Chapter 708: The Method of Power

A pitch-black radiance flickered within Chen Yan's pupils, and the aura of life and death circulated at the base of his eyes.

Under his perception, everything in the world had changed.

Within the mottled, vast, and innocent void of the Yang Realm, countless strands of rule-based auras flickered, circulated, and intertwined, collectively constructing this world inside the belly of an ancient divine beast, which could be called a miracle.

Rules, rules, everything is rules.

That the human race grows and requires the sun is a rule.

That the ancient divine beast requires the human race to grow is also a rule.

Chen Yan and the others now are like people constantly hiding in the gaps of the rules, constantly looking for loopholes, playing hide-and-seek with the Shi Meng Mo.

For the powerful Shi Meng Mo, dealing with Chen Yan and the others is actually extremely easy.

But the opponent has been constantly held back by Lu Xunyang.

As of now, the opponent must not only contend with Lu Xunyang but also exhaust all its power to extract that half of the ancient divine aura from within Chen Changyuan's body.

The Shi Meng Mo needs to hurry.

The ancient divine aura is suppressed by Chen Yan's Domain of Will, becoming extremely withered, which is why the Shi Meng Mo can think of ways to extract the ancient divine aura.

Once the ancient divine aura gradually recovers, the Shi Meng Mo will lose its chance entirely.

This is also the reason why, even though the Shi Meng Mo is enraged by Chen Yan's actions, it has not used everything it has to annihilate Chen Yan.

There is not much time left for the Shi Meng Mo, and there is not much time left for Chen Yan either.

Moreover, Lu Xunyang is not simple either.

The Underworld Nightmare Beast gave up its own gestation to directly confront Lu Xunyang, forcing Lu Xunyang to overdraw his own future to contend with two powerful ancient divine beasts.

Lu Xunyang is severely injured.

Being able to achieve this much, Lu Xunyang has already lived up to Chen Yan and the others.

"Xia Long."

Chen Yan spoke:

"Go find Old Shen and Lu Jianxia; they are near the black tower where we first rested."

Xia Long nodded and transformed into a streak of light, flying away.

Chen Yan glanced at the others:

"Everyone, there is no lack of resources now; such a large amount of energy and opportunities is enough for you to grow to the Eighth Rank, do not waste time."

The group nodded, their eyes filled with admiration as they looked at Chen Yan.

Chen Yan had just essentially raided the Shi Meng Mo's base camp; the energy and opportunities obtained were simply shocking, enough for everyone to advance.

With everything arranged properly, Chen Yan found a quiet cave and entered it to sit cross-legged.

The power within Chen Yan's body gradually recovered, and the sense of exhaustion slowly drifted away from him.

He began to perceive himself.

Within his first layer of personal universe.

That chaotic, indescribable ancient divine aura constantly changed, at times shifting into an infant covered in tumors, at times shifting into a strange existence that gathered the characteristics of all things.

"I want to see exactly what kind of thing you are."

Chen Yan murmured, beginning to perceive this mass of ancient divine aura.

Just a wisp of this aura had allowed Chen Changyuan to reach such a powerful stage; this ancient divine aura could not be called anything but miraculous.

If Chen Yan did not already possess the Domain of Will, he truly would not have been able to suppress the ancient divine aura.

Chen Yan perceived it carefully, and in an instant, various furtive, eerie sounds began to rustle and resonate within his heart.

Within his personal universe, that mass of ancient divine aura seemed to know that Chen Yan was perceiving it, constantly changing, appearing extremely bizarre.

Immediately following this, malice began to overflow from Chen Yan's body, and miniature versions of various tissues and organs that should not belong to humans began to grow and squirm on Chen Yan's body.

Chen Yan's pupils flashed suddenly, and the power of his will circulated, annihilating the anomalies produced within his body.

He narrowed his eyes; he was only perceiving it, yet he had been influenced without realizing it, beginning to transform toward an ancient divine beast.

If even he would be like this, ordinary Eighth Rankers would likely be unable to stop themselves from being infected.

Yes, infected.

The ancient divine aura is like a source of pollution containing endless evil; everything linked to it will be subtly infected.

Body, cognition, and even the soul are all polluted.

It is no wonder Chen Changyuan eventually grew into that kind of appearance.

As the other party said, he was no longer human long ago.

Chen Yan's eyes became frigid, and the Domain of Will appeared within his personal universe, beginning to surround this mass of ancient divine aura.

"Yi ya, yi ya..."

In an instant, sounds like the crying of an infant rang out from atop the ancient divine aura.

The ancient divine aura was once again suppressed by the Domain of Will.

The ancient divine is powerful, evil, and difficult to describe.

But this is only a wisp of aura.

Under the suppression of the Domain of Will, the ancient divine aura began to go limp and spread out; dense, swarming evil and ugly symbols began to flicker upon it.

Chen Yan narrowed his eyes.

These are words.

No.

The ancient divine does not need words at all; this is some kind of secret belonging exclusively to the ancient divine.

Every special symbol has its own unique meaning.

Chen Yan's thinking broke its limits, and he began to analyze.

Within the Saint-Breaking Realm, streaks of golden light representing the energy of techniques suddenly emerged.

Upon the branches of a lush, towering tree, a point of golden light condensed, transforming into a golden bud that began to grow.

A newly born "Technique" Saint-Breaking Fruit was coming into existence.

As time slowly passed.

Rumble—!!!

The earth in the distance began to churn; the lock-on from the Shi Meng Mo arrived once again.

Chen Yan's perception was interrupted, and he led the group to continue traversing through space.

Arriving at a new location, Chen Yan continued to perceive.

Time slowly passed.

A newly born "Technique" Saint-Breaking Fruit was born.

Chen Yan swallowed it, and countless insidious, evil pieces of knowledge flowed through the depths of his mind.

Chen Yan's eyes narrowed.

What was recorded within this Ancient God aura was actually the primordial truth of malice!

"Blood-Drawing Array, Blood-Drawing Array, so that's it, so that's it..."

Chen Yan stood up abruptly, thunder rumbling in his mind; the things he had previously speculated were confirmed at this very moment.

Malice is the means by which the Ancient God devours all living beings in the world.

It obtains its own lifespan and power by devouring the vitality and strength of living beings.

In this regard, it is exactly the same as the Blood-Drawing Array.

The Blood-Drawing Array is a clumsy imitation of malice.

The Blood-Drawing Array used by Chen Changyuan may appear more bizarre and powerful, but it remains a clumsy imitation of malice.

Malice is an innate ability of the Ancient God, and the materialization of this ability is the Blood-Drawing Array.

As Chen Changyuan continuously masters a more authentic Blood-Drawing Array, he himself develops increasingly in the direction of the Ancient God.

It is the Ancient God.

And not an Ancient God-Beast.

Chen Yan's expression shifted; he could already conclude that Chen Changyuan was an avatar of the Chen Lord.

Such a terrifying Blood-Drawing Array may have already been used by the Chen Lord many years ago.

Having reached the level of the Chen Lord, creating a world or creating a human race might be extremely trivial for him.

The other party may have already used the Blood-Drawing Array many times, devouring the vitality of tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions, of living beings.

Then, just how powerful would the Chen Lord be?

The other party has never revealed his true strength; what exactly is he trying to do?

A chill seemed to flow down Chen Yan's spine.

Even he felt an inexplicable malice approaching.

It was at this very moment.

A strange sensation suddenly emerged from within Chen Yan's heart.

This sensation was transmitted from within the Ancient God aura.

The Ancient God aura was some kind of medium that caused this sensation to strike.

A gaze.

Chen Yan suddenly felt that he was being stared at by some existence.

It was not the Ancient God.

It was a human...

No, it was not entirely a human either.

Who was it?

"Chen Yan?"

A surprised voice rang out from within the Ancient God aura; this voice was vast, yet it gave one a sense of boundless crisis.

A familiar feeling suddenly struck.

Chen Yan had definitely heard this voice somewhere before.

"Chen Lord..."

Chen Yan murmured.

The Chen Lord was actually able to sense him through the Ancient God aura.

"It really is you."

The Chen Lord's indifferent voice rang out:

"You were actually able to snatch away half of the Ancient God aura within Chen Changyuan's body, you..."

The Chen Lord's voice was cold, yet it carried a hint of admiration:

"Are a genius."

"If you are willing, the gates of the Chen Clan will always be open to you."

Chen Yan did not say a word.

Gradually, the Chen Lord's voice ceased to ring out.

The feeling of being stared at disappeared completely.

Chen Yan felt a chill in his heart.

The Chen Lord was actually able to transmit his consciousness through the barrier of the Ancient God Forbidden Land.

You must know.

Lu Xunyang's true self is in the Ancient God Forbidden Land, but his soul-split is within the college entrance examination secret realm, and he is fundamentally unable to perceive where his true self is.

The Ancient God Forbidden Land itself is a massive barrier that can block perception from all directions.

Even the connection between the true self and the avatar is severed.

But Lord Chen, using the Ancient God aura as a medium, is able to project his consciousness inside.

This is enough to show that the Ancient God aura is a high-ranking existence that can pierce through the shielding of the Ancient God Forbidden Land.

"The current me is still weak."

Chen Yan whispered in his heart:

"But I have always had a path to make myself stronger."

He calculated carefully.

If it comes to improving his own strength, he truly does not lack resources right now.

In terms of energy opportunities, he has those potions seized from the hospital.

In terms of martial arts, he has the two fragments of 【Boundary Instant】 that Zong Huang has already found.

In terms of elemental opportunities, within the Ice Emperor corpse obtained from the Ice Remains Tomb, there is still enough ice element to allow Chen Yan's Yin-Zhe level to reach the demigod level.

True Martial Power is the fusion of Qi-blood and tempering; the characteristics possessed by Qi-blood and tempering are naturally all possessed by True Martial Power.

If the ice element attribute can reach the demigod level, the boost to Chen Yan's strength will be enormous.

"But these are not enough."

Chen Yan murmured.

Not enough.

What he needs now is power that can contend with strong enemies.

As he is now, he has not defeated the Shi Meng Mo; that he can survive until now is entirely because of Lu Xunyang.

Chen Yan pondered.

Gradually, his eyes condensed with cold light.

He has always had a way to become stronger rapidly.

The 【Break】 character Saint-Breaking Fruit!

【Break: 89/100】

The progress of the 【Break】 character Saint-Breaking Fruit has been rising slowly all along.

Once it fully matures, it will be a massive opportunity of one hundred Saint-Breaking Fruits of any energy system.

Over a hundred Saint-Breaking Fruits—this is an opportunity Chen Yan has never had since the Saint-Breaking Tree upgraded to level ten.

Previously, Chen Yan's level of attention toward the 【Break】 character Saint-Breaking Fruit was not very high.

Because it is too difficult to grow.

After the Saint-Breaking Tree upgraded to level ten, the Lord of Will appeared, living beings offered faith, and temples to the Lord of Will were built everywhere.

Even so, up until now, the progress of the 【Break】 character Saint-Breaking Fruit is only eighty-nine percent.

Being too slow is the key reason why Chen Yan does not look forward to the 【Break】 character Saint-Breaking Fruit.

Moreover.

The Lord of Will once said that he would personally arrive in the human world.

After this sentence was known by living beings, a massive amount of faith value was harvested overnight.

But as time slowly passed, the Lord of Will never descended and never appeared.

This has caused some living beings to feel that the Lord of Will is actually a liar.

Great hope is the easiest thing to evolve into great disappointment.

Just painting a pie is not enough to receive true faith.

But now, only the final eleven percent remains until the 【Break】 character Saint-Breaking Fruit fully matures.

Chen Yan contemplated: how can he quickly harvest a large amount of faith value?

As he is now, facing this great opportunity of the 【Break】 character Saint-Breaking Fruit, it is truly difficult to turn his head away and ignore it.

Especially in this current situation.

Chen Yan looked at the end of the pulse, where the pulse end belonging to Chen Changyuan was still lit up.

In that previous battle, Chen Changyuan had always been in the first realm of the Will path, the Speech Realm, and had not entered the Standing Realm.

When Chen Changyuan perceived that a wisp of immortal will had been born within himself, it also represented that Chen Changyuan's cognition had been altered by 【Imperial Decay Saint Intent Corruption】, and he began to be even more arrogant.

The current Chen Changyuan only has a wisp of frenzied consciousness left.

That half of the Ancient God aura is like a part of his body, constantly being extracted by the Shi Meng Mo.

However, the Ancient God aura and Chen Changyuan are bonded too deeply.

The Shi Meng Mo cannot take it down for a while.

It worries that if it uses too much force, it will directly kill Chen Changyuan.

No one knows what kind of changes that wisp of Ancient God aura will undergo after Chen Changyuan dies.

The reason Chen Yan was able to easily obtain half of the Ancient God aura was that Chen Yan, in the identity of the Lord of Will, bewitched Chen Changyuan into directly yielding the Ancient God aura.

Clearly, the Shi Meng Mo does not have this ability and can only extract it by force.

This also makes it bitter for Chen Changyuan.

It is as if someone is constantly tearing your flesh and blood away inch by inch, suffering endless torment.

He has become completely demented, his mouth constantly murmuring the two words "Chen Yan" and "Lord of Will."

Chen Changyuan will not die for a while.

Chen Yan held his breath and focused his mind, looking toward the remaining tips of the martial Dao veins.

Outside, the Allied Forces of the Five Clans had already pushed the main force of the Great Xia to the border of Yun Province.

Some time ago, a battle of the Eighth Rank had erupted in Yun Province.

On the Great Xia side, two Eighth Rankers had fallen; they were two ancient Eighth Rankers who had never appeared before, the two gatekeepers of the Xia Imperial Clan.

On the side of the Five Clans, one had also died, a Marshal from Ji Province.

The entire Great Xia was shrouded in an atmosphere of decadence, with countless people displaced.

Chen Yan closed his eyes:

"The Lord of Will needs to appear, yet cannot appear, and must change the situation to give the living hope."

He pondered in his heart; this was truly a difficult problem.

But soon, Chen Yan had a solution.

Create a martial art of will!