Chapter 176: Star-Tempered Abyss, Silent Star Formed

Deep within the Star-Tempering Platform, at the bottom of the Nine Abysses.

This was no ordinary place for star refining; it was an "artificial star-core dead zone" carved out by the predecessors of Starfall Isle at the very core of the island using heaven-defying means. The surrounding rock walls were not common stone, but "Star-Marrow Crystal Walls" formed by the compression, crystallization, and saturation of starlight energy over hundreds of millions of years. They were incomparably hard and possessed the inherent property of isolating and amplifying stellar power.

At this moment, the bottom of this abyss, usually as silent as a tomb, was witnessing a scene bordering on madness.

In the center of the circular space, which was about a hundred zhang in diameter, Zhao Yuan sat shirtless, cross-legged atop a "Star-Source Marrow" that hovered in mid-air, glowing with a deep blue hue and constantly emitting a terrifying suction force—this was a "Star-Source Platform" that Lin Xuan had temporarily activated and expanded from that head-sized piece of Star-Source Marrow using his immense divine abilities. On the platform's surface, countless natural star patterns seemed to come alive, frantically inhaling and exhaling stellar power from all directions.

Around the platform, nine fragments of "Star Essence" of varying sizes rotated slowly along a mysterious trajectory, each projecting a beam of deep blue light as solid as reality. These converged above Zhao Yuan's head, forming a waterfall of light that continuously poured down purified starlight.

Further out, the wisp of "Soul-Tempering Fire" contributed by Master Yan Lie—a cluster of peculiar dark gold flames in which countless tiny star-specks seemed to be born and die—was being controlled by Lin Xuan using Chaos Tribulation Power, transforming into nine dark golden fire dragons that circled within the three-zhang space around Zhao Yuan. The flames did not burn the flesh but acted directly upon the soul and Nascent Soul, bringing a sensation of soul-burning and tempering a hundred times more intense than physical pain.

Above the abyss, the Nine Heavens stellar power originally channeled by the Star-Tempering Platform was guided downward at full power by the array, transforming into a torrent of pure silver starlight over ten zhang in diameter. Like a heavenly river flowing in reverse, it crashed into the abyss! The silver stellar torrent, the deep blue halo of the "Star-Source Platform," the purification waterfall of the "Star Essence," and the dark golden "Soul-Tempering Fire" dragons intertwined and collided, forming a chaotic, violent, and extremely dangerous "energy purgatory" that Lin Xuan forcibly constrained within a specific range using his Chaos Tribulation Power!

Zhao Yuan was at the very core of this purgatory.

"Urgh—ah—!"

An irrepressible roar of pain squeezed through his teeth. On the surface of his body, his skin cracked repeatedly, only to heal rapidly under the nourishment of the Star-Source power, before cracking again. Pale golden blood mixed with sweat and minute dark purple impurities forced out of his body evaporated into mist before it could even drip down. His muscles spasmed uncontrollably, and his bones emitted an unbearable "clucking" sound.

Yet, this physical agony was insignificant compared to the torment suffered by his soul and Nascent Soul.

Within his sea of consciousness, the phantom of the "Soul-Tempering Fire" dragon lunged in, the dark golden flames licking every inch of his spiritual sense! It was not a scorching heat, but as if his soul were being repeatedly pierced and ground against billions of red-hot steel needles! At the same time, the unfiltered, violent Nine Heavens stellar power being channeled in acted like countless cold, barbed iron brushes, fiercely scouring his Nascent Soul!

That Nascent Soul, which had just mostly healed, was now covered in fine cracks once again. The gray-blue "Chaos Star-Light" flowed and struggled frantically within his body, attempting to resist this terrifying tempering from both inside and out. Every burning of the "Soul-Tempering Fire" made the "Chaos Star-Light" a fraction more condensed; every scouring of the violent stellar power caused the true meaning of the stars contained within to be forcibly "branded" deeper; meanwhile, the vast origin provided by the Star-Source Marrow and the purification power of the "Star Essence," under Lin Xuan's precise control, maintained the bottom line of keeping his Nascent Soul from dissipating and his spiritual sense from being extinguished.

"Hold fast to your Dao heart! Guide the fire to temper the stars, transform power into light! Let extinction be the guide, and Chaos be the furnace!" Lin Xuan's voice was like a needle calming the sea, piercing through the roar of violent energy and Zhao Yuan's screams of pain, resonating directly in the deepest part of his consciousness. "Remember that 'chain' you saw! Remember the veins of those filthy contract runes! Your 'Chaos Star-Light' must be capable of severing such an existence! The current pain is merely the necessary path to forging that chain-severing blade!"

Zhao Yuan's nearly collapsing consciousness, stimulated by this shout and the terrifying imagery of the "chains" and the "Evil God embryo," suddenly reconverged!

"Sever the chain... sever... the chain..."

He repeated the mantra in his heart, transforming the fear and despair from the depths of his soul into a belief and will bordering on paranoia! He began to actively guide the violent stellar power and the "Soul-Tempering Fire," no longer passively enduring, but actively incorporating them into the trajectory of the "Chaos Star-Light." Using the intent of extinction as a hammer, the Dao of Chaos as an anvil, and the power of the stars as material, he frantically hammered, tempered, and fused this newborn power of his own!

Every hammer blow was accompanied by the excruciating pain of his Nascent Soul nearly disintegrating.

Every tempering was like casting his soul into a furnace to be recast.

But with every successful fusion, the gray-blue "Chaos Star-Light" would become a fraction more solid and a fraction stronger, and the intent contained within—to sever falsehoods, assimilate stars, and command Chaos—would become a fraction clearer!

Time lost all meaning in this extreme pain and focus.

Perhaps it was an instant, or perhaps a thousand years.

Outside the abyss, the atmosphere on Starfall Isle was stretched to the limit.

On the Star-Observing Platform, various monitoring data refreshed every hour, and each time, it made everyone's hearts sink further.

"The movement speed of the aberration core has reached five times its initial value! It is estimated that less than thirty-six hours remain until it reaches the edge of the 'absolute blind zone'!"

"All delay arrays on the perimeter have been destroyed! The final composite grand array has been activated, but it can only delay it by at most twelve hours!"

"Seventeen of the chains connecting to the 'Star-Remnant Giant Egg' show clear signs of energy activity! The brightness of the filthy contract runes on their surface has increased by thirty percent!"

"The frequency of the deep-sea 'fetal movement'... has reached fifteen times per hour! The intensity of the energy pulses is approaching the upper limit of the monitoring arrays!"

Bad news followed one after another. Wei Gong's face was ashen, yet he remained steadily in command, issuing orders methodically, mobilizing every ounce of the alliance's strength to set up the final line of defense at the edge of the "absolute blind zone," while urging the promised reinforcements and supplies from all sides to arrive faster.

Everyone understood that the final decisive battle would not be on Starfall Isle, but deep within that terrifying Return-to-Ruins Sea Eye, before the "Star-Remnant Giant Egg." And the key to victory, to a large extent, rested on the young cultivator currently enduring inhuman tempering in the abyss of the Star-Tempering Platform.

"Is there... still no news from Daoist Lin's side?" Elder Lingshuang couldn't help but ask, her brow heavy with worry. A full eighteen hours had already passed.

True Person Beichen shook his head, his gaze cast toward the southeast: "The energy fluctuations in the abyss remain violent and chaotic; my spiritual sense cannot probe deep inside. But since Daoist Lin has not issued a warning, he should be fine. It is just that young friend Zhao Yuan..." He thought of the pale yet determined face Zhao Yuan had when he left, and sighed in his heart.

"That kid is a tough nut to crack," Master Yan Lie muttered, his fiery red beard looking somewhat dim. "The taste of Soul-Tempering Fire—I only touched a wisp of it back in the day and nearly had my soul scattered. For him to hold on until now... damn it, I'm impressed!"

Qian Wantong did not speak; the jade abacus he usually played with had stopped moving at some point, and he held it tightly in his palm.

Just as everyone was waiting in anxiety—

Hum!!!

A strange vibration, as if it could pierce through the soul, suddenly came from the direction of the Star-Tempering Platform in the southeast!

It was not an explosion, nor a riot of out-of-control energy, but a kind of... low, metallic, trembling "hum," as if something extremely sharp was being born!

Immediately following, a gray-blue beam of light, not dazzling but seemingly capable of slicing through one's vision, shot up from the direction of the Star-Tempering Platform, piercing straight into the clouds! Wherever the light beam passed, the clouds in the sky were silently cut open, leaving a smooth rift. Even the ceaseless torrent of stellar power seemed to be awed by the intent emitted by this light beam, appearing to freeze for an instant!

On the Star-Observing Platform, everyone stood up abruptly, staring fixedly at that gray-blue beam of light!

"This is..." A terrifying brilliance erupted in Wei Gong's murky eyes. "Success?!"

The light beam lasted for about three breaths before slowly receding and dissipating.

A moment later, a cyan stream of light shot over from the direction of the Star-Tempering Platform and landed on the Star-Observing Platform; it was Lin Xuan. His face was slightly pale, and his aura was somewhat fluctuating; clearly, maintaining the tempering in the abyss had also been a huge drain on him. But his eyes were as bright as stars, carrying a trace of relief, and even a trace of... amazement?

"Daoist Lin! How is young friend Zhao Yuan?" Wei Gong stepped forward immediately.

Lin Xuan took a deep breath and said slowly: "The tempering is complete." He paused, as if searching for the right words to describe it. "His 'Chaos Star-Light'... has undergone an initial qualitative change. I call it—'Silent Star Chaos Qi'."

"'Silent Star Chaos Qi'?" Everyone chewed on this new name.

"Extinction as the blade, stars as the bone, Chaos as the source," Lin Xuan explained. "Its essence has surpassed ordinary true essence or stellar power; it is closer to a special 'power of Dao rhyme' born specifically for 'severing' and 'returning to ruins.' It has extremely strong restraint and destructive power against things that are of the same origin (stellar) but twisted and polluted. Especially... against existences composed of those 'filthy contract runes'."

He looked at the crowd, his tone carrying a trace of complexity: "However, the process was too cruel. Although the cracks on his Nascent Soul were forcibly bridged and reinforced by the newborn 'Silent Star Chaos Qi' at the final moment, appearing intact, the internal structure has actually undergone a fundamental change, making it vastly different from ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators. His soul also went through thousands of hammerings by the 'Soul-Tempering Fire,' making it far tougher than his peers, but it has also left behind irreversible 'burn marks.' His path forward... I fear will be even more difficult and lonely."

Hearing this, everyone fell silent. This was power exchanged at the cost of overdrawing potential and damaging the Dao foundation. But at this moment of life and death, being able to exchange it for the hope of severing the chains was already a great fortune.

"Where is he?" Elder Lingshuang asked.

"He is currently stabilizing his realm in the abyss, adapting to his new power," Lin Xuan said. "It will take about another two hours. After that... we can prepare to set off."

Wei Gong nodded heavily: "Good! Two hours from now, I will personally see you off! All the strength of Starfall Isle will be used to pin down the 'aberration core' for you, creating an opportunity! You must... sever those Evil God shackles!"

Everyone solemnly accepted the order, flames of determination burning in their eyes.

And at this moment, at the bottom of the abyss of the Star-Tempering Platform.

The violent energy turbulence had mostly subsided, and the "Star-Source Marrow" had returned to its original size, its light appearing somewhat dim, clearly having suffered no small loss. The "Star Essence" fragments and the "Soul-Tempering Fire" had also been put away by Lin Xuan.

Zhao Yuan was still sitting cross-legged in the center of the abyss, his body shrouded in a layer of extremely faint gray-blue airflow that gave one the feeling that nothing could not be severed and that all laws returned to ruins—the Silent Star Chaos Qi. His eyes were tightly shut, his face calm, no longer showing a trace of pain, only a depth and restraint after having experienced the waves of tribulation.

Within his dantian, the Nascent Soul had completely changed its appearance. Its entire body presented a crystalline gray-blue color, its surface as smooth as a mirror, and inside, it seemed as if countless miniature stars were cycling repeatedly between extinction and rebirth. At the center of the Nascent Soul's brow, a gray-blue vertical line, resembling both a sword mark and a star trajectory, was emitting a faint yet incomparably pure light. This was the core source of the "Silent Star Chaos Qi."

He slowly raised his right hand, his fingers together like a sword.

A wisp of gray-blue "Silent Star Chaos Qi" quietly overflowed from his fingertips, silent and soundless.

He did not channel any magic power, just lightly slashed forward.

Sizzle—!

Three zhang away in front, on the "Star-Marrow Crystal Wall" that was harder than refined gold, a cut a foot deep and as smooth as a mirror appeared quietly! At the edges of the cut, the residual gray-blue aura was slowly eroding and assimilating the stellar power structure within the crystal wall, causing it to rapidly lose its spirituality and turn into ordinary stone.

Zhao Yuan opened his eyes, looking at that cut, his eyes without sorrow or joy.

He could feel the power and... danger of this newborn power within his body. It was extremely condensed, extremely sharp, and had an innate suppression and destructive power against star-related forces. But at the same time, it also carried a loneliness of extinguishing all things and an indifference of returning everything to ruins. Commanding it required a will firmer than ever before and a clearer Dao heart.

"Chains..." he whispered to himself, the terrifying dark golden chains covered in filthy runes appearing in his mind once again, along with the giant egg pulsating at the end of the chains, nurturing the world-destroying Evil God.

He clenched his fist, the gray-blue airflow lingering between his fingers.

Two hours later, he would take this power and head to that deep-sea forbidden land to perform the task of severing the shackles and defying the heavens to change his fate.

If he succeeded, perhaps he could win a glimmer of breathing room for this world.

If he failed, he would sink together with this Starfall Isle, with this Endless Hanhai, and with the countless living beings in this world.

He had no way back, and he did not need one. ===== CHAPTER 177 =====