Swallowed Star: Primordial Artifact

Chapter 258 Guardians of the Hundred-Kilometer-Level Forbidden Zone
Jiang Ye walked within the vast tower, each step covering tens of thousands of kilometers. His figure moved like lightning, his speed extremely fast, with only the continuous crackling and rumbling sounds.

Jiang Ye had previously consulted a great deal of information about the Star Tower and had also had a long discussion with Dark Thunder King, so he was very familiar with the internal structure of the Star Tower.

The Star Tower is like a super-sized skyscraper, and inside this super skyscraper are individual "rooms".

Of course, the "rooms" within the Star Tower are actually forbidden spaces, each connected to other forbidden spaces via hidden passages. This means that even if one remains stationary within the Star Tower, their coordinates will constantly change over time.

"Forbidden Space." At this moment, Jiang Ye was in a forbidden space. The entrance to the passage that had just existed had been sealed off and disappeared.

This is a forbidden space shrouded in an endless, dark blue mist, so thick it seems almost tangible, reducing visibility to extremely low levels. Invisible barriers exist at the edges of this space, in the four cardinal directions, and at the very top of the sky, making it impossible to approach.

"Detectors, world projections, and telekinetic exploration can only be used within this forbidden space; they absolutely cannot penetrate to other forbidden spaces. Teleportation is also limited to this forbidden space and cannot directly reach other spaces." Jiang Ye was intimately familiar with these rules.

Escaping from here is simple: use the Divine Kingdom Teleportation technique to leave the Star Tower. However, if you don't choose to escape, you'll have to travel through forbidden spaces, but first you need to find a "passage" connecting two forbidden spaces.

"The Star Tower, towering nine light-years high, contains countless forbidden spaces within." Jiang Ye surveyed the forbidden space filled with a deep blue mist.

"Boom!" The entire space suddenly began to shake violently.

"Huh?" Jiang Ye was startled and quickly turned his head to look. He saw that the thick, dark blue mist was beginning to churn wildly, as if some terrifying behemoth was about to break free from it.

"I've never heard Dark Thunder King mention this situation before." A doubt flashed through Jiang Ye's mind, and he immediately summoned Dark Thunder King.

Whoosh!
Like a bolt of black lightning, Dark Thunder King instantly appeared beside Jiang Ye, and said respectfully and calmly, "Master."

At the same time, he also noticed the violent tremor, and his expression instantly turned serious. "Such a commotion? Master, the Star Tower is fraught with danger. Each forbidden space may harbor hidden dangers, but they are generally not triggered, and even when they are, the forms of danger vary. Therefore, the battles between powerful alien races within the Star Tower are often more dangerous. But if a crisis in a forbidden space truly erupts, the consequences would be unimaginable. The greater the commotion, the higher the level of danger! Master, did you just enter here? How could there be such a large commotion in this forbidden space?"

"This is the first forbidden space I've entered." Jiang Ye stared intently at the churning mist.

The mist grew increasingly turbulent, as if a slumbering behemoth was awakening. Accompanied by a muffled roar, a colossal figure slowly emerged from the mist. It was a strange creature over 500 kilometers long, resembling a giant octopus, but its body seemed to be pieced together from countless crystals shimmering with a cold, eerie light. Each tentacle was covered with sharp barbs, and against the backdrop of the dark blue mist, it exuded a chilling aura.

Its enormous compound eyes coldly stared at Jiang Ye, its gaze filled with endless killing intent.

"This, this is a 500-kilometer-level forbidden area guardian?" Dark Thunder King's eyes widened as he turned to look at Jiang Ye. "Master, the first forbidden area you entered actually attracted a forbidden area guardian, and a 500-kilometer-level one at that? I've been exploring the Star Tower for over ten thousand years, traversing countless forbidden areas, and the strongest forbidden area guardian I've ever encountered was only a few dozen kilometers-level!"

Jiang Ye frowned slightly, pondering to himself, "I've only just stepped into the first forbidden area, and I've already attracted such powerful forbidden area guards... Could it be that I've caught that person's attention..."

Jiang Ye glanced around calmly, but didn't notice anything unusual. However, he knew that a cosmic ruler was hidden inside this Star Tower.

Jiang Ye and Dark Thunder King, two tiny figures, looked up at the massive guards of the forbidden area.

"The Forbidden Zone Guardians, according to the information I've reviewed, are rumored to be a type of extremely advanced mechanical puppet," Jiang Ye said quietly. "Although they are mechanical puppets, they are obviously extremely powerful. First, they are not afraid of soul attacks; second, ordinary powerful attacks have a hard time damaging their energy cores."

"Master," Dark Thunder King said telepathically, looking at the giant crystal octopus floating in the dark blue mist, "It's impossible to break through this forbidden area's guardian head-on, and soul attacks are completely ineffective. Although its energy core is very stable and difficult to damage, we only have this one way... to destroy its energy core through a powerful attack."

"I understand." Jiang Ye nodded, his gaze fixed on the guards of the forbidden area.

Jiang Ye and Dark Thunder King stared intently at the Crystal Octopus, the guardian of the forbidden area, while the enormous Crystal Octopus looked down at them from its high position, just like a dragon looking down at ants.

"Hiss!!!" A sharp, piercing sound came from the mouth of the crystal octopus. The sound was like a materialized shock wave, and the space rippled regularly wherever it passed.

The shockwave struck at the speed of light, directly impacting Jiang Ye and Dark Thunder King, causing their heads to ring. When Jiang Ye regained consciousness, he found that the octopus had vanished into the mist and reappeared above them.

The crystal octopus's enormous body, like a dark cloud that blots out the sun, completely enveloped Jiang Ye and Dark Thunder King, before suddenly swooping down!

At the same time, more than a dozen of its dense tentacles fiercely attacked Jiang Ye and Dark Thunder King.

"Whoosh~~" More than a dozen tentacles, each tens of kilometers long, each like a giant spear, with serrated blades at the end of each spear.

At this moment, these dozen or so "spears," taller than the highest mountain peaks on Earth, simultaneously lunged at Jiang Ye, their tentacles spinning rapidly, like a giant meat grinder, easily tearing and shredding the universe wherever they passed.

"Hmph!" Jiang Ye snorted coldly, holding the Devouring Abyss Sword, its blade swirling with complex runes, seemingly containing boundless power. He suddenly soared into the sky, unleashing the peak secret technique, Flowing Wind Slash, and slashed fiercely at the point where the tentacles connected to the octopus's massive body.

"Such strong defense! Even my sword couldn't break through it." Jiang Ye's expression changed slightly as he looked at the dozen or so tentacles that were attacking from all directions.

He originally intended to attack the octopus's body directly, hoping to destroy the energy core inside the forbidden area's guardian octopus. However, with its tentacles surrounding it, he couldn't touch its body at all.

Whoosh! Jiang Ye flapped his wings and dodged the dozen or so tentacles that were circling around him with ghostly speed. After all, the tentacles were much thicker and larger, while Jiang Ye's dodging technique was incredibly agile, so he easily evaded them.

"Break!!!" Not far away, Dark Thunder King, who was also under attack, suddenly roared angrily.

Jiang Ye glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw that Dark Thunder King, also surrounded by more than a dozen tentacles, was radiating an overwhelming aura, having already unleashed the Divine Body Amplification Secret Technique. He held the powerful Dark Thunder Spear, its shaft crackling with eerie lightning. Dark Thunder King simply raised the Dark Thunder Spear and then hurled it.

The moment the Dark Thunder Spear left his hand, the terrifying power it unleashed instantly shattered the surrounding space into a stream of particles.

The Dark Lightning Spear moved through the air like a black lightning bolt, instantly transforming into a ghostly double phantom. Both phantoms were incredibly solid, resembling two physical spears, one bright and one dark, echoing each other and radiating a chilling aura.

Two long spears, one in front and one behind, attacked the octopus in the sky at the same time, and huge cracks appeared in the space wherever they passed.

"Dark Thunder King's Double Spears!" Jiang Ye's eyes lit up.

It is clearly just a spear, yet it can form such a wonderful and powerful dual attack effect of light and darkness. This is by no means a simple "illusion" produced by the laws of space, but rather a unique skill that Dark Thunder King can unleash by combining powerful divine power and unique secret techniques of law application. It is actually two physical spears with powerful attack capabilities.

Before Dark Thunder King was enslaved by Jiang Ye's soul, it would have taken a lot of divine power to use this ultimate technique. However, after the battle with Star Crystal King, Jiang Ye used the Qiankun Cauldron to equip him with a set of treasures, including the Dark Thunder Armor and Dark Thunder Spear (Dark Thunder Set), which allowed Dark Thunder King to use this ultimate technique with ease, without any reduction in power, and even more so than before.

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The twin spears, carrying a devastating force, slammed into the crystal octopus. The octopus's tentacles barely touched the terrifying attack before being violently knocked aside, utterly unable to withstand the unstoppable double assault.

"Boom!" Finally, the double spears struck the octopus's abdomen. The full power of the invincible king-level expert was unleashed at this moment! The terrifying energy, like a surging tsunami, instantly raged out, and the entire forbidden area trembled violently.

"Sizzle!" The first spear shattered, but it still managed to tear open the octopus's crystalline shell, revealing a deep wound. The second spear pierced right through it, creating a huge hole in the octopus's abdomen. This caused the entire octopus to convulse violently, and the tentacles that had been attacking Jiang Ye instantly stopped attacking. The entire octopus was plunged into painful spasms.

"So amazing?" Jiang Ye exclaimed in surprise upon seeing this.

"Master, be careful." Dark Thunder King flashed and instantly appeared beside Jiang Ye, solemnly transmitting his voice, "The Forbidden Area Guardians' defense is practically invincible. Even some Venerable-level experts cannot forcibly tear apart the Forbidden Area Guardians' bodies. But according to my estimation, the octopus's belly is probably its weak point in design, and there may be other more troublesome methods."

Jiang Ye was startled.

call out!call out!
Jiang Ye and Dark Thunder King both flashed away, quickly distancing themselves from the convulsing giant octopus.

Unfortunately, being inside a forbidden area, there was nowhere to escape.

Jiang Ye carefully observed the convulsing giant octopus. He saw that cracks were beginning to appear at the hole in the octopus's abdomen. Crack! Crack! Crack! A series of crisp sounds rang out, and the entire octopus was forcibly split in two from the abdomen, breaking off completely.

The crystals at the broken point actually condensed and intertwined with each other, forming an octopus head once again.

In the blink of an eye, one octopus turned into two octopuses.

"Hiss!" "Hiss!" The two octopuses let out sharp cries at the same time, and then fiercely pounced.

"Damn, that's really unfair! One head becomes two, is it going to multiply infinitely?" Jiang Ye cursed inwardly, his figure flashing like lightning, leaving a phantom as he fled far away.

"Hiss~~~" One of the octopuses swam rapidly in the void, its countless sharp tentacles waving and causing ripples in the air. It was frantically chasing Jiang Ye, and its speed was surprisingly fast.

However, Jiang Ye's dodging and changing of direction were so agile that even the invincible King Feng was far inferior. This octopus tried its best, but it couldn't even touch the hem of Jiang Ye's clothes.

In another direction, another octopus was also fighting with Dark Thunder King. Seeing this, Dark Thunder King raised his Dark Thunder Spear again, preparing to launch an attack.

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!" Dark Thunder King unleashed his full power, the Dark Thunder Spear transforming into a bolt of lightning that shot towards the octopus. Space itself shattered under this immense force. The Dark Thunder Spear easily shattered each of the octopus's tentacles.

Finally, the Dark Thunder Spear struck the octopus's abdomen... "Pfft!" The hard crystal abdomen was pierced through.

With a roar, Dark Thunder King charged forward like lightning, its tentacles swarming down in an attempt to stop him. But Dark Thunder King had already swiftly drawn another Dark Thunder Spear and hurled it with lightning speed... completely shattering the tentacles that tried to block him. Dark Thunder King seized the opportunity to try and rush into the octopus's body through the hole in its abdomen.

Just as he rushed to the opening in the abdomen, about to plunge in...

"Whoosh!" A golden phantom suddenly emerged from the octopus's belly hole, as fast as lightning. Dark Thunder King couldn't dodge in time.

"Clang~~~" The golden phantom pierced directly into the phantom of the Thunder King that appeared on the surface of Dark Thunder King's divine body, and the huge impact sent Dark Thunder King flying.

As Dark Thunder King was being knocked away, it fired another Dark Thunder Spear, which broke through the barrier of the tentacles and flew straight out.

"Roar~~~" A piercing roar resounded throughout the forbidden area, causing the dark blue mist to tremble violently and cracks to appear on the ground below.

Both giant octopuses stopped attacking and landed on the ground.

Jiang Ye and Dark Thunder King quickly gathered together, watching the two octopuses in front of them warily.

(End of this chapter)