Chapter 181

Lin Xuan fought two strong enemies, sword light crisscrossing, Chaos Tribulation Power turning into an invisible cage, locking the insane counterattack of the "aberration core" and the filthy tentacles and will impacts constantly probed by the Star-Remnant Giant Egg within a certain range. His figure was elusive, resembling both void and reality, every sword accurately annihilating the most dangerous attacks, yet his aura was inevitably sliding downward. Although the Chaos True Form did not manifest again, the pervasive "return to ruins" sword intent had already become the only light source and pillar in this polluted and twisted world, forcibly supporting the crumbling battle situation.

And Zhao Yuan and the others were fighting for time with their lives.

"The 19th chain... break!" Zhao Yuan roared, the gray-blue sword light again sweeping across a dark golden hub chain. This time, he chose a more tricky angle for his sword, chose a more critical node, and the "extinction" true meaning contained in the sword light was more condensed. The chain snapped in response, and the gray-blue erosion at the fracture accelerated significantly!

But the price was also huge. Zhao Yuan spat out a mouthful of blood, and in the blood were already mixed fine, gray-blue light spots—a sign of damage to his Nascent Soul origin. Continuously operating the "Silent Star Chaos Qi" with all his strength to sever two core chains, his consumption was far beyond estimation, and his newly born Nascent Soul was already covered in fine cracks, like glazed glass about to shatter.

"Young friend Zhao!" True Person Beichen's eyes were about to split. The array disk in his hand was completely shattered, and he himself was bleeding from seven orifices due to continuous deduction and resisting backlash, yet he still desperately operated the remaining stellar power, pointing out the next target for Zhao Yuan—the position of the 34th chain. At the same time, he waved his hand to scatter several array flags with dim starlight, attempting to deploy a layer of fragile defense around them.

"Don't even think about interfering!" Elder Lingshuang was as cold as frost, blood hanging from the corner of her mouth, and cracks had already appeared on the ice sword in her hand. She was like the hardest shield, blocking in front of Zhao Yuan and True Person Beichen, sword qi like a waterfall, freezing and slashing the star-remnant ghost shadows and flesh-and-blood monsters condensed from filthy energy that surged from all directions. On her left shoulder, a wound grazed by the Evil God will was constantly seeping ice-blue blood, cold air and filth fiercely confronting each other within it.

Old Ancestor Hunyou was in the worst condition; his face was bloodless, his figure as illusory as if it would dissipate at any time. The "Myriad Soul Banner" was already broken, the main souls were almost lost, but he still laughed hoarsely, continuously detonating the residual yin souls in the banner, turning them into gray-black soul explosions, exploding in the monster group. Although the power was greatly reduced, it was enough to slightly delay their offensive. "I... can hold on... kid... sever it fast!"

The 34th chain was located deeper in the chain forest, closer to the giant egg, and the filthy runes flowing on its surface were denser, and the backlash curse power emitted was more intense. Zhao Yuan forcibly lifted his last strength, his figure struggling to shuttle through countless interceptions, the Silent Shadow sword emitting a sad hum, and the gray-blue light on the sword body was no longer as pure and bright as it was at the beginning.

"Sever!"

Another sword!

This time, in the loud noise of the chain breaking, there was the sound of Zhao Yuan's own bones being unable to bear the burden and shattering! The skin of his entire right arm exploded inch by inch, and pale golden blood mixed with gray-blue airflow surged out! At the same time the 34th hub chain was severed, a violent filthy backlash energy far exceeding before rushed into his body along the connection of the sword body and the aura!

"Puff—!" Zhao Yuan flew backward like a kite with a broken string, crashing through several floating small star remains before being barely caught by Elder Lingshuang. His face was like gold paper, his breath as thin as a thread, the "Silent Star Chaos Qi" in his body nearly out of control and running wild, the cracks on the Nascent Soul further expanding, looking like it was about to shatter completely. The Silent Shadow sword flew out of his hand, slanting into the rock wall in the distance, the light on the sword body dim.

"Zhao Yuan!" Elder Lingshuang hurriedly passed a wisp of pure cold ice true essence into his body, attempting to stabilize his runaway power and injuries, but with little effect.

"There are still... two more..." Zhao Yuan struggled to stand up, only to find that even moving his fingers was difficult, and his vision began to blur. He could feel that with three hub chains severed, the energy flow of the entire chain array had already appeared with obvious chaos and stagnation. The pulsation of the Star-Remnant Giant Egg became more violent and irregular, and the will it emitted, although still angry, had a trace of... imperceptible weakness and urgency? The self-repair speed of the chains also seemed to slow down a fraction.

But it was not enough! It was still far from thoroughly destroying this "imprisonment-nourishment" system! Moreover, the aura of that thing inside the giant egg, after the initial fury and setback, seemed to be undergoing some kind of more dangerous change...

Just then, a sudden change occurred in the battlefield of Lin Xuan and the two great strong enemies in the distance!

Perhaps sensing that the hub chains were severed one after another, and its own energy cycle was blocked, that Star-Remnant Giant Egg finally went completely berserk!

"Howl—!!!"

It was no longer a roar, but a shrill scream that seemed to come from the beginning of the universe's flood and the collapse of stars! The space of the entire "absolute blind zone" shook violently like a mirror surface, appearing with countless rifts! The rift on the surface of the giant egg expanded suddenly to an unimaginable extent, nearly tearing the entire eggshell into two! Endless, viscous, solid-like dark red filthy stellar power mixed with solidified blood resentment and broken star laws, like a burst galaxy, surged out from the rift!

And in the center of the filthy galaxy, a huge shadow silhouette that occupied nearly half of the field of vision was slowly "standing up"! That was a body contour pieced together forcibly from countless broken star spines, rotten tentacles, twisted giant mouths, and dark red crystals flowing with evil runes. It could barely be seen as an upper body resembling a "human form," while the lower body was connected to the interior of the giant egg and the entire "Sea of Shadows." Its "head" was hundreds of large and small, flickering broken star eyes, and in every eye, different scenes of destruction and madness were reflected!

The Star-Remnant Evil God embryo was sparing no effort to accelerate its "birth," attempting to break free from the shackles of the remaining chains ahead of time!

At the same time, the "aberration core" also emitted its final, desperate scream. Its huge twisted body suddenly collapsed and condensed inward, turning into a pure, dark red filthy light shuttle condensed to the limit, burning its own origin, breaking free from the restraint of part of Lin Xuan's sword intent, and with a speed beyond imagination, it did not attack Lin Xuan, but... shot directly toward the heart position of that Evil God body that was struggling to "be born"!

It was returning! It was thoroughly merging into the main body, supplementing the final part, even if it was in this near-self-destructive way, it wanted to let the Evil God obtain complete power ahead of time!

This change happened in a hurry, the light shuttle speed was too fast, the target was clear, and Lin Xuan's sword intent actually failed to intercept it completely!

"Not good!" Lin Xuan's eyes condensed, revealing gravity for the first time in his Chaos Tribulation Pupils. His figure flashed, attempting to pursue the light shuttle, but the Evil God body that was taking shape in the giant egg suddenly waved hundreds of giant arms condensed from filthy stellar power, smashing toward Lin Xuan like a sky-covering net, temporarily blocking him!

Watching that burning dark red light shuttle about to submerge into the chest of the Evil God body—

Critical moment!

A faint, yet carrying an incomparably determined will, gray-blue light, like a candle in the wind, struggled to light up, just happening to block between the light shuttle and the Evil God body!

It was Zhao Yuan!

He did not know when he had broken free from Elder Lingshuang's support, and at the cost of burning his life and soul, he forcibly squeezed out the last wisp of "Silent Star Chaos Qi" in his body, condensed it at his fingertip, and pointed a finger toward that dark red light shuttle!

This finger had no grand momentum, and was even pitifully weak.

But this finger contained his lifelong sword path realization, the "Silent Star" true meaning of his birth, and... the determination to sacrifice himself for the Dao, without regret even in death!

The gray-blue finger light collided silently with the dark red light shuttle that had condensed the entire origin of the "aberration core" in front of the Evil God body's chest.

There was no explosion, no loud noise.

Only the most extreme annihilation and counter-collision of two diametrically opposed, yet both moving toward "ending" powers.

The gray-blue light rapidly dimmed and dissipated.

The dark red light shuttle also seemed to hit an invisible wall, its speed dropping sharply, its light weakening rapidly, and finally, it completely disintegrated at a distance of only a few zhang from the Evil God body, turning into sky-filling filthy light spots.

The arm with which Zhao Yuan pointed out, along with half of his shoulder, turned into fly ash silently under the backlash of the collision. The last light in his eyes extinguished rapidly, his broken body like all bones having been drawn out, falling backward softly, his life force passing away rapidly like a receding tide.

"Zhao Yuan!!!" Elder Lingshuang cried out in sorrow, rushing forward, but only catching a shell that was rapidly cooling and whose aura was nearly non-existent.

"Young friend!" True Person Beichen and Old Ancestor Hunyou were also filled with grief and indignation.

Zhao Yuan had blocked the final return of the "aberration core" at the cost of his own form and spirit being destroyed, interrupting the process of the Evil God obtaining complete power ahead of time!

However, the crisis was not resolved.

"Roar—！！!"

The Star-Remnant Evil God (although not completely born, but having initially manifested its form, perhaps it could be called so) emitted a roar that shook the heavens and the earth, mixed with fury, pain, and deeper malice! Zhao Yuan's obstruction, although successful, had thoroughly enraged it! Its hundreds of broken star eyes locked onto Zhao Yuan, whose life force was weak, and Elder Lingshuang and the others beside him! A terrifying Evil God power capable of freezing time and space and annihilating all things was frantically gathering in its chest (where the light shuttle should have submerged), looking like it was about to turn into a destructive eruption!

And Lin Xuan, although he had broken through layers of obstacles and approached again, could he protect Zhao Yuan's broken body and Elder Lingshuang and the others from this furious strike of the thoroughly berserk, initially formed Evil God?

At this desperate moment when the final destruction was about to descend—

A change occurred again!

The chain array whose energy was chaotic and operation was stagnant due to the severing of three hub chains, all the remaining chains, including those hub chains that had not yet been severed, the "filthy contract runes" on their surface, actually underwent a strange change simultaneously!

The light of the runes turned rapidly from dark red filth to a pure and violent... silver-white!

A completely different, more ancient, more vast, and majestic and sorrowful stellar will awakened from the depths of every chain! This will was completely different from the crazy resentment of the Evil God, carrying a determination of a martyr and the compassion of a guardian!

"This is... the last backhand left by the ancient Star-Fall people... the true... contract protection power?!" True Person Beichen widened his eyes, unable to believe it.

Only to see that the eighty-one chains (including the severed ones) erupted with brilliant silver-white starlight simultaneously! The starlight did not attack the Evil God, but like having life, turned into countless silver light flows, fiercely wrapping around the Evil God body that was gathering destructive power! At the same time, several huge silver chain phantoms probed out from the void, fiercely whipping the Evil God body!

"Roar—！！!" The Evil God emitted a roar of shock and anger. The destructive power gathering in its chest was interrupted and dispersed, and its huge body was tightly bound and pulled by the sudden silver starlight and chain phantoms! The silver starlight and the filthy energy on its body surface fiercely confronted each other, emitting a sizzling sound of dissolution, actually rapidly purifying and weakening its power! And the whipping of the chain phantoms caused its body to tremble every time, dark red crystals shattering, rotten tentacles breaking!

This was the other side of the power belonging to "protection" and "purification" in the star contract backlash of the ancient Star-Fall people! It had been sealed in the deepest part of the chain array by the Star-Fall people at some cost, as a final insurance. Once the Evil God attempted to break free ahead of time or obtain complete power, it would be triggered!

The Evil God's premature "birth" and berserk state had just thoroughly activated this final backhand!

Take this opportunity!

Lin Xuan's eyes shone brightly! He no longer cared about the Evil God, his figure flashed, and he appeared beside Zhao Yuan's broken body. He did not hesitate, pressing a palm on Zhao Yuan's chest, which had almost no life force, and the vast and pure Chaos origin power, mixed with a wisp of mysterious "return to ruins" Dao seed, was forcibly passed into Zhao Yuan's body, protecting his last wisp of weak origin like a candle in the wind from being extinguished.

At the same time, his left hand grabbed in the air, summoning back the Silent Shadow sword that had fallen in the distance. On the sword body, the residual gray-blue "Silent Star Chaos Qi" was forcibly stimulated and guided by his own Chaos power.

"Beichen! The positions of the last two hub chains!" Lin Xuan shouted, his voice carrying unquestionable urgency.

True Person Beichen immediately pointed to the positions of the remaining two (the 51st and 73rd) hub chains. They were also wrapped in silver starlight at this moment, but their connection with the Evil God body had not yet been completely severed.

Lin Xuan glanced at the Evil God that was temporarily restrained by the silver power and struggling frantically, and then looked at the imprint of Zhao Yuan's power that was about to dissipate thoroughly on the Silent Shadow sword in his hand. A trace of complex and difficult-to-understand expression flashed in his eyes, as if it were a sigh, and as if it were a decision.

The next moment, he held the Silent Shadow sword, his body and sword merged, turning into a gray sword light that seemed to pierce through the past and future, shooting toward those two final hub chains!

This time, he did not use his pure Chaos sword intent.

Instead, using himself as a bridge and the Silent Shadow sword as a carrier, he forcibly fused Zhao Yuan's residual "Silent Star Chaos Qi" true meaning, a wisp of his own "return to ruins" Dao rhyme, and the ancient Star-Fall people's final protective stellar power that was stimulated in the chain array at this moment... all three together!

A strange light condensed at the tip of the sword.

Not gray, not blue, not silver.

Yet it seemed to contain the birth and death of stars, the opening of Chaos, and the final elegy of civilization.

"Sever—！！!"

Lin Xuan's cold voice resounded through the universe.

Wherever the sword light passed, space annihilated silently, and time seemed to freeze.

The 51st and 73rd hub chains, along with their final connections with the Evil God body, with the chain array, with this space, and with the twisted contract in the dark...

Under this sword,

Thoroughly,

Severed! ===== CHAPTER 182 =====