Chapter 162: The Tribulation Pupils Open for the First Time

"Slash——!!!"

Zhao Yuan’s roar and the sharp sound of the three-colored sword energy piercing the air were like a thunderclap tearing through despair.

Wherever the sword energy passed, the space rippled strangely. The gray, blue, and golden lights intertwined and swirled; the three Dao rhymes of Annihilation, Stars, and that sliver of newly sprouted yet incredibly resilient protective Sword Heart were forcibly fused together, erupting with a sharpness that far exceeded Zhao Yuan’s current cultivation base and made the laws of heaven and earth tremble!

It lacked a grand momentum, yet it carried an absolute will to sever karma and shatter illusions, cutting with pinpoint precision into the obscure energy node between the "Corrupt-Winged Demon Ray’s" massive body and the "Blood Charm," and then, like a hot knife through butter, it pierced through the layers of pustules and bone armor on the demon ray’s surface, striking at the filthiest, most chaotic energy core within its body—a core forcibly kneaded together from massive amounts of demonic energy, blood malice, rot poison, and chaotic star resentment!

"What?!" The Blood Charm was terrified; she had never seen such a strange sword intent! Although the aura did not seem overwhelmingly strong, it gave her an instinctive feeling of a fatal threat, as if this sword could directly damage the essence of her symbiotic contract with the demon ray! She wanted to dodge, she wanted to urge the demon ray to defend, but the chaotic aura from deep within the Star-Fixing Palace that had made her heart palpitate earlier disturbed her mind, and it formed an indescribable resonance with Zhao Yuan’s sword, causing both her and the demon ray’s movements to slow by an infinitesimal fraction of an instant!

It was this very instant!

Puchi——!

The three-colored sword energy sank into the demon ray’s body without resistance, like a hot knife cutting into solidified grease!

Time seemed to stand still for a moment.

Immediately following—

"Roar-howl——!!!"

The "Corrupt-Winged Demon Ray" let out an unprecedented, shrill roar mixed with extreme pain, fear, and madness! Its massive body convulsed and twitched violently, and countless pustules on its surface burst simultaneously, spraying dark green, foul-smelling slurry and poisonous mist! Its wide, fleshy wings flapped frantically, whipping up a bloody storm that smashed several nearby small demons into pulp! The Blood Charm on its back was caught off guard and, shaken by this sudden, violent backlash, felt her blood and Qi churn; she let out a muffled groan and nearly fell from the demon ray’s back!

Inside the demon ray, the filthy energy core struck by the sword energy began to rapidly disintegrate and evaporate, as if an ice cube had been thrown into boiling oil, under the scouring of the intent of annihilation, purification, and termination contained within the three-colored sword energy! The twisted energy meridians around the core snapped inch by inch, and having lost its energy source, the demon ray’s life force drained away like a floodgate being opened!

This sword not only severely wounded the demon ray but also backlashed against the Blood Charm’s mind through their obscure symbiotic connection! She felt the connection between herself and the demon ray rapidly weakening, and a cold "termination" sword intent, as if it would freeze her very soul, was seeping strand by strand along that connection toward her demonic soul!

"No! Impossible! What kind of sword is this?!" The Blood Charm shrieked, her alluring face twisted by pain and fear, no longer retaining her previous composure. She frantically urged her demonic arts, attempting to sever the connection with the demon ray and suppress the alien sword intent invading her body.

However, after unleashing this sword that surpassed his own limits, Zhao Yuan was at the end of his rope. His face was as pale as gold paper, and pale golden blood seeped from his seven orifices simultaneously; his body swayed, and he could only stand by leaning on his sword. His newly formed Nascent Soul was dim due to damage to his origin and excessive overdraw, sending waves of tearing pain. The "Demonic Seed" in his sea of consciousness took the opportunity to frantically assault the seal, and the intense pain nearly drowned his sanity.

He was powerless to pursue, and even powerless to maintain his standing posture.

Just at this moment—

Deep within the Star-Fixing Palace, that chaotic air current, which had been faintly diffusing at first, seemed to be triggered by Zhao Yuan’s resolute sword, the brutal battle outside, and the negative energy that had reached an extreme concentration, and it suddenly became active!

In the jade pool, countless fine, gray-purple lines like those on cracked porcelain began to appear on the surface of Lin Xuan’s body, and chaotic halos flowed vaguely beneath the lines. The Chaotic Tribulation Crystal that had been silent for a long time at the position of his heart suddenly accelerated its rotation by a fraction!

A more distinct, more magnificent Dao rhyme of "Termination" and "Return to Ruins," like the gaze peering through the gap of a sleeping giant beast’s slowly lifting eyelids, quietly enveloped the entire Star-Fixing Palace and rapidly spread outward!

The first to bear the brunt were the "Corrupt-Winged Demon Ray" that was disintegrating and wailing on the square outside the palace, and the Blood Charm, whose mind was wounded and who was filled with suspicion and fear!

The moment the chaotic Dao rhyme swept over the demon ray’s massive body, the speed of its disintegration suddenly accelerated several times over! Flesh, bones, carapace, poison... every part of its existence seemed to be forcibly endowed with the destiny of "heading toward termination," accelerating its decay, weathering, and turning into fly ash! Even the poisonous mist it sprayed and the dissipated demonic energy were silently annihilated and scattered within the chaotic aura!

The Blood Charm was struck even harder! She felt her demonic arts, her soul, and even her very existence trembling violently under that magnificent and indifferent will of "termination," as if she might follow in the demon ray’s footsteps at any moment! The alien sword intent that had invaded her body became even more like a maggot on a tarsal bone under the reinforcement of the chaotic Dao rhyme, making it difficult to expel!

"Chaotic... Tribulation Power?! Is he really waking up?!" True fear finally appeared in the Blood Charm’s eyes. She could be unafraid of Zhao Yuan’s sword, and unafraid of the siege by Beichen and the others, but facing this supreme power that legend said controlled "tribulations" and defined "termination," the trembling from the depths of her soul left her unable to harbor even the slightest greed, leaving only the thought of fleeing for her life!

"Retreat! Retreat quickly!" She shrieked, no longer caring about the demon ray or those small demons, and not even caring about the "Star Essence" fragments and Lin Xuan inside the Star-Fixing Palace. Blood light exploded around her, and, not hesitating to burn her origin, she transformed into a shrill blood-red rainbow, fleeing frantically toward the massive spatial rift in the southeast direction! Her speed was so fast that she left behind trails of afterimages in her wake!

The "Corrupt-Winged Demon Ray," having lost the Blood Charm’s control and having been severely wounded, struggled for only a few more breaths under the dual effect of the chaotic Dao rhyme and its own disintegration before completely turning into a puddle of rapidly dissolving, filthy mud. In the end, even the mud evaporated completely, leaving only a pitted square floor stained with a faint, lingering evil aura.

Those small demons were also like headless flies, either wiped out by the guards or instinctively fleeing the range covered by the chaotic aura.

The crisis in front of the Star-Fixing Palace was unexpectedly resolved in this manner.

True Person Beichen and the others looked at the scene before them, both surprised and delighted, their gazes cast in unison toward the depths of the Star-Fixing Palace, filled with anticipation.

Zhao Yuan finally could not hold on; his body swayed and he collapsed forward. But at the moment he was about to touch the ground, a gentle yet irresistible gray, misty air current appeared out of thin air, lifting him up gently and slowly sending him into the Star-Fixing Palace.

Inside the palace, beside the high jade pool.

Lin Xuan was still lying in the spiritual liquid, his eyes closed, but the gray-purple lines had spread all over his body, and the rotation of the Chaotic Tribulation Crystal at his heart, though slow, was stable and firm. The chaotic air current that had lifted Zhao Yuan was exactly what was emanating from him.

Zhao Yuan was gently placed by the edge of the jade pool. He struggled to see Lin Xuan’s condition clearly, but his vision went black, and his consciousness rapidly sank into darkness. His final perception was the familiar warmth of the spiritual liquid in the jade pool, carrying a chaotic aura, and the Nascent Soul at his heart that was beating weakly and seemed to have produced a trace of resonance with the Chaotic Tribulation Crystal...

Outside the palace, the battle continued.

The spatial rift on the southeastern sea surface remained ferocious, and the Demon Abyss army continued to pour out endlessly, engaging in a brutal slaughter between the sea and sky with alliance powerhouses like Wei Gong and Ling Shuang. Under the continuous erosion of the rift and the interference of internal sabotage, the light of the Star-Shattering Isle’s grand array had dimmed to less than thirty percent, hanging by a thread.

The entire island was like a lonely boat tossing in a storm.

However, inside the Star-Fixing Palace, that wisp of quietly reviving chaotic tribulation power, and Zhao Yuan, who had fallen into a coma by the jade pool but whose aura was gradually stabilizing, were like a faint... chaotic fire ignited in the endless darkness.

Although this fire was small, it represented a variable, represented hope, and represented... the beginning of some higher-level power intervening in the disputes of this realm.

High in the sky, hundreds of miles away from the Star-Fixing Palace, Wei Gong, who was in a fierce battle with several Demon Abyss Nascent Soul demon commanders, seemed to sense something. A stunning, sharp light suddenly erupted from his aged eyes; he forced back the enemy before him with a palm, looked toward the direction of the Star-Fixing Palace, and muttered to himself, his voice filled with irrepressible excitement:

"Chaotic aura... Supplicant Lin... are you finally... going to return?"

As if responding to his whisper.

In the jade pool, Lin Xuan’s eyelids, which had been closed for months, trembled... extremely slightly, yet with incomparable firmness.

Immediately after, they slowly opened.

What kind of eyes were those?

Deep within the pupils, it was no longer the deep calmness of the past, but had transformed into two slowly rotating, constantly birthing and dying, gray, misty chaotic vortices! Within the vortices, it seemed as if the phantoms of countless worlds were being born, flourishing, decaying, and returning to ruins... containing the supreme principles of the most primitive "Tribulation" and "Fortune"!

The Chaotic Tribulation Pupils, opened for the first time!