Chapter 173

Geocentric Quiet Room, starlight like the sea.

Zhao Yuan sat cross-legged in front of the "Star Source Marrow," his whole body shrouded in the deep dark blue, condensed-as-substance star origin light pillar. Unlike the gentle nourishment brought by the "Star Essence" fragments, the power of the "Star Source Marrow" was more majestic and heavy, carrying a stable Dao rhyme derived from the extinction of the star core, close to "non-perishability." This power was not forcibly injected, but like deep-sea water, silently moistening every corner of his body, every inch of meridians, and every trace of his soul.

Under the exquisite guidance and transformation of the "Star Anchoring Formation," this vast star power was tamed, purified, and perfectly blended with his own newborn "Chaos starlight."

His consciousness sea, at this moment, seemed to have turned into a miniature starry sky. In the center was the Nascent Soul covered in cracks, but under the nourishment of the dark blue starlight and the gray Chaos light, it was repairing rapidly, and its light was becoming brighter, like the main star rotating in this starry sky. Around the Nascent Soul, countless fine gray-blue light points, fusing Nirvana, star, and Chaos artistic conceptions, like satellites rotating around the main star, slowly rotated, spontaneously absorbing and refining the pure power surging from the "Star Source Marrow," strengthening themselves.

And that dark purple demonic seed was firmly suppressed in the corner of this "Marrow Sea Star Brilliance." A layer of dark blue "light cocoon," composed of the "Star Source Marrow" origin power and formation runes, like the most solid cage, heavily wrapped and isolated it. The evil fluctuations emitted by the demonic seed were layer-by-layer weakened, absorbed, and transformed by this cocoon, and finally turned into nutrients to nourish this "star sea." It struggled and squirmed unwillingly, dark purple light flickering violently from time to time, attempting to impact the light cocoon, but every impact was like a mud cow entering the sea, instead being shaken by the stable Star Source power, its own light dimming by a few points.

"Star Source as anchor, Chaos as guide, Nirvana as edge, stars as sea..." Epiphany flowed in Zhao Yuan's heart. He had never felt his mind so clear, and his control over power so delicate. With the help of the "Star Source Marrow" as a near-perfect "external core" and "power source," he was able to temporarily get rid of the pain and mind interference of demonic seed erosion, and immerse himself in the integration, strengthening, and comprehension of his own power.

He guided the "Chaos starlight" to wash and temper the Nascent Soul over and over again. Every time it washed, the cracks on the Nascent Soul healed by a point, its texture became more crystal clear, and the gray-blue light inside became deeper and more implicit. The sharpness of the Nirvana Sword Intent that was too sharp and easily damaged himself was gradually rounded and restrained under the inclusiveness of the Star Source power and the reconciliation of the star Dao rhyme; the characteristics of the star power that were too scattered and difficult to control were condensed and full of attack under the condensation of the Nirvana intent and the integration of Chaos.

The two powers truly began to blend like water and milk under this newborn "Chaos starlight" framework, indistinguishable from each other. He felt that his Nascent Soul seemed to be undergoing some kind of essential transformation, no longer just an energy aggregate after the Golden Core shattered, but more like a... unique "Chaos star" that was gestating and growing!

At the same time, he tried to probe a trace of extremely weak "Chaos starlight" through the tiny gap of the "Star Source light cocoon" (the "window" deliberately left by the formation for observation), and gently touched the demonic seed imprisoned inside.

This time, under the absolute suppression and isolation of the "Star Source Marrow" power, the demonic seed's resistance was much weaker. That trace of "Chaos starlight" was like the most dexterous probe, gently touching the surface of the demonic seed.

The information fed back was still full of chaos, resentment, and cold instruction, but it was much clearer and more orderly than before. Zhao Yuan could "hear" the "signal" that was constantly calling a certain deep-sea coordinate more clearly, and could even vaguely sense that a more vast, greedy, and... irritable "sense of existence" was transmitted from the other end of the coordinate!

"It... is looking for me? Because the signal suddenly became weak?" Zhao Yuan was horrified in his heart. He could feel that the existence in the deep sea seemed somewhat impatient because it had lost him as a "clear signal source," and even... angry?

He tried to simulate a trace of extremely weak "noise" signal similar to the normal emission of the demonic seed, distorted and processed by the "Star Source light cocoon," with "Chaos starlight," and "responded" to the coordinate direction. This was not a real resonance, but a kind of "disguise" and "misleading," aimed at appeasing the other party and delaying time.

The moment the signal was sent, Zhao Yuan's heart rose to his throat.

A moment of silence.

Immediately after, a trace of extremely weak, yet clearly "doubtful" and "scrutinizing" fluctuation came from the coordinate direction, sweeping over this trace of "disguise signal," as if carefully distinguishing it. After a few breaths, the fluctuation slowly retreated, without showing further "interest" or "pulling."

Success! At least it was fooled for the time being!

Zhao Yuan's heart settled slightly, but he dared not relax in the slightest. He knew that this little trick could not deceive the "Distortion Core" with primitive will for long. Once the other party detected the abnormality, or its patience ran out, the consequences would be unimaginable. He must seize this precious "safe period" when the demonic seed was suppressed and improve himself with all his might!

Time passed rapidly in deep cultivation.

One day, two days...

Outside the Geocentric Quiet Room, Star-Fragment Isle and even the entire Alliance were operating at high speed to deal with the Sea Eye crisis.

The fragment of the "Zhou Tian Star Purification Great Formation" was studied day and night by formation masters like True Person Elder Beichen, and its core principles were rapidly integrated into the defense system of Star-Fragment Isle, and the purification and anti-pollution capabilities of the peripheral formations were significantly improved. At the same time, "space anchoring" and "energy hysteresis" formations aimed at the "energy veins" of the Sea Eye also began to be deployed in selected areas on the periphery of the Sea Eye with the full assistance of Qian Wantong, Master Yan Lie, and others. Although the progress was slow and full of unknown risks, the first step was finally taken.

Wei Gong sat in the center, coordinating all sides, dealing with intelligence, resources, and personnel dispatch from all over the continent that flew in like snowflakes. The good news was that under the powerful eradication of the Imperial Court and the Alliance, the public activities of the "Rebirth Sect" within the continent were almost extinct, and several important strongholds were uprooted, seizing many evil classics and items related to the Demonic Abyss and ancient contracts, which were being analyzed urgently. The bad news was that the energy monitoring data of the Return-to-Ruins Sea Eye showed that the activity of the "Distortion Core" was still continuously and slowly increasing, and although its movement trajectory was slightly twisted by the newly discovered "energy vein" hysteresis formations, the general direction was still firmly pointing to the dark area marked as the "blind zone" deeper in the Sea Eye.

Everyone understood that under the temporary calm were more surging undercurrents.

In the Geocentric Quiet Room, the seventh day.

Zhao Yuan's aura had undergone earth-shaking changes.

The originally pale and weak complexion was now ruddy and full, and starlight flowed faintly under the skin. His breathing was long and dense, perfectly synchronized with the rhythm of star power flow in the quiet room. The most significant was his eyes, which, although closed, had gray-blue starlight faintly flowing under the eyelids, and there was nothing extraordinary when they opened and closed.

His Nascent Soul, the cracks had healed for the most part, the surface was smooth as glaze, and the gray-blue "Chaos starlight" inside rotated slowly like liquid stars, emitting a unique aura that was both ancient and newborn, both sharp and inclusive. The volume of the Nascent Soul had also increased slightly, becoming more solid, and at its core, a tiny, yet seemingly containing infinite mysteries, "Chaos star core" was slowly condensing into shape.

And the demonic seed in the consciousness sea, under the suppression and purification of the "Star Source light cocoon" for seven consecutive days, the dark purple light had dimmed by more than a notch, and the volume seemed to have shrunk by a trace that was impossible to detect. Although still stubborn, the threat it emitted was far less than before.

"It can be done." Lin Xuan's voice rang out in the quiet room. He had been sitting cross-legged at the edge of the formation, adjusting his breathing to recover while monitoring Zhao Yuan's state and the operation of the entire formation. "The initial fusion of the 'Star Anchoring Formation' is complete. Your Nascent Soul is basically stable, and the Chaos starlight has taken shape. Continuing to cultivate in this formation will certainly lead to faster progress, but over-reliance on external objects will lead to a hollow foundation, and the consumption of 'Star Source Marrow' is too great. It is time to leave the pass and further consolidate with actual combat and comprehension."

Zhao Yuan opened his eyes slowly.

The starlight in his eyes flashed and disappeared, then returned to clarity, but it was deeper and sharper than in the past, as if it could penetrate vanity. He stood up and bowed solemnly to Lin Xuan and Wei Gong and others who were guarding outside the quiet room (transmitting through the formation): "Thank you, Senior, for your fulfillment! Thank you all for your full support!"

He could clearly feel that his power had undergone a qualitative leap. Not only had his cultivation recovered to the peak of the early Nascent Soul stage, only one step away from the middle stage, but more importantly, his control and understanding of "Chaos starlight" and his own Dao path had improved. Although the demonic seed was not removed and the hidden danger remained, he was no longer the injured person struggling in pain and despair in the past, but truly possessed the power to fight!

"How do you feel?" Lin Xuan asked.

"Better than ever." Zhao Yuan clenched his fists, feeling the surging power in his body that was as easy as moving his arms, "This junior is confident that if I meet the likes of 'Blood Charm' again, even if I am not an opponent, I will never be as embarrassed as before. And... I feel that the 'connection' with this thing is clearer, perhaps... I can try a further 'contact' and 'parsing'?"

Lin Xuan nodded slightly: "You can try, but be extremely cautious. The 'Star Anchoring Formation' is strong, but it is an external object after all. The demonic seed is rooted in your Dao foundation, and the connection with it cannot be truly severed. Your current 'Chaos starlight' already possesses a certain ability to parse and resist its pollution. You can try to actively contact its core information under the protection of the formation to find the real hub and weakness of its connection with the Sea Eye 'Distortion Core.' But remember, do not be rash. Once you feel something is wrong, withdraw immediately."

"This junior understands!"

Just then, the formation at the entrance of the quiet room fluctuated, and True Person Elder Beichen's slightly urgent voice rang out: "Venerable Lin, young master Zhao Yuan, Wei Gong requests your presence! There is a major discovery in the Return-to-Ruins Sea Eye monitoring! The movement of that 'Distortion Core'... has suddenly accelerated! And the energy activity elevation curve has appeared abnormally steep! The latest deduction of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion shows that the signs of 'fetal movement' inside... are becoming more and more obvious and... frequent!"

Lin Xuan and Zhao Yuan looked at each other, both seeing gravity in each other's eyes.

Fetal movement intensified... was it because it sensed that Zhao Yuan's "disguise signal" had failed? Or had its own gestation process reached a key node? Or... did the Demonic Abyss have new actions behind the scenes?

"Go!"

The two did not delay, quickly left the Geocentric Quiet Room, and rushed toward the Star-Gazing Platform.

They knew that the short period of calm was likely to end ahead of schedule.

The real storm was approaching at a speed beyond everyone's expectations.