Chapter 520 - 364: Eternal Fierce Sun (3)

Any Mutant Beasts lurking in the collapsed sections, no matter how deeply they hid, were crushed into the most basic particles within the twisting Gravity Field.

Purification Starlight flowed in its wake, wiping away all traces of filth.

The entire process was like the invisible hand of a god performing precise civil engineering.

The underground tunnels connecting Deep Rock City with several large nearby survivor outposts, which had been severed for nearly a thousand years, were cleared and reinforced.

A number of smaller outposts were also incidentally connected to this reviving network.

Lumina didn’t know what Ian was planning, so she waited quietly to one side.

Suddenly, with a low HUM, the ground trembled.

Immediately after, a low rumble echoed from the distance.

The sound surged in from all directions, growing ever closer and louder, as if countless great beasts were roaring deep within the earth.

Screams and cries erupted from behind her. Children burrowed into their mothers’ arms, squeezing their eyes shut.

The rumbling lasted for about ten seconds before it stopped.

Ian withdrew his Perception and opened his eyes.

"All the collapsed tunnels within a radius of thousands of miles have been cleared. You can try to contact the other shelters."

Lumina’s eyes widened, and she was shaken to the core. "A radius of thousands of miles?"

She hurried into a nearby room, picked up an ancient Resonating Crystal, and infused it with a stream of Starlight Power.

Just a moment later, the Crystal trembled slightly as an incredulous message arrived from their distant "neighbors."

"Thank you, Senior!" Lumina’s voice was choked with emotion as tears slid silently down her cheeks.

Isolated on this subterranean island for nearly a thousand years, no one knew when Deep Rock City would finally fall—perhaps tomorrow, perhaps in the dead of night...

This mental torment had pushed her to the brink of collapse.

Gratitude and awe spread silently through her heart.

However, Ian’s massive-scale alterations to the planet’s crust and purification of the Abyssal corruption ultimately disturbed a terrifying existence slumbering even deeper underground.

An enraged roar echoed from the far, far distance.

The sound pierced through layers of rock, through vast caverns, and through everyone’s eardrums, stabbing into their minds like a dagger.

Lumina screamed and clutched her ears, blood seeping from between her fingers.

In Deep Rock City, great swaths of people collapsed, clutching their heads and rolling on the ground while letting out agonized wails.

Ian turned toward the source of the sound, a blazing light igniting deep within his pupils.

’Level Four... and one with full sapience, the kind that knows how to hide and hunt.’

’Perfect. I’ll take you as a celebratory gift for my advancement!’

He looked at Lumina. "I have to take care of something. I’ll be back soon."

With that, his figure flickered and vanished from Deep Rock City. He deliberately moved in the opposite direction of the source of the malice, speeding toward an abandoned mining tunnel ten thousand meters deep, far from any survivor settlement.

He wanted to set the stage for the battle; for now, he didn’t want to attract the attention of too many other Level Fours.

As expected, the Mutant Beast took the bait. A tide of dark purple energy surged madly through the earth in relentless pursuit.

A moment later, at the end of the abandoned tunnel, Ian came to a stop inside an immense underground cavern.

Almost at the exact moment he stopped, two crimson points of light flared to life in the darkness before him, brimming with cruelty and greed.

A colossal creature slowly "flowed" out of the darkness.

It resembled a giant lizard in shape, but its entire body was covered in a heavy, Obsidian-like Shell. From the cracks in the Shell seeped a dark purple, molten glow.

The tip of its long tail was a maw full of sharp teeth, constantly snapping open and shut.

Most frightening of all was its head, which resembled an amalgam of a giant Insect and a lizard. It had compound eyes, and corrosive saliva dripped constantly from its mouthparts.

The aura it radiated had reached the Level Four Middle Stage, and its Spiritual Power was dense and solid.

Its crimson eyes stared at Ian, their gaze holding not the madness of a wild beast, but a cold, calculating scrutiny.

Ian stood with his hands clasped behind his back, calmly watching the Mutant Beast.

"I have smelled your scent. It is... repulsive. But your powerful Soul... will be delicious..."

The intermittent Spiritual Fluctuation was transmitted directly into his mind.

Ian raised an eyebrow. "You animal. You’re the first one who’s dared to speak to me like that."

Before the words had even left his mouth, he struck first, bringing his hands together in a cupping motion before his chest.

Gravity, Thermal Energy, and Purification—the Power of the three core Rules he had mastered—was instantly mobilized to its absolute limit, converging, compressing, and fusing frantically between his palms!

The air in the cavern was instantly drained away, forming a vacuum, which was then immediately filled with endless light and heat.

A pinpoint of pure white light ignited between Ian’s palms.

At first, it was only the size of a pinprick, but in one ten-thousandth of a second, it swelled into a miniature "sun"!

This "sun" was only about a meter in diameter, yet it emitted a bone-chillingly powerful fluctuation.

Its core was composed purely of highly condensed Purification Starlight, with an outer layer of plasma heated to hundreds of millions of degrees.

The outermost layer was an absolute containment field formed by the Gravity Rule, preventing any Energy from leaking and compressing all its power inward.

Tier Four Rule Secret Technique: Eternal Fierce Sun!

"ROAR!!!"

The Mutant Beast let out a roar of fear and fury, sensing a mortal threat.

Countless twisted, defensive Runes instantly lit up on the surface of its Obsidian Shell. Dark purple Abyssal Energy erupted like a volcano as the beast attempted to construct a Domain to resist.

But it was too slow.

Ian gave a gentle push forward with both hands.

The miniature "sun" transformed into a silent stream of light, an embodiment of Annihilation itself. It crossed the several-thousand-meter distance in an instant and slammed into the purple Domain the Mutant Beast had erected with all its might.

TSSSSS... KABOOM!!!!

There was no world-shaking explosion, only the strange hum of space itself being burned through and purified.

The dark purple Domain instantly dissolved and vaporized.

Its momentum undiminished, the Eternal Fierce Sun slammed directly into the Mutant Beast’s heavy chest Shell.

The Obsidian Shell, strong enough to withstand the bombardment of Level Four Witchcraft, turned glowing red at the moment of contact.

Then, it exploded!

The torrent of incandescent white light poured into its body. Everywhere it passed, flesh was carbonized, bones were vaporized, and the Abyssal Energy was forcefully ignited and Purified!

"NO!!!" A miserable, piercing shriek on the Soul level echoed throughout the cavern.

Under the overwhelming pressure of the Eternal Fierce Sun’s Rules, the physical body of this Level Four Mutant Beast lasted less than three seconds before completely disintegrating into a cloud of drifting ash.

However, for a being at the Morning Star Level, the very essence of life has undergone a quantum leap.

Even if the physical body is turned to ash, it is not a true death.

The instant its physical body underwent Annihilation, a wisp of Soul—black as ink and condensed to an extreme degree—shot out from the drifting ash.

It vanished in a flash, attempting to dive into a spatial Rift to escape.

"Trying to run?" Ian’s eyes grew cold. He was already prepared.

He activated the Gravity Rule, and the space surrounding the black Soul was instantly solidified and locked down.

Like an Insect trapped in amber, no matter how much it struggled, its speed was reduced a hundredfold.

Next, the Thermal Energy Rule manifested as an invisible flame that enveloped and began to incinerate it.

The Purification Rule took the form of a fine golden rain, seeping into its Soul Essence to begin stripping away and dissolving the Abyssal Mark inside.

"The Abyss... is undying... My Lord... is eternal..."

The black Soul let out a venomous shriek, its resistance abnormally stubborn.

That wisp of its aura, connected to the distant origin of the Abyss, was incredibly tenacious. Like a cancer clinging to bone, it twisted and squirmed in the purifying flames, proving impossible to completely eradicate.

Ian could sense that unless its distant source was destroyed, this wisp of Soul Origin would be nearly impossible to fully Purify.

’Do you really think I have no way to deal with you?’

HUMMM!

Deep within Ian’s Sea of Spirit, the mysterious panel vibrated silently.

At the edge of his vision, faint golden characters quietly appeared.

[High-purity contaminated Soul detected. Commencing forced Purification...]

An intangible, formless, and supreme Power extended from the panel, gently sweeping over the bound black Soul.

"AHHH!!!"

Following a despairing shriek filled with endless terror, that stubborn Abyssal Aura instantly vanished without a trace.

The incandescent light of heat and Purification gradually faded.

Within the Gravity Field, the dark, evil Soul was gone. All that remained was a Gemstone, suspended in mid-air.

It was about the size of an egg, a perfect dodecahedron, and utterly translucent, like the purest Crystal.

From within, it radiated a gentle yet vast Spiritual Fluctuation—pure, powerful, and without the slightest trace of impurity.

[Acquired: Purified Level Four Soul Gem]

Ian reached out his hand, drawing the warm, lustrous Gemstone into his palm.

Sensing the vast yet docile Power of the Soul Origin within it, a look of satisfaction flashed across his eyes.

’This is a core material for a Tower Spirit... and pretty much the best kind you can get.’

He put the Soul Gemstone away, his gaze turning in the direction of the Eternal Star Dome.

The knowledge, resources, and potentially stronger opponents that might exist there were waiting for him.

’No rush,’ he thought. ’First, I’ll finish collecting the resources from the other human settlements.’