Lin Ye sat cross-legged at the center of the altar, the Star-Shattering Sword laid across his knees. He was drenched in blood, and beneath his robes, stark white bones showed through. The meridians in his body were severed inch by inch. In his dantian, the True Qi seed had stopped spinning, and his life was on the verge of ending.
Ahead, schools of Star Soul Fish surged toward him. Each one was several dozen feet long, radiating a terrifying aura no weaker than that of a True Qi Realm mid-stage cultivator. Behind him, the whirlpool at Lake Heart Island turned slowly, an intent locking firmly onto him.
Lin Ye slowly closed his eyes and sank his mind into the deepest reaches of his body. He no longer suppressed his injuries. Instead, he drew in every last trace of vitality.
"Roar—"
The lead Star Soul Fish let out a roar, its sound waves blasting the lake water apart. It whipped its body around, turning into a streak of light as it shot straight for Lin Ye's head, intent on swallowing him whole!
The school of Star Soul Fish erupted into motion all at once. Hundreds of streaks of light blotted out the sky, bearing down with the force to crush everything in their path.
Almost at the same moment, something as black as a tentacle reached out from the depths of the whirlpool. Space collapsed wherever it passed, and cracks split open in the void!
Attacked from both sides, with nowhere to advance or retreat!
Just as death was about to descend—
Lin Ye's eyes snapped open!
There wasn't a trace of human emotion in them, only a resolve to sacrifice himself and destroy everything!
"Let my body burn, let my soul be offered—"
"With my blood, I summon the stars to shatter!"
"With my bones, I call the celestial river to hang inverted!"
"With my soul, I open the gates of hell!"
The ancient runes on the altar, dormant for ten thousand years, suddenly blazed to life. Starlight shot into the sky, weaving together in the void to form a vast celestial map!
The Star-Shattering Sword trembled violently, dazzling golden light bursting from its blade. The sword spirit burned up its last reserves of power, becoming a golden celestial river that poured down in reverse and merged with the altar's star map!
"Hum—"
The entire Lake Heart Island shook violently. The star-vein beneath the island was completely awakened! Star power, violent beyond all measure, surged from deep within the vein and transformed into a chaotic pillar of light more than a hundred feet tall. Centered on Lin Ye, it pierced through heaven and earth!
Within the pillar, stars appeared and vanished, the celestial river flowed backward, space shattered, and time fell into chaos! This was the Meteor World-Extinguishing Array laid down by Daoist Xinghe before his death.
"Rumble—!!!"
The pillar of light slammed head-on into the deathly torrent formed by the Star Soul Fish! Every Star Soul Fish the pillar touched vaporized in an instant, utterly annihilated before it could even scream.
At the same time, the black tentacle from the Hua Yuan Realm slammed into the pillar of light!
"Boom—!!!"
The deafening impact shook the secret realm. Its shockwaves swept in every direction, solid as they tore through the air! The lake below was forcibly pressed into a pit a thousand feet deep. The surrounding void shattered completely, exposing an expanse of pitch-black nothingness.
Lin Ye was at the very center of the collision.
"Pfft—"
Countless bloody holes burst open across his body, every wound deep enough to expose bone. His bones snapped, and his organs shattered. Pain surged over him like a tide, nearly drowning his consciousness completely.
The star power contained in the chaotic pillar of light poured madly into his broken body.
The True Qi seed inside him, on the verge of going out, was driven into a desperate corner—
It began to spin backward, turning into a miniature black hole that frantically devoured the destructive energy flooding into his body!
"Crack, crack—"
The True Qi seed was covered in cracks, its light flickering erratically.
Lin Ye's consciousness had grown hazy, with only one stubborn thought sustaining him.
He wasn't willing to accept this.
In his previous life, he had drifted through an ordinary, unremarkable existence. In this life, he had only just glimpsed a sliver of light on the path of martial arts. How could he accept falling here?
He hadn't seen enough of this world.
"Break... for me—"
His final will gathered into an invisible heart-sword. He brought it down without hesitation upon the seed, spinning backward and on the verge of shattering!
"Boom—!!!"
The True Qi seed exploded completely from its core!
But the soul-shattering obliteration he had expected never came.
At the instant the seed exploded, something strange was born at the very heart of destruction: a stretch of chaos.
The star power pouring into his body, the remaining essence of his flesh and blood, the sword intent burning within the Star-Shattering Sword, the celestial river left by Daoist Xinghe, the chaotic fragments of the secret realm's laws—all the forces that clashed and countered one another were forcibly blended and reassembled within this chaos!
A brand-new, chaotic energy was born within it.
This energy surged along his damaged meridians. Wherever it passed, the severed meridians were forcibly opened and reshaped, becoming several times wider and tougher than before.
His shattered flesh and bones were forcibly joined back together and repaired. The new tissue shimmered faintly with starlight and had the cold sheen of metal.
Deep within his dantian, the chaos turned slowly. At its center, a brand-new True Qi seed gradually took shape—dark gold all over, with starlight flowing across its surface, the faint roar of wind and thunder rumbling within, and the sword intent of death coiled around it.
True Qi Realm, third level—
Break through!!!
"Boom—"
Outside, the chaotic pillar of light and the Hua Yuan Realm tentacle clashed until both were spent. They shattered and dissipated together.
A thunderous roar came from the whirlpool at Lake Heart Island. Its voice seethed with unwillingness. "Mortal... thief who steals the Dao... I have marked your aura... The day I break free, I will devour your soul!"
The whirlpool slowly calmed, but the entire stretch of water turned black as ink, radiating an ominous aura that made one's heart tremble.
The surviving Star Soul Fish, cowed by the lingering power, fled in terror, daring not approach the altar again.
The altar collapsed completely. Its runes were erased, and the crystal bones turned into a cloud of glittering powder that drifted away.
Lin Ye sat cross-legged in the center of the ruins, head bowed and eyes closed. His body was covered in jagged cracks, and his aura was so faint it was almost nonexistent.
"Cough..."
He struggled to cough up a mouthful of black blood, then slowly raised his head.
His face was riddled with cracks, his eyes hollow.
He looked toward the fish still watching him from afar, then toward the expanse of black, ominous water.
He—had survived.
In a place where death was certain, he had used himself as bait, summoned the stars to shatter, and devoured the power of destruction. From the ashes, he had forcibly condensed a brand-new seed of power, one that belonged to him alone.
Pale golden words slowly appeared in his mind:
[Points: 1]
Lin Ye slowly closed his eyes and sank his mind into his body, beginning to feel and adapt to the seed born from destruction, one filled with the unknown and danger—
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