Swallowed Star: Primordial Artifact

Chapter 301 The Chrysalis of Time
"There must be very few alien races that can come here," Jiang Ye thought to himself. "If there were many, the news that there is a mysterious space hidden in the heart of the sandstorm would probably have spread long ago."

"But if there are survivors, why didn't they spread the information about this place?" Jiang Ye tried to dig out hidden clues from every detail.

Whoosh!
The ancestral dragon's clone instantly retreated, traveling along a wormhole and disappearing billions of kilometers away in the blink of an eye.

"Let the Ancestral Dragon clone take the Chaos Core and stay far away, and send the human main body to investigate!"

……

Following that inexplicable feeling of hunger, Jiang Ye flew towards the suspended cone-shaped mountain. He observed it intently and saw that the mountain was covered with countless small caves.

Detection instruments revealed a total of 100 caves, each only three to four meters high. For a mountain peak that stretches over a thousand kilometers, these caves are negligible and almost imperceptible without close inspection.

Whoosh.

Jiang Ye, guided by his inner senses, flew straight into one of the caves.

As soon as he landed, he felt as if his body had passed through a thin, soft yet resilient membrane. Upon closer inspection, he realized it was a substance that flowed like water.

The moment he passed through the thin film of water, the entire cave wall suddenly shimmered with a faint silver light. Then, an overwhelming force surged forth like a tidal wave. Jiang Ye felt as if his body, like fragile glass, was instantly shattered into pieces by this force.

However, strangely, the black aura surged rapidly like a ghost, surrounding Jiang Ye's shattered body. In the blink of an eye, his body was restored to its original state.

"What the hell is this?" Jiang Ye was shocked. He stared intently at the seemingly ordinary thin film of water, his eyes revealing vigilance and doubt.

After waiting a moment and finding that the thin film of water was no longer moving, Jiang Ye chose to move forward again.

This time, however, Jiang Ye was even more cautious.

The cave is deep and long, like an endless tunnel extending into the unknown darkness.

As Jiang Ye walked through it, he keenly noticed that the fluctuations in time here were particularly peculiar, as if time no longer flowed along its usual trajectory, but was twisted and transformed in a mysterious and unique way.

There were no plants in the cave, only the empty rock walls for company. In this silent space, Jiang Ye's soft breathing and heartbeat seemed to be amplified a thousand times.

"Hmm, the flow of time here... is actually five hundred times faster than where the Ancestral Dragon's clone is." At this moment, Jiang Ye couldn't help but whisper in surprise, his voice echoing in the empty cave.

"Hoo!" Jiang Ye took a deep breath to calm the turmoil in his heart.

After a while——

After traveling hundreds of kilometers through the caves, Jiang Ye finally arrived at the heart of the cone-shaped mountain.

This is a wide cavern in the mountainside, and in the center of the mountain, three pools of air emitting strange light come into view.

The surfaces of the three gas pools rippled with invisible waves. The first gas pool shimmered with a bluish light, and howling winds condensed into transparent tornadoes on its surface, as if they were about to roar out at any moment; the second gas pool crackled with lightning, and purple arcs of electricity darted about at the bottom of the pool like nimble snakes; the third gas pool flowed with dazzling golden light, and the blinding stream of light undulated slowly like liquid sunlight, emitting a dazzling brilliance.

Above the three gas pools, countless turbulent currents of time intertwine to form vortexes, sometimes bursting forth with dazzling light that illuminates the entire mountainside; at other times, deafening roars resound.

A massive cocoon of light faintly emerged from the turbulent flow of time. The surface of the cocoon was adorned with interwoven patterns of wind, thunder, and light. With each vibration, the patterns on the cocoon would transform into different patterns of laws—sometimes rapidly spinning wind blades, sometimes winding lightning trails, and sometimes golden beams radiating a divine aura.

"A treasure!" Jiang Ye's gaze was fixed on the cocoon of light.

Even if one knows nothing about its origin, one can tell from the grand scale of its formation that it is no ordinary object.

Even the three pools of air below must have an extraordinary origin.

Moreover, Jiang Ye was absolutely certain that the hunger he felt in his body cells came from the treasure before him.

"Danger!" Jiang Ye's mind went blank, and he didn't dare to approach easily.

It should be noted that this space, which Jiang Ye discovered, is dozens of times more stable than the outside world. However, at this moment, the light cocoon is merely suspended in mid-air, yet it is already causing countless cracks to appear in the space. If the power of the light cocoon were to truly erupt, without the protection of the golden armor and other supreme treasures, he would probably be instantly reduced to ashes.

Moreover, according to the experience of countless adventurers, treasure troves usually contain other dangers besides the treasures themselves.

Jiang Ye carefully observed the three pools of air, the cocoon of light, the eerily quiet mountainside, and the thin film of water that seemed to be flowing.

Meanwhile, billions of kilometers away in a canyon, the ancestral dragon's avatar was quietly lurking in a cave on the canyon cliff.

Jiang Ye sat cross-legged, pondering, "First, I need to find out what these three pools of energy and the cocoon of light are all about."

Immediately, his consciousness connected with the virtual universe.

……

At Yu Xiangshan Jiangye's manor, he sat at the desk in the attic and began searching.

Compared to other races in the universe, the human race has an advantage in this respect: when encountering danger or facing unknown treasures, they can use the connection to the virtual universe to explore.

Of course, this also varies by access level; the more mysterious and advanced the treasure, the higher the required access level.

Since Jiang Ye became famous throughout the universe for killing the King of Gold, his authority has been elevated to an extremely high level, even higher than some ordinary universe venerables.

"Master, Master, we found it!" Little Pi on Jiang Ye's shoulder shouted excitedly.

"Hmm?" Jiang Ye frowned slightly, his eyes fixed on the screen, and then gently clicked on the information at the top.

With the powerful search and analysis capabilities of the virtual universe, an accurate answer was quickly provided based on the image comparison.

The three pools of energy are called the "Three Extremes Abyss." On the surface, they appear to be just pools of energy, but in essence, they are three mysterious passages that directly connect to the source of the laws of the universe.

The Qi Pool is not composed of physical matter, but rather the material manifestations of the three fundamental laws of wind, thunder, and light. These laws continuously absorb the power of their corresponding laws from the universe, slowly gestating and condensing at the bottom of the pool. At the confluence of the Three Extremes, a wondrous object—the "Chrysalis of Time"—is usually born.

The cocoon of light is actually a "pupa of time." It needs to take shape over a long period of time in a uniquely blessed place like the Three Extremes Wind and Thunder Light Abyss.

Initially appearing as a white cocoon of light, its surface eventually develops patterns woven from the laws of wind, thunder, and light. From its initial formation to its true maturity, it requires a continuous absorption of the power of these laws. Only when the patterns on the surface of the cocoon completely solidify and the spatial rifts created by the fluctuations of these laws are fully closed does it signify that it has reached its true mature state.

Only then can this Heart of Time be considered the core material for creating the "Original Treasure".

It is worth noting that the Three Extremes Abyss is an extremely special environment in the universe. It cannot be moved or taken away by people, as if it were a rule deliberately set by the laws of the universe.

Jiang Ye stared at the data on the virtual universe network, his pupils involuntarily contracting slightly.

"The Chrysalis of Time!"

"This place is actually nurturing a time pupa."

……

The core materials of the Primal Treasures are divided into several categories. The lower-level ones include eight elements: metal, wood, water, fire, earth, wind, lightning, and light; the higher-level ones are time and space; and the top-level ones are various fusion types, such as the fusion of metal and space, the fusion of wood and space, and even those that can encompass all laws.

Time Cocoon: A high-grade material among the Primordial Treasures, it is a key material for connecting to the Sea of ​​Time Laws.

With just one Time Cocoon and some auxiliary materials, one can forge a Primal Treasure.

The importance of primordial treasures in a world that devours the universe is self-evident.

Imagine that in the midst of brutal battles, powerful beings in the universe would routinely burn their divine power if they were faced with a life-or-death situation.

It is important to know that the more divine power is depleted, the more difficult it is to recover, and the longer it will take.

Indeed, there are many rare and precious treasures in the universe that can help restore divine power and awaken dormant gods.

However, most of these treasures only have a significant effect on powerful individuals at the Immortal level.

For powerful cosmic beings and cosmic masters, the effect of these treasures is negligible. Therefore, if they want to restore their divine power, the number of treasures they need is not only astonishingly large, but the recovery time will also be multiplied.

For powerful, top-tier races, the injury of a Universe Venerable is to some extent bearable, but the Universe Lord is the anchor of the race, the key to maintaining the race's stability and prosperity.

If the rulers of the universe suffer a severe blow, even if it is a top-tier race, it will be a huge loss.

In this situation, the value of primordial treasures becomes apparent.

The Primal Treasure is not used for attack or defense. It has a unique and powerful function: it allows powerful individuals to draw upon the vast energy of the Sea of ​​Cosmic Laws, and the speed at which it absorbs energy can be thousands, tens of thousands, or even millions of times faster, depending on the treasure's level.

It is no exaggeration to say that once a powerful individual possesses a primordial treasure, they feel as if they have taken a reassuring pill during battle.

Even if they accidentally burn away 10% of their divine body in battle, there is no need to worry. With their relatively fast recovery speed, coupled with the powerful assistance of their primordial treasures, they can recover instantly and burn their divine power without any restraint.

……

Inside the belly of the suspended mountain peak,
"Hmm, I didn't expect that the three-colored pool wasn't actually a pool, but a visual illusion. We can't even get any benefits from it now." Jiang Ye shook his head. He had originally planned to dig up the entire pool.

"The real treasure is that cocoon of light—the pupa of time."

"This is like finding a needle in a haystack, only to have it fall into my lap without any effort. With this Time Cocoon, I can expand my inner world," Jiang Ye said excitedly.

Unlike ordinary world lords who rely on cosmic crystals to drive the evolution of the world, Jiang Ye is destined to embark on a unique path due to the existence of the Chaos Core.

He needs to devour the core materials of various primordial treasures to drive his own evolution and growth.

After these materials are devoured by the mysterious "Chaos Abyss" within Jiang Ye's inner world, the purest and most precious trace of law energy will slowly merge into the Chaos Stone, while the other primordial law energies will directly assist in the evolution and expansion of his inner world.

After undergoing transformation, the Chaos Stone will also subtly influence the Chaos Core with traces of essence energy, making the Chaos Core stronger and thus able to support a larger internal world.

However, the information from the Chaos Core clearly states that each type of primordial material can only be absorbed once. If it is absorbed again, the effect will be greatly reduced, with almost one-tenth remaining.

If all kinds of primordial materials can be absorbed, then the Chaos Primal Core is expected to undergo a transformative qualitative leap.

"By absorbing this Time Cocoon, my inner world will expand. As for that Primal Treasure? It's not of much use to me." Jiang Ye was staring intently at the cocoon of light, pondering to himself.

It should be understood that the primordial treasures have always been supreme treasures that the overlords and lords of the universe have been vying for and fighting over.

The Time Cocoon before us is an even higher-grade specimen, likely worth more than some ordinary treasures.

Such priceless treasures as the Primal Treasures are indispensable to the strongest individuals.

This is because those with weaker strength absorb divine power very slowly. Even if they use the Origin Treasure to increase their absorption speed by a thousand or ten thousand times, the actual improvement is still limited.

However, even for powerful beings like the Lord of the Universe, who absorb divine power with incredible speed, like a whale swallowing its prey, their normal absorption speed is still quite ordinary compared to their incomparably powerful divine bodies, which are like the vast universe itself.

However, once they possess the primordial treasure, their already exaggerated absorption speed is amplified by thousands or even tens of thousands of times. For a race, this is like having the supreme privilege of freely drawing energy from the sea of ​​laws in the primordial land!
Unfortunately, this primordial treasure was useless to Jiang Ye, since he had already decided to use the Nine Nether Sea as his next avatar.

Keep in mind, that's a divine power bank spanning twelve light-years from the Nine Nether Sea. What need is there for a supreme treasure?
……

Jiang Ye stared at the "cocoon of light" surrounded by countless temporal turbulences, as if it had been born in the river of time. He could see transparent gales howling over it, and lightning flashing within it.

"According to the description in the information, it has now taken shape, but it is not yet fully formed. Only after it is fully formed will the surface patterns completely solidify and the time turbulence completely disappear."

"It seems I'll have to wait until it's fully grown before I can take it away," Jiang Ye thought anxiously.

How long will this take?
As for giving up?

This is the core material of the first primordial treasure that Jiang Ye has encountered. It is the key to his expansion of his inner world. How can he give it up so easily?

(End of this chapter)