The energy field here was equally bizarre, but unlike the vast, murderous aura of the ancient battlefield, it was colder, more desolate, and filled with an unsettling sense of defilement and greed. The rock walls were an ominous purplish-black, carved with blurry, twisted murals depicting scenes of bloody sacrifice!
"The energy here… it's very uncomfortable." Lin Wei's brows were tightly furrowed. Her Bianwei (Discern Micro) ability made her exceptionally sensitive to negative energy in the environment. "It's filled with… a desire for plunder and Devour."
"Look there!" Li Mingyu suddenly pointed to a hidden cave deep within the rift valley. Scattered at the cave entrance were fresh paw prints and drag marks belonging to mutated creatures!
The three immediately became alert and cautiously entered the cave.
The interior of the cave was small, with a crude altar built of black stones in the center!
The altar was stained with dark red, not yet fully dried blood and shredded flesh! Scattered around were human skeletons and torn clothing—clearly victims recently sacrificed!
And right in the center of the altar, a fragmented, pitch-black stone slab was prominently displayed!
The material of the stone slab was extremely similar to the black rectangular object Ling Chen obtained in the Western Rift Zone! It was etched with extremely ancient, twisted, and heart-stopping runes and patterns using some sharp instrument!
Lin Wei immediately stepped forward, scanning and recording with her detector.
Li Mingyu stood guard at the cave entrance, vigilant.
Li Fan approached the altar, his gaze falling upon the runes. Although he couldn't understand them, the patterns—depicting various creatures being torn apart, devoured, and then evolving and mutating—shocked him! Especially a few core symbols among them, which bore some resemblance to the bizarre runes that Ling Chen had occasionally revealed in his memory, those that controlled blood to devour life!
"What… what the hell is this?!" Li Mingyu couldn't help but whisper.
Lin Wei's detector emitted a rapid alarm sound:
"The stone slab contains extremely strong negative psionic energy and… information residue! Attempting to analyze… Fragmented information parsed shows… this seems to be an… ancient forbidden ritual concerning life transformation through flesh and blood sacrifice and devouring! And… wait!"
Her face suddenly changed dramatically, and she abruptly looked up at Li Fan, her voice trembling slightly:
"Captain! The core energy patterns on this stone slab… their fluctuation characteristics… have a high degree of similarity with the underlying structure of a certain blood-type ability that the traitor Ling Chen specialized in, as recorded in the headquarters database!"
"What?!" Li Fan and Li Mingyu exclaimed simultaneously!
Li Fan took a step forward, staring intently at the stone slab, his pupils contracting violently! Associating Ling Chen's bizarre devouring ability with this evil stone slab depicting devouring evolution… a terrifying conjecture exploded in his mind!
Could it be… Ling Chen's power… was not an accidental awakening of a mutation? But rather… originated from some ancient, evil inheritance?! Could it even be related to Zhuang Han's devouring evolution?!
Just as his mind was reeling!
"Roar—!!!"
A violent roar suddenly came from deep within the cave! Accompanied by heavy footsteps!
A massive mutated leader, covered in purplish-black scales, with three blood-red eyes, exuding a strong aura of death and devouring desire, suddenly charged out!
It seemed to have been attracted by the altar's aura, or perhaps it was the guardian here!
"Fight!" Li Fan snapped out of his shock instantly, dark red dragon scales immediately covering his arms! His dragon claws, carrying raging flames, fiercely struck the mutated creature!
An intense battle instantly erupted within the narrow cave!
Far away on the ancient battlefield, Ling Chen, through a very subtle psionic imprint he had left in the sacrificial canyon, sensed Li Fan and the others' discovery and the momentary emotional fluctuations, a cold arc forming at the corner of his mouth.
The bait had been taken.
At the same time, inside the temporary forward base.
Gao Zhan was in a tense standoff with the uninvited representative of the Knights Templar—Priest Barder.
"Priest Barder, the Knights Templar has intruded uninvited into my Central Army's operational area. What is your intention?" Colonel Gao Zhan's tone was cold, carrying undisguised wariness.
Priest Barder's face was solemn, holding his holy emblem staff, and a soft holy light emanated from him, dispelling much of the death aura in the base.
Behind him stood ten elite Temple Knights, their eyes sharp.
"Colonel Gao Zhan, the Holy Light has guided us here."
Priest Barder's voice was calm but carried an undeniable authority.
"This place is filled with a strong aura of death and defilement, and there are powerful ancient evil remnants. We are commanded by the Cardinal Council to come and purify the evil, and to search for any contaminated ancient holy relics that may have strayed here.
According to the Holy Canon, deep within the ancient battlefield of Zhuolu, forbidden items related to the Demon God Chiyou may be sealed, and they must not fall into the hands of villains, or… be used by evil entities."
His gaze pointedly swept towards the direction of Jiu'an City outside the base, clearly referring to Zhuang Han.
Colonel Gao Zhan's brows furrowed: "The Knights Templar's reach is too long! This is a war zone under the jurisdiction of the Central Army! Any discoveries should be handled uniformly by the Central Army!"
"Purifying evil and guarding order is the Knights Templar's sacred duty." Priest Barder did not back down. "We can cooperate and share intelligence. But holy relics must be purified and sealed by the Knights Templar; this is for the safety of the entire world."
The two sides were at a stalemate, the atmosphere tense.
And neither of them knew that two reconnaissance teams had already separately encountered startling discoveries that would shake all factions.
The mystery of the ancient teleportation array of the Yellow Emperor and Chiyou's battlefield, and the evil blood sacrifice stone slab related to devouring evolution… these discoveries were about to push the already complex chess game into an even more perplexing abyss.
Ling Chen sat in the returning reconnaissance vehicle, looking at Su Qing's preliminary report on the ancient battlefield and the teleportation array, his eyes deep.
Next, it was just a matter of waiting for all parties to act step by step according to his pre-arranged script.
