Abyss Praiser

Yu Xian fell silent after hearing Muse's explanation. He naturally understood the risks of using a broken world to execute a spatial jump. His very first stop upon entering the Abyss had been a broken world, and the battle against the Ancient Cosmos Dragon remained vividly etched in his memory. After all, that had been the first time he had ever shattered a planet. Even though the collapse of the Ancient Cosmos Dragon's planet hadn't been entirely his fault, he would never forget the spectacle of a world tearing itself apart. In reality, the world of the Ancient Cosmos Dragon had been a relatively safe scenario, as the influence of the Abyss had not run deep there—proven by the fact that not a single demon lived in that world. Abyss demons were native creatures of the Abyss, naturally adapted to its harsh environment and capable of moving freely within it. When a world was deeply tainted by the Abyss, demons frequently bred, and countless living creatures would begin to mutate. A mild mutation usually meant the skin turning red, whereas deep mutation led to a surge in body temperature accompanied by severe aberrations, such as growing strange, grotesque organs or even acquiring peculiar abilities. Furthermore, those infected by the Abyss often experienced bizarre hallucinations. In the most severe cases, victims degenerated into undying, unkillable Abyss Praisers. They would wander about chanting verses like, *“Blazing sun, scorching light; dawn greets the Dongjun, dusk crowns the Crimson Sovereign,”* attacking any living creature they saw, treating all life as an enemy. Most repulsive of all was that Abyss Praisers simply could not be killed. They drew power from the Abyss to constantly repair themselves, and their regenerative speed was horrifyingly swift. To this day, not a single Star-rank powerhouse had ever slain an Abyss Praiser; every encounter had ended with the powerhouses fleeing in total disarray. If the broken world the Aska entered harbored an Abyss Praiser, and they ended up targeted by it, Yu Xian and the others would have no choice but to abandon the warship and flee for their lives. Yet relying solely on Abyss Battle Armor, Yu Xian truly didn't know how far they could possibly travel. Muse did not press him for an answer, standing quietly to the side as she waited for him to reach a decision. Yu Xian furrowed his brows, feeling as though two little figures were quarreling inside his head. One urged him to go, while the other told him not to. The argument for going was simple: they had already come this far and flown through the Abyss for days. Were they really going to turn back with their tails between their legs? If they didn't use a broken world for a spatial jump, it would take thirty trillion years to reach the signal source. By then, Shui Yuetian would probably be an ancient great-grandmother—assuming she was even still alive. As for the figure arguing against going, its reasoning was just as straightforward. They could simply alter their flight path and stop following the exact trail left by Hai Liwei and his group. Perhaps they might discover other small, unstable spatial anomalies further ahead? Both choices had merit, leaving Yu Xian utterly torn. After all, the people on this ship were the most precious to him. To be frank, even if it made him a bit of an auntie's boy, he genuinely missed the days when Zhenwo Changjing was still around. Though Zhenwo Changjing had never made choices on his behalf, whenever he asked, a few words from her had always been enough to help Yu Xian see through the tangled web of his own mind and choose the most correct path. “Yu Xian, if you really can’t make up your mind, why not try flipping a coin?” Niman suggested at that moment, looking at him with a gentle smile. Yu Xian turned to Niman, hardly believing his ears. “Niman, did you say flip a coin?” “That's right, a coin toss. Though in certain worlds, such an act is called the Law of Luck. As long as you are lucky enough, even a choice made by flipping a coin will turn out to be the absolute best one,” Niman explained with a faint smile. Yu Xian immediately caught on—Niman knew he could inspect his own luck. He pulled up his status interface right away. The four characters *Fortune Equal to Heaven* had not changed in the slightest. A wide smile broke across his face. Fantastic. His chronic indecisiveness was finally cured. With luck as astonishing as his, a coin toss couldn't possibly steer him wrong! Since he didn't carry regular coins, he casually produced a Star Coin, gave it a light flick, and silently thought to himself: *Heads, we go; tails, we don't.* Yu Xian didn't touch the Star Coin as it fell, letting it tumble freely toward the floor. After rolling across the surface for a moment, the coin came to rest flat on the floor with heads facing up, gleaming faintly with a metallic sheen under the ship's lights. Seeing the outcome, Yu Xian let out a quiet breath. With a subtle flick of his finger, an invisible pull drew the coin cleanly back into his palm. He lifted his head toward Muse and gave the order: “As captain, I authorize you to search for the nearest broken world and use it to perform a spatial jump!” “Authorization confirmed. Executing order,” Muse responded. The Aska immediately adjusted its bearing by a slight fraction. Muse had clearly already located nearby broken worlds and had merely been awaiting Yu Xian’s command. “Niman, have you ever seen an Abyss Praiser?” Yu Xian asked curiously. Having settled the decision, he felt entirely relieved, sinking into a chair beside Niman and glancing down at the infant in her arms. Niman drifted into memory and nodded. “I have. They are truly incomprehensible monsters, infinitely more terrifying than the records in Crescent Bay suggest.” “More terrifying than Crescent Bay's records?” Yu Xian asked in surprise. His knowledge of Abyss Praisers had been gathered almost entirely from Crescent Bay's network. He had browsed vast amounts of Abyss lore through the Star Ring, reading nearly every piece of information shared on hunting guild forums. “Abyss Praisers cannot be killed. They have become part of the Abyss itself. Even if you utterly obliterate their physical bodies, they will inevitably be reborn within the Abyss,” Niman said with grave solemnity, holding the baby tightly to her chest as fear crept into her voice. Yu Xian was tempted to ask how she knew, but sensing the dread in her tone, he chose not to pry into her painful past and remained silent. Noticing his restraint, Niman saw right through his thoughts. She took a deep breath, gently amused the baby with her fingertip, and said softly, “Back when I was still a Creator God, I once created an exceptionally gifted child. She was truly perfect. I treated her as my own daughter and poured more love into her than anyone else. “Yet she grew far too curious about the outside world. Again and again, she defied my warnings, venturing out to explore and come into contact with the cosmos beyond. In the end, she was infected by the Abyss. “She fled back to me, and my heart broke for her, but there was nothing I could do. I wasn't an Abyss doctor back then; I couldn't save her. “I watched with my own eyes as she turned into an Abyss Praiser, to the point where I was forced to kill her myself. But before long, she returned, reborn as an even more powerful Abyss Praiser... “Once, twice, three times... I lost count of how many times I had to strike her down. I knew for certain that I had annihilated both her body and her soul, yet she kept resurrecting time after time, repeatedly invading the home she once loved until everything lay in utter ruin and everyone was dead.” By the end of her tale, tears streamed down Niman's cheeks. She wept both for the child she had cherished and for the world she had created, which had ultimately perished at that very child's hands. Yu Xian could only fall silent upon hearing this, quietly staying by Niman's side to keep her company.