12: The Beast King of Tower Town, His Shadow Appears for the First Time

Deep within the Shattered Star Canyon, time seemed to freeze at this moment. The Star Core Beast King had self-mutilated to detonate a portion of its core crystal, releasing energy that was no longer a simple shockwave, but a devastating star storm! Dark blue light swallowed everything, and space shattered inch by inch like a mirror, revealing the chaotic Void Realm currents behind it. This was a life-risking strike from a Divine Power Realm existence, sufficient to completely annihilate all matter and energy within a radius of several miles!

"This is bad!" From behind a distant meteorite, Lin Xuan and the other two let out cries of despair. Faced with an attack of such heavenly might, they couldn't even muster a single thought of hope.

At the center of the storm, Lin Fan's pupils constricted and his hair stood on end! This was the most direct and terrifying death threat he had faced since his Transmigration! Even with the Eternal Indestructible Body, if he took this core storm head-on, he would definitely suffer heavy damage and might even injure his Origin!

He couldn't dodge! He could only endure it! At the critical moment of life and death, Lin Fan's will was like divine iron tempered a thousand times, without the slightest hesitation. A look of ruthlessness flashed in his eyes as he cast aside all distracting thoughts, and his Divine Soul resonated to the limit with the star pagoda above his head!

"star pagoda! Protect my true body, absorb the storm!" He was no longer just using the star pagoda as a defensive shield; he wanted to use it as a cauldron that could contain all things!

"Buzz!!!" The star pagoda erupted with unprecedented light, its body vibrating violently as if sensing its master's resolute will. It no longer just shed clear light; instead, the bottom of the pagoda opened wide, turning into a bottomless Chaos vortex that generated a domineering and peerless devouring force, actively meeting the sweeping storm of stellar destruction!

“Rumble!!!” Like a whale drinking water, or a cosmic black hole swallowing a star! That star storm capable of annihilating everything was actually forcibly pulled and torn by the star pagoda's bottom vortex, frantically surging into the starry world of the pagoda's first floor!

"Crack... crack..." The star pagoda endured unimaginable pressure. Upon the pagoda's body, those profound stellar patterns flashed wildly, even emitting faint cracking sounds as if it were overwhelmed! As his life-bound treasure, Lin Fan felt the damage to the pagoda as if it were his own. His face instantly turned pale as paper, and pale-gold blood seeped from his seven orifices. His Divine Soul felt as if it were being pierced by billions of steel needles, an unbearable agony!

But he gritted his teeth, his Eternal Indestructible Body operating frantically. His blood and Qi supported the star pagoda like a fire, maintaining the stability of the devouring vortex! This was an extremely dangerous tug-of-war! Either the star pagoda would successfully contain and suppress this storm, or the pagoda would be destroyed and the man would die!

Within the Star Core Beast King's crimson-gold eyes, shock and confusion also appeared. It could not understand why that tiny pagoda could devour the power it had released by risking its life.

The storm's rampage lasted for a full ten breaths of time. To Lin Fan, these ten breaths felt as long as ten years.

When the last trace of dark blue destructive energy was sucked into the pagoda, the buzzing of the star pagoda became low and dim. The light of the pagoda's body also weakened, and several fine cracks even appeared on its surface; it had clearly suffered significant damage. It swayed for a moment before turning into a streak of light, entering Lin Fan's forehead to return to his Sea of Consciousness for nourishment.

Lin Fan spat out a large mouthful of pale-gold blood, his body swaying and his aura instantly becoming withered to the extreme. Enduring and containing a life-risking strike from a Divine Power Realm beast king had taken too much out of him and caused a massive backlash; his Physical Body, Spiritual Sea, and Divine Soul were all heavily injured!

However, he still stood tenaciously! Looking at the Star Core Beast King, after detonating part of its core, its massive crystalline body had also become dim and covered in cracks. Its aura was like a candle in the wind, dropping directly from the Divine Power Realm and becoming even weaker than Lin Fan!

It looked at the human who, although heavily injured, still stood tall and stared at it with eyes like cold ice. For the first time, fear and despair appeared in those crimson-gold eyes! It wanted to flee, but its body was broken, and even moving became difficult.

"Now, it's my turn!" Lin Fan wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, Killing Intent boiling in his eyes. He forced the remaining blood, Qi, and spiritual power in his body to move, walking toward the dying Star Core Beast King with staggering but firm steps.

The Star Core Beast King let out a mournful cry, attempting to gather the last of its starlight to resist.

But Lin Fan would not give it any chance.

"Indestructible Divine King Fist, Mountain Collapse!" He gathered his final strength and threw a punch! This punch lacked the previous brilliant radiance, but it contained the purest Killing Intent and will of destruction!

"Bang!" The fist slammed hard against the swirling starlight vortex on the Star Core Beast King's head!

The vortex suddenly stalled, then collapsed with a bang! Along with it, the two crimson-gold eyes behind it also instantly dimmed and shattered!

The Star Core Beast King's massive body twitched violently before finally losing all life. Like a shattered star statue, it collapsed to the ground, kicking up a cloud of stardust.

The overlord of the Shattered Star Canyon, the Divine Power Realm Star Core Beast King, had fallen! Lin Fan could no longer hold on and knelt on one knee, gasping for air, every breath bringing a tearing pain throughout his body. But as he looked at the massive beast king's corpse, his eyes were filled with the light of victory.

"Divine Son!" Only then did Lin Xuan and the other two dare to rush out from behind the meteorite. They hurried to Lin Fan's side, and seeing his wretched state, they felt both heartache and awe.

"I'm fine, I won't die." Lin Fan waved his hand, his voice hoarse. He immediately sat cross-legged and operated the Eternal Indestructible Body, beginning to devour the dense Power of the Stars around him and the purest stellar Origin dissipating from the Star Core Beast King to repair himself. Although the star pagoda was damaged, it still assisted him in absorbing energy.

At the same time, he silently thought: ["System, sign in at the place where the Star Core Beast King fell."]

[Ding! Detected sign-in location—Star Core Beast King's Fall Site (contains pure stellar Origin and the beast king's Indestructible Battle Intent). Special sign-in conditions met. Sign-in successful!]

[Congratulations to the host for obtaining: "Star God Soul Condensation Art"!]

A cool and profound stream of secret technique information flooded his mind. This was a supreme secret technique specifically for tempering, repairing, and condensing the Divine Soul, which happened to correspond to his current state of Divine Soul damage! The System's rewards were always so timely!

Lin Fan's heart settled. While operating the Eternal Indestructible Body to repair his Physical Body, he also began to comprehend the "Star God Soul Condensation Art" to repair his damaged Divine Soul.

While Lin Fan was fully focused on healing and Lin Xuan's group was nervously acting as Protectors, no one noticed that far away, in an extremely hidden crack above the canyon, a pair of cold, cruel eyes—filled with a hint of shock and greed—was staring fixedly at Lin Fan healing below and the massive corpse of the Star Core Beast King through a water-like concealment barrier.

This person was dressed in black, with a face fifty to sixty percent similar to Lin Sha's but more mature, and an aura that was even deeper and more obscure. He had surprisingly reached the peak of the Spiritual Sea Realm, with half a foot already having stepped over the threshold of the Divine Power Realm! He was Lin Sha's biological brother, the most deeply hidden and most talented of the younger generation of the Grand Elder's lineage—Lin Kui!

He had been following the Grand Elder's orders to search for another Opportunity deep within the Ancient Domain. After receiving Lin Sha's distress signal, he didn't move immediately, originally planning to wait until Lin Fan was mostly exhausted before stepping in to take advantage. However, he never expected to see the shocking scene of Lin Fan punching his enemies to death and ultimately facing and slaying the Divine Power Realm Star Core Beast King!

"Eternal Indestructible Body, a mysterious pagoda, and that terrifying fist technique..." Greed and Killing Intent flashed intensely in Lin Kui's eyes. "Lin Fan, the secrets on your body are even more startling than Grandfather guessed! If I can take everything you have, I, Lin Kui, will surely soar to the heavens and even surpass the Old Ancestor!"

He looked at the heavily injured Lin Fan as if he were looking at a mobile, peerless Treasure Trove.

"Now is when you are at your weakest... it truly is a god-given Opportunity!" A cruel and cold smile appeared on Lin Kui's face. He slowly stood up from his hiding place, and a sharp, peerless Killing Intent carrying the scent of blood—like a demonic blade being unsheathed—suddenly locked onto Lin Fan in the depression below!

"Lin Fan! Your life and everything you own, I, Lin Kui, shall take!" Before his voice had even faded, his figure turned into a blur that almost merged into the darkness. Like a hunting eagle, he shot toward Lin Fan at his most critical moment with overwhelming Killing Intent!

A new round of fatal crisis had suddenly descended at Lin Fan's weakest moment!