Absolute Destiny Game.

Chapter 618 The Strange Changes in the Demon Star Tower
Auspicious clouds carried the crowd silently across the war-torn land of Canglin Prefecture.

Below, the once lush forest has turned to scorched earth, the village is reduced to ruins, and the river is stained with blood and ashes in an eerie color.

The cloud flew over the majestic palace of Giantwood City, over the dilapidated ancient Great Wall defenses, and over the vast, silent wilderness.

As they flew along, they encountered no monsters in sight. There were no wandering demonic soldiers, no lurking elite leaders, and not even a single low-level corrupted creature.

The entire land fell into an unsettling silence, as if all the demons had been consumed in that fierce battle that determined their fate, or... completely wiped out by some force.

Xiao Jie surveyed the overly "clean" land, lost in thought. "This demonic star... seems to be planning something big." He pondered to himself, "In the previous battle, it dispatched almost all of its forces, a complete annihilation. This behavior could be either due to its arrogance, believing it can sweep across the Nine Provinces with this force; or... these subordinates have already fulfilled some kind of 'mission' for it, losing their value, or even their very existence has become an obstacle or 'material' for it to achieve its ultimate goal."

Whichever possibility it may be, it suggests that the truth hidden within the Demon Star Tower is far more than a simple act of desperate resistance. And the answer will soon be revealed.

The auspicious clouds passed through the thick, perpetual gray fog south of the Great Wall. The view suddenly opened up, and the Demon Star Tower appeared before them.

The towering, twisted, and grotesque black tower peak, like a malignant tumor rooted in the earth, still radiates an ominous dark red light. At the top of its spiraling spire, the enormous, bloodshot eye of the demonic star star stares emotionlessly at the uninvited guests, as if it had long anticipated their arrival.

"Hmph, hiding your head and tail, I'll cripple your eyes and ears first!" Lin Xuance snorted coldly, and without the slightest hesitation, he drew his sword and swung it towards the top of the tower! A huge sword aura radiating a chilling light instantly tore through the air and slashed towards the giant eye!

The demonic star's eye appeared majestic and domineering, seemingly containing endless evil wisdom and possessing an unfathomable quality. However, its performance was surprisingly poor, as it was easily struck by the sword energy.

This thing was still essentially made of flesh and blood. Faced with the terrifying sword energy of the immortal's furious attack, it was as fragile as paper and was instantly cleaved in two!

Thick, dark purple blood cascaded down the black tower like a waterfall, staining large sections of the tower walls even more filthy.

Xiao Jie was on guard, but this attack did not trigger any of the expected counterattacks. The tower remained silent, and the flying monsters that used to swarm around the Demon Star Tower like locusts were nowhere to be seen.

Xiao Jie carefully sensed and observed the environment around the Demon Star Tower. It was completely empty, and he couldn't even sense a trace of active demonic energy. Only the lonely giant tower stood before them.

"This is really strange," Wu Qingyue muttered, arms crossed. "When did this demon star turn into a coward? It hasn't reacted at all."

Su Zhiqing's expression was solemn, her eyebrows slightly furrowed. She turned to Xiaoyue Zhenren beside her and asked, "Xiaoyue, to your knowledge, has the Demon Star Tower ever been so unusually quiet and unprepared in the past?"

Master Xiaoyue shook his head. “I was unaware of that. In the past, it was already difficult for our Canglin Tianyu Army to rely on the Great Wall defense line to barely withstand the periodic attacks and harassment from the demons. We simply did not have the strength to delve into this place for detailed investigation. However, Immortal Yinyue Suifeng sneaked into this place alone a month ago, so perhaps he knows more.”

All eyes immediately turned to Xiao Jie. Xiao Jie nodded, confirming what Master Xiaoyue had said: "I have indeed been here. Back then, this place was a den of monsters. Inside and outside the tower, monsters patrolled and guarded everywhere. It was a veritable dragon's den and tiger's lair, very lively. Now it's so empty and desolate... it's indeed very strange."

"Hmph, whatever they're up to!" Lin Xuance, with his straightforward nature, was most impatient with such pretense. "In the end, strength will decide everything! That demonic star has lost all its claws and is all alone. With the power of all the immortals, are we afraid of it? This blatant opening might be an attempt to scare us away by imitating the ancient 'empty city' strategy. There's no point in wasting time playing games with it. Fellow martial artist, please break through this gate!"

"Haha, leave it to me!" Upon hearing this, Wu Qingyue laughed loudly and suddenly leaped down from the cloud! The height of several hundred meters seemed to be non-existent for him, and his body fell like a meteorite, landing steadily on the ground.

He looked at the giant tower in front of him, took a deep breath, and his muscles instantly bulged. An invisible force field spread out from him, and the surrounding rubble floated into the air as his aura spread.

He assumed a simple yet solid horse stance, gathering his strength, and slightly stepped forward with his right foot—

"boom!"

The ground, composed of black rock, instantly cracked open with countless fissures resembling a dense spiderweb, centered on his feet! Debris flew everywhere, and dust billowed.

Wu Qingyue's eyes flashed with a sharp light, and he exhaled loudly, like a thunderclap from a clear sky:

"open--!"

The next second, his right fist slammed out straight out without any fancy moves! There were no dazzling lights or shadows, no complicated techniques, only the purest and most extreme power bursting, compressing, and propelling in an instant!
"Bang——!!!"

A deafening, muffled thud resounded, as if the entire space had collapsed inward from the punch! Everyone could clearly see that the air in front of the fist was rippled with visible, distorted, and transparent waves.

The endpoint of the fist's force was the outer wall of the Demon Star Tower.

The towering outer wall of the Demon Star Tower, which was as fragile as glass, was blasted open by this unparalleled brute force, leaving a huge hole with a diameter of more than ten meters and jagged edges! The broken bricks collapsed inward, revealing the deep and dark space inside the tower.

Seeing this, Su Zhiqing immediately manipulated the auspicious cloud, leading everyone to slowly descend beside Wu Qingyue. The players, staring at the massive hole and the cracked ground around them, were all speechless, thinking to themselves, "This immortal knows martial arts! Even city walls can't stop him! This demolition efficiency is simply incredible!"

Lin Xuance drew his sword with a clang and led the way into the dark cave entrance, repeatedly telling everyone without turning back, "Keep up with everyone. The situation inside the tower is unknown, so please be careful, stay alert, and don't get separated. Be prepared to deal with any emergencies."

Even without his words, no one dared to be careless. This was the Demon Star Tower, the ultimate map in the current version of the game, widely recognized as the most dangerous and mysterious! Not to mention, this trip was related to the main storyline. If they fell behind or got lost along the way, missing out on key plot points and possible rare drops, that would be something they would truly regret.

Four immortals walked side by side at the front, clearing the way for the group. The player disciples and the four True Immortals followed in single file, cautiously stepping into this unknown territory.

The internal structure of the Demon Star Tower was as intricate and complex as Xiao Jie remembered, with numerous branching passages, resembling a giant maze. However, Wu Qingyue was completely unfazed. Adhering to the principle of "miracles happen with brute force," he didn't bother to detour or decipher any obstructing walls or confusing forks in the road; he simply unleashed a punch! Accompanied by booming sounds and flying debris, he carved out a straight "shortcut" to the core area within this bizarre maze!
To everyone's increasing surprise, as they ventured deeper into the Demon Star Tower, they encountered not a single monster. The rooms on either side of the passage, which resembled hatching nests or cages, were empty, with only traces of dried, dark purple slime remaining.

"Huh? That's strange!" one player couldn't help but whisper. "Are all those monsters really dead? Or did they know we were coming and run away beforehand?"

"Could it be that the evil star has moved?" some players speculated.

The Supreme Emperor snorted coldly, "No way, this is the main storyline of the game. Since the system has arranged for us to participate in this storyline, it's clear that something important is going to happen. Don't make wild guesses."

“Something unusual must have happened here before.” Master Longhua said solemnly. He squatted down, dipped his finger into some congealed, blackened blood-like stains on the ground, sniffed them, and seemed to be deep in thought.

“Yes, Fellow Daoist Longhua is right.” Su Zhiqing nodded in agreement. “To know what happened here, we need to ‘see’ further.”

As she spoke, she suddenly stopped and clasped her hands together.

"Celestial Art - Time Reversal Technique!"

A soft, bright white halo emanated from her, spreading outwards like a tide and quickly covering the area where everyone was.

Wherever the halo passed, subtle changes occurred. The surrounding light began to distort, and the scene became both blurry and clear.

The black bloodstains on the ground vanished instantly, and many translucent, ghostly figures appeared out of thin air! They gradually solidified, walking and patrolling in the passageway, or gathering in certain rooms to carry out some kind of activity; they were everywhere.

This sudden turn of events startled many players, and some instinctively raised their weapons, ready to attack.

"Don't be nervous!" Su Zhiqing quickly reassured her, "This is just a 'time reflection' created by my immortal magic to recall past images of this place. What you are seeing now is what happened here a day ago. These illusory demons are not real, they cannot interact with the present world, and they will not attack us."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and curiously looked around at the holographic projection-like scene.

"Hey? Look over there! How come there are a few... that look like normal monsters?" Wentian Wuji, with his sharp eyes, pointed to the images that appeared at the other end of the passage and said.

Sure enough, in the time reflections of those demons, a group of demons were escorting several burly "monsters" with a completely different aura from the demons themselves. One of them was a burly tiger demon chained up, accompanied by a bull demon, snake demon, spider demon, and a host of other demons of various forms. They were all wounded, their expressions ranging from angry to listless, and they were being roughly bound and dragged by the demons, seemingly being forcibly transported to the deeper levels of the tower.

These monsters are burly and have distinctive appearances, making them easily recognizable as renowned powerhouses among the demon race.

A half-human, half-snake snake spirit with a bewitching face suddenly unleashed a molting magic similar to "the cicada shedding its shell," her body slipping out of her restraints like an eel! As soon as she broke free, she immediately tried to transform into a gust of demonic wind and escape.

However, the surrounding demons reacted extremely quickly, as if they had anticipated this. Several elite demons immediately swarmed forward and easily pinned her to the ground. Before the snake demon could struggle, a demon wielding a bone-bladed sickle-like foot did not hesitate, raising his blade and cleanly severing her head!

These monsters seemed completely unconcerned about whether she was alive or dead. They simply wrapped her still-twisting headless body and her glaring head together with a white, net-like substance, and then dragged her forward as if she were cargo.

"It's the Snake Spirit Demoness, She Yu'er!" Master Xiaoyue exclaimed as he looked at the snake spirit's head. "She's ranked nineteenth on the Canglin Prefecture's monster bounty list. She's quite powerful, especially skilled in concealment and escape techniques! That tiger demon is Lord Luoshi Mountain, who has occupied the Luoshi Mountain Range for many years; that spider demon is Lady Baijie, who was once the city lord of Bagua City in the south! When the calamity of demons first broke out, Bagua City was the first to disappear without a trace. I originally thought that all the demons in the city had perished, but unexpectedly... they were captured alive and brought here!"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Jie understood. These demons and monsters being escorted were all powerful demon clan leaders who controlled various regions of Canglin Prefecture, or officially recognized and formidable demon kings. They represented the pinnacle of the local demon power in Canglin Prefecture. Now, for some unknown reason, they had all been captured by the prodigies of the Demon Star Tower and brought here.

A vague guess surfaced in Xiao Jie's mind: "Perhaps, collecting and capturing these powerful demons... is the real goal of the Demon Star instigating this chaos? Besides serving as tools of invasion, those demon armies may also be tasked with 'hunting'?"

“Let’s follow these images and see where they were taken,” Xiao Jie suggested.

Su Zhiqing nodded, maintaining the spell, and the group followed the ever-moving time reflections, heading deeper into the Demon Star Tower, in a downward direction.

As they ventured deeper, the air grew increasingly cold and damp, and the traces of human excavation gradually diminished, replaced by naturally formed rock walls and stalactites. It felt as if they were descending into the earth. Finally, after passing through a narrow natural tunnel, their vision suddenly brightened; they had arrived at an enormous natural cave hidden deep underground.

In the center of the cave was a bottomless, enormous black pit, over a hundred meters in diameter, seemingly leading straight to the earth's core. At the edge of the pit, the scene before them sent a chill down everyone's spine—the haphazardly kneeling and collapsed corpses of countless demons! Judging from their features, they were none other than the demon team responsible for escorting those powerful demons in the previous time-reflection!

These monstrous creatures, once ferocious and terrifying, now all had lost their life force, kneeling silently at the edge of the pit, arranged in layers along the edge of the giant pit, their number countless, as if all the monsters of the Demon Star Tower had died here.

These monstrous creatures have bizarre postures, as if they are performing some kind of collective sacrifice or worship.

As for those demon clan leaders, they were all nowhere to be seen. However, Xiao Jie had a feeling that they had most likely been thrown into the black pit in front of him.

Xiao Jie walked to a nearby monstrous corpse and crouched down to examine it closely. The corpse's bizarrely twisted face displayed a strange expression of near-pleasure, happiness, and a sense of accomplishment; the corners of its mouth even slightly turned up. However, its skin was an abnormally gray and withered color, like a mummified corpse that had been stored for a thousand years.

Xiao Jie, being overly cautious, lightly touched the corpse's arm with his fingertips—

"puff……"

The corpse collapsed instantly, like a sand sculpture weathered over countless years, turning into a fine, lifeless black dust! It had been completely drained of all its essence from the inside out by some force!

A deathly silence fell over the surroundings. This eerie and terrifying scene sent chills down the players' spines. The other players also wore solemn expressions, while the four immortals maintained a calm facade, though their eyes had become even sharper.

Su Zhiqing walked to the edge of the deep pit, peered down, and saw only endless darkness below, as if it could swallow even light. She withdrew her gaze, her tone calm yet resolute: "It seems that all the answers lie beneath this pit. We must go down to uncover the true nature and purpose of the Demon Star."

She raised her hand and summoned an even more solid auspicious cloud. The four immortals stepped onto it without hesitation. The four immortals exchanged glances; though their expressions were grave, they knew there was no turning back and followed closely behind. The players looked at each other; though somewhat apprehensive, their curiosity about the truth and their desire for the main quest outweighed their fear, and they too cautiously ascended the cloud.

The auspicious cloud carried everyone as it slowly drifted down into the seemingly all-consuming black pit. The surrounding light quickly dimmed. The immortals were fearless in the darkness, but the players were not. Some took out torches, while others cast illumination spells, quickly creating a large halo around them.

Upon seeing this, Su Zhiqing simply used a lighting magic spell, instantly illuminating a large area around them. Only then did everyone feel a little more at ease. After descending for about a minute or two, they finally felt solid ground beneath their feet.

The cloud settled at the bottom of the pit. Contrary to expectations of a narrow, cramped space, it was instead an unusually spacious, flat area, like a meticulously crafted circular underground plaza. The plaza's floor was a smooth, black rock, faintly reflecting the light of illumination spells. The surrounding rock walls rose upwards, merging into the darkness above, forming a perfect dome structure. The entire space was eerily empty; apart from these uninvited guests, there was nothing else.

"Huh? There's nothing here?" Wu Qingyue looked around, his face full of confusion. "After all this effort, is it just an empty shell?"

Lin Xuance remained silent, instead taking out a pearl the size of a longan, radiating a soft white light, from his sleeve. He held it in his palm, chanting incantations. The pearl's light rippled outwards like water, seemingly scanning and probing every inch of the surrounding space. After a moment, he shook his head, his brow furrowing slightly: "Strange, even my [Netherworld Detection Pearl] can't sense any abnormal energy fluctuations or life force... Indeed, it seems there's nothing there."

"No, everyone be careful!" Just then, Xiao Jie said in a solemn and resolute tone, "The BOSS is about to come out!"

"But... I didn't sense any demonic aura or hostility?" Su Zhiqing frowned slightly. Her spiritual sense was far beyond that of ordinary people, but she also found nothing at this moment.

"No, I'm absolutely certain." Xiao Jie's sharp gaze swept across the entire circular plaza, his tone utterly certain. He certainly wasn't relying on the spiritual senses of an immortal or his perception of demonic energy—how could he possibly sense something that even Su Zhiqing and Lin Xuance couldn't detect? His perception attribute on his attribute panel was pitifully low.

Xiao Jie's certainty stemmed entirely from his extensive "game experience." The huge, spacious, well-organized, and ceremonial circular underground plaza before him was clearly a meticulously designed "stage" for the final boss battle!
Many game designers' ideas are often highly similar and formulaic, especially in online games. Since boss battles involve teams, the maps are often designed to be very open.

Having immersed himself in online games for ten years and defeated countless bosses of all kinds, Xiao Jie has developed an almost instinctive sensitivity to the "plot points" implied by these map scenes.

Standing at the edge of the bottom of this circular pit, he could clearly "sense" that this was definitely the location of the final battle! Moreover, judging from the scale and aura of this circular plaza, the upcoming BOSS battle was absolutely extraordinary, and its scale and difficulty were most likely aimed at the mysterious "Master of the Demon Star Tower" himself!
As for how to trigger the BOSS's appearance—according to the routine of most games, as long as someone steps into or approaches the center of this circular plaza, there will inevitably be a cutscene or an anomaly! He quickly glanced at the dome above his head and the ground beneath his feet, and finally locked his gaze on the small area at the very center of the circular plaza.

He pointed there and said to Wu Qingyue, "Fellow Daoist Wu, try taking a few steps toward that center point, but be careful—I suspect that the true form of that demonic star might be hiding down there!"

Upon hearing this, Wu Qingyue's face showed a hint of surprise. He thought to himself, "I, Old Wu, have been through countless battles over the past ten thousand years. What kind of scene haven't I seen? But this place really feels empty. Why are you so sure, Fellow Daoist Suifeng?"

However, seeing that Xiao Jie's expression was serious and not like he was joking, he nodded and carefully walked towards the center of the pit.

Just as his feet were about to touch the black rocky ground at the center point, which seemed no different from the rest of the place—

Rumble, rumble—! ! !
The entire underground plaza suddenly began to shake violently! It was as if some enormous creature slumbering deep underground had been awakened!

Wu Qingyue was prepared and reacted extremely quickly. With a swift step back, his figure flew backward dozens of meters like a ghost, landing steadily with his eyes fixed on the source of the tremor.

The ground in the central area where he had just stood began to undulate and bulge violently, like boiling swamp! Then, a huge, viscous, pitch-black mass burst through the rock layers from the ground and shot into the sky!

The mass of matter twisted and deformed in the air. Its texture looked like liquid asphalt, or thick blood that had not yet dried. Its surface also had an unsettling oily sheen, similar to the liquid yolk of a preserved egg.

The dark shape rapidly converged and contracted in the air, eventually forming a nearly perfect sphere with a diameter of tens of meters! The surface of the sphere was as smooth as a mirror, clearly reflecting the astonished figures of the crowd, like a huge, ominous obsidian ball.

It hovered silently in mid-air, without a sound. The immortals all showed expressions of surprise, because they still could not sense any demonic energy, evil energy, or any common energy fluctuations from this sphere. It was like a pure, cold, lifeless object.

The players were equally confused because they saw that there were no red names or health bars representing hostile targets above the black sphere, which seemed... not to be a BOSS?

However, the next second, the change before their eyes widened everyone's eyes and overturned their understanding.

The perfectly round black sphere, facing the crowd, slowly, like a curtain being drawn back, revealed a narrow crack. The crack continued to expand, eventually forming an enormous eyeball that occupied almost a third of the sphere's surface!
The structure of its eyeball was unlike anything found in any known creature. The pupil was a constantly rotating, dark red vortex, like a nebula, while the whites of the eyes were covered with twisted, writhing black blood vessels. The eyeball slowly rotated inside its sphere, and its cold, indifferent gaze, as if scrutinizing ants, swiftly and precisely locked onto the four immortals present, ignoring the others.

With the appearance of this terrifying giant eye, the monster's name finally appeared above the black sphere.

Otherworldly Demon Star (Master of the Demon Star Tower): Level 99 (Innate Spirit/???). Health Points: ???
(End of this chapter)