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Chen Ye felt his blood and qi churning violently within him, the consumption of his sacred blood and star power suddenly intensifying, and his brain also stinging from the rapid energy analysis and manipulation. This temporarily created defense method placed an immense burden on his mind and energy, and could not be sustained for long.

But the effect was remarkable! He withstood the combined attack of two Golden Core Peak Aberrations, broke through the blockade, and arrived at the entrance of the spiral staircase!
The two mutants were clearly not expecting this "little bug" to withstand their attack. They paused for a moment, then let out an even more furious roar and turned to chase after it.

Chen Ye wasn't about to give them a chance. Without turning his head, he stepped onto the spiral staircase and simultaneously threw a Holy Light Grenade!
boom!
A dazzling white light erupted at the platform entrance. Although it had limited damage to the elemental aberrations, the intense holy light interference and the explosive impact slowed their pursuit for a moment.

In that instant, Chen Ye had already rushed up the spiral staircase for dozens of feet!

Behind him came the unwilling roar of the mutants and the loud sound of energy bombarding the stairs, but Chen Ye had no time to pay attention to it.

The fourth floor, the "Star Chart Archives," once housed the Holy Spirit Clan's vast star charts and records of civilization, is now a scene of utter devastation. Huge bookshelves have collapsed, and precious star chart crystals are scattered everywhere, most of them broken and dimmed. The air is thick with the smell of burnt paper and special storage media, and a desolate atmosphere... as if countless pieces of knowledge have been torn apart and forgotten.

The danger here is not physical monsters, but rather the "echoes of knowledge" and "fragments of memory" that permeate the air. Accidentally coming into contact with certain lingering, intense thoughts or undisturbed currents of knowledge may instantly overwhelm one's consciousness with a massive amount of information, or trap one in a terrifying scene from a recording, from which one cannot extricate oneself.

Chen Ye focused his mind, maximizing the sense of anchoring his soul brought by the "Seed of Truth," while relying on the wisdom emanating from the Wisdom Star Key and the "Blessing of the Starry Corridor" to resist the omnipresent mental interference.

Following the route he remembered, he quickly passed through the collapsed bookshelves and scattered crystals, and found the teleportation array leading to the fifth floor (the main staircase on this floor had collapsed).

The fifth level, the "Starship Simulation Port," a place for simulating starship operations and tactical training, is also severely damaged, with only some huge, broken simulation cabins and energy nodes remaining.

The sixth floor, the "Energy Tuning Room," is responsible for balancing the energy in various areas of the tower. Currently, the energy turbulence is at its most violent, and Chen Ye has to risk crossing an unstable energy storm area. During this time, his armor is on the verge of collapse several times, and he also suffers many new injuries.

The seventh floor, the "Advanced Rune Research Lab," is relatively more complete, but the air is filled with strange residual rune energy. Some broken runes can even inadvertently combine to form offensive temporary spells, making them difficult to defend against.

When Chen Ye finally arrived at the "official passage" leading from the seventh to the eighth floor, his condition was already quite bad.

The continuous high-intensity battles, energy consumption, and mental strain left him pale, his breathing unstable, and his Holy Blood Power and Star Power were almost depleted. The newly formed "Adaptive Energy Deflection Armor" also completely dissipated due to insufficient energy and structural overload.

The so-called "official passage"—a magnificent archway that should have been made of pure starlight—was now completely blocked by a dense, churning, and writhing dark red "corruption zone"!
Dark red energy flowed across the archway frame like living pus, emitting a nauseatingly sweet and putrid stench and a strong sense of chaos. Through that viscous energy membrane, the outline of the eighth level of space could be vaguely seen, but there was an even stronger sense of malice, a chilling feeling as if countless eyes were watching.

"The Corruption Spread Zone..." Chen Ye's heart sank. According to the information provided by the maintenance station's database and the judgment, this was the "Corruption Spread Zone" that blocked the normal passage between the seventh and eighth floors, the tentacles spreading from the lair of the Fallen.

Force his way in? In his current state, rushing into such a high concentration of corrupting energy would be tantamount to suicide; he would be instantly eroded and corrupted.

Taking a detour? The ruling mentioned that there might be an alternative route through the maintenance passage on the southwest side of the Aion's base, but turning back now is obviously too late.

"Could it be... that we can only wait for the starlight to converge and forcefully open the passage by relying on the resonance of the three keys?" Chen Ye looked at the Wisdom Star Key in his hand, then at the other two fragments in his arms (the Holy Spirit Heart Fragment and the Courage Star Key were still missing). "But... the Courage Star Key is still with Jiu Feng. She doesn't know if she succeeded, or when she will be able to come out..."

Time was running out. He could even faintly sense that the starlight energy from the outside world was slowly increasing and converging at a specific frequency. The moment of starlight convergence was approaching!
Just when he was anxious and almost in despair, the fragment of the Holy Spirit Heart in his arms suddenly began to vibrate violently without warning!

A verdant light shone through his clothes, illuminating his pale face.

At the same time, the fragments conveyed a thought that was clearer and more urgent than ever before:
"Echo...closer...resonance..."

"The third... fragment... is... just ahead..."

"With myself as the guide...with my heart as the bridge...we can briefly...open up...a ​​path of purification..."

The third fragment of the Heart of the Holy Spirit is behind this "Corruption Spread Zone"? On the eighth level? Perhaps even... deep within the Lair of the Fallen?!

The fragment means that he should use the fragment in his hand as a starting point, combined with his own "heart" (perhaps referring to the "seed of truth" or the source of holy blood), to forcibly open a temporary, purified channel in this corrupting energy.

This is insane! What are the chances of success? How much will it cost? Will it directly alert the terrifying beings deep within the lair?
Chen Ye looked at the swirling dark red before him, felt the increasingly intense resonance and urging of the fragments in his arms, and the ever-clearer sense of starlight gathering outside...

There was no time to hesitate.

He took a deep breath, and a resolute light flashed in his eyes.

"Alright! Then... let's give it our all!"

He held the fragment of the Heart of the Holy Spirit tightly in his left hand, pressing it against the spot on his chest where the Seed of Truth had merged. In his right hand, he gripped the Key of Wisdom.

He poured all the remaining Holy Blood Power, Star Crown Power, and even the faint but tenacious "Light of the Original Heart" into the fragment without reservation!
"With the blood of the Holy Spirit as our guide! With a true heart as our proof! Purify evil and open the way!"

The fragments burst forth with an unprecedentedly brilliant emerald light! That light was warm, vast, and full of endless vitality and purifying power, like a flame of hope igniting in the darkness!

The moment the light came into contact with the churning dark red corrupting energy in front of it, it was like a hot knife cutting into butter!
Chi Chi Chi -!
A piercing corrosive sound and a shrill scream, like the cries of countless tiny souls, rang out! The dark red energy churned, retreated, and evaporated violently as if it had encountered its nemesis! A narrow passage, barely wide enough for one person to pass through and radiating a soft emerald light, was forcibly carved out amidst the dense corrosive energy, leading straight into the depths of the eighth level!
On both sides of the passage are "walls" formed by the purified corrupted energy. The emerald green light and the remaining dark red light are constantly fighting and annihilating each other. The passage itself is also trembling slightly, obviously unstable and may collapse at any time.

Opening this passage had almost drained Chen Ye of his last bit of strength. He felt a wave of dizziness, his legs went weak, and he nearly collapsed. But he knew he couldn't give up! The passage wouldn't last much longer!

He bit his tongue, using the pain to stimulate his mind, and with his last bit of strength, he rushed into the emerald green passage without hesitation!

Inside the passage, a verdant light enveloped him, isolating him from the suffocating corruption and malice outside. He could feel the fragments violently consuming his stored Holy Spirit essence, and the light was dimming at a visible rate.

Faster! Faster!
He ran with all his might through the narrow passage!
Behind them, the edges of the passage began to crumble, the emerald light retreated steadily, and dark red corrupting energy surged back like a tide, attempting to devour this "alien" path that dared to invade their territory.

Finally, just before the passage was about to close completely, Chen Ye burst out of the end!
He crashed heavily onto the cold, hard ground of the eighth floor, gasping and coughing violently.

Looking back, the emerald green passage had completely disappeared, and the dark red corrupting energy had closed up again, as if there had never been a gap.

The Holy Spirit Heart fragment in his arms had dimmed to the point of being almost invisible, and the thoughts it conveyed had become extremely weak, as if it had fallen into a deep slumber.

Chen Ye didn't bother to examine the fragments; he struggled to sit up and looked around.

This is the eighth floor of the Tower of Eternity.

Compared to the previous floors, the space here is more spacious and more... eerie.

The air was thick with an almost tangible aura of darkness, mixed with an indescribable resentment and madness that seemed to linger after countless souls had been tormented and twisted. The light was extremely dim, with only some broken energy nodes in the distance and the remaining runes on the walls emitting a dark and ominous glow.

The ground, walls, and even the ceiling were covered with a thick, dark red substance that resembled flesh and blood. This substance was slowly wriggling, its surface covered with vein-like structures and tiny, constantly opening and closing pores, emitting a sweet, putrid stench.

In the distance, some larger, more twisted shadows could be vaguely seen writhing, accompanied by low, murmuring and chewing sounds that seemed to come from the abyss.

This is the edge of the Fallen's lair.

The location where Chen Ye was standing seemed to be a relatively "clean" corner, possibly an area left over after the fragments of power were purified. However, the dark red flesh and blood tissue around him was already stirring and slowly spreading towards him.

He must leave immediately, find a relatively safe place, wait for the starlight to converge, and reunite with Jiufeng (if she can arrive with the Star Key of Courage).

He forced himself to stand up and checked his surroundings.

According to Odin's structural diagrams and the information from the Judgment, the sealed gate leading to the ninth level, "Between the Star Cores," is located in the central area of ​​the eighth level. The core of the Fallen's Lair is also in that direction.

He must cross the outer perimeter of the nest to reach the center.

At this moment, the convergence of starlight is probably only a stick of incense's time away, or even less.

He could feel that the starlight energy fluctuations coming from outside the tower (even through the tower itself) had become astonishingly strong, as if the entire Holy Mountain and the entire Primordial Land were resonating and trembling in anticipation of that moment.

The final moment is approaching.

Chen Ye gripped the Wisdom Star Key tightly, feeling the faint resonance between the two fragments in his arms (the dormant Holy Spirit Heart fragment and the yet-to-appear Courage Star Key), and gazed ahead at the darkness filled with the unknown and terror.

He must move forward.

Chen Ye dragged his exhausted body forward with difficulty on the eighth level, which was covered with sticky flesh and blood. Each step felt like stepping on rotting entrails, producing a nauseating "plop" sound. The cloying stench in the air was almost suffocating, mixed with some kind of neurotoxin-like whispers that kept trying to penetrate his mind.

He suppressed his nausea and dizziness, covering his body with the last of his holy blood power, forming a thin purifying film to isolate him from direct contact and erosion. He held the Wisdom Star Key in his right hand, its faint starlight and aura of wisdom helping him maintain his last shred of consciousness.

The surrounding "walls" and "ground" were slowly undulating, their vein-like structures contracting and expanding slightly as he approached, as if breathing. Occasionally, dark red mist or viscous liquid would suddenly spew out from some of the holes, carrying a strong corrosive and mental impact, forcing Chen Ye to either dodge in advance or withstand it head-on.

After traveling about a hundred feet, a huge chasm resembling a canyon appeared ahead. On both sides of the chasm were "cliffs" tens of feet high, made of piled-up dark red flesh and blood, their surfaces covered with constantly opening and closing cracks and writhing tumors. At the bottom of the chasm flowed a viscous, dark red "river," in which seemed to float countless twisted things that resembled both limbs and roots.

This is the internal structure of the nest, like the internal labyrinth of some giant creature.

Chen Ye must cross this rift to continue approaching the central area.

He observed that the crevice was about ten zhang wide, with a dangerous, corrosive river flowing below, making it impossible to jump across directly. Although the "cliffs" on both sides were climbable, they were covered with dangerous growths and fissures that could spew things out or swallow him at any moment.

"Time is running out..." Chen Ye could sense that the fluctuations in the starlight energy outside had reached their peak, and the entire tower was trembling slightly, emitting a deep resonance. The starlight convergence could begin at any moment!
Just as he was anxiously preparing to risk climbing the "cliff," the dormant "life imprint" belonging to Elvira's cenotaph (given by the Ionian prophet) in his arms suddenly stirred slightly! (End of Chapter)