Chapter 176: Star-Tempered Abyss, The Silent Star is Formed

Deep within the Star-Quenching Terrace, 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 at the very heart of the island by the supreme means of the predecessors of Star-Fragment Isle. The surrounding rock walls were not common stone, but "Star-Marrow Crystal Walls" formed by being soaked, compressed, and crystallized by the power of the stars over billions of years. They were incomparably hard and possessed the inherent property of isolating and amplifying stellar power.

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

In the center of a circular space about a hundred feet in diameter, Zhao Yuan sat shirtless, cross-legged atop a "Star-Source Marrow" that floated in mid-air and constantly emitted a terrifying suction—this was the "Star-Source Platform" that Lin Xuan had temporarily activated and expanded from that head-sized piece of Star-Source Marrow using his immense divine power. On the surface of the platform, countless natural star patterns seemed to come alive, frantically devouring and exhaling the power of the stars from all directions.

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

Further out, the wisp of "Soul-Quenching Fire" contributed by Master Yan Lie—a cluster of peculiar dark gold flames in which countless tiny starlights seemed to be born and perish—was being controlled by Lin Xuan using Chaos Tribulation Power, transforming into nine dark-gold fire dragons that circled and roamed within the ten-foot space around Zhao Yuan. The flames did not burn the physical body, 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-heaven stellar power originally channeled by the Star-Quenching Terrace was guided down at full capacity by the array, turning into a torrent of pure silver starlight over ten feet in diameter that roared into the abyss like an inverted heavenly river! The silver stellar torrent, the deep-blue halo of the "Star-Source Platform," the purification waterfall of the "Star Essence," and the dark-gold "Soul-Quenching Fire" dragons intertwined and collided, forming an extremely dangerous "energy purgatory" that was chaotic and violent, yet forcibly constrained within a certain range by Lin Xuan’s Chaos Tribulation Power!

Zhao Yuan was at the very core of this purgatory.

"Ugh, ah—!"

An irrepressible, painful roar 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 the fine, dark-purple filth forced out of his body evaporated into mist before it could even drip down. His muscles spasmed uncontrollably, and his bones emitted an unbearable "clattering" sound.

But this physical pain was insignificant compared to the torment suffered by his soul and Nascent Soul.

Within his sea of consciousness, the phantom of the "Soul-Quenching Fire" dragon lunged in, the dark-gold 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 on billions of red-hot steel needles! At the same time, the unfiltered, violent nine-heaven stellar power being guided in was like countless cold, barbed iron brushes, fiercely scouring his Nascent Soul!

The Nascent Soul, which had just mostly healed, was now covered in fine cracks once again, and 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-Quenching Fire" made the "Chaos Star-Light" a fraction more condensed; every scouring of the violent stellar power forced the true meaning of the stars contained within to be "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 shattering and his spiritual sense from being extinguished.

"Hold fast to your Dao heart! Draw the fire to temper the stars, transform power into light! Use annihilation as the guide, and chaos as the furnace!" Lin Xuan’s voice was like a needle to calm the sea, piercing through the roaring energy and Zhao Yuan’s painful roars, resounding 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 able to sever such an existence! The current pain is merely the necessary path to forging the edge that will sever those chains!"

Zhao Yuan’s nearly collapsing consciousness, stimulated by this shout and the terrifying images of the "chains" and the "Evil God embryo," suddenly re-condensed!

"Sever the chains... sever... the chains..."

He repeated this silently in his heart, transforming the fear and despair originating from the depths of his soul into a belief and will bordering on obsession! He began to actively guide the violent stellar power and the "Soul-Quenching Fire," no longer passively enduring, but actively incorporating them into the trajectory of the "Chaos Star-Light," using the intent of annihilation as a hammer, the Dao of Chaos as an anvil, and the power of the stars as material, frantically hammering, tempering, and fusing this new power of his own!

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

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

But with every successful fusion, the gray-blue "Chaos Star-Light" would become a fraction more solid and a fraction stronger, and the artistic conception of severing illusions, assimilating stars, and mastering chaos contained within would become a fraction clearer!

Time lost its meaning in this extreme pain and focus.

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

Outside the abyss, the atmosphere on Star-Fragment Isle was stretched to the limit.

On the Star-Watching Terrace, the various monitoring data refreshed every two hours, each time making everyone’s hearts sink further.

"The movement speed of the aberration core has reached five times its initial value! It is estimated that there are less than thirty-six hours left until it reaches the edge of the 'Absolute Blind Zone'!"

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

"Seventeen of the chains connecting to the 'Star-Remnant Giant Egg' have shown 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 limit of the monitoring arrays!"

Bad news came one after another. Wei Gongshen’s face was ashen, yet he remained steadily in command, issuing orders in an orderly fashion, mobilizing every ounce of the alliance’s strength to set up a 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 Star-Fragment 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-Quenching Terrace.

"Is there... still no news from Daoist Lin?" Elder Ling Shuang could not 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 young friend Zhao Yuan..." He recalled 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 said muffledly, his fiery red beard looking somewhat dim. "As for the taste of the Soul-Quenching Fire, I only touched a wisp of it back then and nearly had my soul scattered. He has managed to hold on until now... damn it, I’m impressed!"

Qian Mou did not speak, but the jade abacus he usually toyed with had stopped moving, and he was gripping it tightly in his palm.

Just as everyone was waiting in anxiety—

Hum!!!

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

It was not an explosion, nor a riot of out-of-control energy, but a... low, metallic, vibrating "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 into the sky from the direction of the Star-Quenching Terrace, piercing the clouds! Wherever the beam passed, the clouds in the sky were silently cut into a smooth gap, and even the ceaseless torrent of stellar power seemed to be cowed by the artistic conception emitted by this beam, appearing to freeze for an instant!

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

"This is..." A terrifying brilliance erupted in Wei Gongshen’s murky eyes, "Success?!"

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

A moment later, a cyan streak of light shot over from the direction of the Star-Quenching Terrace and landed on the Star-Watching Terrace; it was Lin Xuan. His face was slightly pale, and his aura was somewhat fluctuating; clearly, maintaining the tempering in the abyss had consumed a great deal of his energy. But his eyes were as bright as stars, carrying a hint of relief, and even a hint of... amazement?

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

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.

"Annihilation as the edge, stars as the bone, chaos as the source," Lin Xuan explained. "Its essence has surpassed ordinary true essence or stellar power, and is closer to a special 'Dao Rhyme Power' born specifically for 'severing' and 'returning to ruins.' It has an extremely strong restraining and destructive effect on things that are of the same origin (stars) but twisted and polluted. Especially... for existences composed of those 'filthy contract runes'."

He looked at everyone, his tone carrying a hint of complexity: "It is just that the process was too cruel. Although the cracks on his Nascent Soul were forcibly bridged and reinforced by the newly born '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 has also been tempered through a thousand trials by the 'Soul-Quenching Fire,' and while its toughness far exceeds that of his peers, it has also left behind irreversible 'burn scars.' His future path... will likely be even more difficult and lonely."

Hearing this, everyone fell silent. This was power gained at the cost of overdrawing potential and damaging the foundation of the Dao. But at this moment of survival, being able to gain the hope of severing the chains was already a great fortune.

"Where is he?" Elder Ling Shuang asked.

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

Wei Gongshen nodded heavily: "Good! Two hours from now, I will personally see you off! All the forces of Star-Fragment Isle will hold back the 'aberration core' for you and create 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 Star-Quenching Terrace abyss.

The violent energy turbulence had largely subsided, and the "Star-Source Marrow" had returned to its original size, its light somewhat dim, clearly having suffered significant consumption. The "Star Essence" fragments and the "Soul-Quenching Fire" had also been put away by Lin Xuan.

Zhao Yuan still sat cross-legged in the center of the abyss, his body shrouded in a layer of extremely faint, yet gray-blue airflow that gave one the feeling that nothing could not be severed and all laws returned to ruins—the Silent Star Chaos Qi. His eyes were closed, his expression calm, with not a trace of pain left, only a depth and restraint born from having weathered the storm.

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 between annihilation and rebirth. At the center of the Nascent Soul’s brow, a gray-blue vertical mark, resembling both a sword scar and a star orbit, 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 forming a sword shape.

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

He did not channel any magic power, but simply made a light swipe forward.

Szzzt—!

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

Zhao Yuan opened his eyes and looked at the cut, his eyes without sorrow or joy.

He could feel the power of this new strength within his body and its... danger. 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 that annihilated all things and a coldness that returned everything to ruins. Mastering it required a firmer will and a clearer Dao heart than ever before.

"Chains..." he whispered to himself, the terrifying dark-gold chains covered in filthy runes appearing in his mind once again, along with the giant egg at the end of the chains that pulsed and gestated 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 to that deep-sea dead zone to do the deed 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, then he would sink together with this Star-Fragment Isle, with this vast sea, and with the countless living beings of this world.

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