Chapter 354

Through the viscous, liquid-like spatial membrane, the clamor and chaos of the outside world's Probability Lag vanished instantly, replaced by a suffocating silence and an omnipresent sense of distortion.

Xia Wan hovered within the interior of Guixu, her Guardian Halo emitting a steady, pale golden glow around her, repelling the invading chaotic energies. She swiftly scanned her surroundings, her heart sinking.

This was not the ruin or passage she had expected, but an endless, bizarrely fractured realm.

Beneath her feet was not solid ground, but a "floor" composed of countless shattered, mirror-like fragments of space, each reflecting wildly different, twisted, inverted scenes—perhaps a burning nebula, perhaps a withered forest, or perhaps the skeletal remains of some indescribable colossal creature. Above, there was no sky, only churning, interwoven streams of dark red energy and pulsating, vein-like folds of space.

Physical laws here were nearly nullified; gravity shifted unpredictably, sometimes pulling her downward, sometimes thrusting her sideways by invisible forces. Energy currents, like invisible venomous snakes, slithered through the gaps between fragments; one misstep could hurl her into an unknown dimension.

The air reeked of intense decay and a… whispering static, as if countless voices murmured at her ears, trying to burrow into her mind and disrupt her spirit.

Xia Wan held fast to her spiritual core; her Guardian Power flowed naturally, repelling the spiritual corruption. She attempted to expand her perception, but her spiritual force was severely suppressed and interfered with, like wading through thick mud—she could barely detect the area within a few hundred meters.

"This… is literally a graveyard of rules," Xia Wan thought grimly. In this environment, any conventional navigation or tactic would be meaningless; she could rely only on instinct and intuition for danger.

She recalled the final thought of the dark gold Lizardmen: "May I ask, Divine Envoy… the Ark… home…"

Ark? Home?

In this place of utter chaos and despair, these two words felt utterly out of place, yet carried a heartbreaking persistence.

That Lizardmen—or rather, its species—had not willingly become puppets of Guixu; they longed to escape, to return.

Then, where was the Ark? And what was it?

Xia Wan did not move blindly. In this place, one misstep could plunge her into an inescapable temporal trap. She closed her eyes, abandoning sight and spiritual perception, sinking her consciousness entirely into herself, merging with the authority of the Tiankong Guardian and the Origin Contract.

She felt—for the faintest resonance of "Order" within this chaotic space.

Like searching for a single firefly in boundless darkness.

Time lost meaning here; she did not know how long it had passed—perhaps an instant, perhaps a long century.

Finally, deep within her spiritual awareness, she caught a thread—extremely subtle, yet astonishingly resilient. It was neither an energy flow nor a material presence, but more like a… coordinate mark or causal pull transcending the current spatial dimension.

The origin of this thread seemed to point toward the deepest recesses of this fractured realm.

"Found it…"

Xia Wan opened her eyes; golden light flashed briefly in her pupils. She locked onto the sensation, her energy wings fluttering gently, adjusting direction, beginning to advance slowly along an extremely convoluted, ever-shifting path toward the sensed direction.

She moved like a sprite dancing through a minefield, each step precisely landing on relatively stable space fragments, skillfully avoiding invisible energy currents and spatial folds.

Along the way, she saw more abandoned traces: strange architectural ruins half-buried beneath the fragments, long devoid of any energy signature; colossal, non-humanoid skeletons frozen within twisted space, preserving their deathly grimaces; even some relatively intact stone steles inscribed with unknown script, though their information had been blurred and eroded by chaotic energies.

All of these silently spoke of this place's former glory and its final devastation.

The deeper she went, the clearer the whispering static became—as if some presence had been watching her, this unwelcome intruder, all along.

Suddenly, on a relatively large space fragment ahead, radiating a deep blue glow, the scene shifted.

No longer barren, it revealed a… relatively intact circular Altar, constructed of some black crystal. At its center floated a constantly shifting, mercury-like liquid substance, emitting a soft, steady white light.

Amidst this utter chaos and darkness, that white light stood out like a lighthouse guiding lost souls—strange, yet… alluring.

Xia Wan halted, observing warily. She sensed that the liquid substance contained an order energy, identical in origin to her Guardian Power, yet older and purer.

Trap? Or… opportunity?

As she hesitated, a gentle, clear thought—free of all chaos and fury—flowed into her mind like a quiet stream, utterly unlike the overwhelming "Will of Guixu":

"Stranger, Guardian…"

"Come closer…"

The thought was calm and rational, carrying the weariness of endless ages.

Xia Wan's heart stirred, but she did not move immediately.

The thought seemed to sense her caution, and came again, with a hint of kindly explanation:

"Rest assured… this is the Guiding Light, formed from the Ark Core Fragment… untouched by the Order of the End…"

"I am… the Recorder… the last remaining fragment of lucid will… remaining here…"

Recorder? Ark Core Fragment?

Xia Wan's gaze fixed on the white liquid. Was this part of the Ark? The Ark the dark gold Lizardmen had sought?

She paused, then decided to risk it. Raising her Guardian Power to its peak, she slowly flew toward the Altar.

As she stepped onto the blue fragment and neared the Altar, no attack came. The white "Guiding Light" glowed even softer, as if welcoming her arrival.

And the voice calling itself the Recorder became clearer:

"Thank you for your trust, stranger, Guardian."

"Time is urgent—the Order of the End may detect this anomaly at any moment…"

Its tone carried urgency.

"Before I reveal all you wish to know…"

"Please dismiss your attendants."

Dismiss your attendants?

Xia Wan froze, instinctively glancing around. Aside from her and the Altar, there was nothing here—where were the attendants?

Yet the instant the Recorder finished speaking—

Sudden change!

Two space fragments beside Xia Wan, previously calm, rippled violently like water struck by a stone. Two hazy figures, radiating an aura similar to the Lizardmen but far more obscure, suddenly materialized from the void like ghosts!

They were not Lizardmen in form, but closer to humanoid—bodies woven from shadows and twisted light, their features indiscernible, save for two pairs of cold, emotionless eyes, fixed unblinkingly on Xia Wan and the "Guiding Light" upon the Altar!

They had been lurking beside her all along—even her perception had failed to detect them!

The Recorder's voice, bitter and weary, echoed urgently in Xia Wan's mind:

"They… are the Cleaners of the Order of the End…"

"Specialized in erasing… remnants like me… Order Imprints…"

"Quick! Guardian! Before they summon more companions…"

The two shadowy figures surged forward like twin arrows, radiating an aura that annihilated all Order!

Their primary target was unmistakably the milky-white "Bright Lamp" upon the altar!