Chapter 166: The Eye of Tribulation Peering into the Abyss, the First Appearance of Aberration

The darkest hour before dawn.

Star Fall Island was shrouded in the silence and exhaustion following a great battle. Only the island’s core and several key defensive nodes glowed with vigilant light, like the single eye of a sleeping giant beast that remained open. Patrols of cultivators wove back and forth, silently clearing the battlefield debris and repairing damaged arrays. The air was thick with the pungent scent of blood, scorched earth, and the strange, lingering odor of purification spells.

In a quiet room temporarily cleared in the side hall of the Star Fixing Palace.

Lin Xuan had finished regulating his breath. Although he had not fully recovered to his peak, the chaotic halo around his body flowed steadily, and the vortex deep within his eyes was as profound as an abyss. He had changed into a simpler, more streamlined dark cyan martial outfit, his long hair tied up casually with a wooden hairpin. He stood with his hands behind his back before the window, watching the faint, fish-belly white light gradually emerging at the boundary where the eastern sea met the sky.

The fragments of information obtained from the starlight reflecting into his soul last night were being repeatedly deduced and pieced together in his heart. The "Aberration Core" deep within the Return to Ruins Sea Eye, the homologous connection of the demonic seeds, the shadows of the ancient contract's backlash, the long-term infiltration of the Demonic Abyss... all of this was like scattered puzzle pieces, gradually revealing an unsettling outline.

"Fellow Daoist Lin, everything is ready." Wei Gongshen's voice sounded from behind. In his hands, he held a palm-sized boat, neither gold nor jade, carved with dense spatial and protective runes. "This is a replica of the 'Void Shuttle.' Although it cannot traverse realms like the original, its concealment, protection, and pressure resistance are excellent over short distances. It may help you withstand the pressure and filth deep within the Sea Eye. Additionally, there are three 'Imperial Supreme Forbidden-Breaking Talismans' that may tear open barriers at critical moments."

Lin Xuan turned around, took the "Void Shuttle" and the talismans, and nodded. "Thank you, my lord. After I leave, I entrust Star Fall Island to you. The demonic seed within Zhao Yuan must be monitored at all times. If there is any abnormality, you may use the power of the 'Star Essence' fragments to assist in suppressing it, but do not forcibly extract it. We shall discuss it further when I return."

"I understand," Wei Gongshen said solemnly. "Fellow Daoist, you must be careful. If there is any change, prioritize your own safety. Star Fall Island can be lost, but you cannot."

Lin Xuan said no more. He gave a slight nod to Wei Gongshen, his figure flickering as he transformed into a gray, hazy stream of light that blended almost perfectly with the pre-dawn darkness. He passed through the layers of defensive arrays without a sound and shot into the cold, churning vast sea from a hidden exit on the east side of Star Fall Island.

Once he entered the deep sea, the light vanished rapidly, and the pressure increased sharply. To Lin Xuan's perception at this moment, the ordinary seawater felt like viscous mud, mixed with wisps of escaping demonic Qi, blood malice, and the aftermath of the "Primordial Demonic Qi"—a unique, decaying, and chaotic aura characteristic of the Return to Ruins Sea Eye. Although the great battle had ceased, the environment had been severely polluted.

With a thought, the "Void Shuttle" in his hand flashed slightly, forming a thin, nearly invisible film of light that covered his entire body. It not only isolated him from the seawater pressure and filthy energy but also reduced his own aura and presence to the minimum. Immediately, he identified the direction and dived rapidly toward the location of the Return to Ruins Sea Eye.

The further down he went, the more bizarre the surrounding environment became. The light disappeared completely, replaced by deep-sea creatures emitting faint phosphorescence—some ghostly blue, some sickly green, some dark red. Their forms were twisted, clearly affected by the pollution. More and more impurities floated in the seawater: fragments of broken magic treasures, decaying bones, and even pieces of ancient-style architecture that were neither gold nor stone—traces of land or islands that might have been closer to the surface in the ancient era, now sunken through long ages and geological shifts.

Spiritual sense was heavily suppressed here; it felt sluggish and difficult to extend beyond a hundred feet, and it easily attracted dangerous creatures lurking in the darkness that were sensitive to spiritual sense fluctuations. Lin Xuan simply retracted most of his spiritual sense, retaining only basic perception of energy flows and dangerous auras, relying more on the "Essence Insight" ability of the Chaos Tribulation Pupil.

The Chaos Tribulation Pupil rotated slowly, and the world in his field of vision became completely different. It was no longer purely matter and energy, but an abstract landscape of "states of existence" and "decay processes" composed of different "colors" and "textures." Pure seawater appeared as clear, pale blue, flowing smoothly; areas polluted by demonic Qi appeared as murky dark purple with twisted lines; those sunken ruins emitted dim earthy yellow and gray-white, representing the solidification and silence of time.

And in the direction he was heading, where the Return to Ruins Sea Eye lay, the view of the Chaos Tribulation Pupil revealed a massive, constantly rotating and writhing... chaotic vortex composed of the deepest darkness, glaring dark red, murky gray-purple, and countless tiny, screaming-like points of light! It was as if it were a festering wound of the world, constantly "oozing" filth and decay into its surroundings!

Even from a considerable distance, the grand sense of oppression originating from the world's source—a mixture of "devouring," "chaos," "ending," and "madness"—already surged toward him like a tangible tide.

Lin Xuan remained calm, the chaotic halo around his body flowing naturally to offset most of this oppression. He did not rush directly toward the center of the "wound." Instead, he adjusted his direction based on the faint "trajectory" and "frequency" he had captured last night—the resonance between the demonic seed and the "Aberration Core" deep within the Sea Eye. Like the most patient hunter, he quietly approached along a winding and hidden "energy vein."

As he went deeper, the surrounding pressure and concentration of filth increased exponentially. The light film of the "Void Shuttle" emitted a faint hum, and ripples of erosion began to appear on its surface. Lin Xuan had to continuously inject Chaos Tribulation power to maintain it. At the same time, he began to encounter "native" dangers—not demonic creatures, but terrifying entities naturally derived from the Sea Eye environment.

These were "energy lifeforms" formed entirely from a combination of concentrated "Primordial Demonic Qi," deep-sea resentment, and decaying matter. Their forms were bizarre; some were like massive, constantly dissolving and reforming blobs of slime, while others were deformed aggregates forcibly pieced together from countless bones and rocks. They possessed no clear intelligence, only the most primitive instinct for devouring and destruction, launching indiscriminate attacks on any "foreign object" that entered their domain.

Lin Xuan did not wish to tangle with them. He condensed Chaos Tribulation power at his fingertips, transforming it into gray threads as thin as hair but containing the true meaning of "Return to Ruins." As the gray threads swept past, the internal energy structures of those seemingly massive and ferocious energy lifeforms—already highly unstable—would behave like ignited powder kegs upon contact, disintegrating and annihilating themselves. They turned into more basic chaotic primordial energy, which Lin Xuan absorbed in small amounts to replenish his consumption.

He continued to sneak forward this way, avoiding strength and striking weakness, like walking on the edge of a blade, cautiously and firmly approaching the location of the "Aberration Core" in his perception.

He did not know how deep he had dived—perhaps ten thousand feet, perhaps several tens of thousands. The surrounding seawater was no longer liquid but a "paste-like" substance, viscous to the point of being nearly solid, with a terrifyingly low temperature, mixed with demonic Qi, star malice, blood resentment, and unknown energy deposits. The pressure was great enough to instantly crush the protective spiritual light of a Nascent Soul cultivator. Light had vanished completely, and even the vision of the Chaos Tribulation Pupil began to suffer interference; only boundless, writhing darkness and chaotic energy turbulence remained.

If not for the protection of the "Void Shuttle" and the nature of his own Chaos Tribulation power, Lin Xuan would likely have been unable to move an inch.

"It should... be very close." Lin Xuan muttered in his heart. He could feel that the end of the resonance "trajectory" he was following lay within the darkness ahead—a darkness that was deeper, more deathly silent, yet faintly exuding a heart-palpitating "active" fluctuation.

He stopped his movement, hovering in this viscous "sea of paste," and operated the Chaos Tribulation Pupil to its full extent, piercing through layers of obstruction to "look" ahead.

What met his gaze was not the massive entity or energy mass he had expected.

It was a piece of... "emptiness."

A spherical "void" about a hundred feet in diameter, absolute, as if even the concept of "existence" had been stripped away! The edges of the void were not smooth but presented a strange state between matter and energy, constantly writhing minutely as if "breathing." From the perspective of the Chaos Tribulation Pupil, inside this "void" flowed a "fluid" that was as viscous as asphalt yet shimmered with countless tiny dark golden and dark purple starlight, impossible to describe accurately in words. It was this "fluid" that emitted the filthy star malice and blood resentment he had sensed earlier—homologous to the demonic seed but countless times more vast and profound—along with that cold, faint, primitive will!

This was the location of the "Aberration Core"! Or rather, the "realm" from which it "radiated" and "influenced" the outside!

What shocked Lin Xuan even more was that in the "sea of paste" surrounding this "void," he "saw" countless dark red and dark purple "veins," half-virtual and half-real, resembling blood vessels or nerves! One end of these veins connected to the "void," while the other end extended in all directions like the roots of a plant, especially upward (toward Star Fall Island and the further sea), as if they were continuously extracting and transporting something.

"It is absorbing... the filthy energy from the entire Return to Ruins Sea Eye diffusion zone, and... from further away, the homologous auras emitted by those ruins, nodes, and even 'sub-bodies' like the demonic seed in Zhao Yuan's body related to the ancient star contracts?" Lin Xuan realized instantly. "It is 'feeding,' 'growing,' or rather... 'awakening'!"

This so-called "Aberration Core" was not a static, dead object, but a slowly operating "pollution circulation system" and "energy converter" with primitive instincts! It collected negative energy and information (such as resentment, blood malice, corrupted star power, demonic Qi, etc.) generated by events like the ancient contract backlash, star falls, and Demonic Abyss infiltration within the Sea Eye and a wider range. After transforming and purifying them through a method within the "void" that could not be understood, it was perhaps even gestating... something even more terrifying!

No wonder the Demonic Abyss valued this place so much! This was simply a natural, excellent "petri dish" and "energy source" for their "World-Erosion" plan!

Lin Xuan attempted to probe a wisp of extremely fine Chaos Tribulation power toward the edge of the "void," wanting to analyze its internal structure more deeply.

However, the moment the Chaos Tribulation power touched that writhing boundary—

The viscous "fluid" inside the "void" surged violently!

A cold, ancient, weak will—filled with endless resentment, hunger, and a trace of instinctive hatred for "order" and "purification" power—"locked onto" the wisp of Chaos Tribulation power Lin Xuan had probed, like a venomous snake startled awake by a needle prick!

Immediately following, the dark red and dark purple veins around the "void" lit up simultaneously! A terrifying suction force, unimaginably vast and mixed with filthy star malice, blood resentment, Primordial Demonic Qi, and a certain quality of "contract backlash," erupted suddenly! It did not target Lin Xuan's body but acted directly upon his soul, Dao foundation, and even... the "order" and "ending" Dao rhymes contained within his Chaos Tribulation power!

This "Aberration Core" seemed to possess some extremely rudimentary "defensive" or "predatory" instinct! It regarded Lin Xuan's Chaos Tribulation power as... an "intruder" and a "delicacy"!

Lin Xuan's expression remained unchanged, and he decisively severed the connection to the wisp of Chaos Tribulation power that had been "locked onto." The severed power was instantly swallowed by the "void" and vanished, but the cold will and terrifying suction did not stop. Instead, they followed the faint connection in the dark, spreading and enveloping toward Lin Xuan's location like countless invisible tentacles!

Worse still, with the movement of the "Aberration Core," this deathly silent deep sea seemed to be thoroughly awakened! The surrounding viscous "sea of paste" began to churn violently, and countless more massive and ferocious energy lifeforms lurking within (perhaps the "guards" or derivatives of the core) began to manifest, rushing madly toward Lin Xuan's direction! Several of these auras had reached the level of the late or even peak Nascent Soul stage!

"Cannot withstand it head-on." Lin Xuan made a judgment instantly. The energy level and bizarre characteristics of this "Aberration Core" far exceeded what he could handle in his current state. Moreover, he was on its home turf, the surrounding environment was hostile, and there were countless derivatives attacking.

He had to retreat and bring the intelligence back.

Without the slightest hesitation, Lin Xuan retreated violently! He pushed the "Void Shuttle" light film to its limit, forcibly tearing a gap in the viscous "sea of paste." At the same time, his hands flickered, and several wisps of Chaos Tribulation power containing the true meaning of "Return to Ruins" shot toward the most powerful energy lifeforms chasing behind him, not seeking to kill, but only to delay.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The Chaos Tribulation power detonated inside those monsters, causing small-scale energy disorder and disintegration, which indeed slowed their pursuit.

Lin Xuan took the opportunity to accelerate, rapidly ascending along the "energy vein" he had come by. Behind him was the unwilling "gaze" of the "Aberration Core's" cold will and the angry roars of countless monsters (silent, but clearly perceptible on the level of consciousness).

The process of ascending was equally perilous. It was not just the monsters around the core that were alarmed; the filthy energy throughout the deep layers of the Sea Eye seemed to have become more active and violent due to the core's movement. From time to time, massive energy turbulence swept over, invisible spatial folds attempted to drag him into unknown dimensions, and even more bizarre aggregates of resentment, appearing to exist between the virtual and the real, emitted wails and curses that pierced directly into his soul, attempting to erode his Dao heart.

Lin Xuan operated his Chaos Tribulation power to the extreme, dissolving, dodging, or forcibly breaking through, like a gray meteor moving against the current, struggling to climb upward through the endless darkness and chaos.

He did not know how much time had passed, but the viscosity of the surrounding seawater began to decrease, the pressure eased, and the concentration of filthy energy also lowered. Above his head, a faint, extremely weak trace of filtered daylight appeared.

Finally, just as the light film of the "Void Shuttle" was about to reach its limit and his own Chaos Tribulation power was more than half-depleted, Lin Xuan burst out of the suffocating deep-sea region and returned to the relatively "normal" deep-sea environment.

He dared not stop and continued to ascend until he broke the surface of the sea, breathing in the air that was salty but no longer filthy and pungent.

By now, it was broad daylight. The silhouette of Star Fall Island stood quietly on the distant horizon.

Lin Xuan hovered above the sea, looking back at the sea area below, which remained deep and ink-blue yet seemed to hide endless nightmares. The chaotic vortex in his eyes rotated slowly, his expression incomparably grave.

The situation with the "Aberration Core" was even trickier than he had expected. It was not a simple energy aggregate or pollution source, but a living "pollution hub" that possessed a primitive will and was slowly "growing" or perhaps even "gestating" something!

Solving it would be no easy task. Perhaps it would require more powerful purification forces, more thorough means, or even... the need to trace back to the essence of the ancient "Star Contract" from the source.

And the demonic seed within Zhao Yuan, as its "sub-body," likely played a role far more critical than that of a "poisoned bait."

Lin Xuan took a deep breath, suppressed the heaviness in his heart, turned into a stream of light, and sped toward Star Fall Island.

Some intelligence must be told to Wei Gongshen immediately.

Some decisions required the alliance to face them together.

Some crises... were likely only just revealing the tip of the iceberg.