Chapter 179: Giant Egg Ahead, Chains Reaching the Heavens

Passing through that invisible "boundary" that seemed to separate two worlds, the scene before them made even Lin Xuan's pupils shrink slightly.

The "absolute blind zone" lived up to its name.

This was not pure darkness, but a "scene" that had been thoroughly twisted and polluted. Space itself seemed to be wriggling and moaning slowly, presenting a sickly, dark red and deep purple intertwined hue. At the "end" of the field of vision floated the Star-Remnant Giant Egg, which he had caught a glimpse of in Zhao Yuan's probing, and only now, seeing it with his own eyes, did he realize its magnificence and terror.

Viewed at close range, its vastness was beyond imagination. A thousand-zhang diameter was only a conservative estimate; it lay quietly (or rather, was held up by countless shadows) at the core of this twisted space, like a heart nurturing ultimate evil. The eggshell was not smooth, but covered in dark red crystal protrusions and deep purple energy veins that constantly pulsated and twisted. Those twisted "filthy contract runes" wandered and flickered on the surface of the eggshell like living things. Every slow and heavy pulsation caused the entire "blind zone" space to vibrate, emitting a low, soul-splitting resonance.

And the most shocking thing was the filthy contract chains that hung down from the endless dark void above, tightly wrapping around and piercing into the top of the giant egg.

The number was not the "countless" Zhao Yuan had previously sensed, but a full eighty-one!

Each chain was as thick as a mountain peak, presenting a dark golden color, yet soaked in filthy purple-black and blood-rust. On the surface of the chains were densely engraved "filthy contract runes" that were more ancient, more complex, and more evil than those on the outer shell of the giant egg. These runes were currently flickering with ominous light, like breathing, continuously "transporting" a kind of unspeakable energy—mixed with stellar extinction resentment, contract backlash curses, and... a kind of more primitive and crazy will—into the interior of the giant egg. Or rather, they were both shackles of imprisonment and umbilical cords of nourishment.

Eighty-one chains reaching the heavens were like eighty-one giant pillars supporting this evil world, and like eighty-one poisonous needles piercing the heart of the world, constituting a scene that was magnificent to the extreme and evil to the extreme. At the connection between the chains and the giant egg, viscous "pus" flashing with dark gold and dark purple light continuously seeped out and dripped down, stirring up silent ripples in the "Sea of Shadows" below, emitting a more intense aura of filth and despair.

Inside the giant egg, the huge shadow silhouette wriggled more obviously. Zhao Yuan could even "feel" that within the shadow, there was more than one cold, greedy, and tyrannical "gaze," as if piercing through the eggshell and layers of space, falling on them, this group of intruders. The grand will belonging to the "Star-Remnant Evil God embryo," which had been disturbed by the probing earlier, although it did not erupt immediately, pressed down on everyone's hearts like a volcano about to erupt, bringing a fear and suffocation that nearly turned into substance.

They had arrived at the lair of the demon, standing beneath the placenta nurturing the world-destroying thing.

"Chains..." True Person Beichen looked up at the eighty-one things reaching the heavens, his voice dry. "More... terrifying... than expected. The contract backlash power and pollution depth they contain... I fear our arrays cannot even interfere with their surface layer."

Elder Lingshuang's face was pale, and the cold air around her seemed to be suppressed here, becoming stagnant. "I can feel that when my Mystic Ice True Intent approaches those chains, it will be rapidly polluted and dissolved."

Old Ancestor Hunyou's face was even uglier; his soul-path cultivation techniques received the greatest original suppression here, and the will and resentment emitted by the giant egg and chains were like deadly poison to him.

Everyone's gaze fell on Zhao Yuan involuntarily, on the gray-blue sharpness hidden in his body.

Zhao Yuan looked up, gazing at the eighty-one chains that seemed to connect heaven and earth, life and death, order and madness, his heart beating heavily. Facing this thing directly was completely different from the feeling of probing from a distance before. It was a feeling of absolute crushing from the level of life and the essence of power, a despair and insignificance as if an ant were looking up at the firmament, yet knowing that this firmament was about to collapse and fall. But in this despair, the "Silent Star Chaos Qi" in his body seemed to be stimulated by something, accelerating its flow spontaneously, emitting a low and excited hum. A will to sever everything and return all things to ruins erupted from the depths of his soul, forcibly holding up that terrifying pressure.

"Can you sever it?" Lin Xuan's voice sounded at his side, calm as ever, but carrying a trace of inquiry.

Zhao Yuan closed his eyes, took a deep breath (although there was no real air here), and fully operated the "Silent Star Chaos Qi" to sense it carefully. A moment later, he opened his eyes, gray-blue light flashing in the depths of his eyes: "Yes. But... it's very difficult. The essence of the chains is extremely high, the structure is abnormally stable, and it has a very deep connection with the giant egg, with the space here, and even with the 'ancient contract' in the dark. My power may be able to sever the 'form' composed of its matter and energy, but for the 'spirit' contained within—the root connection of those contract runes and backlash curses—I fear I am not up to the task. After severing, the chains might regenerate, or trigger unpredictable backlash."

He paused and looked at Lin Xuan: "Moreover, junior feels that to truly cause heavy damage to it, it might be necessary to... sever a considerable number of chains, at least the few key, supporting ones. One or two, I fear, is a drop in the bucket, and might instead startle the snake, attracting the full counterattack of that thing inside the giant egg."

Lin Xuan nodded, acknowledging Zhao Yuan's judgment: "Your judgment is not bad. These eighty-one chains, although they appear independent, actually constitute a complete and evil 'imprisonment-nourishment' system. Its energy flow has its core nodes and veins. We need to find the key chains that are relatively weak or have the greatest impact on the entire system and concentrate our strength to destroy them." He looked at True Person Beichen. "Daoist Beichen, is it possible to perform deduction and analysis by combining the array disk with Zhao Yuan's sensing of the chain energy characteristics?"

True Person Beichen heard this, immediately took out the "Faint Light Guiding Array" disk, and looked at Zhao Yuan. Zhao Yuan understood, separated a wisp of extremely minute "Silent Star Chaos Qi," and carefully extended it toward the array disk, and more importantly, toward the nearest chain, attempting a deeper level of "contact" and "analysis."

The moment Zhao Yuan's aura made contact with the filthy energy field on the outer periphery of the chain—

Hum!

The space of the entire "absolute blind zone" shook violently!

It did not come from the giant egg, but from another direction!

Everyone turned their heads in horror, only to see that in the depths of the viscous "Sea of Shadows" on the side of the giant egg, a huge, twisted black shadow, forcibly pieced together from countless wriggling tentacles, broken star remains, and solidified blood resentment, was rushing toward them at an astonishing speed, parting the "seawater"!

At the core of the black shadow was a dark red light spot that pulsated violently and emitted crazy and greedy intent—the aberration core!

It had indeed been cruising nearby, guarding the giant egg! The moment Zhao Yuan and the others entered the blind zone and probed slightly, they were immediately detected by it!

"So fast?!" Old Ancestor Hunyou exclaimed.

"It is more familiar with the environment here than we are, and... I fear it has been waiting for us all along!" Elder Lingshuang said coldly, her ice sword already drawn.

The aberration core carried monstrous filth and malice. Before it had even completely approached, its cold and crazy will had already impacted like a tide! At the same time, countless tentacles around its body exploded, shooting out thousands of dark red energy spikes wrapped in filthy star-shas and blood resentment, shrouding Lin Xuan's group like a rainstorm! What was even more terrifying was that its huge body stirred the "Sea of Shadows," inducing several terrifying energy turbulences and spatial folds, flanking from the sides, intending to swallow and crush them completely in this deep-sea forbidden land!

"Follow the plan!" Lin Xuan shouted in a low voice, his Chaos Tribulation Pupils shining brightly. The gray Chaos shield that had been shrouding the crowd expanded outward and solidified, turning into an indestructible Chaos barrier!

Bang bang bang bang—!

Countless dark red spikes collided with the Chaos barrier, exploding in dense bursts. The filthy energy eroded frantically but could not advance an inch. However, those induced energy turbulences and spatial folds were like invisible giant hands, fiercely squeezing and tearing at the Chaos barrier, causing violent ripples on its surface.

"I will pin it down! Beichen, Lingshuang, Hunyou, you cooperate with Zhao Yuan to find the chain nodes! Be fast!" Before Lin Xuan's words fell, his figure had disappeared from the spot, and the next instant, he appeared directly in front of the lunging "aberration core"!

He held his hand in the air, and a gray Chaos long sword completely condensed from Chaos airflow appeared in his hand, slashing at the huge twisted black shadow!

There was no earth-shattering momentum, only a gray sword mark that seemed to swallow everything, expanding silently. Wherever the sword mark passed, filthy star-shas were annihilated, blood-resentment power dissipated, and even spatial folds were forcibly smoothed out! The aberration core emitted a silent scream (the manic fluctuation of its will), and several of the thickest tentacles flashing with metallic luster met it head-on, colliding with that gray sword mark!

Boom—!

This time, it was a terrifying collision of solid reality! Chaos and filth collided and annihilated frantically, and the resulting shockwave blasted a huge void in the surrounding "Sea of Shadows"!

Lin Xuan, with his own strength, forcibly blocked the lunge of the "aberration core" and dragged it to the periphery of the battlefield!

"Go!" True Person Beichen roared, operating the array disk. A faint silver light path appeared with difficulty in the chaotic energy turbulence, pointing to a direction in the chain forest.

Elder Lingshuang waved her long sword, ice-blue sword qi crisscrossing, freezing and shattering some filthy energy spikes or small tentacles that leaked through the attack. Old Ancestor Hunyou operated the "Myriad Soul Banner" with all his strength, releasing a large-scale but weakened soul-howling maze, interfering with the will-locking that the "aberration core" might issue against Zhao Yuan.

Zhao Yuan knew that time was precious, so he did not hesitate, turning into a gray-blue stream of light, following the direction pointed by True Person Beichen, and shot toward the root area of the eighty-one chains reaching the heavens!

The closer he got to the chains, the stronger the heavy pressure originating from the ancient contract backlash and the erosion of filthy curses became. The air (energy flow) was as viscous as glue, and every step forward required huge power. Around him, there were constantly guardians in the form of star-remnant ghost shadows or flesh-and-blood monsters eroded and alienated by the power of the chains and the giant egg lunging out, but they were all blocked and cleaned up by Elder Lingshuang and Old Ancestor Hunyou who followed closely behind.

Finally, Zhao Yuan rushed beneath the nearest chain.

Looking up at close range, this chain appeared even more towering and terrifying. The dark gold and filthy light flowing on its surface made Zhao Yuan's face change. He could clearly "see" the complex energy flow network inside the chain that made one dizzy, and at the core of the network, those "filthy contract runes" that pulsated like a heart. These runes were the source of the chain's power, and also the place most tightly connected with the giant egg, with the space here, and with the twisted contract in the dark!

He attempted to condense a wisp of "Silent Star Chaos Qi" into an extremely thin "probe" and lightly pierced it toward the surface of the chain.

Sizzle—!

The moment of contact was like a red-hot branding iron inserted into ice water! The filthy energy on the surface of the chain was rapidly annihilated into a tiny hole, but immediately following, the core runes inside the chain shone brightly, and a more powerful, more ancient energy full of backlash malice surged out, not only instantly repairing the hole but also eroding backward along the "probe"! At the same time, a feeling of "heart palpitation" and "warning" originating from the depths of the soul, as if violating some ancient oath, gripped Zhao Yuan's heart!

"Hmph!" Zhao Yuan groaned, decisively severing that wisp of "probe." But just this one contact, he had already obtained precious information.

"The chains have extremely strong self-repair and counterattack capabilities! The core lies in those 'filthy contract runes'! Simply severing the chain body, if the runes are not destroyed and the energy source is not dried up, it will soon regenerate! Must... attack the runes themselves, or at least severely interfere with their operation!" Zhao Yuan quickly shared the discovery with True Person Beichen through spiritual sense.

True Person Beichen, while resisting the attacks from the side, operated the array disk frantically to perform deduction: "Analyzing the energy veins of the chain group... Found it! Southeast direction, counting from bottom to top, the 7th, 19th, 34th, 51st, and 73rd chains! The energy flow intensity of these five chains is the highest, and their connection with other chains is the tightest; they are likely the 'energy hubs' or 'main load-bearing cables' of the entire system! Destroying them might have the greatest effect! But... it will also surely encounter the most violent backlash and the attention of that thing!"

Zhao Yuan's gaze instantly locked onto the five chains in True Person Beichen's words. They were distributed in different directions, some close to the giant egg, and some relatively remote.

There was no time to hesitate. In the distance, the battle between Lin Xuan and the "aberration core" became more and more intense, and terrifying fluctuations kept coming, causing the Chaos barrier to tremble. Elder Lingshuang and Old Ancestor Hunyou also felt increasing pressure, and more and more monsters emerged around them.

"Start with the relatively remote 73rd chain!" Zhao Yuan made a decisive decision, his figure flashing again, lunging toward the dark golden giant chain located at the edge of the chain array!

This time, he did not probe.

Approaching the chain, he held his right hand in the air, and the "Silent Shadow" sword emitted a clear and long sword hum, drawing itself from the scabbard and falling into his palm. On the sword body, the originally primitive patterns were now soaked and lit up by the gray-blue "Silent Star Chaos Qi," and the entire sword seemed to come alive, emitting a terrifying sword intent that could sever destiny and return all things to ruins!

Zhao Yuan held the sword with both hands, injecting nearly thirty percent of the "Silent Star Chaos Qi" in his body into the sword body without reservation!

"Sever—!"

A low roar drowned out the moaning of space and the roar in the distance!

The gray-blue sword light was not grand, but condensed to the limit, like a gray-blue thin line cutting through Chaos, silently slashing across a "node" position on the surface of the chain where the energy flow was relatively stagnant and the rune light appeared slightly dim!

Time seemed to freeze for an instant.

Immediately following—

Crack!!!

A crisp sound that resounded through the entire "absolute blind zone" rang out!

That dark golden chain as thick as a mountain was slashed by the gray-blue thin line, and it suddenly caved inward. Immediately, a cut as smooth as a mirror appeared suddenly! At the cut, there were no sparks, no debris, only a thorough "extinction" and "nothingness"! The filthy energy and rune light frantically flowing inside the chain stopped abruptly at the cut, as if the source had been severed!

The upper half of the severed chain, losing energy support, saw its dark golden surface rapidly dim, and filthy purple-black spread, beginning to disintegrate and dissipate silently. And the lower half of the chain, although still connected to the "Sea of Shadows" below and the void source above, at the fracture, the gray-blue "extinction" aura was like a bone-attached maggot, stubbornly preventing the chain's self-repair, and eroding slowly toward both ends along the energy veins inside the chain!

Success! Severed a hub chain with one strike!

However, before Zhao Yuan and True Person Beichen and the others could show joy—

"Roar—!!!"

A terrifying roar that could not be heard with ears but exploded directly in the depths of the souls of all living beings, mixed with the collapse of stars, the moaning of all things, and the purest evil anger, erupted from the depths of the Star-Remnant Giant Egg!

The entire giant egg shook violently! All the runes on the surface of the eggshell flickered frantically! The eighty-one chains (including the remaining part of the 73rd chain) emitted ear-piercing trembling hums simultaneously, and the dark gold and filthy light flowing on the surface of the chains were like boiling magma!

The most heart-palpitating thing was that a cold and grand will, ten times, a hundred times stronger than the "aberration core," filled with endless hunger, tyranny, and desire for destruction, swept out like a world-destroying storm awakened, with the giant egg as the center!

The severing of the chain was like pulling out a sharp tooth of a beast, finally thoroughly awakening the—

Star-Remnant Evil God embryo! ===== CHAPTER 180 =====