention; it simply "existed", quietly sensing, analyzing, and infiltrating.

Time flowed, second by second.

On the platform, Ban Shan Lao Zu continued to struggle, yet could only inch forward step by step; Cang Xuan's sword light flared up again and again, only to be disintegrated each time; Yiu Liu Li's zither notes came in broken bursts, never forming an effective attack; Tian Yan Shang Ren's runes kept flying out, only to dissipate; Xuan Hu Fu Ren's silver light flickered uncertainly, evidently also straining to its utmost to sense.

Yet the three giants remained standing motionless at the platform's center, like three indifferent gods looking down on these ant‑like intruders. They did not continue attacking, merely maintaining the force field, as if waiting for something—waiting for the intruders to exhaust their cultivation, or waiting for some judgment program to reach a conclusion.

Finally, Wang Ping opened his eyes.

In his eyes flickered chaotic‑colored light, as if containing a starry sky in the process of evolution.

"Found it." He transmitted to the five, his voice calm yet carrying an indescribable confidence, "These three force fields do not operate independently. They intertwine, forming a complete 'order network'. And the network's core is not on the giants themselves, but… beneath the platform."

Tian Yan Shang Ren stared, then his eyes lit up with realization: "You mean these three giants are merely 'terminals'? The true source of the force field is the platform itself?"

Wang Ping nodded: "Not bad. The platform's rune array shares the same origin as the rune patterns inside the giants. The giants release force fields, the platform provides energy; they complement each other, forming a closed loop. To break the situation, we cannot target only the giants; we must sever their connection to the platform."

Lady Xuanhu's eyes flashed with a strange hue: "Excellent perception, young friend! I have sensed for half a day and yet missed this subtlety. Then... how to sever?"

Wang Ping calmly said: "At the giants' joints. When I just penetrated with the Chaos Domain, I discovered that each giant's joint has a tiny energy transmission delay point. These delay points are the weakest spots where the giants' bodies connect to the platform's rune array. If we can simultaneously attack these three points, perhaps we can temporarily sever the giants' connection to the platform, causing a breach in the force field."

Tianyan Shangren immediately calculated with his fingers, and after a moment nodded: "You're right, young friend! I just probed with the residual runes; these three delay points are indeed the hub of energy transmission! If we can strike them, at least we can weaken the force field by thirty percent!"

"Thirty percent is enough," Cangxuan said coldly, "but how can we strike them simultaneously? Under the suppression of these three force fields, our attacks cannot even approach."

Wang Ping looked at Lady Xuanhu: "Madam, can your perception lock onto those three delay points?"

Lady Xuanhu slightly nodded: "Yes. But it requires time, and also... someone to restrain them."

Wang Ping also looked at the Old Ancestor Banshan: "Senior Banshan, how long can your physical body still move in this spatial confinement?"

The Old Ancestor Banshan grinned, his smile somewhat fierce from exertion, yet still heroic: "Holding on for another two hours is no problem! But if I have to hit that thing, it's pretty arrogant!"

Wang Ping nodded: "No need for you to strike. You just need to... attract attention."

He turned to Cangxuan and Jade Immortal Maiden: "Brother Cang, Fairy Jade, although your attacks will be disintegrated, if they are merely feints, seeking no harm, only disturbance, can you manage that?"

A flash of realization crossed Cangxuan's eyes: "Yes."

Jade Immortal Maiden nodded: "Although the celestial sound is disturbed, disrupting sight and hearing is still doable."

Wang Ping took a deep breath and said in a low voice: "Good. Then the plan is as follows—Senior Banshan continues to charge forward, drawing the attention of the first giant; Brother Cang uses sword light to feint at the second giant, not aiming to hit, only to make it continuously release its disintegrating force field; Fairy Jade uses celestial sound to disturb the third giant, likewise seeking no harm, only to keep it from being distracted. All three, hold for thirty breaths."

"Thirty breaths?" The Old Ancestor Banshan glared, "Little brother, what are you trying to do?"

Wang Ping smiled slightly, opened his palm, and a wisp of azure light slowly emerged. The light was not bone-chilling cold; instead, it brought a tranquil serenity that calmed the mind and spirit. But if one sensed carefully, they would find beneath that serenity lay a terrifying power capable of freezing the vitality of all things and even solidifying the flow of time.

"I'll go, meet them."

Thirty breaths, begin.

The Old Ancestor Banshan roared, his body suffused with earth-yellow light that blazed like a moving mountain as he charged wildly at the first giant. Although each step was extremely arduous, each inch of advance required tremendous strength, yet his momentum did not wane in the slightest, as if he sought to smash the spatial confinement to pieces.

The first giant's azure eyes twitched slightly, locking onto the Old Ancestor Banshan. The spatial confinement force field instantly intensified, slowing Banshan's speed again, nearly to a standstill. Yet he gritted his teeth and persisted, step by step, forging his own path through the solidified space.

Cangxuan's sword flashed forth like a dragon.