Chapter 154: The Sword of Severed Contracts, The Final Chapter of the Falling Stars

"With my blood, I sharpen the sword.

With the intent of annihilation, I draw the essence of the stars.

Without breaking, there is no establishing; without destroying, there is no building..."

Zhao Yuan’s low chanting echoed across the Star-Shine Stone platform. Though his voice was not loud, it seemed to stir a law in this space that had been silent for eternity. The essence blood from the tip of his tongue mixed with the purest intent of the Annihilation Sword, transforming into a pale golden blood mist that enveloped the body of the "Silent Shadow" sword and the "Star Essence" fragment below.

Hum—!

The body of the "Silent Shadow" sword shook violently. Dark golden patterns, like burning lava, flowed with unprecedented brilliance. It was no longer the gray-white of annihilation, but a chaotic dark gold that blended the "end" of annihilation with the "beginning" of the stars.

The "Star Essence" fragment below responded by erupting with a brilliant, deep blue starlight. The miniature star sea sealed within it spun and expanded frantically, as if trying to break free from the crystal's constraints to merge with the sword light above.

Two forces with vastly different origins, yet subtly connected on a supreme level—"Annihilation," symbolizing the end and return of all things, and "Star Essence," symbolizing the origin of stellar birth—under the catalysis of the essence blood containing Zhao Yuan’s resolute Dao heart, underwent an incredible fusion, collision, and rebirth!

Between the sword tip and the fragment, the dark silver light that had been gestating suddenly expanded. It was no longer a point, but a slowly rotating, strange halo existing between the virtual and the real. Inside the halo, it seemed as if countless tiny stars were being born in annihilation, and countless new lives were heading toward annihilation in an instant, cycling back and forth, interpreting a supreme truth about "End and Beginning" and "Breaking and Establishing" that transcended ordinary understanding.

Zhao Yuan’s complexion turned ashen at a speed visible to the naked eye. Pale golden blood seeped from his seven orifices once more, and the arm holding the sword trembled violently, his bones emitting groans of unbearable strain. Forcibly invoking and controlling such a level of power fusion, even if only a negligible thread, far exceeded the limits of his Golden Core peak cultivation (with actual combat power approaching the mid-Nascent Soul stage). His Dao foundation was wailing, his spirit was like a candle in the wind, and his life essence was burning frantically.

Yet in his eyes, that cold, translucent, resolute light grew brighter and firmer.

He saw it.

Through that dark silver halo, through the strange perspective of the resonance between "Silent Shadow" and "Star Essence," he "saw" inside the "Sleeping Star Core" (the giant cocoon) that was undergoing violent mutation above. Deep within the countless dark red energy flows, he saw those invisible "Contract Patterns"—resembling chains, radiating an ancient, solemn, yet cold and greedy aura—connecting the core of the "Star Core" to the distant, high-reaching starry sky!

He also "saw" the evil thoughts belonging to the Rebirth Sect and the Demon Abyss, which extended from the blasphemous altar like filthy vines, wrapping around parts of the "Contract Patterns" and attempting to dye them dark purple!

"Contract... pollution... anchor point..." Fragmented realizations flashed through Zhao Yuan’s collapsing mind.

He no longer hesitated, nor did he have the strength to think about further consequences.

All his spirit, will, and even his life force, which was on the verge of disintegration, were condensed into this one sword strike!

"Slash—!!!"

There was no earth-shattering roar, only a hoarse shout bursting from the depths of his soul, exhausting all his strength.

The "Silent Shadow" sword moved.

It did not slash at a physical entity, nor did it slash at energy. Zhao Yuan used his body as a bridge, the sword as a guide, and the fused dark silver halo as the edge, slashing vaguely toward the "nodes" inside the giant cocoon above where the "Contract Patterns" and evil thoughts were most densely intertwined!

The dark silver halo detached from the sword, silent and soundless. There was no grand momentum, no blinding light, and it did not even cause a noticeable fluctuation in the surrounding violent energy. It was like an illusory ripple, a shadow of a concept, easily passing through the barriers of substance and energy, and sinking into the boiling dark red giant cocoon above.

Time seemed to stretch and solidify at this moment.

Above, Star Shine, Cold Shadow, Shi Meng, and Tie Shan, who were in a bloody battle with the swarming mutant monsters, simultaneously felt an indescribable palpitation sweep through their hearts, and their movements involuntarily stalled. Even the frantically attacking monsters seemed to sense something, emitting uneasy roars as their offensive slowed.

Inside the giant cocoon, the violent dark red energy tide that seemed ready to devour everything suddenly paused for an instant.

Immediately after.

"Click... crack..."

A sound, extremely faint yet seemingly ringing at the soul level, like shattering glass, clearly echoed in the consciousness of every living being in the ruins.

It was not the sound of a physical object breaking, but... the sound of some invisible "shackle" or "connection," maintained for tens of thousands of years and rooted at the level of laws, being forcibly slashed open with a tiny crack!

The giant cocoon shook violently!

The boiling dark red light inside became chaotic, like hot oil splashed with cold water! Those "Contract Patterns" that had been flowing in an orderly (though evil-filled) manner began to twist, break, and disintegrate as if their key threads had been severed! The evil thoughts and demonic energy of the Rebirth Sect entangled with them were like shadows exposed to sunlight, emitting silent shrieks as they evaporated and dissipated violently!

The pulsation of the entire giant cocoon suddenly shifted from violent to an uncontrolled "spasm"! The massive energy lost the restraint and guidance of a portion of its core, and began to impact and vent in all directions indiscriminately!

Rumble—!

The entire underground space—no, the entire Star-Sinking Ruins—began to shake and collapse violently! The dome cracked open with huge fissures, and countless metal fragments and stellar debris fell like a rainstorm! The surrounding walls cracked, and those wriggling dark red "blood vessels" ruptured one after another, spraying out chaotic energy flows!

"The ruins are collapsing!" True Person Star Shine spat out blood, barely propping up a tattered Star Shine barrier to resist the falling debris and energy impacts. "Did Young Friend Zhao Yuan succeed?! Quick! Move toward him!"

Cold Shadow’s face was pale as paper, and her Ice Soul Heart-Protecting Mirror already had cracks. She gritted her teeth and channeled her last bit of spiritual power, extending an ice bridge from beneath her feet to barely connect toward the Star-Shine Stone platform where Zhao Yuan was. Shi Meng and Tie Shan roared, blasting away several monsters that were agitated by the collapse and becoming increasingly frantic, protecting Star Shine and Cold Shadow as they moved toward the platform with difficulty.

And at this moment, on the Star-Shine Stone platform.

After unleashing that sword strike that transcended his own limits, Zhao Yuan fell backward limply, as if all his bones had been removed. "Silent Shadow" fell from his hand and stuck diagonally at the edge of the platform, its light dim and emitting a low, mournful sound. That "Star Essence" fragment also lost all its luster, becoming like the most ordinary blue stone, lying quietly on the ground.

Zhao Yuan’s vision was blurred, his ears were ringing, and he could only feel the world spinning. His body felt like tattered cotton, light and airy, and his consciousness was rapidly sinking into boundless darkness. In his last remaining perception, he saw the giant cocoon above collapsing and its light rapidly dimming, as well as the earth-shattering roar all around.

"Is it... over..." he thought vaguely, feeling an unusual sense of peace in his heart.

However, at the very moment his consciousness was about to sink completely.

Deep within the "Sleeping Star Core" (giant cocoon) that had been slashed open and fallen into uncontrolled spasms, the mixture of the last collective will of the Star-Sinking People and the stellar origin—which had been polluted, twisted, and imprisoned for tens of thousands of years—seemed to gain a moment of "clarity" because of the breaking of the "Contract Patterns" and the loosening of the shackles!

A grand, sorrowful, yet incomparably pure torrent of intent, like a flash of light before death, erupted from the core of the giant cocoon that was about to disintegrate. It was not an attack, but... a gift! Or rather, a gratitude and entrustment that had arrived thirty thousand years late!

This torrent of intent ignored the distance of space and accurately poured into Zhao Yuan, who was on the platform below, resonating with the "Star Essence" fragment and having swung the sword that severed the shackles! A portion of it even flowed into the divine sword along the connection with "Silent Shadow" that had not yet completely dissipated!

Zhao Yuan was like dying charcoal splashed with hot oil!

Into his cold, stiff, and near-collapsing body, a warm, vast energy filled with vitality and pure stellar power suddenly surged! This energy did not simply replenish his consumption, but in an extremely sophisticated and gentle way, it rapidly repaired his damaged meridians, nourished his dried-up dantian, and stabilized his Dao foundation and spirit that were about to disintegrate! Even his over-burned life essence was slowly nourished and restored by this power, which contained the artistic conception of "Stellar Immortality" and "Embers of Civilization"!

Not only that, a massive amount of fragmented memories about the "Star-Sinking People," stellar observation knowledge, some unpolluted stellar secret runes, and even a vague understanding of the essence of the "Three Enclosures Star God" contract... flooded into his sea of consciousness like a tide! The amount of information was so vast that it almost overwhelmed his consciousness, but the intent itself carried a power of comfort and guidance, temporarily "sealing" and "precipitating" this information deep in his sea of consciousness, waiting for him to slowly digest it in the future.

The "Silent Shadow" sword also let out a clear, long chime. Its dim light brightened again, and a faint, deep blue luster like flowing stars appeared within the dark golden patterns, as if it had absorbed a portion of the stellar origin and undergone some subtle and beneficial transformation.

All of this happened in the blink of an eye.

When the four of them—Star Shine, Cold Shadow, Shi Meng, and Tie Shan—barely rushed to the edge of the platform, what they saw was the strange starlight slowly receding from Zhao Yuan’s body, and his physical state, which, although he was still unconscious, had been pulled back from the brink of death, becoming stable and long, and even showing faint signs of improvement. The "Silent Shadow" stuck to the side also appeared more ancient and profound.

"This..." The four looked at each other, both surprised and happy.

"Leave here first!" Shadow Seven and Shadow Eleven appeared from the shadows. They had been guarding the edge of the platform, and now they said urgently, "The spatial structure of the entire ruins is collapsing completely! Those monsters have also been affected by the collapse and have no time to attack for now, but this place will soon be completely buried!"

Shadow Eleven pointed to the back of the platform, where a slowly rotating temporary vortex made of pure starlight had appeared at some point: "It was torn open when that torrent of intent erupted just now! It might be a temporary passage to the outside of the ruins. It is very unstable, we must leave immediately!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Shi Meng picked up the unconscious Zhao Yuan on his back, while Tie Shan carefully pulled out "Silent Shadow" and collected the dim "Star Essence" fragment. Supporting each other, the group leaped into the starlight vortex.

The dizzying sensation of teleportation struck again.

When the group regained consciousness from the violent spatial turbulence, they found themselves floating in cold seawater. Several hundred zhang above their heads was the normal, gloomy deep-sea scene, with faint daylight filtering down. Looking back, behind them was a cold, unremarkable deep-sea rock wall; where was there any trace of the ruins' entrance? Only the extremely faint spatial disturbances and stellar aura remaining in the seawater proved that everything they had just experienced was not an illusion.

"We... are out?" Chen Yue asked weakly. She had been forcing herself to assist in the defense and was now almost exhausted.

"It should be that the ruins collapsed, the spatial structure was completely destroyed, and we were expelled," True Person Star Shine panted, looking at the completely damaged formation disk in his hand with lingering fear. "The location... seems not far from the coordinates where we entered, but closer to the edge of the 'Silent Graveyard'."

The group looked around, all feeling a sense of daze after surviving a disaster. Shi Meng checked Zhao Yuan’s condition on his back and said happily, "Brother Zhao’s pulse and breath are very stable, and it seems... it seems his cultivation has even improved? This is truly..."

"It is a blessing in disguise, and it is what he deserves," Cold Shadow looked at Zhao Yuan’s peaceful (unconscious) face, a hint of complexity flashing in her cold eyes. "If not for that sword strike of his that transcended his limits and severed a certain key, we would all have been buried within."

Shadow Seven and Shadow Eleven had already begun using their remaining magic tools to try to locate and contact Star-Fragment Isle. At the same time, they vigilantly observed the surrounding deep-sea environment, guarding against potential monsters or dangers.

A moment later, Shadow Eleven breathed a sigh of relief: "Contacted Star-Fragment Isle! Eunuch Wei has received our emergency distress signal and brief report, and is dispatching the fastest 'Star-Patrol Boat' to pick us up. It is expected to arrive in this sea area within a day."

Hearing this, the heavy stone in everyone’s hearts finally fell.

True Person Star Shine looked at the unconscious Zhao Yuan, then at the "Silent Shadow" and "Star Essence" fragment carefully kept by Tie Shan, his expression solemn: "This exploration, although extremely dangerous and with heavy losses, the harvest... is equally huge. We have not only initially figured out the truth of the 'Contract of the Sinking Star' and disrupted the Rebirth Sect and Demon Abyss’s attempt to pollute and control the ancient contract, but also brought back the key 'Star Essence' fragment and a large amount of intelligence. The sword strike with which Young Friend Zhao Yuan finally severed the contract shackles may have immeasurable significance for this world’s future resistance against the 'World-Eroding'."

"However," he changed the subject, looking toward the direction where the ruins had disappeared, his face showing worry, "although the 'Sleeping Star Core' had part of its contract connection severed by Young Friend Zhao Yuan and fell into collapse, its core pollution and massive energy did not completely dissipate, but were buried or scattered under this deep sea as the ruins collapsed... I fear the hidden danger remains."

Cold Shadow nodded: "There are also the escaped 'Foul Soul' remnants, the heavily injured 'Greedy Devourer' Demon Marshal, and the remnants of the Rebirth Sect lurking within the continent... The Demon Abyss’s 'World-Eroding' plan will definitely not stop because of this setback."

The group was silent, the joy of having just escaped death replaced by heavy worry for the future.

The deep sea was gloomy, and the water flowed silently.

In the unconscious Zhao Yuan’s mind, at the center of his brow, a tiny, imperceptible point of light—fusing the gray glow of annihilation and the deep blue of the stars—quietly faded away. Deep within his consciousness, the sea of memories and knowledge belonging to the Star-Sinking People, which had just been forcibly poured in, was slowly precipitating and merging with his steady breathing and heartbeat, waiting for the day of awakening to bloom.

And on the edge of his blurred dream, it seemed to echo with a sigh of relief from a distant time and space, as well as a whisper that dissipated with the wind:

"The contract is broken, the star core is rotten, but the fire has been passed on... People of future generations, I hope you use the legacy of our clan well, and be wary of... the gaze from the depths of the starry sky..."

(Volume Six [Contract of the Sinking Star] End)