Chapter 179: The Wall of the Falling Moon, The First Cry of Chaos

The roar of destruction exploded outside the Holy Tree's core like a billion thunderbolts! Every collision violently twisted and shook this tranquil sea of root-stars. The flowing silver-white and emerald-green star rivers were forcibly torn and ripped apart by the violent force, like shattered silk. The moon-white core at the center flickered violently; every dimming stripped another fraction of light from the entire space, like a dying heart struggling.

Cold, viscous, carrying the absolute darkness of annihilation that erases all things, like a pervasive poisonous fog, it began seeping through the cracks in the Holy Tree's barrier, corroding this last pure land. The pure essence of life and order within the space was swiftly polluted and neutralized, emitting a sizzling wail.

"Ugh!" Priestess Liyana groaned, a wisp of fresh blood spilling from the corner of her mouth. She was pouring all her strength into linking her spirit with the Holy Tree's will, acting like a bridge to channel the vast power of order from the Holy Tree's core into the pulsating cocoon of chaos around Xiang Lingna, while also enduring the terrifying backlash from the Doctor's attacks. Every impact felt like a heavy hammer slamming into her soul.

Inside the cocoon of light, Xiang Lingna was enduring pressure the likes of which she had never faced before! Outside was destructive bombardment and dark erosion; inside was the forced "fusion" Lin Mo was conducting by channeling the Holy Tree's power! Vast, incomparably pure lunar-order energy, like a breached silver river, surged madly into her body!

This force was salvation, and also destruction! It forcibly scoured and compressed the three forces within her that had just established a fragile balance (Thorn Order, Starlight, and Annihilating Rot), attempting to "refine," "purify," and "reshape" them!

【Pain! Too painful! Stop! I'm going to explode!】 Xiang Lingna's consciousness let out a piercing shriek within the torrent of energy. Her body (soul) felt as though it had been placed in the furnace of heaven and earth, repeatedly forged and tempered! Her meridians split inch by inch as they expanded, only to be forcibly healed by life energy; her consciousness sank again and again between excruciating agony and brief clarity.

"Hold on! Lingna! Use your will to master them! Treat them as your arms! Your breath! They are you!" Lin Mo's will stood like a boulder in the flood, fiercely guarding the core of Xiang Lingna's consciousness while doing everything in his power to harmonize the surging Holy Tree power with the chaotic energy within her. His starlight phantom had grown extremely dim within the cocoon, clearly at its limit as well.

The power of Thorn Order, infused by the Holy Tree's force, became abnormally active, growing and spreading wildly in an attempt to repair Xiang Lingna's damaged body, yet clashing even more violently with the raging annihilation energy. The Starlight, like a binding agent, struggled to mediate within the gaps of the conflict.

The most dangerous was that dark-purple Annihilating Rot! It was regarded by the Holy Tree's power as the greatest "filth," and suffered the fiercest "purification" assault! Like boiling oil poured into ice water, the annihilation energy, under purification, wildly counterattacked, burned, and exploded! Every explosion stirred up a destructive storm within Xiang Lingna's body!

Just at this life-or-death juncture, beset by troubles within and without, where Xiang Lingna was about to burst—

Hum!

Deep within her heart, that spark of "chaotic nature" originating from herself—repeatedly stimulated yet never truly valued—was finally, completely awakened under the extreme pressure of the brink between life and death! No longer passively mediating, but actively… devouring! Embracing! Transforming!

This nature, like a miniature, greedy cosmic black hole, suddenly expanded! It no longer distinguished order from chaos, no longer distinguished light from darkness! The surging Holy Tree power, the conflicting Thorn Order within her, the raging Annihilating Rot, Lin Mo's Starlight… all the energy pouring into Xiang Lingna's body was forcibly swept up and torn apart by this chaotic nature, then recombined in an incomprehensible way!

The pain reached its peak! Xiang Lingna felt her soul and body were about to be utterly ground away!

But within this pain beyond limits, an unprecedented, all-controlling strangeness, like the dawn's first light, suddenly surged from deep within her consciousness!

She "saw"! She saw the flow trajectory of every wisp of energy within her, saw their "emotions" and "longings"! Thorn Order longed to grow and protect, Annihilating Rot longed to destroy and devour, Starlight longed to guide and balance, the Holy Tree's power longed to purify and bring order…

And her will was the… god who ruled over all of this!

"Be… quiet!" A will, silent yet brimming with absolute authority, erupted from the core of Xiang Lingna's soul!

A miracle occurred!

The wildly conflicting torrent of energy, under the dominion of this newborn will, was as though forcibly smoothed flat by an invisible great hand! Thorn Order no longer grew madly, but meekly transformed into restorative channels; Annihilating Rot no longer exploded, but was compressed and condensed into a cold "fuel" carrying the breath of destruction; Starlight flowed steadily within like the blood of meridians; and the vast Holy Tree power was guided in an orderly fashion, scouring the newly born energy channels, performing the final "tempering" and "shaping"!

The cocoon of light enveloping Xiang Lingna drew its radiance inward, no longer blinding, but displaying a deep, chaotic hue like a cosmic nebula, slowly swirling, emanating an indescribable, strange pressure that embraced all things yet contained destruction!

"It worked?!" Priestess Liyana felt the energy fluctuations transmitted from the cocoon—now steadying yet even more powerful—and her heart surged with wild joy!

Yet the crisis outside had reached its peak!

Crack——!!!

A tremendous sound, as though heaven and earth were shattering, rang out! Above the Holy Tree's core space, the "firmament" formed of countless energy roots was forcibly torn open by a massive rift burning with dark-purple flames! Cold, viscous darkness and a suffocating pressure of annihilation poured down like a waterfall!

The Doctor's massive projection, composed of pure dark-purple energy, like a world-destroying demon god, slowly thrust in through the rift! His cold vertical pupils locked onto the cocoon of swirling chaotic nebula below, filled with greed and absolute desire for control:

"The key… has finally… ripened!"