28: The Cocoon of Stars, the Return of the Destiny Chart to Ruins

"life plate... Ignite... Star!!"

Chen Feng's hoarse, desperate roar, like the last cry of a dying beast, exploded in the dead silent Burial Star Corridor! Amidst the wailing of the Immortal Dao Annihilation Light Pillars tearing through space, and under the cold, binding pressure of the Star Guardian, he used every last shred of his remaining will and power to perform two almost insane actions!

First, he fiercely threw Su Wanzhao, who was unconscious on his back, towards the rotating nebula vortex at the center of the altar—that silver-blue star core fragment emitting a vast, primordial star aura!

Second, his blood-stained left hand no longer resisted the Guardian's stellar pressure. Instead, with a desperate resolve to perish together, he slammed it fiercely onto the fragment of the life plate on his chest, which was on the verge of shattering and flashing wildly with gray light! He wanted to detonate this last reliance, at the cost of the fragment completely shattering, to unleash its final primordial power. This power would then impact and resonate with the star core fragment, creating a slim chance for Su Wanzhao to fuse with it!

"Ant! How dare you!!" The Immortal Envoy's cold, majestic voice, tinged with frustrated rage, reverberated at the law level! The three Annihilation Light Pillars increased their speed again!

The Star Guardian's cold, ethereal blue flame eyes erupted with unprecedented killing intent the moment Chen Feng slapped the fragment of the life plate! It seemed to believe Chen Feng intended to forcefully seize the star core! Its massive arm, formed from stellar dust, rose, condensing terrifying power capable of crushing stars, and was about to slam down on both the airborne Su Wanzhao and Chen Feng below!

However, just as Chen Feng's palm was about to strike the fragment of the life plate, and the gray light from the fragment's cracks was dazzling and on the verge of exploding—

Buzz!!!

An unexpected change occurred!

Su Wanzhao, who had been thrown towards the star core fragment, had a Chaos Star Vortex imprint on her forehead that had long been dim, silent, and on the verge of dissipating. The moment it came into such close contact with the vast and pure primordial star aura, it was like dying embers being doused with oil!

Boom!

A faint but tenacious gray-silver starlight suddenly ignited at the core of the imprint on her forehead! It wasn't an attack, but a defense! It was her last thought imprint before losing consciousness—to protect Chen Feng!

This power, originating from the reborn Chaos Star Vortex and imbued with the will to protect, was stimulated by the primordial star energy. It unexpectedly arrived first, like the most nimble silk thread, instantly wrapping around Chen Feng's left wrist, which was striking towards the fragment of the life plate!

A gentle yet extremely tenacious force emanated, forcefully stopping Chen Feng's self-destructive strike!

At the same time, Su Wanzhao's body, driven by inertia, continued to fly towards the star core fragment at the center of the nebula vortex! Her tightly closed eyes remained shut, but the Star Vortex imprint on her forehead erupted with unprecedented brilliance, actively welcoming the silver-blue primordial star core!

"No—!" Chen Feng's eyes were splitting with rage! He wanted to stop her, wanted to rush over! But the Star Guardian's terrifying binding force was like billions of mountains, pressing him firmly in place! He could only watch helplessly!

Just as Su Wanzhao's body was about to touch the star core fragment—

Buzz!

At the center of the altar, the silently suspended star core fragment, under the dual stimulation of the Chaos Star Vortex power erupting from Su Wanzhao's forehead (containing Chen Feng's chaos base point aura) and... the primordial aura of the life plate fragment on Chen Feng's chest, which was on the verge of shattering and resonating wildly, suddenly erupted with unprecedented, dazzling silver brilliance!

This radiance was no longer gentle starlight, but a furious will, as if thoroughly enraged and its core desecrated! A vast and mighty repulsive force, capable of crushing stars, erupted with a roar, slamming fiercely into the approaching Su Wanzhao!

If hit squarely, Su Wanzhao would instantly turn into cosmic dust!

However, at this critical moment!

"Roar—!!!"

A roar, as if billions of stars had simultaneously collapsed, filled with pain, anger, yet also a hint of liberation, suddenly echoed from the edge of the altar!

It was the Star Guardian!

Its raised giant arm did not strike Su Wanzhao or Chen Feng. Instead, it abruptly changed direction, bringing world-destroying power to slam fiercely into... the three Immortal Dao Annihilation Light Pillars about to strike the altar! And... the three Immortal Dao giant ships that had torn through space and had just extended half their hulls, the source of the light pillars!

Rumble rumble rumble—!!!

An indescribably terrifying energy collision erupted at the corridor entrance! The Star Guardian's colossal arm, forged from countless stellar dust particles and imbued with the eons of annihilation will of the Burial Star Corridor, slammed fiercely into the pale light pillars of the xuanming icy fiend crossbow and the two boundary-breaking immortal shuttles!

The pale light pillars instantly shattered! The two golden shuttles, like meteorites hitting a star core, wailed and flew backward, large sections of their runes annihilated! A massive shockwave swept through the corridor, and countless suspended stellar fragments were blown away and annihilated like dust! The hulls of the three Immortal Dao giant ships vibrated violently, the spatial rifts they had just torn instantly twisted and expanded, and chaotic spatial turbulence surged inward!

"Bastard!" The Immortal Envoy's voice, filled with shock and fury, was drowned out by the violent energy storm!

The Guardian's earth-shattering blow was not to save Chen Feng or Su Wanzhao, but stemmed from its absolute repulsion of all invaders, especially the Immortal Dao aura, which was full of order and plunder! It instinctively regarded the Immortal Dao fleet as the greatest threat!

However, the moment the Guardian's giant arm struck out, its body, composed of stellar dust, inevitably developed an extremely subtle... power gap! The terrifying stellar pressure binding Chen Feng also loosened for a fleeting moment!

Now is the time!

A sharp glint flashed in Chen Feng's chaotic left eye! The spark at the core of his dormant chaos base point, stimulated by the resonating, near-shattered fragment of the life plate and the primordial star aura, erupted with an unprecedented survival instinct! He no longer tried to detonate the fragment of the life plate. Instead, seizing this one-in-ten-thousand-second window of the Guardian's loosened pressure, he poured all his remaining will and the last shred of power extracted from his base point into his legs!

"Move... for me!"

Boom!

The hard stellar fragments beneath his feet exploded! Chen Feng's body, like an arrow released from a bow, shot forward with splattering golden-red blood mist. He wasn't rushing towards the star core, nor towards Su Wanzhao, but... directly into the core point where Su Wanzhao and the star core fragment's repulsive forces were colliding!

He wanted to use his own body to block this fatal blow for Su Wanzhao! To use his chaos base point to withstand the violent repulsion of the star core fragment!

At the same time, his blood-stained right hand reached out, with a final madness and prayer, grasping towards the star core fragment that was erupting with destructive silver radiance! Not to seize it, but... to touch it! To ignite the final resonance of the fragment of the life plate!

"Last Light... fuse... with it!!"

Bang!!!

Chen Feng's body, like a moth to a flame, violently slammed between the star core fragment's erupting repulsive force field and the incoming Su Wanzhao!

Pfft—!

An indescribable agony instantly swept through his entire body! He felt as if he had been struck head-on by a burning star! All his bones emitted unbearable cracking sounds! All the already hideous cracks on his body instantly burst open! Golden-red chaotic blood gushed out like a fountain! The dormant chaos base point in his dantian let out a dying wail, on the verge of disintegration, its core spark flickering wildly, almost extinguishing! [chaos base point: Core vibrating! On the verge of collapse! Warning!]

However, just as his body was about to explode, torn apart by that terrifying repulsive force field—

Buzz!!!

The fragment of the life plate on his chest, at the moment he actively touched the star core fragment and used himself as a shield to withstand the repulsion, its near-shattered cracks and gray light suddenly collapsed inward! An indescribably ancient and vast primordial aura, mixed with Chen Feng's splattering chaotic vital blood and shattered soul fragments, surged like a breached chaotic star river, furiously rushing into his right hand which was grasping the star core fragment, and through his body, violently impacting the star core fragment!

This was not an attack, but... a sacrifice and a call from a homologous origin!

Crack... snap!

A faint but clear cracking sound echoed!

The surface of the violently repulsive star core fragment was actually impacted by this power, a mix of the life plate's origin, chaotic vital blood, and protective will, forcibly creating a tiny crack!

The moment the crack appeared, an unimaginably pure, yet tinged with anger and bewilderment from being forcibly broken open, primordial star power, like finding a vent, surged out along that crack!

This power did not attack Chen Feng or Su Wanzhao again. Instead, it... at the core point of their contact, instantly formed a violent, uncontrollable energy vortex!

Boom!!!

The nebula vortex suddenly accelerated its rotation and expanded! Silver-blue primordial star energy, gray-silver Chaos Star Vortex power, dark-golden residual chaos base point energy, and the primordial aura of the shattering life plate... several distinct forces, yet strangely intertwined due to Chen Feng and Su Wanzhao's connection, wildly clashed, annihilated, and fused within this uncontrolled vortex!

Chen Feng's body bore the brunt! He was instantly swallowed by this uncontrolled vortex, like dust caught in a cosmic storm! His consciousness completely sank into darkness under the violent energy tearing, leaving only a final lingering thought: Last Light... live... And the moment his consciousness dissipated, he seemed to see, at the center of the uncontrolled vortex, Su Wanzhao, enveloped by the primordial star torrent, her Chaos Star Vortex imprint on her forehead suddenly erupting with unprecedented light, actually actively guiding and devouring the uncontrolled primordial star energy! At the same time, her tightly closed eyes suddenly opened! In her eyes was no longer the cold moonlight, but... a burning, icy stellar storm! Her gaze was fixed on... the Star Guardian, whose power had temporarily receded after its full-force strike to repel the Immortal Dao attack!

Even more astonishing to Chen Feng's lingering thought was that the Star Guardian's burning ethereal blue flame eyes, upon contact with Su Wanzhao's gaze burning with a stellar storm, actually revealed an unbelievable... bewilderment and... reverence?! As if it had seen... some long-lost... inheritance?!

Rumble!

The vortex completely lost control and exploded! Dazzling light swallowed everything!

Chen Feng's last consciousness perceived his body being violently flung by an irresistible force, plummeting like a meteor towards the depths of the earth below the altar, a region composed of countless stellar fragments!

Thud!

He crashed heavily onto a stellar fragment streaked with dark-red lava veins, the sound of bones shattering clearly audible, before completely losing all sensation.

And at the core of that explosion, the dazzling light slowly dissipated.

Above the altar, the nebula vortex vanished without a trace. The silver-blue star core fragment also disappeared.

In its place, only a figure quietly floated.

Su Wanzhao.

Her eyes were still tightly closed, but the aura around her had undergone earth-shattering changes! The Chaos Star Vortex imprint on her forehead had vanished, replaced by a slowly rotating, silver-blue star core imprint constructed from pure primordial star energy! Deep within the imprint, a faint gray-silver chaotic light spot flickered into view.

She hadn't fully fused with the star core fragment; it was more like... she had been forcibly transformed and enveloped by the star core fragment's power! A thick, silver-blue crystalline shell, flowing with stellar veins and chaotic patterns, like a giant cocoon, tightly encased her from head to toe! On the surface of the crystalline shell, countless ancient stellar runes and chaotic dao marks intertwined and flickered, emitting a vast and dormant aura. [Chaos Star Cocoon (Star Core Transformation): Undergoing metamorphosis... fusion unknown... status unknown...]

Even more horrifying was that behind her, the Guardian, formed from stellar dust, was now kneeling on one knee, like the most loyal sentinel! Its burning ethereal blue flame eyes were now filled with bewilderment and an indescribable obedience, quietly guarding this nascent "Star Cocoon." Its power seemed to be connected to the Star Cocoon, becoming... more solidified, yet also more constrained.

In the distance, at the corridor entrance.

The spatial rifts slowly closed under the violent energy impact. The three Immortal Dao giant ships, their hulls covered in cracks from the Star Guardian's world-destroying blow, floated awkwardly in the twisted spatial turbulence, temporarily losing the ability to launch another fierce attack. The cold Immortal Dao will churned violently in the void, filled with shock, fury, greed, and a hint of... apprehension.

"The star core... the Guardian... and the aura of that chaotic fragment... were actually forcibly erased?" The Immortal Envoy's voice was filled with disbelief. "That woman... was sealed by the star core's backlash? Or..."

"Locate that falling ant! The last aura of the chaotic fragment is on him! Dig three feet deep! Find him alive, or find the fragment if he's dead!"

The cold command was issued. Two less damaged boundary-breaking immortal shuttles changed direction, their bow scanning golden lights like searchlights, beginning to frantically sweep the stellar fragment ground where Chen Feng had fallen.

The brief silence in the Burial Star Corridor was broken.

Deep within the stellar fragments, Chen Feng lay like a broken doll, sunken into a cold rock pit.

His body was covered by a thin "stone shell," a mixture of stellar dust and cooled dark-red lava.

At the location of the fragment of the life plate on his chest, only a horrific wound remained, its edges charred and dark-golden blood flowing from it.

The fragment... was gone.

Completely shattered, transforming into the power that impacted the star core.

Only in the depths of the wound, an extremely faint gray light spot, as if connected to an endless abyss of void, like the entrance to a cosmic ruin, slowly rotated and pulsed.

[Fragment of the life plate: Shattered... core primordial imprint (Ruin State) sunk into dao foundation... undergoing unknown fusion...]

[chaos base point: Deeply dormant... core starlight extinguished... riddled with cracks... dying...]

Deep within the stellar fragment earth, a cold, greedy hunger, imbued with the sedimentation of endless ages, seemed to be attracted by the fresh blood and the aura of that strange ruins abyss imprint falling from above, and was slowly awakening from the darkest depths of the earth's core.