Seclusion for healing, the origin of stars

Cold. Dead silence. Boundless darkness and heaviness.

This was the deepest part of the earthly veins, their most primitive state. There was no light, no sound; only ancient, unchanging rock and the slow-flowing, complex, and heavy Earth Vein Essence Qi.

A faint, nearly extinguished halo of dark light enveloped a cracked, dim, crystal-like dao seed, floating slowly in this absolute darkness, like a spark that had miraculously survived a violent storm.

It was the shattered Origin of Nightmare's Demonic Star dao seed, containing his last, extremely weak shred of consciousness.

The power of the Heavenly Dao Envoy's enraged palm strike had almost completely erased him from the world. His Physical Body was destroyed, his Divine Soul severely injured. If not for the fact that at the last moment, he had used his newly comprehended "Star Reversal" to distort the fatal damage within a tiny radius, and instinctually drove his dao seed to unleash "Demonic Star Annihilation," forcibly swallowing a portion of Lin Hao's scattered, pure Heavenly Destiny Origin (though most was promptly taken or purified by the power of the Heavenly Dao), he would have been utterly annihilated by now, turning into dust along with Lin Hao.

Even so, his current state was dire. The dao seed was on the verge of shattering, and the integrated star dao fruit Origin within was dormant due to excessive extraction. His remaining consciousness was like a candle in the wind, liable to dissipate completely at any moment.

Time lost its meaning here. Who knew how much time had passed? It could have been an instant, or a hundred years.

Inside the shattered dao seed, a tiny, faint silver glimmer, like a long-dormant star, began to light up with difficulty and slowness.

It was the last trace of spiritual intelligence from the star dao fruit's Origin, autonomously triggered upon sensing its Host's consciousness was about to perish.

The silver light, like the gentlest stream, flowed over the dense cracks on the dao seed. Where it passed, the cracks did not immediately heal, but seemed to be injected with a strange "adhesive," stopping the trend of further collapse. At the same time, strands of incomparably pure "Power of the Star Origin," filled with vitality and eternal meaning, seeped out from the dormant silver light cluster at the very core of the dao seed.

This was not the Power of the Stars used for attack or enhancing Divine Ability, but the most fundamental "Life Origin" of the star dao fruit, the most precious healing and reshaping power left behind by the Lord of the Stars.

As this trace of Origin seeped out, the faint dark halo (remaining Star Demon Flame and complex energy) enveloping the dao seed seemed attracted and nourished. It began to rotate and contract slowly, actively absorbing the thin and complex Yin Qi, residual Devilish Qi, and even some shattered soul fragments scattered in the surrounding earthly veins. Under the adjustment and refining of the Power of the Star Origin, these were converted into the most basic energy nutrients, feeding back into the broken dao seed.

This was an extremely slow and painful process.

Every flow of the Power of the Star Origin was accompanied by tearing pain at the level of consciousness; that was the Divine Soul being forcibly bonded and reshaped. Every time it swallowed and refined external complex energy, it was like swallowing scalding sand, causing secondary impacts on the fragile dao seed.

But Nightmare's remaining shred of consciousness maintained a cold, almost inhuman resilience and clarity. No complaints, no fear, not even much emotional fluctuation, only the purest, most extreme desire to survive and obsession to become stronger.

"Cannot die..."

"The Heavenly Dao is not yet destroyed... The vengeance is not yet avenged... The Dao is not yet formed..."

"Recover... Become stronger... Tear open this sky!"

These simple thoughts were like the strongest anchor, fixing his about-to-drift-away Divine Soul, driving him with astonishing willpower, combined with the Star Origin, to begin this long and painful journey of reshaping.

In the depths of the earthly veins, there was no cycle of sun and moon, only eternal silence.

That broken dao seed was like the most precise furnace and workshop. The Power of the Star Origin was the most skilled physician and craftsman, Nightmare's will was the eternal furnace fire, and the endless (though thin) complex energy and soul fragments in the earthly veins were the "Materials" needed for repair.

First, the dao seed itself was repaired. The hideous cracks slowly closed and disappeared under the infiltration of the Power of the Star Origin and the forced suppression of Nightmare's will. The shape of the dao seed gradually recovered from a near-shattered crystal into a miniature star, slowly rotating with nebulae swirling inside, though its color remained dim.

Next was the reshaping of the Divine Soul. Nourished by the Power of the Star Origin, that weak consciousness, like parched land receiving rain, began to grow and solidify bit by bit. Broken memory fragments were pieced back together, and the damaged intelligence gradually recovered clarity. This process was accompanied by countless memory flashbacks and Heart Demon disturbances: the flames of the Xuan Tian Sect's destruction in his past life, the slaughter at the Bone Burial Abyss in this life, the horror on Lin Hao's face before death, the Heavenly Dao Envoy's giant palm... These images assaulted his mind, but he kept a single point of clarity, turning all distractions, pain, and hatred into firewood for tempering his Divine Soul.

Then, it was the reconstruction and evolution of the power System.

The Power of the Star Origin not only repaired but also subtly transformed. The original Demonic Star Flame, after fusing with more and purer Star Origin, underwent a further metamorphosis. The base color of the flames remained the deep color of the starry sky, but the "stars" burning within were more real and condensed. They no longer seemed like phantoms, but like true miniature star cores possessing complete star Laws! At the edges of the flames, silver starlight flowed like a river, emitting an aura that was both eternally annihilating and filled with endless vitality—contradictory yet harmonious.

The Star Demon Flame was completely formed! Its essence was infinitely close to the Star Holy Flame controlled by the Lord of the Stars back then (though it leaned towards the destructive side due to Nightmare's Demonic Path Foundation), and its effect of restraining and eroding the power of the Heavenly Dao's order reached a new height.

With the repair of the dao seed, the reshaping of the Divine Soul, and the evolution of the Demonic Flame, Nightmare's cultivation also began to soar naturally in this process of breaking and rebuilding, nourished by the Origin!

The barrier of the Late-Stage Transformation Spirit had long since loosened in the previous life-and-death battle, and now, pushed by the vast Power of the Star Origin, it shattered with a boom!

His aura climbed steadily, quickly stabilizing at the Peak of the Late-Stage Transformation Spirit, and without the slightest pause, continued to charge towards that higher level, which represented the theoretical limit of Cultivators in this realm—Peak Spirit Transformation!

In the depths of the earthly veins, an invisible energy storm formed with him as the center. More Earth Vein Essence Qi, deeper Yin evil power, and even mineral essences buried underground for countless years were forcibly extracted, gathered into the furnace composed of the Star Origin and Demonic Flame, and refined into the purest cultivation resources.

No Bottleneck, no obstacles. This near-death injury and total Fusion with the Star Origin seemed to have cleared his Ren and Du meridians for cultivation advancement. Everything appeared so natural.

Finally, when the last shred of complex energy was refined and absorbed, the Power of the Star Origin also completed its initial cycle of stabilization.

Hum—!

A vast, deep, terrifying aura, carrying the dual connotations of the eternal starry sky and the domineering nature of the Demonic Path, burst forth from the depths of the earthly veins, but it was firmly bound by the thick strata and did not leak a single bit.

Peak Spirit Transformation! Achieved!

Nightmare opened his "eyes" (consciousness perception), which had been closed for who knew how long, abruptly.

It was no longer vision relying on the Physical Body, but a higher-level Origin vision based on the Divine Soul and dao seed. He could clearly "see" his current state—a perfectly stable, rotating dao seed containing a sea of stars, with eternal Demonic Flame flowing on its surface; a condensed, powerful Divine Soul filled with vitality; and the "Star Demon Flame" around his body that seemed capable of burning rules and annihilating all Laws.

Power! Unprecedented powerful strength flowed in his body! It was more than ten times stronger than when he was at the Late-Stage Transformation Spirit! He even had an illusion that if he faced that palm strike from the Heavenly Dao Envoy again, although he would still be unmatched, he would at least have more room to maneuver, and perhaps... find a flaw to escape or counterattack!

However, just as he had broken through and his mind relaxed for a moment—

Hum!

Deep in his mind, at the very core of the star dao fruit perfectly fused with his dao seed, a final stream of information—encrypted in layers, triggered only when the inheritor's cultivation reached Peak Spirit Transformation and completely fused with the dao fruit Origin—erupted like a volcano that had been dormant for eons!

It was no longer a vague guide or realization, but a crystal-clear "star chart" and information carrying the last will of the Lord of the Stars!

In the star chart, a strange coordinate was marked, located deep in the endless Spatial Turbulence, drifting outside the edge of this world. There, there was no stable space, no conventional Laws, only endless "chaos qi flow" like when the world was not yet created, rolling and surging. And in the center of that Chaos, the outline of an ancient palace constructed from broken stars and Chaos crystals could be vaguely seen—the "Star Core Palace"!

In the information stream, the lingering will of the Lord of the Stars came with a hint of exhaustion and final hope:

"...Latecomer... If you can reach this realm, you have truly inherited my Dao lineage... The Chaotic Star Sea... is the place of concealment and Legacy I constructed by tearing the void with my last Divine Power and combining it with Chaos Qi before I finally fell... This place can briefly block the perception of the Heavenly Dao, and it contains my life's insights and Divine Ability for resisting the Heavenly Dao, as well as... a condensed prototype of a 'Chaos Star dao seed'... Only by obtaining it can you truly possess the Foundation to contend with the Origin of the Heavenly Dao... However, the Star Sea is dangerous, the Chaos is unpredictable, and there are even lingering marks of the Heavenly Dao searching... Be cautious... Be cautious..."

Chaotic Star Sea! Star Core Palace! Chaos Star dao seed!

These three terms exploded in Nightmare's mind like thunder! This was the final trump card of the Lord of the Stars against the Heavenly Dao! It was the ticket to the final battlefield prepared for the true successor he had chosen for himself!

Almost at the same time, the System's notification sound rang out coldly and timely:

[Ding! Host's cultivation has broken through to Peak Spirit Transformation, completely activating the final Legacy clue of the star dao fruit!]

[Triggered Epic Main Quest: Journey to the Chaotic Star Sea!]

[Quest Goal: Go to the Chaotic Star Sea, find the Star Core Palace, obtain the final Legacy of the Lord of the Stars (Core: Prototype of the Chaos Star dao seed), and condense enough power to initially contend with the Origin of the Heavenly Dao.]

[Quest Hint: The Chaotic Star Sea is located in the cracks at the edge of the world. The spatial coordinates are extremely unstable. One must pass through a specific ancient teleportation array (such as the Meteorite Platform) or master profound spatial Divine Ability to arrive. The environment within the Star Sea is harsh, with dangers such as Chaos giant beasts, Spatial Turbulence, etc., and there is a possibility of encountering Heavenly Dao power searches.]

[Quest Reward: Unknown (Depends on the completeness of the Legacy obtained). Failure Penalty: Permanently lose the chance to obtain the final Legacy, path of Dao severed.]

In Nightmare's eyes, the Star Demon Flame burned silently, cold and sharp.

The path ahead was already clear.

With a slight thought, the Star Demon Flame wrapping the dao seed slowly retracted. That dark halo, carrying the repaired and more powerful dao seed, began to move upwards along the veins of the earth.

It was time to leave these depths of the earthly veins.

When Nightmare's consciousness, carrying the reborn dao seed, pierced through the last layer of earth and quietly returned to the secret chamber under the Ten Thousand Demon Valley that had long since turned into ruins (the original secret chamber had collapsed during the battle), he "saw" the scene outside.

Ruins. Endless ruins.

Collapsed cliffs, broken bone towers, scorched earth, solidified pools of blood, and... scattered, incomplete corpses of demonic Cultivators. The air was filled with silence, sorrow, and despair. Only a few figures with withered auras and injuries were stumbling among the ruins, numbly cleaning up the remains of their companions or looking for potentially surviving supplies.

Li Xiehe had lost an arm, sitting cross-legged on a relatively intact stone platform with a weak aura, his face ashen. The Old Man of Withered Bones leaned on his cane, looking at the devastated valley, his old eyes filled with gray ash. Less than one in ten demonic Cultivators were still alive, and all were injured, with no morale left.

In the second war, although the Ten Thousand Demon Valley had forced back the Righteous Path coalition and even killed Lin Hao, the price they paid was so heavy that the valley was almost destroyed. This pyrrhic victory was no better than a crushing defeat.

Nightmare's return did not attract anyone's attention. His aura was integrated with the earthly veins, and the Star Demon Flame was restrained to the extreme.

He "stood" quietly in the shadows of the ruins for a while, watching this Demonic Path stronghold that had risen because of him and had almost been wiped out because of him. There was no guilt or pity in his eyes, only cold calmness.

This path was paved with corpses from the start. The weak had no right to walk it.

He had no intention of appearing to comfort or reorganize the troops. The mission of the Ten Thousand Demon Valley had already been completed after attracting and consuming most of the attention of the Heavenly Dao and the Righteous Path coalition, buying him crucial time for growth. The remaining remnants were of no further use.

He needed more powerful strength, he needed the final Legacy of the Lord of the Stars, he needed to go to... the Chaotic Star Sea.

Nightmare "looked" at this ruin one last time, and his consciousness completely withdrew into the dao seed.

The next moment, the Star Demon Flame flashed slightly, and his dao seed, along with that strand of powerful Divine Soul, had silently disappeared from the spot, leaving no trace behind.

Only the demonic Cultivators who had miraculously survived in the ruins, not knowing where their future lay, continued to struggle in despair and numbness.

And Nightmare's next target was already locked—finding a way to the Chaotic Star Sea. First, it was the ancient ruin vaguely mentioned in the information that might exist in the Far West Land of the Mortal Realm—the "Meteorite Platform".