The sensation of weightlessness was like an invisible hand tightening around Lu Chen's heart. A shriek of wind roared in his ears, while whirling bands of light filled his vision—the energy erupting from the shattered formation cascaded like a runaway torrent, sweeping him toward an unfathomable abyss.
Below him, the silver "heart" loomed ever closer.
It was no biological organ, but a construct of exquisite precision—or rather… a condensed energy entity. More than ten meters in diameter, its surface flowed with liquid-metal radiance, while countless filaments of light pulsed and intertwined within, resembling a neural network, or an impossibly advanced circuit. With every "beat," tidal waves of energy surged outward, causing the entire subterranean chamber to hum and tremble.
This was the Ark Core.
The ultimate power source that had birthed the Devourers, driven the Harvesters, and perhaps even remained tethered to the crashed Ark vessel itself.
Lu Chen halted five meters from the core—not by his own will, but by the Suppression Demon Stele.
At the moment of crisis, the fully restored stele acted of its own accord, shooting out from between his brows, expanding to the height of a man, and suspending itself beneath him to arrest his fall. Dark-gold runes blazed wildly across its surface, colliding violently with the core's silver glow, forming a warped barrier of contending energies between them.
[Warning: High-Dimensional Energy Source Detected (Damaged State)]
[Energy Rank: Mid Celestial Tier (Upper Celestial Tier when intact)]
[Status: Unstable — Energy Dissipation Rate 37% — Risk of Self-Destruction]
[Recommendation: Immediate Withdrawal, or Forced Suppression and Absorption via Suppression Demon Stele]
Suppress it? Absorb it?
Lu Chen fixed his gaze on the pulsating heart. Even damaged, a Mid Celestial Tier source held energy beyond imagination. If he could absorb even a fraction…
But the danger was equally extreme. The core teetered on the brink of collapse; a single misstep could mean catastrophic backlash—utter annihilation.
At that moment, a sharp tearing sound cut through the air above.
The Doctor had descended as well.
Metallic wings unfurled behind him—not physical wings, but an energy projection glowing with a dark crimson sheen. He hovered in midair, looking down at Lu Chen and the core, fervor blazing openly in his eyes.
"The Ark Core… at last!" His voice echoed through the cavernous depths. "A perfect energy form—transcending matter and mind alike! Fuse with it, and I shall become a new humanity!"
His gaze shifted from the core to the Suppression Demon Stele beneath Lu Chen's feet, and a slow smile spread across his face. "So that's it… The stele isn't merely a key—it's a stabilizer. Without it, the core's energy would spiral completely out of control. Anyone who touched it would die instantly. No wonder the laboratory sealed it here with a crude imitation of a sealing array."
The Doctor descended slowly, stopping just outside the stele's energy barrier. "Lin Xiao, let's make a deal. You control the stele and stabilize the core while I complete the fusion. When it's done, I'll give you thirty percent of the energy—enough to propel you past level fifty. How does that sound?"
Lu Chen did not answer. He was calculating at lightning speed.
The Doctor wanted the core, but feared its instability. The stele could stabilize it—meaning the Doctor needed him, at least until the fusion was complete.
That was his leverage.
But once the fusion succeeded, the first person the Doctor would kill would undoubtedly be him. Level fifty? For something like the Ark Core, level fifty was merely a starting line.
He could not allow the fusion to happen.
Nor could he allow the core to completely lose control—that would obliterate Jiangcheng, perhaps far more.
There was only one path left…
He would absorb it himself.
But how? At his current strength, even touching it might cause him to explode.
[Little Stele, is there a way?] he asked the stele spirit.
"There is—but it's extremely dangerous," Little Stele replied gravely. "The Suppression Demon Stele can temporarily act as an 'energy converter,' refining the core's violent power into a gentler form you can absorb. However, you must endure tremendous pain, and the conversion efficiency is very low—at most one-thousandth."
One-thousandth…
Even one-thousandth of a Mid Celestial Tier source would be enough to push him beyond level forty.
"What's the success rate?"
"With the fully restored stele suppressing it at maximum output… fifty percent," Little Stele paused. "If the Doctor interferes, it drops below thirty."
Fifty percent—a wager with his life.
But if he didn't gamble, he would certainly die once the Doctor freed his hands.
"Do it," Lu Chen decided.
He raised his head toward the Doctor. "I agree—but you'll need to heal me first. In my current condition, controlling the stele is difficult."
A delay, and a smokescreen.
The Doctor narrowed his eyes, weighing the truth of it. After a few seconds, he produced a syringe and tossed it over. "Advanced cellular repair agent. It'll suffice."
Lu Chen caught it and injected it into his neck. Warmth spread through his body, easing some of the damage—but only partially. The Doctor had clearly held something back.
"Can we begin now?" the Doctor asked.
"Not yet." Lu Chen gestured toward the core. "The energy frequencies of the stele and the core must be synchronized, or rejection will occur. Give me ten minutes."
"Five," the Doctor said coldly. "No tricks."
Lu Chen said nothing more. He sat cross-legged atop the stele, closed his eyes, and feigned adjustment.
In truth, he was communicating rapidly with Little Stele.
[Initiate the energy conversion protocol. What do I need to do?]
"You must fully merge your consciousness with the stele—achieve the state of 'man and stele as one.' Only then can you endure the conversion backlash," Little Stele explained. "I will suppress the core at maximum power and activate the Spirit-Draining Array—an inherent function designed specifically to absorb heterogenous energies."
[How do I achieve that state?]
"Open your mind. Let me guide you."
Lu Chen took a deep breath and released all mental restraints.
The next instant, his consciousness was drawn into a strange realm—the interior of the Suppression Demon Stele.
Endless darkness stretched before him, pierced by nine dark-gold chains spanning the void. At their ends stood nine colossal doors. The first stood slightly ajar, leaking a faint glow; the other eight were tightly sealed, inscribed with intricate sigils.
Little Stele's humanoid projection stood before the first door, beckoning him. "This is the stele's core domain. The nine doors correspond to nine layers of seals. Push open the first—it is the portion you have already unlocked. Doing so will allow initial fusion."
Lu Chen stepped forward and placed his hands on the door.
It was immensely heavy. He pushed.
The door creaked open, and a torrent of blazing golden light surged forth, engulfing him entirely.
In the physical world, the Suppression Demon Stele shuddered violently. The runes on its surface came alive, flowing like molten gold. Lu Chen's body was wrapped in radiance, his aura surging—not in raw power, but in resonance with the stele.
"Hm?" The Doctor sensed something amiss. "What are you doing?!"
"Synchronizing," Lu Chen replied calmly, eyes open. "After acknowledging a master, the stele requires deep resonance to operate at full capacity. Perfectly normal."
The Doctor hesitated but did not intervene—he did not truly understand the stele's workings.
Time slipped by.
Fourth minute.
Lu Chen felt the fusion reach a critical threshold. Every rune, every filament of energy within the stele was now vividly clear to him. At the same time, he perceived the Ark Core's internal structure—an exquisitely complex system, much of it ruined, energy colliding chaotically within.
"Ready," Lu Chen rose to his feet. "Doctor, you may begin. I'll stabilize the core, but be quick—I can't hold it long."
"Excellent." Delight flashed in the Doctor's eyes. His metallic wings beat once as he surged toward the core.
At three meters out, he halted, formed seals with his hands, and began chanting in an ancient tongue—one unknown to Earth.
As the incantation echoed, the core's silver light flowed toward him, coiling around his body like serpents of radiance.
The fusion had begun.
At that very instant, Lu Chen issued his final command:
[Now! Activate the Spirit-Draining Array—reverse extraction! Target: core energy, including the portion he's absorbing!]
"Understood!"
The Suppression Demon Stele roared to life. A colossal array manifested in the air, spinning violently—the Spirit-Draining Array. Its pull was terrifying, directed not at Lu Chen, but at the core and the Doctor alike.
"You—?!" The Doctor's expression twisted in shock. "What are you doing?!"
"Helping you," Lu Chen sneered. "Accelerating the process. Isn't that better?"
"Stop! You'll disrupt the energy balance—"
"That's the point."
Lu Chen drove the stele harder.
The array's pull surged, ensnaring the core and the Doctor like an invisible net. The core's energy was torn free—part of it rushing into the stele, the rest dragged along the stream already flooding into the Doctor.
"AAAAH—!"
The Doctor screamed.
His body ballooned grotesquely, silver patterns spreading across his skin as the energy ravaged his flesh. He tried to halt the absorption—but it was too late. The torrent was unstoppable.
"You… madman!" he shrieked. "We'll both die!"
"Not necessarily."
Lu Chen was suffering as well.
One-tenth of the refined energy fed back into him. Only a tenth—but it was a tenth of Celestial-tier power.
Molten energy surged through his meridians, tearing and scorching them. Agony nearly stole his consciousness, yet he clenched his teeth and ran the True Demon-Suppressing Canon, forcibly refining it.
[Level 27 reached]
[Level 28 reached]
[Level 29 reached]
His levels skyrocketed.
Blood seeped from his eyes, ears, and mouth. His skin split with countless microfractures, golden light leaking out—the sign of rampant overflow.
"Not enough… I need more!" Lu Chen growled.
[Little Stele, increase extraction! Ignore me—I can endure it!]
"Master, your body—"
[Execute!]
The array expanded again. The pull intensified by thirty percent.
The Doctor swelled to twice his size, a silver sphere etched with blinding patterns. His voice warped, grinding like metal on metal.
"No… I cannot die here… I am the hope of the new humanity…"
Meanwhile, Lu Chen's ascent continued:
[Level 30 reached]
[Level 31 reached]
He crossed into the Earth Tier.
The qualitative shift was immediate—energy condensing from mist into liquid. Within his dantian, a drop of pale-gold true essence formed.
But it did not stop.
[Level 32 reached]
[Level 33 reached]
His body began to fail. Bones groaned, organs ruptured under the torrent. Without the Canon's relentless regeneration, he would have already exploded.
The Doctor, however, had reached his limit.
"If… you want me dead…" his voice layered into a chorus, "then… we die together!"
He abandoned resistance and instead forced absorption—not fusion, but detonation.
He would drive the core into total overload, annihilating everything.
[Warning: Ark Core entering Overload State]
[Time to Total Collapse: 30 seconds]
[Recommendation: Immediate Evacuation]
Evacuate?
No.
Madness flashed in Lu Chen's eyes.
[Little Stele—maximum output. Suppress the core. And… seal both the Doctor and the core inside the stele!]
"What?!" Little Stele cried. "That will severely deplete the stele's origin—may even regress the seals!"
[Execute!]
Time had run out.
The stele erupted in unprecedented brilliance. Dark-gold runes tore free, assembling into a colossal character in midair:
SEAL
"Suppressing Demons—Sealing the Heavens!"
Lu Chen spat a mouthful of essence blood onto the stele.
Empowered, the seal crashed down.
"No—!" The Doctor's final scream was swallowed as he and the core were compressed into a beam of light and drawn into the stele.
The stele convulsed violently, hairline fractures spreading across its surface.
But the catastrophe was halted.
Silence fell.
Lu Chen collapsed from the stele, smashing into the ground.
Everything hurt. Bones shattered, organs bleeding, consciousness fading.
Yet he was alive.
And within the stele… something else now existed.
Not the Doctor. Not a complete core.
But an "embryo."
A nascent lifeform born of forced fusion—sealed deep within nine layers.
The stele itself began to change.
[Suppression Demon Stele has absorbed High-Dimensional Energy]
[Evolution initiated — Progress: 1%]
[Completion Time: Unknown]
[During Evolution: Functions Restricted]
A heavy price—but worth it.
As Lu Chen was carried away, dawn broke above the ruined pump station.
He closed his eyes.
And deep within the stele, the sealed embryo slept—its faint, steady heartbeat echoing, waiting.
Waiting for the day it would awaken.