Entering the Starry Sea for the First Time, a Chaotic Mystery

The moment he passed through the spatial vortex, Nightmare felt as if he had been thrown into a massive, rapidly spinning drum filled with viscous liquid.

There was no up, down, left, or right, no front or back. All directions were filled with surging, rolling, gray and white “Qi flows,” interspersed with points of strange colored light. These Qi flows seemed gentle, but every wisp was incredibly heavy, containing an ancient, primal energy chaotic to the extreme. They fiercely tore, squeezed, and eroded everything about the intruder—the Physical Body, spiritual power, Divine Sense, and even the connection to external Laws.

This was the chaos qi flow.

In just a single breath, Nightmare felt a sharp pain originating from his powerful Physical Body, which was strong enough to withstand attacks from a Peak Spirit Transformation expert. The protective Star Demon Flame flickered violently, emitting a sizzling sound, as if being aggressively sanded by invisible sandpaper. Even more troubling was his Divine Sense; his powerful Divine Sense, which could normally cover hundreds of miles, could now barely extend ten zhang outside his body before sinking into the thickest mud, becoming sluggish, blurred, and unable to stretch further. Even his connection to the Original Demon Star Seed and the star dao fruit was greatly weakened, leaving only an extremely faint link.

"As expected of the Chaotic Star Sea, it can even block perception." Nightmare felt a chill in his heart. He immediately retracted all externalized power, compressing the Star Demon Flame into a thin layer over his body, like a close-fitting armor. At the same time, he circulated his dao seed, adjusted his aura, and strove to achieve a subtle balance with the surrounding chaotic chaos qi flow to minimize repulsion and erosion.

He stabilized his posture (though his sense of direction was useless in this environment) and vigilantly scanned his surroundings.

What met his eyes was a bizarre and grotesque sight that defied ordinary description.

Beneath his feet (for lack of a better term), was an incredibly huge, grayish-brown “landmass” covered in holes and cracks. Looking closely, it appeared to be the remnant of a shattered star; its material was neither metal nor stone, and it was cold and hard. In the distance, more fragments of varying sizes floated, some like mountains, others as fine as dust, slowly rising, sinking, and rotating within the gray chaos qi flow.

Further away, faint, multicolored, and constantly twisting “light bands” and “vortices” were visible. These were anomalies formed by highly condensed or violently conflicting Chaos energy, emitting heart-stoppingly dangerous fluctuations.

In the “sky” (if the gray, churning expanse above could be called a sky), there were no sun, moon, or stars, only endless Chaos. Occasionally, dazzling flashes of lightning, seemingly from nowhere, streaked across, illuminating the area for an instant before being swallowed by the Chaos.

Dead silence, Chaos, and the unknown. This was the first impression the Chaotic Star Sea gave him.

Nightmare attempted to sense the wisp of Star Flame Mark he had secretly attached to the hem of Fairy Qing Xuan's skirt when he entered. Sure enough, the sensation was so faint it was almost nonexistent. He could only barely determine an extremely vague general direction and distance, and it was rapidly moving and changing. Clearly, the other party was also drifting uncontrollably within the chaos qi flow. Relying on this to immediately catch up and deal with them was temporarily impossible.

"That's fine. I'll explore this place first, adapt to the environment, and improve my strength. It won't be too late to deal with them after I find the Star Core Palace and obtain the final Legacy." Nightmare made an instant decision. In such a perilous place, especially with Lin Hao critically injured, Su Wan unconscious, and Fairy Qing Xuan struggling alone, the survival rate for Lin Hao's group was pitifully low. If they were lucky enough to hold out until he found them, sending them on their way wouldn't be too late.

He landed on the “landmass” of the star fragment, feeling a solid contact beneath his feet. He crouched down and examined it carefully. A trace of extremely weak Power of the Stars remained in the fragment, but it was mostly miscellaneous energy that had been assimilated and eroded by the Chaos.

"The power of Chaos..." Nightmare reached out, trying to capture a wisp of the wandering gray Qi flow. He wrapped it in Star Demon Flame and meticulously began analyzing and absorbing it.

The moment they made contact, he frowned.

This power of Chaos was violent, chaotic, and unpredictable in nature, containing countless conflicting, undifferentiated fragments of primal Laws. Direct absorption was like swallowing razor blades; not only was the efficiency extremely low, but it would also damage and contaminate his Meridians and dao foundation.

"No wonder the Lord of the Stars established the Legacy site here. This environment itself is a natural barrier, capable of isolating the Heavenly Dao's perception and filtering entrants." Nightmare pondered. He tried to mobilize the power of the Original Demon Star Seed, especially the Origin of the star dao fruit integrated within it.

The Origin of the star dao fruit seemed to have a peculiar affinity for and ability to sort the power of Chaos. When Nightmare activated his dao seed and drew a trace of silver starlight into the Star Demon Flame to touch the wisp of chaos qi flow, the situation changed.

The chaotic Qi flow seemed to be sorted by an invisible hand. Although still violent, a portion of the relatively gentle and pure “Chaos Origin” was stripped away and slowly absorbed and transformed by the Star Demon Flame. The remaining violent parts, filled with conflict and contamination, were burned and repelled by the Demon Flame.

It worked! Although the speed was appallingly slow—the effective energy extracted from one wisp of chaos qi flow might be only one millionth—this energy was incredibly pure and of an extremely high level, providing a slow yet solid nourishment to both the Star Demon Flame and his dao seed.

"Better than nothing. I'll treat it as familiarizing myself with the environment." Nightmare was not discouraged. While maintaining this extremely low-efficiency absorption, he began moving across the fragment landmass, simultaneously trying to discern the general direction of the “Star Core Palace” through the faint yet clear connection between his dao seed and the star dao fruit.

The guidance from the star dao fruit was very vague, as if filtered through countless layers of gauze, only faintly pointing toward the deeper, “heavier” part of the Chaos.

Nightmare chose a direction and was about to leave this fragment for the next foothold.

Suddenly!

The chaos qi flow not far to the side suddenly began to churn violently, and a massive, dark shadow, like a colossal beast lurking for ages, silently broke through the gray mist and lunged toward Nightmare!

It was an indescribable monster. Overall, it resembled a gray jellyfish, magnified a thousand times, with no fixed shape. Its body was made of semi-solidified chaos qi flow, constantly wriggling and deforming, extending seven or eight tentacles covered in suckers and sharp teeth. In the position of its “head,” there were only a pair of dark holes that continuously opened and closed, emitting an aura of greed and chaotic will.

A Chaos Giant Beast! And one with the aura equivalent to the Late Nascent Soul Stage!

The monster clearly regarded Nightmare as prey or food that had trespassed into its territory.

"Seeking death." Nightmare's eyes turned cold. He wanted to test exactly how much his strength was suppressed in this Chaos environment.

He neither dodged nor retreated. Facing the massive shadow that lunged at him, he pointed his fingers like a sword, sending forth a condensed Star Demon Flame Sword Finger!

Hiss!

The dark, profound sword light, streaked with starlight, instantly tore through the chaos qi flow and accurately pierced the center of the Chaos Giant Beast's constantly wriggling body!

The expected scene of the beast being pierced through and incinerated by the Demon Flame did not occur.

The sword light penetrated the giant beast as if stabbing into a large mass of extremely viscous glue. The beast's body violently fluctuated and deformed. The pierced area deeply caved in, and the chaos qi flow surged frantically, layer by layer offsetting and dispersing the power of the Star Demon Flame contained within the sword light! Although the sword light ultimately passed through, leaving a charred hole on the other side of the beast's body, the chaos qi flow quickly filled the surrounding area, and the injury rapidly healed! Moreover, the monster seemed to feel no pain, and its attack movements did not pause; several tentacles, carrying a foul wind, had already lashed out toward Nightmare!

"Both physical and energy attacks are greatly reduced in effectiveness? And its healing ability is extremely strong?" Nightmare was slightly surprised, but his movements were not slow at all. His figure darted like a phantom through the gaps between the tentacles, avoiding the strikes while observing carefully.

The Chaos Giant Beast was essentially the product of highly condensed chaos qi flow that had birthed a trace of chaotic intelligence. Its body existed between reality and illusion, possessing extremely high resistance to conventional attacks, and it could mobilize the surrounding chaos qi flow at any time to repair itself. It was indeed troublesome in this home territory.

"Then let's try this." Nightmare's eyes sharpened, and he no longer held back. He spread his arms, and the Star Demon Flame covering his body erupted, no longer a thin layer, but transforming into a fiercely burning pillar of dark fire!

"Star Flame Incineration!"

He clasped his hands loosely, and endless Star Demon Flame surged forward, no longer condensed sword light or fist force, but a large-scale, continuous burning and devouring!

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—!

The violent Star Demon Flame instantly engulfed the massive body of the Chaos Giant Beast! Within the flames, stars were born and destroyed, the intent of annihilation and eternity intertwined, furiously burning and refining the chaos qi flow that formed the beast's body!

This time, the effect was significant!

The Chaos Giant Beast emitted a silent, sharp shriek that struck directly at the Divine Soul (although sound does not propagate in Chaos, this shriek was a mental fluctuation). Its body violently rolled, twisted, and shrank within the Star Demon Flame! The chaos qi flow that constituted its body was forcibly stripped away and refined by the Demon Flame, transforming into wisps of pure Chaos energy, which were then absorbed by the Star Demon Flame!

Since the Star Demon Flame had already undergone Fusion with the Origin of the star dao fruit, it possessed a certain degree of restraint and conversion effect on the power of Chaos. When used with full power now, it immediately became the bane of the Chaos Giant Beast!

In just three to five breaths, the Chaos Giant Beast, which had been comparable to a small mountain and possessed a ferocious aura, completely dissipated under the continuous burning of the Star Demon Flame, leaving behind only a crystal core about the size of an egg, perfectly round and dark gray, with chaos qi flow slowly rotating inside. It landed on the star fragment below with a clink.

Nightmare retracted the Demon Flame, returned to the ground, and picked up the crystal core.

It felt warm and moist to the touch, not cold, but possessing a strange vitality. When his Divine Sense probed it, he could clearly feel the Chaos Origin energy contained within, which was far purer and gentler than the wandering chaos qi flow outside.

[Ding! Killed a Low-Level Chaos Giant Beast, obtained 'Chaos Crystal Core (Elementary)' x1.]

[Chaos Crystal Core: The power core of a Chaos Giant Beast, containing relatively stable and easily absorbed power of Chaos Origin. It can be used to strengthen the Physical Body, nourish the Divine Soul, enhance adaptability and control over the Chaos environment, and can also be used to quickly replenish Chaos-attributed spiritual power. Note: Can be further purified and absorbed by the Origin of the star dao fruit.]

"A good find." Nightmare did not hesitate. He immediately held the Elementary Chaos Crystal Core in his palm, activated the Original Demon Star Seed, and used the Star Demon Flame to wrap and refine it.

This time, the absorption speed was more than a hundred times faster! The pure and gentle Chaos Origin within the crystal core surged into his body like sweet spring water, quickly absorbed and converted by the dao seed. He could clearly feel his Physical Body strength slowly increasing, and the repulsion and erosion from the surrounding chaos qi flow also lessened slightly. Even the distance his Divine Sense could extend into the Chaos seemed to increase by one or two zhang.

More importantly, after absorbing this portion of the Chaos Origin, the Star Demon Flame seemed to become deeper and more condensed, and its adaptability to the Chaos environment was significantly enhanced.

"It seems that hunting these Chaos Giant Beasts is the best way to quickly increase strength and adapt to the environment here." A cold light flashed in Nightmare's eyes. He looked up toward the depths of the Chaos, in the direction of the vague guidance.

The path ahead held both danger and opportunity.

Without any hesitation, after refining the crystal core and confirming his direction, his figure once again transformed into a dark stream of light blending into the Chaos, speeding toward the deeper reaches of the Star Sea. Along the way, his Divine Sense, like the sharpest hunter, began actively searching for the aura of Chaos Giant Beasts lurking in the gray mist.

Since he had come, he would graciously accept the “local specialties” of the Chaotic Star Sea.

Meanwhile, in another area of Chaos, an unknown distance away from Nightmare and in a completely different direction.

Fairy Qing Xuan, supporting the nearly unconscious Lin Hao and holding the faintly breathing Su Wan, landed miserably on a relatively small star fragment. Her face was pale, blood stained the corner of her mouth, and her pale moon dress was torn in several places and covered in Chaos dust.

The turbulence within the passage and the impact upon entry had caused her serious injuries as well. The most troublesome thing was that the moment she entered this place, she completely lost her sense of direction and could not sense any aura of the “secret treasure” Lin Hao had mentioned. All around her was only endless, suffocating Chaos, along with the pervasive erosion and oppression.

Lin Hao struggled to open his eyes. His gaze was scattered. Looking at the desperate environment around him and his current state, which was akin to a cripple, his face was filled with extreme malice and unwillingness.

"Nightmare... it's all because of you... I must find the secret treasure... I must..." he muttered weakly.

Fairy Qing Xuan looked at Su Wan, who was unconscious and whose aura was growing weaker in her arms, and then at Lin Hao, whose consciousness was already somewhat confused. For the first time, a trace of confusion and regret—which she herself hadn't noticed—flashed in her eyes.

In this Chaos Desolate Land, which even the Heavenly Dao struggled to fully control, could these three injured, sick, and weak individuals truly find a way out?

No one knew.

Only eternal Chaos silently churned, devouring everything.