Chapter 544 - 500: Skeleton of the Pillar Stone
The Eye of Destiny gave no response.
Riding the Sunshot, Shi Ming leaped down into the abyss.
He stashed the Tianwen directly into his personal inventory. As long as he carried it, the thing would vibrate nonstop, warning, "You have entered a restricted zone. Please evacuate immediately! You have entered a restricted zone. Please evacuate immediately!"
’For a treasure, being too responsible isn’t necessarily a good thing.’
Black, corporeal deathly aura permeated the abyss.
Ignoring the color, it was reminiscent of a certain smog-filled city from Shi Ming’s past life. The deathly aura passively avoided his right arm and head. The moment it touched his skin, it eagerly tried to burrow into his pores, but it was completely unable to cause any real harm. In fact, it coexisted harmoniously with the aura of life within Shi Ming’s body.
HSSS~
Shi Ming could ignore the deathly aura, but the Sunshot beneath his feet began to show signs of decay after being exposed to it. Shi Ming activated the Purifying Power fused into ’Zero’, and the Sunshot was instantly restored to pristine condition.
’No wonder no one can enter this Tomb Star Realm.’
’Without the immunity granted by the Divine Rune, even a pseudo-god could probably only resist for a short while. And in such a brief time, it would be impossible to conduct any exploration in the Tomb Star Realm, a region where the Dark Cosmos doesn’t exist.’
The Abyss of the End wasn’t exceptionally deep.
With the Sunshot traveling at high speed, Shi Ming reached the bottom of the abyss in just eight hours. A thick black fog obscured all vision. Fortunately, his powerful Spiritual Power took the place of his eyes, allowing him to clearly perceive everything at the bottom of the abyss and avoid exploring blindly.
[...]
[Eyes are, of course, more useful than Spiritual Power!]
[6,291 meters to your left is a consolidated pocket of deathly aura. It has condensed into a cotton-like form. While it cannot harm you, it will stick to your body and refuse to leave unless you use ’Zero’ to cleanse it. However, ’Zero’ also has a cooldown, so try not to waste it on such things.]
[112,712 meters to your right is a mutated ’Divine Abyss Gold Mine.’ Divine Abyss Gold is a specialty of the Abyss of the End. This particular vein has been corroded by the deathly aura for a long time, causing some changes in the gold’s properties. Its value might be even higher.]
[9,181 meters ahead, the remains of a Pillar Powerhouse stand tall.]
[1,029 meters behind you is the abyss wall. You can penetrate it with the Sunshot’s ’Sea of Ten Thousand Realms’ ability, but there’s nothing of value to explore there. It would only be a waste of time.]
...
’Well, it seems the Eye of Destiny’s abilities are more considerate after all. The Eye is finally willing to pull its weight with me. Its "occasional" help has been getting more frequent, and this time it was so thoughtful, giving me intel in all four directions!’
’Not going left.’
Shi Ming knew a bit about the Divine Abyss Gold Mine to his right. It was an incredibly valuable ore, with a strategic importance similar to the "rare earth" of his past life. Many technological creations from the First Civilization Cosmic Country relied on it.
’112,712 meters?’
’I’ll mark the location first.’
’First things first. Mining can wait.’
Less than ten thousand meters ahead lay the remains of the Pillar Powerhouse. The Tianwen had revealed that a Pillar Powerhouse personally stood guard in the Abyss of the End. Could this be the one? Under the prolonged corrosion of the deathly aura, the bodies of creatures from the Primordial Star would typically turn to dust over time. The fact that these remains had survived was proof enough of this Pillar Powerhouse’s strength.
The place he was guarding must be a key location.
’Straight ahead it is!’
Shi Ming stood on the Sunshot and slowly approached.
Within the thick, black fog, a skeleton cast a mountain-like shadow. It stood there, hundreds of meters tall. Its bones had long lost their original color, turned gray by the corrosive black fog, and black spots grew where some of its joints connected. It wasn’t lying down; even as a skeleton, it remained standing. It had died in an instant, yet it had never fallen.
This was a powerhouse who had once stood at the pinnacle of the Star Sea.
Even death could not make him kneel.
Faint streams of gold still flowed over the skeleton. Though faint, they were definitely there. The muscles in Shi Ming’s right arm trembled. He reached out and gently touched the massive skeleton’s hand, as if sharing a fist bump with this Pillar across the timeline.
The Red Pattern on his right arm began to light up.
The flowing gold within the Pillar Powerhouse’s skeleton seemed to answer a summons, gathering from all over the bones. It condensed into a ball of pale gold, precipitating from the skeleton’s palm and forming a golden source.
[Congratulations. You have obtained the mutated Nirvana Source: "Immortal (Already Decayed)".]
[This source is named "Immortal," yet it has decayed over one hundred and twenty thousand years of corrosion. Two diametrically opposed energies have reached their end together in their struggle... If the Dusk Whale were not dead and had already advanced to the Holy Hall Tier, it might have been able to use this to become an incomparably powerful Nirvana creature. They have a strong affinity.]
[...]
[Purify with ’Zero’ before consumption to obtain half the skill points.]
[Consume directly to obtain the full amount of skill points.]
With his new prize in hand, Shi Ming formed an invisible barrier with his Spiritual Power, enveloped the ball of pale gold, and stored it away.
No one would dare to use such a mutated Nirvana Source. If an ordinary lifeform were to absorb it, even without any exclusivity restrictions, they would be immediately overwhelmed by the deathly aura within. Forget "immortality"—they would likely die on the spot, their body instantly decaying.
Aside from a creature like the Dusk Whale, which had a high affinity for it, anyone else who used it would die.
Shi Ming had three choices.
First, he could purify it and have his Right Arm Red Pattern consume it, which would grant him half the skill points.
Second, he could consume it directly without purification to get the full amount of skill points, but he would have to personally endure the backlash from the deathly aura. This might not cause any real trouble, but it would take up too much time.
Third, he could use his modified method that circumvents "Nirvana Source exclusivity" to absorb it and acquire a third Nirvana skill. This option also came with risks.
He was leaning toward the latter two options.
’Resources must be maximized.’
’But not now.’
After the Nirvana Source remaining in the skeleton was extracted, the Pillar Powerhouse that had stood tall at the bottom of the abyss crumbled into fine sand, cascading downward. Its one-hundred-and-twenty-thousand-year watch was over. It could finally rest in peace.
"Bro, I’ll make good use of what you’ve left behind."
Shi Ming passed through the chasm where the Pillar’s skeleton had stood guard. The Abyss of the End continued to stretch downward.
The deathly aura grew ever denser. Shi Ming himself felt no additional burden, but even with the help of his purifying power, the Sunshot under his feet struggled to resist an aura corrosive enough to erode even a Pillar Powerhouse. Left with no other choice, Shi Ming put it away and began to explore on foot, one step at a time on the floor of the abyss.