The Epic Tale of Chaos vs Order - Chapter 1508

Chapter 1508: Searching for traps Chapter 1508: Searching for traps Cain felt utterly exhausted.

He had been running at full speed for weeks, traversing inhospitable terrain to reach a remote area of the Everlife Continent.

The hours piled on, and the constant strain weighed on his body.

Despite that, the journey had been worth it.

He now found himself in a frozen realm, marked by towering, ice-capped peaks that seemed to pierce the clouds.

The wind carried a biting chill so severe it could freeze even Divine Transformation cultivators if they lingered unguarded.

Snow and sleet blanketed the land, forming a desolate expanse where few dared to tread.

This region lay within the boundaries between the Gu Sect’s territories and those under the Eclipse School.

Cain needed somewhere far removed from prying eyes, and this frozen wasteland was ideal.

Only here could he handle the delicate predicament he faced: the immensely heavy corpse of the Sky Sovereign, which he still carried in his arms.

Despite the howling winds and the sub-zero temperatures that gnawed at his flesh, Cain pressed on.

His mastery of the Law of Earth allowed him to sense and manipulate the ground beneath his feet, giving him the means to dig deep without leaving obvious tunnels or traces.  He kept descending, sinking through compact layers of ice and rock for thousands of kilometers.

The effort was immense-especially while lugging the extremely heavy corpse of the Sky Sovereign.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he came to a stop in a subglacial cavern of his own making.

“Well, this should do,” Cain muttered to himself.

He gazed at the enclosed space, steeling his mind for the next stage of his plan.

Cain exhaled, summoning his cultivation base.

He’d chosen this spot for its natural insulation, but to ensure the corpse would not radiate deadly energy to the surface, he needed to create additional layers of protection.

First, he infused a layer of surrounding earth with his energy, solidifying it until the rock became as dense as the hardest metals.

This process left no gaps for the corpse’s volatile astral waves to slip through.

Next, he reinforced that solidified earth with his Star Power to withstand scorching levels of radiation, particularly the intense fire aspect that emanated from the Sky Sovereign’s Tier 9 Astral Supremacy Star.

After that, he formed another layer of rock and imbued it with the Law of Fire, allowing it to serve as a buffer or “sponge” for any intense bursts of heat.

Finally, he laid down a thick shell endowed with the Law of Water, creating a sort of refrigeration system to cool any escaping fire energy that made it through the previous barriers.

It was painstaking, laborious work.

Each layer had to be carefully integrated with the others so that the entire system functioned in harmony.

One misalignment could result in catastrophic leaks of radiation.

Cain devoted himself to the task without rest, forging a complex seal of rock, water, and star-infused fire.

By the time he finished, three full days had passed in that subterranean darkness.

His breath came ragged, and his spiritual senses felt strained, but he allowed himself a moment of satisfaction.

“It’ll have to be enough,” he murmured.

He knew these measures were a temporary solution at best.

The radiation from a Tier 9 Astral Supremacy Star was no trivial matter.

Even the best natural or self-fashioned barriers could corrode over time.

Perhaps, if he were lucky, this setup would contain the energy for a few months.

Sooner or later, however, the underground cavern would become so irradiated that even an average Divine Transformation cultivator passing overhead could sense something was amiss.

But for now, it gave Cain the time he desperately needed.

With the barriers in place, Cain decided to test them.

He carefully let go of the Sky Sovereign’s corpse.

Almost immediately, he felt a wave of scorching energy surge outward-the very radiation he had been personally containing all this time.

It battered the meticulously prepared earth walls, causing them to crackle ominously under the onslaught of heat and fire.

“The first layer is holding,” Cain observed, narrowing his eyes.

The rock fused with Star Power took the brunt of the radiation, absorbing a significant amount of the destructive force.

Still, enough residual energy passed through to sear the next layer.

The second layer, imbued with the Law of Fire, did its job, soaking up and dissipating the intense flames.

Slowly, the overwhelming astral energy moved on to the final layer, which hummed with the Law of Water.

Here, the scorching waves diminished significantly.

Any lingering heat that escaped to the surface would likely blend with the region’s naturally frigid climate, leaving only minute fluctuations that most cultivators would fail to notice.

Cain nodded, relief momentarily visible in his expression.

“It’ll work, at least for now.” He then forged a smaller hollow within the rocky chamber and took a seat on the rugged stone floor.

This tiny pocket would serve as his immediate base of operations while he prepared for whatever came next.

Now that Cain was finally free from the corpse’s incessant demands, he could focus on himself.

He waved his hand, summoning a swirl of brilliance from his spatial artifact.

One by one, a series of treasures he had plundered from the Sky Sovereign’s Tomb materialized in front of him.

The Fire Pearl, the Fiery Crown, the Fiery Cape, the Shadow Labyrinth Coffin, and the two Codices appeared before him.

Cain leaned forward as he surveyed the items.

In a rare moment of reflection, he allowed himself a sliver of pride.

Surviving the trials of the tomb had been no small feat, and he had paid for it with blood, sweat, and bone-shattering effort.

Yet here he was, alive and enriched with tools that could propel him to uncharted heights.

Still, he was not so naive as to take these treasures at face value.

The tomb might have placed them as rewards, but they could just as easily be traps.

He might have branded the treasures with his Ego Wave, but using them required much more.

One had to attune their energy to the powerful relic, which often meant allowing that relic’s essence-or its creator’s hidden intentions-deep access into your own cultivation.

That was a gamble Cain refused to make blindly.

“I need to be certain there’s no hidden risk,” he reminded himself.

He glanced again at the Fiery Crown and Fiery Cape.

Their benefits would be considerable, but so might any curses or contingencies embedded in them.

After going through those World Treasures, Cain’s focus went to the coffin, but it remained a mystery, so he turned his gaze to the codices.

He skimmed their covers, mentally noting the advanced treatises on Fire Star Power and the Law of Fire within.

Although they were very interesting, he set them aside.

The knowledge within was tempting, but he knew that his comprehension had already surged dramatically thanks to recent breakthroughs.

What he needed most now was actual combat practice or real-world application to solidify those insights.

Only after he’d stabilized his new realm of understanding would further reading genuinely bear fruit.

So he sent them back to his Inner World.

“First things first: checking for traps.” Cain shifted, assuming a meditative posture.

He then issued a silent command to the Absolute Life Form System.

“System, scan these three treasures thoroughly.

I want to be absolutely certain there aren’t any hidden problems.” In response, a cool, robotic voice resonated in his thoughts.

[Task assigned] Cain felt the intangible sweep of the system’s scanning field envelop the coffin, the Fiery Crown, and the Fiery Cape.

Of course, he did not just waste time as the system carried on the analysis and took the Fire Pearl, ready to use it.