Hope, just beginning to sprout, was frozen by an even deeper chill.

That anomalous entity, radiating a cold, metallic quality and slowly assimilating the surrounding soul fragments, was like a boulder thrown into Su Nian's newly born heart lake, stirring not ripples, but raging waves.

It is not Xie Chen! It is the embodiment of that cold gaze—a fragment of the dark gold consciousness!

Panic, like vines, instantly entangled her nascent consciousness. She could almost imagine that if this "seed" were allowed to take root and grow within the most primordial fragments of Xie Chen's soul, it would eventually devour and replace even this last trace of his existence. At that point, even if she condensed a powerful spiritual body, what she would find would no longer be the Xie Chen who shattered his seal for her, but a puppet assimilated and controlled by the dark gold consciousness!

Absolutely not!

A strong sense of rejection and protectiveness made her subconsciously want to mobilize all her spiritual power to completely shred and expel that abnormal speck of light, like a sharp sword.

But just as the power was about to surge forth, she forcefully suppressed the impulse.

no!

This dark gold fragment was so deeply entangled with Xie Chen's soul fragments that they were almost symbiotic. If she were to launch an attack rashly, even a slight deviation in her power could very well destroy not only the fragment but also the surrounding, already fragile soul fragments. That would be tantamount to personally extinguishing Xie Chen's last hope of revival.

She hovered in the void of consciousness, her milky-white aura of spiritual awareness flickering erratically due to the intense fluctuations of her emotions. The omnipresent, cold gaze emanating from the deeper layers of the soul connection seemed to have noticed her unusual "stagnation," and that indifferent thought swept over her, carrying a hint of barely perceptible inquiry.

Su Nian forced herself to calm down. The purity of her nascent spiritual consciousness allowed her to discard too many distracting thoughts, leaving only the most direct goal—to eliminate the threat and protect Xie Chen.

If brute force doesn't work, then... we'll have to outsmart them.

She recalled her previous experience of quelling internal power conflicts, which was achieved through "resonance" and "harmony." So, facing this external "intruder," could she also find a certain "frequency," a certain "method," to separate or even transform it without disturbing it or harming Xie Chen?

She began to become extremely cautious.

Instead of nourishing all the soul fragments on a large scale, she condensed her spiritual power into "sensory tendrils" that were finer than a hair and had almost no energy fluctuations. Carefully avoiding the abnormal fragment, she began to "scan" and "analyze" Xie Chen's soul fragments and the dark gold fragments at a deeper, microscopic level, like the most precise probe.

This is an extremely demanding process, requiring unimaginable patience and focus. She is like a craftsman carving on the edge of a cliff, each "touch" as if walking on thin ice.

Gradually, she discovered some patterns.

Although faint, Xie Chen's soul fragments contained a unique "fluctuation." This fluctuation carried the chilling purity of the "Ice Soul Condensing Heart Technique," and at a deeper level, it was imprinted with the warm bond connecting her soul and that unwavering dedication to protect her at all costs. This was the essential mark of "Xie Chen."

The dark gold fragment, however, was entirely different. Its interior was a cold, highly ordered structure, like the most sophisticated instrument, constantly emitting extremely faint "command waves" that attempted to analyze and assimilate everything around it. It had no emotions, only logic and purpose.

The key lies in the fundamental difference between these two types of "fluctuations"!

A bold idea gradually took shape in Su Nian's consciousness.

She can't use force to strip it away, but she can try... to construct a "trap" that only works against dark gold fluctuations!

The core of this concept lies in the "Ice Soul Condensation Technique".

This cultivation technique is not only the foundation of Xie Chen's power, but also deeply imprinted in his soul. Although the Dark Gold Consciousness is powerful, the assimilation of its fragments here is essentially a kind of "learning" and "simulation" of the power of the Ice Soul Condensation Technique and the soul fluctuations it carries.

Could she use this "simulation" to reverse engineer?

Su Nian began to take action.

She stopped channeling nourishing energy outwards and instead focused all her spiritual consciousness into her own ice crystal core, fully activating the "Ice Soul Condensation Technique." However, her method of activation was extremely peculiar—not to enhance herself, but to deliberately imitate and amplify the unique, protective frequency of energy fluctuations emanating from Xie Chen's soul fragments!

Using her own spiritual consciousness as a foundation and drawing upon the pale golden primordial power originating from Xie Chen, she began to carefully construct an invisible and extremely complex psychic resonance field around the floating fragments of soul light.

This resonance field is not aggressive; in fact, it has a slight nurturing effect on Xie Chen's soul fragments. However, Su Nian has set its core "key" to only respond to and amplify that unique soul fluctuation belonging to Xie Chen.

Her plan was this: once the resonance field was stable, she would deliberately leak a wisp of extremely pure, seemingly ownerless, primordial power from the "Ice Soul Condensation Technique" into the field. This wisp of power would nourish Xie Chen's soul, but for the dark gold fragment that was mimicking Xie Chen's fluctuations, it would be bait—a "high-value target" it couldn't resist, one it was trying to analyze and absorb!

Once the dark gold fragment actively contacts and attempts to assimilate the power marked by the resonance field, it will instantly establish a deep connection with the entire resonance field. At that time, Su Nian will be able to activate another hidden function of the resonance field—frequency repulsion!

She will reverse the field, turning it from "nurturing and affinity" to "repelling outsiders." Utilizing the natural difference in vibration frequency, like a sieve, she will forcefully "vibrate" out only the "foreign object" whose vibration frequency is inconsistent with Xie Chen's essence—that piece of dark gold!

This is a sophisticated yet dangerous plan. Its success depends on her precise grasp of the fluctuation frequency and her control of timing. Any mistake could alert the enemy or even accelerate the assimilation process of the Dark Gold Fragment.

Time passed silently as the array was being set up. Su Nian's illusory spiritual consciousness shimmered, desperately maintaining the complex and fragile psionic resonance field. Finally, she felt the field stabilize.

It's time.

She separated a wisp of pale golden energy, purer and more concentrated than before when she nourished the area, and like bait exuding an enticing aroma, gently and imperceptibly sent it into the core area of ​​the resonance field, not far from the dark gold fragment.

The fish has taken the bait!

Almost the instant that wisp of energy appeared, the dark gold fragment, which had been slowly assimilating, suddenly lit up! It showed an extremely high "interest" in this pure, ownerless, homologous power. It paused its assimilation of the surrounding soul light fragments, and separated an extremely subtle, analytical, and icy wisp of will, like a tentacle, cautiously reaching towards that wisp of energy.

Released!

Analysis!

Initiate assimilation and absorption!

Now!

Su Nian's spiritual consciousness suddenly erupted with a bright light!

"reverse!"

She used her own will as a command to forcibly change the core frequency of the psionic resonance field!

Buzz—!!!

An invisible field emitted a deep rumble, and the originally gentle nourishing fluctuations instantly became sharp and exclusive! Like a calm lake suddenly being churned with raging waves targeting a specific frequency!

"laugh!"

The dark gold fragment was struck as if by an invisible giant hammer. Its connection with the bait energy was forcibly severed, and the cold, orderly fluctuations it contained clashed violently with the pure "Xie Chen fluctuations" amplified after the field reversal! It was violently ejected from the tight entanglement of those soul light fragments by a powerful repulsive force, like a water droplet being flung out, drawing a cold trajectory in the void of consciousness, its light dimming considerably in an instant!

It was a success!

A surge of immense joy and a sense of accomplishment welled up within Su Nian. She dared not delay, immediately withdrawing the resonance field. Her spiritual power transformed into a gentle "hand," swiftly gathering and soothing the scattered fragments of Xie Chen's soul light that had become somewhat disordered due to the earlier tremor.

However, just as she was preparing to press her advantage and find a way to completely imprison or destroy the repelled dark gold fragment—

Mutation and regeneration!

The expelled dark gold fragment did not attempt to escape or retaliate as expected. Instead, it hovered in the void, its light flashing rapidly. An extremely chaotic and sharp fluctuation of intent emanated from within, as if some program had fallen into a logical dead loop and gone mad!

[...Error! Serious logical error!]

[Anchor (Su Nian)'s behavior pattern is beyond prediction... She possesses high-level tactical deception capabilities...]

[The remaining value of the container (Qingxu) is being reassessed... its soul structure has an irreplaceable 'motivating' and 'guiding' effect on the anchor point...]

[...Ultimate Protocol Fragment Trigger Conditions...Recalculated...Related Factors: 'Sacrifice', 'Protection', 'Unpredictability'...]

[WARNING! WARNING! Potential for 'infinite chaos' caused by 'emotional variables' detected in the system! Highest priority threat!]

This chaotic fluctuation of thought, like a final lament, after transmitting these fragmented yet information-rich pieces of information, the light of the dark gold fragment suddenly went out. Its structure seemed to have lost all its internal support, silently disintegrating and dissipating like a sand sculpture, turning into the most basic mindless particles, merging into the surrounding void of consciousness.

It...self-destructed?

Su Nian's spiritual consciousness froze in place.

The final message conveyed by the dark gold fragment stirred up even greater waves in her heart than when she first discovered it.

"Ultimate Protocol"? "Emotional Variable"? "Infinite Chaos"?

These words, taken together, pointed to a far larger and more dangerous game than she had imagined. The Dark Gold Consciousness didn't seem omnipotent; it seemed confused, even...afraid, of the variable of "emotion"? And Xie Chen's remnant soul played such a crucial "motivating" role in her struggle with the Dark Gold Consciousness?

Before she could think it through, something even more unsettling happened.

At the very instant that dark gold fragment completely vanished—

She could clearly feel that the omnipresent, cold gaze of the soul link had suddenly intensified!

This time, the gaze was no longer merely indifferent observation, but carried an unprecedented, almost tangible sense of oppression and...killing intent?

It was as if her "little actions" just now, and the information that the Dark Gold Fragment sent back before its death, had finally touched a deeper, more dangerous... bottom line.

---

(End of Chapter 46)

Next Chapter Preview: What does the warning from the Dark Gold Fragment before its demise signify? What exactly is the "Ultimate Agreement"? Did Su Nian's successful separation actually invite suppression from a higher level? What actions will the murderous Overlord take? What fate awaits Xie Chen's remnant soul amidst this escalating crisis? The game intensifies, and the shadows beneath the abyss finally reveal their fangs!