74: Xingtian knocks on the steps, star seeds ignite the calamity.

The cold, chaotic, gray stairs, like the spine of the Universe, extended silently toward the dark gold throne piled with star skeletons at the core of the Hall of Fate Wheel.

The stairs were made of solidified star Origin, each level flowing with ancient and profound Dao patterns, emitting a heavy pressure of rules.

Chen Feng stepped onto them, the biting cold and the sensation of rule erosion reaching his Soul coming from beneath his feet, as if every step was taken on the blade of time.

Deep within his Dantian, the newly born guixu fate wheel roared and operated.

The vortex, with a solidity stable at 60%, rotated slowly.

On its dark and deep spiral arms, Guixu Dao patterns and star veins intertwined and flowed, emitting a majestic Concept that encompassed birth and destruction.

At the core, the star seed that had fused the Origin Point of Returning Ruins with Su Wanzhao's true will emitted a warm yet tenacious light, like the heart of the fate wheel, pumping out brand-new power with every beat, supporting Chen Feng as he struggled forward under this terrifying pressure.

Beside the tribulation imprint on his chest, that faint starlight flickered slightly with Chen Feng's climb, like breathing in sleep.

With every step Chen Feng took, he could seemingly feel the malicious peeping of the cold throb (20.8%) deep within the imprint, as well as the resentful "gaze" from the throne phantom high above, which was suppressed by the rules but still felt like thorns on his back.

"Legacy... path... bearing... Guixu... star seed... compatibility... improvement..." The grand and cold rule will echoed in Chen Feng's consciousness like background noise, guiding the direction of the stairs' extension.

At the end of the stairs, beneath the dark gold throne, a chaotic, gray, and constantly shifting ball of Origin light was condensing, emitting a heart-palpitating aura of rules—that was the inheritance seal!

However, as the stairs extended, the pressure Chen Feng endured surged geometrically!

The rule pressure at the core of the Hall of Fate Wheel was like an invisible hammer weighing billions of jun, repeatedly tempering and squeezing his body and dao foundation.

Every time he lifted his foot, it was like pulling it out of solidified star amber; every time he set it down, it was accompanied by the groans of his bones under the unbearable load and the excruciating pain of his Divine Soul being scraped by the rule chisel.

The guixu fate wheel operated more and more sluggishly, the profound Dao patterns on the spiral arms flickering, the solidity struggling to maintain at the critical point of 60%, no longer rising.

The light of the star seed also appeared slightly dim under the heavy pressure.

The throb of the tribulation imprint, however, became clearer and more powerful!

It was like a hungry wolf that had caught the scent of blood, lurking on the side, waiting for the moment its prey exhausted its strength.

"Ugh..." Dark red blood spilled from the corners of Chen Feng's mouth again, and a tearing pain came from his Dantian.

He looked up at the throne and the inheritance light ball that were still out of reach, a flame of unyielding spirit burning in his eyes.

The will to protect the star seed supported him, and every step was taken with immense firmness.

In his Sea of Consciousness, the newly condensed Fate Wheel Phantom rotated slowly, resisting the torrent of rule information.

Just as he climbed to the middle of the stairs, still a long distance from the inheritance light ball, and his mind and dao foundation were under extreme pressure—

Hum!!!

The tribulation imprint on his chest erupted with unprecedented, blinding blood light without warning!

This time, the blood light was no longer purely dark red; at its core, countless fine, twisted, ancient Path of Slaughter runes, seemingly condensed from the wails of billions of living beings, actually emerged!

A terrifying will, far more ancient, purer, and more tyrannical than the tribulation remnant soul, suddenly awakened from the depths of the imprint like a world-destroying demon that had slept for billions of eons!

"Ant... body... actually... bearing... Guixu... star seed..."

"Such... fortune... should... be... my... Xingtian's... foundation... for... return!"

A grand will, filled with endless majesty, slaughter, and greed, crashed into Chen Feng's crumbling consciousness like a war drum that opened the heavens and the earth!

This will was domineering and unparalleled, carrying the supreme spirit to sever eternity and reset the Universe!

Compared to it, the tribulation remnant soul was like a firefly before the bright moon!

Xingtian's Will! What was sleeping in the depths of this imprint was not a tribulation remnant soul at all!

It was the Origin Ancestor of the Path of Slaughter—the fragment of Xingtian's Will—who had fallen at the beginning of the Path of Slaughter era, but whose will imprint had polluted the heavens and the myriad worlds!

"Xing... tian?!" Chen Feng's mind shook violently, as if struck by ten thousand bolts of lightning!

Punishment Calamity... Xingtian... So the source of the Path of Slaughter curse was actually this terrifying existence from legend who had long since perished!

The Punishment Calamity was merely his insignificant lackey!

"Roar—!"

The roar of Xingtian's Will was like a world-destroying storm!

It didn't bother to erode and pollute like the tribulation remnant soul!

What it wanted was... absolute control and Possession!

Hum!

The blood light erupting from the imprint instantly transformed into billions of solid Path of Slaughter blood runes!

These blood runes were no longer attacking Chen Feng's Divine Soul or dao foundation, but were like the most tyrannical battering rams, ignoring all of Chen Feng's defenses and branding themselves fiercely onto the nascent Fate Wheel Phantom in his Sea of Consciousness!

Every time a blood rune landed, it was accompanied by the terrifying roar of Xingtian's Will, forcibly rewriting and covering the profound Guixu and star Dao patterns on the Fate Wheel Phantom!

Even more terrifying was the Dantian!

The newly born guixu fate wheel vortex was forcibly invaded by an irresistible power of the Slaughter Dao Origin!

This power carried the absolute Dominator intent of Xingtian's Will, like hot lava pouring into an ice lake, crazily scouring and twisting the trajectory of the guixu fate wheel!

It wanted to forcibly twist Chen Feng's newly born guixu star seed fate wheel into a wheel of slaughter that would bear Xingtian's Slaughter Dao will!

"Your... shell... your... dao foundation... all... are... my... spoils!" Xingtian's Will was full of unquestionable tyranny, "Guixu... star seed... Slaughter Dao... should... be... one!"

Boom!!!

Chen Feng's body felt as if it had been thrown into a furnace of the Path of Slaughter!

The Fate Wheel Phantom in his Sea of Consciousness was crazily covered and rewritten by blood-colored runes, emitting unbearable wails!

The guixu fate wheel vortex in his Dantian twisted and deformed violently under the scouring of the Slaughter Dao Origin, the profound Dao patterns on the spiral arms were forcibly erased, and hideous Path of Slaughter runes were engraved in their place!

The solidity plummeted from 60% to 50%!

The light of the star seed dimmed rapidly under the suppression of the Slaughter Dao will, and Su Wanzhao's true light emitted a painful cry!

"No! Don't even think about it!" Chen Feng's eyes split, and a desperate roar erupted from the depths of his Soul!

The obsession to protect the star seed became the final barrier!

He crazily drove the Fate Wheel Phantom in his Sea of Consciousness, trying to expel the branded blood runes; he desperately reversed the guixu vortex in his Dantian, trying to purify the invading Slaughter Dao Origin!

But the gap was too large!

The terror of Xingtian's Will was far beyond imagination!

The branded blood runes were like maggots on the bone, and his resistance was like an ant trying to shake a tree!

The guixu fate wheel was forcibly twisted, and the star seed's cry was like a blade piercing his heart!

The recovery progress of the tribulation imprint, under the guidance of Xingtian's Will, was like a runaway horse, instantly breaking through 25%!

The dark red lines, like living thorns, spread and tightened crazily under his skin!

"Give up... resistance... merge... into... my dao... bestow... upon... you... supreme... slaughter... authority..." Xingtian's Will carried seduction and coercion, like a heavy hammer, repeatedly pounding on Chen Feng's crumbling consciousness.

Just as Chen Feng's consciousness was about to be completely submerged by Xingtian's Will and his dao foundation was about to be completely twisted—

Hum!

The faint starlight on his chest, immediately adjacent to the tribulation imprint, suddenly erupted with unprecedented, pure light!

This light was not blinding, but it carried a warmth and tenacity that penetrated all filth and darkness!

At the core of the starlight, that light belonging to Su Wanzhao's true will, under the dual stimulation of Chen Feng's near-death shout of protective will and the terrifying pressure of Xingtian's Will, finally... completely Awakening, like a Phoenix driven to a desperate situation!

"Chen... Feng..."

A faint but extremely clear call, carrying endless pain and determination, rang directly in the depths of Chen Feng's Soul like thunder traversing time and space!

Immediately following, that pure starlight ignored the crazy throbbing of the tribulation imprint and the spreading dark red lines, turning into a stream of starlight condensed to the extreme, voluntarily and unhesitatingly... piercing through the barrier of space, and instantly merged into the depths of Chen Feng's Dantian—the core of the guixu fate wheel vortex that was being crazily twisted by Xingtian's Slaughter Dao power and where the star seed was crying!

"With... my... star seed... as... the lead... ignite... Guixu Tribulation Fire!"

Su Wanzhao's determined will, like a final war song, resounded through Chen Feng's dao foundation!

Boom!!!

The moment that pure starlight was cast into the core of the guixu fate wheel vortex and fused with the suppressed star seed body!

It was like throwing ice water into boiling oil! No, it was like throwing a spark into a gunpowder keg!

In the Dantian, the guixu fate wheel vortex that had been forcibly twisted by Xingtian's Slaughter Dao power and covered in hideous runes, the star seed at its core—which had fused Chen Feng's Origin Point of Returning Ruins and Su Wanzhao's true will—suddenly erupted with unprecedentedly brilliant light after receiving this homologous and pure starlight!

This light was no longer gentle starlight, but... burning! It was a scorching white flame that burned everything!

A Guixu Tribulation Fire that originated from the depths of Guixu's extinction, fused with the anger of the star Origin and the obsession of protection, erupted from the core of the star seed!

Sizzle sizzle sizzle—!!!

Like a red-hot branding iron thrown into ice and snow! The power of the Slaughter Dao Origin that was crazily eroding and twisting the guixu fate wheel, in front of this suddenly erupted Guixu Tribulation Fire, was like meeting an absolute natural enemy!

The domineering and unparalleled Path of Slaughter runes emitted shrill wails, instantly ignited, burned, and purified by the scorching white Tribulation Fire!

The filthy dark red light, like ink dripped into a furnace, instantly vaporized and dissipated!

"Ah—!! Ant! How dare you!" Xingtian's Will emitted a terrifying roar of shock and anger!

It felt that the Slaughter Dao Origin it had injected was being crazily burned and destroyed by this weird Tribulation Fire!

Seize this opportunity!

Chen Feng's protective will, which had been suppressed to the limit, was injected with infinite courage and power!

He seized this fleeting counterattack gap created by the star seed igniting the tribulation, and his will, like a giant axe opening the heavens, slashed fiercely at the Fate Wheel Phantom in his Sea of Consciousness that was covered by Xingtian's blood runes!

"Guixu... fate wheel... how can... you... filthy... things... touch!"

"Universe... star seed... ignite tribulation... purify the world!"

Hum—!!!

In the Sea of Consciousness, the Fate Wheel Phantom covered by blood-colored runes saw the light of the star seed at its core suddenly blaze!

The burning Guixu Tribulation Fire erupted from the core of the phantom, spreading crazily along the trajectory of the fate wheel!

Wherever it passed, the domineering and hideous Xingtian Slaughter Dao blood runes, as if meeting their nemesis, emitted "sizzling" annihilation sounds, and were forcibly burned, stripped, and turned into nothingness by the Tribulation Fire!

In the Dantian, the guixu fate wheel vortex, under the baptism of the Guixu Tribulation Fire, was like a Phoenix reborn from the ashes!

The twisted trajectory was forcibly corrected!

The erased Guixu and star Dao patterns lit up again, becoming more profound and deeper!

On the spiral arms, the Tribulation Fire flowed, burning away all filth!

The solidity soared from 50% to 65% in an instant!

The pressure it emitted carried the majesty of purifying the world and the majesty of Rebirth!

The tribulation imprint on Chen Feng's chest throbbed and flickered crazily!

Xingtian's Will emitted an angry and unwilling roar under the burning and destruction of the Guixu Tribulation Fire!

The recovery progress of the imprint was forcibly knocked back to 23%!

The spreading dark red lines, like scalded poisonous snakes, retracted suddenly!

"star seed... ignite tribulation... threat... level... transition..." The grand rule will of the Hall of Fate Wheel sounded again, and for the first time, a trace of imperceptible "fluctuation" appeared in the cold announcement, "Legacy... core... access... permission... upgraded... stairs... reconstructed..."

Hum!

The direction of the cold, chaotic, gray stairs beneath Chen Feng's feet suddenly changed!

It no longer pointed toward the inheritance light ball beneath the dark gold throne, but... pierced straight into the depths of the chaotic, gray Origin sea that was boiling and running wild ahead!

At the end of the stairs, it was near the core source where countless indiscriminately raging annihilation light beams erupted!

A staircase made of solidified star Origin, but burning with faint Guixu Tribulation Fire, appeared under Chen Feng's feet like a path of redemption opened in the storm of destruction!

At the end of the stairs, near the source of the annihilation light beams, a chaotic, gray light ball, more condensed and ancient than before, was condensing—that was the true, core inheritance seal recognized by the rule will of the Hall of Fate Wheel!

The roar of Xingtian's Will exploded in the direction of the throne, full of fury at being played by the rules.

The suppressed body of the throne phantom fluctuated violently, but it could not stop the reconstruction of the stairs.

Chen Feng looked down at the fate wheel core in his Dantian that was burning with Guixu Tribulation Fire and roaring, and felt the starlight on his chest that was temporarily silent due to the star seed igniting the tribulation, yet incredibly tenacious.

Tribulation Fire burned his body, and the path ahead pointed directly to the source of annihilation.

The Legacy was right before his eyes, and it was also the final test.

He no longer hesitated, stepped on the burning stairs, and resolutely moved toward the core of the destruction storm!