Chapter 1315

Yan Buji's figure stumbled into view in another unfamiliar netherworld valley suffused with pale purple mist, his complexion pallid, his breath ragged. Forcibly activating the travel token to perform successive spatial jumps to uncertain locations took a heavy toll on him, and the lingering shockwave of that will impact added injury upon injury.

But he had no time for these; his mind kept replaying the scene he had just seen through the abyssal rift.

"The Asura Palace has manifested, the Lord of the Nether River's will fluctuates, the Asura clan and the ancient nether beasts are waging war…… The Netherworld Realm, a heaven-shaking, earth-shaking event is likely unfolding! That old ghost Changwu is urgently trying to seize me; perhaps it's not just because I intruded, but more likely because I, this 'variable,' might affect some major undertaking they are conducting!"

A gleam flashed in his eyes; far from being disheartened by the exposure of his whereabouts, he instead showed a hint of excitement and greed.

"Chaos brings opportunity!"

"The more forbidden the place, the more likely it hides power that transcends order and the demon abyss!"

"That Abyss of Silence Extinction, that deep reaches of the Nether River, that Asura Palace…… I, Yan Buji, have come!"

He suppressed his injuries, carefully sensing his surroundings while rubbing the travel token in his hand. This token seems not only able to guide the ancient path, but in specific desperate peril it can also sense hidden routes or nodes.

The pale purple netherworld mist flowed like a living thing through the valley, obscuring vision and eroding spiritual sense. Yan Buji forcibly suppressed the dizziness and injuries from the spatial jumps; chaos deathly qi laboriously circulated within his body, gradually expelling and assimilating the invading foreign mist. He leaned against a cold, perforated strange rock, vigilantly perceiving his surroundings.

The travel token warmed slightly in his hand, pointing toward the depths of the mist. This time, the guidance was not toward a definite exit, but rather a kind of…… resonance. It seemed that somewhere in this valley existed something sharing the token's origin, or at least related to it.

"This place is not suitable for lingering; those pursuers could arrive at any moment." Yan Buji drew a deep breath, suppressed his surging qi and blood, and decided to follow the resonance to investigate. This might be the key to escaping his current predicament, or even obtaining a new opportunity.

He concealed his aura, moving like a shadow blending into the mist as he sneaked deeper into the valley. The deeper he went, the thicker the purple mist became, even beginning to metamorphose into various bizarre phantasms—tempting whispers, ferocious apparitions—trying to disturb his mind. But for Yan Buji, whose will had been tempered through trials and who bore the Chaos Force, these had scarcely any effect.

After walking for about the time it takes to burn an incense stick, the mist ahead suddenly thinned, revealing a relatively open area. At the center of the area stood a dilapidated ancient stone platform. The platform was uniformly dark gray, covered with scars from blade and axe blows and cracks from age erosion, its surface inscribed with characters more complex and ancient than those on the travel token, sharing the same origin as the netherworld script.

Around the platform lay several massive skeletons that had long lost all energy fluctuations, resembling weathered rock; judging by their forms, some resembled nether beasts, while others resembled some unknown netherworld species.

And the source of the resonance with the travel token came precisely from this stone platform!

Yan Buji approached the stone platform and examined it closely. At the center of the platform was a recess whose shape and size perfectly matched the travel token in his hand.

"A teleportation array? Or perhaps some kind of…… authentication ritual?" he guessed, not rashly inserting the travel token. In such perilous netherworld realms, anything that seemed like an opportunity could conceal a deadly trap.

He extended his hand, cautiously touching the platform's surface, and sent a wisp of extremely fine chaos deathly qi into it.

"Hum……"

The stone platform trembled slightly; the ancient runes on its surface lit up one by one, emitting a faint, steady glow. A stream of information flowed along that wisp of chaos deathly qi back into Yan Buji's mind.

It was not concrete language or images, but an abstract legal message concerning pathways, permissions, and cost.

This stone platform was not a simple teleportation array, but an ancient "Netherworld Waymarker"! It is a more concealed, higher-grade node than the Netherworld ancient path, capable of directly linking to places where important or dangerous laws converge in the Netherworld Realm. And the travel token in Yan Buji's hand is one of the "keys" to activate this waymarker.

The message indicated that via this waymarker he could select several "destinations," but most were vague and unclear, likely due to age or insufficient energy preventing precise positioning. Only one destination had relatively clear information:

"The Eye of the Return to Ruins (a fractured interface, laws in chaos, unknown risk, suspected to contain the 'Primordial Silence')"

"The Eye of the Return to Ruins…… Primordial Silence……" Yan Buji's heart leapt. Just those two names caused his internal Chaos Force to resonate strongly and crave! "Primordial Silence" sounded like a more primordial, ancient form of power than the Ninefold Nether Stillness—exactly the ideal nourishment for the evolution of his Chaos Path!

However, the message also explicitly mentioned "unknown risk" and "fractured interface." This meant the place was extremely dangerous, possibly a forgotten or shattered world fragment, with incomplete laws, filled with unpredictable calamities.

Activating the waymarker requires consuming a tremendous amount of energy, and…… a portion of soul origin as a "guide" and "price"! This is the embodiment of the Netherworld Realm's ancient law: to obtain supreme treasure, one must bear its weight, even needing to pledge part of oneself.

Just as Yan Buji was weighing the pros and cons, his expression suddenly hardened, and he abruptly turned his head toward the valley entrance.

Several formidable auras were breaking through the purple mist at breakneck speed, rushing toward his position! One aura brimming with Asura battle intent was especially conspicuous—undoubtedly an elite pursuer under High Priest Changwu! They had actually tracked him here so quickly!

"No time to hesitate!"

"Before me a wolf, behind me a tiger! Staying put means certain death, surrounded! Charging into the unknown 'Eye of the Return to Ruins' may be nine deaths to one life, yet there remains a sliver of hope and opportunity!"

A flash of resolve crossed Yan Buji's eyes! He no longer hesitated, violently pressing the travel token into the recess at the platform's center.

"Click!"

"Seamlessly fitted!"

The entire stone platform erupted into a soaring gray pillar of light, countless ancient runes wriggling within it like awakened tadpoles! An immense suction force arose from the platform, frantically drawing in the surrounding netherworld deathly qi, while Yan Buji clearly felt that a strand of his soul origin had been forcibly torn away and merged into the pillar!

Intense pain surged through him, eliciting a muffled groan; his complexion instantly turned ashen. The loss of soul origin is far harder to recover from than bodily injury.

"Scoundrel! Halt!"

A furious shout rang out; a crimson spear-light tore through the mist, striking like a venomous dragon toward Yan Buji within the pillar! The Asura pursuers had arrived!

At the same time, several more attacks from ancient nether beasts and unknown powerhouses arrived in succession, clearly aiming to stop him—or seize the chance to detain him!

"Hmph! Want to block me? Too late!"

Yan Buji stood at the pillar's center, allowing the attacks to bombard its periphery, stirring violent ripples, yet unable to instantly breach the ancient waymarker's defense. He coldly regarded the swiftly approaching pursuers, the corner of his mouth curling into a sneering arc.