Chapter 1192: Certain Death, No Survival

Chapter 544

“Tao comprehension…”

Xu Ran unified his heart spirit, his consciousness immersed into an unprecedented microcosmic domain.

This wasn’t a simple disassembly, but a conceptual reverse deduction. It was as if he saw a river rushing into the sea, and what he needed to do was trace back against the river’s end, searching for that original drop of snowmelt from the mountain.

Bang!

His divine soul suddenly shuddered, as if dragged into a radiant world woven with countless rays and runes.

Among them, there were broad, deep, end-filled, and deathly silent gray lines familiar to him — the Tao of Gui Xu. They resembled a gigantic net devouring everything, with any energy or matter nearby being assimilated, ultimately leading to nothingness. This was the foundation of his power, domineering and pure.

On the other side was a completely different scene. Countless fine, resilient, immortal glowing golden runes, interlinking, forming one fortified order divine hall after another. They represent guardianship, eternity, and an undeniable “law”. This is the Tao of the Divine Court, a glorious law that pushes “existence” itself to the extreme!

In the past, Xu Ran merely incorporated the power of fire into Gui Xu, forcibly driving it. But now, under “Tao comprehension,” he saw with unprecedented clarity the essential differences and inner logic between the two great paths.

Gui Xu is termination, subtraction, returning everything to chaos.

The Tao of the Divine Court is construction, addition, establishing order within chaos.

One yin, one yang, one end, one beginning, originally diametrically opposed, yet achieving a wonderful coexistence within this small fragment.

“So it is… The power of fire is not merely energy; it resembles a ‘glue’, a ‘bridge’ of Tao, forcibly linking the two opposing laws together with an intent of ‘inheritance’ and ‘exploration’…”

Countless flashes of inspiration exploded in Xu Ran’s mind. His understanding of his own Tao was deepening at an incredible speed. If before, he was merely a mortal wielding a divine soldier, now he was attempting to understand the forging method of the divine soldier.

This deep realization is worth billions more than mere energy accumulation!

Yet, while he was immersed in this mystical state, an invisible wave silently descended from the depths of distant time and space.

It was a cold, merciless, lock that carried no trace of human warmth.

As if a gaze spanning endless star seas had opened at the other end of the cosmos, its pupils containing no stars, only chains of laws composed of “0” and “1”.

Celestial Order!

It’s starting to lock onto these coordinates!

Xu Ran’s heart chilled, abruptly waking from deep Tao comprehension. He knew the time left to him was limited.

“My lord.”

Outside the quiet chamber, Cang Shi’s steady voice interrupted his thoughts.

Xu Ran collected his heart spirit, the half-comprehended fragment solidifying once again, and he slowly rose, opened the chamber’s door.

Cang Shi and Zhen Shan stood solemnly outside, their expressions extremely grave.

“Speak,” Xu Ran said succinctly.

Cang Shi handed over a jade scroll containing a detailed damage report on the Pioneer. He spoke with a heavy tone, “My lord, the situation is worse than expected. The ‘erased’ part at the stern not only includes the hull but also a third of our main space array. This means we’ve lost the capability for long-distance jumps.”

“Lost the jump capability?” Zhen Shan listened with eyes widening.

In this unknown deathly silent star domain, a divine ship unable to perform space jumps is like an eagle with broken wings, only confined to one spot, awaiting the hunter’s arrival.

Cang Shi nodded and continued, “Furthermore, the ‘erase’ law contained in that strike still lingers, rotting away the ship’s foundation like a parasitic worm. I must allocate most of my power to suppress it, causing the backup energy consumption rate to be ten times normal. At this rate, the Pioneer will lose all its power in at most thirty star days, becoming a cold steel coffin.”

Each piece of bad news hit like a heavy hammer on everyone’s heart.

Xu Ran accepted the jade scroll, swept it with divine thought, his brows slightly furrowing. The situation was indeed grim, yet he didn’t show any trace of panic. He looked at Zhen Shan and asked, “What about your side? Any discoveries?”

Zhen Shan’s robust form stood erect, and he clasped his fists, saying, “My lord, the subordinates have led the Royal Marshal team to conduct a preliminary survey of this planet. This isn’t a typical dead star.”

He paused, seemingly organizing his words, a hint of shock flashing in his eyes.

“This is a tomb. A metal tomb buried with an unknown number of civilization warships!”

“Metal tomb?”

“Yes.” Zhen Shan’s tone is grave, “The entire surface of the planet is covered with endless metal remains. Some of the warship remnants are larger than mountains, engraved with civilization imprints we’ve never seen. It’s as if this place is the ultimate battlefield of a distant ancient era, with all the participants buried here. We even discovered bones of war beasts cast with divine gold; their presence in life might have rivaled a Divine Monarch!”

This news made Cang Shi gulp. A battlefield buried with Divine Monarch-level war beasts? What on earth happened in this star domain?