62: The stars light up the lamps, and the laws lock the soul

The star dome ark drifted in the relatively calm currents of the Star Marrow Sea, its hull like weathered bone gnawed by a Vicious Beast, covered in hideous fissures. The light of its protective imprint flickered weakly at a 10% threshold; each gentle caress of the energy tide made this final barrier ripple like water, as if it might extinguish completely at any moment. The 85% damage level hung like a blade overhead, and the self-destruct mechanism of the nirvana star dome fragment could be triggered at any time, turning these ruins and the hope they carried into cosmic dust.

Inside the cabin, Chen Feng sat cross-legged beside Su Wanzhao, his aura feeble, each breath pulling at the excruciating pain of tearing Meridians. Forcing the Primal Fate Wheel to clash head-on with the Star Marrow Giant Whale had nearly emptied his recently stabilized dao foundation. Within his Dantian, the nascent Nascent Primal Fate Wheel Phantasm was dull and dark, covered in fine cracks, its rotation sluggish, its solidity having plummeted from over 50% to 43%. The four-colored Origin circulated with difficulty within the disk, especially the dark red Chaos Fire Core. Its proportion had rebounded to 39.2% due to excessive extraction, its violent, incinerating intent clinging like a bone-deep maggot, constantly eroding the disk's balance and bringing waves of Soul-searing pain. The projection of the primal disk in his Sea of Consciousness was on the verge of collapse, leaving only a faint outline.

More deadly was the Punishment Calamity imprint on his chest. The dark red mark pulsed like a living thing, each beat bringing a malicious burning deep into his marrow. The revival progress of the tribulation remnant soul had quietly broken through the 15% barrier, stimulated by the earlier extreme outburst! A cold, brutal will, filled with endless slaughter and greed, licked at Chen Feng's Soul with increasing clarity through the curse's link, like a serpent's tongue, probing the secrets of the Fate Wheel, whispering curses of destruction: 'Fate Wheel... delicious... belongs to me... Star Marrow Sea... your tomb...' The curse's erosion rate, actively catalyzed by Punishment Calamity's will, had increased from +0.7% per hour to +0.85% per hour! The dark red patterns spread slowly but relentlessly beneath Chen Feng's skin, like ink drops in clear water.

Yet, Chen Feng's gaze was locked on Su Wanzhao's chest.

At the center of the charred hollow, a faint but pure point of starlight shone stubbornly, like a lone lamp lit in endless darkness. It was a newly born, tiny stellar vortex! It rotated slowly, emitting a weak but tangible suction. Under the faint protection of Chen Feng's Primal Fate Wheel aura, the most pristine specks of stellar Dao principles drifting in the Star Marrow Sea were being drawn by this suction. Like fireflies returning home, they crossed the Star Marrow Sea's natural repulsion barrier strand by strand, thread by thread, gathering with great difficulty and merging into the charred remnants of the star core.

The process was excruciatingly slow, like water dripping through stone. With each infusion of Star Marrow Origin, Su Wanzhao's body trembled almost imperceptibly, like dormant deadwood sensing the first drop of spring rain. On her paper-pale face, the aura of death seemed to have been pried open by a hair-thin crack. A faint, almost dissipated pulse of life, like a seed slumbering underground for eons, struggled to beat once under the nourishment of the starlight.

**It's working! The Star Marrow is gestating life!** Chen Feng's blood-stained lips twisted into a near-ferocious grin, his eyes burning with madness and hope. Enduring the dual agony of his Divine Soul and flesh, he focused his last shred of concentration completely into the Fate Wheel in his Dantian. His will, like the most precise engraving tool, guided the newly born, equally dim starlight Origin, carefully separating a thread of its purest 'life' Concept. Like nurturing a newborn sprout, he slowly channeled it into the stellar vortex on Su Wanzhao's chest.

Hmm...

Upon receiving this starlight from the same source but more primordial Fate Wheel, the tiny vortex seemed to spin a fraction faster, its suction imperceptibly strengthening. More specks of starlight were drawn. Though this trickle was still a drop in the bucket for rebuilding the nirvana star dome, this active 'sucking,' this newborn 'spark,' was a ray of hope more precious than any Divine Pill! It signified that deep within Su Wanzhao's dormant dao foundation, her own most fundamental life force, originating from the nirvana guixu star core, had finally been truly awakened!

'Faster... faster...' Chen Feng roared silently in his heart, like a gambler who had lost everything, staking his last chips—the starlight Origin that barely maintained his own Fate Wheel's operation—continuously, recklessly channeling it into the tiny vortex. The starlight at the core of his own Fate Wheel Phantom dimmed further, the cracks on the disk seeming to deepen. The burning pain of the Punishment Calamity imprint seized the chance to intensify, the remnant Soul's cruel laughter echoing in his mind: 'Burn... insect... your Foundation... will be my sustenance...'

Time passed silently in the tug-of-war between hope and despair. The star dome ark drifted in the Star Marrow currents, drawing closer to the sensed region of the densest, most ancient Star Marrow Origin core. The vast fluctuations emanating from that core region drew the ark like a magnet, also attracting the stellar vortex on Su Wanzhao's chest, which yearned for new life.

However, fate is never generous.

Just as Chen Feng focused entirely on maintaining that spark of hope, and the star dome ark was about to be carried by the currents into a magnificent region composed of countless massive Star Marrow crystals, resembling undersea mountains—

Hmm!

A cold, absolute will, imbued with indisputable order and judgment, like an icy probe traversing endless time and space, suddenly pierced the relatively calm Dao principle barrier of the Star Marrow Sea!

Celestial Court Edict Heavenly Net! Full-domain scan!

This scan was no longer the vague, sweeping perception from before! Its intensity and precision had increased more than tenfold! The cold, merciless will, like a solid beam of light, instantly locked onto the star dome ark, or more precisely, onto the Punishment Calamity curse imprint on Chen Feng's chest, which shone like a dark beacon!

'High-priority fugitive target detected! Coordinates locked! Path of Slaughter pollution source confirmed! Threat level: Annihilation!' A wave of emotionless mental information, like the grating of cold metal, pierced the ark's broken protective barrier directly, echoing in the depths of Chen Feng and Su Wanzhao's consciousness!

Immediately after, the space of the Star Marrow Sea directly ahead of the star dome ark distorted violently without warning! Not the energy eruption born from a life instinct like the Star Marrow Giant Whale, but a higher-level, colder tearing at the level of rules!

Ssshhhrrrkkk—!

Three slender, regular spatial rifts, edges flowing with cold platinum light, as if slashed open by an invisible divine sword, formed imposingly amidst the boiling liquid stellar Dao principles! Deep within the rifts was not Void Realm turbulence, but a surging torrent of pure energy composed of countless dense Edict runes! Each of these runes represented the ironclad Laws of the Immortal Court's order, radiating a supreme will of confinement, judgment, and obliteration!

Platinum light erupted from the rifts, instantly dispelling the Star Marrow Sea's magnificent deep blue radiance! The bows of three behemoths, like steel sharks breaking the water's surface, emerged slowly from the rifts, carrying a terrifying pressure that could crush all Daos!

Their hulls were not metal but forged from some solidified, coldly gleaming platinum crystal, sharply angular, lines filled with absolute geometric beauty, devoid of any superfluous ornamentation. On the massive hull surfaces, countless dense, ant-like Edict runes flowed and combined like living things, forming layered defensive and amplification arrays. The main cannon muzzles on the bows were not physical but energy vortices composed of countless rotating Edict runes, radiating an aura of annihilation!

The three warships hovered in a triangular formation before the star dome ark, like three icy platinum divine mountains casting shadows of death. Their size was not larger than the Star Marrow Giant Whale, but the pressure they exuded was purer, more suffocating—the natural suppression of absolute order over Chaos, the contempt of higher rules for lower Laws!

On the bridge of the lead warship, a figure materialized clearly. It was not a flesh-and-blood body but more like a human-shaped silhouette composed of highly condensed Edict runes. It wore majestic armor formed from flowing platinum runes. Its face had no features, only a rotating, profound vortex of Edicts, seemingly capable of directly perceiving a target's Soul essence and rule flaws. In its hand, it held a slender, straight scepter completely formed from Edict runes, its tip pointing at the star dome ark.

A cold, utterly emotionless voice pierced all barriers, sounding directly in the depths of Chen Feng's Soul, carrying an irrevocable tone of judgment:

'Criminal Chen Feng, bearing the heavy sin imprint of the Punishment Calamity Path of Slaughter, polluting the order of all realms.'

'According to Chapter 371 of the Immortal Court's Supreme Edicts, the Path of Slaughter Pollution Source Elimination Statute, immediate obliteration is decreed.'

'Resistance adds to the crime. Oblivion is the only destination.'

The moment the words fell, the vortex of Edicts at the tip of the lead Edict Enforcer's scepter suddenly blazed with piercing platinum light! A chain-like phantom, completely composed of dense Edict runes, slender as a needle, moving faster than thought, ignored the obstruction of the Star Marrow Sea's violent Dao principles and the star dome ark's remaining protective imprint. It instantly pierced space, stabbing directly at the space between Chen Feng's eyebrows!

**Edict Soul-Shackling Needle!**

This needle was not a physical attack but acted directly on the essence of the Divine Soul and the imprint of life! Once pierced and locked by it, the target's life imprint would be thoroughly anchored, analyzed, and ultimately irreversibly erased at the rule level by the Celestial Court Edict Heavenly Net! This was one of the coldest, most efficient methods used by the Immortal Court to pursue major criminals!

The cold of death was more piercing than the Star Marrow Sea's frigid Dao principles! More despairing than Punishment Calamity's curse!

Chen Feng's pupils contracted sharply, every hair on his body standing on end! An unprecedented sense of crisis doused him like ice water! The Primal Fate Wheel Phantom within him, stimulated by this pure attack targeting the Soul and life essence, emitted a cry on the verge of shattering! The four-colored Origins clashed wildly under the threat of death, the Chaos Fire Core's violence almost breaking free!

Unavoidable! Unblockable! This was judgment at the rule level!

At this critical moment, the instant before his Divine Soul was about to be pierced by the Edict Soul-Shackling Needle—

Another anomaly erupted!

The Punishment Calamity curse imprint on Chen Feng's chest, that dark red mark, suddenly erupted with unprecedented blinding light! An aura of Slaughter Dao Origin, far more ancient, pure, and profound than Punishment Calamity's own remnant will, as if a primordial Vicious Beast had been awakened from slumber, burst forth violently from the depths of the imprint!

This aura was filled with the ultimate Concepts of destruction, slaughter, and ending all things, standing in natural opposition to the Immortal Court Edict's cold order and judgment, like fire and water!

'Roar—!'

A roar originating from the Soul level, filled with endless brutality and fury—not from the tribulation remnant soul, but from the Slaughter Dao Origin deep within the imprint, stimulated into awakening! The dark red light instantly condensed, forming a blade of Slaughter Dao essence refined to the extreme, seemingly capable of severing Karma and ending Reincarnation. It met the incoming platinum Edict Soul-Shackling Needle head-on in a violent collision!

BOOM—!!!

A silent explosion at the Soul level!

Platinum and dark red light collided violently mere inches before the space between Chen Feng's eyebrows! No material shockwave, only pure annihilation at the rule level! Order and Chaos, judgment and slaughter, two diametrically opposed supreme Dao principles clashed and annihilated frantically within that tiny space! Scattered rule fragments swept through Chen Feng's Sea of Consciousness and Divine Soul like an intangible storm!

'Argh—!' Chen Feng cried out as if pierced by ten thousand blades, a shrill shriek not of this world! What sprayed from his seven orifices was no longer just blood, but a mist of intertwined dark red and platinum light mixed with Soul Power fragments! He felt his Soul thrown into the most violent rule millstone, being torn and ground by two supreme forces! The Primal Fate Wheel Phantom trembled violently, its core starlight flickering rapidly, the cracks on the disk visibly widening!

The Punishment Calamity imprint pulsed madly. The dark red Slaughter Dao Origin roared, fighting against the Immortal Court Edict while also greedily, frantically attempting to follow the trajectory of the Edict Soul-Shackling Needle to corrode the Edict Enforcer's core! Punishment Calamity's remnant will within issued a mixed shriek of ecstasy and agony: 'Origin... awakened... devour... Edict... delicious... Hahaha!' The revival progress instantly skyrocketed to 17.3%!

The Edict Enforcer of the Immortal Court, the vortex of Edicts that formed its 'face,' fluctuated violently for the first time! Clearly, the eruption of this ancient Slaughter Dao Origin power from deep within the Punishment Calamity imprint exceeded its expectations!

The stalemate at the rule level lasted only an instant.

The next moment, the slender Edict Soul-Shackling Needle, under the Crazy Hedging of the Slaughter Dao blade, ultimately failed to completely penetrate this unexpected obstacle. Its tip shattered explosively a hair's breadth from Chen Feng's brow, scattering into countless flying platinum rule fragments!

But the price Chen Feng paid was devastating! His body went limp, collapsing to the floor, his consciousness sinking into a semi-comatose haze. His Divine Soul was like torn rags, the Fate Wheel Phantom teetering, its core starlight as weak as a candle in the wind. The Punishment Calamity imprint was seared deep into his chest like a branding iron, the dark red patterns spreading faster, the erosion rate soaring to +1.1% per hour!

Ahead of the star dome ark, the Edict Enforcer's cold vortex 'face' turned toward Chen Feng. Its emotionless voice sounded again, now carrying an unmistakable killing intent:

'High-concentration uncontained Slaughter Dao Origin detected within the target! Threat level elevated to

Terminus

'!''

'Elimination directive upgraded! Executing... Law!'

The main cannon muzzles of the three platinum Edict warships, those energy vortices composed of rotating Edict runes, instantly blazed with light intense enough to blind stars! Destructive energy gathered crazyly within! The Star Marrow Sea's violent Dao principles were forcibly pushed aside and suppressed before this absolute power of order!

The countdown to death began ticking in seconds! The star dome ark's remaining 10% protective imprint, under the The upcoming Celestial Judgment light, was destined to vaporize instantly, like thin ice under a scorching sun!

In this desperate situation, the tiny stellar vortex on Su Wanzhao's chest, seemingly sensing the world-ending energy gathering outside and Chen Feng's Near death crisis, suddenly accelerated its rotation! Like a cornered beast pushed to the limit, it emitted a silent, instinctual shriek of life!

Hmm—!

A weak but Extremely pure fluctuation of stellar Dao principles erupted from the vortex's center—not an attack, but like the most precise coordinate beacon. It instantly pierced through the 'undersea mountain range' of massive Star Marrow crystals ahead, shooting toward the deepest core of the mountain range!

Almost at the same instant!

RUMBLE—!!!

The entire Star Marrow Sea seemed to be thoroughly enraged!