Lord of the Rending Stars

King Jiuyu introduced a lot about the Kunwu Secret Realm, which greatly impressed Qingyang and Bingfeng.

At the entrance to the Chaotic Ruins, three figures materialized before a distorted spatial rift. Qingyang and his two companions stood with their hands behind their backs, gazing at the ever-changing spatial vortex before them—the legendary Kunwu Ruins, a secret realm that existed in the early stages of the primordial universe.

"According to intelligence, the Kunwu Ruins are divided into an outer domain, an inner domain, and a core area."

King Jiuyu's voice was calm and magnetic as he said, "The outermost layer is the 'Source Crystal Plain,' which is scattered with a large number of Chaos Source Crystals. Although the quality is not high, the quantity is large and easy to obtain, which is suitable for us to adapt to the environment."

A faint mist swirled around Bingfeng, and his silver-white armor was adorned with patterns of laws. His face was perfectly sculpted, yet as cold and austere as ancient ice: "The laws of the Chaotic Ruins differ from those of the primordial universe. According to reports from previous adventurers, the flow of time within the Kunwu Ruins is three times that of the outside world. The spatial structure is more fragile, but the laws are more active. Rushing in could very well trigger a backlash from the laws."

Qingyang nodded in agreement: "Bingfeng is right. Although the three of us possess the strength to become Kings and Immortals, we still need to be cautious in such a secret realm."

The three exchanged a glance, then simultaneously transformed into streaks of light and plunged into the ever-changing spatial vortex. The instant they passed through the vortex, all three felt a powerful impact from the laws of space.

"This is..."

King Jiuyu's pupils contracted slightly. The scene before them was completely beyond their comprehension. In the hazy sky, countless colorful light spots floated, which were materialized fragments of laws. The earth presented irregular geometric shapes, some places rising upwards to form mountains, while others sunken downwards to form deep valleys, as if an invisible hand had arbitrarily kneaded this space.

Most striking were the crystals scattered on the ground—chaotic primordial crystals. These crystals varied in size, some as small as a football, others as large as skyscrapers. They emitted a soft light, each color corresponding to a different primordial law.

"The Source Crystal of the Fundamental Law of Fire!"

Qingyang's eyes lit up, and he reached out to grab a piece of crimson crystal.

"Wait!" King Jiuyu shouted sharply, "Look at the ground!"

Qingyang looked closely and saw that the ground around the crimson source crystal was showing signs of melting. It wasn't caused by high temperature, but by the space itself "softening".

"The laws here are too active, and the spacetime around the source crystal is unstable." Bingfeng analyzed calmly, "We must carefully collect it using the corresponding law. For source crystals of the fire law, wrap them with the fire law and slowly peel them away."

The three began their experiment. King Jiuyu chose a wind-attribute source crystal that emitted a pale blue light. He extended his right hand, and complex law patterns appeared on his palm as he carefully resonated with the law fluctuations surrounding the source crystal. Gradually, the source crystal detached from the ground and floated in his hand.

"Success!" King Jiuyu breathed a sigh of relief.

"The consumption is not significant; it will take approximately two minutes to recover."

Following the example of King Jiuyu, Qingyang used the laws of fire to envelop the crimson source crystal. His movements were much more forceful than King Jiuyu's; the source crystal was forcibly pulled up, and the surrounding space emitted a cracking sound as it was unable to bear the weight.

"Qingyang, this is too dangerous for you," King Jiuyu frowned.

"I couldn't control my strength, but it's okay now," Qingyang said with an awkward laugh.

Bingfeng chose the safest method. Instead of directly collecting the source crystal, he sat cross-legged and began to sense the flow of the laws of this world. Cold mist spread around him, resonating with the water law in the air.

A quarter of an hour later, Bingfeng opened his eyes and beckoned. Three ice-blue source crystals flew up automatically from not far away and landed in his hand like swallows returning to their nest. The whole process was smooth and effortless, causing almost no spatial fluctuations.

"Amazing!" King Jiuyu and Qingyang exclaimed sincerely.

"We've simply found the frequency of the resonance between the laws," Bingfeng said calmly. "Although the laws here are active and chaotic, they also have their own inherent rules. Finding these rules will make things much easier."

The three exchanged a smile and began the long and tedious collection process. In the blink of an eye, thirty years passed within the Chaos Ruins (approximately ten years in the outside world).

The three had adapted to the laws governing this environment, greatly increasing their efficiency in collecting source crystals. They established a temporary base in a cave that had been stabilized by the Nine Universe King using spatial laws.

That day, King Jiuyu returned from outside, his face grave. "Something's happened." He threw a broken piece of carapace on the ground. "The aura of a demon race, and it's at the King-level Immortal."

Qingyang and Bingfeng stood up at the same time.

"What kind? How many?" Qingyang asked in a deep voice.

"It's an 'Armored Rhinoceros,' at least three of them. I found traces of them three thousand kilometers to the southeast."

A hint of fighting spirit flashed in King Jiuyu's eyes. "They are mining a source crystal vein, and it seems they have only been here for a short time."

A cold glint flashed in Bingfeng's eyes: "It seems we are not the only team to enter this area."

"What do we do?" King Jiuyu clenched his fists. "Should we fucking kill him?"

Qingyang pondered for a moment: "The Ironclad Dragon Rhinoceros has extremely strong defense, but its movement speed is relatively slow, and it is skilled in the laws of earth. If the three of us join forces, our chances of winning are very high. But the key is to prevent them from sending a message and attracting more demons."

"I have a way," Bingfeng suddenly spoke up, "I can set up an 'Icebound Forbidden Zone' to temporarily isolate this area from communication and spatial fluctuations. But it can only last for fifteen minutes."

"Fifteen minutes is enough."

King Jiuyu's eyes burned with fierce fighting spirit. Qingyang nodded: "Alright, then let's fight! But remember, our goal is to improve our understanding of the laws and hone our secret techniques in the Chaos Ruins, not to risk our lives. If things go wrong, retreat immediately."

The three transformed into streaks of light, silently disappearing southeast. In a recessed valley, three enormous demon race members were busy at work. They were clad in heavy rock armor, possessed single horns on their heads, and their hooves pounded the ground with a deep, rumbling sound. These were the powerful Ironclad Dragon Rhinoceroses, a race renowned for their defense and strength.

The leading dragon rhinoceros was the largest, with a body length of over two hundred meters. It used its single horn to pry open the ground, revealing a source crystal vein that shimmered with seven-colored light.

"Boss, this time the harvest is pretty good."

The smaller dragon rhinoceros said in a deep voice, "If we take these source crystals back, the Venerable One will surely reward us."

"Stop talking nonsense and hurry up."

The lead dragon-rhinoceros cautiously surveyed its surroundings. Just then, a sudden change occurred. The temperature around the valley plummeted, and a layer of pale blue ice crystals appeared out of thin air, rapidly spreading and enveloping the entire valley. Complex patterns of laws flowed across the ice crystals, isolating them from all fluctuations inside and outside.

"Enemy attack!"

The lead dragon rhinoceros reacted extremely quickly, its entire body erupting with an earthy yellow light as a thick layer of rock armor instantly covered its entire body. But its warning came too late.

A dark, luminous light descended from the sky, like darkness from the abyss, carrying an aura of annihilation.

Qingyang wielded the Heavenly Flame Blade, its blade imbued with highly compressed fire laws, and thrust it straight at the eye of the leading dragon rhinoceros, its weakest point of defense.

"Roar!" The dragon rhinoceros roared, lowering its head to meet the attack with its single horn. At the moment the spear and horn collided, there was no earth-shattering explosion, only a faint hissing sound as space was torn apart. Fine cracks appeared in the fragile spatial structure of the Chaos Relic Realm under this blow.

"Such hard horns!"

Qingyang was secretly alarmed and used the momentum to retreat. At the same time, King Jiuyu attacked from the left. He transformed into a ball of burning flame, his fists condensing crimson law patterns, and slammed them fiercely into the side of the second dragon rhinoceros.

"Flame Dragon Break!" This strike landed squarely on the dragon rhinoceros, but only caused a few cracks to appear in its thick rock armor.

The dragon rhinoceros winced in pain, its massive tail sweeping out with a whistling sound. King Jiuyu nimbly dodged, his expression grave: "The defense is even stronger than described in the intelligence from the virtual universe!"

Just as the third dragon rhinoceros was about to join the battle, it suddenly felt its body stiffen. Without its knowledge, its four hooves were now frozen solid, ice crystals spreading upwards along its legs, freezing the very space in their path.

The ice peak hovered in mid-air, his hands forming a hand seal. A cold light flashed in his eyes: "Extreme Cold Prison".

The ice sealing the dragon rhinoceros suddenly contracted inward, generating a terrifying compressive force. The rock armor on the dragon rhinoceros's body cracked under the strain, and numerous cracks began to appear.

"Third brother!" The leading dragon-rhinoceros's eyes widened in fury as it tried to come to the rescue, but Qingyang held it firmly in place. With three dragon-rhinoceroses and three human kings, the battle reached a stalemate.

King Jiuyu grew increasingly alarmed as the battle progressed. Within the Chaotic Ruins, the laws were more active, but also more difficult to control. Once his fire law erupted, it often caused instability in the surrounding space, resulting in a significant reduction in its power.

"This won't do." King Jiuyu's mind raced. "We must create a new secret technique suitable for this environment."

During the battle, he carefully observed the fluctuations in the surrounding space, sensing the changes in the Law of Fire within the chaotic environment. Gradually, he formed an idea.

"Try this!" King Jiuyu suddenly changed his fighting style. He no longer pursued large-scale bursts of flame, but instead highly compressed the Law of Fire, condensing it on the surface of his fist to form a thin layer of crimson light film. This light film vibrated continuously, its frequency consistent with the fluctuations of the surrounding space.

"Shattering Void Flame Fist!"

The punch was thrown, but there was no earth-shattering explosion, only the faint sound of space being pierced. This punch directly pierced through the dragon rhinoceros's rock armor, entered its body, and then exploded.

"Roar!" The dragon rhinoceros let out a painful roar, a muffled explosion emanating from its body, flames spewing from its seven orifices. Success! King Jiuyu was overjoyed. This move was more than 30% more powerful than the previous one, and consumed less energy.

On the other side, Bingfeng was also adjusting his tactics. He discovered that in a chaotic environment, the pure laws of ice had limited effect, but if combined with the laws of space, allowing ice to condense directly within the target's body, it could ignore external defenses.

"To condense the void into reality, and to transform reality into the void..."

Bingfeng muttered to himself, his hand seals changing. Suddenly, countless ice spikes appeared inside the frozen dragon rhinoceros, piercing it from the inside out. It didn't even have time to scream before it was completely frozen, then shattered into a pile of ice crystals.

"Third Brother!" the leading dragon rhinoceros roared, a glint of madness flashing in its eyes, "Human scum, you're courting death!"

Its massive body suddenly swelled, and pieces of its rocky armor peeled away, revealing crimson skin beneath. A terrifying aura erupted from it, a sign of its life force burning away.

"It's going to self-destruct!"

King Qingyang's expression changed. "Bingfeng, lift the blockade, we're retreating!"

"It's too late," Ice Peak King said calmly. "The self-destruction has already been initiated, and the space is locked. We can only withstand it or interrupt it." Nine Universe King's eyes flashed sharply: "Then interrupt it!"

He transformed into a streak of flame and charged straight at the dragon rhinoceros. However, a barrier of laws had already formed around the dragon rhinoceros, an absolute defense created by burning its life force, which could not be broken in a short time.

Qingyang's mind raced. "Jiuyu, Bingfeng, lend me a hand!"

Qingyang roared, "Use your laws to bombard the space around it, create spatial rifts!"

Although puzzled, the two immediately obeyed out of trust in their comrade. The flames of King Jiuyu and the ice of Bingfeng simultaneously bombarded the space surrounding the dragon rhinoceros. The already fragile space instantly cracked, like shattered glass.

It's now!

Qingyang took a deep breath, his hands clasped together in front of his chest, and a cyan-gold vortex formed in his palms. This wasn't an attack technique, but... teleportation! He forcibly connected the shattered space around him, forming an unstable spatial channel. At the other end of the channel was a spatial turbulence millions of kilometers away.

"shift!"

Qingyang pushed with both hands, and the vortex swallowed the self-destructing dragon rhinoceros. The next moment, a deafening explosion came from millions of kilometers away, and even from that distance, the three of them could feel the ground tremble.

The battle was over. The three stood in the ravaged valley, panting heavily. Although they had won, they were extremely exhausted.

"That move just now..."

King Jiuyu looked at Qingyang, his eyes filled with shock. "How did you come up with that?"

Qingyang smiled wryly: "It was a spur-of-the-moment decision. The space here is too fragile, which gave us an opportunity. However, this method can only be used once; it won't work next time if the enemy is on guard."

Ice Peak silently collected the spoils, including the dragon rhinoceros's horn, fragments of armor, and source crystals from the valley. Suddenly, he paused, pulling a black crystal from the remains of the lead dragon rhinoceros.

"What is this?"

King Jiuyu leaned closer to take a look. The black crystal was only the size of a palm, but inside it seemed as if nebulae were swirling, exuding a chaotic and ancient aura.

Qingyang's pupils contracted: "A fragment of chaos! Although it's only a tiny piece, it's indeed a fragment of chaos recorded in the virtual universe! This is a treasure a thousand times more precious than a source crystal!"

The three exchanged a glance, all seeing the excitement in each other's eyes. There were fragments of chaos on the outer perimeter of the Chaos Ruins; what about the depths?

At this moment, Qingyang and his companions realized the significance of their adventure here. This was not merely a trial, but an immense opportunity!

"Get yourself back to normal first, then continue exploring."

King Jiuyu said in a deep voice, "But we need to be more careful. This is just a small team from the demon race; other powerful races are still behind us. The road ahead will not be peaceful."

Qingyang and Bingfeng smiled slightly. Qingyang said, "Fighting with all races, that's what makes it interesting, isn't it?"