25: A startling change occurs to the lunar egg, and the star begins to awaken.

The chaos moon egg floated in the core of the shattered ice lake, resembling a singularity left behind at the dawn of the universe. The gray-silver shell was not a solid entity, but was woven from countless streams of flowing chaotic airflow and pure Moon Essence energy. Its surface was branded with profound and unpredictable Dao runes, sometimes collapsing like a nebula, sometimes rotating like the phases of the moon. Every weak pulsation stirred the Moon Essence spiritual energy that had been dormant for ten thousand years within the ruins, forming a silent tide.

Inside the egg, time lost its measure.

Chen Feng was like a being slumbering in primordial chaos; his consciousness was enveloped by boundless darkness and deathly silence. In his Dantian, the chaos base point, covered in deep cracks, was cold and dead, like an extinguished star. Only at its very core, a tiny spark of Chaos Star Fire, faint to the extreme and seeming ready to vanish at any moment, pulsed slowly and laboriously. The fragment of the fate plate clung tightly to his chest, its cracks hideous, but no longer worsening. Strands of gentle Chaos Moon Essence energy, like the most precise microscopic surgical blades, carefully infiltrated the edges of the fragment, attempting to mend the trauma caused by forcibly bearing the Primordial Cosmic Power. [chaos base point: Deep Slumber (Core Star Fire maintained)... Crack Repair (3%)... Extremely slow...]

[fragment of the fate plate: Cracks stabilized (Under weak nourishment)...]

Unlike his state of desiccation, the other end of the moon egg was filled with surging vitality and metamorphosis.

Su Wanzhao floated in the core of the gray-silver energy, which was so dense it was nearly inseparable, with Dao rhythm flowing around her. The Sword Seal on her brow had long vanished, replaced by a slowly rotating gray-silver Star Vortex mark, profound like a cosmic whirlpool, emanating the inclusiveness of chaos and the coldness of Moon Essence. Her pale complexion had faded, her skin was lustrous like jade, glowing with a faint Chaos Moon Halo. Inside her body, the nascent core of her origin—the Chaos Star Vortex—had already taken initial shape!

This Star Vortex was not a volatile core that devoured all things like the chaos base point, but resembled an exquisite Taiji Diagram. At its center, a point of pure Grand Yin Moon Essence was like an Ice Soul Cold Star, constant and still, radiating a cold, stable Power of Order. Surrounding this Grand Yin core, strands of pure chaotic airflow flowed slowly like a stellar ring, carrying the vigorous vitality that assimilated all origins and nourished all life. The two were not clearly separated but continuously merged and transformed through the rotation of the Star Vortex, forming an unprecedented Origin Power that possessed both stable order and chaotic vitality! [Chaos Star Vortex (Prototype): Stable operation... Origin qualitative change completion (75%)...]

The Moon Essence spiritual energy accumulated over ten thousand years in the Guanghan Ruins, the strands of Ancient Malevolent Origin that permeated through the Ice Fiend Barrier, and the profound transformation power of the chaos moon egg itself, were all continuously being absorbed by this nascent Chaos Star Vortex, accelerating its final metamorphosis and stabilization.

However, just as Su Wanzhao's origin metamorphosis was about to be completed and the Chaos Star Vortex approached the critical point of stabilization—

A sudden change occurred!

Buzz!!!

A terrifying will—cold, vast, and bearing the supreme majesty of the Immortal Dao—suddenly pierced through the remaining obstruction of the Ice Fiend Gale Barrier, ignoring the protective laws of the Guanghan Ruins core. It descended with absolute precision, locking firmly onto the core of the ice lake and the pulsating chaos moon egg!

This will was not the Gold-Robed Immortal Envoy himself, but it contained the Immortal Dao Law, which was of the same origin and even more severe and cold! It was like the lofty Heavenly Dao, looking down upon rebellious dust.

"Defiers of Fate, Chaotic Heretics, desecrators of the Immortal Taboo, your sin is unforgivable!"

"Guanghan Remnants, colluding with Rebellious Seeds, you shall be exterminated down to the ninth generation!"

"Edict: xuanming icy fiend crossbow, boundary-breaking immortal shuttle, execute the evil!"

The cold Edict directly vibrated on the level of laws; every word was like a colossal hammer weighing millions of tons, smashing fiercely onto the shell of the chaos moon egg! The entire gray-silver shell suddenly caved inward, and the Dao runes flowing across its surface instantly became chaotic and cracked! The gently flowing Chaos Moon Essence energy inside the egg violently shook and boiled, like a lake struck by a massive boulder!

Pfft!

Chen Feng, who was in deep slumber with a blurred consciousness, trembled violently, as if struck by an invisible heavy hammer. Several tiny fissures instantly burst open from the cracks on his body that were slowly being repaired, and a faint golden blood mist diffused outwards! The faint spark at the core of the dormant chaos base point wildly flickered, looking as if it would extinguish at any moment! [Warning! External Law impact! Base Point Core Star Fire unstable!]

[fragment of the fate plate: Fine gray blood seeping from the edges of the cracks!]

"Ugh..." Su Wanzhao, who was at the critical juncture of her metamorphosis, let out an extremely painful groan. The rotating gray-silver Star Vortex mark on her brow suddenly flickered erratically, and her newly stabilized Origin Core violently shook! The chaotic airflow surrounding the Grand Yin core instantly became violent and disordered, impacting the internal Moon Essence, seemingly intent on tearing this nascent balance apart completely! [Chaos Star Vortex (Prototype): Violent oscillation! Origin conflict! Metamorphosis progress blocked (60%)! Warning! Risk of disintegration!]

The Immortal Dao Edict itself was not a direct attack, but the supreme will and law lock it contained, like the most malicious curse, directly interfered with the balance of laws inside the chaos moon egg, interrupting Su Wanzhao's crucial metamorphosis process! Furthermore, it triggered a certain Ancient Restriction deep within the ruins, one that was extremely sensitive to the aura of the Immortal Dao!

Outside the ice lake, above the shattered firmament.

Silently, space rippled open, like water struck by a stone, revealing three enormous golden ripples.

At the center of the ripples, three colossal, hideous behemoths slowly "squeezed" out of the void!

The leading vessel was shaped like the skeleton of a giant whale, cast entirely from a deathly white Immortal Gold that emitted an aura capable of freezing souls. Its prow was not a cannon muzzle, but a hideous gaping maw, within which floated a hundred-zhang-long, dark blue giant crossbow—the xuanming icy fiend crossbow—engraved with billions of Ice-Sealing Runes! Around the crossbow body, space itself showed fine black cracks due to the extreme Ice Fiend Power!

The slightly smaller vessels on either side were shaped like spears, streamlined and dark gold in color. Their prows were incredibly sharp, flashing with a chilling light capable of piercing through all realms, and they were none other than the boundary-breaking immortal shuttle! Dense golden Barrier-Breaking Runes flowed across the surface of the shuttles.

The three Immortal Dao War Weapons exuded a terrifying pressure capable of crushing all heavens. Their cold muzzles (crossbow mouth, shuttle tip) had already lit up with destructive light, locking firmly onto the chaos moon egg in the core of the ice lake below!

Killing intent had arrived overhead! It was more direct and more lethal than the Gold-Robed Immortal Envoy's projection!

Inside the chaos moon egg.

Su Wanzhao endured the immense pain of the Origin conflict, her consciousness rising and falling in the struggle between chaos and coldness. Just as the Star Vortex was about to lose control and disintegrate, a tremor, originating from the depths of her soul and made intensely clear by the chaotic integration, suddenly pierced through the pain—it was the faint fluctuation transmitted by Chen Feng's nearly extinguished Core Star Fire!

This fluctuation was like the sole anchor in the darkness, instantly awakening Su Wanzhao's dormant instinctual Protective Will!

"Must... not... break!"

A vague yet intensely determined thought exploded in her chaotic consciousness! The gray-silver Star Vortex mark on her brow suddenly erupted with unprecedented brilliance! The chaotic airflow, which had been violent and disordered due to the impact of the Immortal Dao Edict, was forcibly controlled by this Protective Will. Instead of clashing with the internal Grand Yin Core, it abruptly spread and extended outward!

Zzzzz—!

Countless fine gray-silver chaotic airflows, like living roots, instantly penetrated the Energy Cocoon surrounding her. Ignoring spatial distance, they precisely wrapped around Chen Feng's dormant body, especially the precarious Core Star Fire in his Dantian and the fragment of the fate plate with its hideous cracks on his chest!

This time, it was no longer the gentle symbiosis guided by the moon cocoon Formation. Instead, it was an Origin Link forcibly activated by Su Wanzhao using the power of her nascent Chaos Star Vortex! It was like directly connecting her own newly born, vibrant lifeblood to Chen Feng's nearly depleted life artery!

Boom—!

A torrential flow of energy, far purer, more surging, and containing the Origin Power of the nascent Chaos Star Vortex, surged into Chen Feng's body along this forcibly established link!

This power was like the Milky Way pouring into a dried-up riverbed!

Chen Feng's dormant chaos base point, that Core Star Fire on the verge of extinguishing, instantly reacted as if a spark had fallen into boiling oil upon contact with this Chaos Moon Essence Power—which was of the same origin yet more vibrant and imbued with Protective Will!

Vwoom—!!!

A silent roar, seemingly originating from the Ancient Primordial Era, exploded within Chen Feng's deathly silent Dantian!

The cracked, cold, and dead chaos base point suddenly erupted with an unprecedented power of Devour! It was no longer a dormant spark, but had transformed into a raging, miniature black hole that had been starving for billions of years! The primal power of the Chaos Star Vortex that Su Wanzhao forcibly poured in, like a torrent finding its outlet, was frantically torn, swallowed, and refined by the base point!

[chaos base point: Forced activation! Swallowing in progress... Core crack repair accelerating (10%...15%...)! Energy core spark reigniting (weak)! Warning: Swallowing overload!]

[fragment of the fate plate: Nourished by the primal power of the Chaos Star Vortex... Gray blood at the edge of the crack stopped... Faint signs of repair...]

Intense pain! Tearing pain instantly swept through Chen Feng's consciousness! Being violently activated from a deep slumber was like throwing a dying person into a smelting furnace! But his consciousness, devoured by darkness, was forcibly ripped open by this violent pain and the surging torrent of life!

"Ugh... Ah!!!"

A hoarse, ultimate roar, like a trapped beast's dying bellow, squeezed from the depths of Chen Feng's throat! His tightly shut eyes suddenly opened!

However, those were no longer human eyes!

His left eye was a chaotic vortex, devouring light, bottomless, like the universe returning to its origin!

His right eye, however, burned with cold, silver moonlight flames, carrying the endless coldness and protective will of Su Wanzhao's nascent Chaos Star Vortex!

His pupils were different colors, chaos and moonlight intertwined, coldness and madness coexisting!

Almost at the same moment he opened his eyes—

Above the Ice Lake Firmament.

The three immortal dao war weapons had reached peak energy accumulation!

"Execute!"

The cold Law vibrated again!

Buzz—!!!

The dark blue body of the xuanming icy fiend crossbow suddenly erupted with a pale white light that pierced the firmament! The bowstring vibrated silently, and a pale white beam of light, condensed to the extreme, as if refined from the core of ten-thousand-year profound ice marrow, carrying the terrifying icy fiend laws that could freeze time and annihilate all things, instantly tore through space and shot down towards the chaos moon egg! Wherever it passed, even the huge falling ice prisms from the shattered firmament silently turned into ice crystal powder!

At the same time, the golden light from the prows of the two boundary-breaking immortal shuttles was dazzling and impossible to look at directly! Two golden shuttle-shaped streams of light, imbued with the will to penetrate all realms and break all laws, arrived first, with a piercing shriek, fiercely striking the chaos moon egg! Their target was precisely the most vulnerable law node that had appeared on the eggshell due to the impact of the immortal dao Law!

Three destructive attacks, sealing all evasion space for the moon egg, descended with the immortal dao will to crush everything!

Inside the chaos moon egg.

Chen Feng, who had just opened his heterochromatic eyes, didn't even have time to feel the severe pain in his body and the rekindled power, as the shadow of death had completely enveloped him and Su Wanzhao! The destructive energy contained in those three attacks, even through the eggshell, made his rekindled base point core feel bone-chilling coldness and the crisis of disintegration!

Hide? Nowhere to hide! Block? In his current state, it was like a praying mantis trying to stop a chariot!

The link forcibly established by Su Wanzhao was still transmitting power, and her Chaos Star Vortex vibrated violently again due to this reckless output, with signs of instability reappearing in her newly stabilized primal power! Her beautiful face showed pain and determination, and the Star Vortex mark on her brow flashed wildly, clearly indicating that she was preparing to risk the collapse of her Star Vortex to forcibly mobilize her primal power again to resist!

She cannot endure any more!

In Chen Feng's eyes, where chaos and moonlight intertwined, madness and absolute calmness coexisted strangely. A fragmented image, originating from the deepest part of the fragment of the fate plate and stimulated by Su Wanzhao's Chaos Star Vortex primal power, suddenly flashed through his mind—the jade bone that guided him here, when it finally dissipated, a faint glow from its fingertips entered his body, and besides the ancient fiend primal power, it seemed to have left behind a little... a fragmented coordinate... regarding the core hub of these Guanghan Ruins!

"Hub... con... trol..."

A hoarse, broken voice squeezed from Chen Feng's blood-stained lips. He no longer tried to mobilize his own depleted power to resist, but rather, relying on the extremely close primal link forcibly established with Su Wanzhao, he injected all his remaining will, mixed with the vague coordinate information from the fragment of the fate plate, like the sharpest cone of thought, fiercely into Su Wanzhao's violently fluctuating Chaos Star Vortex core!

"Activate... it!!"

The moment the thought was transmitted, Chen Feng used the last bit of strength he had just recovered, slamming his blood-stained left hand onto the moonlight ground beneath him! It wasn't an attack, but rather, he forcibly injected a trace of weak chaos base point power, temporarily activated in his body by swallowing the Chaos Star Vortex power, into the profound ice marrow of the ice lake, the very core of these Guanghan Ruins!

Like throwing a spark into a volcano that had been dormant for ten thousand years!

Boom—!!!

The entire core of the ice lake shook violently! It wasn't an external attack, but a drastic change originating from the very foundation of the ruins!

Su Wanzhao trembled all over! The conceptual coordinates transmitted by Chen Feng and the forcibly injected trace of weak chaos base point power were like a key inserted into a lock! Her Chaos Star Vortex on her brow suddenly paused, then furiously reversed at an unprecedented speed!

In the core of the reversing Star Vortex, that pure essence of Grand Yin Moonlight erupted with dazzling silver light! This light was not an attack, but transformed into an invisible command wave with the highest authority of Guanghan Palace, ignoring the chaotic energy field, instantly sweeping across the entire core of the ruins, precisely hitting the ancient array platform on the edge of the ice lake, which was already covered with cracks and had a chaotic void piercing its center, beneath the huge profound ice marrow coffin—an inconspicuous ancient array platform covered by ten thousand years of profound ice!

Buzz—!!!

On the array platform, countless Guanghan Palace secret patterns, long dimmed and covered with thick ice dust, suddenly lit up! A vast and majestic power, sleeping for countless tens of thousands of years, was instantly awakened! This power carried the unique coldness and aloofness of Guanghan Palace, yet due to its core being pierced by a chaotic void and being activated by Chen Feng's trace of chaos base point power, it was tinged with a hint of violent chaotic aura!

"Moonfall... Star... Shift..."

A vast, ancient, and endlessly sorrowful and resolute sigh of a woman, as if transcending eons of time and space, echoed faintly in every corner of the ruins' core!

With this sigh, above the ice lake, in front of the three destructive attacks about to hit the chaos moon egg, space was violently stirred and folded as if by an invisible giant hand made of ice crystals and chaotic currents!

The pale white beam of light shot from the xuanming icy fiend crossbow, as if hitting an invisible, constantly refracting prism, instantly became twisted and chaotic in its trajectory, finally crashing heavily onto a huge broken ice peak in the distance! Boom! The entire ice peak, along with the surrounding space, was instantly frozen and shattered into a pervasive dust of ice crystals!

The two golden shuttle lights shot from the boundary-breaking immortal shuttles, however, seemed to fall into an extremely viscous chaotic quagmire, their speed plummeting, the forbidden runes flowing on their bodies frantically flickering and collapsing, finally, in the void less than ten zhang from the moon egg, like arrows that had run out of kinetic energy, their light dimmed and they hung motionless!

The immortal dao fleet's killing blow was actually deflected and delayed by the suddenly awakened Guanghan restriction, mixed with chaotic aura, from the core of these ruins, with its unfathomable great power of shifting stars and twisting space-time!

Inside the chaos moon egg.

Forcibly guiding the ruins' restrictions caused immense burden to Su Wanzhao! She let out a muffled groan, a silvery-gray streak of blood overflowing from the corner of her mouth, the light of the Chaos Star Vortex on her brow instantly dimmed by more than half, its rotation became extremely sluggish, and her nascent primal power was damaged again! [Chaos Star Vortex (Prototype): Primal power damaged (40%)! Forced reversal backlash! On the verge of collapse!]

Chen Feng also, due to that final thought transmission and power activation, his consciousness again sank to the edge of darkness, his heterochromatic eyes slowly closed, only his tightly clenched blood-stained left hand remained firmly pressed on the moonlight ground, maintaining that trace of weak base point power and the link to the ruins' hub.

Outside the eggshell, the three immortal dao colossal ships also seemed to be awed by this sudden change, and their attacks temporarily ceased. The cold immortal dao will fluctuated violently in the void, clearly re-evaluating the target and brewing even more terrifying methods.

A brief dead silence.

In the core of the ice lake, only the chaos moon egg, weakly and arduously pulsating under Su Wanzhao's forced maintenance.

Deep within the ruins, the ancient array platform that had been activated flickered with uncertain light, its power rapidly fading.

And from Su Wanzhao's blood-stained lips, a silent thought, filled with endless exhaustion and determination, was laboriously transmitted to the vaguely conscious Chen Feng:

"Go... now..."