81: The fusion of Daoist principles signaled an impending deadly threat.

In front of the soul suppressing stele, all was silent. The lake water was as clear as a mirror, reflecting the ancient and desolate patterns on the stele's body. The disturbance caused by the Star-Water Nether Serpents earlier had subsided, but everyone's emotions were difficult to calm. Glances, some obvious and some hidden, still swept across the quiet figure in white sitting cross-legged before the stele.

Lin Fan closed his eyes and focused, his mind completely immersed in the comprehension of the soul suppressing stele's dao rhyme.

Completely different from the sharp, shattered, and destruction-filled spatial dao rhyme of the void shattering stele, the dao rhyme of the soul suppressing stele was reserved and heavy, carrying a power of soothing and sealing that had settled through the ages. It did not tear through space; instead, it seemed to 'iron out' and 'soothe' a restless stretch of time and space, bringing it to silence and stability.

With the Delusion-Breaking Divine Pupils fully active, combined with his keen perception of the Laws of Heaven and Earth after just reaching the Divine Power Realm, what Lin Fan 'saw' was not just the tadpole-like runes on the surface of the stele. In his conscious vision, the entire stone stele seemed to transform into countless overlapping and interwoven pale-gold 'Sealing Nets'. Every strand of the net contained the suppression of Divine Soul fluctuations, the organization of chaotic energy, and even resistance against the 'wear' and 'oblivion' brought by the passage of time.

"Shattering and sealing seem opposing, but they are two sides of the same coin," Lin Fan realized in his heart. "Space can be shattered, and it can also be reinforced and sealed. Time brings passage and oblivion, but it can also be anchored and soothed by a certain power. The void shattering stele taught me the 'power' of destruction, while the soul suppressing stele teaches me the 'logic' of 'stability'. And the spatiotemporal dao rhyme of the star mark stele is more like the 'Meridians' connecting the two."

He tried to channel that trace of shattered spatial dao rhyme from the void shattering stele within his body, cautiously making contact with the sealing dao rhyme emitted by the soul suppressing stele.

At first, the two were like fire and water, violently repelling each other and causing bursts of stinging pain in Lin Fan's Meridians. But he remained calm and unhurried, using himself as a furnace, the star pagoda as a hub, and the relatively neutral and peaceful spatiotemporal dao rhyme obtained from the star mark stele as a buffer and adhesive. This was an extremely delicate and dangerous process, like mixing two different types of high explosives on the tip of a knife. The slightest error could cause a dao rhyme backlash and damage his Foundation.

But Lin Fan's Divine Soul was exceptionally resilient after the Star Stele Dao Rhyme Baptism, and he had the Eternal Indestructible Body as a fallback. Furthermore, his preliminary understanding of the Initial Deciphering of Boundary Runes gave him a deeper insight into 'structure' and 'balance'. He patiently stripped, contacted, and tested the shattered dao rhyme and the sealing dao rhyme bit by bit, then used the spatiotemporal dao rhyme to guide them toward a node of 'coexistence' or even 'complementarity'.

Time passed bit by bit. Others by the lakeshore also began to attempt comprehension. The Jade Pool Saintess, Meng Liuli, sat quietly on the other side of the stone stele, her seven-colored radiance flickering faintly as she produced a weak resonance with the inscriptions; clearly, the Jade Pool Cultivation Technique was indeed compatible with this stele. Ye Lingyun's Sword Intent condensed around him without dissipating as he tried to understand the true meaning of 'Soul Suppression' through the 'purity' and 'firmness' of his heart of the sword. Bright Wisdom recited Buddhist scriptures, his Buddha light soft, attempting to communicate through the compassionate intent of the Dharma. Blazing Fierce was scratching his head in frustration; his fire-attribute Cultivation Technique clashed with this stele's dao rhyme, making it difficult to even begin. Blue Tide had water vapor swirling around her, trying to use the ultimate gentleness of water to embrace and understand that sealing power.

Everyone had their own gains and their own difficulties. But no one dared to make too much noise, for fear of disturbing the young man in white sitting at the very front, whose aura was becoming increasingly profound and unpredictable.

After an unknown amount of time, a subtle change suddenly occurred in the aura around Lin Fan.

The originally faintly exposed sharp aura belonging to a newly advanced Divine Power Realm expert began to slowly withdraw. A vast, ancient, heavy Concept that seemed capable of stabilizing the mountains and rivers and smoothing out the wrinkles of time and space faintly emanated from his body. This Concept intertwined with the shattered, sharp sensation he had occasionally revealed before; far from clashing, it formed a more harmonious and unfathomable field.

He still kept his eyes closed, but his right hand slowly rose, index finger in the air, tracing in the void before him at an extremely slow yet rhythmic speed.

There was no brilliance of spiritual power, nor any spatial fluctuations. But as his fingertip moved, the air seemed to become viscous and stagnant, and even the light produced a slight curvature where his finger passed. Finally, an extremely simple yet seemingly profound pale-silver rune phantom, containing the true meaning of 'suppression' and 'stability', flashed and vanished.

One of the basic patterns of the Initial Deciphering of Boundary Runes, the "Solidification" Rune! This time, the tracing was easier and more natural than ever before, and it faintly resonated with the dao rhyme of the soul suppressing stele!

A surge of joy rose in Lin Fan's heart. He had successfully achieved a preliminary Fusion of the two seemingly opposing dao rhymes of shattering and sealing, and used this to deepen his understanding of the "Solidification" boundary rune! This not only meant his control over spatial power had advanced further, but it also gave him a more three-dimensional understanding of the overall Concept of 'time and space'.

Inside his Dantian, the star pagoda vibrated slightly. The newly added, crack-like patterns on the pagoda's surface seemed to be smoothed out a bit by a gentle force, becoming less sharp and dangerous, and instead gaining a bit more stability and resilience. Within the first floor's starry sky illusion, the movement of the stellar trajectories also seemed more orderly and stable.

["System, detect if the current location is available for check-in?"] Lin Fan thought to himself; he wanted to see what would happen if he checked in while in this state of deep comprehension.

[Detecting... Current Location: Thousand Star Remnant Realm · Starfall Lake, in front of the soul suppressing stele (Deeply comprehending and fusing dao rhymes)]

[Check-in Rank: Five Stars (Special state bonus)]

[Would you like to check in?]

["Check in!"]

[Check-in successful! Congratulations to the host for obtaining: time-space harmonization fragment *1, Soul Suppressing Talisman (One-time) *3, Divine Soul Crystal (Medium) *1]

[time-space harmonization fragment: Contains pure spatiotemporal tuning power, which can assist in balancing and fusing different attributes of spatiotemporal dao rhymes within the body, reducing the risk of conflict and improving the success rate and quality of Fusion.]

[Soul Suppressing Talisman (One-time): Upon activation, it can form a small soul-suppressing Domain. Within this range, the effects of Divine Soul attacks are significantly weakened, and there is a certain chance to soothe a rampaging Divine Soul.]

[Divine Soul Crystal (Medium): Condensed pure Divine Soul power, which can be directly absorbed to strengthen the Divine Soul and repair Divine Soul damage.]

"Just in time!" Lin Fan was overjoyed. Especially the "time-space harmonization fragment"; it was practically tailor-made for his current state! He immediately chose to use it.

A cool, peaceful, and seemingly all-encompassing strange power surged into his Sea of Consciousness and Dantian, quickly making contact with the three dao rhymes he was trying to fuse: shattering, sealing, and spatiotemporal. Under the lubrication and guidance of this tuning power, the Fusion process of the three dao rhymes suddenly became much smoother, conflicts were greatly reduced, the Fusion speed increased, and the quality of the newly fused dao rhyme seemed to have improved by a notch.

Lin Fan's aura became increasingly steady and grand. Although his cultivation did not immediately skyrocket, his Foundation was polished to be even more solid and profound, and his control and understanding of spatiotemporal power leaped to a new level.

He slowly opened his eyes, a divine light contained within them, as deep as an ancient well. There was no longer any trace of the sharp edge he had shown when he first broke through, yet he gave off an even more unfathomable feeling.

Ye Lingyun and the others on the shore, who had been watching him, were all shaken. They could feel that in just this short period, Lin Fan seemed to have undergone another transformation, and his strength was likely even more terrifying now.

Meng Liuli also sensed something and looked up at Lin Fan, her expression beneath her veil difficult to discern.

Lin Fan stood up, gave a slight nod to Ye Lingyun and the others, and then looked toward the lake. With a thought, he turned his right palm upward and gently closed his fingers.

Buzz! The space about a foot above his palm visibly distorted and solidified, forming a fist-sized 'Solidified Space Sphere' that seemed independent of the outside world. Within the sphere, light was stagnant, dust was suspended, and the flow of time seemed to have become extremely slow. This was precisely a new application of his 'Solidification' power after his preliminary Fusion of dao rhymes—Palm World Solidification!

Although the range was extremely small and the duration would not be very long, the consumption was low. In a critical moment, it would be enough to imprison an opponent's attack or Magic Treasure for an instant, creating a perfect opportunity.

He dissipated the space in his palm, his expression calm. His gains in front of the soul suppressing stele were immense; he had not only stabilized his Realm and fused his dao rhymes but also obtained System rewards, significantly increasing his strength.

"It's time to collect more star core fragments." Lin Fan looked toward the depths of Starfall Lake, where the Power of the Stars was more concentrated and fragments should be more numerous.

Just then, from the distant horizon, a rapid sound of breaking air suddenly arrived, accompanied by a slightly panicked shout:

"Junior Sister Lin Xue! Hold on!" Lin Feng was seen supporting Lin Xue, whose face was deathly pale and whose aura was extremely weak, as they flew staggeringly toward Starfall Lake. Lin Xue's eyes were tightly shut, and a wisp of eerie grayish-green energy was wrapped around her brow. That energy was constantly writhing like a living thing, eroding her vitality and Divine Soul!

"What happened?!" Lin Fan's face darkened, and he appeared before the two of them in an instant.

"Divine Son!" When Lin Feng saw Lin Fan, it was like seeing a savior, and he said urgently, "Sister Xue and I were collecting star core fragments in a valley at the edge of the Ancient Stele Forest when we were suddenly attacked by several people wearing strange green robes! Their methods were bizarre; they sprayed a cloud of poisonous mist. Sister Xue accidentally inhaled it and immediately became like this! I fought my way out with her, and those people didn't seem to chase very far."

Green-robed people? Lin Fan's gaze turned cold, and he immediately thought of the Nether Pavilion! That was it; Lord Ying had retreated, but the Nether Pavilion would never let the matter rest. These green-robed people were likely the second group they had sent, or perhaps the subordinates of that 'Green Robe Emissary'!

He quickly checked Lin Xue's condition. That grayish-green energy was incredibly malicious; it not only eroded the Physical Body but also clung to the Divine Soul like a shadow, constantly weakening her vitality. If not for Lin Xue's own pure wood-attribute spiritual Qi and her natural resistance, she might have already perished.

"It's the 'Soul-Eroding Miasma', one of the secret poisonous mists of the Nether Pavilion. It requires a specific antidote or a power of extreme Yang and righteousness to dispel," a cold voice sounded. Meng Liuli had also walked over at some point. After glancing at Lin Xue's condition, she said calmly, "My Jade Pool's 'Seven-Colored Lotus Heart Pill' can neutralize this poison, but the Medicinal Pill is precious."

"Whatever the cost, Saintess, please speak plainly." Lin Fan looked at Meng Liuli with a firm gaze. Lin Xue had suffered because of him, and he could not sit idly by.

Meng Liuli shook her head slightly. "I am not asking for a price. I am only reminding you that the Nether Pavilion's use of the Soul-Eroding Miasma against someone close to you suggests they are determined to use any means necessary to force you to submit. You must prepare early."

With that, she took out a crystal-clear Medicinal Pill that seemed to have the shadow of a seven-colored lotus flowing within it and handed it to Lin Fan. "This pill can temporarily suppress the toxicity for three days and slowly clear it. But for a complete cure, it's best to find 'Solar Flame Star Grass' or a 'soul cleansing spiritual spring' to work with the power of the pill to thoroughly uproot it."

Lin Fan took the Medicinal Pill and gave Meng Liuli a deep look. "Thank you, Saintess. Lin Fan will remember this favor."

He immediately fed the pill to Lin Xue. Upon entering her body, the pill turned into a seven-colored warm current, quickly enveloping the grayish-green poisonous miasma and suppressing and isolating it. Lin Xue's deathly pale face regained a hint of color, and her breathing stabilized, but she remained unconscious.

"Lin Feng, take care of Lin Xue here. Do not leave the vicinity of the lake," Lin Fan instructed. He then looked at Ye Lingyun, Blazing Fierce, and the others. "Fellow Daoist Ye, everyone, I have some private matters to attend to and must temporarily take my leave."

Ye Lingyun's expression was grave. "Is Brother Lin going to find those people from the Nether Pavilion? We shall go with you!"

"That's right! Those rats who hide their heads and show their tails actually used such low-handed methods! I'll burn them to a crisp!" Blazing Fierce roared.

Bright Wisdom and Blue Tide also nodded, indicating their willingness to go.

A warmth filled Lin Fan's heart, but he shook his head. "I appreciate your kindness. But this matter started because of me, their target is me, and their methods are insidious; there is no need for you all to take risks. I have my own plans." He was not just being stubborn. After fusing the dao rhymes, his strength had increased greatly, and he had the Dragon-Patterned Gold Talisman given by King Xia and his new items from the System as trump cards. Acting alone was actually more flexible. Moreover, he vaguely felt that the Nether Pavilion's actions this time were not just for revenge but had a deeper plot. He needed to deal with it alone and resolve this hidden danger once and for all.

Seeing Lin Fan's firm attitude, Ye Lingyun and the others did not insist further, only urging him to be extremely careful.

Lin Fan entrusted Lin Xue to Blue Tide's temporary care, nodded his thanks to Meng Liuli again, and then his figure flashed, turning into a streak of light that sped toward the Ancient Stele Forest as directed by Lin Feng!

Killing intent condensed in his eyes.

Nether Pavilion, since you have crossed my bottom line again and again, let's settle this once and for all!

Not long after Lin Fan left, deep at the bottom of Starfall Lake near the soul suppressing stele, the pure energy left behind after the dissipation of countless Star-Water Nether Serpents corpses quietly gathered. It faintly outlined a blurry arrow phantom pointing toward the core area of the Ancient Stele Forest, which flashed and vanished.

Meng Liuli sensed something and looked toward the bottom of the lake, a hint of doubt flashing in her cold eyes. Meanwhile, deep within the Ancient Stele Forest, in a valley shrouded by a dense grayish-green poisonous miasma...

Several figures dressed in green robes with withered faces stood quietly. The leader was the cloaked man known as the "Green Robe Emissary". He held a constantly rotating green skull Magic Artifact, with ghostly fires flickering in the skull's eye sockets.

"The Soul-Eroding Miasma has been planted, and the bait has been released." The Green Robe Emissary's voice was raspy, carrying a cruel smile. "With that kid's temperament, he will definitely come. 'Skeleton', 'Blood Blade', take your men and set up the formation according to plan. Ying, you are familiar with the terrain; you'll be responsible for leading the way and delivering the finishing blow. This time, we must ensure he never returns, and squeeze all the secrets and treasures out of him!"

"Yes!" In the shadows, the one-armed figure of Lord Ying emerged, the resentment in his eyes almost solidifying. Two other figures with even more malevolent auras, as if they had walked out of a sea of blood and a mountain of corpses, also slowly emerged from the poisonous miasma and silently accepted the order.

The killing trap has already been set. Now, we only wait for the prey to walk into the net.