Alert! The Dragon Lord has emerged from seclusion!

That dormant, vast consciousness was awakened by the pure radiance of the Yao Guang star.

For the first time, Ying's voice betrayed panic: "Are you insane?! Forcibly awakening the Star Core's consciousness will make you the first one it devours!"

"Then let's die together." Luo Yunyi smiled bitterly, and more silver blood gushed from the wound on her palm and dripped down.

The moment the silver blood dripped from Luo Yunyi's palm, the whole world seemed to be paused.

This was followed by a violent tremor, as if the earth were collapsing.

Stalactites fell like rain from the cave ceiling, and the ground cracked open like a spider web.

The eerie blue glow of the underground river was completely extinguished—replaced by a thick, blood-red light surging from the depths of the crack.

"Go! Go uphill!"

Lin Chen roared and shattered the falling boulder with a single palm strike.

But it was too late.

The rock beneath their feet completely collapsed.

A sudden feeling of weightlessness washed over them, and everyone, along with the rubble, plummeted downwards.

In the darkness, Lin Chen felt at least three hands grabbing him at the same time—Ye Qingcheng's icy touch, Shen Qingqiu's unwavering resolve, and... a strange hand with a faint silver glow.

It's Luo Yunyi.

The fall seemed endless.

All I could hear was the howling wind, the crashing of rocks, and the piercing screams of the monsters as they fell.

I don't know how much time passed—maybe a few seconds, maybe a few minutes—but then light appeared below.

That was neither natural light nor any artificial light source.

That is the light of the stars.

Countless tiny, silver-blue and dark red specks of light flowed below, forming a huge, slowly rotating vortex of light with a diameter of over 100 meters.

At the center of the light vortex is a multifaceted crystal about the size of a house.

The crystal surface is covered with intricate and dazzling patterns, half of which radiates a pure starlight silver light, while the other half is stained with a murky dark red blood color.

The two beams of light clashed fiercely inside the crystal, each clash causing the entire space to tremble slightly.

"Star Core..." Luo Yunyi murmured. Her silver short blade began to hum on its own as it approached the Star Core, as if it were resonating with something.

After everyone fell into the vortex of light, their falling speed suddenly slowed down—the gravity here seemed to be different from that outside.

They slowly landed on a relatively flat black stone platform at the edge of the vortex.

The stone platform was clearly man-made, with ancient astronomical patterns and the Big Dipper symbol carved on its edges.

"This is... the Star Core." Shadow's voice came from above.

He hovered in mid-air, his black robe casting a distorted shadow in the light of the star core.

Only a dozen or so of the surviving monsters remained, lying listlessly behind him.

Shadow's gaze wasn't on the crowd, but fixed intently on the star core, his black pupils surging with an undisguised fanaticism:

"Finally... I finally saw it with my own eyes."

"Three hundred years of planning, seven generations of waiting, all for this moment."

He opened his arms as if to embrace the enormous crystal:

"Come, Body of Yao Guang, fulfill your mission—use your essence to cleanse this star core of its final defilement!"

Luo Yunyi sneered. The wound on her palm had stopped bleeding, but her face was so pale it was almost transparent. "What if I say no?"

"You have no choice." Ying waved her hand gently.

The dark red part of the star core suddenly flickered violently, and several blood-red beams of light shot out from it, heading straight for Luo Yunyi!

Those light strands were as fast as lightning. Even more strangely, they completely ignored physical defenses and directly pierced through the ice wall that Ye Qingcheng had slashed and the medicinal mist that Shen Qingqiu had scattered.

Just as the light rope was about to entangle Luo Yunyi—

Lin Chen stood in front of her.

The Nine Yang True Qi erupted suddenly, and a solid barrier of golden-red light formed around him.

The crimson light streak struck the barrier, emitting a piercing corrosive sound, but ultimately failed to penetrate it.

"Oh?" Ying raised an eyebrow. "The Nine Suns Burning Heaven Body's resistance to star core contamination is stronger than expected. But—"

His fingers twitched slightly.

The star core trembled again, this time with a brilliant silver light.

Pure starlight surged forth like a tide, gently bypassing Lin Chen's barrier and directly enveloping Luo Yunyi.

"This is the true destiny of the Yao Guang Body," Ying said softly. "The star core is calling for its primordial fragments, and you cannot resist it."

Luo Yunyi's body stiffened.

In her eyes, silver starlight shone uncontrollably, echoing the brilliance of the star core.

She could feel a pull from the depths of her soul—not an external force, but an instinct of attraction between kindred spirits, like a child away from home hearing its mother's call.

"Don't...give in to it..." Luo Yunyi bit her lip, using the pain to stay awake. "It's a trap..."

But her hand, gripping the short blade, began to rise uncontrollably, the tip pointing at her heart.

"Lin Chen!" Ye Qingcheng cried out urgently, "Stop that light!"

Just as Lin Chen was about to make a move, Ying laughed: "Are you sure you want to do this? Forcibly interrupting the Starlight Resonance will cause her Yao Guang Origin to collapse instantly—that would be tantamount to killing her with your own hands."

Shen Qingqiu quickly checked Luo Yunyi's condition, his face grim: "He's right. Xinghui is already deeply connected with her; interrupting it now will cause irreversible damage to her soul."

What should I do?

Everyone was caught in a dilemma.

As Luo Yunyi's short blade drew ever closer to his heart, Lin Chen's mind raced.

What Shadow wants is to "cleanse the star core of impurities," which means he needs Luo Yunyi's complete origin. If the origin is damaged, his plan will fail.

Then——

"What you want is the Origin of Yao Guang, right?" Lin Chen suddenly spoke, his voice echoing in the star core space.

Ying looked at him: "So what if it is?"

"What if I give you a better option?" Lin Chen slowly walked towards the star core, each step steady and deliberate.

"The Nine Yang Burning Heaven Body, combined with the harmonizing power of the five Nine Yin Bodies—this Yin-Yang essence is more capable of purifying this star core than the single Yao Guang Body, isn't it?"

These words stunned everyone.

Ye Qingcheng suddenly looked at him: "Lin Chen, are you crazy?!"

Shen Qingqiu also said urgently, "No! Your body has only just recovered; forcibly extracting your essence will..."

"This is the only way," Lin Chen interrupted them, his gaze sweeping over each face. "Trust me."

He looked at Ying: "How about it? One Nine Yang Burning Heaven Body, plus the five Nine Yin Bodies already here—Medicine Spirit, Spirit Communication, Frost Yin, Cold Yin, plus Yao Guang. Six special origins, are they enough to exchange for her life?"

Shadow's black pupils contracted slightly.

He was calculating, he was weighing the options.

After a long silence, he slowly nodded: "Theoretically, the combined power of the six primal forces can indeed produce a more powerful purification effect. However—"

"What makes you think I would release the Yao Guang Body? I can have both."

"You can give it a try." Lin Chen smiled, a smile carrying a hint of determination:

"But if you extract the essence of six people at the same time, and any one of them puts in the slightest resistance, it will cause an imbalance of Yin and Yang. At that time, whether the star core is purified or completely detonated... I can't guarantee it."