Chapter 2631: Chaos Balance

When Jiao performed the Divine Ruin technique, the numerous dead souls would intertwine with his divine soul, leaving imprints in his flesh and soul sea.

The longer they intertwined, the more firmly imprinted the marks would become.

It's important to know that these souls had been imprisoned here for tens of thousands of years, and each was filled with immense resentment. The imprints left by these souls were certainly not beneficial.

This was detrimental to Jiao's future cultivation, so he had to spend a great deal of time and effort to wear down these marks.

After performing this technique, Jiao estimated he would need to spend a hundred years to resolve the lingering issues.

Had he not been so eager to defeat Lu Ye, he would never have made such a choice.

However, compared to seizing a blessing from the Son of the Star Abyss, a hundred years of effort was nothing.

Just as Lu Ye stabilized himself and suppressed the surging blood in his chest, his vision blurred, and Jiao was already upon him. Lu Ye's expression changed instantly. Jiao's speed was now more than double what it had been before, making it difficult for Lu Ye to even track his movements.

His spiritual power surged, pouring into the long blade in his hand, which he swept forward with immense force.

Jiao was cut in half at the waist.

Yet, Lu Ye felt no joy from this apparent success. Instead, his pupils contracted, for what he had severed was merely an afterimage.

Almost instinctively, he angled his blade to block. As his long blade vibrated violently, a fierce power surged from the blade, accompanied by a sharp clang.

Immediately, a sharp pain shot through his right chest. Jiao's other short blade had pierced his flesh. Inside the blade, dense spiritual power was poised, ready to erupt at any moment!

If Jiao had succeeded, Lu Ye estimated he would be gravely wounded, if not dead.

As the Pan Mountain Blade vibrated slightly, it activated Liao's power in Jiao's numerous wounds. In an instant, streams of blood spurted from Jiao's body. Because of this, Jiao's movements faltered for a moment.

Lu Ye quickly pulled back, narrowly escaping this dangerous situation. However, a bloody hole still appeared where he had been stabbed.

In his vision, Jiao, seizing the advantage, showed no mercy. His two artifact short blades, transformed into golden and silver hues, pressured him like two flood dragons.

Lu Ye only managed to block a dozen blows before he was sent flying by a powerful force. Behind him was the edge of the Battle Stage, and he crashed hard against it.

Before he could even slide down, Jiao had already charged at him again.

Lu Ye gritted his teeth, raised his blade, and met the attack resolutely.

After another three breaths, he was again sent flying like a ragged sack, with several new bloody holes on his body.

He was no match. Their strength was originally quite close; Jiao could only be said to have a slight edge. However, after borrowing the Divine Ruin's power, Jiao's strength had surged by nearly half. In this situation, Lu Ye was already defeated.

If Jiao hadn't been affected by the numerous souls, becoming incredibly frenzied and unable to fully control his power, Lu Ye would have had no time to breathe.

It was precisely because Jiao couldn't perfectly control his rapidly surging power that he repeatedly sent Lu Ye flying. If he could truly control it perfectly, this wouldn't be happening; he could relentlessly suppress Lu Ye, giving him no opportunity to counter, until he was slain.

Time passed, and Lu Ye's body was battered across the arena.

Sent flying once more, he felt as though his entire body was falling apart. Had his spiritual bones not been exceptionally strong, he would likely have been torn to shreds by Jiao long ago.

“Liao, are you ready?” He closed his eyes slightly and asked in his mind.

In the past, when he fought opponents wielding artifacts in the death arena, there had been no precedent for it taking this long. Moreover, in this battle with Jiao, the Pan Mountain Blade had made contact with the opponent's artifact far more times than before.

Not to mention, before this battle, he and Jiao had already clashed once. Although that encounter only lasted seventeen breaths, Liao should have absorbed some of the artifact's essence then.

Liao replied, “Soon, don't rush. His are a set of artifacts, and the essence within both short blades is closely linked. That's why it's taking a bit longer. Just hold on a little longer.”

Lu Ye understood. The time required this time would likely be double what it used to be, perhaps even longer.

If it were merely about escaping, he could still manage. But the crucial point was maintaining contact between the Pan Mountain Blade and the opponent's artifacts, which necessitated fighting the enemy head-on.

A thought quickly flashed through his mind: should he conjure a talent tree clone to assist?

Under normal circumstances, a talent tree clone would indeed be a good aid. But not now. Leaving aside whether he even had time to conjure it, even if he did, a clone barely breaking a thousand dao force units probably couldn't withstand a single blow from Jiao.

His main body's current strength was mostly due to the enhancement of supreme treasure power. The clone wouldn't have that.

There was no other choice. He could only proceed as planned.

He sighed softly. If possible, he wouldn't want to do this, because Star Abyss Coins were hard to come by, and he still had many needs.

But if he didn't sacrifice something now, he truly feared he wouldn't survive this ordeal.

With a shift in his thoughts, he suddenly opened his eyes. His vision reflected Jiao's imposing figure, fiercely pursuing him.

Jiao seemed to see hope of defeating Lu Ye, and his eyes were filled with excitement. Influenced by his mood, the enormous shadow behind him twisted even more violently, as if something truly wanted to break free from it.

Their distance rapidly closed.

Lu Ye suddenly raised his hand, and an object appeared in it.

It was a small scale.

Jiao, who had been fiercely glaring at Lu Ye with killing intent, was instantly drawn by the scale. He instinctively felt that this item looked familiar, but at the moment, influenced by the resentful souls in his spiritual sea, he struggled to concentrate.

Fortunately, he quickly remembered, and his expression changed: “The Chaotic Scale?”

He had indeed seen this item in the Star Abyss Treasury. Its exchange price was exceedingly high, making it one of the most expensive artifacts in the entire Treasury.

Artifacts like the Inverting Yin-Yang Mirror and the Battle Stage, which he had used against Lu Ye this time, were not even worth twenty percent of the Chaotic Scale's price.

Therefore, he had never considered exchanging for this treasure, because Star Abyss Coins were hard to obtain. For example, in this chess game competition, he had killed so many enemies but had only acquired less than three Star Abyss Coins so far. Moreover, using this treasure came with significant restrictions.

He never expected Lu Ye to actually possess it.

He was stunned for a moment, then remembered that his mind wasn't working properly. Since Lu Ye was also a Son of the Star Abyss, he naturally had the qualification to exchange for this treasure from the Star Abyss Treasury.

But… this guy was incredibly rich! How could he have so many Star Abyss Coins to squander? He actually exchanged for this treasure.

After this realization, his brow furrowed. Now that this treasure was out, things were going to be troublesome.

At this moment, Lu Ye, with a pained expression, activated the Chaotic Scale. The small scale rapidly expanded, transforming into a colossal object in the blink of an eye.

Lu Ye and Jiao were originally very close, but as Lu Ye activated this artifact, both their visions twisted and inverted. When they regained their senses, they were at opposite ends of the scale.

At the same time, from some unseen realm, a vast will traversed countless billions of miles to project itself into this space.

“This is…”

On either side of the chessboard, when this will suddenly descended, Yuan Xi and Black Blood were both startled.

“The will of a supreme treasure!” Yuan Xi instantly made her judgment. Her gaze turned towards the grey mist, and she was truly curious what Lu Ye and Jiao had done inside to actually draw the attention of another supreme treasure's will. Whose doing was this?

“Interesting!” Black Blood suddenly sneered. “A single conflict drawing upon the power of three supreme treasures, truly rare in this world!”

The Starry Sky Chessboard had been the first to surface, leading this chess game.

Then Jiao had activated the Battle Stage. Although this artifact didn't involve a supreme treasure directly, both Yuan Xi and Black Blood knew that their chess pieces were fighting to the death within the internal space of a supreme treasure.

Now, it was even more astonishing. Another supreme treasure's power had been drawn. This spectacle was truly growing larger and larger.

“Venerable one, can you discern which supreme treasure's power this is?” Black Blood looked up at Yuan Xi.

Yuan Xi pursed her lips. “If I can't tell, can you?” This fellow clearly wanted to pry information from her. How could she fall for it?

However, she truly had no way of determining which supreme treasure had been involved.

The key was who had activated it!

Yuan Xi vaguely felt that it should be her Grand Commander's doing. Lu Ye had killed many enemies in this battle, and who knew how many Star Abyss Coins he had acquired? Exchanging for an artifact from the Star Abyss Treasury would still be easy for him. Some artifacts could function on their own, but others were intimately connected to the supreme treasure that birthed them, utilizing a portion of the supreme treasure's power.

For instance, the Battle Stage was one such type. Strictly speaking, the artifact Battle Stage was merely a key, a key that allowed both combatants to enter the internal space of a supreme treasure for a fair fight. Beyond that, it had no other function, which was why its exchange price in the Star Abyss Treasury wasn't expensive.

The Chaotic Scale was also this type of artifact. It borrowed the power of a supreme treasure.

At this moment, Lu Ye and Jiao stood on opposite sides of the scale. However, Lu Ye's side of the scale was very high, while Jiao's side was pressed very low.

The Chaotic Scale measured all things in the world. Jiao's side being low indicated his 'weight' was heavy!

What Lu Ye intended to measure this time was their respective strengths!

He had thoroughly investigated the artifacts in the Star Abyss Treasury and their uses. Thus, he knew well that if he wanted to achieve his desired outcome today, only the Chaotic Scale could do it. Other artifacts might offer self-preservation, but they couldn't achieve his goal.

The price was simply too exorbitant. Fortunately, he had accumulated a considerable number of Star Abyss Coins, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to afford it at all.

At the very center of the scale, there was an hourglass. The sand within it was rapidly flowing downwards. From its appearance, it would empty in less than twenty breaths.

Lu Ye understood clearly: once the Chaotic Scale was activated, it would only last for twenty breaths. It borrowed the power of a supreme treasure, and after twenty breaths, the scale would vanish!

Daring not to waste any time, he quickly took out his numerous spoils of war and dropped them at his feet.

In the chess game competition, he had killed many enemies, and naturally collected many spoils. Most of these were storage rings. Previously, they had all been stored in his Small Flower Realm. Now, he tossed them all out.

As these spoils were dropped at his feet, his side of the scale rapidly descended!