“Unknown error! The system has been forced to restart…”
As the cold, female voice spoke, that mysterious machine controlling the Ancient Battlefield of Gods and Demons turned off with a *bang*, and the entire place fell into darkness.
This was a way for an AI to protect itself. If any machine continued to waste its time attempting to solve an unsolvable problem, it could trigger a chain reaction that would lead to its destruction. After all, it was still very difficult for machine intelligence to conjecture the actions of complex humans.
A white light began to flash. This was the system activating its self-assessment before turning back on.
Suddenly, a line of words appeared on the screen: “Alpha Protocol has successfully been activated…”
Long ago, when the old immortals of the two peak races were setting up this battleground, they had already considered that some extremely abnormal warriors might appear. This Alpha Protocol was the observation test designed for these mutants.
For a long time now, be it humans or other sapient lifeforms, they all shared an overall characteristic. Take Lionheart Emperor Oro as an example; he was clearly the Black-armored War God of the Demon Race, the King of the Lionheart Royalty, possessing both prestige and power, yet he still preferred to follow the rules of the Law Realm. When the system told Xia Fei that he must go through a survival test, Oro accepted the command without hesitation and urged Xia Fei to run.
Alas, Xia Fei was not Oro, and in his mind, there was no need to listen to anyone’s orders in this place, even if the other party was an actual god. He only listened to his heart.
When it came to deviants, Xia Fei definitely fit the standard. This proper deviant had undoubtedly forced the Ancient Battlefield’s system to restart, thus activating the Alpha Protocol for the first time.
…
All was darkness. Before Xia Fei had time to investigate that simulated hunter, the system’s sudden restart caused the hunter to disappear.
Xia Fei frowned and unhappily asked, “What’s going on? Why did it suddenly turn dark? Is the Ancient Battlefield of Gods and Demons going to collapse?”
Xia Fei had no idea that the other warriors who had gone to the Ancient Battlefield with him had already been wallowing in this darkness for more than an hour.
Oro was startled at first, and then he shook his head and sighed. “If something happens to the Ancient Battlefield, it’ll definitely be your fault! Don’t you know when to stop? This battlefield was built by some very formidable figures from the two peak races. All of those beings are immortal! They might even be watching you right now from the shadows!”
Xia Fei shrugged. “I didn’t even do anything, so why would they be watching me?”
Oro pouted and muttered, “Didn’t do anything? You turned a survival test into a hunting test!”
In truth, Oro was so fearful and so desperate for Xia Fei to follow the rules because he was thinking for himself. After all, all the upper echelons of the Demon Race knew that he had the Law of Life. It had already been shown that staying in Xia Fei’s spatial ring was not safe. If his opponents found out about his hiding place, Oro would be in hot water.
Fortunately, it was not long before the lights turned back on. Xia Fei was transported back to that big hall from before, and the opponent that Oro worried about did not appear.
“Perhaps the Ancient Battlefield really has been abandoned and those undying old fools don’t care what happens here anymore.” Oro wiped off his sweat as he spoke to himself.
Suddenly!
The floor on which Xia Fei stood began to sink with incredible speed! In the blink of an eye, Xia Fei was sent to another vast hall!
A length of ten thousand meters! A height of one thousand meters! A dome ceiling that seemed like the heavens!
…
At the same time, the door to the Ancient Battlefield’s control center was kicked open. Two figures, black and white, rushed inside. Actually, it was four, as two parrots, also black and white, followed after them.
If Xia Fei were there, he would immediately recognize the two as the Black and White Gods who had given him the Law of Primal Chaos! Also, the two birds were naturally Blackie and Whitey, these Black and White Gods’ pets, which were both Divine Beasts!
“What’s going on here? Is someone attacking the Ancient Battlefield’s system?” the impatient Old Black loudly asked.
Old White was as cold and aloof as ever, hardly ever cracking a smile. Visually inspecting the area, he frowned. “There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with the system. Isn’t this just a new batch of warriors from the various clans vying to enter the Ancient Battlefield through the assessment test?”
“Then why did the power turn off for a moment?” Old Black was still very confused, folding his arms as he muttered that. “What terrible luck. It scared me out of my wits. I even thought that those undying old coots had caught onto where we were.”
Old White coldly said, “Talking about terrible luck, is there anyone unluckier than me? I was perfectly all right, and then you had to go and develop that heaven-defying Law of Primal Chaos. Now look at us! We can’t go back home and are forced to hide in the abandoned Ancient Battlefield, living every day fearing for our lives. We’re so scared of those old things coming after us!”
Even his pet, the white parrot, looked unhappily at Old Black. Sure enough, the exotic beast followed its master; Whitey and Old White both huffed at the same time, and even the expressions on their faces were the identical.
Old Black casually thumped his chest and proudly said, “The old saying is right: ‘The most dangerous place is the safest.’ Those old undyings would never have dreamed that we would be hiding in the Ancient Battlefield of Gods and Demons! Even if we let them search the entire universe for us, they still won’t find us. Hmph!
“How about it? Your big brother is awesome, right?” Old Black winked and prodded his brother with his elbow, a smile on his face.
Old White did not calm down just because of this. He snorted and turned away, muttering, “If you weren’t my big brother, I would’ve already killed you!”
Old Black clearly had a good temper. He continued to shake his head and yawn as if he had not fully woken up yet.
If Xia Fei could see the legendary Black and White Gods arguing with each other, his eyes would surely fall out of the sockets. It turned out that the aloof experts had lives with little difference from ordinary people.
Old Black and Old White were still dressed the same as when Xia Fei first met them, their bodies covered in armor and capes so that only their eyes were exposed. The black and white parrots had changed, however. They were originally as tall as people; now, they were the same size as ordinary parrots, and they perched on the shoulders of their respective masters. Actually, this was not something to be alarmed about. As Divine Beasts, they could change their form size as they pleased.
Old Black and Old White took their pets and made a circle around the control room. Suddenly, Old Black spotted something and burst out in laughter.
“Haha! Isn’t this Xia Fei! That fellow who got my Law of Primal Chaos! Why is he here in the Ancient Battlefield?”
Old White frowned and walked over. “Do you still think giving him the Law of Primal Chaos is a good thing? If things go bad, he may even end up causing your death!”
Old Black, Old White, Blackie, and Whitey gathered in front of the largest screen and watched Xia Fei.
Blackie had a rather good impression of Xia Fei, and he was excited to meet an acquaintance in this place. As for the talkative Whitey, she did not like Xia Fei that much, turning her face away and harrumphing.
“This is a little too messy, isn’t it?” Old Black stared at the display on the screen for a while as he muttered in confusion. “He’s a Skywing Law Emperor using the Lionheart’s compass to enter the Ancient Battlefield? The Skywings are the Demon-sealing Fiendish Blade of the God Race, while the Lionhearts are the supporting pillars of the Demon Race. They don’t match at all.
“Law Emperor? Haha! This kid’s already a Law Emperor! I wonder how far he’s gotten in the Law of Primal Chaos? Now that I think about it, besides you and me, he’s the only inheritor of the Law of Primal Chaos and the only outsider to have it.”
Old Black became prouder the more he spoke, his eyes erupting with a sharp light. He appeared to be rather happy about the Law of Primal Chaos he had created.
Old White was not that optimistic. The Law of Primal Chaos was the reason he and his older brother were being chased down. It was still completely unknown whether Xia Fei’s inheritance of the Law of Primal Chaos was a blessing or a curse.
He stretched out a finger and began to read through the data on Xia Fei. The more they read, the more astonished they became. They did not understand how, in the three years they had not met, Xia Fei had managed to get into the Law Realm or how he had suddenly become a Law Emperor. He was also a Skywing, yet he had entered the Ancient Battlefield using a Demon Race compass. Did Xia Fei also have some connection to the Demon Race?
Even more bizarre was that, while all the other participants were going through various levels of assessments, Xia Fei had been entered into the Alpha Protocol.
Old Black asked, “What is this Alpha Protocol?”
Old White glanced at him and helplessly replied, “How would I know? The battlefield was designed by those undying old coots using the highest level of technology known to the universe, steeped in grand secrets. You will have to ask them if you want to get to the bottom of things.”
Old Black stuck out his tongue and darkly said, “Those old fellows are too strong, and I can’t beat them. Let’s just watch and see what sort of tricks Xia Fei can pull.”
…
Xia Fei’s eyes brightened upon seeing the vast hall before him, but he was not too concerned about his change in environment. He still thought that this was part of the S+ rank test. He also did not know that those two strange experts who had given him the Law of Primal Chaos were on the Ancient Battlefield, too.
*Whoosh!*
A screen opened, with a line of text on it.
“Do you agree to participate in the Alpha Protocol limit test? The reward is a spatial ring, Peak Rainbow?” Xia Fei read aloud. “A supersize spatial ring that can hold one million cubic meters? Heavens!”
The spatial ring that Xia Fei had could hold ten thousand cubic meters, and this was already a high-class item of the Law Realm. One million was one hundred times the volume! It was undoubtedly an irresistible temptation.
Oro was also taken aback, muttering, “It’s not just a problem of the huge volume. Look, this ring has a name: Peak Rainbow! Meaning, it’s the apex of the rainbow! That alone is how you can tell that it’s extremely valuable.”
Xia Fei firmly nodded. If it was not some special existence, this spatial ring did not deserve to have such a domineering name.
After a pause, Oro added, “Since the system presented this option to you, it means that this isn’t a normal test but rather an extra. You’d better think this through. This is the Ancient Battlefield, designed by experts. Taking part in this sort of mysterious test will be very risky.”
Xia Fei faintly smiled, his lips curving. “I’ve already thought it through. What I need right now is a supersized spatial ring!”
*Pa!*
As he spoke, Xia Fei pressed the ‘agree’ button.
For the first time in history, the Ancient Battlefield of Gods and Demons’ hidden assessment Alpha Protocol started up!
