Chapter 446 Soul

Time passed slowly under extreme tension, each second stretched into an agonizing moment.

Inside the control room, Jemin stared intently at the waterfall-like stream of data refreshing on the light screen.

Outside the porthole, Viola's figure appeared exceptionally small at the core node of the crimson magic circle. The dark red radiance intertwined with the energy flow of the binding magic circle, struggling to resist the continuous energy tides from the Starfall Plane.

The bad news is that the newly formed living consciousness of that dimension is constantly in a state of high stress.

Although the various indicators of consciousness representing its restlessness and resistance no longer soared as wildly as they did at the beginning, they stubbornly remained at a dangerously high level, like a spring stretched to its limit, which could break completely at any moment.

The good news is that after Viola followed Jemin's advice and changed her restraint strategy from strong suppression to more channeling, buffering, and soothing energy intervention, those fluctuation peaks miraculously stopped growing.

This delicate balance is like walking a tightrope over a bottomless abyss.

Based on the initial violent trend, the outer binding magic array should have completely overloaded and collapsed several minutes ago.

But now, thanks to Viola's exquisite control and her relatively "gentle" application of the Law of Pain, the binding array, though dim in light, riddled with cracks, and emitting a low hum of unbearable strain, miraculously continues to hold on, barely trapping the "green behemoth" within its net.

“It’s adapting…or rather, it’s ‘feeling’?” Jemin stared at the subtle changes on the spectrogram.

The change in the method of restraint seems to have shifted this nascent consciousness slightly from a purely "being attacked - resisting" mode to a kind of confused "probing".

But balance is ultimately fragile.

The energy reserves of the binding array are being rapidly depleted, and the precious metals and rune cores that make up the array's base material are beginning to suffer irreversible fatigue damage.

Fine beads of sweat appeared on Viola's forehead, clearly indicating that maintaining such high-precision and high-intensity operations was a huge burden for her.

Time continues to pass.

Just as Jemin estimated that the magic array could only last for less than ten minutes, the data transmitted back by the detection array suddenly showed a completely new and unusual change.

“The convergence index of spiritual traits… has risen sharply!” Jemin’s pupils contracted.

Almost simultaneously, the view outside the porthole also changed.

The overall color of that green plane, bound by scarlet chains, seemed to have "changed".

It's not a dramatic color change visible to the naked eye, but rather an indescribable "luster" or "texture" that has suddenly been mixed into the original rich, vibrant green.

If I had to describe it, it's like the inner radiance that instantly shines forth from a raw jade stone after it has been polished, or like a faint lamp suddenly lit in a calm, deep pool.

The color itself may not seem to have changed fundamentally, but the "feeling" it gives is completely different.

“Soul readings surge! Exponentially increasing!” The alarm tone on the console changed.

On the light screen, the curves representing the strength and integrity of the soul soared like a rocket, instantly breaking through several orders of magnitude thresholds.

Jemin understood instantly.

It's not that the color has changed, but that the "elements" that make up the plane are undergoing a fundamental reorganization and arrangement!

The birth of spirituality is merely a prelude, a "possibility" emerging from chaos.

Now, catalyzed by internal conflicts and external stimuli, a true "soul" core capable of governing everything is taking shape!

The vast array of fundamental elements of the planes—soil, rocks, energy flows, atmospheric composition, and even deeper elemental structures—spontaneously arrange and combine under some mysterious attraction, forming a "soul structure" capable of carrying and expressing this nascent consciousness.

This dramatic change, involving the fundamental material level of the entire plane, manifests macroscopically as a subtle yet awe-inspiring shift in "color and texture."

Good news followed.

As that powerful nascent soul rapidly coalesced, the previously scattered and chaotic spiritual currents, as if instantly finding a leader, began to converge towards the core in an orderly fashion.

The birth of the soul provides a "backbone" for the raging spirituality.

The detection data shows that the energy conflict index within the plane has begun to decline significantly, and the amplitude and frequency of spiritual fluctuations are also rapidly leveling off.

The terrifying sense of oppression, as if a giant beast were unconsciously writhing and struggling, was rapidly fading away.

The pressure on the binding array was visibly reduced.

The crimson light stabilized, the cracks stopped spreading, and even the energy flow in some areas began to return to a stable cycle.

"It worked?" Viola's slightly breathless and uncertain voice came through the communication channel, carrying the exhaustion of someone who had just escaped death. "It... has stabilized? The soul condensation is complete?"

As Jieming watched the rapidly improving indicators on the screen, his tense nerves finally relaxed slightly, and he let out a long breath of stale air.

“It seems so, senior. The soul core has begun to form, and the chaos is subsiding.” His voice carried a hint of relief. “My feeling… might be right. It was just ‘uncomfortable’ before, not ‘wanting to destroy’.”

However, just as this glimmer of hope began to shine in their hearts...

A sudden change has occurred!

The spirituality index, which had just begun to decline steadily, was suddenly pushed back to its peak by an invisible giant hand, even surpassing any previous peak!

The newly formed, powerful, and stable soul readings erupted with unprecedentedly violent fluctuations at the same instant.

"roar!!!"

This time, it was no longer a silent tsunami of will.

A shriek, imbued with the full power of a newborn soul and filled with extreme terror and helplessness, erupted from the depths of the plane like a tangible mental storm, sweeping outwards!

With the dominion of the soul, the power of the plane itself is no longer a disorderly waste.

At this moment, all the energy was instinctively twisted into a single force by the terrified soul, transforming into the simplest and most brutal pure impact, crashing into everything around it!

Crack... Boom!

There was no time to react!

The crimson binding array, which had just stabilized and even begun to repair itself, was as fragile as paper in the face of this terrifyingly concentrated power that far exceeded the sum of its previous strength.

The series of explosions lit up blinding orbs of light in the void, like crimson chains being snapped one by one!

"What?!" Viola exclaimed in shock.

Her relaxed state of mind was instantly frozen by this sudden reversal.

Instinctively, the wizard's instincts in the face of threat took over his thinking: this living plane had indeed unleashed its malice! It had feigned calm, all for this fatal blow!

(End of this chapter)