Swallowed Star: Primordial Artifact

Chapter 304 Endless Reincarnation
The Starlight Alien's pupils contracted sharply, and an eerie ripple spread across his metallic face.

He stared at Jiang Ye in disbelief—what seemed like an ordinary finger strike was actually one of his most lethal moves. His mastery of "time freeze" was exquisite, and his soul erosion, which he secretly unleashed, was all-pervasive. Yet this human had actually broken free from time freeze and managed to break through in such a short time.

The transparent drill, which should have pierced through the opponent's body, merely knocked him away without causing a fatal injury.

Moreover, he had already launched a soul-penetrating attack, but it had no effect.

"What a cunning move, but unfortunately, it didn't work." Jiang Ye hovered in mid-air, surrounded by a pale golden aura of divine power. He raised his hand and waved it lightly, dispelling all the starlight phantoms remaining in his sea of ​​consciousness. "Alien race, what other tricks do you have up your sleeve? Show them all."

This alien race possesses a profound understanding of the laws of time and space, and their soul attacks are particularly fierce and powerful. They also possess several powerful treasures for protection.

All of this made Jiang Ye wonder what the origins of this alien race were.

"Human, I have been here for five thousand epochs, and countless intruders have entered. You are the strongest, but also the most foolish! Since you have come here, stay here forever!" The Starlight Alien spoke slowly, his voice cold and full of killing intent.

Wow!
The horizontal lines on his forehead slowly opened, and in that instant, the flow of time began to shift strangely, and space itself trembled...

The flow of time around his powerful divine body was affected, especially when he was about to unleash his hidden innate skill, the resulting energy fluctuations caused the surrounding space to tremble violently.

The spacetime inside the mountain instantly twisted into a vortex, and the horizontal line on the forehead of the Starlight Alien suddenly split open, revealing a star with a flowing silver halo.

At the same time, the seven pairs of translucent wings trembled violently, and countless tiny fragments of spacetime scattered like stardust, quickly condensing around him into twelve ancient, suspended star charts.

"Time Corridor: A Prison of Time!"

With a deep and majestic shout from the Starlight Alien, the moment the star in the center of his forehead shone brightly, an invisible divine power seemed to rush straight into Jiang Ye's body.

"A secret technique! What kind of special life form is this alien race?" The moment Jiang Ye saw the Starlight Alien use this move, he knew that it was definitely not an ordinary self-created combat technique.

The attack had already entered his body, penetrating the "Dragon Devouring Armor" and the "Golden Armor" in succession. The terrifying attack contained in the starlight was still incredibly powerful.

The "King's Soul" hummed within his soul, yet it was like a gentle breeze, unable to shake this invisible attack in the slightest.

"boom!"

The attack instantly struck Jiang Ye's soul.

Unexpectedly, this time the Xuanhuang Pagoda Beads were not protecting him, and Jiang Ye actually fell into an illusion.

"Hmm? Illusion, break!" Jiang Ye shook his head dismissively. With the power of the Xuanhuang Pagoda Pearl, he easily shattered the illusion before him, and the surrounding illusory scenery instantly vanished. However, immediately afterward, he found himself in an endless world of mountains and rivers.

"It's an illusion again. Break free."

"It's still an illusion, break free!"

Layer upon layer of illusions, an eternal illusion, yet Jiang Ye's soul remained unsteady. The Xuanhuang Pagoda Bead frantically shattered each layer of illusion. The speed at which the illusions formed couldn't keep up with Jiang Ye's speed of breaking them, but strangely, Jiang Ye was unable to escape this illusory space.

As time passed, Jiang Ye couldn't help but feel tired, and he stopped activating the Xuanhuang Pagoda Beads... In just an instant, Jiang Ye was enveloped by this illusion... Time seemed to stretch on and on, as if he had been trapped in the illusion for thousands, even tens of thousands of years, and the endless illusion continued...

"Hmm, no, this is definitely not an ordinary illusion. The move that alien used is so strange, it must be his innate ultimate move." Despite having spent an extremely long time in the illusion, Jiang Ye remained calm.

His will and soul, nourished by the Xuanhuang Pagoda Pearl over a long period of time, have reached an incredible level.

"If it were an ordinary illusion, with the power of the Xuanhuang Pagoda Pearl, it would be impossible for it to invade my mind."

"A talent technique is a gift from the primordial will of the universe; it's inherently an incomprehensible skill, impossible to cultivate. His innate ultimate technique is indeed very strange," Jiang Ye pondered to himself. Although he was trapped in layers of illusions and unable to completely break free, he wasn't in a hurry.

Although it seemed like a long time had passed in the illusion, Jiang Ye knew that only a moment had passed in the outside world because of the special connection between him and the avatar of the Ancestral Dragon Beast.

All of this was thanks to Jiang Ye's strong will, coupled with the protection of the Xuanhuang Tower Pearl. If his will were slightly weaker, he would be completely affected by the illusion and would not be able to maintain contact with his clone at all.

……

"Puff puff!"

The twelve star charts suddenly burst forth with dazzling light, and the space beneath Jiang Ye's feet instantly collapsed, transforming into a liquid river of time flowing with the brilliance of starlight.

As the river surged, Jiang Ye saw his own appearance when he first began cultivating—the young man who had diligently studied the laws in Chaos City was now standing in the river, looking up at him.

"This is... my past?" Jiang Ye's expression changed slightly. Before he could react, the liquid river suddenly boiled, and countless fragments of memories rose from the river, weaving together into a phantom starry sky.

He saw himself fighting on the battlefield outside the realm, and even saw the scene of the world before he traveled there.

……

A cold smile appeared on the liquid metal face of the Starlight Alien. The drill-like wings on his back suddenly scattered into thousands of light feathers, which floated in the air and formed a giant hourglass. Each grain of light that fell pulled the river of time to stir up huge waves, sweeping Jiang Ye's figure into different memory illusions time and time again.

This move is the innate ultimate skill of the Starlight Alien Race—Time Corridor!
It perfectly blends the laws of time with illusion, seemingly focusing on illusion, but its core essence is the laws of time.

Once cast, the victim will be trapped in an endless time loop. There are two ways to break this spell.

The first method involves forcibly breaking through the illusion using one's own overwhelming divine power. However, most treasures that protect the soul are of little use against this move, as the illusion is merely a side effect of it.

The second option is to endure this attack and break free from the endless cycle of reincarnation within the illusion. Moreover, one must not succumb to this illusion; one must spend an extremely long time within it. Of course, from the outside, it will appear as if only a moment has passed.

"Endless cycle of reincarnation."

"Without the protection of a precious soul treasure, if one indulges in the mysteries of the illusion, one's will and consciousness will naturally collapse, one's soul will crumble, and one will perish."

"If one resists breaking through layer after layer of illusions, one will be extremely lonely and isolated, and one cannot relax for a moment. The eternal process of breaking through illusions seems to have no end. Breaking through for billions of years is enough to drive even the strongest to despair and ultimately lead to their downfall." The Starlight Alien was quite proud of this move.

The Starlight Alien was quite proud of his move. It was so incredibly powerful that it allowed him to roam the universe freely, and even some cosmic venerables could fall into its trap if they weren't careful.

……

The Starlight Alien's forehead markings had just closed, and he wore a smile, but Jiang Ye in the distance had already opened his eyes.

Those eyes shone with a firm and calm light, showing no sign of the weariness and confusion of being trapped in the illusion for so long.

"You... how could you break through this move so quickly?"

Upon seeing this, the smiles on the faces of the Starlight Alien froze instantly, and a hint of disbelief and panic flashed in their eyes.

He never expected that Jiang Ye could break free from the endless cycle of "Time Corridor: Tracing the World's Prison" in such a short time.

It should be noted that since his birth, apart from the cosmic venerables, there have been very few who could resist this move among those of the same level. Even if there were, they all relied on their soul treasures to endure the loneliness of the cycle of time and then burned their divine power at the critical moment to survive. But the human in front of him did not burn his divine power, so how could he possibly withstand this move?

"How many cycles of reincarnation have you gone through in the endless cycle of time?" the Starlight Alien suddenly asked.

“Endless time loop? Yes, it’s a loop.” Jiang Ye nodded. “I felt like I’ve lived through it a hundred times—nearly ten thousand epochs of reincarnation.”

"What? One hundred times, nearly ten thousand epochs of reincarnation? Endless loneliness and tedium, without the slightest rest, and you actually endured it for so long?" The Starlight Alien was somewhat astonished, then, realizing something, quickly asked, "Why?"

It should be noted that his endless time cycle is not without weaknesses. After experiencing one or two cycles, one can discover its secrets. Subsequently, some powerful individuals can easily break through it by burning their divine power. Of course, this is for those powerful individuals who can withstand the torment of the cycle.

Jiang Ye has gone through a hundred cycles of reincarnation. If he said he hadn't discovered the secrets within, the Starlight Alien Clan would never believe it. But Jiang Ye didn't choose to break through; instead, he continued to experience it.

Jiang Ye smiled but didn't say anything.

In fact, Jiang Ye chose to endure this move completely instead of using the Xuanhuang Tower Beads this time in order to temper and test his will. Countless years passed in the illusion, and when he came out of the illusion, Jiang Ye did not feel confused at all, but was very clear-headed.

Those ancient beings in the universe, each existing since the birth of the universe, have honed their incredibly strong wills over countless years. Although Jiang Ye is nourished by the Xuanhuang Tower Pearl, this constant nourishment, while elevating his will and soul, also creates a sense of unease within him.
Jiang Ye knew that this was like pulling up seedlings to help them grow; they were growing too fast and not getting enough nutrition.

Therefore, Jiang Ye chose to rely on the solitude of this cycle of time to hone himself.

As it turns out, Jiang Ye made the right choice.

At this moment, Jiang Ye felt that his will had finally gained a sense of stability after this ordeal, and the previous feeling of immaturity had disappeared.

“Alien race, you’re quite something, but it’s time for all of this to end!” Jiang Ye grinned, revealing his white teeth.

boom……

Suddenly, the ground beneath their feet tore open, and scorching magma surged forth from the cracks like a roaring fire dragon. Accompanied by a deafening roar, a gigantic beast claw that blotted out the sky burst forth from the earth.

These beast claws are thousands of kilometers long and covered in burning flames.

Wherever it passed, space cracked and shattered, and the scorching heatwave instantly turned the surrounding rocks into dust.

The Starlight Alien looked down in terror, only to see the beast's claw carrying a terrifying, world-destroying pressure, like a towering fiery peak, rapidly pressing down on him.

Although the alien beings of the Starlight race have divine bodies that far surpass those of ordinary humans, standing over a hundred meters tall, they are as insignificant as ants before this colossal, sky-covering claw.

"What is this?!" The Starlight Alien's voice was filled with fear. He frantically activated all his divine power, and his seven pairs of semi-transparent wings shone with the most dazzling light, trying to resist this terrifying attack.

At the same time, the galactic light bands that had been surrounding him turned into giant pythons with bared fangs and claws, frantically coiling towards the giant claws in an attempt to block its attack.

However, when these bands of light touched the raging flames on the beast's claws, they instantly curled up like ice and snow meeting the scorching sun, emitting a series of sizzling sounds.

hum...

The moment the beast's claws touched the Starlight Alien, the entire mountainside was enveloped in blinding light.

The immense impact slammed the alien warrior directly into the ground, and the resulting tremors caused the once stable mountainside to begin to crumble, with large amounts of rocks falling like raindrops.

At the same time, a terrifying magma storm shot into the sky, like an angry prehistoric beast, rushing straight towards the heavens.

The once tranquil edge of the Three Extremes Abyss began to twist and deform under the impact of this earth-shattering force, as if it was about to collapse completely due to the inability to withstand this powerful force.

At this critical moment, Jiang Ye's human form instantly appeared in the path of the attack, surrounded by a faint cyan aura, and steadily blocked the impact.

Jiang Ye hovered in the air, looking at the location of the giant claw, his eyes filled with a cold killing intent.

This giant claw originated from his ancestral dragon beast avatar, and the molten lava covering it was the Tower Dragon King's treasure—the Infernal Claw.

"Destroy." The voice of the Ancestral Dragon's clone was deep and cold, as if it came from the deepest hell, devoid of any emotion.

He raised his hand and waved it gently. The flames on his dragon claws seemed to receive some mysterious command, and suddenly surged wildly, completely engulfing the Starlight Alien race in a sea of ​​fire.

The Starlight Alien roared in defiance amidst the flames, but his voice was quickly swallowed by the raging inferno.

With a final roar, the dragon claw completely crushed the alien powerhouse into dust.

Although the Starlight Alien's divine body was fully condensed again after a short while thanks to his powerful strength, his aura was significantly weaker than before.

It should be noted that the current Ancestral Dragon clone has already mastered the first level of the divine power amplification secret technique "True Dragon Transformation", which can achieve a nine-fold amplification. In addition, with the all-round hundredfold enhancement of the innate skill Blood Burning, the power contained when it is fully unleashed is close to the peak power of a 20 millionth World Lord, not to mention the added power of the treasure Flame Prison Claw.

The alien star creatures before us, though they also possess several powerful treasures, lack any armor to withstand physical attacks. So how could they possibly withstand this blow?

(End of this chapter)