83: Silent Starfall, Throne of Ruins

Cold star fragments floated silently under his feet, like coffins drifting in the Cosmic Graveyard.

Chen Feng staggered to stand steady; every breath pulled at the tearing pain throughout his body.

The guixu fate wheel's solidity was barely maintained at 45%, and the Star Dome Eternal Burning Violet Flame only remained as a thin purple glow clinging to his skin surface, flickering like a candle in the wind.

The gray aura of the tribulation imprint lurked deep within his Divine Soul; although it had been heavily suppressed to 18.0%, that cold corrosive sensation was like a maggot in the bone, constantly reminding him that the shadow of death had not drifted far away.

Deeper within, the core of the guixu star core in his Dantian, where the light was equally dim, held that strange gray glow quietly suspended, emitting a cold aura that was even more ancient and dead than the Path of Slaughter.

Xingtian's final roar of unknown meaning—'Finally... found... you'—echoed in the depths of his Sea of Consciousness like a curse.

'What... exactly is that gray glow?' Su Wanzhao's weak but deeply worried thought came through; her spiritual light spots flickered slightly in the Star Vortex of the star core, equally shocked by the aura emitted by the gray glow, 'It feels to me... not like Xingtian's power... more like... some kind of... more essential 'End'...'

Chen Feng could not answer.

He could only force his mind away from that unsettling gray glow and cast his gaze toward his palm.

The light of the inheritance seal was dimmer than before, but the purple star point at its core still flickered stubbornly, transmitting a weak yet exceptionally clear directional pull, like a lighthouse on a dark sea, pointing far away to a deeper, darker direction of the Cosmic Graveyard.

'Go!' Chen Feng gritted his teeth and whispered again.

There was no way back; there was only moving forward, following this final guidance, perhaps only then could he find the answers regarding the gray glow, Xingtian, Zhang Shouzhuo, and the Star Dome Eternal Burning Violet Flame.

He no longer hesitated, forcefully pulling the remaining Star Dome Eternal Burning Violet Flame in his body, turning into a dim stream of light, following the guidance of the inheritance seal, and throwing himself into the depths of the darkness that seemed to be able to swallow everything.

The Void Realm was dead silent, with only eternal cold and destruction.

Huge star remains, shattered land plates, twisted metal structure fragments... like silent tombstones, drifting slowly in the darkness.

The aura of the Source of Annihilation was becoming thicker and thicker, viscous as if it were solid; every time he traveled through it, it felt like wading through a cold swamp, consuming the little strength he had left.

The Star Dome Eternal Burning Violet Flame burned weakly, struggling to convert the thin Source of Annihilation aura, maintaining the fate wheel so it wouldn't completely collapse, but the solidity was still slowly and firmly sliding—44.5%... 44%...

He didn't know how long had passed, maybe an instant, maybe ten thousand years.

In this zone where time and space had lost their meaning, the darkness ahead suddenly changed.

It was no longer pure nothingness, but... a 'waterfall'!

A 'waterfall' whose breadth and height could not be described, spanning the dark Void Realm!

But what it flowed with was not water, but... solidified time and shattered stars!

Countless unimaginably huge star remains were twisted and stretched by some irresistible great power, like frozen waterfall water, in a solidified posture, 'hanging' on the curtain of darkness!

These remains had different shapes; there were extinguished star cores, broken star rings, torn nebula dust... they were wrapped and frozen by a thick, viscous gray 'ice layer' that emitted absolute silence and the aura of the end of time!

On the surface of the gray ice layer flowed countless tiny silver-gray streams of light, like cracks in time, silently cutting everything that was frozen.

At the edge of this solidified 'waterfall', space presented a strange sense of distortion and fragmentation, like a shattered mirror.

Countless tiny space-time fragments, like sharp glass shards, floated and rotated silently in the Void Realm, emitting a deadly cutting aura.

Further away, the source of the 'waterfall' was hidden in deeper darkness, as if connecting to the place of the Universe's end.

A sense of ultimate fear of the end of time and the return of all things to silence, originating from the instinct of life, grabbed Chen Feng's mind like a cold tide.

Even that strange gray glow in his Dantian seemed to fluctuate slightly in this environment, emitting a trace of... an indescribable sense of 'comfort'? As if it had returned to some familiar environment!

[System Prompt: Entering the deep area of the Cosmic Graveyard—the edge of the Annihilation Star Waterfall. Environment: Time Law inertia (near freezing) | Space fragmentation: High risk | Concentration of Source of Annihilation: Disaster level! Extremely dangerous!]

The pull of the inheritance seal pointed surprisingly deep into the solidified Star Waterfall, at a huge star remain wrapped in a thick gray 'ice layer', with a volume comparable to a small planet!

'In there?' Chen Feng's heart sank.

Just approaching the edge of this Annihilation Star Waterfall, the viscous Source of Annihilation and the shattered space fragments had already made his already near-collapsing Star Dome Eternal Burning Violet Flame flicker and threaten to extinguish.

Going deep into it, entering the interior of that frozen remain? It was simply courting death!

'Annihilation... Star Waterfall...' Su Wanzhao's thought carried deep apprehension, 'The time here... is almost stagnant... space is also shattered beyond recognition... forcing a way in, with the slightest carelessness, one would be eternally frozen, or cut into nothingness by space fragments...'

Just as Chen Feng was weighing in his heart whether to take the risk—

Hum!

Deep in his Dantian, that dim guixu star core, in the center of its core Star Vortex Universe, that strange gray glow... without warning... jumped slightly!

A fluctuation, so weak it was almost imperceptible yet carried a strange rhythm, radiated from the gray glow.

This fluctuation was extremely special, not energy, but a kind of... 'frequency' at the level of Law!

Even stranger things happened!

As the fluctuation of the gray glow spread, at the edge of the Annihilation Star Waterfall ahead, those space fragments that were originally chaotic and emitted a deadly cutting aura, their chaotic and disordered rotation trajectories, actually... showed a trace of extremely subtle, fleeting regularity!

It was as if they were affected by a weak pull of some homologous frequency!

At the same time, deep in that thick gray 'ice layer' wrapping the target star remain, a tiny, extremely dim light spot that was almost integrated with the ice layer and carried a faint star vault aura, as if touched by the fluctuation of the gray glow, extremely weakly... flickered!

'Eh?!' Chen Feng and Su Wanzhao's thoughts were shocked at the same time!

The fluctuation of the gray glow... could influence the broken space Law at the edge of this Annihilation Star Waterfall? Even... could trigger the star vault aura hidden inside that remain?!

'This gray glow...' Su Wanzhao's voice was full of unbelievable suspicion.

'Gamble on it!' A purple light flashed in Chen Feng's eyes, and he made a decision instantly!

Xingtian's threat was like a thorn in his back, the injuries in his body could not be delayed, the guidance of the inheritance seal was the only clue, and this strange gray glow might be the only key to deep-diving into this desperate place!

He no longer hesitated, highly concentrating his mind, cautiously guiding that gray glow in his Dantian, attempting... to actively urge it to emit that kind of strange Law fluctuation!

Hum...

The gray glow seemed to 'wake up' for an instant, and a Law fluctuation clearer and more stable than before spread out like ripples.

It worked!

Ahead, those floating space fragments, the moment the ripples swept over their chaotic trajectories, a 'gap' appeared that was extremely fleeting but enough for one person to pass through!

And the gray ice layer wrapping the target remain, the faint star vault light spot inside it, also seemed to be stimulated, and the frequency of its flickering clearly accelerated slightly!

'Now!' Chen Feng shouted in a low voice, driving the remaining Star Dome Eternal Burning Violet Flame in his body to the limit, and the whole person turned into an extremely dim purple thin line sticking to the surface of the gray ice layer, passing with extreme precision through the space gap briefly opened by the gray glow's fluctuation, and slammed into the position where the flickering star vault light spot was located!

Chi—!

Like a red-hot iron needle inserted into solidified grease!

The moment the Star Dome Eternal Burning Violet Flame contacted the gray ice layer, a harsh melting sound was emitted!

The terrifying Annihilation and the power of the end of time contained in the ice layer were crazily corroding the already thin violet flame!

Severe pain instantly swept through his whole body, and the solidity of the fate wheel plummeted again—43%!

'Open for me!' Chen Feng's eyes were splitting, desperately urging the fluctuation of the gray glow, trying to interfere with the Law structure of the ice layer!

Hum!

The gray glow seemed to feel a strong external stimulus, and the fluctuation suddenly intensified!

The star vault light spot inside the target remain also erupted with unprecedented light!

Responding inside and out, the gray ice layer around Chen Feng's impact point actually showed a trace of extremely subtle... softening signs!

Poof!

Chen Feng's body, as if penetrating a layer of extremely viscous colloid, finally squeezed into the interior of the gray ice layer!

A more terrifying aura of absolute silence, as if even thinking was about to be frozen, instantly submerged him!

The Star Dome Eternal Burning Violet Flame was almost completely extinguished!

Just the moment his consciousness was about to be frozen—

Swish!

The view ahead suddenly opened up!

Inside the gray ice layer, it was not solid, but... a huge space that was frozen!

The pull of the inheritance seal became exceptionally clear here!

Chen Feng fell heavily to the ground, a thick layer of gray ice crystals instantly condensed on his body surface, and every heartbeat became extremely heavy and difficult.

He struggled to lift his head, the Star Dome Eternal Burning Violet Flame burned weakly, dispelling the ice crystals on his body surface, and his gaze was cast onto this space that was eternally frozen.

Dead silence.

Absolute dead silence, a hundred times worse than outside.

Time seemed to be completely solidified here, and even the dust maintained the posture of falling billions of years ago.

In the exact center of the space, it was not the expected planet core or ruin, but... a huge, tilted... throne covered with thick gray ice crystals!

This throne was cast entirely from a deep, dark blue star metal that seemed to be able to absorb all light; the style was ancient, heavy, and carried a sense of vicissitudes and aloofness that had gone through ten thousand calamities.

Its style, surprisingly, had an astonishing similarity to the collapsed main throne in the Star Dome Royal Court ruins... only the volume was slightly smaller, and the style was also slightly different, lacking a bit of the tyrannical power to rule the heavens, and having a bit more depth and introversion.

The throne was not vacant.

A huge skeleton sat quietly on it.

The skeleton was not humanoid; its bones presented a strange texture like the Fusion of crystal and star veins, with a dim star-blue halo circulating throughout its body.

The skeleton maintained a posture of leaning slightly forward, with both hands leaning on a huge broken sword.

That broken sword was deeply inserted into the frozen ground in front of the throne, the blade was equally dim and lusterless, full of cracks, but its residual sharp aura still made Chen Feng feel his skin sting.

The skull of the skeleton drooped, and its empty eye sockets stared forward, as if guarding something, and as if waiting for something.

A sense of unyielding Battle Intent and deep guarding obsession that had been solidified for ages, like a sleeping volcano, was frozen within this skeleton, and although it was silent, it was suffocatingly heavy.

And behind this skeleton throne, at the end of the space, on the wall covered with gray ice crystals, a huge crack that ran through the entire space was clearly visible!

At the edge of the crack, large patches of shocking dark red stains were solidified!

Those stains emitted an aura that Chen Feng was familiar with to the point of Soul trembling—Lu Dao Source Power! Pure and ancient!

As if some kind of terrifying power of destruction had once tried to completely tear and pollute this last sanctuary from here, but was forcibly blocked and frozen in the ice layer by some kind of power!

Xingtian! It had invaded this place!

Chen Feng's gaze focused sharply on the finger bones of the skeleton on the throne holding the broken sword!

There, a tiny, extremely weak, yet incomparably tenacious purple light spot, homologous to the core star point of the inheritance seal, was flickering stubbornly like a candle in the wind between the finger bones of the skeleton!

The source of the inheritance seal's pull was right here!

'Is it... summoning the inheritance seal?' Chen Feng's mind shook violently.

Who was this skeleton in its lifetime? What connection did the purple light between its finger bones have with the inheritance seal? What relationship did it have with Zhang Shouzhuo and the Star Dome Royal Court?

He endured the biting cold and the severe pain in his body, struggled to stand up, and walked step by step, with difficulty, toward the frozen skeleton throne.

Every step he took on the frozen ground made a tooth-aching 'crack' sound, leaving a footprint with a faint purple flame, which was then quickly covered by gray ice crystals.

The closer he got to the throne, the heavier the solidified guarding obsession and unyielding Battle Intent became.

Chen Feng seemed to see the tragic scene of this skeleton in its lifetime, sitting on the throne, holding a giant sword, facing the Lu Dao torrent that tore through space, fighting to the death without retreating, and finally freezing itself along with the invading Lu Dao Source Power here.

Just when he was only ten steps away from the throne skeleton—

Deep in his Dantian, that silent guixu star core, in the center of its core Star Vortex Universe, that strange gray glow... once again, without warning... fluctuated violently!

This time the fluctuation far exceeded the past!

It was no longer a weak ripple, but a tremor that was almost... excited!

The light of the gray glow was clearly a point brighter, and a colder, more dead silence aura permeated, as if it had been attracted by some kind of strong attraction!

The source of the attraction... was surprisingly behind the throne, deep in that huge crack contaminated by the Lu Dao Source Power!

Hum!!!

The violent fluctuation of the gray glow was like a huge rock thrown into dead water!

The entire frozen space, that dead silence that had been frozen for billions of years, was suddenly broken!

The weak purple light spot between the finger bones of the throne skeleton, as if frightened, flickered violently!

What was even more terrifying was that deep in the huge crack behind the throne, those solidified dark red Lu Dao Source Power stains... as if awakened by the fluctuation of the gray glow, actually... began to squirm slowly!

Like a sleeping poisonous snake opening its eyes!

A tyrannical, greedy, and destructive instinct-laden will, along the crack, like cold venom, instantly permeated!

'Roar—!!!'

A roar of intent, not from Xingtian but equally full of endless violence and greed, suddenly exploded from the depths of the crack!

This roar carried a kind of primitive hunger, and the target... was locked onto the point of violently fluctuating gray glow in Chen Feng's Dantian...!

'The seed... of the End... deep in... the star core... is... mine!!!'

Accompanied by this greedy roar, deep in the crack, the wriggling Lu Dao Source Power stains suddenly condensed!

A terrifying tentacle made of viscous dark red blood light, covered with barbs and suckers, with the terrifying power to tear frozen space, brazenly... pierced out from that huge crack!

Like a shark that smelled blood, ignoring the throne skeleton, ignoring the distance of space, with the greed to destroy everything, it grabbed fiercely toward the position of Chen Feng's Dantian...!

The target—pointing directly at that violently fluctuating gray glow!