61: Whale waves devour boats, the wheel of fate calms the seas.

The billows of the Star Marrow Sea were no ordinary surges. They were torrents of liquid Dao principles, condensed from the radiance of billions of stars. Every rise and fall contained a primordial power akin to the creation of heaven and earth, and every churn carried the whispers of ancient stellar wills. The star dome ark, a tiny foreign object in the vast Star Marrow Ocean, was like dust cast into a furnace, enduring ceaseless washing and crushing.

Chen Feng sat cross-legged at the core of the violently shaking ark, his mind focused and heavy. The nascent Nascent Primal Fate Wheel Phantasm hovered deep within his dantian's dao foundation. The primal disk, with its chaotic base color, rotated slowly. The ring of gloom at its edge was as deep as an abyss, while the four elemental origins of the inner circle—Azure Ice Soul, Bronze Desolate Blood, Dark Red Fire Core, and the newly born, pure and brilliant starlight—flowed and blended in a profound trajectory. With every rotation, a faint yet supreme 'momentum' diffused outward like invisible ripples, smoothing the most direct impacts of the Star Marrow Sea's violent Dao principles.

This 'momentum' was the fundamental reason the star dome ark could survive in this sea of destruction. But the price was equally heavy. Chen Feng's face was as pale as paper, veins bulging at his temples, and the soul power in his sea of consciousness was like a parched spring. Every time he maintained the operation of the Fate Wheel Phantom, it was accompanied by the soul-tearing pain. Within him, the balance of the four elemental origins remained as fragile as walking on thin ice. Especially that dark red Chaos Fire Core; although its proportion had slightly receded to 38.5% due to the initial formation of the Fate Wheel, the incinerating and violent intent it contained struck at the disk's stable structure at every moment. It was like a forcibly bound ferocious beast, ready to break its shackles and devour its master at any time.

The ship's hull once again let out a heart-wrenching, twisted groan as a visible crack spread across the left bulkhead. The residual scorching aura of the Chaos Sea of Fire and the icy Dao principles of the Star Marrow Sea poured frantically through the crack, annihilating each other and exploding into blinding energy sparks. "Damage 82%! Star Vortex Barrier overload warning! Guardian Brand intensity 16%!" The alarms from the remaining formations sounded like a death knell.

Chen Feng snapped his eyes open, a phantasm of the four-colored wheel flashing deep within his pupils as his powerful will swept over the entire lonely ark. He pressed his hands against the deck, and a wisp of pure Guixu Primordial Yellow origin split from the power of the Fate Wheel within him. Heavy and condensed, carrying the artistic conception of returning all things to the void, it flowed along the ship's keel. Wherever the Primordial Yellow power passed, the hideous, spreading cracks were forcibly pinched together as if by an invisible giant hand, emitting a piercing metallic friction sound and temporarily halting the trend of collapse. The hull's groaning eased slightly, but a sweetness rose in Chen Feng's throat, and the salty taste of the blood he forcibly swallowed filled his mouth—forcibly invoking the origin to stabilize the hull was a shock to the Fate Wheel's balance no less than an internal injury.

"Hold on... I must hold on until the core area..." he growled, his gaze turning toward the magnificent yet lethal deep blue, bordering on black, outside the porthole. Within the Star Marrow Sea, countless fine and brilliant star-sand light points gathered into massive energy streams like flowing star rivers. At the core of some of these energy streams, purer and more ancient fluctuations—of the same source as the remnants of Su Wanzhao's nirvana star core—faintly emanated. It was the aura of the Star Marrow origin! They were like lighthouses in the dark, guiding the slim hope.

Right then, a sudden change occurred!

The star marrow 'seawater' ahead bulged upward without warning, forming an indescribably massive and terrifying protrusion that covered the entire field of vision! Then, that protrusion shattered with a bang!

Crash—!!!

It wasn't a splash of water, but a catastrophic tidal wave of liquid star Dao principles, emitting destructive starlight! This giant wave was not naturally formed; at the peak of the wave, a shadow so massive it eclipsed the stars broke through the water!

It was a 'whale.' Its body was composed of pure, extremely condensed liquid star marrow, appearing as a deep dark blue like the background of the universe, with countless brilliant star-vein patterns flowing over its surface as if the entire star river were branded onto its skin. Its head was not flesh and blood, but composed of an incredibly massive fragment of a dark-gold star core that emanated an ancient, primordial aura. The edges of the fragment were as sharp as divine weapons, radiating a keen aura that could cut through ten thousand paths. This Star Marrow Giant Whale's solitary eye—a massive vortex burning with cold star-flames—instantly locked onto the star dome ark struggling in the waves! A pure intent of greed and destruction, originating from the life instinct of the stars themselves, slammed into Chen Feng's soul like an invisible heavy hammer!

"Warning! Native guardian beast of the Star Marrow Sea detected! Energy level: Star-Extermination Rank! Target locked!" The ship's alarm was shrill and distorted.

The Star Marrow Giant Whale let out a silent roar, a shockwave formed by the vibration of pure stellar Dao principles! Its massive tail slammed into the Star Marrow Sea, causing the entire 'sea surface' to boil! That destructive starlight wave seemed to be endowed with life, transforming into a liquid giant palm that blotted out the sky, slamming down toward the tiny star dome ark with the force of crushing stars! Wherever it passed, the space was torn into pitch-black cracks by the solidified stellar Dao principles!

The shadow of death instantly loomed! The light of the ship's Guardian Brand, like a candle in the wind, plummeted to 11%! Bursting sounds of being overtaxed echoed from all parts of the hull, and the damage percentage shot toward the 85% red line of nirvana!

A moment of life and death!

Chen Feng's pupils shrank abruptly. Under the crisis of life and death, all stray thoughts were instantly discarded. In his sea of consciousness, the Nascent Primal Fate Wheel Phantasm on the verge of collapse was forcibly steadied by him! Within his dantian, the nascent Nascent Primal Fate Wheel Phantasm spun frantically at an unprecedented speed!

"Guixu Primordial Yellow! Suppress!!" His intent erupted like a volcano. The ring of gloom at the disk's edge shone brightly, and the majestic Primordial Yellow origin was extracted regardless of the cost, transforming into a dark-gold light shield as solid as substance, instantly enveloping the entire star dome ark! Upon the light shield, phantasms of mountains, rivers, and the nirvana of stars flowed, carrying the heavy artistic conception of returning all things to the void as it met the descending starlight giant palm!

Boom—!!!

An indescribably terrifying collision! The dark-gold light shield dented violently, letting out a tooth-aching groan as countless Guixu phantasms on its surface were instantly destroyed! Chen Feng felt as if he had been struck by a heavy blow; blood seeped from all seven orifices, and the blood and qi in his body surged in reverse! The Fate Wheel Phantom shook violently, and the Primordial Yellow ring instantly dimmed!

"Guixu Ice Soul! Congeal!!" Chen Feng hissed, blood spraying from his mouth and nose. The Azure Ice Soul point in the inner circle of the disk erupted with extreme cold frost qi, instantly injecting into the crumbling dark-gold light shield! As the extreme cold contacted the liquid stellar Dao principles, a 'hissing' sound of annihilation rang out, and the speed of the giant palm's descent was actually slowed by a fraction!

"Desolate Blood! Vitalize!!" The bronze-colored Desolate Blood point followed immediately after. Majestic primordial life force, like tough vines, flooded into the light shield. The shattered Guixu phantasms on the shield actually began to crawl and mend painfully under the nourishment of the Desolate Blood power, deathly resisting that destructive pressure!

"Chaos Fire Core... Burn!" The final intent carried a sense of resolution. The Dark Red Fire Core point no longer suppressed its violence, and the Chaos Fire that incinerated all things surged out. It was not for attack, but injected into the light shield! The dark-gold light shield was instantly coated with a layer of demonic dark red, conflicting fiercely with the Azure Ice Soul and Bronze Desolate Blood, yet under the command of the Fate Wheel's chaotic base color, it formed a bizarre balance! The dark red flames scorched the stellar Dao principles contained within the starlight giant palm like hot oil on snow, causing violent energy explosions!

The four colors emerged together, with the Fate Wheel as the pivot, meeting the Star Marrow Giant Whale's world-ending strike head-on!

The starlight giant palm poured destructive energy frantically onto the four-colored interwoven light shield. The shield flickered uncertainly like a soap bubble in a storm, liable to burst at any moment. Chen Feng's body trembled violently, and fine cracks even began to appear on the surface of his skin—a sign that his dao foundation was reaching its limit! The Punishment Calamity curse brand on his chest burned frantically, and the sneer of the tribulation remnant soul echoed deep within his soul, the recovery progress instantly shooting up to 14.5%! The cold scanning will of the Celestial Court Edict Heavenly Net seemed to be attracted once again by this violent energy explosion, hanging like a sword over his head!

A stalemate! Every breath felt as long as ten thousand years!

At the very moment Chen Feng's soul was about to be completely torn apart by the four-color conflict and external pressure, the wisp of faint starlight at the core of the nascent Nascent Primal Fate Wheel Phantasm in his dantian suddenly brightened like never before! It seemed to be drawn by a power of the same source, flowing automatically and breaking free from the disk's restraint. It transformed into a pure and brilliant stream of starlight that ignored the violent attacks, penetrated the four-colored light shield, and drifted gently toward the core of the descending starlight giant palm—the Dao principle node driven by the Star Marrow Giant Whale's will!

Hum... A strange scene occurred. The moment that wisp of starlight containing the Fate Wheel's aura touched the core of the starlight giant palm, the destructive intent within the palm, like a calm lake surface into which a stone had been thrown, suddenly showed an imperceptible ripple! That pure greed and destruction were touched by a higher-level, same-source but more primordial 'existence,' producing a momentary daze and... hesitation!

The descending giant palm, with its terrifying force sufficient to crush stars, actually froze weirdly for a ten-thousandth of a second at this critical moment!

It was just this ten-thousandth of a second!

Chen Feng had a sudden flash of inspiration. Enduring the soul-splitting pain, he poured all the remaining Fate Wheel power in his body, especially the newly born starlight origin, into the Nascent Primal Fate Wheel Phantasm without regard for anything else! The starlight color at the disk's core blazed instantly!

"Suppress!"

A decree originating from the depths of his soul!

It wasn't confrontation, but 'resonance'! It was 'smoothing'!

A halo of starlight, far weaker than before but carrying an artistic conception of supreme inclusion and nurturing, rippled out with Chen Feng as the center. It gently brushed over the frozen starlight giant palm and over the Star Marrow Giant Whale's solitary eye burning with cold star-flames.

The Star Marrow Giant Whale's incomparably massive body jolted! The cold star-flames in its solitary eye flickered violently as if it had seen an incomprehensible existence. The destructive intent receded like a tide, replaced by a confusion and... awe originating from life instinct? It let out a low, long hum that sounded like a sigh of the stars, and its massive tail gave a gentle flick.

That starlight giant palm, capable of crushing stars, actually dissipated silently like a receding tide! It transformed back into a rushing torrent of liquid Dao principles, carrying the star dome ark along. However, it no longer bore destructive hostility; instead, it was like a gentle ocean current, pushing the damaged lonely ark toward the deeper, more core regions of the Star Marrow Sea.

A narrow escape! The star dome ark jolted violently in the energy torrent, but the hull miraculously did not break down further. The Guardian Brand stabilized at a precarious 10%, and the damage was fixed at the 85% death line, no longer worsening.

"Pfft—!" Chen Feng could no longer hold on. He violently spat out a large mouthful of dark red blood mixed with visceral fragments, and his entire body went limp as if his bones had been removed. Forcibly activating the nascent Fate Wheel and the backlash from the four origins operating at their limits under high pressure had nearly destroyed his meridians. His sea of consciousness was a mess of chaos, and the Nascent Primal Fate Wheel Phantasm was dim and lusterless, on the verge of collapse. The Fate Wheel Phantom in his dantian, though its core starlight was not extinguished, was covered in fine cracks, its rotation sluggish. The Punishment Calamity curse brand burned his chest like a branding iron, the recovery progress at 14.7%! The cold sensation of the Celestial Court Net's scan became clearer, like a maggot on a bone.

However, he could not care about his own near-collapse state as he struggled to crawl to Su Wanzhao's side.

He saw that the dark red lines at the edge of the charred cavity in Su Wanzhao's chest, which had been eroded by the Punishment Calamity curse like living creatures, had actually been pushed back a little under the impact of the aura containing the Fate Wheel starlight origin that Chen Feng had just released! Even more heart-shaking was that deep within the deathly cold star core remnants, a tiny point of starlight, so faint it was almost undetectable yet incredibly pure, was stubbornly lighting up! It was like a sleeping stellar embryo, awakened by a power of the same source, slowly rotating to form an extremely tiny, newly born starlight vortex!

Though this vortex was small, it emitted a faint suction, like a newborn baby instinctively drawing nourishment. The stray, most pure stellar Dao principle light points in the Star Marrow Sea began to be drawn by this faint suction, extremely slowly and painstakingly gathering toward that charred cavity, thread by thread, wisp by wisp!

Although this bit of gathering was a drop in the bucket for reshaping the nirvana star core, this tiny vortex and this active 'sucking' were like the first spark in the endless darkness!

Star Marrow Birth! Driven by the power of the Primal Fate Wheel and nourished by the Star Marrow Sea origin, a thread of true life originating from the self had finally been born deep within that originally completely extinguished guixu star core!

Chen Feng's blood-stained fingers trembled as they gently brushed over that tiny starlight vortex, feeling the faint yet incredibly resilient pulse of life within. In his bloodshot eyes, a flame of wild hope finally ignited.

The spark of life had appeared, and the Star Marrow was in sight! However, the broken ark was about to capsize, the curse was eating his bones, and pursuers were at the door. Could this spark of hope grow into a prairie fire before the storm of destruction completely descended?