Chapter 754: The Saint's Outer Domain Battlefield
The outer domain was deathly silent. Observing the Big Dipper Ancient Star Domain from space, it appeared as a magnificent cluster of celestial bodies.
Among them, a massive life-bearing star loomed close, exuding an awe-inspiring aura, like an ancient resting place for slumbering deities. Ye Fan, suspended in the eternal void, felt a sense of desolation and grandeur. They were currently orbiting this great star, pulled by its gravitational force.
"It's truly magnificent—such a huge star, so vast!" Li Tian exclaimed in awe.
At this moment, relying on an ancient sacred artifact to tear through space, they could descend to the ground, but the time required would be unbearably long. This life-bearing ancient star was so immense that reaching its surface would take an excruciating amount of time.
"It would be best to construct a teleportation divine formation. Let's flip through the ancient texts left by those bastard ancestors of ours and see if there are any relevant records."
The Path of Human Desire had produced more than one saint. Some had traversed star domains and were well-versed in teleportation array patterns, naturally leaving behind valuable writings.
"What is that?" Yan Yixi's eyes flickered as he stared into a patch of darkness in the distance, a hint of suspicion in his expression.
They hadn't rushed to descend to the ground, instead drifting freely, orbiting the massive life-bearing star like specks of dust.
Ahead, a mountain-like shadow loomed ominously, as if a celestial body were blocking their path, emitting faint, strange energy fluctuations.
As they closed in to within a few dozen miles, a cold, metallic gleam became visible. It was an iron peak a thousand meters high, like a meteorite, dense and oppressive.
"What is this thing? How did such a large iron block get here?" Li Tian was quite astonished.
This massive iron block seemed extraordinary, resembling a type of divine iron, yet it lacked the corresponding spiritual essence, and they couldn't sense any divine power fluctuations.
Closing in another dozen miles, even in the darkness of the void, they could see its pitted surface, covered in sword and blade marks, along with many terrifying cracks, as if it had been shattered by sheer force.
Moreover, there were faint bloodstains on it, long dried, yet still exuding a chilling desolation, as if it had witnessed an unimaginable, cataclysmic battle.
"This is indeed a type of divine iron, a rare treasure even for sect leader-level figures. How could there be such a huge chunk? It's absurd!" Yan Yixi sighed.
Normally, getting a fist-sized piece to forge into a weapon would be a prized treasure, enough to delight a sect leader. Yet here was a thousand-meter-tall block of divine iron.
However, they also sensed something unusual. This precious iron had lost all its spiritual essence, its divine energy depleted. It must have drifted here for countless ages to reach this state.
"If I'm not mistaken, this is a fragment of a shattered ancient sacred weapon. A thousand meters tall is just a small piece of it," Ye Fan said.
Ancient saints possessed immense power. The scale of their weapon forging was unimaginable. If they obtained divine materials, a fist-sized piece might suffice to forge a legendary sacred weapon.
But if the materials weren't sturdy enough, they might drain the essence of countless mountains and rivers, gathering spiritual energy to shape a weapon. In ancient times, some saints' palm-sized mountain seals appeared crystal clear and delicate, but in reality, they were formed from ten thousand miles of terrain, expanding boundlessly when fully manifested.
"There's another piece over there!"
Sure enough, before long, they spotted another thousand-meter-long fragment of divine iron, cold and eerie, covered in dried bloodstains, further confirming it was a destroyed ancient sacred weapon.
Soon after, they saw a broken ancient bow, several dozen meters long, followed by a nearly decayed purple-gold hammer and a damaged large bell.
"They all seem like relics left by saints, but all are ruined beyond recognition. Not only have the materials lost their spiritual essence, but the Dao patterns inscribed within have also been erased."
All these broken ancient weapons orbited the star, floating eternally in the boundless void, recording the tragedy and heroism of the past.
"I understand now. This is the so-called celestial battlefield," Ye Fan said.
Long ago, he had heard that when ancient saints fought, their actions could destroy heaven and earth. Every strike would shatter endless mountains and rivers, causing widespread suffering. Thus, they all fought in the outer domain.
Now, without a second thought, it was clear that this boundless void was where ancient saints once battled.
This battlefield had likely gone unused for tens of thousands of years, as producing a single saint nowadays was incredibly difficult, let alone engaging in life-or-death combat.
Soon, everything confirmed their suspicions. As they orbited the star and accelerated, they entered an ancient battlefield. It was chaotic, filled with countless fragments, mainly from several oversized sacred weapons that had shattered and scattered like rubble.
In this area, there were also collapsed ancient towers, abandoned warships, and massive skeletal remains that had long since decayed.
"These bones are so huge—what kind of creature do they belong to? Even a toe bone is ten meters long!" Yan Yixi exclaimed in shock.
There were many bones here, belonging to different creatures. Some were pitch black, others pale blue, and some silver-white, all distinct.
"Creatures comparable to saints—each drop of their blood could kill a great power, and their bones are treasures," Li Tian said, rubbing his hands, his eyes gleaming.
They had now entered the depths of this outer domain battlefield, where broken armor, bronze ships, ancient weapons, and other debris were scattered everywhere.
"Don't even think about it. These are bones from at least hundreds of thousands of years ago, even from the primordial era. They've long lost their spiritual essence and power, nearly rotting away during the battles," Ye Fan said.
"What a waste—not being able to use them properly..." Li Tian lamented. Suddenly, he let out a strange cry, leaping high and spinning around, reaching for his backside.
"Ahhh..." He screamed as if possessed by a demon, howling in pain, his face pale, hopping and jumping in panic.
There was a trace of blood on his palm, and on his buttocks, a bloody severed hand was gripping him, sending chills down their spines and making their hair stand on end.
Li Tian's face twisted in a grimace. "I was just joking! I didn't mean to blaspheme the saints. Ancestors, please rest in peace and don't take offense!"
Ye Fan and Yan Yixi also found it eerie. This ancient battlefield was strange—how had that hand flown over without any of them sensing it?
"Damn it! A drop of saint blood can kill a sect leader, and I've got a handful of blood. How many times would I die?" Li Tian wailed, the severed hand on his buttocks trembling with his movements.
"This is a severed hand from hundreds of thousands of years ago. The saint's spiritual essence has long drained away. It won't harm you. Stop scaring yourself," Yan Yixi said.
Li Tian struggled to pry the hand off, then placed it in the void as if worshipping a god. He was genuinely unnerved. With his current power and keen spiritual perception, he hadn't sensed anything before being grabbed.
As they were about to leave this area, they spotted a rotten wooden box among the ruins. They couldn't sense anything from it, but Ye Fan opened it anyway.
"Buzz!"
A dazzling divine light burst forth, brilliant and eternal. Inside was a head-sized piece of divine source, floating silently, its energy completely sealed by the rotten wooden box.
"How beautiful!" Li Tian exclaimed in awe.
Inside the head-sized divine source was a budding flower, the size of a fist, crystal clear and radiant, shimmering with a beauty that intoxicated the soul.
It seemed to possess a demonic allure, forcibly drawing their minds into it, making them want to dive in, unable to resist, longing to sink forever.
The three had never seen such a flawless, beautiful flower. Though unopened, it surpassed all others, glowing with red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet hues, enchanting them.
"Why can't I control myself? I want to offer my soul to it, to sink into it?"
"My whole body feels relaxed, wanting to fall into eternal depravity and sink into the flower."
"Quick! Stop looking! This is a demonic flower!"
Finally, with great willpower, they severed their connection to it and sealed it back in the rotten wooden box, cold sweat breaking out on their bodies.
After some time, Li Tian seemed to recall something. "I read in an ancient text about a divine flower that only ancient great emperors could appreciate, the ultimate beauty of the world. When it blooms, even ancient saints are severely injured, and anyone else who sees it will have their soul turn to ash, leaving only an empty shell as a walking corpse."
Ye Fan and Yan Yixi broke out in a cold sweat. This was a bizarre and terrifying flower, not meant for mortal eyes, hence its name: Divine Flower.
Li Tian continued, "Legend says it fell from the immortal realm. When one withers, it turns into seeds and breaks through the void to be reborn in another world."
Ye Fan said, "We're about to descend to the life-bearing star below. If the ancient clans are everywhere and the ancient kings emerge, this divine flower might come in handy in the future."
"It's a gift from heaven. Could it be that the land below is truly facing great upheaval that requires such a thing?" Yan Yixi mused.
They continued onward and unexpectedly discovered an ancient teleportation platform. After careful study, they found it still functional, connected to the ground.
"Heaven helps us! We can descend immediately."
The three boarded the ancient platform, filled it with source blocks, and prepared to activate it to descend to the massive star below. But just then, their eyes froze. In the cold, starry void, a small ancient ship was flying toward them.
It wasn't moving fast, but its direction was steady and clear, gradually approaching this life-bearing star. Concepts like second cosmic velocity or third cosmic velocity were irrelevant to it; some mysterious force propelled it, maintaining a constant course.
"Is it... flying from the depths of the universe?"
Their hearts pounded as they watched it enter this outer domain battlefield, then begin orbiting the star like them.
"Ancient great emperors have descended on this star. There must be some secret. Could this be some major figure arriving?" Li Tian speculated uneasily.
The ancient ship was small, just over three meters long, holding at most two or three people. It was tightly sealed. They tried to probe it and detected two faint life forces, as if they were nearing the end of their existence.
"There really are living beings inside. This is bad news. Anyone daring to cross like this can't be ordinary. We definitely can't afford to provoke them."
"Are they heading for the Big Dipper Ancient Star Domain? Are they following the footsteps of the ancient great emperors, or do they have other intentions?"
"Let's go. Don't stir up trouble. Though their life force is nearly extinguished, there could be great danger."
They didn't seek conflict. The identity of the outer domain visitor was unknown. In the vast cosmos, few life-bearing stars existed. A ship crossing star domains like this meant its owner was mysterious and immensely powerful. They didn't want to cause trouble.
Especially after Ye Fan's experience with a ship full of ancient kings, he was even more cautious. Returning to the ground was the priority. Provoking a saint-level existence would spell disaster.
With a flash of light, the ancient array activated, and they vanished from the outer domain battlefield. The next moment, they appeared on the vast land.
"I'm back..." Ye Fan stepped onto the solid ground and couldn't help but let out a long roar toward the sky.