A cold voice drifted from within the wide-open gate, every word carrying the heavy pressure of laws, crushing the darkness of the deep sea.

The dark red light behind the door was no longer simple energy but had condensed into a physical form, flowing out slowly like viscous blood.

Wherever it passed, even space groaned under the unbearable weight, showing faint cracks.

The Five-Colored Starfire Armor on Bai Cheng's body surged automatically, its light flickering violently as it resisted the chill that seemed to freeze the soul.

She stopped in her tracks, her transparent longsword pointing diagonally at the ground, her silver eyes looking past the open gate into that deep, dark red.

Inside the gate was no ordinary control room, but a boundless, blood-colored space.

In the center of the space, three thrones carved from dark red crystals were arranged in a triangle, and atop them sat three blurry figures.

Their forms constantly twisted and changed within the viscous blood-light, sometimes appearing as majestic giants, sometimes turning into rolling mist; the only constant was those three pairs of indifferently gazing eyes.

There were no pupils, only the purest, deepest dark red, as if they could suck away all light and heat.

The one who had spoken just now was the most solid figure in the center.

He slowly raised an arm made of dark red crystal and pointed a finger lightly at Bai Cheng.

"Strip."

There was no earth-shattering commotion, only a blood-line as thin as a strand of hair shooting from his fingertip, ignoring the distance of space to instantly appear before the emperors imprint on Bai Cheng's forehead.

Bai Cheng's pupils shrank abruptly as a warning sign exploded in the depths of her soul.

Without hesitation, she swung her sword in a horizontal slash, the five-colored halo on the blade flowing to its limit as it collided with the blood-line.

"Ding—"

A crisp ring, sharp to the extreme, sounded like shattering crystal.

Bai Cheng retreated three steps, her feet crushing a large patch of the ground paved with dark red crystals.

Her right hand holding the sword felt slightly numb; where the blade had touched the blood-line, an imperceptible dark red speck had appeared, slowly trying to corrode the transparent blade.

What made her heart sink even further was a faint sting from the emperors imprint on her forehead, as if an invisible needle had been driven into the foundation of her soul.

Such power from just a casual finger point.

"Though the starfire is bright, it is ultimately a fire without roots."

The Purifier on the left throne spoke, his voice ethereal and layered like the whispers of ten thousand people.

"The fate of the Emerald Sea has long been decided; becoming nourishment for the seed of world purification is their only destiny."

Your struggle only adds... a hint of interesting bitterness to this nourishment."

The Purifier on the right did not speak; he simply raised his hand and made a light grasping motion toward the void.

"Buzz—"

The entire blood-colored space, along with the Deep Sea Forbidden Zone outside, shook violently.

At the base of the giant crystal tree, in the residual area of the Heart-Eroding Spirit-Devouring Array that Bai Cheng had just slashed through, all the scattered dark red energy,

even including the dissipating auras of the seventeen wounded Demon Generals, surged back frantically like a hundred rivers returning to the sea,

condensing above his palm into a fist-sized, constantly pulsing dark red blood sphere.

With every pulse of the blood sphere, it tugged at the faint light of countless corrupted islands in the Emerald Sea, letting out a wail of pain.

It was despair and life, forcibly extracted and compressed.

"Your starfire uses conviction as its fuel."

The Purifier on the right spoke for the first time, his voice dry like grinding sand,

"Now, let me show you what conviction becomes when it is polluted, crushed, and reshaped."

He flicked his finger.

The dark red blood sphere shot out silently; its speed was not fast, but it carried a heavy sense of locked fate as it flew straight toward Bai Cheng.

This strike was completely different from before.

It was not direct destruction but a fusion of the laws of pollution, assimilation, and sacrifice.

It sought to pollute Bai Cheng's starfire, dragging her pure conviction into a quagmire of despair, and ultimately sacrificing both her and her starfire to the pulsing seed of world purification above.

The shadows of the star track in Bai Cheng's silver eyes flickered frantically; in the depths of her soul, the five clusters of starfire sensed an unprecedented threat, their light surging.

She gripped the sword with both hands, holding it vertically in front of her with the tip pointing up.

"star track as the guide, conviction as the wall."

Five-colored light erupted from her body; it was no longer armor or a domain, but transformed into five pillars of light soaring into the sky, interlacing and spiraling in front of her to ultimately form a massive, slowly rotating Starfire Barrier.

Upon the barrier, the fishing fires of Broken Shell Island, the shadows of the monuments on Sighing Cliff, the long line of migrants in the Forgotten Corridor, the vigil at the Edge of the Fallen Void, the relit morning sun of Cuiluo Bay...

Countless lights and shadows flowed, converging into an unyielding torrent.

The dark red blood sphere crashed into the Starfire Barrier.

There was no explosion, only silent erosion and confrontation.

Countless fine, dark red tentacles extended from the surface of the blood sphere, drilling and corroding the Starfire Barrier frantically like living things.

The lights and shadows on the barrier flickered unsteadily, making a sizzling sound as they ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) dissolved.

Bai Cheng's face turned pale at a visible rate, her soul feeling as if it were being pierced and torn by countless fine needles.

Behind the barrier, she felt the overwhelming resentment and despair contained within the blood sphere, which were trying to reverse-invade her consciousness through the connection of her conviction.

The Purifier in the center watched indifferently:

"Futile. The seed of world purification has already swallowed seventy percent of the Emerald Sea's conviction network; our power shares the same source as the dark side of the entire sea region.

No matter how pure your starfire is, it is ultimately the minority. How can you contend with this millennium-old despair that originates from the sentient beings themselves?"

His words were like a heavy hammer striking Bai Cheng's mental defenses. The light on the barrier dimmed once more.

Just then—

"Miss! Hold on!" Qing Niao's roar, accompanied by a deafening thunderous explosion, came from far to the east, more violent than any time before.

Faintly visible, the dark red buildings to the east lit up with an abnormal, blinding thunder-light, and parts of the crystal structures even began to collapse.

Clearly, Qing Niao and Zi Yuan were desperately creating even greater chaos, trying to draw away the strength of the Enforcement Officers.

Almost simultaneously, at the base of the giant crystal tree below, one of the thick transport pipes connected to the seed of world purification suddenly glowed with emerald light, followed by a dull explosion from within.

A chaotic flow of life energy escaped; although it failed to heavily damage the seed of world purification, it caused a very slight disturbance in its pulsing.

Lu Duo had succeeded!

Yu Nian's Heart-Purifying Halo also surged suddenly, like a ring of silver-white ripples, briefly sweeping across the area where Bai Cheng was and helping her dispel some of the negative emotions that had seeped through the barrier.

Her companions' efforts were like a warm current injected into the darkness, lifting Bai Cheng's spirits.

"The minority... so what?" A trickle of silver blood leaked from the corner of Bai Cheng's mouth, but her gaze grew even sharper,

"The meaning of starfire has never been about quantity, but... being inextinguishable!"

She slammed her longsword into the ground beneath her feet.