owlsbooks Chapter 320 The Core of the Fallen God
Chapter 320 The Core of the Fallen God
"This is the last material, and also the most dangerous one. The rules of the Star Core Dungeon are extremely restrictive, and Thor is an unprecedentedly powerful enemy. You... are you really going?"
Sima Han's voice carried an unusual hesitation.
Lin Tian took the scroll, his gaze sweeping over the information on it. His eyes showed no emotion, only a deep calm.
He put away the scroll, his tone calm, "Three days later, Eternal Silence Ice Peak."
After saying that, he turned and walked towards the stairs.
Sima Han looked at his resolute and steady back, and swallowed back all the words of advice.
He suddenly smiled, a smile filled with emotion and anticipation.
"If you can really bring back the 'Star Core'... then this old man might actually witness the birth of a living legend."
Lin Tian paused almost imperceptibly at the top of the stairs before disappearing around the corner.
Outside the Refining Guild, Star Moon City was bathed in the glow of lanterns, its streets shimmering like stars.
Lin Tian looked towards the northern wilderness shrouded in eternal cold mist.
The same in the end.
Star Core Dungeon.
three days later.
......
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
On the night of the new moon, the wasteland is frozen forever.
Extreme cold and deathly silence are the eternal themes here.
As far as the eye can see, there is only an endless expanse of pale white ice and icebergs that pierce the dark sky like sharp swords.
The gale whipped up ice crystals, emitting a howling sound like ghosts wailing.
In the heart of the wasteland, a colossal mountain, towering above all the surrounding ice peaks, stands majestically—the Everlasting Ice Peak.
Its mountain has an eerie deep blue color, as if it has frozen time for eternity, exuding a chill that can freeze even the soul.
At this moment, atop the ice peak.
The once peaceful night sky seemed to be stirred up by an invisible giant hand.
The light of the stars here becomes distorted and elongated, eventually converging at a single point on the ice peak.
The space rippled violently like water, and a "vortex" about ten meters in diameter, with a deep starry sky and a violent silver-white light flowing inside, slowly took shape.
The entrance to the Star Core Dungeon has opened as scheduled.
There was only one lone figure at the entrance.
Lin Tian stood quietly in the frigid winds that could freeze steel.
The stellar energy and magical shield that automatically circulate on the body's surface isolate it from all harsh environments.
Without hesitation, Lin Tian stepped into the starry vortex.
The brief feeling of weightlessness and spatial tearing was a hundred times stronger than ordinary teleportation.
If it weren't for his extremely high physical constitution and resistance to the rules, he would probably have been torn to shreds in an instant.
The next moment, my feet touched the ground.
The scene before me was chilling.
There is no distinction between sky and earth here. All around are endless, slowly rotating dark silver "barriers," with veins of dark blue and blazing white energy flowing through them like blood vessels.
Countless fragments of stone and metal debris of varying sizes, shimmering with starlight, floated silently in the air, forming a distorted "ground" and "pillars".
In the distance, silent spatial rifts stretched across the horizon, like wounds that could never heal in this demiplane.
The air was filled with an intense, almost overwhelming, stellar energy. However, this energy was violent and chaotic, like boiling oil. Not only could it not be absorbed, but it would also continuously erode the intruder's shield and body.
Furthermore, an invisible "rule suppression" enveloped the entire area. Lin Tian tried to activate [Blink], but found that the skill response was sluggish, the maximum distance was compressed by more than 70%, and there was unstable spatial turbulence interfering with it.
"Rejection of non-stellar systems... just as I expected."
Lin Tian sensed his own condition. His [Starry Sky Mystic] class was relatively less suppressed, but his movements and skill casting were still affected to some extent.
Roar--!
A deep, guttural roar, like a mixture of metallic friction and the hum of energy, came from ahead.
Several grotesque monsters, seemingly forcibly fused together from starlight and broken metal, emerged from behind the floating wreckage.
They have no fixed form, like failed creations, exuding an aura of chaos and destruction.
【Astral Aberration - Remnant Lv.58-60 (Elite)】
Lin Tian was too lazy to waste time.
With a flick of his finger, he unleashed the [Star Ray]! The condensed star beam was remarkably effective against these monsters whose essence leaned towards the stars, easily piercing and annihilating them.
Following the rough map provided by Sima Han (which only showed the outlines of the first few layers), he moved downwards in the direction where he felt the energy was most concentrated and the sense of oppression was strongest.
The so-called "layers" are more like a division of energy density and spatial distortion.
Lin Tian needs to constantly traverse those "turbulent barriers" made of violent energy in order to enter deeper.
The second floor, the third floor...
As the monsters' levels and strength gradually increased, Lv.61-63 [Astral Aberration Aggregates] appeared, and even small groups with simple skills and the ability to cooperate began to emerge.
The environment is becoming increasingly harsh, with stellar turbulence acting like invisible blades, and spatial rifts appearing more frequently.
Lin Tian's approach was simple and direct.
For small groups of enemies, use [Star Ray] to pick them off individually or clear out small areas.
When encountering swarms of aggregates, immediately unleash [Starstorm] to cover them. The destructive power of the starstorm seems to be amplified in this environment, making it utterly devastating.
His progress was extremely rapid, and his strong adaptability to the rules saved him far more time than the explorers who were prophesied to proceed with extreme caution.
Fourth floor, fifth floor... sixth floor!
Upon arriving here, the monsters have reached the level of Lv.64-65 [Astral Aberration - Lord-level Prototype], each comparable to a minor lord in the outside world, and they often come in groups of three to five.
The stellar turbulence in the environment has become so dense that it has formed patches of "energy swamps." Stepping into them will result in continuous high damage and severe slowing down.
The space is also extremely unstable, with random small-scale spatial collapses occurring frequently.
Lin Tian finally began to use a more powerful combination of skills.
[Law Imprisonment] locks down the most threatening target; [Universal Pull] forcibly pulls scattered enemies together.
Then, the [Starstorm] and [Shinra Tensei] bombarded in turn, and in the face of absolute damage, these powerful aberrations still fell in droves.
The seventh floor, the eighth floor...
The pressure increased sharply again.
Monster attacks begin to come with chaotic rule effects (such as brief silence or attribute weakening), and spatial rifts in the environment can even generate suction, pulling people toward destruction.
With the support of [Star Resonance] and [Starlight Flow], his magical power remained above the healthy level.
Finally, after passing through the last turbulent barrier on the eighth floor, which resembled a waterfall of stars, Lin Tian arrived at his destination—the ninth floor of the Star Core Dungeon, which was also the most crucial floor.
The space here has actually become "stable".
A spherical cavity with a diameter of over one kilometer. The "walls" of the cavity are solidified, dark crystals that flow with starlight.