Chapter 34: The Price of Fear and the Core’s Awakening

Facing the slaughter by the purple dragon’s head, the officers present were utterly helpless to resist.

In an instant, blood splattered everywhere, and cries of agony echoed across the field.

He stared at the scene before him, a veritable purgatory of carnage. He watched his comrades die one by one, and saw his captain, a mentor and friend, swallowed whole by the purple energy.

Wu Hang’s heart bled with anguish, and he yearned to raise his gun and fight back. Yet, the horror before him paralyzed him, leaving him only able to watch as his former comrades were brutally slaughtered, one after another.

‘Move! Move, damn it! Fight back, you coward!’

Wu Hang struggled internally, but the hand gripping his gun remained stubbornly unmoving. Fear had seized control of his body, overriding his will.

Only in this moment did he truly grasp the extent of his own cowardice and incompetence. Finally, in a mixture of helplessness and shame, he lowered his head, squeezing his eyes shut, unable to bear witnessing the hellish spectacle any longer.

As the last guard was torn in half by the energy dragon and swallowed, every participant in the mission, save for Wu Hang, had perished.

The only thing left behind was a ground stained with blood.

Tap, tap.

Footsteps echoed into Wu Hang’s ears. As they drew closer, his heart pounded wildly in his chest. He had no idea what the presence before him truly was: Xi Yue, or a monster resurrected using her body?

If it wasn’t Xi Yue herself, why hadn’t it attacked him?

And if it was Xi Yue, how had she suddenly revived?

Just then, the voice sounded again. It was still that familiar tone, yet to Wu Hang, it now sounded like the voice of a soul-reaping demon.

Terrified, he slowly lifted his head, gazing at the face that was both strange and intimately familiar.

“Good morning, Little Wu.”

Xi Yue greeted him as casually as if they were old acquaintances, as if everything that had just transpired had never happened.

****

A few minutes later,

“Boom!” A colossal explosion rent the air, echoing through the clouds.

The towering flames drew the attention of passersby, who halted to stare, pulling out their phones to record the sudden incident unfolding before them.

Yet, in the very next moment, the raging inferno vanished instantly, as if devoured by some unseen force.

Were it not for the lingering scent of smoke and char in the air, confirming the fire’s existence, people might have even believed they had witnessed an illusion.

****

At the same moment,

Blue Star – Core Region,

“Pong!!”

Accompanied by a dazzling silver light, an incredibly sturdy rock barrier near the core was suddenly pierced by a drill composed of silver energy, creating a small hole!

In the next instant,

An endless torrent of silver spirit particles surged forth from it, rapidly coalescing into a stunning, slender silver-haired maiden.

‘Wow, so this is the core region? It’s my first time here.’

Lin Ling couldn’t help but sigh in wonder.

She then gazed thoughtfully forward, at the colossal, spherical energy mass composed of pure white soul power. If she was now within the planetary core, then this sphere, brimming with astonishing power, must be Blue Star’s origin—its Star Soul.

It was the very heart of Blue Star, its most crucial component, and the central hub of the planet’s soul circulation system.

Without the Star Soul,

Not only would the soul circulation system collapse, but Blue Star itself would shatter into fragments.

At this thought,

Lin Ling felt a shiver run down her spine. She hastily reined in the immense spiritual power pressure emanating from her. Still unpracticed in spiritual energy control, she feared accidentally damaging the Star Soul.

As she contained her power,

The maiden’s golden eyes narrowed slightly, and her gaze grew increasingly solemn.

‘Hmm? How… how could it be on top of this?’

Lin Ling was astonished to discover,

Upon the Star Soul, formed from white soul power, a single point distinctly radiated waves of dense dark-attribute spiritual energy. The source of this energy was, without a doubt, Lin Ling’s ultimate objective for this mission: the Dark Star Origin.

Truth be told,

Lin Ling couldn’t help but feel a surge of admiration for Bisika. That cheeky loli had managed to detect the Dark Star Origin, hidden atop the Star Soul, without even unleashing her full power! She had pierced through such thick geological strata and magma protective layers, all while ignoring the soul energy interference surrounding the Star Soul.

Indeed, that cheeky loli’s perception abilities were truly terrifying.

However,

Admiration aside,

Why was the Dark Star Origin on the Star Soul in the first place?!

It was highly unlikely it had simply fallen there naturally.

‘It feels… artificial? Someone deliberately placed it here!’

Hm?!

“What is that?”

Just as the maiden was deep in thought, waves of icy hostility suddenly intruded upon her sensory domain. Her silver eyes narrowed sharply, and she glanced around, a hint of surprise in her gaze.

Then,

At that moment, the Dark Star Origin abruptly erupted with a dazzling black light.

As the black light burst forth,

“Aaaaaaaaah~~ Hss hss hss~~!!!”

Amidst a chorus of piercing shrieks, countless bizarre, grotesque, and sinister shadow creatures suddenly emerged from within the surrounding rock walls. Like the ‘dogs’ from Resident Evil, they swarmed along the walls, converging on Lin Ling from all directions. At a glance, their numbers easily surpassed several thousand!

Subsequently,

Under Lin Ling’s astonished gaze, these black monsters, seemingly guided by the aura emanating from the Dark Star Origin, suddenly charged at her without fear. They roared, brandishing their sharp claws.

?!

“What in the hell is this stuff?!”

Feeling the nauseating aura emanating from the shadow monsters, the silver-haired maiden couldn’t help but curse in anger.

****

Above the surface,

The moment Lin Ling approached the Star Soul, a strange fluctuation suddenly emanated from the black-and-white orb hidden within Qingfeng Immortal’s soul.

Then,

A chilling, gender-neutral mechanical voice slowly resonated within Qingfeng Immortal’s mind.

‘Act now.’