novelraw Chapter 446: Soul
Chapter 446: Soul
Time crawled forward in extreme tension, each second stretched into an agonizing measure.
In the control room, Jie Ming stared fixedly at the cascading data streams pouring across the light screen like a waterfall.
Beyond the viewport, Viola’s figure appeared extraordinarily small at the core node of the scarlet formation. Dark red radiance intertwined with the energy flows of the binding array, struggling desperately against the relentless tidal surges pouring from the Starfall Plane.
The bad news was that the newborn living plane consciousness remained in a state of extreme heightened stress.
Although the indicators of its restlessness and resistance no longer skyrocketed as frantically as at the beginning, they stubbornly plateaued at a dangerous high level—like a spring pulled to its absolute limit, ready to snap at any moment.
The good news was that after Viola followed Jie Ming’s suggestion and shifted her binding strategy from forceful suppression to gentler guidance, buffering, and soothing energy intervention, the fluctuation peaks miraculously stopped climbing.
This delicate balance was like walking a tightrope over an abyss ten thousand feet deep.
According to the initial violent trend, the outer binding formations should have completely overloaded and collapsed several minutes ago.
But now, thanks to Viola’s ultra-precise control and her application of the Pain Law in a relatively “gentler” aspect, the formations—though dimmed, riddled with cracks, and emitting low, overburdened hums—miraculously continued to hold, barely confining the “green behemoth” within the net.
“It’s adapting… or rather, it’s ‘feeling’?” Jie Ming stared intently at the subtle changes on the spectral graph. The shift in binding method seemed to nudge the nascent consciousness away from a pure “being attacked—resist” mode, toward something closer to a puzzled “probing.”
But balance was ultimately fragile.
The energy reserves of the binding formations were depleting at an alarming rate. The precious metals and rune cores forming the array’s foundation were beginning to suffer irreversible fatigue damage.
Fine beads of sweat appeared on Viola’s forehead; clearly, maintaining this high-precision, high-load operation was an immense burden for her as well.
Time continued to pass.
Just as Jie Ming calculated that the formations could hold for less than ten more minutes at most, the detection arrays suddenly returned a set of dramatically anomalous new changes.
“Spirit trait convergence index… surging sharply!” Jie Ming’s pupils contracted.
Almost simultaneously, the scene beyond the viewport changed.
The green plane, bound in scarlet chains, underwent a subtle shift in its overall color… as though it had “changed.”
It wasn’t a drastic, visible transformation, but rather, within the already rich verdant vitality, a trace of indescribable “luster” or “texture” suddenly appeared.
If one had to describe it, it was like the inner glow that suddenly radiates from a jade rough after being polished, or like a dim lamp suddenly lit beneath the surface of a tranquil deep pool.
The color itself hadn’t fundamentally altered, yet the “feeling” it gave was completely different.
“Soul readings skyrocketing! Exponential climb!” The alert tone on the console shifted dramatically.
On the light screen, the curves representing soul intensity and integrity shot upward like rockets, instantly breaking through several orders of magnitude.
Jie Ming understood in an instant.
It wasn’t the color that had changed—it was the fundamental elements composing the plane undergoing a profound reorganization and realignment!
The birth of spirituality was merely the prelude, the “possibility” sprouting from chaos.
And now, catalyzed by internal conflict and external stimulation, a true “soul” core capable of ruling over everything was rapidly taking shape!
Vast quantities of the plane’s basic elements—soil, rock, energy flows, atmospheric components, and even deeper elemental structures—were spontaneously arranging themselves under some mysterious attractive force, constructing a “soul structure” capable of bearing and expressing this newborn consciousness.
This violent transformation involving the entire foundational material layer of the plane manifested macroscopically as that subtle yet shocking shift in “color texture.”
Good news followed.
As this powerful embryonic soul rapidly coalesced, the previously scattered and frenzied spiritual chaos flows, like scattered soldiers suddenly finding their commander, began orderly converging toward the core.
The birth of a soul provided a “backbone” for the violent spirituality.
Detection data showed the internal energy conflict index dropping significantly, while the amplitude and frequency of spiritual fluctuations rapidly calmed.
The terrifying oppressive sensation of a giant beast thrashing unconsciously was quickly receding.
The pressure on the binding formations visibly lightened.
The scarlet radiance stabilized. Cracks stopped spreading. In some areas, energy flows even began returning to smooth circulation.
“It worked?” Viola’s voice came through the comms channel, breathless and uncertain, carrying the exhaustion of someone who had just survived a catastrophe. “It… stabilized? The soul has coalesced?”
Jie Ming watched the indicators on the screen rapidly improving. The nerves that had been stretched to the breaking point finally eased slightly. He exhaled a long, pent-up breath of turbid air from his chest.
“It looks like it, Senior Sister. The soul core has initially formed, and the chaos is subsiding.” His voice carried a trace of relief. “My feeling… might have been right. Before, it was just ‘uncomfortable,’ not ‘wanting to destroy.’”
Yet, just as a glimmer of dawn began to envelop both their hearts…
Sudden change struck!
The spiritual index, which had only just begun to steadily decline, was abruptly shoved back to a new peak by an invisible giant hand—higher even than any previous crest!
The powerful, newly born, and seemingly stable soul reading erupted at that same instant with unprecedented violent fluctuations.
“ROAR!!!”
This time, it was no longer a silent tsunami of will.
A “shriek” infused with the full power of the newborn soul, saturated with ultimate terror and bewilderment, exploded from the depths of the plane like a tangible psychic storm, sweeping outward!
With a soul to unify it, the plane’s power was no longer wasted in disorder.
In this moment, all energy was instinctively twisted into a single strand by the terrified soul, becoming the simplest, most brutal pure impact, crashing toward everything around it!
Crack… BOOM!!!
There was no time to react!
The scarlet binding formations, which had only just stabilized and begun self-repair, were as fragile as paper before this terrifying, highly condensed force that far surpassed the sum of all previous assaults.
Chain explosions flared in the void, blinding light bursts erupting as scarlet chains were brutally snapped section by section!
“What?!” Viola cried out in shock.
Her relaxed mind was instantly frozen by this sudden reversal.
Instinctively, the wizard’s threat-response reflex took over her thoughts: This living plane had indeed erupted with malice after all! It had feigned calm, only to deliver this fatal strike!